Last Ruler Of The Empty Throne-Chapter 58: Increase in strength II

Jon stood over the massive carcass of the snake as it lay motionless. Its sheer size was almost unbelievable; it was the largest monster he had seen to date.

Taking a final deep breath, he let his eyes wander to the snake he had slain. "It’s a pity..." he muttered to himself. The size of the snake could feed quite a lot of people, maybe not everyone in the camp; however, they couldn’t eat it due to the poison.

"But it could make great crafting material." His eyes shone a little at the thought of it. He had no clue what would qualify as great material, but he still took it. The idea of using the giant snake to make something was one of the only things that stirred his heart after getting the Distant Heart skill.

A sudden voice in the silence around him pulled Jon out of his musings.

"Oh... the sound died down?"

’Huh?’ He was suddenly hearing a familiar voice approaching casual, yet growing louder.

"Yeah, he should be close by."

"But isn’t that snake too big?"

"Sure is, but—oh! There he is!" Cynthia’s voice rang out as she emerged from the shadows of the trees, her eyes landing on the enormous serpent. Then she glanced down at Jon, who was still standing near the fallen beast.

With his telekinesis, Jon tried to lift its body; however, it was too huge to just move alone, so he looked up at Cynthia. "Can you help?"

Cynthia rolled her eyes and said with an exasperated sigh, "Then maybe you shouldn’t have killed it," though her hands were already glowing with telekinetic energy as she pitched in.

’If she’s going to complain, why bother helping?’ Jon thought, shaking his head.

As the snake was lifted into the air, Jenny came bounding into view, eyes wide with curiosity. "Hey, can we roast it?" she asked eagerly, her hands already sparking with silver flames. The light from the fire made her eyes gleam like a child on their birthday.

"Flames?" Jon’s face and voice were full of surprise as he saw Jenny’s hand. He could feel the difference; these weren’t just conjured flames she usually formed. They were real flames—and that wasn’t all. They were alive. It meant all she had to do was tell the flames what she wanted them to do, and they could do it while she focused on something else. His Moon Gaze was seeing it.

"Yeah, I just got it recently," Jenny replied, but her expression fell a bit, disappointment washing over her as she stared at the snake. Seeing the poison still dripping from the mouth of the snake, it was obvious that it was poisonous.

With the dashed hope of a feast and their combined efforts, the three of them carried the snake out of the forest.

And as they approached the outskirts, the murmurs of the waiting group of new evolvers grew louder.

"Is that...?"

"No way..."

"They killed it."

"M-Monsters," someone whispered, awe and fear mingling in their voice.

The new evolvers, who had been forced to retreat earlier, stood in stunned silence. They had been told to wait by the remaining evolvers who had come with Jon.They had only reluctantly listened due to the threats Gar’al made about deserting, but now, seeing the massive serpent levitating before them left them speechless.

For most of them, this was beyond their wildest expectations. They had seen just the head of the creature, and they had never truly believed anyone could defeat it. And yet here it was—dead.

A few, however, weren’t as shocked. They had anticipated this outcome; Jon’s achievements were always quite interesting to look forward to.

Still, it was one thing to hear about his strength and another to witness it firsthand. The enormous and bloodied snake that hovered over the three people, who seemed impossibly small by comparison, was a sight to behold.

The trio were like different beings to them at this moment, and how would they feel when they heard it was only Jon who killed it?

THUD

Dropping the snake at the edge of the forest, Jenny waved her hand, creating a makeshift containment area for the corpse. They would still take it to the camp, but they couldn’t just leave it lying there.

"Move," Jon called out to the evolvers after dealing with the snake issue.

Murmurs of confusion rippled through the crowd.

"What?"

"Already?"

The evolvers then exchanged uneasy glances. Most of them had expected the mission to end with the death of the snake. The idea of pressing forward left them rattled. But Jon’s unwavering confidence seemed to push them onward. Hesitant but resolved, they started moving again, the weight of the enormous snake now behind them.

As they passed the snake, many couldn’t help but steal glances at it, eyes wide with disbelief. Up close, the sheer scale of the beast was even more overwhelming. But they kept moving, falling in line behind Jon as they ventured deeper into the forest.

About five minutes in, Jon noticed something. The air had shifted. The forest, which had been eerily quiet before, now buzzed with life.

Others hadn’t picked up on it yet, but Jon’s senses were sharp. He could feel them—snakes slithering in the underbrush, apes lurking in the trees, shadow cats prowling nearby, and lions stalking from a distance. All within his scanning radius.

"Enemy ahead. Get ready," he said, his voice serious.

No one questioned him. After seeing the snake, they knew better than to doubt him. They readied themselves and tightened their grips on their makeshift weapons or treasures.

Then, after a few more meters of walking, they reached the scene that Jon had told them about beforehand.

