1135 The battle for Maynard Ind (12)


    The ground shook hard, causing Erik to stumble and freeze in ce. The vibrations intensified, and the ckguards'' base trembled violently.


    Cracks appeared on the walls, spreading like spider webs across the surfaces. Dust and small debris rained down from the ceiling as the tremors grew stronger.


    The entire structure groaned and creaked, but it wasn''t like it was falling on itself. Quite the opposite.


    "What the fuck is going on?"


    The sound of fire crackling started raising like the gurgling of a drowning man, swimming desperately toe out of the sea, threatening to kill him. Then, an explosion shattered the building from the inside. The night sky was aze, illuminated by a fire as bright as the stars shining in the sky. It was just that, following that explosion, a huge ck reptilian head came and peered through the fire. Its slit eyes, staring at Erik.


    "Shit… SHIT!"


    The creature had massive ck wings sprouting out from the back of its massively long and thick armored front arms. They wererger than a ship''s sails, only that they were pitch ck instead of bright white.


    The rest of the body then appeared.


    "What? How?!"


    It looked like the ckguards were controlling a ck Wyvern. Only that thing looked the real deal.


    The Chimaeric Demons got restless. Mira, Amber, June, and Emily felt the same. But the ckguards started cheering.


    "It''s definitely under their control!"


    The creature, now free of what remained of the building, drew closer to him. Purpose evident in its eyes. Erik noticed something off about its appearance as it walked towards him.


    The wyvern''s body was riddled with wounds. Parts of its flesh seemed to rot, with maggots festering in the decaying tissue. It also missed part of its back right leg.


    The wyvern stopped before Erik, staring at him from its height, while breathing on Erik with its putrid breath. From atop the creature''s back, a figure leaped down.


    It was a woman. Shended on the side of the beast''s neck, her piercing gray eyes locking onto Erik.


    "Commander Vsquez, Third Division of the ckguards," she said, her voice cold. "I''ve been looking forward to meeting you, Erik."


    Erik felt rage surge through him. This woman was one of the very reasons he hade to this ce. The young man didn''t know who or how many people were actually leading the ckguards, but this bitch just confirmed she was one of them. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    <Third divisionmander. Meaning there should be at least three other guys as powerful as her among these mother fuckers. >


    He clenched his fists, forcing himself to remain calm.


    "I wish I could say the same, Commander." He paused. "Well, actually, I came here to find you, but I would have avoided it if I didn''t have the urge to kill you... You know, seeing your ugly mug is not exactly the first thing I want to see in the morning. Well, even in the night."


    Monica''s eyes narrowed, but then an amused grin spread across his face. She moved her eyes up and down, squaring Erik as if she were looking at a juicy piece of meat.


    "I must admit, I''m impressed by the havoc you''ve wreaked. Three Vindicators... that''s no small feat, especially considering how powerful they turned in these four years. Oh, that is also thanks to you, by the way." She grinned.


    "But I''m afraid your little rampage ends here. Because I''ve appeared."


    Erik couldn''t help but scoff. "You seem confident, Commander. I hope you will not rely too heavily on that thing." He nced at what looked like an undead wyvern. "But I''m curious," he said. "How did youmand such a creature, anyway?"


    Monica''s lips curled into a smile, but she offered no exnation.


    "Would you like to know?" She winked at him.


    "Actually, no."


    However, the reason was seemingly obvious. The woman had the power to raise and control the dead, or so it seemed.


    <The problem is, how strong is that thing?>


    —


    Name: ck Wyvern (Undead)


    Brain Crystal Power: Wyvern''s fire.


    Physical Characteristics: A massive creature with a wingspan of approximately 30 meters. Its scales appear dull and patchy, with exposed areas of decaying flesh visible throughout its body. The wyvern''s eyes glow with an unnatural light. Its muscles, though deteriorated, still ripple beneath its skin as it moves. Many wounds mar its body, with a noticeable injury on its back right leg, which appears partially missing. Despite its decaying state, the wyvern moves well.


