BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM-Chapter 1219: Journey to Mur (7)
At that point, there wasn’t much else Erik could do to keep the monsters away, and nothing he was actually doing worked. Those things were simply too powerful, and their brain crystal powers too harrowing, despite their simplicity.
<What should we do?> Erik asked the biological computer, desperation seeping into his thoughts.
[Try creating barriers. Multiple layers of them. The attribute drain doesn’t affect brain crystal powers, remember? The barriers might buy us time.]
<Great, and then?!>
[Then you pray for the Chimaeric Demons to kill more of these fuckers!]
Erik didn’t have neural links in the absolute wall brain crystal power. He didn’t have the time, nor the will, to make more, since he had to prepare for the journey to Mur, yet he still got a lot of mana, so he was bound to be useful to a certain point. The problem was that he was the only one with the power, and to protect the entire army alone, he was bound to have a massive mana drain.
Unfortunately, unless he postponed the journey to after a new batch of clones with the power was born, that was a situation he knew was going to happen.
However, despite the situation, if the clones killed enough of the creatures, he would level up, and with each level up, he would be able to refill his mana reserves, meaning he would be able to keep the barrier up for longer periods. Rinse and repeat.
However, that depended on how much mana Erik had to spend to make a barrier strong enough to resist the enemy’s assault. Barrier masters’ powers were strong and very efficient, the strongest of the defensive powers out there, but they were usually made by multiple barrier masters, who also had many more neural links than Erik did.
That wasn’t the only problem, because the power behind each blow done by thaids on Mannard was significantly lower than that which the three-headed void ravagers could make, meaning that on Mur, barrier masters were significantly weaker.
Erik was likely going to be forced to use more mana to repair the inevitable cracks the thaids would create, and if the Chimaeric Demons didn’t help him replenish mana, the barrier would crumble.
[It’s not just that,] the system said. [The killing speed of the Chimaeric Demons is crucial here. If the level-ups get too close to each other, you will get your mana replenished without the time to use it. If they are too slow, you will end up without enough mana to maintain the barrier or repair it.]
<In the end we are fucked.>
[Most likely, but this doesn’t mean you can do nothing or that no one will survive.]
Erik pondered the hopelessness of their situation. His army was vast but vulnerable, and these void ravagers were unlike anything they’d faced before.
The sheer number of variables—the mana drain, the timing of kills, the structural integrity of the barrier—all had to align perfectly for them to have even a chance of survival.
Erik sighed deeply as the weight of command pressed down on him. He knew that thousands of lives depended on what he did next. One wrong move, and everyone could die.
Erik channeled mana and formed the barrier. It grew as Erik was aiming at covering the entire army in a sphere. They were in the sky, and protecting only the rear wouldn’t help at all.
Unlike on land, where he could use the terrain to his advantage, here there were many spots from which the thaids could attack.
The barrier grew larger and larger as it stretched to encompass his entire army, but as he did, he quickly realized how mana draining doing that was.
"Shit…"
Erik was doing what barrier masters did in groups.
Besides, the constant movement of fifty thousand flying forms required the barrier to remain flexible and, most importantly, movable.
Every change to the barrier drained more mana, forcing Erik to constantly fine-tune how much power he used.
The dome expanded to its maximum size, encompassing his entire army—but this meant the barrier stretched dangerously thin. Though Erik possessed great power, there was only so much he could do against so many powerful opponents.
A void ravager crashed into the barrier at full speed, its three heads slamming against the energy field at the same time.
The impact sent visible ripples through the barrier and created a thunderous boom that echoed across the sky.
Yet despite the monster’s strength and mass, the barrier held firm—the drain on Erik’s mana reserves was significant, but still manageable at this point.
Then more monsters reached the barrier, and there, things became more complicated. Their combined assault made the entire energy field fluctuate and pulse, threatening to tear apart under the pressure, and the amount of mana used by Erik increased even more.
It was then that the hydra’s head came into play. While two focused on keeping the barrier up, two focused on killing the thaids.
