Chapter 1184: The Invisible Assault (1)


    ?


    Erik avoided another barrage of invisible hands. Hundreds of spectral appendages carved through space, each promising destruction.


    "You''re quite fast," Erik said, observing Bill''s rapid movements with a calcting gaze. "But I can''t help but wonder about your stamina. How long can you keep up with me? Every movement you make, every attack you dodge, every invisible hand you create-they all drain your energy reserves. I can see the strain in your movements already."


    "Long enough."


    Erik''s nt tendrils whipped through the ranks of foot soldiers at devastating speed. The reinforced vegetation sliced cleanly through armor and bone, sending crimson sprays across the hangar floor as dozens of soldiers fell. Those caught in the attack had no chance to scream before the metallic tendrils tore through their bodies.


    Bill''s invisible hands surged upward. Erik sensed the distortion in mana flow roll mid-air. He countered by conjuring wind des, sending them slicing toward themander.


    Erik''s wind des sliced cleanly through several of the invisible hands, causing them to dissipate into wisps of mana. Bill watched this with a calm expression. Losing a few spectral appendages meant little to him.


    <He can likely do more of them.>


    "Impressive," Bill said with a hint of admiration. "This is the first time someone hassted against me for this long. Since I got my abilities upgraded by getting the new brain crystal powers, I''ve ended most fights in seconds." He stepped through Erik''s attacks using Speed Burst; he was fast even for Erik. "Though you seem distracted. Are you sure you can waste your focus on the ne?"


    The man grinned.


    A cold, almost predatory smile yed across Erik''s face. A soldier near the aircraft raised his weapon. Erik''s tendril pierced his chest before he could fire, lifting the corpse into the air as a warning to others.


    "Multitasking," the young man said. The will of the hydra was going into overdrive. "It''s something not everyone can learn. I guess you are among those without this gift."


    The mana around Bill got sucked, then the air rippled as thousands of new invisible hands formed a dome around Erik. "Let''s test the limits of this specialty of yours, then."


    Erik couldn''t see them, but he knew Bill was going to do something big.


    <He is going to make more hands.>


    Instability didn''t lie.


    Erik channeled a surge of mana into Tower Bastion, transforming the energy intoyers of protective armor that covered his body from head to toe. The metallic tes materialized quickly, interlocking among themselves.


    Though he knew the spectral hands would likely go through his defenses, Erik preferred to maintain multipleyers of protection. The armor would at least shield him from any conventional attacks that might slip through during the fight.


    He could do nothing but look at Bill with greed. If he could get his hands on his brain crystal power, he might get a further advantage on the Mur Continent.


    "Your power is fascinating. It''s made purely to destroy. Killing is just an aftereffect." Erik said,unching a counterattack. Fire and ice projectiles rained down, forcing Bill to divide his attention. "But the mana drain must be immense."


    "Are you any different? I bet using all those powers is draining you just as much," Bill retorted, his eyes narrowing.


    "The constant maniption of elements, the creation and control of nts, not to mention maintaining that protective armor-it must be taking a toll on your mana reserves. How much longer can you keep this up before you''repletely exhausted?"


    Bill was right about the mana consumption, but he failed to ount for a crucial detail: Erik was steadily gaining experience points with each soldier he killed.


    The constant stream of deaths meant Erik would soon trigger a level up, refreshing his mana reserves and increasing his powers.


    This was an advantage Bill had no idea of, and that would turn the tables of any fight in which Erik and his opponent were on equal footing.


    More soldiers died as Erik''s nts swept through their ranks. The metallic tendrils shed through armor, limbs, and torsos with brutal efficiency.


    Bodies fell in heaps across the hangar floor, their blood pooling beneath broken rifles and shattered helmets. The concrete floor disappeared under a growingyer of corpses, dismembered limbs, and mangled tactical gear.


    [LEVEL UP.]


    "Are you going to Mur?" Bill''s speed burst carried him through Erik''s barrage.


    "I am."


    Erik smiled coldly, his expression betraying no fear. Using his Elemental Lord brain crystal power, he manipted the remaining pools of water and blood scattered across the concrete floor.


    The liquid transformed into thick clouds of steam that rose in dense waves, filling not only the hangar but even the surroundings with a white mist.


    This would allow him not only to prevent the enemy from clearly seeing him but would also make it easier for him to spot the spectral tendrils the second divisionmander created and would also make it harder for the ckguards at the hangar to see the tendrils or target the ne.


