Chapter 367 Similarities

Your strength increased by 100 points.

Your dexterity increased by 100 points.

Your intelligence increased by 100 points.

The class Sin Ruler has leveled up.

…

Aside from some lightning bolts falling around the area of the impact, the whole battlefield grew silent… when Jake got up, he saw his party members and the others who were fighting behind him lying on the ground. It seemed that the impact got them good as well, but Jake could see them breathing. In any case, he used Regeneration on them.

"My bad guys," Jake said when everyone started to get up. "I just couldn't let those guys block our path any further."

"Ouch, ouch… the bones in my ass," Lana said. "At least warn us before doing something insane."

"What a thing to say…" Jake frowned.

When Jake looked behind, he saw some dark clouds emerging into the sky and hitting the ground below with lightning bolts. It seemed that all that crazy combination of powers and magic created such a thing, but no one was being hit by such a thing since the explosion pushed everyone to all sides.

"This is our chance," Jake said. "Let's go."

"Let me heal the other parties. They are still getting up," Lana said. "They have most healers in the backline, but even so, it will take a while for them to recover."

"... Help them while you help them run. The enemies won't bother us for a while, but we really need to keep moving," Jake said.

Jake didn't feel that he needed to be that considerate, but in the end, those guys ended up wounded thanks to his actions, so that it couldn't be helped. The group began to cross the path of destruction created by the explosion and then found a one hundred meters long crater on their path. Those three dungeon masters were nowhere to be seen. That is what you get from using such a passive strategy.

Regardless, the other lines of monsters had been destroyed for several kilometers away. It was only natural since even the backline of their side was knocked down like bowling pins…

"To be honest, I didn't think that those five were as strong as those three dungeon masters," Lana said. "Are they thinking that the enemies outside will do all of the jobs and they will reap the rewards for themselves?"

"... They lost their sin skills after being defeated by Jake before, but they showed up with other skills in the last battle," Frederick said. "Moreover, even without those, they managed to stand out and convince us to make an alliance… all in order to see up close our activities. It seems that the enemy that they are serving can grant them powers at will…"

Considering what they had seen so far, that really looked to be the case. Jake already knew how troublesome the enemy they were facing could be… it could destroy planets at full power in a single instant, after all. Still, only now have the others got a grasp of the situation…

"I can finally see now why a much stronger Jake was completely defeated by the shadow," Lana said.

"Oh, do ya?" Jake asked.

"I might be able to learn about the secrets of the enemy once I got a good look at it," Virgilius declared. "Finding countermeasures should also be possible since the target is definitely doing all this using mana."

It would be nice if that were the case, but Jake didn't want to bet too much on that. He wanted to believe that a fully charged sword would be able to take down the enemy… but Jake also felt that it was a naive way of thinking.

In any case, much to Jake's surprise, the group managed to cross several kilometers without facing a single enemy. The explosion caused quite a shockwave in their direction, but things had been even worse on the enemy's side. That was why they literally crossed a twenty kilometers long corridor of destruction and corpses around…

Eventually, they managed to see the entrance of the enemy hideout. It seemed like an ordinary dungeon at first glance, but instead of monsters, some humans began to leave the place. Frederick and Helena's party recognized a few of them… somewhat. They truly looked a lot different than before. Most of those guys had grown quite a bit since the battle two days ago. One of them also made Louise frown… it was Justin.

"I feel like I saw that guy with the two swords before. Where was it again?" Jake asked.

"That is Louise's ex… he looked buffy before, but now I feel like he had spent twenty years at a gym while drinking some rapid growth juice," Lana replied while frowning.

That was a nice way of putting it… in any case, the Justin in Jake's memories was only 1.8 meters tall and not as large. Not only did he grow around thirty centimeters, but he also looked like he could turn green at any moment. Still, the annoying smile on his face didn't change even a bit.

"While I never saw that person before, I can detect an abnormal growth in his physical and magical power," Virgilius said. "It is a bit similar to what I detect in you, commander."

"Really? I didn't get that big in the last few months, though," Jake said. "I thought that the strength granted by the parameters was completely unrelated to muscle mass."

"That is indeed the case. That is why my analysis says that the enemy is trying to copy our nature to get stronger," Virgilius said. "It appears that they have been watching you for a while and understanding how your powers work to mimic the same method."

"Come to think of it… when I was fighting Diego, some guys were watching me in the shadows. I guess that was Hugo and his other friends," Jake said. "In any case, to think that even you wouldn't notice that sooner… well, I am to blame to for this."