"We can't let our ally, who stepped in to help, fight alone!"
Benimaru had no intention of retreating without Ogerpon, at the very least.
But before he could issue a clear order, the ground ahead began to tremble.
The earth collapsed, revealing hidden pits beneath.
The next moment, a swarm of bug monsters surged from the darkness like a tidal wave.
The sheer number made even Damien, watching from a distance, twitch his lips. "What are these things? There's way too many!"
A quick scan revealed no fewer than 5,000 bugs.
And there were likely more underground.
As for their ranks...
Through his Appraisal skill, Damien noted these bugs were weaker than the first batch they encountered, and smaller in size.
"Most are D-rank, with C--rank making up about 20%. There are plenty of C-rank, and around a hundred C+-rank."
Damien dismissed the D-rank monsters.
For Ogerpon's Grower ability to gain experience, the monsters couldn't be too far below her level.
Generally, killing anything below C--rank wouldn't increase her existence value.
So, despite the sheer number of bugs, only about 20%... roughly 1,000... counted as viable fodder.
"Even so, taking down this batch should push Ogerpon to a true A-rank monster."
In the Cardinal World's mechanics, reaching A-rank with a Disaster evaluation meant Ogerpon had a high chance of evolving into a stronger ogre form.
Damien wasn't too concerned about the D-rank bugs.
They couldn't even scratch Ogerpon's defenses.
[Defeated C-rank monster x1, gained 4 existence points]
[Defeated C--rank monster x2, gained 3 existence points]
[Defeated C+-rank monster x1, gained 8 existence points]
Since Ogerpon joined the battle, every kill granted her existence points.
In just ten minutes, her existence value had risen from 8,000+ to 8,500+.
"At this rate, with the remaining bugs…"
Damien calculated silently. "Over 1,000 C-rank and above bugs should push Ogerpon past 10,000 existence points, securing an A-rank evaluation, right?"
A-rank was a dividing line.
There was a qualitative gap between A-rank and below.
Even the weakest A-rank monster could take on a 300-strong Ogre Tribe village single-handedly.
Damien made up his mind. He wasn't about to let this juicy opportunity slip away.
Through their familiar bond, Ogerpon heard Damien's voice.
"Can you keep fighting?"
"Ogerpon's not tired at all!"
Ogerpon was brimming with energy, smashing bugs one by one. "Ogerpon could fight them all day!"
Atta girl, you're basically Captain America!
Of course, that was just a joke.
In truth, the Elemental Spirit race's hidden trait was their astonishing physical prowess and bottomless stamina.
Especially now, as Ogerpon kept slaying enemies, her Grower talent was voraciously absorbing nutrients, converting them into magicules.
Per Cardinal World logic, the more magicules, the more energy an individual had.
So, after this battle, not only had Ogerpon barely expended magic or stamina, but her surging magicules left her in peak condition.
Learning Ogerpon's state, Damien cast an amplification spell. "Friends of the Ogre Tribe, Ogerpon and I are here to help."
On the battlefield, the regrouped ogres, led by Benimaru, looked up to find the source.
"Is he talking about Ogerpon, that terrifyingly strong little one?"
"So her name's Ogerpon?"
"Wait, she already has a name?"
"She's a named monster?"
Ignoring his tribe's shock and murmurs, Benimaru waited quietly for Damien's next words.
Damien had no intention of joining the fray directly.
He saw himself as a backline summoner and mage... getting caught in the enemy's encirclement would be foolish.
"Next, I'll unleash a powerful spell on the bug nest to force them out."
"If the nest's forces are beyond our expectations, I'll have Ogerpon retreat immediately."
"You should do the same... escape with Ogerpon!"
Damien's plan was straightforward, and Benimaru quickly grasped it.
The nest's numbers and strength were unknown.
If Damien's spell drew out tens of thousands of bugs, staying would be suicide. They'd need to return to the village for reinforcements.
But if the nest's forces weren't as overwhelming as feared…
Then the Ogre Tribe wouldn't be needed.
'I've got my ace, Ogerpon, who can take on armies!'
Without much hesitation, Benimaru made his decision. "Follow the voice's commands!!"
Shuna was his sister, Shion his childhood friend.
Ogerpon had saved their lives.
That debt alone was more than Benimaru could repay.
And abandoning a fighting ally to flee? That would shame the Ogre Tribe!
From afar, Damien nodded approvingly at Benimaru's quick formation change.
Ignoring Benimaru's group, Damien raised both hands, channeling all his magic into them.
Thanks to Ogerpon's slaughter, Damien's magicules had broken past 4,500.
With his current magic capacity, he met the requirements to cast Konosuba's strongest spell.
And what was Konosuba's strongest spell?
No question about it... the signature move of the quirky Crimson Majin little girl, Megumin: Explosion!
In Konosuba, Megumin poured every skill point from leveling up into Explosion.
This turned her Explosion into something akin to a miniature nuke.
Damien's Explosion was still level 1, unupgraded.
Upon returning to the Cardinal World, his Mage class had unlocked endless possibilities.
Freely manipulating magic, stirring the winds, harnessing omnipresent elements... earth, water, wind, fire, light, dark, even time and space…
Explosion wasn't strictly a fire spell, despite its name.
It was, in essence, a destruction spell.
It absorbed, compressed, and disassembled surrounding magical elements, then unleashed devastating destruction in an instant.
Just like what Damien was doing now.
Using his Mage abilities, he deeply analyzed Explosion's essence.
It was no longer just a shortcut skill but the raw core of its power.
Magic drained rapidly, but thanks to his Mage class, new magic flowed into him, only to be consumed again.
This cycle repeated, pouring ever more energy into the spell.
The massive disturbance from drawing in magical elements made the air within kilometers of Damien feel oppressively heavy.
The ogres, led by Shuna, felt a primal dread welling up inside.
Their monster instincts screamed to flee the area immediately!
Shuna, a spellcaster herself, sensed the atmospheric ripples more keenly than the warrior ogres like Shion or Benimaru.
In her eyes, Damien's position had become a bottomless, pitch-black abyss.
The abyss devoured all, like a dark sun blotting out the sky, casting a shadow over every heart.
Colorful magical particles converged toward Damien's palms, forming vibrant, radiant streams.
Trees swayed, the sky darkened, and a massive star-ring slowly materialized overhead.
Then, a colossal crimson magic circle appeared.
A second, third, fourth…
Dozens of magic circles layered atop one another, stacking into a towering structure that pierced the heavens, as if roaring defiance at the gods themselves.
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
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