Chapter 118: Human Bomb

Jackson remained silent, not bothering to utter a single word.

There was no point wasting his breath on a walking corpse. The Desolate Troop Leader was already a dead man in his eyes. The only question was how much time he would need to put him in the ground.

His indifference only fueled the man’s fury.

“I WILL KILL YOU, BASTARD!”

The Desolate Troop Leader’s roar thundered across the ruins. In the next instant, his aura erupted, unleashing the terrifying pressure of a Third Sequence Awakened. The air around him twisted under the force of his spiritual energy, sending gusts of wind sweeping across the broken ground. Dust and loose fragments of stone rose into the air as his killing intent spread through the abandoned facility.

The weaker members of the Bloodfang Gang were the first to suffer.

Several First Sequence Awakened felt their knees buckle beneath the overwhelming pressure. Some staggered backward, desperately trying to remain standing, while others collapsed directly onto the ground, their faces drained of color. Even those who managed to hold their footing struggled to breathe normally under the suffocating weight of the aura.

This was no exaggeration.

The difference between the First and Third Sequences was enormous. For the weaker members of the gang, standing before someone like the Desolate Troop Leader was already a tremendous burden. They were little more than ants in the presence of a powerful Awakened.

And compared with Jackson, who had already reached the absolute peak of the Third Sequence, the gap was even more humiliating.

Jackson paid no attention to the man’s outburst. His gaze swept across the assembled enemies, calmly assessing their numbers and strength.

There were more than fifty First Sequence members and roughly twenty at the Second Sequence. The two leaders, meanwhile, were both Third Sequence experts.

More than seventy opponents stood before him.

Under ordinary circumstances, even a peak Third Sequence Awakened would have to take such a formation seriously. Numbers alone could become a significant advantage when enough enemies attacked together, especially if they coordinated their abilities.

Jackson, however, showed no trace of concern.

Instead, a cruel glint flickered through his eyes.

In a single breath, the Golden Brush appeared in his hand.

His spiritual force surged into the mysterious artifact, and its tip swept across the air as he began editing the status windows of the Bloodfang Gang’s First Sequence members.

One after another, their status windows appeared before him.

Jackson didn’t hesitate.

He added the same trait to more than fifty individuals in rapid succession.

[Human Bomb: Exists solely to explode. The moment sixty seconds are up, the spiritual force and mana present in the body will transform into an explosion.]

A cold light shone in Jackson’s eyes.

He had no intention of showing these people mercy.

Their spiritual defenses, which might have protected their status windows against ordinary interference, were utterly useless before the Golden Brush. The mysterious artifact ignored the barriers that would have made such alterations impossible for an ordinary Awakened.

In the blink of an eye, more than fifty people had unknowingly become walking explosives.

For Jackson, this was the most efficient way to turn the enemy’s numerical advantage against them. Rather than waste time fighting dozens of weaker opponents individually, he could let their own bodies become weapons capable of tearing through the formation around him.

He felt no remorse.

First, these people were scum who had chosen to prey on their own kind. Demonic hunters like them made a living hunting, robbing, and plundering hardworking Awakened, including those who risked their lives protecting humanity from the monsters beyond their walls.

Second, they had dared to scheme against him and abduct his sister.

That alone was enough.

Jackson had already begun regretting his earlier decision to leave the Desolate Troop Leader alive. He should have eliminated that bastard before leaving for the academy. If he had done so, Aella might never have been caught up in this mess.

He wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

If even one of these people escaped, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t return to threaten his family. He had already experienced the consequences of leaving an enemy alive, and he had no intention of allowing history to repeat itself.

Today, everyone here would die.

After completing the edits on all fifty-plus status windows, Jackson finally relaxed his mind.

The sheer number of alterations had consumed an enormous amount of spiritual force in a single instant. The burden was so great that an ordinary Awakened attempting the same feat would likely have collapsed from the strain before completing even a fraction of the work.

Jackson felt the depletion as well.

