Chapter 54: Living Towards Death
Late at night.
Oluson West District, Abandoned Mana Refinery.
"Oluson really is full of relics from the old era."
Hodell stood on a broken steel platform high above the refinery grounds. The night wind howled across the rusted structures and filled his trench coat, making it snap sharply behind him. Beneath his feet, the entire abandoned complex lay silent and black, like the corpse of some gigantic beast that had long since rotted but still refused to collapse.
In his sight, however, nothing here was truly dead.
Through [Energy Vision], complicated currents of mana and psionic force intertwined beneath the surface of the refinery like diseased veins. The hidden shield covering the stronghold pulsed faintly in the dark, and deep underground, an even more dangerous glow gathered like a festering wound.
Hodell lowered his gaze.
Then he gave the order.
"Move."
Boom!!!
A blinding crimson beam ripped through the sky and slammed into the hidden shield over the refinery.
The whole night shuddered.
High energy particles scraped violently against the shield, releasing a shrill metallic scream that made the bones ache. Shockwaves blasted outward, sweeping rubble and dust into the air. The nearby buildings lost what little glass they had left, every window exploding into glittering powder.
At the same moment, the military police of the Special Review Team surged forward like a flood of black iron, charging through the rupture point before the enemy could recover.
The battle began instantly.
On the other side of the complex, far from the main bombardment, Loyi crouched before a heavy blast proof isolation door deep in the service corridors. His fingers flew over the terminal as streams of runes and decoding algorithms flickered wildly across the display.
Sweat ran down his face.
Then, finally
Beep.
The final firewall collapsed.
The sealed door slowly slid open with a deep grinding rumble.
Dark red mist instantly poured out.
It was thick, oily, and wrong. It spread along the floor like blood mixed with pus, and the air reeked of rust, rot, and scorched metal.
Loyi's terminal screamed with warnings.
"Mana radiation exceeds the safe threshold by four hundred percent!" His voice rose sharply. "Conventional protective suits will fail in under three minutes!"
Kyle's face darkened. Irene instinctively covered her mouth. Baron, who was now fighting with a body that could no longer return to the old battlefield, clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked.
Hodell stepped forward, looked into the red fog, and gave a small nod.
"As expected."
He sounded almost satisfied.
"The seasoning Troy left behind is stronger than I thought."
He turned to the squad behind him.
"Kyle, set up a defensive perimeter here."
Kyle's head snapped toward him. "What?"
"That is an order."
Hodell's tone was calm, but there was no room for argument.
"With radiation this dense, your gear will not last. Your job is to hold this point, set up the receiving terminal outside, and pull every bit of information out of whatever is in there."
He lifted a silver prismatic device in one hand.
The [Mana Signal Bridge].
"Connecting the network and keeping the transmission stable is enough trouble for one person. I can still get out if things go bad."
Baron took a step forward. "Ryan"
Hodell cut him off with a glance.
"Guard the retreat well," he said, and smiled faintly. "I still plan on coming back."
Then he gripped the matte black handle in his hand and stepped into the red mist without looking back.
The weapon remained in its compact form for now, little more than a short handle surrounded by miniature magnetic loops.
[Type Zero: Slaughter Grip]
[Quality: Blue]
[Base Attributes: Attack Power 93 to 182, Shaping Speed 0.1s, Effective Distance 3m in melee mode, 45m in projectile mode, Overload Threshold 310]
[Equipment Requirement: Mystery 50]
[Length: 0.26m in retracted state]
[Weight: 0.95kg]
[Additional Effect: Adaptive Constraint Magnetic Ring. Energy manifestations and simulated elemental attacks gain 20% Armor Penetration]
[Description: Formless and shapeless, like water.]
Of all the equipment he had "lawfully seized" from recent operations, this was the one he liked most.
The moment he entered the core area, the world changed.
The air was heavy. Red. Silent.
The sound of his boots against the metal grating echoed with unnatural clarity, as though the place were amplifying every step on purpose.
On either side of the passageway stood huge cultivation tanks filled with murky liquid. Within them floated incomplete Aberrations, their pale bodies stitched with tubes and runic locks. Some lacked faces. Some lacked limbs. Some had too many of both.
As Hodell passed, dead white eyes slowly rolled in their sockets to follow him.
He continued forward.
The corridor opened into a massive circular chamber.
In the center stood a Tyrant class Aberration, over five meters tall, silent and imposing like a statue forged for war. At its feet, linked by layers of runic conduits, rested the main control console.
There it is.
