BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

Chapter 1177: From Hell



"Such confidence," Erik said. He stopped pumping mana into his Phantom Veil brain crystal power's neural links and turned visible, revealing himself to the others.

He was near the hangar's entrance, looking at the second division commander with a confident but also cold look. "But who says I can't handle both tasks at once?"

Small seeds fell from his hand, unseen by everyone, rolling across the wet ground. The Second Division Commander's eyes failed to track the movement, and that was his mistake.

"Overconfidence killed many skilled warriors before you," the man said, his lips curving into a cold smile. "Though I must admit, I was surprised you defeated Monica."

While they spoke, Erik channeled mana into the seeds, making it spread from his feet. Deep beneath the surface, roots spread, growing toward the aircraft with unnatural speed.

"Monica? The third division commander?" Erik laughed. "She was nothing much. Just a scared cat who could do nothing but hide behind a fake wyvern."

Erik hated the blackguards and taunted the man to incite a reaction, but he didn't relish speaking ill of the dead, and it was something he shirked. Of course, that didn't mean he never did. When the others found out about his killing of Nathaniel, he had to give an explanation. Clearly, telling them about the bad deeds the man did, or how he tried to kill him, was just the truth.

But among those explanations, bad comments fell. It was human nature to criticize what they didn't like.

The commander's smile didn't waver. "Bold words from someone who spent his time running from us while being invisible."

He gestured toward his men. "At least we face our enemies directly."

"Face them directly?" Erik raised an eyebrow. "Are you shitting me? Don't act like I don't know what you are trying to do, Bill."

The man scowled. How did he know his name? That was one of the blackguards' most guarded secrets. His, Monica's, and Vania's names were a mystery to anyone in the world, and those who knew it thought they were dead.

"You are just trying to gain time."

This revelation shook Bill to his core. He couldn't be certain, but either Erik was perceptive enough to notice his every subtle move, or he had mind-reading abilities. Though his orders to his men might have revealed his stalling tactics, there was simply no other way Erik could have learned his name.

Underground, the tendrils continued their advance, spreading beneath the feet of the unsuspecting blackguards. The commander's men moved closer to the aircraft. Thinking Erik had not seen them. He did.

"Clever observation," the commander said. "But it's not like you can do anything about it." "Are you sure?"

The man's expression hardened. "Confidence is admirable, Erik Romano, but it can be misplaced. You might want to reconsider your position."

He gave a look at his men; they were already pointing their weapons at the aircraft.

"Reconsider?" Erik's voice carried mock surprise.

"Let me get this straight. Put case you destroy the plane. That means I simply have nothing holding me back. I could slaughter all of you with peace of mind."

That made the blackguards jump and shiver. After all, Erik Romano just made a threat, and that threat was made against them.

"Are you really sure you want to destroy that plane?"

Bill paused.

"Besides, I thought this was supposed to be about facing enemies directly. Yet here you are, still trying to buy time."

The roots reached their target. With no one expecting something like that to happen, they sprout out of the ground, coiling around the aircraft from the other side. The blackguards didn't notice. The vines got in such a position that made them ready to kill and protect the aircraft at a moment's notice.

Erik kept his focus on the commander, making sure the man's attention remained on their verbal sparring, and the threat also steered the blackguards to him, and not on the plane.

"Time?" The second division commander paused. "Yes, time..."

Then he realized something was wrong. If Erik wanted to protect the plane, he should have acted already. His soldiers were actively working to destroy it, yet Erik remained passive. Then it clicked.

<He must be stalling for time too...>

The moment the Second Division Commander realized Erik's intention, thick tendrils erupted from the ground. They were not the same on the planes; those fully coated the plane in a protective embrace.

The wet soil split apart as vine-like appendages, each as thick as a man's arm, shot upward with explosive force.

The nearest blackguard screamed as one of the tendrils wrapped around his waist. The plant's sprouted thorns that pierced through his armor like needles through paper. Blood sprayed in an arc as the thorns expanded inside his body, shredding his internal organs and then the external ones.

In a matter of seconds, a man, a powerful one, got killed. No. Talking about destruction was more appropriate. What was scary was that Erik killed him in the most gruesome and painful way possible, and for a good reason.

