Boundless Cultivation-Chapter 92 - Too Self-Important

The energy cell of the crocodile glowed red hot inside his true vision. It couldn’t sustain the force field for too long, but Alaric couldn’t either without any repercussions.

Reluctantly, he created some distance to evade the blast of destructive energy launched by Alpha #2. Flexing his arms, he channeled mana to heal the minor damage.

He hadn’t mastered using his bloodline power yet, which made it much less efficient. Besides, there was no sense wasting more mana when he had a reserve of willpower at his disposal.

Dodging a tail swipe from the dinosaur cyborg, he leaped at Alpha #3 and grabbed its massive tail with both arms. The crocodile cyborg thrashed in his grip, desperately attempting to bite deep into his forearms.

Sharp teeth punctured through the mana armour, but he extended mana spikes from his forearms before they could dig into his flesh. The crocodile screeched in pain as the sharp mana spears ravaged its mouth, turning it into a bloody mess.

Alaric didn’t let go. Instead, he whirled the crocodile and threw it at the dinosaur cyborg, where it crashed into its massive body.

In a split second, he arrived at their location and hammered a series of blows into their bodies - silently chanting his oath skill.

The tough exteriors of both the cyborgs turned to mush before unraveling apart. Wounds racked their bodies, turning them into a mess of blood and some kind of black fluid.

The energy core of the crocodile cyborg was finally exhausted and detonated into a tremendous blow. Alaric had to raise his shield to protect himself.

It seemed the Alpha #2 managed to survive as well due to its potent shield. Surprisingly, it had a self-repair function that knitted its muscle mass and remolded its twisted metal alloy frame.

Alaric observed the artificial healing skill for a while, extracting any insight he could. It was a fascinating experience, witnessing the power of advanced technology.

However, in the end, it was still inferior to humans. After all, what the scientists had spent decades improving, Alaric had surpassed in a few months.

In a split second, Alpha #2 drained almost half of the energy in its core, releasing a tsunami of fiery red heatwave that swallowed the whole glass dome. Alaric encased himself in multiple layers of mana before raising his mana shield.

He was sweating profusely under the heat of the inferno, but under the protection of his superior defenses, he was left unharmed.

When the chaos settled, he dropped his shield and inspected the final enemy. Surprise gleamed in its intelligent eyes as it prepared to trigger another attack.

Alaric didn’t allow it another opportunity. “A legendary predator? Not quite,” he chuckled, vanishing in a flash before appearing behind it.

“Now, it’s my turn,” with a silent whisper he struck his fist - “Disruptive Pulse.”

A shockwave rippled out from the point of impact before imploding, disintegrating a huge portion of its body, including its energy core.

He slowly turned around and walked toward the exit as the dead body of the dinosaur cyborg collapsed to the ground.

Alaric exhaled a sigh. Nobody had been observing the battle from nearby. He couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed at allowing Alpha #9 to escape. But he didn’t let that thought impact his good mood.

After all, the battle with the Alphas had gone smoothly and allowed him to gain tremendous insight.

With no enemy in sight, he settled on the ground to consolidate his insights. 30 minutes later, he checked the progress of his body reforging.

Body Reforging Status:

Average Reforging Progress - 99%Average Mana Infusion Potency - 99%Truthfully, it took him only five minutes to consolidate his gains. Unfortunately, no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t break past the final threshold - a barrier of 1% that seemed as massive as an ocean.

Finally, he scanned the latest notifications.

[Superior Mana Manipulation lvl 19 -> Superior Mana Manipulation lvl 20]

[True Vision lvl 9 -> True Vision lvl 10]

[Disruptive Pulse lvl 16 -> Disruptive Pulse lvl 17]

The leveling up of his abilities had slowed to a crawl due to the lack of challenge. So it made him happy to witness the advancement.

Now, it’s time to find the boss of this zone. Alaric was eager to go all out against a worthy opponent. With that thought in mind, he began scanning his surroundings with [True Vision].

There was not a single creature in sight in this dilapidated ghost city. Alaric sprinted across the street and climbed on top of a skyscraper to increase his field of vision.

The final zone had almost become a playground for experimenting with his skills and abilities. Now, seeing it devoid of any enemies, a sense of loneliness clutched his heart.

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But only for a few moments. Far in the distance, the sky flashed purple, followed by a low rumbling. A few moments later, tiny droplets of chill water began showering the region.

It appeared as if the whole city was crying, acutely of the impending confrontation that would end it all.

Alaric ran his fingers through his wet hair before taking off towards the massive suspension bridge that hung over a river. Something called to him in that direction, although nothing triggered his danger sense.

Ten minutes later, he arrived at his destination. The rusty steel of the bridge was wrapped in creeping vines. Wide sections had collapse,d leaving only a narrow pathway that restricted free movement.

Suddenly, goosebumps crawled across his skin as a massive crackle of lightning struck the center of the bridge.

Stormy winds pelted his body with heavy rain droplets, but he had already empowered his body with mana, aware of the new presence that had materialized.

Stepping through the curtain of rain, a menacing figure emerged - clad in obsidian armor etched with golden carvings. It approached him with slow, deliberate steps as if it had all the time in the world.

Its right arm tapered into razor-sharp claws, gleaming silver at the edges. A collection of thin metal flaps rested on its back - folded wings ready to unfurl in a flash.

A blue shimmer rhythmically crawled across its frame every second. Whether that was purely cosmetic by design or something more practical, he couldn’t discern yet. But one thing was certain - every inch of its body was sculpted with artistic precision.

