Out of Options

On the continent that made up only 2% of this planet, the group launched an almost genocidal campaign against the Scaleclad Folk.

In less than half an hour, military fortresses had been destroyed, cities had become ruins, and smoke filled the sky.

Sparta hovered in the air, casually lifting a hill-sized boulder and appearing above a circular building.

Inside the building were gathered high-ranking members of the Scaleclad Folk.

They stood by the windows, looking up at Sparta's godlike figure in the sky.

Without the slightest hesitation, Sparta hurled the massive rock down.

The circular building collapsed beneath a deafening crash, with thick smoke billowing and dust flying everywhere.

Those Scaleclad Folk elites were crushed into scale paste beneath the boulder, without the faintest trace of life remaining.

Sparta flashed over and appeared beside his companions.

The group floated high in the sky, looking down at the burning earth below.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and scorching flames. The once-glorious civilization of the fairly advanced Scaleclad Folk had been reduced completely to charred wasteland.

They had paid a terrible price for what they had done.

Jayce withdrew his gaze and looked toward the distant horizon. "I believe the Undersea Folk have received our warning."

"Let's go pay them a visit."

Sparta followed Jayce to the ocean surface, then dove into the deep, bottomless blue sea.

Seawater enveloped their bodies. It did not take much effort for the group to reach the skies above the Undersea Folk's city.

It was a beautiful underwater city, but no one had any interest in admiring its grandeur.

Jayce entered the city and grabbed a panicked guard.

The guard struggled desperately in Jayce's grasp, but his feeble strength could not free him in the slightest.

"Take me to your leader."

As he spoke, Jayce gradually tightened his fingers, and the guard's scales began to crack.

He twisted his fishtail in agony, his gill covers opening and closing without pause. Finally, amid fear and pain, he pointed toward the grandest coral building in the center of the city.

"Very good."

Jayce looked in the direction of the guard's finger, then released his grip.

Without looking back, the guard fled.

The group swept past schools of panicked fish, smashed through the coral building's doors, and barged into the magnificent palace hall.

The Undersea Folk's leader sat high upon a pearl throne, the scepter in his hand trembling faintly.

"Who are you people?!"

The leader pointed at them, his voice sharp with fear.

"You don't need to know who we are. You only have two paths."

"Submit or die."

Jayce's face was cold, and a vicious gleam shone in his eyes.

As soon as the words left his mouth, a guard sprang out from somewhere and stood in the center of the hall, blocking their path.

He was a three-meter-tall crab general that had gained intelligence. He clacked his claws and roared:

"You have some nerve! How dare you disrespect His Majesty! Guards—"

The crab general's roar formed visible ripples through the water. In an instant, a hundred shrimp soldiers of the imperial guard charged in.

As Sparta watched the shrimp soldiers surround them, a strange thought surfaced in his mind: could these things be eaten?

Wouldn't the meat be tough and chewy?

"Kill them!"

At the crab general's command, the shrimp soldiers charged forward with steel forks in hand.

Sparta lunged before one shrimp soldier, punched half of its body apart, snatched away its steel fork, then turned and hurled it.

The fork cut through the seawater and skewered three shrimp soldiers who had not managed to dodge, stringing them together like candied hawthorns.

Every punch he threw was accompanied by the death of a shrimp soldier.

In less than ten seconds, all hundred shrimp soldiers of the imperial guard had been wiped out.

Sparta tossed aside the corpse in his hand and shifted his gaze to the crab general.

The crab general froze in astonishment for a second, then angrily waved his massive claws again.

"I didn't expect you barbarians to have some skill!"

"In that case, let me, the mighty strongest warrior of the Undersea Folk, deal with you!"

Before he had even finished speaking, Sparta had appeared before the crab general and driven a fist into the center of his shell.

Spiderweb-like cracks spread across the crab general's shell beneath Sparta's fist. His entire body was sent flying backward, smashing through a coral wall.

Though he had sent the crab general flying with a single punch, Sparta wore an expression of both surprise and delight.

This was the first time he had encountered a creature capable of taking one of his punches.

Other creatures either died from one punch or were slapped to death. Unlike them, the crab general had merely suffered some damage to his shell.

"Ow."

The crab general staggered to his feet from the coral rubble.

His dizzy eyes refocused on Sparta.

"Hey, um... can we make peace?"

That punch had made the crab general realize he was no match for Sparta at all. He raised both claws, attempting to negotiate.

Jayce sneered and signaled for Sparta to stop.

"Make peace? Of course it isn't too late for that."

"As long as you submit, everyone can live. Otherwise... we can't guarantee what we might do."

The crab general looked toward the leader seated high above. The latter's face was expressionless, and none of his earlier fear could be seen.

It was not that he was unafraid. He simply had no other options.

"W-We submit."

Jayce nodded in satisfaction.

"You are smarter than the Scaleclad Folk."

"From this day forward, only the Undersea Folk will remain as a race on this planet. Consider it your reward for submitting."

With that, Jayce blasted through the coral palace ceiling and led the group toward the surface.

After emerging from the sea, the group did not linger on the planet any longer and flew straight into space.

Their soaked combat suits were completely evaporated during the flight.

The first planet had been conquered. Next, they would continue toward their next target.

In less than a day, they had conquered another six planets.

Perhaps the goddess of luck was watching over them, because they had yet to encounter any race capable of threatening them.

The scene shifted to the eighth planet.

"I've had enough!"

Sparta hovered in midair, with several upright ape-like creatures clinging to his body.

They were biting his skin with sharp teeth while constantly tearing at his combat suit.

Angrily, Sparta flung the monkeys off his body. The apes traced arcs through the air, only to fly back and continue pursuing him.

That was right. These gorilla-like creatures not only possessed roughly ten times the strength of an ordinary person, but could also fly.

They seemed impossible to kill off completely. Whenever one was killed, several more would fly up to take its place.

Sparta turned two incoming apes into bloody mist with two punches, only for another ape to latch onto his back.

He drove an elbow backward, shattering the ape's skull, but then someone grabbed his ankle.

His body swung through the air from the pull. Seizing that opening, apes surged in from all directions and clung to him.

His vision went dark as the apes dragged Sparta from the air and slammed him into the dense, humid tropical rainforest.

"Damn it, can you stay away from me?!"