Hodell crossed the floor quickly and slammed the [Mana Signal Bridge] into the console slot.
Click.
Light burst from the silver prism. Streams of data surged into the bridge at once.
In his earpiece, Loyi nearly shouted from relief. "Connected! We've got it! Six minutes! Just hold it for six minutes!"
And then the trap sprang.
Beep!!!
Every inactive unit in the chamber woke at once.
The blast proof door behind Hodell crashed down like an executioner's blade, sealing the chamber completely. Then thick energy gratings rose one after another from the floor and walls, dividing the hall into layered kill zones.
Panels flipped open.
Aberrations poured out.
Not one or two.
Dozens.
Mass produced models, combat units, ranged units, assault forms, all rushing into the hall from hidden compartments like a swarm released from a nest.
Outside, Irene's face went white as the surveillance feed filled with movement.
"Ryan!"
Baron slammed his fist against the outer barrier in rage. "Loyi! Open it!"
"I'm trying!" Loyi's fingers were shaking. "The lockout is independent! The shielded system just overrode everything!"
Inside the chamber, Hodell glanced at the transmission progress bar.
Then he turned away from the console and faced the rising tide of enemies.
He touched the earpiece lightly.
"Baron. Do not panic. Focus on the download."
"Ryan, don't be stupid, we'll-"
"Listen."
His voice cut through the comm channel, steady and clean.
"You are not getting this door open quickly enough. The data matters more than I do. Secure it and leave if you have to."
There was an ugly silence on the line.
Then Hodell added, quieter, "Do not waste what I bought for you."
He released the channel.
Then he used the trump card.
character summon card: Elanis.
[character summon card: Elanis]
[Gravitational Turbulence: Centered on self, enemy Agility within 30 meters is forcibly reduced by 30%. Any projectile entering the field loses 2% speed per meter. Duration: 5 minutes]
[Uses remaining: 1/8]
Hum!
Invisible gravity exploded outward from him.
The charging Aberrations instantly staggered. Some sank half a step as if their bodies had abruptly grown several times heavier. Joints groaned. Metal frames strained. Projectiles launched from the back line wobbled as soon as they entered his field.
And Hodell moved.
The Slaughter Grip lit up in his palm. A ghostly blue blade extended with a hiss, forming in less than a blink.
He kicked off the ground.
The alloy floor beneath his foot cracked.
In the next instant, he became a dark streak weaving straight into the enemy formation.
There was no flourish to it.
No needless display.
Only speed, precision, and murder.
The first Aberration did not even finish raising its arm before the blue arc flashed across its waist.
Its upper body slid free.
Only a heartbeat later did the cut glow red with heat.
[You gained 3 Trial Points]
[Limit Trial: 3/1500]
The rear line opened fire.
Dense streams of high velocity magic rounds filled the air. These were not ordinary bullets but mana gold penetrators etched with destabilizing runes. Under normal conditions, a D Class Mage caught in such a barrage would be shredded in seconds.
But within Gravitational Turbulence, the bullets slowed.
Only a little.
A little was enough.
Hodell tilted sideways. One round scraped past his ribs. Another passed through the space his throat had occupied an instant earlier. His body flowed through the barrage with impossible calm, slipping through narrow windows between death and death.
He did not merely dodge.
He read.
Every distortion. Every drag in the projectile path. Every lag in the enemy's movement. His eyes and instincts fused into one seamless killing rhythm.
He dropped low beneath a sweeping arm, stepped inside the Aberration's guard, and drove the blue blade upward into a fingernail sized seam beneath its shoulder joint.
Core severed.
The giant body crashed down.
"My God," Irene whispered outside, one hand covering her mouth.
None of them could reconcile the young specialist who had first arrived under their care with the figure now dancing alone through a mechanical slaughterhouse.
That had been less than two months ago.
The wave kept coming.
Flying Constructs descended from the ceiling in shrieking clusters. Assault Aberrations with oversized limbs charged from both flanks. Small Alchemy Dolls rolled out from side compartments, their surfaces glowing with unstable self destruct runes.
Hodell did not slow.
He shaped the Slaughter Grip again, breaking the blade into multiple floating shards of blue light. They curved through the air like guided fangs, slicing through the incoming Constructs with frightening accuracy. One by one, they dropped from the air in pieces.
[You gained 4 Trial Points]
[You gained 4 Trial Points]
[You gained 5 Trial Points]
The Alchemy Dolls were more dangerous.
They did not need to survive.
They only needed to reach the console.
One screamed toward the bridge device.