Wasting no more time, Alaric inspected the final Alpha when it halted a few feet away.

Subject Alpha Prime - The Alpha of Alphas—the apex of technological evolution. Forged entirely from advanced alloys, cybernetic systems, and a hyper-intelligent AI core, Subject Alpha Prime represents the first true success in creating a fully humanoid, intelligent android.

It knows no weakness of flesh—only the cold, calculating logic of a machine optimized for destruction. Armed with an arsenal of cutting-edge weaponry and adaptive combat protocols, it is the ultimate manifestation of machine evolution.

It was just as Alaric had suspected. The being before him was a completely artificial creation devoid of any sort of flesh or blood. It wasn’t a cyborg. No, Alpha Prime was an android.

In his true vision, the boss blazed with a golden energy. Judging by the heat generated by its core, its fuel cell was made with a completely different technology than the other Alphas.

That must be a reactor core. Witnessing the power of nuclear fission from up close, Alaric was awestruck. That tiny reactor core had enough fuel to power a whole city for an entire year.

There was no telling whether he would be able to survive if that thing were to explode. In fact, he was pretty sure the whole city would be destroyed.

Alpha Prime halted a few feet away from him, calmly observing him with its hollow sockets that burned with twin crimson rings.

Alaric was primed for a life-or-death fight. However, contrary to his expectations, his opponent didn’t charge at him or fire a volley of missiles. It didn’t even radiate a killing intent, a fact that was undeniable since his danger sense was as calm as a lake on a windless night.

It simply scrutinized everything - from its own limbs to the distant horizon crowned with towering skyscrapers. As if it was perceiving everything for the first time.

When a few minutes passed and the killing machine made no move, he was confused. What is happening? He clenched his fist, unwilling to let his guard down. Is it waiting for me to attack first?

“Well, what are you waiting for?” said Alpha Prime, a little annoyed. His voice sounded surprisingly human, echoing under the armored exoskeleton suit. “I’m ready whenever you are. Just…do your best,” his voice drawled.

Alaric was a little taken aback. For some reason, he had the impression that the boss didn’t really want to fight him. Whether that was because it didn’t consider him a worthy opponent or because it was lazy, he wasn’t sure.

Feeling a little awkward, he decided to humor the android. “Why don’t you attack first?” he said, suspiciously. “Aren’t you programmed to kill all humans?”

Alpha Prime’s face morphed into a scowl as he replied, “No…where did you get that idea?” If Alaric hadn’t witnessed it, he wouldn’t have believed it. For a machine, its face was surprisingly expressive and it appeared really annoyed at him for some reason.

To be fair, he based his assumptions on what he read in the Codex Vault. So he couldn’t really fault it.

Crossing its arms, the boss continued, “Humans…always so self-important. My only directive is to kill you. You are Alaric, right?”

How is that any better? Suddenly, Alaric felt dumb for pitying the android. It didn’t escape his notice that the boss hadn’t answered his first question.

“So why don’t you come at me?” he condensed mana into his palm, ready to unleash it at any moment. “Are you afraid? Don’t worry I’ll go easy on you.”

“You really thought that childish taunts would work on me?” the boss replied with a deadpan stare.

Of course, Alaric hadn’t really counted on it. But in his mind, it was worth a try. But, he was really interested to know why the boss wasn’t following its directive.

Realizing that he would not initiate the first strike, the boss exhaled a sigh and finally expressed what it had in mind. “If I engaged, you wouldn’t survive the first strike.”

Oh, I doubt that very much. He mentally chuckled, but decided to stay silent.

The boss continued in his exasperated tone, “Besides, why do I have to follow a directive set by a human? I work on my own terms.” It glared at him, as if daring him to contradict it. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Ah, I see why you are frustrated now. It was funny, in a way. The boss was designed to be the perfect machine and that meant, replicating every aspect of humans - including emotions.

No doubt, it was extremely powerful, but it was also too intelligent - too self-aware to be mindlessly following orders.

Alaric almost chuckled, re-reading its description. It was hard to believe that the system offered such a twisted or wrong description of an enemy. It almost felt like a joke. That made him wonder, though, whether he could completely rely on its descriptions ever again in the future.

Alpha Prime released a wave of killing intent for the first time, almost on the verge of launching an attack. No doubt, it was offended, misunderstanding the reason for his laughter.

Alaric wasn't really afraid, but he still wanted to clear the misunderstanding. The being was self-aware after all. “Don’t get me wrong,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye. “I completely understand where you are coming from. I don’t follow orders that I don’t agree with, either.”

“Oh, you do?” the android said, restraining its killing intent. It was at a loss for words, scratching its temple. It tilted its head, carefully observing Alaric for the first time.

“Now that we understand each other, why don’t you give me the reward I am due?” Alaric chuckled. Of course, it was simply a joke. A fight was inevitable.

For the first time, Alpha Prime chuckled as well. “If only it were that easy, I would’ve done so long ago.” It shook his head. “I’m afraid, I have to…aid you in your advancement through beating the shit out of you.”

There wasn’t much to say anymore. If the boss wasn’t willing to initiate the first strike, he would. There wasn’t anything to feel guilty about. This was just a simulation, and his opponent wasn’t a human.

Besides, he decided to continue his conversation while fighting. Alaric launched a series of mana blasts at its face, before forging two mana swords and lunging at it.

Alpha Prime made no attempt to evade the purple orbs of destruction that swiftly approached him. It stood still as two blasts erupted back to back, swallowing it up in a cloud of dust and debris.