Chapter 98

Chapter 98

The Delta was the most distant Perimeter from the Gamma . It was the southernmost one, while the Gamma was the northernmost, with hundreds of kilometres of open lands separating them.

Taking into account my current velocity, I would be able to arrive at my destination in ten minutes at most. The most convenient thing about becoming an adult was the sharp increase in the durability of the body, which allowed me to exert my entire strength indefinitely, with no risks of side effects.

The force my muscles could generate had also risen and my weight had remained virtually unchanged, and this meant that I could sustain travelling in the supersonic regime. The only drawback was that I had yet to find an appropriate apparel, which wouldn't go up in flames and break into smithereens. I would have to run around the world naked for the foreseeable future.

I neared my destination with every passing second. With every single step, the surrounding environment was ruined. I met more than one beast along my path, passing through them like a high-calibre bullet through butter. Not much of them remained after my passage, .

Finally, the southern side of the Delta came into sight. Although numerous beasts could be seen in the plains surrounding it, they were not in numbers high enough to pose a real danger to the defensive measures of the Perimeter.

It was the northern side that was at risk of falling. I could feel the immense mass of condensed mana from where I was. I coasted the Perimeter, keeping myself at a distance to avoid hitting by mistake some innocent passerby. My passage raised some alarms in the guards standing on the walls, but I would be out of their sight before they could pinpoint my location.

After completing a quarter of a circle, the horde of mana beings came into sight. Entities of all kinds, from simple animals to true freaks of nature, were barely kept at bay by the neverending barrage of artillery shooting from on top and from behind the high northern walls.

Every single entrance to the Perimeter had been closed shut and barricaded, and ordinances continuously fell in front of them and on top of the few assailants who managed to slip in between the shots of artillery.

Standing strong in front of the walls, between the two lines of explosives, were several hundreds of archumans of all ages and backgrounds. They cut down every single beast they could put their hands on, synchronising themselves with the actions of the artillery.

The soldiers were behaving exemplary, but they were destined to fall. Sooner or later they would be overwhelmed, as the enemies outnumbered them thirty to one at the least. The artillery shots would deplete and the horde would engulf them all.

It was in these kinds of situations that an adult archuman would shine the most. Between the people I knew, excluding the adults, only Lily would probably be able to accomplish something similar to what was about to happen.

When it comes to high numbers of elements with limited individual strength, there are few things more effective than a virtually invulnerable fast-travelling projectile. It didn't matter if it was one against one, one hundred, one thousand or whatever. If they were unable to pin me down or hurt me significantly, they would end up decimated.

With these thoughts in my mind, I ran into the fray, and the massacre began. The beasts turned their attention to me once they sensed me approaching, but the moment they turned their head was the moment their body had already disintegrated.

I forgot any semblance of technique or grace. I run and run, swinging around my upper limbs without even closing my hands, clawing at whatever beast I could put my hands on. Nevertheless, I kept an eye on the situation, avoiding the soldiers and the artillery shots, and intervened there where I saw the united front at risk of falling.

Turmoil had ensued at my appearance. Many of the fighters had reacted fearfully at my arrival, because of the massacre I was conducting and for their instinctual wariness. Those who I rescued showed more puzzlement than fear after seeing the beast that was about to bite their head off sent flying by a sudden rock.

It didn't take long for the tide of battle to turn in favour of the defenders. Every attack that hit meant another dead beast, and my aim was on point. Every time I swung my fist or propelled my body in any direction, I reaped plentiful victims.

I delved deeper into the fray, to reach the backlines and verify the situation. Soon enough I surpassed the front of beasts, emerging to the other side. The beasts instinctively showed aggression towards me, but after witnessing my exploit, what little they had of a self-preservation instinct steered them away from me.

Behind the enemy lines there was another row of opponents. The additional foes numbered less and had unexpected features. First of all, they were humanoid. They were clearly not genais, as they differed too much from the appearance of a human, but didn't resemble beasts either. I could call them deviants, but it wouldn't clarify what they were.

There came of many types, quite different from each other. Most of them resembled deformed hunchbacked children with sickly greenish skins, others were taller than adult males, with bodies covered in dark bristles and heads of boars, others were bipedal lizards and so on. It was peculiar how almost the totality of them had crude weapons, from gnarled clubs to chipped blades. It was also peculiar how those weapons appeared to be formed by agglomerates of dirt and mana.

Their appearances reminded me of enemies which came up in certain types of games and literary works. In these settings, they were the "monsters" hunted for experience, loot and materials.

At my appearance the monsters started to emit strange cries, most likely a rudimentary form of communication. A group of them started to chant in unison and the bravest member of the group came running towards me, his club raised high above his head.

The goblin was high enough to barely reach my chest, but appeared to be quite confident in his capabilities and as soon as it entered the right range, it swung its weapon down against my head.

I didn't bother blocking or evading and the stick broke in half as soon as it made contact with my forehead. I doubled back by slapping it in the face, parting its head from its body. Seemingly without any care for their own well-being, its companions followed after it, swiftly meeting the same fate without even the time to attack.

After twenty of them had been felled by my hands they stopped coming. The remaining ones had understood that charging me was counterproductive if one's aim was not to be eradicated.

I looked around me. The enemies were still many and some were stronger than others. But not enough to represent a danger. I took a step forward and the horde took a step back. I advanced once again, and the horde retreated further.

I started running, and the horde had no time to react to what was about to happen.