Chapter 139 – Blasting Through

Volume 3: Rising Winds and Clouds

Claire's choice was remarkably wise.

The Ancient Demon Seed still had several Isolation Barriers in its hand, while Kuangliu had begun trembling all over-a sign that his stamina was failing.

If Kuangliu continued enduring the Ancient Demon Seed's attacks, it would not be long before the creature killed him with its claws.

Once Kuangliu died, the consequences would be disastrous. Leaving aside the impact his death would have on the Huaxia Military, without Kuangliu to "hold off" the Ancient Demon Seed, the remaining Class Holders would all be killed within a minute.

Claire pulled a large metal case from her Spatial Ring.

The case was square and stood about half a person tall.

Fang Wenhai had seen it before. It was the same case Claire had carried into the Outpost Treasure Land.

Light flashed through Claire's eyes. The enormous metal case slowly dissolved into a pool of silver-white liquid, which flowed toward her and spread over her body.

Within seconds, the liquid metal solidified again, forming an enormous suit of powered armor around Claire.

The armor was fitted with a metal storm gun, micro-missile launchers, and every kind of propulsion device. Its silver-white frame appeared somewhat bulky, but no one would dare underestimate the technology it contained or the terrifying firepower it could unleash.

This was the United States' current priority project: combining technology with Class Holders to create an even more powerful combat system.

Claire's enormous metal case was a high-tech "weapon" developed by American researchers specifically for her Class and Skills.

Claire-Human Sequence 6.

Class: Metal Manipulator.

The moment the armor finished assembling around her, Claire unleashed a furious attack upon the Ancient Demon Seed.

Countless micro-missiles poured from the armor and flew straight into the area affected by Spatial Stasis around the Ancient Demon Seed.

Then…

Every missile froze motionless in the space around the Ancient Demon.

"Detonate!"

At Claire's shout, red light abruptly appeared on the immobilized missiles.

But nothing happened.

Spatial Stasis would not even allow the missiles to explode. It had turned them all into duds.

Claire regarded the frozen missiles gravely, but she did not abandon the attack. Instead, she activated a Skill.

Metal Control (S-Rank, Active Skill): Allows the user to mentally control all kinds of metals and alloys, causing them to move or change shape. Note: Cannot control trace metallic elements.

This was a Class Skill of the Metal Manipulator. The Skill alone demonstrated how formidable Claire's Class was-she had obtained an S-Rank Skill the moment she Changed Class.

With a thought from Claire, the power of Metal Control connected with the micro-missiles suspended in midair.

Every micro-missile Claire launched possessed two trigger mechanisms.

The first was a conventional electromagnetic signal.

The second relied upon Claire's Metal Control to deform the missile and trigger its detonation.

But it was still useless.

Spatial Stasis was not something a mid-Level 4 Claire and a single S-Rank Skill could overcome.

Claire's expression remained composed. The failure of her attack did not affect her in the slightest. She calmly studied her surroundings, then raised her right hand again.

…

A missile launched from Claire's armor. It moved relatively slowly and followed a wildly twisting path.

Under Claire's control, the micro-missile curved around to the Isolation Barrier directly opposite her.

The missile, the area affected by Spatial Stasis, and Claire and the other Class Holders now formed a straight line.

Claire detonated the micro-missile.

Boom!

A violent explosion erupted. The Berserk force of the blast slammed directly into the area affected by Spatial Stasis, and the shock wave, dust, and shrapnel froze in midair.

With Spatial Stasis acting as a "shield," the explosion did not inflict much damage upon the Class Holders.

But neither did it have much effect on the Isolation Barrier or Spatial Stasis.

The Ancient Demon Seed casually crushed another Isolation Barrier. Its hideous head turned toward Claire, and it gave her a savage smile. The killing intent in its eyes conveyed a message with perfect clarity.

Once Sequence 3 was dealt with, she would be next.

Claire remained unmoved. Countless micro-missiles launched from her armor once more. Under Metal Control, they landed at exactly the same location as before.

Then-

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Explosions sounded in rapid succession. Even with Spatial Stasis serving as a shield, the noise and blast waves left the Class Holders dizzy and disoriented.

"Are you insane?"

Andrei hammered at the Isolation Barrier beside him as he roared at Claire.

"This is an enclosed space! If you detonate that many bombs at once, you'll kill all of us!"

Claire ignored him. She launched another barrage of bombs of every shape and size at the same spot.

