Chapter 78: Life Element
Alex remained silent and pushed Battle Instinct to its limit. Mia had been acting unusually intelligent ever since the apocalypse began, and even if he was mistaken about that, she had always possessed exceptionally sharp senses.
There was a possibility that she had detected a monster before anyone else.
His gaze swept across the surrounding buildings as he poured more mana into his eyes and ears. Almost immediately, he heard monsters moving inside nearby buildings.
They weren’t charging toward them.
They were running away.
Alex frowned slightly. His first thought was that they had been frozen in fear by the Wild Orc’s Origin Energy and were only now escaping after its death, still afraid due to the lingering affect of Wild Orc’s Origin Energy.
Then another possibility crossed his mind.
’What if they are running away from something else, not the Wild Orc?’
The thought immediately put Alex on alert. He swept his gaze across the surrounding buildings, and with his enhanced vision, he noticed a pigeon perched on top of a distant rooftop.
It looked strangely familiar, reminding him of the pigeon he had saved shortly after returning to Earth by killing the flying monsters chasing it with Fire Bullet.
He couldn’t tell whether it was the same pigeon or simply another one that looked similar. Under normal circumstances, he would have ignored it, but something felt off.
In the muted world created by Battle Instinct, the bird somehow stood out, which meant part of his mind had already judged it to be dangerous.
Alex narrowed his eyes, wanting to focus on it further, but Mia suddenly screeched again.
This time the sound was louder and far more urgent, causing everyone nearby to move toward the cat worriedly. She was staring directly at Alex, as though she was desperately trying to tell him something.
Alex frowned before noticing movement behind the group. Two members of the restaurant staff cautiously stepped out through the back door and looked around with nervous expressions.
"H-Hello," the slightly taller man said while looking at Alex.
Alex gave him a small nod. His senses had already confirmed there was nobody else hiding in the nearby buildings. These two probably wanted to follow him after finding out he killed the Wild Orc.
The man hesitated before speaking again. "C-Can we foll—"
Mia let out another piercing screech before he could finish. At that exact moment, Alex’s expression changed.
The world around him was no longer muted. Normally, Battle Instinct dulled everything except immediate threats, making dangerous things stand out against a dulled, lifeless backdrop.
Now every direction, every building, and every sound stood out to him, indicating danger. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. A chill ran down his spine, and every hair on his body stood on end.
"Run into the alleyway!" Alex shouted.
Everyone froze for a brief moment, unable to understand why his tone had suddenly become so urgent. Alex didn’t wait for questions and thrust his hand deep into the Wild Orc’s chest, no longer caring as warm blood soaked his arm. His mana claws tore through the heart before ripping a glowing crystal free.
[Elemental Stone (E Rank)]
[...]
[Effect: Can be used for crafting items with life element properties.]
Alex barely spared the notification a glance. There was no description attached to it, as though the System had deliberately chosen not to waste his time. That made him more uneasy.
He stored the Elemental Stone and immediately sprinted toward the alley. Robert had already ushered the two restaurant workers inside, while everyone else was moving as quickly as they could.
Sophia lagged behind because she was struggling to push Rae’s wheelchair over the broken pavement.
Mia waited near the entrance until she saw Alex coming before sprinting deeper into the alley. Meanwhile, Alex’s vision continued changing.
Usually, Battle Instinct placed a muted filter over the world and highlighted only danger, but now everything looked unnaturally vivid. The entire area had become extremely dangerous.
He reached Sophia in only a few strides.
"Run ahead. I’ll carry her," he said.
Sophia looked at him with obvious fear, seeing him and Mia acting strangely, but she didn’t waste time asking what was happening. The moment she confirmed Alex lifted the wheelchair with Rae still sitting in it, she turned and ran into the alley.
Using Advanced Body Reinforcement, Alex rushed after her while carrying both Rae and the wheelchair. Just before stepping into the alley, he heard a sharp whistling sound cutting through the air behind him.
An instant later, something struck the ground in the distance. Then everything vanished beneath heat, light, sound, and overwhelming force.
A massive explosion erupted behind them. The shockwave ripped through the street, throwing debris and shattered concrete into the air while slamming into Alex’s back hard enough to nearly knock him off his feet.
His friends weren’t as fortunate. The blast hurled them through the air as though they weighed nothing.
Alex nearly lost his footing as well, but countless tiny mana threads shot from beneath his shoes and anchored themselves into the ground like hooks. Even then, they began tearing free one after another under the overwhelming force.
Without hesitation, he wove the threads together into thicker Mana Cables that dug even deeper into the ground.
He couldn’t afford to be blown away because if he fell now, Rae and the wheelchair would crash violently onto the road. Given her age and condition, it would likely kill her or injure her fatally.
Alex clenched his jaw until it hurt. He started pouring highly compressed, unstable mana into his brain. His thoughts accelerated, his focus sharpened, and the world seemed to became easier to process.
Mana threads burst from his free arm before weaving into several Mana Cables that wrapped tightly around the wheelchair and Rae, securing both against the raging shockwave.
The scorching heat burned against his skin and clothes, but maintaining the spells took priority. Thankfully, the backpack was big enough to protect him and Rae from the most dangerous flames.
Several long seconds later, the shockwave finally weakened, and the heat gradually faded with it. Alex released the Mana Cable Spell before carefully lowering the wheelchair onto the ground.
Rae looked dazed, and parts of her clothes had been scorched, but she hadn’t suffered any serious burns. Alex bent forward slightly as he caught his breath, sweat dripping from his forehead while his arm trembled from maintaining so many spells at once.
He confirmed the backpack was not burning, then looked toward the others.
Most of his friends had crashed hard against the ground and were visibly injured, while Mia appeared unharmed after managing to run far enough into the alley before the shockwaves reached them.
A notification appeared.
[Mana Cable Spell has leveled up. Level 3 → Level 4]
..
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