BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

1128  The battle for Maynard Island (5)

"You've come alone. This means you must be Erik Romano," one of them said once Erik was close enough. He was the one in the front, so Erik assumed he was the leader of the group.

"That's right." He paused. "And you are?"

"You can call me Vex."

"So, tell me, Vex. What do you want to do?"

Erik hoped these guys would back away, even though he realistically knew that would not happen. Yet, if he could avoid such a complex fight, he would have done so blindly.

The Vindicators' postures stiffened. "We want to bring you to justice for your crimes," one of them said.

"And you are?" Erik was visibly annoyed by the guy's stupid phrase.

"Terra."

Erik couldn't help but laugh, though. "Anyway, Terra, what justice are we exactly talking about? Hopefully not yours. Do I have to remind you of the atrocities you committed every day for years? You talk about justice, yet I fail to see what justice you are exactly bringing to the world. There's no justice in what you Blackguards do."

"There is no need for you to understand what we do or the intentions behind it, and I won't waste my breath trying to make you understand, since I already know you wouldn't. Now, it is me who must ask something, Erik Romano. What do you want to do?"

Erik looked at them.

"Easy. Kill you three and blow up the building behind you." He didn't even hesitate.

The three Vindicators glanced at each other. Their expressions tightened, a flicker of concern passing between them behind their masks. Without hesitation, Erik unleashed a massive barrage of wind blades toward his opponents. The air shimmered as the razor-sharp gusts hurtled toward the Vindicators. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Terra acted quickly, raising a wall of stone and earth to protect himself and his friends. The wind blades hit the wall, breaking off pieces of rock but failing to penetrate deep into it. The Vindicators behind the wall were spared from a gruesome destiny.

Vex acted quickly, too. As the dust cleared, he used his time-controlling brain crystal power, and everything went in slow motion. Most of the people were basically still, but for Erik. When Vex landed his eyes on him, he saw the man moving, almost as if he were just a normal man running and an athlete at that.

That speed was inhuman, and Vex knew that if he didn't protect his comrades, they would be killed.

<It's like time didn't even slow down for him!>

Erik didn't notice what Vex was doing, but regardless, he saw Vex looking at him without problems. It was then he understood.

<The dude must have activated his power.>

Erik ran behind the third guy. "You didn't say your name."

"Restro."

His fist, charged with his Force Bastion-affected mana, created a wave that killed everyone standing in front of Erik's wave and behind the Vindicator. [ENEMY HUMAN KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]

[ENEMY HUMAN KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]

[ENEMY HUMAN KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]

[ENEMY HUMAN KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]

But not the target himself.

The man had conjured up his Aegis Morph brain crystal power; a medieval-looking armor encased him.

<That thing isn't even made of mana…>

The armor hardened just as Erik's punch connected. The impact sent Restro skidding across the ground, but the armor absorbed most, if not all, of the power and mana behind it.

[ENEMY HUMAN KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]

[ENEMY HUMAN KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]

[ENEMY HUMAN KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]

[ENEMY HUMAN KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]

[LEVEL UP.]

The blow ended up killing some bystanders. Vex and Terra didn't stay idle when they saw Erik target Restro. Terra manipulated the earth beneath Erik's feet. Spikes of rock erupted from the ground, forcing him to take to the air once more. As he ascended, he unleashed a torrent of lightning from his fingertips, the bolts arcing towards all three Vindicators.

Vex used his spatial manipulation to warp the surrounding space and jumped, getting out of harm's way.

The lightning bolts curved unnaturally where he had just been a second before and missed their targets entirely.

Terra must have protected himself by creating a dome of stone, because there was a partially melting one where he had last seen him. The man was currently running towards him. He sent some high-pressurized water jets toward Erik, who was still flying in the air. Erik barely avoided the powerful streams of water, trying not to show any emotion that might make the enemy think it was the right time to strike.

However, his face slightly changed for a second when, not even a moment after he dodged the strike, the water exploded. He wasn't expecting it at all, because it didn't follow the logic the biological supercomputer had attributed to that power.

"What the fuck?"

The water exploded, but it wasn't water that came out of it, but flames. Erik got far from the incinerating flames and glanced at Terra, seeing Restro placing his armored hand on his comrade's arm. The water coming out of Terra turned into a raging fire.

<He can even do this, uh?>

Erik, undeterred by the surprising but clever tactic, dove towards the two. He appeared as no more than a streak in the sky, yet the three Vindicators seemed able to see him, albeit barely.

Terra raised his hands, and a wave of earth rose to meet Erik's charge, but before the wall could be raised in full, Erik had already gotten past it. Before he could punch Terra or Retro in the face, killing them, Vex appeared in front of him. He grabbed the two comrades and teleported somewhere. <This is as annoying as I predicted…>

Erik's fist connected with the empty air, but the sheer force of his punch was enough to shatter the protective dome Terra hastily constructed around himself. The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the ground, causing cracks to spider-web across the surface of the earthen barrier, shattering it. Erik jumped out of it, and he was right to do so. Moments later, sharp stone spikes burst out from the crumbling earth dome, shooting out all toward the center of the dome, where Erik should have been standing moments before, like the quills of a giant porcupine that failed to pierce their target. However, before getting out, he activated his Phantom Veil, becoming invisible.