Unfortunately…

It was still useless.

…

Though it could not be called entirely useless.

Spatial Stasis consumed an enormous amount of the Ancient Demon Seed's stamina every second it remained active. When external forces interfered with the Ability, it also consumed additional stamina in proportion to the strength of that interference.

The ferocious shock waves slowed the Ancient Demon Seed's assault slightly, proving that Claire's attacks were having some effect on it.

Unfortunately, slowing it for an instant was all they accomplished.

Claire looked from the Ancient Demon Seed, which continued its relentless attacks, to Kuangliu, whose eyes were already bleeding even as he gritted his teeth and struggled to hold on. She sighed softly.

"I have one big one left. Detonating it may break this Barrier-or that Demonic Creature's Skill. I'll leave the choice to all of you."

There was one thing Claire left unsaid.

Everyone knew that a bomb detonated in the open and the same bomb detonated in an enclosed space produced very different amounts of destruction.

If she detonated a "big one" powerful enough to shatter the Isolation Barrier while they were trapped inside it, the impact on the Class Holders present went without saying.

Their bodies could not possibly be tougher than the Isolation Barrier.

How could these representatives of their respective Militaries fail to understand that?

"Then what are you waiting for? Hurry! Hurry! Kuangliu can't hold on much longer!"

Fang Wenhai roared at Claire as he continued pounding the Isolation Barrier. The flesh of both fists had been split open, and blood dripped everywhere. Bone was visible in several places.

Claire sighed under her breath and looked at the others.

"Fire it. Sequence 3 cannot die-at least, not here."

The speaker was a vigorous old man.

His hair was completely silver, his body lean and straight. His American military uniform was immaculately maintained.

He was the representative of the United States Military.

The old man slowly ceased his futile attack. He turned and looked at Kuangliu, who could only endure the Ancient Demon Seed's blows, then spoke in a rapid yet forceful voice.

"The Sequences are the hope of the Human Race. This Old Man is not, and neither are we Military representatives. Anyone can serve as a Military representative, but there are only a handful of Sequences. One Sequence has already died. We have suffered more than enough loss."

The old man pulled a large pile of defensive items from his Spatial Ring and pushed them into Claire's hands.

"Fire it."

"General…"

Claire looked at the old man with a complicated expression.

This representative of the United States Military was a typical hawk within the American armed forces. Before the Apocalypse, he had firmly believed that Huaxia posed a threat and had never compromised in foreign affairs. No one had expected him to be the second person to step forward.

"Fire it."

The representative of the Russian Military stepped forward. He sorted through the defensive items he carried and stuffed all of them into Andrei's hands, then strode to the very front.

"Sequence 3 cannot die. Neither can Sequence 6 or Sequence 7. Trading our lives for yours is worthwhile. Let us put our last bit of strength to use and absorb some of the impact for you."

With that, the heavily bearded man pulled a massive shield from his Spatial Ring and braced it before him.

"Hurry…"

The representative of the United Kingdom Military joined him.

"I don't want to die, but it seems we have no other choice."

The representative of the Japanese Military hesitated, then quickly steeled himself. He pushed every defensive item in his Spatial Ring into Claire's hands and strode forward.

"Don't hesitate. And… thank you."

Fang Wenhai moved from the rear to the front. He nodded heavily to Claire, then poured a large number of defensive items into her hands.

The voices of Military representatives from many different Countries and speaking many different languages mingled together. The uncertainty vanished from Claire's eyes.

"Get ready!"

Claire shouted. A spherical object abruptly rose from the shoulder of her armor. Under Metal Control, it floated slowly toward the spot where the missiles had detonated.

Then…

Boom!

…

The ferocious shock wave erupted in every direction. Even with Spatial Stasis before them to "shelter" the Class Holders in the rear from the blast, it proved almost useless.

The entire Barrier swelled like a balloon about to burst.

Enormous force filled the enclosed space. In less than a second, the gigantic "balloon" burst apart.

A mushroom cloud slowly rose from where Central Castle had once stood, then gradually dispersed across the Treasure Land.

…

The instant the explosion began, the Ancient Demon Seed sensed its terrifying power. The overwhelming force tore through the area affected by Spatial Stasis and drained a vast amount of its stamina.

The Ancient Demon Seed immediately stopped attacking and activated Dimensional Sanctuary.

Across from it, Kuangliu had long since lost all clarity of thought. He activated Invincible purely on instinct, then the blast wave hurled him far away.