Chapter 982 You Are Faster Than Usual?

While the Queen, the Generals, and the rest of the isons stared at Liam with their beady eyes, all of a sudden, the hundreds of soul minions from the battlefield disappeared without any warning. At the same time, an unfathomably powerful aura appeared around Liam.

Immediately, the Queen and the Generals became alert that something was happening. The ison Hive Queen made a skittering sound as she appeared next to Liam the next instant. Her speed and movements were so fast that they almost looked instantaneous.

The moment she felt that something was off, she arrived next to Liam and raised her limb to his throat to tear out his flesh and end this farce. However, it was already too late.

The Queen's movements might be just as fast as the skill activation, and [Soul Splice] still took a second to fully materialize as Liam's soul wasn't strong enough just yet to assimilate all of the soul strength instantaneously, but Liam did not wait for everything to be perfect.

He predicted that the Hive Queen would sense his move and rush forward to kill him, so as soon as he activated [Soul Splice], he immediately lifted his hand and sent a punch forward. Mana swirled around his fist as he punched the air in front of him.

The Hive Queen was arrogant and a whole hundred levels stronger than him, so he didn't think that she would stab him in the back or from the sides. He took a gamble and punched directly forward in the direction he was facing her, and it paid off.

Even without the skill's complete activation, his strength was already boosted enough to send the Queen ison staggering back. 

The Queen's eyes glowed with a strange light. Almost as if she sensed the threat that was about to fall upon her and her army, she personally dashed forward once again to stop Liam. 

This time thick swirls of mana gathered around her, propelling her forward with even more speed and power. This mana also appeared blackish-purple in color, carrying with it a dark corruptive aura.

The ison Generals standing around were slower to react when compared to the Queen. As they watched their leader in action, all the isons started making loud screeching noises.

The Queen's presence and the pressure exuded by her were debilitating for Liam, but for these isons, it was the exact opposite. 

The entire army was in very high spirits. They watched the Hive Queen blast forward to end the enemy, and they cheered for her with awe and respect. Her corruptive aura also seemed to strengthen them further.

The entire place became chaotic and was instantly filled with a cacophony of noises, and in the midst of this, the Queen unleashed her full power to slaughter the enemy.

However, the next second…

CLASH!

Liam never planned to stop with that single attack. After that first punch, he threw the next one and the one after that, constantly sending out a flurry of mana-packed punches.

And with every single punch, his strength stat was explosively increasing. 

With the first punch, he knocked back the Hive Queen, and when she came for him for the second time, his single punch cracked the powerful corruptive aura swirling around her.

The hive Queen's beady eyes glowed in shock as she felt the power of the next attack even before it was fully executed!

SCREEEEEE!

She screamed in pain and agony, feeling her bones cracking and her flesh tearing apart. All the other skittering and screeching sounds of the isons drowned in this scream. Her terrified voice howling in pain, was the only thing that could be currently heard.

The battlefield that was just now filled with vigor and cheer all of a sudden became deathly sudden, and then it finally started!

Liam's skill was fully activated, and the next punch he threw forward sent a massive ripple across the battlefield.

BOOOOM!

All the isons stared in shock as their Queen was the first one to get completely obliterated. The isons screeched in horror at the sight of their Queen's body being torn into bits and pieces.

However, they were put out of their misery soon enough as the shockwave from the single punch continued to move forward with an unstoppable force.

Seeing the Queen blasted apart, all the ison Generals rushed forward, but it was completely useless. One by one, all of them only got dismantled and dismembered.

With the [Soul Splice] skill fully activated, Liam's strength skyrocketed to terrifying proportions, and his punch carrying the full effect of this strength was unshackled.

The shockwave from the single punch rippled across the massive army of isons and blasted away the insects wave after wave. The single punch was enough to tear apart and shred the entirety of the army into bits and pieces.

And Liam did not stop there. To ensure that everything in his path was utterly demolished, he continued punching forth. 

His own bones and muscles cracked under the familiar pressure, and his body groaned in pain. Blood dripped from the various orifices, and his eyes became fully red. 

The backlash from the skill was as strong as ever. Liam was only barely standing at the end of 5 seconds, but… he was the only one standing. 

