Athanasia: My Hacker System-Chapter 184: John Is a Monster!

This process was repeated five times in total, a pulsing rhythm of annihilation that turned the area into a literal meat grinder.

John stood rooted, motionless in his spot. The fierce gale of the wind clashed against his face and whipped his hair wildly. He was standing well within the area of effect of the shockwaves. He received zero damage and wasn’t even pushed back an inch.

"Damn me! Am I dreaming, or did John turn into a monster now?!!!"

From atop the high walls, Luke finally found his voice, shaking off the immense shock that had paralysed the entire group the moment the three blue little stars had erupted.

"Ahem," Ricky cleared his throat, though his face remained ashen white, speaking volumes about the existential dread he was feeling. "At least he is a monster on our side."

"Forget about unlocking my attributes," Elena said, rubbing her eyes as if to clear the image of the blue firestorm. "If he ever decides to open a class to teach his magical tricks, I’m signing up as his first student!"

Cissel remained silent, a soft, knowing smile playing on her lips as she watched John from the walls. There was no jealousy in her gaze, only a deep-seated pride. To her, every milestone he reached felt like a shared victory, an accomplishment that belonged to her as much as it did to him.

Down on the field, John had managed to shake off the initial shock of his own power. However, as the dust began to settle, he noticed something peculiar. "Those monsters are really something else!" he thought, sighing inwardly.

He watched closely as the black clouds above reacted to the carnage. The initial three explosions and the first burst of the shockwave had landed with absolute success, but as the subsequent pulses radiated outward, the black sky started to intervene. Thin ribbons of lightning descended from the heavens, wrapping around the monsters just as the shockwaves were about to hit.

John realised that he had succeeded in triggering his Logic Bombs before the lightning would hit. His Object Lockdown already triggered the lightning. However, that only applied to the monsters that got hit or stumbled by their fallen fellows. For the fresh ones which came during the pulses of the shockwaves, the lightning normally landed and shielded them.

"A one-second loss isn’t that much in the grand scheme of things," he observed. Once that initial second of protection flickered out, the monsters were once again engulfed by the blue shockwave, suffering massive damage.

Yet, to his frustration, they weren’t dying even after all this. Aside from the three targets at the epicentre who were cold dead, the surrounding hundreds were battered, bleeding, and broken, but still breathing.

This confirmed his earlier suspicion: the upgrades weren’t meant to make him a god amongst ants. Instead, they were required to bridge the gap between him and the escalating threats of the pocket trial. He wasn’t overpowered; he was finally levelling the playing field.

"No time for philosophy now," he muttered, tossing those thoughts to the back of his mind as he refocused on the shifting red tide. The first wave was reeling, and it was time to press the advantage. "It’s time for you to come down now!" he shouted up toward the walls.

His triple Logic Bomb explosions had lasted thirty seconds: ten for the primary detonation and twenty for the five-pulse shockwave cycle. While it only cleared a small area of a hundred metre radius, the Wrathers suffering from the blast were no longer a threat to his friends. They weren’t dead yet, but John felt they weren’t that far from getting there.

Following his lead, the group didn’t bother with asking the Bulltors to bring them down. Mimicking John’s reckless entrance, Cissel, Luke, Ricky, and Elena jumped directly from the high walls. The moment their feet hit the soil, John triggered his Speed Lock ability.

The Wrather wave was massive, totalling ten thousand. Roughly two-thirds of them were concentrated on this side of the river, while the remaining third sprinted along the opposite bank.

John wasn’t worried about the stragglers across the river; he knew the three thousand or so monsters there would eventually fall victim to the voice traps and defensive towers he had arranged in the southern region.

The focus was on the six thousand heading towards the base. The first fifteen hundred had already been crippled by the triple Logic Bombs. Now, with Speed Lock active, it further slowed down the monsters.

To the monsters, John and his friends were moving like flickering bolts of lightning. To the humans, the Wrathers looked like they were swimming through thick molasses.

"Nice trick," Cissel said, appearing at his side in a blur of motion, her daggers already coated in red essence. "Now what’s the plan?"

"It’s time to kill those snails," John replied, his eyes scanning the horizon. He looked at each of his friends, "I’m going to venture deeper into the horde and create more explosions. You four handle the crippled ones near the base, then follow my path."

This had been his plan from the moment they left the base. While they could have stayed behind the safety of the walls and let the towers and cannons do the work, John had no intention of playing it safe.

If they wanted the true rewards of this trial, they couldn’t just survive; they had to conquer. His ultimate goal was to push North, to the Wrathers den, and eliminate the commander, Sorolith, to claim the bonus reward.

The team split without asking a single question. The four began a merciless cleanup of the debuffed and dying monsters, their movements so fast they left afterimages. Meanwhile, John ignored the stragglers and walked directly into the heart of the second wave.

As the massive shapes of the Wrathers loomed over him, he didn’t consider using the Logic bomb ability for now. Instead, he raised his sword high, the edge humming with subtle electric arcs. He unleashed his most suitable sword special effect against such a large number of enemies.

"Lightning Dance!"