Essence Crystal in Sight

Although Jay looked pale with severe blood loss, his presence reached an ever-high in the eyes of everyone on the Tournament Island Alpha Chosen.

The gathered effort of thousands of Alpha Chosen to block the monsters from rushing to the collapsed Colosseum didn't yield the desired results, as several monsters already reached the Colosseum ruins.

However, none of them could enter the bounds of the Colosseum ruins. The shockwaves from Jay's overbearing attacks kept them from closing in on him no matter how hard they tried.

Jay continued to bombard the immobilised monster and kept its limbs, tail and head in check as he alternatively destroyed them before they could regrow to their usual state.

Meanwhile, the Alpha Chosen didn't stay idle and did their best to hold up as many monsters as possible.

Akor went on an onslaught as he killed every monster he laid his eyes on. Still, his efficiency couldn't match up to MJ, more precisely, the Corpse-integrated monsters under MJ's control.

Neither the Hobgoblin, the Storm Eagle, nor the other three monsters MJ controlled were not among the bunch that were on the Tournament Island.

By the time those corpse-integrated monsters reach the battlefield that was several Trial Zones away from them, the battle would be long over.

That was why MJ decisively let go of those five monster corpses and took over the Tier-3 monsters that died in the battle.

With the Minor ORIGIN SIGILS in tow, those five new corpse-integrated monsters MJ had in grasp had stats of a peak Tier-3 lifeform.

MJ's ability to bring the utmost out of their capabilities made those five monsters into killing machines that hacked away the monsters rushing towards Jay.

With MJ pumping battle status reports every once in a while, Jay knew the situation around him. 

Once he exhausts all his Spirit Energy and the shockwave bubbles produced from using the Thunder Miasma in conjunction with the Pseudo-speed Energy were no more, he would be left defenceless against the barrage of monsters. 

Still, he didn't care and continued his assault on the Plasma Predator. Jay's blood spilt with each punch as the damage from the impact piled up to the point his arms weren't far from shattering apart.

Jay persisted despite the bone-shattering pain coursing through his arms. The one-sided suppression lasted several seconds before Jay emptied his Spirit Energy reserves.

In the last moment, Jay chanced upon the blood-red octahedron core he desperately eyed for.

It was at the mid-left portion of the monster's trunk. Just before Jay ran out of Spirit Energy, he landed one of his devastating attacks in the nick of time.

The spot where the Octahedron core was supposed to be was replaced with a bloody hole.

But the fall of the abomination didn't come by as the hole in its trunk began to close itself.

Jay was sure that was where the Fiend monster's Essence Crystal was situated.

But since the Plasma Predator could still heal itself, that could only mean the Essence Crystal was still intact.

Jay could only conclude that the Plasma Predator could somehow move the thumb-sized core within its body.

The simple revelation made it several fold harder for Jay to deal with the abomination of a monster.

At that point, he either had to be lucky enough to land a fatal attack on the spot where the Essence Crystal would be discreetly shifted or destroy the entirety of the gigantic monster in one go.

Neither sounded realistic to him. Even with the absurd attack power he could muster up, the damage could only do so much against the monster that stood seven meters tall. 

By activating the Inherent skills of his armour, <Instant Regen> and <Spirit Energy Recharge>, Jay could bring his overall Health and Spirit Energy to the brim, but he believed that wouldn't change the outcome.

________________

<Instant Recovery> (Rare Grade)

Instantly recover your health as long as Spirit Energy meets the cost requirement.

Cooldown: 7 Days

(Not yet applicable for regenerating fatal body parts like Heart and Brain)

(Inherent Skill Grade improves as the armour increases in Grade)

________________

<Spirit Energy Recharge> (Rare Grade)

Instantly recovers the User's Spirit Pool. 

Cooldown: 12 hours

(It can only be activated when the User's Spirit Energy runs out)

(Inherent Skill Grade improves as the armour increases in Grade)

________________

Since Jay's injuries don't include any of his fatal organs, the <Instant Regen> skill was enough to heal him up in one go.

That skill's effectiveness would only grow along with the Grade of <Centauri Kavach>.

Once it reaches a few grades higher, bringing himself from the brink of death wouldn't be a pipe dream.

He chose to use the other inherent skill, <Spirit Energy Recharge>, and refilled his expended Spirit Energy reserve.

Even by doing so, Jay believed he couldn't tackle the gigantic monster for long.

Instead of using the <Instant Regen> skill, he stood idle with bloodied arms and chipped away Health.

With no shockwave bubbles keeping the monsters in check, they rushed toward Jay in droves.

Watching the incoming monsters aggressively charge towards him in all directions, Jay sighed and thought, 'Looks like I have no choice but to use that.'

The next instant, a cloud of steam spewed from Jay with him to the centre and engulfed the monsters that neared him.

Flashes of silver shone from within, making it appear as lightning before a thunderstorm. 

Several monsters were sent flying out of the steam cloud, but none were alive or in one piece.

As the cloud of steam began to disperse, the flashes of silver grew prominent, and so did the situation at the center.

The heap of monster corpses grew denser and taller as seconds trickled.

On top of it fought a 10-foot (3-meter) tall humanoid with burning silver hair and piercing silver pupils.

{Author Note 1: Jay's physical stature in <INVERSE > mode is 10 feet, not 10 meters. I made a mistake and began mentioning this since Chapter 76: Min-soo's Encounter (Part-3). I corrected all the chapters I mentioned about this.}

{Author Note 2: What do you think about the title 'Steam Cloud resurfaces once again'? I initially thought of adding this as the title but chose not to, as that would give away Jay entering <INVERSE > mode. I would like to know your opinion on this. If you folks want this to be the title, I will change it.}

-------------

Discord Link for 'Earth's Alpha Prime' :

https://discord.gg/maQC7xDBYZ

-------------