Jonathan nodded and then sent his stamina coursing into his legs, pushing off with a sonic boom. He raced along the Fetid Plains, watching as the scenery blurred by. A few minutes later, he found his first target. It was another of the Krazykes, the massive crab monsters that he had encountered once before. Their levels weren’t that high, around 270, but compared to the bulk of his army, that was plenty.
He slammed one fist into its side, extending a spear of Void energy into it. Whereas before, he had been hard pressed to harm such a beast through its thick shell, now he caved in an entire section of its armor with ease. The keratin cracked apart, its edges digging into the flesh beneath. The beast let out a howl of pain, but the thrashing blows of its claws were far too slow to hit him.
He continued running at a slower pace, letting the monster chase after him. Blood leaked from it, leaving a trail on the ground. Considering its level, it was still quite fast, though nothing compared to him. Jonathan led it across the Plains, through swamps of rot and tiny groves of twisted trees, in search of more prey. At his level, it felt like he was herding ants.
An hour later, he had amassed a train of high level monsters, about fifty in total. He then turned, heading back towards his army. A cacophony of bellows and hoots resounded behind him as his pursuers exclaimed their rage to the world. Many of them were injured, with the few that were not having followed him out of brutish rage or hunger.
They crossed the entire spectrum of the Fetid Plains’ inhabitants, ranging from Muck Munchers to more outlandish beasts besides. Even in a circle of hell, cut off from the rest of reality, evolution really was a force to be reckoned with.
With his advanced memory and enhanced cognition, finding his army again was an exercise in ease. Jonathan had traveled a few thousand miles during his search, and found another few thousand to be nothing. However, his hastily formed monster horde was a lot slower than his maximum speed, and he was forced to limit his speed.
He wondered what he must have looked like, a speck of dark armor leading a group of creatures dozens of times larger than himself on a chase across the land. Such a thing would have seemed absurd to him on Earth, but now, it was just an everyday occurrence. If anything, the Infinite Hells were not a place where boredom was easy to find.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
The ground thundered as a collective of monsters that weighed more than a modest village stampeded after Jonathan. He let out a laugh as he dashed across the Fetid Plains. To think that he had once been content as a truck driver, slaving away for an interminable amount of time for little money, and even less enjoyment. Although his chances of death were far higher, he had a shot at becoming a god. In his mind, one would have to be insane to prefer anything else.
By the time he reached his army once more, he had tired out many of the beasts behind him, running their stamina pools into the ground. About ten miles away from their position, he turned, and sent spikes of Void energy into each of the monsters’ limbs. Some avoided the attacks, but many were instantly crippled, easy prey for anything that came upon them.
As for the dozen or so that were too fast or powerful for his initial attack to damage, he engaged them personally. He punched his way past the monsters’s attacks, breaking bones and sundering flesh with ease. Creatures that had once given him trouble were now less than nothing in comparison to his strength. He was probably around Tier 4 in power now, given his massive title bonuses and other advantages. In the face of this, few at his actual level could compare.
He finished in about a minute, leaving a group of weakened and helpless beasts strewn around the field. With one satisfied glance at them, he raised one arm, expelling a bolt of purple energy into the air. It was a signal for his army to approach, and they quickly heeded it. Jonathan could see them coming as if they were a few dozen feet away with his immense sensory prowess, and he was sure that they could see the fruits of his labor as well.
Edgar and Hushar stood back, letting the other two thousand or so fighters lay into the monsters, their weapons flashing in the light of the sun. It was a quick and brutal execution, and before a minute had passed, all that was left of the monsters was blood and bones, with a few scraps of flesh scattered around.
“Quite vicious, aren’t they?” Edgar mused. “It seems that your hunger for battle has infected your followers.”
“Don’t they mainly answer to you?” Jonathan replied. “Kendal is your man after all.”
“Since when has ferocity been a bad thing?” Hushar interjected. “That fire is good, both for progression and the soul.”
Jonathan nodded in agreement. He watched as the others dealt with their level up notifications, with most of his allies having multiple. Even between two thousand, the essence from about fifty high Tier 3 beasts was more than enough, especially when their killers were of a lower level. He was expecting to have to address them, but Kendal was already going so. Delegation really was quite useful at times.