Without hesitation, he retrieved a Spiritual Force Recovery Potion from his storage and swallowed it in one gulp. The liquid slid down his throat, and he waited for its effects to replenish the spiritual force he had expended.

All of this had happened in the blink of an eye.

From the moment the Desolate Troop Leader began roaring to the instant Jackson finished editing the last status window, barely any time had passed.

None of his enemies had realized what he had done.

Then, the first signs of disaster appeared.

Several First Sequence members of the Bloodfang Gang suddenly stiffened. Their expressions twisted as they felt the spiritual force and mana within their bodies begin to behave abnormally. The two energies surged through their spiritual spaces in a chaotic frenzy, colliding and churning as though an uncontrollable reaction had begun inside them.

Their bodies trembled violently.

“What… What’s happening to me?”

A man clutched his chest, his eyes widening as an unbearable heat spread through his body. The veins beneath his skin began to bulge, spreading across his neck, arms, and face like a network of crimson cracks.

Within moments, countless red lines covered his exposed skin.

Blood vessels ruptured one after another, staining his clothes as wisps of scalding steam escaped from his body. The heat intensified with every passing second, and the man’s terrified screams echoed through the ruins.

“Little brother Yuan…!”

Someone turned toward a nearby companion, only to watch in horror as the same changes spread across the other man’s body.

“Someone! Get the medics here!”

The desperate shout broke whatever composure the Bloodfang Gang had left.

Chaos erupted.

Men stumbled over one another as they scrambled away from their afflicted companions. Some desperately tried to suppress the violent fluctuations within their bodies, while others abandoned all restraint and fled in every direction, hoping to escape whatever nightmare had suddenly befallen them.

Their carefully maintained formation disintegrated almost instantly.

The Bloodfang Gang Leader stood frozen, staring at the horrifying scene unfolding below him.

As a proud Third Sequence expert, he had witnessed countless battles and encountered all kinds of strange abilities. Yet nothing in his experience could explain what he was seeing.

His subordinates were collapsing without being struck by a single attack.

Their bodies were undergoing changes he couldn’t comprehend, and he had no idea how to stop them.

For the first time since Jackson’s arrival, genuine shock appeared in the man’s eyes.

It was as though he had witnessed something that should never have existed.

The Desolate Troop Leader was equally shaken. Even so, the hatred consuming him left little room for anything else. Whatever was happening to the Bloodfang Gang could wait. He had finally found the man responsible for his brother’s death, and he refused to let this opportunity slip away.

Taking a deep breath, he tightened his grip around his alloyed blade.

His aura surged once more, spilling from his body in violent waves as he bent his knees and launched himself toward Jackson.

The blade flashed beneath the dim light filtering through the ruined facility.

“Die!”

The Desolate Troop Leader charged forward, his Third Sequence aura sweeping across the battlefield as he closed the distance between them.

Under Jackson’s perception, the Desolate Troop Leader’s movements were painfully slow.

Every shift of his shoulders, every movement of his feet, and every subtle change in the angle of his blade seemed to unfold in slow motion. The difference in their combat abilities was far greater than their realms alone suggested. If Jackson wanted to, he could easily evade the incoming attack using the Twin Moon Shadow method, leaving his opponent striking nothing but empty air.

But he couldn’t afford to do that.

Behind him stood the tower where he had left Aella. Although he had already rescued his sister, he wasn’t willing to risk an attack that might accidentally reach her. No matter how insignificant the threat seemed, he wouldn’t allow anything to happen to her again.

Instead of retreating, Jackson planted his feet firmly against the ground and clenched his fist.

“Bring it on, you bastard!”

BANG!

Their fists collided with a deafening impact.

A visible shockwave erupted from the point of contact, sweeping across the abandoned facility with enough force to send dust and shattered stone flying in every direction. The fragile pillars surrounding them cracked under the pressure, their surfaces splitting apart before chunks of concrete broke loose and crashed to the ground. Nearby glass windows shattered simultaneously, sending countless glittering fragments scattering through the air.