BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM - Chapter 931: Northern Gate battle (2)

Erik swung his mana sword in a wide arc, slicing through a thaid charging at him.

As the creature fell, he spun to block the claw of another creature.

The thaids came in an endless wave, flinging themselves at the city’s defenders. The tactic used by the rebels was really ruthless.

Erik cut through monsters like the scythe of a reaper, deadly but unseen, unexpected. But Erik had to disguise his combat prowess as merely respectable to avoid the others understanding that, in fact, he was far more powerful than any of them.

Besides, with each thaid he killed, Erik gained new experience points. The fighting prowess he was displaying lent credibility to his assumed identity as “Ben Fink”.

Much of the battle was a blur anyway-swinging, shouting, killing, and plowing through the mass of twisted creatures.

Erik’s arms ached from the repeated motion, yet he pressed on.

A thaid wielding crude iron shards of claws slashed at Erik’s face, but he deflected its attack, countering with a thrust to the creature’s chest.

As it dropped dead, he spotted two blackguards struggling against an enormous bear thaid.

Erik rushed to assist, plunging his sword deep into the creature’s side. It roared in fury and swiped at him with a massive paw.

Erik dropped and rolled between its legs, reappearing behind it. With a two-handed swing, he drove his mana sword into the base of its thick skull. The bear thaid toppled, crashing to the ground.

What he was doing didn’t go unnoticed by the onlookers, though, precisely what Erik wanted to avoid.

“Who is that guy?”

“I don’t know; he should be from the new batch of soldiers that arrived earlier.”

“He knows how to fight. If all members of the new batch are like him, the rebels are going to be destroyed soon.”

The blackguards heard the soldiers chit-chatting and eyed him, but Erik turned and plunged back into the fray without a word. He had maintained his cover-for now.

Though he realized he was slicing through thaids too quickly and easily, the strength he exerted shouldn’t have been that of Ben Fink.

He needed to slow down and appear less competent in order to keep his disguise as an ordinary soldier.

The thaids, with their grotesque forms and gnashing teeth, were swarming the area.

Yet these creatures were nothing extraordinary to Erik. He was too strong, and the monsters were mere nuisances, not threats, to him.

It wasn’t easy not to slice through them with a single attack or two if the situation truly demanded it.

One thaid lunged at him, its claws extended and eyes glowing with predatory malice.

Erik swung his mana sword with sluggishness, the blade humming as it cut through the air.

The sword cleaved through the thaid’s torso, dark blood spraying out and staining the ground.

<Fuck… This was still too fast. >

He watched as the creature collapsed in a heap, its body twitching in its last moments. These thaids were too slow for him not to avoid their attacks, and they were too stupid not to trick them into awkward positions he could take advantage of.

Around him, the blackguards were fighting fiercely, the flashes of mana weapons lighting up the area, and the acrid smell of burning flesh mingling with the metallic tang of blood.

Those guys were strong. Erik had to admit it.

Tightening his grip on his mana blade, Erik allowed the next few thaids to get closer before fighting them off.

He intentionally missed some of his swings and staggered back from their attacks as if wounded.

When a thaid swiped at his side, Erik twisted and clutched at the invisible wound, dropping one knee to the ground.

Though he continued slaying thaids, Erik altered his approach to appear less skilled and more strained. He swung his sword wildly in large arcs instead of his usual precise strikes.

When thrusting at approaching creatures, Erik left openings for their claws to slash his arms. He didn’t heal them using the Hevadrin’s brain crystal power.

The blackguards nearby seemed to buy his performance. They rushed past Erik, focusing their efforts on the thaids further out.

However, Erik feared some doubted his authenticity after witnessing his initial onslaught. While slowing his movements even more, exaggerating each swing and breath, Erik forced himself to grit his teeth and roar with every thaid slain.

He staggered afterwards, as though exhausted. His arms truly ached from the deliberate awkwardness of his strikes.

Though the task frustrated him, Erik understood the necessity of hiding his true power.

He had allies depending on him within the city walls. To gather information was an important task for the resistance.

So Erik continued his performance, concealing his skill and strength behind the facade of a struggling soldier.

…

…

–

Erik watched as the other soldiers and blackguards began collecting the bodies of the fallen thaids. The heavy skirmish had ended, but the cleanup remained.

While hefting the body of a bear thaid onto his shoulders, Erik carried it over to the growing pile outside the Northern Gate.

His mind was elsewhere. The battle had provided an opportunity to observe the blackguards’ fighting strategies and responses, information that could prove useful in future operations.

In the meantime, a heavy silence settled over the battlefield. This attack claimed the lives of many soldiers.

All around him, soldiers worked in grim silence, lips tightened, and brows furrowed as they handled the twisted remains of the thaids and took away their comrades’ bodies.

Blood stained their uniforms and spattered their faces, but none complained. They were accustomed to this grisly duty after battles.

Erik stoop and dragged a thaid’s massive torso onto a nearby vehicle. He faked his arms were burning with fatigue, and kept doing the grueling work, remaining mindful of his cover.

Other soldiers and blackguards were hauling thaid corpses onto trucks that had arrived from

inside the city.

The bodies would be taken for processing, with their materials repurposed to help fortify New Alexandria’s defenses, producing armors and weapons for the soldiers.

Erik threw another thaid onto the truck, this time a twisted abomination composed of twigs

and thorns.

Its barbs snagged against the side of the cart as he lifted it, tearing into his skin.

Erik bit his lip, reminding himself to show signs of pain here and there. Ben Fink wasn’t strong. Pain and exhaustion were to be expected from him.

After emptying thaid bodies from a nearby section, Erik moved closer to the city gates.

Inside the gate, despite the area being heavily fortified and guarded, crowds of civilians had

gathered to watch the attack’s aftermath.

They were showing clear fear. The rebels were taking things too far lately.

After the area outside had been cleared, Erik climbed onto the back of the truck, hauling thaid

corpses.

The driver revved the engine and started heading toward the gate.

Erik swayed as the truck navigated the uneven terrain outside the city walls, his eyes scanning

the horizon for any further threats.