Silas stopped his sprint in front of a massive gathering.
The void energy in the area was high enough to crush even an Expert rank cultivator to death.
"Master Silas, I don't know if you have thought about this, but the probability of you dying is 0.9," Rion rang in his mind.
"I know," Silas replied, still scanning the area.
"I only need to lure them bit by bit," he grinned.
"Give me one explosive," he said to Rion.
He did not know if his plan was going to work since there was a chance of all of them coming together.
But he still chose to try.
"It's not like any of them have intelligence until tier 6."
That thought assured him that none of them were intelligent.
After all, even the strongest beast here was only at tier 5, and it was in the middle of the realm.
A small blue orb appeared in Silas's palm.
Silas walked away from where he was, creating a little bit of space between himself and the beasts.
"Do I just overcharge it with aether?" he asked Rion.
"It is already filled with aether. Just a little bit will do. You only need to infuse aether for about 5 seconds and throw it so you don't get caught in the explosion," Rion warned.
"Okay."
Aether flowed from his hand, gushing into the orb.
Exactly 5 seconds later, Silas threw it about 50 meters away from his position.
A loud explosion erupted, creating a deep crater that spanned a 30-meter radius around the point of impact.
Silas did not admire the explosion he had caused.
The noise travelled farther than the attack, reaching the ears of the beasts close to it.
Their heads snapped upward. They did not think at all. They marched, the ground quaking under their combined weight.
"I might have drawn too much," Silas's brows twitched as another bomb appeared in his hand.
He was not going for a straight brawl, at least, not now. That would be suicidal.
"Rion, how many bombs can I use per battle, including the one for aggro?" he asked.
After a brief pause, Rion replied. "4 per day."
"That's more than enough."
As the beasts neared, Silas steadied himself.
500 meters, 400 meters, 300 meters.
Boom.
Silas threw the first bomb. The leading beasts were caught in the explosion.
Flesh, blood, bones, and innards scattered through the area as the bodies exploded into pulp.
Just the first bomb had reduced them by over 30%.
Then, the second.
It was another scene to behold. Then came the third.
In less than 10 seconds, beasts numbering over 50 were reduced to just a little over 10.
"I should be able to handle this," Silas said, unsheathing his katana.
His body pulsed strangely as aether flooded through it.
Spiderweb cracks began to form on the floor without exerting any force.
Then, it blew into rubble.
Silas's body streaked forward, his katana in a full horizontal strike aimed at a beast's neck. The blade connected, decapitating the head cleanly.
The floor beneath him quaked, then exploded.
A worm with wings shot out, mouth wide open to devour him.
As if expecting the attack, Silas was ready. He jumped out of the path.
The worm's full body was revealed, a massive centipede-like beast that spanned over 500 meters in length with relatively small wings.
Before Silas could attack it, a sound tore through the air, prompting him to look sideways at the giant mosquito piercing forward with its sharp stinger.
Unbothered, Silas's katana swung up in a vertical strike, deflecting the attack.
Before the bug could recover, the katana pierced through its head.
"The worm has gone," he muttered, like he was already expecting it.
He heightened his awareness in anticipation of its next attack.
But that was still far. The beasts in front of him did not give him time to wait for another.
A hulking crab with mantis arms was the first.
It swung its huge arm over Silas's head, creating a shadow over him.
Silas sidestepped calmly.
The arm pierced into the ground, sending a massive tremor that shook even the trees in the area.
Taking advantage, Silas returned the katana to the AI space. At the same time, his hand was wrapped in a purple gauntlet with spiky knuckle tops.
Silas shot forward, his aether flowing into the gauntlet slowly. Just enough to activate its attribute while lasting long enough for Silas to end the battle.
He leapt up, easily reaching above the crab, who was still thrashing violently to remove its arm from the ground.
Before Silas could even deliver the punch he had planned at the target's back, a huge bee was suddenly in front of him, mouth wide open with sharp canines.
"Shit," Silas cursed, his body twisting midair, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Time seemed to slow at this moment. A cockroach sped towards him with huge, sharp crab-like claws aimed at his torso.
Silas braced for impact, swinging his fist forward at the claws.
A bang erupted, sending tremors through the forest.
Silas's body plummeted to the floor from the collision. Just a few meters away from the floor, he quickly regained balance, landing on his feet.
"Huff!"
The torn pieces of the cockroach fell to the floor almost at the same time.
The crab, who had been the main target, was already over him, arm thrusting forward at his head.
Again, Silas sidestepped.
Then, as if by instinct, he jumped to the side again.
The worm shot through the ground where Silas had been just moments ago.
Before it could even realize its mistake, Silas's fist, coated in lightning from the gauntlets, smashed against it.
The force from the attack blew a hole through it.
Silas was as stoic as ever, his gaze landing on the remaining beasts.
The crab struck again.
"You are in too much of a hurry to die," Silas said, catching the arm.
His grip tightened as aether flooded his arm.
Like fabric being torn, the arm was ripped out of the crab.
The spear appeared in his hand, a sleek, blue spear.
Silas held it from the center. His body bent backwards as he targeted the beast's head.
The spear's form exploded with power as aether flowed through it.
Silas threw it forward.