Chapter 403 - Quest 4
The battle that decided the fate of the Prison World has ended in an overwhelming manner of the prisoners.
Several sh.i.p.s were falling with smoke coming out of it. It took heavy damage and its flight function couldn't handle it anymore. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers perished without even knowing who's the one who killed them.
Right now, the soldiers of the empire were fleeing as every higher-up of their army has died at the enemy's hand. The commanders, generals, and wardens were all dead. No one could command them anymore so they started to panic and run in every direction to survive.
Their morale has plummeted down after they witnessed how their leaders died.
The prisoners' side also suffered heavy casualties as half of the prisoners in the Catastrophe rank prison had died leaving only seventeen thousand prisoners. It was understandable as their opponent's number was several times higher than theirs.
Roar!!
Yuko and the dragon roared loudly that shook the entire sky. Their energy spread out in every direction. They were asserting their superiority over these lowly creatures.
Franklin and Torkez were standing on top of the sh.i.p.s that the prisoners stole. Out of more than fifty sh.i.p.s of the empire, they only managed to take three sh.i.p.s. It's understandable as Yuko focused her attention on destroying all the sh.i.p.s in her field of vision.
These two also showed their powers and everyone recognized them as the most powerful prisoners. One was a real A-rank powerhouse while the other one was a peak B-rank with the power of a parasitic essence eater.
Although they couldn't release their full strength because they just got out of prison and remove the poison from their bodies, they still showed everyone how it means to be a powerhouse.
If they rested and recover their strength, Souta was sure that they could exert more power than what they've shown today.
They were strong and dangerous. That's the reason why they were locked down on the lowest floor of the prison.
But the one that people revered and feared the most was Souta.
The power that he showed this time was simply beyond their imagination. They couldn't comprehend it. It feels like it was the work of a god. Making the whole catastrophe rank prison float that weights several million tons was something they've never seen in their entire life before. They also haven't heard someone who could do it in their homeworld nor someone from the Great Astley Empire.
Souta's eyes were closed while floating around the field. He was gathering the souls of the dead soldiers. He wouldn't let this opportunity slip by to gather a huge amount of souls.
Ohm!
Voices of the souls rung in his head as the earrings s.u.c.k.e.d them. The number of souls in this place was enormous as some of souls were outside of his skill's range.
'Souta... It's dangerous. You should keep it for a while. Millions of souls are gone in an instant. It will notice you.' Saya said to him seriously. The thing that Souta was doing was worse than killing millions of people.
'Notice me...? Who?!' Souta narrowed his brows tightly. He didn't have an idea what she was talking about.
'The laws of the universe...' Saya said in a grave tone.
The laws of the universe were the rule of the whole cosmos that everyone followed including the gods. Reincarnation was one of these rules that's why no one could escape the cycle of reincarnation after they died. Souls were included in this cycle and if millions of souls suddenly disappeared, of course, the laws will notice it.
Souta asked her about it but Saya said that she also didn't have much information about it. She only knew that the soul world was part of the rule. It wasn't a physical world, no living beings could go in that world where the souls were being purified for reincarnation. Also, reviving someone was against the law of the universe.
'Just remember that breaking the laws of the universe can bring disaster to you...' Saya said to him.
'Laws...?' Souta didn't think much about it as he checked the attributes that he gained from using the souls of the dead soldiers.
He added 160 points to his vitality, 300 points to intelligence, 345 points to dexterity, and 92 points to his agility. Once he used this all his attributes reached 1,500 points.
He still had a remaining 733 points so he used it all in his intelligence attribute.
Agility: 1,408 -> 1,500
Dexterity: 1,155 -> 1,500
Intelligence: 1,200 -> 2,233
Vitality: 1,340 -> 1,500
His base intelligence has reached 2,000 points so he gained plus 30 energy recovery the ratio of his intelligence to energy became 1:1. So after 2,000 points if he added 1 point to INT he will gain 1 energy.
Before he reached 2,000 points, 3 points of INT was equal to 1 energy.
Also, he gained plus 5% energy resistance and 5% energy damage.
The increase in his stats after millions of souls was simply amazing. The [Soul Blood Earring] really deserved its rank as a universal artifact. Although it didn't have powerful attack or defense, the stats that it could provide to its wearer was overwhelming.
He would rank this artifact as one of the top universal items.
[Soul Blood Earring](Left Piece) Soul Collected: 2,743/10,700
[Soul Blood Earring](Right Piece) Soul Collected: 6,870/13,600
At this moment, his stats already surpassed those initial third evolution monsters. His stats could rival those intermediate third evolution. If he used all of his skills, then he probably could rival a high-level third evolution monster.
No one among B-rank and A-rank could fight him. It will take a group of veteran twenty plus A-rank powerhouses before they could defeat him.
Souta took a deep breath and he looked at the prisoners. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "We've won! The wardens, commanders, and generals of the empire are dead! This world is ours from now on! Kill! Kill the remaining dogs of the empire!"
His words sounded in every direction and the prisoners heard it clearly. Some of them didn't understand it because of the language barrier but they vaguely understood what he meant.
"OHHHH!!!"
"KILL THE DOGS OF THE EMPIRE!!"
"KILL THE DOGS OF THE EMPIRE!!"
"KILL THE DOGS OF THE EMPIRE!!"
The prisoners roared as their morale rose to the peak. They were finally free from all the tortures that they've suffered in the prison. It's time to get their revenge and kill those empire dogs.
...
A week had passed quickly after the battle that killed the rulers of this world...
The cleaning was almost done. They conquered ninety percent of the territory of the thirteen wardens and were killing the remaining forces of the empire that were hiding in this world.
In short, the empire's forces were done. They couldn't fight back at all and asked for reinforcement as the prisoners took over all the facilities in this world.
Souta was sitting in a room while resting his head on his hand. He was looking at his system and pondering what he should do next.
Quest 3 was already completed and quest 4 flashed before his eyes.
He narrowed his eyes while reading the content of the quest.
*Ding!*
[You've received 10,000 exp, 5 free attribute points, and 3 skill points!]
*Ding!*
[Quest 4 unlocked!]
[Great Astley Empire] Quest 4: The empire rules hundreds of sub-worlds for a long time. Free five sub-worlds from the grasp of the empire.
Rewards: 80,000 exp, 15 free attribute points, and 10 skill points
Souta could see the ending of this chain quest. The last quest must be about destroying the Great Astley Empire. It will take a lot of time if he was still a second evolution monster but now that he was a third evolution monster, he wasn't afraid of them anymore.
Freeing five sub-worlds was easy but it will take a lot of time. Well, he has a lot of free time in his hand so it didn't bother him. Also, he could use all the prisoners that he freed to make his work easier. All he had to do was kill the strong officers of the empire and the prisoners will deal with the normal soldiers.
That's it...
Souta stood up and he walked forward in a huge hallway.
Franklin, Torkez, the dragon, Isabella, and Lydia who were at his side also stood up and followed him.
Sounds of their footsteps echoed in the hallway. No one uttered a single word as they simply followed Souta.
Souta reached the end of the hallway and he saw thousands of people waiting outside of the huge building. The sun rays landed on his body as he observed the people of various races.
"I will get straight to the point. I want all of you to follow me and we'll conquer the worlds under the rule of the empire. Are you going to follow me or not?"