CHAPTER 745: SPIRE ASCENSION (XV)

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"What the fuck?"

"He’s insane!"

"How is this possible? This is a lie, right?"

"Unbelievable!"

"How could this be? Is the gap really this big?"

"There’s no way he’s a commoner."

Seeing Cedric climb way higher in the spire, tearing through hordes of bugs in his way with relative ease and calm, broke the mentality of the other participants.

Well, ex-participants, because the ones that could see him climbing right now had been eliminated at this point.

Most of them failed halfway up the Mechanoid Floor, and only two reached the True Dragons, forfeiting after facing two dragons at the same time.

Although they knew deep down that they didn’t achieve the results they initially expected for themselves, they thought that their results shouldn’t be too bad compared to others. Some of them even thought that they wouldn’t be the first ones who are returning.

Yet reality proved otherwise.

They were the earliest to come out. And compared to others, their results were indeed bad, especially compared to the sole leading figure of this tournament so far. The gap was so wide that they can’t even imagine how they’d catch up.

Because while they’re struggling to climb the floors, apparently, Cedric was treating it as a trip or just a casual walk in his yard.

They’ve watched the replays when they got out. In fact, that’s the first thing they asked for because they just didn’t want to accept the reality that the gap between them and Cedric was just too much.

Yet they witnessed the truth right before their very eyes. Cedric breezed through the enemies that nearly killed them with ease. Beasts, demons, true dragons...only The Horde made him feel some threat, but even then, his march remains unstoppable.

Doesn’t this mean that they’re completely and utterly helpless if they’re faced against him?

Everything that they’ve seen so far led them to believe that Cedric hadn’t taken them seriously at all. Not them, not the ones who’re still climbing, not even the one who’s trailing behind him so desperately yet still failing to catch up.

Cedric hid too much of his strength, and there’s more. He’s way too strong!

Seeing him tear through the horde with his army of swords caused something within them to break, followed by an overwhelming sense of defeat.

They couldn’t help but feel that all of their hard work and all the resources they consumed were all for naught, since none even took them anywhere near Cedric’s actual strength.

Yet at the same time, this also bolstered their belief that Dawnbringer shouldn’t be some random dude. He’s for sure not a commoner; it’s simply impossible for him to be one.

But regardless of what they think, one thing’s for certain at this point.

Dawnbringer won. There’s no doubt about that. Nobody could even come close to threatening his position. Even if this round were to go for its entirety, nobody from their batch would come even close to being a threat to Dawnbringer’s dominating stride and his throne.

He is, undoubtedly, the greatest prodigy, the most monstrous genius, in this millennium, and quite possibly the following ones too.

**

Unaware of what others think, Cedric continued his stride towards the upper floors.

His crusade against the worst that the Horde could offer continued, and the higher he climbed, the worse they became.

Although he was raised to fight hordes for days on end, the sheer amount of what The Horde could produce remains overwhelming, even for him. He had to take breaks in between floors to recover because the number of enemies he had to face to clear a floor was truly draining him.

Still, he continued. Even as the challenge seemingly turned into an impossible one, Cedric cleared it all the same, solidifying his rule as this era’s strongest prodigy.

It took Cedric a whole month to reach the 49th floor.

He was sent straight into the mouth of the beast as soon as he arrived. He landed straight in the middle of a nest filled with bugs who certainly didn’t give him time to assess the situation.

Cedric was no longer surprised that he was being swarmed on all sides; this was The Horde, after all. But he did start wondering what exactly he must face here to clear this floor.

And so, he kept looking.

Cedric extended his sensory field, trying to locate his main targets. But although his sensory field wasn’t being limited in this place, he was still unable to catch a glimpse of his actual targets, which was highly unusual.

Because of this, Cedric decided to change his approach. He instead began paying attention to where the bugs were coming from.

They couldn’t possibly be born out of thin air. There has to be a source. If he could find those, then the tracks of his actual targets would be visible to him.

So, he did just that. But much to his dismay, he discovered that the bugs were indeed manifesting out of thin air. The impossible was happening right before his very eyes.

"No fucking way, something’s up. There has to be."

Cedric didn’t believe that an endless horde of bugs could be born out of thin air. That’s not possible even for the Horde. He must be missing something here.

And so, he intensified his use over his eyes. In doing so, the radiance being emitted from his eyes became even more noticeable. So much so that they appear like torches now.

Fortunately, his efforts weren’t for naught. Because by doing this, he was able to see through the bizarre situation.

"Creep Phantom Moths," Cedric muttered softly, his face turning solemn.

**

"What are the Creep Phantom Moths?"

This was the most asked question of the crowd when they heard Cedric muttering it.

It’s in this time that Lisa’s voice echoed in their ears, explaining the origins and capabilities of the bug Cedric now faces.

"Everybody, the Creep Phantom Moths are a species of the Horde that exist between illusion and reality."

"Common or ordinary perception can’t detect them. Even for those who specialize in detection, they are still very hard to locate."

"From the moment a Creep Phantom Moth breaks out of its shell until the very moment it draws its last breath, it remains in the state between illusory and real. They fly in between the fabrics of reality; that’s their home and also the extension of their nests."

"Through this ability, they can unleash millions of bugs all at once. And since they’re incredibly hard to detect, they could wipe out civilizations in a blink of an eye and disappear without leaving any traces."

"The worst part about Creep Phantom Moths is their ability to convert biomass into materials to expand their nests, which are, again, located between states of reality."

"The more things they eat, and trust me, they’re not picky, the larger their nests are and the more bugs they can spawn."

"Speaking of spawn, Creep Phantom Months produce more bugs than Silk Spinners. They can produce at least 150,000 bugs per minute at base, and that number only increases with the strength of the moth and the quality of their nest."

Horrible. That’s what everybody thought when they heard Lisa’s explanation of what the Creep Phantom Moths can do.

Creep Phantom Moths were essentially mobile and invisible nest carriers, then. One that could produce more than nest carriers and silk spinners.

150,000 bugs per minute. 9 million bugs per hour. What an insane fucking number.

And it’s not like it’s producing some ordinary bugs, ones that bug sprays could kill. No. The bugs these Creep Phantom Moths produced were almost as large as adult humans. Each one had more than one row of teeth and fangs, multiple sets of claws, and zero regard for their personal safety.

Some might have wings, others might crawl faster. Some might have tough hides; others can explode upon death.

With how many variations of bugs there are to consider, remembering every single one might kill them first before the bugs reach them.

"Oh, by the way, it looks like Dawnbringer faces at least 10 Creep Phantom Moths at the same time," Paul, ever so casually, added.

And just as he said that, the number of bugs swarming Cedric just rose explosively.

So many of them appeared all at once that the screen was immediately covered by them. Cedric’s image was buried underneath the horde.

"Oh, hell no!"

"Yeah, fuck that!"

"Dawnbringer, dude! You have to dip!"

"Is he going to die here? Please no! That would be a shame!"

"Holy shit! This is insane!"

Everyone was afraid, while the Horde, who were watching the broadcast, wished that Cedric would actually die in there.

By now, the screen was only filled with endless bodies of bugs, emitting buzzing sounds that could drive anybody insane. They couldn’t even see Dawnbringer’s shadow anymore.

But just as they’re starting to lament that Dawnbringer’s brilliance ends here, something happened that subverted their beliefs.

A bright light suddenly exploded from the depths of the bugs, emitting a very strong brilliance that illuminated everything.

"The dawn came."