Erik never stopped channeling mana, his hands never stopped moving, sending wind blades toward the monsters.
For every monster he killed, some more reached the barrier.
"Shit."
Yet the sweet notifications poured.
[Hostile creature killed: Mana-absorbing process starting.]
[0%...1%...5%...30%...70%...100%]
[Mana successfully absorbed, starting converting procedure.]
[3...2...1...0]
[Mana successfully absorbed into experience points. 464800445.021101 experience points awarded to the host.]
[Hostile creature killed: Mana-absorbing process starting.]
[0%...1%...5%...30%...70%...100%]
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[Hostile creature killed: Mana-absorbing process starting.]
[Hostile creature killed: Mana-absorbing process starting.]
[Hostile creature killed: Mana-absorbing process starting.]
[LEVEL UP.]
[LEVEL UP.]
[LEVEL UP.]
[LEVEL UP.]
Though he gained experience from destroying the monsters, he had only gotten 4 level-ups so far. Meanwhile, his mana drained at an increasingly rapid rate as more monsters collided with the barrier, and as they got closer, the stronger the effects of the three-headed void ravagers’ brain crystal powers increased.
Erik glanced below, where countless dead monsters floated in the ocean. The sea thaids noticed the amount of corpses and started swarming the area to feast on the bodies of the dead monsters.
"Fuck! Now we can’t even dive!"
Not that Erik wanted to. He wasn’t so reckless, but having the alternative open was still better than not having it.
"They’re too close!" a clone’s warning cut through his concentration. The draining field had grown so strong that Erik could barely stand on his own two legs. His arms felt like lead weights, and each wind blade required more conscious effort to form.
The monsters closed in within a hundred meters of Erik’s forces. Close enough so that he could see every detail of their nightmare-inducing monsters.
They were not the scariest or ugliest Erik had ever seen, but knowing their stats, that sea of thaids gave him a scare almost as big as that of the Leviathan Serpent, and that thing was not only powerful but also massive.
There was something primal about size that triggered deep-seated fears in any sentient being. A creature’s raw physical mass had a way of making observers feel insignificant, triggering instinctive fight-or-flight responses that bypassed rational thought.
Fighting something of similar size was scary enough—the mind could process and adapt to such threats. But facing a gigantic creature that could crush its victims without noticing awakened a deep, primal fear that left people frozen in place, completely helpless.
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Erik had faced many terrifying foes, but there was a unique horror to truly massive creatures that even the deadliest normal-sized enemies couldn’t match.
The psychological impact of being reduced to an ant in comparison was the worst of it all, of having your entire existence diminished by sheer scale.
The Leviathan Serpent showed just how terrifying a giant creature could be. Just looking at its massive size was enough to make even the bravest warriors stand frozen in fear, unable to believe what they were seeing.
The problem was that the three-headed void ravagers gave Erik a similar feeling.
The Chimaeric Demons continued attacking. The Starlight fireballs went through the barrier and hit the monsters, but they were still not that effective. The sky lit up with explosions as they fought to keep the monsters at bay.
[Hostile creature killed: Mana-absorbing process starting.]
[0%...1%...5%...30%...70%...100%]
[Hostile creature killed: Mana-absorbing process starting.]
[Hostile creature killed: Mana-absorbing process starting.]
[Hostile creature killed: Mana-absorbing process starting.]
[LEVEL UP.]
[LEVEL UP.]
Some more three-headed void ravagers slammed against the barrier with devastating force. The impact sent ripples through the entire barrier, forcing Erik to redirect more mana to reinforce that section and less toward his wind blades, which in turn decreased the amount of deaths fueling his experience bar.
<Master,> a clone’s thought reached him, <we can’t keep this speed much longer. The drain is too severe—some clones have had to drop their provisions just to stay airborne!>
<The barrier’s weakening on the eastern side!> another clone said through the mental link. Erik diverted more power there, but doing so left his attacks even weaker.
"FUCK! FUCK! FUUUUCK!"
More void ravagers reached the shield, and Erik could do nothing to stop them.