Hodell twisted in place, formed a half shield with one arm, and took the explosion on the edge of his defense. The blast drove him half a step sideways. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Outside, Baron's roar shook the comm channel. "Loyi! How much longer?!"
"Eighty percent!" Loyi shouted. "Almost there!"
In the chamber, Hodell's breathing roughened.
He glanced at the Trial panel.
[Limit Trial: 371/1500]
Not even a third.
His eyes lifted and settled on the Tyrant in the center of the hall.
The giant unit had fully awakened by now. Dark red energy throbbed inside its chest cavity, strong enough to distort the air around it. Even under Elanis's gravitational field, it remained terrifying.
A Level 48 Tyrant.
Good.
If he wanted Trial Points, there was no better harvest.
The Tyrant roared and slammed one massive arm down.
Boom!
Dark red magic swirled around its fist, compressing the air into a crushing wall. Hodell planted himself in front of the console and raised both hands.
[Overload activated]
[Ability power +10%]
[Energy consumption +15%]
Deep blue energy erupted into a semicircular barrier above him.
The giant fist hammered down.
The impact shook the entire hall.
Metal screamed.
The floor under Hodell's feet shattered and caved. He was driven to one knee, blood spilling from the corner of his lips, bones straining under the pressure.
The Tyrant's data flashed across his vision.
Tyrant Class Aberration Level: 48
Strength: 62
Weighted Magic: Agility +3, Strength +18
Crystallized Shell
Runic Barrier
No Spirit Body
Unstable Core
And more.
Enough.
Instead of retreating, Hodell used the impact.
Borrowing the collapsing force, he launched himself forward and upward, turning the pressure into momentum. His body shot along the Tyrant's arm like a dark bolt of lightning.
The monster tried to pull back.
Too slow.
Hodell reached its chest.
"First strike."
The Slaughter Grip transformed at once, its tip narrowing into a piercing cone of blue light. He drove it into a runic node on the outer armor.
Crack.
The external shield shattered.
[Lethal Critical Hit activated]
[Next critical damage increased to 250%]
"Second strike."
He cut into the same point again, this time deeper. Armor melted open. Beneath it, the dark red core pulsed like a diseased heart.
The Tyrant's internal defense systems activated instantly. Arrays of laser probes snapped toward his body.
Hodell did not retreat.
He condensed a rough shield with one arm and ignored the pain as it broke against the incoming fire.
"Third strike."
Ding!
He stabbed again.
The shell around the core cracked visibly.
[Lethal Critical Hit activated]
[Next critical damage increased to 250%]
The Tyrant's eyes blazed.
Its entire chest cavity lit up as a self destruct sequence triggered.
The red glow swelled.
Even outside the chamber, they could see the light through the barriers.
Kyle's eyes turned red. He knew what was about to happen. Yet on the screen, Hodell still did not step back.
He moved closer.
Closer.
As if he were walking into a fire he had chosen long ago.
In that moment, his posture was so calm it hurt to watch.
Then he struck.
"Fourth strike."
He compressed every remaining sliver of killing intent, strength, and control into one final stab.
Puchi.
The blue blade pierced the red heart clean through.
For one suspended instant, the chamber went silent.
[Four critical hits within 2 seconds]
[Lethal Critical Hit conditions met]
[Judgment successful]
The light in the Tyrant's eyes died.
Its massive body froze, then collapsed to its knees with a heavy metallic groan.
[You killed Tyrant Class Aberration Lv48]
[Base EXP gained: 64,000]
[Target was 18 levels higher]
[Additional 500% bonus applied]
[Total EXP: 320,000]
[Personal output contribution: 100%]
[Additional EXP gained: 320,000]
[Trial Points gained: 31]
[Limit Trial: 402/1500]
Hodell landed lightly.
He flicked the residue from the weapon and exhaled once.
Too little.
The Trial gain was not bad, but not enough to justify what came next.
Because the core was not dead.
It was collapsing.
The dark red core in the Tyrant's chest suddenly shrank inward, then swelled with monstrous brightness. The whole hall shifted from bloody crimson to an overexposed white. The glow was so intense it erased edges and depth alike, turning the chamber into a negative image of itself.
Energy backflow.
And not an ordinary one.
This was the kind of backlash that did not merely vaporize flesh. It erased everything caught inside it.
Hodell stopped moving.
His pupils narrowed.
At the same time, his crisis perception trait screamed.
Every nerve in his body detonated with warning. His skin prickled. His heart clenched. Even without thought, he knew with perfect certainty
If this thing went off normally, there would be nothing left of him to bury.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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