BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

Chapter 979  Ice shrapnel

As the elevator went up, the sound of machinery filled the small space. Richard leaned against the wall, his face still pale from his injuries. To be honest, it was the pain psychological scars that made him pale, but they were all the same with his wounds, as they were the cause for that.

His eyes were alert, as if he expected someone to come attack him at any moment. That was because of what Volkov did to him, in truth, but it wasn't also that different from their situation.

Blackguards could come at him at any moment, after all.

"What exactly is the situation, Erik?" Richard asked, looking at the younger man's back.

Erik kept running. "Aside from the thousand blackguards? Maybe traps, but I'm not sure about it."

Richard's eyes widened. "How are we supposed to get past a thousand blackguards? That's insane."

Erik shrugged, a smirk playing on his lips. "Yeah, it's a lot. But I've got some tricks up my sleeve. Plus, now that you're awake, I can go all out without worrying about you."

Richard looked at Erik. There was a mix of fear and disbelief in his eyes.

He knew Erik was strong, but fighting 1,000 people alone? Blackguards at that.

In his opinion, Erik was insane, not because he might not be able to do that, based on what he saw on the lower floor, he might be able to do that, but it was his willingness to do it that left him confused.

Shouldn't people's first reaction to such a situation to try a way to avoid the fight? Then why did Erik looked so eager? The truth was that Richard knew nothing.

"It sounds impossible to escape with 1000 blackguards, Erik, even considering your tricks."

Erik chuckled. "Impossible? Nah. Just a bit challenging." Of course, the situation was tough.

He actually couldn't kill a thousand blackguards, so the thing here was to exploit two things: the first was to decrease the number of people attacking him as much as possible using his illusions, and the second was to kill. Simple as that.

Reducing the number of people around would make it possible for him and Richard to escape.

What Erik also wanted to do was gain experience points and level up after having created the most havoc.

Each level up would replenish his mana reserves, which could be used to kill more or heal himself and Richard if the need arose.

Of course, as they did this, they had to get out of the building. Erik's plan was going to work, yes, but not indefinitely.

"I've got a few ideas. And as long as you stay behind me, we've got a fighting chance."

Richard shook his head, a nervous laugh escaping his lips. "You're crazy, you know that?"

"Maybe a little," Erik said. "But being daring, or crazy, as you say, is what's kept me alive so far. I would have achieved nothing if I didn't push myself to the limit. Again, just stick close to me, and we'll get through this."

The elevator continued its steady climb; the tension mounting over Richard with every passing second. Though Erik's confidence was infectious, and it clashed with Richard's fear.

"Alright," Richard said, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves. "I'll follow your lead."

"Good."

The elevator was almost on the ground floor.

Erik glanced at Richard, his expression serious now. "Ready?"

Richard nodded, his grip tightening on the small knife he had held onto. "Ready as I'll ever be."

The elevator slowed to a stop, a soft ding echoing in the confined space.

In this fraction of a second, two things happened. The first was that Erik made the 20 illusions get out of the door.

Of course, those who saw them getting through the door knew they were illusions, but those who didn't do it started shooting at them or chasing them around the area.

This meant the number of people behind the door was reduced, if even a little.

"Alright, then. Let's show them what we're made of."

The elevator doors slid open, revealing the chaos that awaited them on the ground floor.

Erik stepped forward, and Richard followed close behind.

The second thing Erik did while the doors were opening was to make up an ice shield to protect both himself and Richard from attacks.

He was right at that, because as soon as the doors opened, a barrage of them rained down on the two—bullets, energy blasts, and many kinds of brain crystal powers hurtling through the air.

But that wasn't all he did. Until now, he had never used it, but there was a power he got by merging Nathaniel's power and the Exoshield brain crystal power, Force Bastion.

This ability granted him an integrated exoskeleton, which provided both physical protection and the ability to generate powerful force fields.

That came from Nathaniel's extremely powerful brain crystal power, which was now insanely better than before.

The exoskeleton encased him in protective layers. Erik looked like a cyborg ninja.

The armor was just a plus, but it was going to provide ample defense. Given the number of people, he wasn't so naïve as to think he could avoid every single attack, even with his instability brain crystal power.

Though, what Erik planned to use more was the enhanced strength and agility this brain crystal power was going to provide. He knew how much he needed them.

Even if Erik had 150–200 strength points more than the blackguards, their mana was a lot taken individually, and this meant a lot of power was going to be behind their attacks. With that, speed was bound to come.

However, that speed would not be as slow as physical speed.

Brain crystal powers were like weapons. There were fast people, but no matter how fast they were, they couldn't compete with the speeds reached by guns.

Well, of course, unless one prevented them from aiming at him or her.

That was what Erik did most of the time, move so fast as to prevent them from setting their sight on him.

But that Erik was going to be surrounded by enemies didn't make things easier.

There was something else he had to be wary of. That his mana was going to be depleted fast because of the huge disparity in numbers.

<The best thing to do at this point is to focus my mana on protective powers and take care of the blackguards with my body alone.>

Richard's eyes widened as he saw the transformation and the attacks bombarding the elevator, making it almost impossible for Erik to hear.

"What the hell, Erik?"

"No time to explain," Erik said. "Get ready to run. I'm going to carve a path now!"

Then Erik activated the force bastion. He released an energy pulse, a force that shattered his ice shield into countless fragments, which were then propelled outward with tremendous speed towards their opponents.

The ice shards shot out of the elevator, slicing through the blackguards and clearing the way in a spectacular display of power.

Richard was left shocked.

[ENEMY HUMANS KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]

[0%...1%... 5%, 30%, 70%, 100%]

[MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]

[3...2...1...0]

[MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. 750000 EXPERIENCE POINTS AND 15000 DNA POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.]

[LEVEL UP.]

[LEVEL UP.]

[LEVEL UP.]

Erik's attack left a path of destruction in its wake. The blackguards in front of them were incapacitated or killed by the barrage of icy shrapnel.