BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM C.1089: Levium (6)

The man swung his massive sword in a wide arc. Erik bent down and avoided the attack, but the man then unleashed a storm of slashes, giving Erik some trouble.

<This guy is powerful.>

The man was not just strong; after all, that sword had to weigh a ton; he was also fast. Almost as fast as him.

That combination of speed and strength undoubtedly made the guy capable of ripping through Erik's armor as if it were paper.

It was a blackguard, after all, and these guys didn't have lame brain crystal powers, no matter how simple they might appear.

It was very likely that his native brain crystal power vastly increased his strength, and that was why, while the power was relatively simple, the blackguards got him into their organization.

<There is no doubt his native power was that increasing his strength, given how well he manages that sword.>

Erik fought back. He didn't use weapons, simply because he didn't need them anymore. The only thing he needed were his armored fists and the effects of Nathaniel's power. Of course, after the merge, it was something completely new.

Powered up by the shockwaves he produced, he would kill the guy as easily as he could tear through his armor. The problem was that he was able to keep up with Erik in terms of speed.

<I need to kill this fucker...>

Despite being big, the blackguard moved surprisingly well, always getting out of harm's way in the nick of time.

<But it's problematic... Since his brain crystal powers allow him to increase strength and speed at will, the more mana he injects through his neural links, the faster and stronger he becomes.>

However, that also meant the man was probably burning his mana just to keep up with him. <I'm sick of this...>

Erik channeled mana through his Lightning Lord's neural links.

<I doubt he will be fast enough to compete with the speed of light...>>

Erik wanted to conserve his mana, but guys like these were those Erik feared the most because they could render his speed useless or close to it.

<The blackguards must have thought that a guy like him might be able to defeat me.>

Too bad Erik was not the same as he was three years prior. Almost all his brain crystal powers were powerful, and most importantly, they had a lot of neural links.

"Let's see if you can take this on, you motherfucker!"

A lightning bolt shot from Erik's fingers, cutting through the air with a loud crackle. The bright blue-white flash hit the blackguard head-on.

Sparks flew, flesh burned, and a body shivered.

As electricity coursed through him, the man lost control of his bladder and pissed himself. But the man didn't have the time to feel embarrassed because the shock was too much for him. He fell to the ground, dead and smoking from the intense electrical current.

[HUMAN 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. 18424 EXPERIENCE POINTS AND 184.24 DNA POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.]

The problem was that the Ox guy wasn't the only one around. While Erik fought against him, the other blackguards joined the fray. For the entire duration of it, around 20 seconds, the two were just blurs, too fast to even understand where they were. The others couldn't get too close or attack Erik.

But when the man died, they swarmed towards him like angry hornets, their attacks coming from every direction.

Erik weaved and ducked, avoiding a barrage of various kinds of energy blasts and flying debris.

There were some that had powers similar to those of Ramon, with them using fluctuating weapons to fight.

Some of them were even at the same level as the old man, but none was at Levium's level. Uncle Benjamin showed how terrifying he was.

If Erik had the time to absorb these brain crystal powers, he would get something really interesting. Unfortunately, he neither had the time nor the will.

His reflexes were pushed to their limits because those guys only multiplied the number of things he had to avoid. Even if he wanted, he couldn't absorb those powers.

His fists flew in a blur, connecting with devastating force, the Force Bastion brain crystal power increasing his destructiveness several folds. When he somehow failed to deal a physical blow, the shockwaves blew up the unfortunate ones on the other side of his fist, even without physical connection.

<These fucking barriers are a real pain in the ass.>

Those guys were another problem. Some of the blackguards and their allies were just playing the support role, protecting their comrades from harm. There were enough people around for them to manage that.

Erik tried to get rid of them as best as he could, but it wasn't easy. These were experts.

<No level up yet...>

If it wasn't for the neural links Erik got in the past months, he would have been in serious trouble. Not only did those increase the potency of brain crystal powers, but they also made them more efficient to use.

"Stupid mother fuckers."

Erik gritted his teeth and focused on those providing defensive support. He unleashed a barrage of wind blades. But they defended themselves, creating multiple barriers.

Erik had a lot of mana, but not enough to contend against that of thousands of people. henever he tered a shield, or any kind of defensive mean, his attacks were stopped by those behind them.

<The barriers themselves are not a problem. It is the fact they are a ton.>

The barriers were like the layers of an onion. They seemed endless and were annoying. As soon as Erik broke through one layer, another one appeared right after it. Then another one

showed up.

The blackguards struggled to keep enough barriers up, though, and seizing this moment of vulnerability, Erik tore through the defenders like the blast of an explosion would, using his Force bastion to propel himself at great speed.

He didn't use that often because he was fast already, and without the parallel will brain crystal power, even he had trouble keeping up with the speed. Yet he focused.

His fists and feet became lethal weapons, shattering bones and rupturing organs with each

strike.

Blood sprayed as he ripped through flesh, his movements a concentrated of savage efficiency. Erik's attacks were designed to obliterate, and that was what they did. Screams of agony filled the air as he left a trail of mangled bodies in his wake.

In the span of mere seconds, a dozen soldiers crumpled to the ground, dead. The defensive line now lay in disarray, creating a brief window of opportunity for Erik to take care of

someone else.

Flames erupted from his hands, scorching those who dared to get too close, leaving a trail of

charred bodies.

"STOP THE MONSTER!"

"KILL THE DEMON!"

Despite this, Erik found himself constantly on the defensive. The best he could do was

counterattack, or take advantage of those brief moments he gained, to kill those stupid enough to lose sight of him. But they weren't many.

"Shit! There are too many blackguards."

Their attacks became more dangerous as the fight went on, most likely because they were slowly finding a way to use their numbers to fight against him.

Until now, just random attacks landed on his armor because he failed to avoid them due to the

numbers. But if he kept fighting against these guys, he was going to start getting seriously

injured.

Erik heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Fuck! Their reinforcements arrived!"

New batches of enemy soldiers filled the area, turning his kills into a pointless waste of time. Eventually, there were even more new soldiers than there had been at the start of the fight.

<I need to get the fuck out of here.>

Erik channeled more mana, this time into his Frostwind Fire Tempest brain crystal power. He created a dome of ice, and then, using his force bastion, he shattered it. Countless ice shards

flew at devastating speed towards those surrounding him.

[LEVEL UP.]

Dead bodies crumpled on the ground, but it was just the tip of the literal iceberg. The young man leaped into the air, and once more he shapeshifted into something hard to see, a bug.

He buzzed away from the carnage, seeking a new place from which to catch his breath and

plan his next move.

<I need to rest...>

The system might have refilled his mana reserves, but his stamina and his mental strength

were starting to weaken.

The problem wasn't the strength of his enemies. He could mop the floor with them.

<It's just that they are too many!>

He had to avoid too many attacks; he had to use too much of his mana to keep his armor up and repair it when a blow landed on him, and that was very taxing.

The young man flew into a narrow alley, then he came out onto a wide street. Erik looked around with his insect eyes. He saw a place where he could rest for a couple of minutes and

darted there.