He didn't even have time to try to save himself or to resist, because the tendrils were too fast, too strong.

Erik had to instill such a sense of fear in his enemies because they needed to fear getting close to the plane. If they fought him, they might just end up blasted. A quick death, but if they tried to destroy the plane, Erik would make sure they would die painfully. The man from Frant had not only the will, the coldness, and the determination, but even the power.

The ground exploded in a nightmarish display of writhing tendrils, resembling the tentacles of a hellish octopus bursting forth from hell.

This wasn't a nightmare you could forget by drowning yourself in alcohol. This was brutally, horrifyingly real.

Not dozens, but hundreds of these monstrous growths erupted simultaneously, each as thick as a man's torso and adorned with barbs that gleamed like freshly whetted knives.

They moved with an unnatural intelligence, twisting and coiling through the air like living things possessed by malevolent intent.

It was that kind of view that would make one sweat just thinking about it, one of those that would make people shiver in fear for years.

A horror that would haunt them even in sleep-if they could sleep at all. The reason for that was because those standing in front of those tendrils were the target, and they knew, instinctively, they had no way to fight against those things.

Under Erik's control, these abominations sought the soldiers-probing armor joints, seeking exposed flesh, and finding every weak point with horrifying accuracy.

The tendrils struck like serpents, each hit calculated not just to kill but to inflict maximum agony. The very air seemed to grow thick with the promise of inevitable death, and as the tendrils started killing, the metallic scent of blood started filling the air like the gas of a stove

left open.

Two blackguards raised energy shields, but the plants erupted from the ground beneath their feet, coiling around their legs and crushing bone.

"What is th—" a soldier cried out before a tendril speared through his chest. The plant expanded inside his ribcage, branches spreading outward and tearing through flesh and armor. His body went limp as the demonic plants lifted him high into the air, and blood fell to the ground like a waterfall.

He wasn't the only one sharing that fate, and his wasn't the only blood tinting red the ground.

Everyone turned red.

<Maximum theatricality...>

The soldiers near the aircraft found themselves surrounded. Like trees, the tendrils' tips split into multiple branches that lashed out with whip-like speed. Faster than a serpent. Heads separated from bodies as the razor-sharp edges sliced through their necks. Blood painted the hangar, mixing with the standing water to create crimson pools.

A blackguard unleashed a fire-based brain crystal power, trying to burn the plants, but Erik simply changed the tendrils to liquid metal.

The plants wrapped around his arms, immobilizing him before additional metal tendrils solidified and pierced his body from multiple angles.

His scream got cut short as thorny branches erupted from his mouth.

Someone else, instead, got the liquid metal inside their mouths, noses, and ears. They got

drowned.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"

No one was able to understand what was happening, nor how Erik could do that, but it was clear it was thanks to one of his many brain crystal powers.

The Second Division Commander watched in horror as his men died around him. Each death was more gruesome than the last as Erik's power turned nature itself into a weapon of war.

Throughout the carnage, Erik maintained eye contact with the Second Division Commander, a cold smile playing across his face.

"YOU IDIOTS! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN ABOUT HIS ABILITY TO MANIPULATE PLANTS?!" The second division commander said.

But even that didn't explain why the plants changed shape and material. He didn't even know

if he could call them plants anymore.

His eyes darted between his fallen soldiers and the nightmarish vegetation that erupted fromn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

the ground and that was rapidly transforming the battlefield into a grotesque garden of

death.

Fleeing soldiers found their escape blocked by sudden plant growth. The merciless vegetation impaled some and tore others apart.

The soldiers tried to resist the onslaught, but it was impossible. They were strong, but not enough to fight against Erik, not in that way.

"Kill him!" Someone shouted, as the most logical thing seemed to be killing the one controlling the plants, but it was too late. The vines had created a complete perimeter around

Erik and the first division commander and left the remaining soldiers in a deadly garden of

writhing tendrils outside.

They tried to survive, but at the same time, to free their division commander. Attacks bombarding the walls Erik raised, who turned into ever-shifting metals.

Dozens of bodies lay scattered across the floor, their armor split open like fruit rinds, internal

organs exposed to the night air. The tendrils swayed gently, ready for their master's next

command.

"Now then," Erik said, "shall we continue our discussion about facing enemies directly?"