    "After I''m done with you, I will kill the first divisionmander," Erik said.


    The invisible hands pierced through the mist like ethereal spears, but Erik had anticipated what Bill would do, and seeing the mist move made it easy for him to avoid the attack.


    Then he activated his Phantom Veil brain crystal power, creating perfect copies of himself spread across the battleground.


    These served their purpose perfectly, drawing Bill''s attacks in different directions while the real Erik moved to a better position.


    "Your reputation barely scratches the surface," Bill said, dispersing the steam. "But you won''t be able to kill her."


    "Oh? Why?" Erik''s nts erupted beneath Bill, forcing him to dodge. Themander''s Matter Disruption turned the vegetation to dust whenever he failed to do so.


    Lightning arced from Erik, channeled through the metallic nts still scattered across the battlefield, which acted as rods.


    Bill''s invisible hands saved him, but several remaining soldiers weren''t as fortunate. Their bodies convulsed and fell, adding to the carnage.


    "She is strong. Stronger than any of us now, and she will be even stronger by the time you get there, IF you get there. You see," Bill said.


    "I''m quite strong myself." Bill''s invisible hands formed a protective sphere around him. "But when she got her new powers, she turned even worse than Monica, and she had been the strongest among us for decades."


    Erikughed. "Yet she died by my hands..." Heunched some wind des at his opponent.@@novelbin@@


    "The first divisionmander won''t have her same fate."


    Erik''s illusions converged. Heunched several more attacks. Fire, ice, lightning, earth, and wind crashed against Bill''s hands while the real Erik tried to find an opening. Predictable as Bill was in his defense, or his targets, he failed to find even a single one.


    Themander''s Matter Disruption worked relentlessly, breaking down each elemental attack Erik threw at him into harmless particles.


    Bill was a formidable opponent, even more than Monica, especially considering Erik was much stronger than when he fought against the third divisionmander.


    Yet the young man could see the subtle tremors in Bill''s fingers and the beads of sweat forming on his forehead.


    Each use of Matter Disruption consumed significant amounts of mana, and the repeated defensive maneuvers were clearly draining Bill''s energy reserves faster than he had


    anticipated.


    However, no matter what Erik did, Bill got the right powers to fight against him. These gave him an absolute defense mean, as much as an attacking one, and his third power gave him mobility, which was the main issue of everyone facing the demonic younger man. "Your powersplement each other well," Erik said,unching another wave of attacks. "Speed topensate for Matter Disruption''s range limitation. Invisible hands to extend its


    reach. Almost perfect."


    "Almost?" Bill''s eyes narrowed.


    "Almost." Erik''s nts transformed, turning from metal to pure water. They exploded


    outward, forcing Bill to spend a great amount of mana to protect himself and prevent Erik


    from drowning him.


    Themander''s speed burst carried him through the water explosion.


    "The ckguards prepared you well," Erik said,bining wind and lightning into a storm


    of destruction. "But they couldn''t prepare you for everything."


    [LEVEL UP.] "They did," Bill said, his Matter Disruption turning Erik''stest attack to nothing.


    Themander attacked again. Thousands of invisible hands converged from every direction. Bill''s speed burst carried him through Erik''s defenses, aiming for a killing blow. But Erik had been waiting for this moment. His Phantom Veil shattered, revealing that the Erik that Bill had been fighting was an illusion. The real Erik appeared behind him, Tower


    Bastion''s armor crackling with power.


    "But it wasn''t enough."


    As Erik kept fighting against Bill, he also focused on protecting the ne. The number of ckguards trying to destroy the aircraft kept increasing.


    Erik had no way to prevent that sea of attacks from reaching the ne, so he created a shield


    around the aircraft.


    Bill''s soldiers kept attacking inrge groups, but Erik''s defenses were too strong. Not only


    were the nts already resistant on their own, but they also changed to other and more


    resistant materials.


    That wasn''t what prevented them from reaching the ne with their attacks, but the fact they still regenerated as if they were nts, meaning that whenever they dented the nt- metallic shield, they regrew, making the soldiers have to restart their efforts.


    In the meantime, Erik kept ughtering whoever got too close and whoever tried to enter the hangar. Many soldiers died as they tried to break through.


    Yet despite the high number of deaths, more soldiers kepting, pouring from the main and side entrances, as if they would die not doing that.