And what unfolded before them was pure chaos.

The forest was a battleground.

Tens of monsters—at least a hundred of them—were tearing into each other, leaving only blood and carnage everywhere. They fought without reason or hesitation, caring nothing for who or what they faced.

The strong preyed on the weak, the strong preyed on the strong, and the weak ganged up on the strong. Their movements and targets seemed random; however, Jon could see something else to it. Some of those monsters that reached a certain level were choosing their targets carefully and avoiding unnecessary fights.

’Are they trying to evolve?’ Jon wasn’t new to seeing something like this. It happened with the zombies around the tree; he, Jenny, and Cynthia had fought on the first night of the fall.

But the most bizarre thing, and the difference about this, was the number of monsters. It didn’t seem to decrease. More just kept joining the fray, drawn to the violence.

Jon didn’t react to it much. Normally, he’d have jumped in to stop them from getting too strong, but these many monsters weren’t enough to kill him yet.

The group stood at the edge of the battlefield, watching the spectacle in awe and fear. Maybe the worst part was the fact that the monsters ignored them and continued fighting.

Jon then said, "Those confident, attack!" He didn’t even know yet that some of the new evolvers had collapsed on the ground at the sight of the carnage.

And the stronger evolvers also surged forward, not looking at the lower evolvers, eager for battle. It seemed they didn’t get scared at the sight of monsters tearing themselves apart.

"Finally!" Gar’al even roared out in excitement, rushing into the chaos, his hammer glowing red with power. He swung it with reckless abandon, slamming it into a bear with such force that the creature stumbled backward, its balance thrown. Gar’al didn’t waste the opportunity. He applied more power, striking again.

BOOM

The bear tried to hurriedly block with its massive arms, but Gar’al’s hammer crushed through its defenses, ending its life in a single blow. Without pausing, he moved on to his next target, a crazed smile on his face. The ground beneath two monsters shook as Gar’al slammed his hammer into the earth, the force of his strikes rippling outward.

Jon couldn’t help but shake his head. ’I suddenly feel like I’ve been holding him back. But what is that red energy around him?’ Mana was whitish, and so was his aura, except when he used it with his moon energy. ’And it’s not a skill.’ Since he couldn’t understand what his gaze was showing him, he didn’t bother and looked at other people.

And from the looks, he wasn’t the only one unleashing his power as if they had waited for so long.

CRACKLE

Lightning danced through the trees as Laura let loose, electricity arcing from her hands. She was in her element now. As the bolts hit their targets, she commanded the plants around her to trap the monsters, holding them in place long enough for her lightning to finish them off.

She had tried to control the trees, but it was still too much for her, and she didn’t let that bother her. Moving with fluid precision, she raised the earth on the ground to disrupt their movements, using wind to shift her position and striking with a lethal intent that was behind it.

Her control over the environment was remarkable, and her strategy was perfect for controlling the battlefield. She was beginning to display what it meant by climate control. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

’She’s close,’ Jon nodded. ’She’s almost at the threshold.’

In another part of the battlefield, Simon, who changed his name from Joe, was also proving his worth. With his Double, he slammed his fists into a giant grasshopper. The insect that had once given him problems crumbled under the force of his enhanced punches, then applied Double underneath his feet to dodge the attack of another grasshopper, and attacked again.

Then there was the head of security, who Jon later knew to be Norman. He was now fully immersed in his sword technique and lowered his body into a stance. If Jon received a skill that gave him knowledge of almost all weapons, and Jenny received one that gave her the basic sword techniques, Norman’s skill was an advanced swordsmanship from an ancient lost family, and it had something to do with the sky.

"Cloud Sky Sword, 1st Sword: Falling Sky," he muttered. The wind swirled around him as he swung his sword, cloud-like shapes gathering around the blade.

BOOM...

The ground beneath the five apes cracked, and they fell beneath the cloud shapes. The truth was, the strike was powerful, but not as powerful as the name suggested. The reason it was currently, was that the man was already tapping into the power of will without even realizing it, and Jon knew it was just the beginning. If the man too realized the skill was not strong now, he must have plans for it later.

’It’ll be quite devastating when he reaches the First Realm,’ Jon thought, and looked at another person.

Jon’s gaze then found Ronald. The man’s cowardly nature hadn’t diminished even in the face of monsters, but it seemed to fuel his strange power.

He approached enemies with fear in his eyes, yet every punch he threw landed perfectly, almost as if fate itself guided his blows.

Jon watched him. ’I wonder what his First Realm will look like.’ It was crazy if one thought about it, his cowardly nature didn’t just get him a trait, but also his main skill.

Jon’s attention then shifted to another figure on the battlefield—the person who was fighting the closest to Ronald.

And his heart skipped a beat, his eyes widening as he realized who it was.