Chapter 993: A city divided


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    Erik slipped into an alley, hiding to catch his breath, and watched the action go on all around him. A smirk appeared on his face.


    Armed with their brain-crystal powers, citizen groups were wreaking havoc.


    The real rebellion finally started. However, if it was going to be sessful, it had to be seen.


    Even if the citizens fought, they were still fighting the ckguards.


    Most of them had been trained, since it was mandatory to enter the military, but basically everyone who were not among Volkov''s troops now had been injured in the past or were old. That was coupled with the fact that the ckguards were many times more powerful than them, but they were even trained better, and a lot more at that.


    However, there were many more people than there were ckguards. Even Volkov''s soldiers couldn''t do much, despite being in much greater numbers than the ckguards.


    That was something already, but Volkov''s soldiers-not everyone, of course-didn''t know what to do at that point. Most of them were normal people, and many came from New Alexandria.


    The situation got out of hand, with the chain inmand in chaos, but still there, well, aside from Volkov.


    They were basically fighting the people they swore to protect. Not that everyone did. A lot of the fighters were simply criminals the Crystal Cross Gang gave them.


    Erik saw a gang of locals being overpowered by a small squad of ckguards. There was a terrible crunch as a ckguard swung a big mace into an old woman''s head.


    However, a younger man, just out of his teens, aided by at least 10 more, killed the ckguard.


    The people''s uprising had put the ckguards on the defensive. That was especially because the more soldiers and ckguards died, and the more citizens got their hands on their brain- crystal rifles or the fancy and valuable weapons they carried.


    Slowly, things turned serious.


    Erik, though, was unable to enjoy the asion. He needed to reach June while keeping the ckguards away from Richard.


    Besides, he needed to get news about the situation. The easier thing to do was to kill all the higher-ups on the ckguards'' side.


    That would push them to abandon the city. At that point, Becker coulde back and mount a nationwide defense.


    However, Erik needed June to get this information. He might know where the higher-ups were, and besides, clearing the northern gate a little more meant making the Chimaeric Demons join the fight within the city.


    However, there was an alternative that required Erik to make something theatrical again.


    Erik resumed his sprint through the city, observing the surrounding mayhem. Though the streets were a battlefield, that didn''t make it easy for him to reach the northern gate.


    <At least the ckguards are not attacking me anymore.>


    He passed by additional scenes of uprisings as he ran. People were building barriers, obstructing the streets, and establishing chokepoints with cars and other debris. Not that they were going to be useful, but at least it granted some kind of protection, even if little.


    There were many bodies around, but most of them either belonged to citizens or Volkov''s soldiers. The absence of ckguards could only mean one thing.


    <It looks like the ckguards are giving up. I wonder how they feel now that they see they can''t really rule the world if the citizens do notply.>


    A grin spread across Erik''s face, but it was soon reced by a serious look when he saw a group of ckguards trying to block his way.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    <Not again...>


    But they were too few. They would not be a problem; what would be was that he was going to waste mana. A grimace appeared on his face when he thought about that.


    Erik observed them. They were well-armed and, for sure, determined to make him suffer. Erik breathed and activated his Force Bastion brain crystal power again, feeling the familiar energy surge. He dashed forward, focusing on the nearest ckguard.


    The woman swung her mace, but Erik easily avoided the blow. He countered with a punch to the ckguard''s midsection, crushing her bones. The gauntlets in his hands got slick with her blood.


    Two more ckguards attacked him using some weird mana-powered attacks Erik couldn''t really describe and wasn''t even interested in.


    Erik faced them, ducking under the two attacks. He then electrocuted the first of the two ckguards, who convulsed and fell to the ground, twitching.


    Then he focused on the second one. The man''s thoughts were a mess of fear and shock as Erik''s killed hisrade.


    One of Erik''s electricity bolts hit the ckguard square in the chest, electrocuting and charring him to the bones.


    The stench of burnt flesh spread through the area.


    Erik nced down at the two smoldering figures and grinned.


    "Well, that was shockingly easy," he said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Are you really sure you want to do this?" He asked to the remaining opponents.


    "You, mother fuckeeeer!"


    A fourth ckguard tried to nk Erik, but a single person didn''t even pose a problem at that


    point.


    The young man ran past the ckguard and kicked his chest. A bone-crushing impact sent the soldier flying backward, skidding across the ground.


    Thest two ckguards struggled, losing confidence. Erik cut short their fight. Lightning bolts from his hands struck the remaining ckguards at once.


    "This power is so fucking strong... No wonder Volkov was so confident in his strength. I don''t even know how the fuck Becker could be considered his rival."


    Erik checked the area for immediate threats, but aside from the dead bodies, there was no one around. Well, aside from the citizens fighting the ckguards and Volkov''s soldiers on the other side of the street.


    "Better move my ass... I can''t stay here any longer."


    With that, Erik resumed his march toward the northern gate, or better, toward the northern district, because it was really clear now that even if the ckguards held the northern gate, that would stay like that for long because of the citizens.