    {Attributes}


    STRENGTH: 610 (900)


    INTELLIGENCE: 0 (250)


    DEXTERITY: 650 (950)


    ENERGY: 2500


    {Others}


    Power Level: 1673


    Estimated Experience: 2,440,723.42 EXP per kill


    Neural Links: 140


    —


    <Shit…>


    The wyvern wasn''t as strong as Erik expected; it looked like its current state weakened it a lot, or maybe it was because of Monica''s brain crystal power.


    <But that''s just in terms of physical stats. Its mana is insane. It should be X-ranked.>


    That was what made Wyverns so powerful. It wasn''t just that they could fly, were massive, and had insane strength; it was their mana.


    Being X-ranked meant they had a fuckton of mana to spend, and as for ck wyverns, their power, Wyvern''s fire, was A-ranked. Erik knew that well, because that was what made up the fire part of his Frostwind Fire Tempest brain crystal power.


    <It should give me around 2.5 million experience points. I wonder if I absorbed all the ck Wyvern''s mana back then if the amount would have been the same.>


    It was probably going to be more. The systemputed the estimated experience gained based on the beast''s current stats, and it was severely weakened now.


    Regardless, Erik knew well how deadly that power was.


    <A ck wyvern… The ckguards for sure got stronger during these years, after Doran''s research came out, followed by Etrium''s technology. While I can see them killing wyverns, I''m not sure they can yet do it. So, the question is: Where the hell did this woman get the body?>


    Then it came to him.


    <The cerulean bird... Or at least something as strong.>


    Erik didn''t know what that thing was, nor how really powerful it was. But since it killed a ck wyvern on Mannard continent, it must have been at least as strong as the ck wyvern in front of Erik.


    That was what the ckguards were doing. Killing such powerful thaids was yet not possible for them, but pushing them towards other areas? Possibly somewhere there are stronger monsters who would not look kindly at another thaid''s intrusion in their territory? It was, and what if they sent it towards the wyverns?


    The creature would end up shing with them. It already killed one in front of Erik. Back then, Erik couldn''t absorb all its mana. He was too far to get it all, yet he still got a ton. If he did, he would have had fewer problems back then.


    However, the real problem was, how could the ckguard push so powerful monsters out of their habitats?


    <Maybe by creating natural disasters, flooding ces, destroying mountains…>


    It was actually easier than one might have assumed. What humans had to do was destroy their habitat.


    Then Monica said something that both surprised Erik and also irked him.


    "Join us, Erik," Monica said. Her tone was deceptively light. "Your power,bined with ours... we could reshape this world." Her eyes hardened. "Refuse, and I''ll be forced to eliminate not just you, but everyone here."


    "I want nothing to do with you fuckers. Not only did you make my life hell for a long time. Damn, after I got our mutual friend, I thought I could have a better life. But hell no, you had to jump in and make it even harder than it was before. Then, hmm... I remember you having tried to kill me quite more than a few times."


    "That was necessary, Erik Romano. You refused to cooperate." She paused.


    "I don''t recall you having ever asked me if I wanted. Regardless, what would have been the point—have my brain dissected and the biological supeputer stolen?"


    Monica''s eyes glinted. "That may have happened. After all, a kid holding such a power was everything but safe. In fact, we were right. You came into possession of that thing, and look at what you did. There is a war affecting the whole of humanity now."


    "Well, want you to know something funny? I don''t give a shit. I don''t like humans a lot to begin with, and if more mother fuckers like you die at my feet, even better."


    This time Monica got an annoyed look. "Oh, anyway, mighty third divisionmander. When you see him, tell hi to Levium for me in hell."


    Erik''s eyes shed dangerously, and a grin spread across his face. The woman''s power was making him salivate.


    <That is going to be a very good power.>


    But would Erik be able to win against both the third divisionmander and the ck wyvern? It had an insane amount of mana; it was stronger than him, albeit clearly not at full strength, and the third divisionmander was sure not weak.