Apocalypse Baby-Chapter 263: Untouched

Brakka was heading straight for him.

He activated Omni gaze and then activated Omni View—his field of vision expanding, locking onto the Kruckle.

Then he frowned.

Brakka's entire body was pulsing—wild, swirling energy flashing through his veins like lightning trapped in muscle. Red and black flared in jagged patterns under his skin, dancing violently like a storm barely held in check.

No other player's energy flow looked like this or at least not as chaotic as what he was seeing.

This wasn't just power.

This was chaos wrapped in flesh.

And with that, Alex suddenly remembered Adam's words.

Raw Emi isn't ready to use.

It's wild. Unstable. Dangerous.

Before it can be turned into something usable—mana—it needs to be refined. That refining process doesn't happen in the air or with a magic wand. It happens inside the Core, the energy center inside every Player. Like a forge purifying metal, the Core breaks down that chaotic energy and turns it into something controlled.

But if that process fails…

If the Core can't keep up with the surge…

That raw Emi doesn't just disappear.

It corrupts.

It twists the Player's body, warping it like metal melting the wrong way. Muscles bulge where they shouldn't. Bones crack and reform. Skin toughens like armor—or shreds like paper.

And worse… it warps the mind.

Sometimes, what comes out on the other side isn't even human anymore.

Brakka was living proof of that failure.

His massive frame wasn't his strength. It was a mutation.

The entire Kruckle race—his race—was what happened when Emi didn't get refined. When the Core broke and the energy rewrote everything.

Alex inhaled slowly as he came to the realization.

That… that could have been him.

If his body hadn't somehow endured the Emi surge he pushed himself into—he might've ended up just like Brakka.

Corrupted. Twisted.

Sheesh.

He really had been playing with fire.

A massive shadow fell over him.

The Kruckle now stood over Alex like a giant looking down at an ant.

His breath was heavy.

His jagged armor-like skin pulsed with dark energy.

But Alex still didn't move.

Didn't even bother standing.

He simply tilted his head, calm eyes locking onto the monster in front of him, and asked confidently.

"What do you want?"

Brakka's voice dropped like stone blocks crashing down a shaft.

"You defeated the Vorakan?"

Alex raised a brow.

"Wasn't that obvious?"

Brakka's cracked lips curled into a half-snarl, jagged teeth flashing beneath his thick, bony jaw.

"They were said to be the strongest warriors. The only ones worth fighting."

"I was looking forward to tearing him apart."

He paused.

Then his voice dropped, heavy with disappointment that felt more like resentment.

"But you ended him."

Alex frowned, his expression tightening just slightly.

The way Brakka said it—it wasn't praise.

It was an accusation.

Alex could tell.

Brakka wasn't here to do more than talk.

He was itching to throw down.

Make Alex pay for taking his prey.

Alex let out a slow sigh, his voice cool.

"Why don't you win your fight against the elf… and we'll settle things later?"

For a second, there was silence.

Then—

The bones along his forearms began to glow, pulsing with dark energy that crackled and surged like lightning in slow motion.

Brakka growled.

"The elf is no contest."

"First, I'll end you. Then him. Then the rest."

Suddenly, black and red energy sparked out from his skin, licking across his body like flames that were wild and alive.

The energy coiled up his right arm like a snake, winding itself around the long, jagged bone shards sticking out of his elbow and shoulder. It moved like it had a mind of its own—hungry, angry, and chaotic.

Then Brakka raised his fist, which began to glow.

The energy inside it pulsing like a twisted heartbeat, out of rhythm, out of control.

Alex exhaled softly.

He leaned slightly forward, still seated, and muttered under his breath:

"Yeah... you do want to do that."

To anyone watching, it looked bad.

Really bad.

Alex was still sitting, relaxed, hands resting on his knees—completely exposed.

Brakka stood over him like a force of nature, fist pulled back and ready to strike. His presence alone filled the room with pressure, rage, raw power, and uncontrollable madness radiating from his body.

He stood above Alex like a living weapon. Muscles flexed. Energy screamed.

Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.

His fist was drawn back, aura flooding the room like a crimson storm cloud.

Then...

Brakka struck.

His fist came down like a sledgehammer aimed straight for Alex's skull.

It wasn't a wild swing.

It was precise.

Devastating.

A move meant to end the fight in a single hit.

But—

THUMMM.

A deep, low resonance echoed through the chamber, like a giant bell being struck underwater.

Not a splatter.

Not the wet crunch of a body breaking.

But a hum,

Just before impact, a shimmer of golden light flared into existence around Alex.

An energy barrier, and Brakka's fist had slammed into it with all the fury of a meteor strike.

But nothing had happened.

It was like a bug had slammed into a windshield.

Then the shield reacted.

Its surface vibrated, energy rippling like a stone dropped in still water.

Then—

BOOOOM!

The power in Brakka's punch didn't just stop.

It reversed.

All that rage. All that weight. All that power.

It shot back into Brakka.

And his body jerked back like he'd been hit by a freight train going full speed.

"Grrr—!"

One second, he was towering over Alex…

Next, he was airborne, flung across the chamber like a ragdoll shot from a cannon.

CRASH!

He slammed into the far wall.

The impact shook the whole room.

The metal groaned under the hit, and cracks spiderwebbed out across the surface where his body had hit.

Brakka's huge frame slumped, half-stuck in the wall.

And then—silence.

The entire room froze.

The only sound was the faint hum of the barrier fading from around Alex, still sitting, still untouched.

Sylen's...