CHAPTER 46: CLONES PER VICTORY.

Dorian propelled himself upwards, the massive ball of water hovering above his head like a shimmering, blue moon.

Below, the ground crawler he had partially trapped thrashed violently, its exposed upper body writhing as its brethren surged forward. The air filled with the skittering of claws and guttural "KRRKK!"s, a symphony of pure, unadulterated aggression.

’Hopefully, this doesn’t fail me...’ Dorian thought, a wild grin touching his lips despite the grim situation.

He slammed his free hand downwards.

The colossal water sphere followed his command, plummeting towards the horde of crawlers. It didn’t just impact; it exploded outwards with tremendous force, sending a tidal wave of mana-infused water cascading through the narrow tunnel.

Crawlers were ripped from the walls and ceiling, slammed against the jagged rock, and swept back into the mist-shrouded passage they had just emerged from. The trapped, larger crawler shrieked as the powerful current battered its exposed torso, its struggling weakening.

[You have killed a crawler.]

[You have killed a crawler.]

[You have killed multiple crawlers.]

[A new feature has been unlocked.]

Staring at the unexpected notification being spammed in front of him in midair, Dorian’s face was contorted in genuine surprise.

This was the first time he was receiving such a message from the system; then again, it was also the first time he was pushed to kill another creature.

’I can’t think of that now.’

He scanned the scene underneath him, watching as a fresh batch of cave crawlers had begun showing up again.

"This way!"

Dorian yelled over the chaos, landing gracefully with Maria still held close. He immediately ignited the ground in a wide arc behind them with his flame magic, creating a searing wall of fire that briefly stalled the monster horde. The air crackled with heat and steam.

Maria, though still clinging to him, was already anticipating his next move. Even without seeing, she felt the vibrations through his body, the subtle shifts in his weight. As he conjured a rapid succession of sharp, icy spikes from the cavern floor in front of them, she instinctively adjusted her grip, her weight shifting ever so slightly to give him maximum balance.

Her broken sword, a mere hilt in her hand, pulsed with a faint golden light, mirroring her internal readiness.

The spikes erupted from the ground, piercing through several charging crawlers, impaling them mid-leap. Their green blood, thick and viscous, splattered against the cavern walls. Yet, more kept coming, their eyes fixed on Dorian with an unnerving, single-minded focus.

The larger, still-trapped crawler managed to free one of its claws, digging it into the rock and slowly starting to pull itself out.

It was sluggish, only able to move for a few seconds before needing to catch its breath.

’There you are,’ Dorian thought. He needed to close the distance, and quickly. He glanced at the vast, open cavern. This was his battlefield now.

He pointed a finger at the ground in front of them, and a section of the earth erupted, creating a temporary earthen ramp. Then, with a burst of [Fast Speed], he shot up the ramp and into the open cavern, releasing Maria only when they were a safe distance from the immediate horde.

"Maria, sorry for this!" he commanded, not looking back, already heading straight for the huge cave crawler.

"Eh?"

Maria soon found herself in the air, Dorian nowhere near her.

He had released his hold on her, speeding faster like a torpedo to his opponent.

Pouting, she intensified the glow around her blade, fully facing the other herd of monsters looking to intercept Dorian before he could get to the single monster trapped in the ground.

"No choice then—arrgh!" She let out a battle cry, slamming to the ground with her broken blade coated with golden mana.

The energy burst tore through the monsters like butter, their body parts flying all over the place.

Meanwhile, Dorian had already achieved his goal.

"Okay! Everyone, calm down; let’s take a deep breath...."

When she heard this, Maria noticed none of the monsters moved a muscle after that. They were frozen, scared to move an inch.

She was quick to know this had to be Dorian’s doing, so she turned around to check.

And that was when she saw him threatening to burn the cave crawler into a crisp, a raging flame burning above his palm.

With his arm around the monster’s neck, Dorian uttered once again—

"I assume you can understand me; if you can, then nod."

The huge cave crawler nodded.

"These friends of yours, they are all connected to you, right?" he asked another question, moving the flames closer each time.

The cave crawler nodded.

’I knew it.’

A while back, he had noticed anytime a single cave crawler received damage or was killed, this particular cave crawler would show signs of weakness. There was also the fact that when Lili spoke to the monster, only one monster spoke, and never individually.

To add to this, they were all moving like robots capable of doing one thing at a time. Which made them easily predictable.

"These monsters are your clones, correct?"

The cave crawler gave yet another nod.

"Good, glad we understand. Now call them off, if a single one of them is still blocking the path for my friend outside, call them off, or I swear I’ll kill you."

The cave crawler closed its eyes in defeat, and then the very next moment, every cave crawler that was present in the mining ground soon began to disappear, their form breaking into dust and rushing into the big cave crawler.

Maria smiled proudly, almost as if she had expected Dorian would solve it on his own.

With that done, Dorian removed his arms from around the cave crawler’s neck and took a couple of steps back.

"Now we can have a conversation without you trying to kill me," he uttered out loud.

Looking at the cave crawler, it was quite obvious it was different from the rest of the clones; it looked cleaner and had no tissues hanging around its bones.

’I can tell it’s strong too. It is a special rank after all. It also tame and... shy? It doesn’t seem as violent as the clones, probably the only reason why I was able to threaten it.’

Suddenly, the monster raised its head and looked at Dorian.

It wanted to speak; however, it knew Dorian would most likely not understand a thing it said.

Then came a sigh, as Dorian took the initiative to ask.

"Are you by chance the king wanting me as a servant?"

...

[A/N]

I am so sorry for dragging out this cave exploration; this should have been done two Chapters ago, but I needed to make sure this scene is put through, as it will make things easier for me in the future.

That said, thank you all for the support. Bones completed. Now we can move to the next.

15 GT—extra Chapter.

50 ps—extra Chapter. i belive we are like 4 power stones away from this, if we get it to 100 today, then ill do three chapers tommrrow.