As if a God had descended from the heavens, Liam alone stood amidst the carnage. 

Before the strength completely left his body, he let out a deep breath and sucked in all the soul energy that was swirling around at the site of the massacre. 

Especially the strong soul energy from the Hive Queen and the ison Generals rushed into him, giving him a huge power boost. His weakened and battered soul was quickly healing just like he had done in all the previous times he used the skill.

Liam let out a tired breath and knelt on the solid ground. All the snow in the area had already been completely pulverized and cleared out, leaving behind only the ground underneath, lined with several cracks. 

Fresh snow continued to pour down on him from the skies, slowly drenching his blood-soaked body and easing some of his pains.

Liam took out the canister and drank some of the nourishing water. The world seed's water was almost used up, but looking around at the carnage, it was definitely worth it, not to mention the three notifications he had received.

<Ding. You have leveled up>

<Ding. You have leveled up>

<Ding. You have leveled up>

Liam grinned even in his tiredness. The number of isons this time exceeded millions and billions, and the size of the army was truly terrifying, but thankfully, he was still able to deal with them all at the same time.

His gaze darted here and there to land on the big shining mana core lodged in one of the cracks in front of him. The hive queen's mana core! A level 200 plus mana core!

Along with it, several other mana cores twinkled like stars in the night sky amidst the blasted corpses of the isons.

He had truly gained a lot this time, and the trip was a success.

Liam continued to rest on the ground with his gaze absent-mindedly, staring at the big chunk of mana core. Meanwhile, his body which was almost destroyed and ripped apart, just like the isons, was slowly starting to heal.

Pain bubbled in every cell and structure that made his being, but after the fifteenth time, Liam was able to handle it without shouting out loud in agony. In these past couple of days, he had gone through this torturous, inhumane pain countless times.

​ Even if he let slip in a moment of weakness, he wouldn't be able to continue with this madness any longer. So he tried his best not to focus on the pain. Instead, he made his mind blank and played around with the abundant soul energy swirling around him.

Repairing his body was the fastest while nurturing his soul took a lot more time. He gathered all of the soul energy particles and slowly fed his own soul little by little. 

It was unfortunate that he was not able to create any soul minions at the moment, but Liam doubted if he would even be able to create a soul minion of a Level 200+ creature. 

Something like this might not be possible even if he was in his best condition, so he did not dwell too much on it.

His mind was rather on the other two red zones that needed to be taken care of. Would he be able to mow them all down just like this? 

That would really be the best-case scenario. If he somehow managed to do that, then the danger the world was currently facing would fully disappear. 

Even if a couple of isons had escaped here and there, they could be easily taken care of by individuals. As long as the hive hills were completely destroyed, the second wave should finally come to an end.

Liam sighed and groaned in silence as various thoughts crossed his tired mind. This was currently his biggest problem. He was able to repair his body and soul to some extent, but because of the repeated use of the skill, his brain was close to exploding.

"I need to take a long vacation after this." Liam tiredly lifted his palm to catch some of the snowflakes falling to the ground. "I wonder if those guys have finished moving yet." 

He knew that his sister, Shen Yue, Alex, and the others would be anxious about his absence, but the incoming members should at least keep them somewhat occupied.

"Heh. Who am I kidding? Those idiots are probably running all the dungeons in overdrive to catch up to me." Liam then paused as he thought about the ten dungeon crystals he had casually spent.

When he had done it, it was in a state of emergency, but he still felt the pinch of losing so many valuable items. "I wonder if there are any dungeons around here."

He was feeling a little better, so he contemplated searching this area for dungeons while he was still resting and recuperating. He let out a yawn and stretched his hand as he tiredly called for the white fox.

He had sent her away to prepare for any unexpected dangers, but it looked like that was no longer necessary. The ison's strategy to attack the enemy in full force worked in his favor, and he took care of all of them in a single shot.

"Get down here!" He called out for Luna.

The next second, he felt a powerful force rushing toward him from a distance.

"Huh? You are faster than usual. What are-" 

Even before Liam could complete his sentence, he abruptly froze with his mouth hanging strangely in mid-air. It… it was definitely not Luna who was charging toward him at the moment!