BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM-Chapter 1298 - The bugs (24)

1298: The bugs (24)

1298: The bugs (24)

“Guys!

Didn’t I tell you to ke—”

However, when Erik turned to look at what the others were doing, he stopped in his tracks.

The group was swarmed by the thaids.

The clones had been forced to fight melee.

The only thing keeping them alive was the pillar Erik created to give them the high ground.

They forced the bugs to climb, and the group used that to kill as many as they could.

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

Erik couldn’t leave them like that.

Drawing on his mana reserves, he created a massive wall of water 20 feet high that crashed down onto the swarm like a tidal wave.

The surging flood scattered thousands of thaids, sending their bodies tumbling across the ground.

Before the water could drain away, Erik followed up by channeling an intense electrical current through the liquid.

Blue-white arcs of electricity danced across the water’s surface, electrocuting every thaid touched by even a drop of the conductive liquid.

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

…

…

…

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

However, that did cost Erik some mana, even if the attack itself didn’t last more than two seconds.

Then he focused again on the queen.

She broke free from the last of the vines.

It took her no longer than three seconds to tear through all of them.

She leapt upward.

Her trajectory carried her toward Erik.

Erik barely had time to react, given her speed.

He reinforced Absolute Castle, channeling additional mana into the armor around his torso and head.

The queen struck him with crushing force, like being hit by a speeding truck.

Her serrated claws, each as long as a human finger, scraped against his mana armor with an ear-piercing screech.

The impact alone made Erik’s bones rattle.

Each time she moved her body, her claws shattered sections of his mana armor like breaking glass, forcing Erik to channel more mana to repair the damage.

The queen’s attacks were relentless, and at some point, her foot-long nails sliced through his defenses and carved deep into his flesh.

“AAAAGH!”

Deep gashes and puncture wounds accumulated on Erik’s body as the queen’s attacks connected.

Though he healed himself with Rejuvenating Touch, each application of the healing ability drained significant amounts of his mana reserves.

In the meantime, notifications kept piling up as Erik’s team members killed more and more bugs.

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

The queen’s combination of strength and lightning-fast strikes made the situation dire.

Not only did she do a lot of damage, but she did it often.

The speed at which Erik got wounded only ramped up.

The queen didn’t notice Erik healing and hit him with enough strength that telekinesis lost its grip on his body, sending him flying to the ground.

The impact sent Erik crashing into the wall of a nearby building.

Concrete cracked and crumbled, and he struggled to maintain consciousness.

His armor had prevented fatal damage, but the sheer force of the blow had rattled his brain inside his skull.

[Erik, heal yourself!

You have multiple contusions and a minor concussion!]

But despite the hydra’s heads, he was having trouble understanding what the system was saying.

“Erik!” Multiple voices said through the radio.

Erik shook his head, trying to clear his vision.

The queen landed on the broken wall near him.

“Don’t—” Erik coughed, tasting blood.

“Don’t break formation.

Maintain the perimeter; keep killing the bugs.”

The queen attacked again, her mandibles snapping as they aimed for Erik’s head.

He raised a barrier, channeling a massive amount of mana into the protective shield.

It materialized just inches from his face.

This time, the shield blocked the queen’s strike, but keeping such a powerful barrier was draining Erik’s mana reserves.

The queen’s attack was incredibly powerful.

Despite Erik continuously channeling mana into it, the barrier shook and trembled under her assault.

[The barrier’s integrity is decreasing.]

Erik’s world spun.

His thoughts moved sluggishly, disconnected.

Each heartbeat sent pain throbbing through his skull, making focus nearly impossible.

“Have to…

heal,” he said.

Pain was a powerful motivator.

Through the haze of his concussion, Erik used Rejuvenating Touch again and healed himself.

The fog lifted as the brain injury subsided.

The pain receded, and Erik was able to think straight again.

He blinked hard, trying to refocus on the immediate threat as the queen was there to rip his barrier.

[IT’S COLLAPSING!]

With his consciousness still split through Will of the Hydra, he focused on the queen.

Using telekinesis, he pulled massive chunks of concrete and steel from the surrounding buildings.

The debris orbited him briefly before launching toward the queen from multiple angles.

The queen reacted.

She had too much dexterity to not notice the attack.

She focused on defending against the incoming projectiles.

She batted away some with her limbs while dodging others, but several struck her with considerable force, chipping her already damaged carapace.

However, it still wasn’t enough to make a fatal wound.

Erik shot away from the wall, creating space between himself and the queen.

He gulped air in sharp breaths while quickly rethinking his approach.

“Your tactic is working,” Emily said on the radio.

“The smaller bugs are becoming disorganized.

I think your attacks on the queen are disrupting her control.”

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

Erik nodded, though no one could see the gesture.

The lesser bugs were still attacking but with less coordination, which made it easier for the clones to kill them, and Erik kept getting experience points.

[LEVEL UP.]

[LEVEL UP.]

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

[Bellator thanatocoleoptera killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]

[LEVEL UP.]

[LEVEL UP.]

<Yes!>

The system alerts flooded his field of vision while his team kept killing the swarm.

Each level-up restored his stamina and mana to full capacity.