NOVEL NEXT Chapter 179: The Swarm Breaks!
Bruce's eyes narrowed.
And he fired.
The red mana rocket tore through the air with terrifying speed and pressure, the space around it warping violently as it screamed forward.
Then,
BOOM!
The world detonated.
A blinding red white explosion engulfed the charging mantis horde, the blast expanding outward like a miniature sun being born inside the dungeon. Compressed mana erupted violently, shockwaves ripping through the air as the ground disintegrated beneath it. Stone vaporized. Chitin shattered. Bodies were erased mid motion, reduced to fragments before they even had time to register death.
The explosion swallowed everything.
A roaring inferno of mana surged outward, flattening everything in its path. Mantises were hurled apart like broken toys, limbs spinning through the air as their massive frames were torn open by overwhelming force. Some were blown clean off their feet, bodies imploding from internal pressure before crashing lifelessly into the shattered dungeon floor.
The shockwave kept going.
Walls cracked.
Ceilings trembled.
The dungeon screamed.
Red light flooded the space, reflecting vividly in Bruce's eyes as the blast slowly faded. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Explosive art never ceased to amaze him.
He was starting to genuinely fall in love with Red's bazooka form, and the sheer destruction it brought with it.
Before the smoke had fully cleared, Red shifted again.
The weapon flowed seamlessly back into his hands, reshaping itself into a pair of crimson gloves that wrapped tightly around his fists.
Bruce moved.
He plunged straight into the chaos.
His speed exploded as he closed the distance, weaving through collapsing debris and disoriented beasts. His palms flashed in blurs of motion as he struck again and again, Holy Rupture activating instantly with each precise impact. His hand met thick chitin armor, but the healing energy bypassed it entirely, surging inward and detonating directly within their bodies.
Brains ruptured.
Nervous systems collapsed.
Towering mantises stiffened mid motion before crashing lifelessly to the ground.
Scythe like forelegs slashed toward him from every direction, their speed terrifying even for S Ranked beasts. Bruce twisted and shifted between them, narrowly dodging razor sharp swipes that carved deep grooves into the dungeon walls where his head had been moments earlier. His movements were fluid, calculated, every step placed with lethal intent.
He didn't stop.
He didn't slow.
One strike.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
Each touch was death.
As Bruce surged forward, mantises dropped in his wake, massive bodies slumping down as he sped past them, his palms flashing in different directions with insane speed and precision. Slowly but surely, their numbers began to thin as he forced his way deeper into the dungeon, carving a path straight through the heart of the swarm.
And with every step,
That presence grew heavier.
The deeper he went, the more the unsettling pressure in his chest intensified. Bruce gritted his teeth as his instincts screamed danger louder and louder, his body urging him to turn back, warning him that pressing forward was a terrible idea.
Whatever was releasing that aura,
Meeting it was dangerous.
Extremely dangerous.
But that was precisely why Bruce refused to stop.
As a scientist at heart, there was nothing he despised more than unknown variables left unchecked. Running away wouldn't erase the threat, it would only delay it. Instead of being a coward, he had to confront it, understand it, learn what kind of existence could emit such an aura.
He had to know what there was to be afraid of.
Only then could he figure out how to deal with it in the future.
Bruce clenched his fists.
And pushed forward.
The swarm responded instantly.
Mantises surged from every direction, their movements sharp and synchronized, bladed forelegs slicing through the air with piercing shrieks. They didn't rush blindly anymore. They adjusted. Fanned out. Tried to encircle him. Their compound eyes locked onto Bruce with a cold, predatory focus as they attacked in layered waves, forcing him to move or be shredded.
Bruce didn't slow.
He slipped between slashes with tight, efficient footwork, his body weaving through gaps that barely existed. A scythe passed so close it split the air beside his cheek. He countered instantly, driving his palm forward. Holy Rupture activated on contact, the healing energy bypassing chitin and detonating directly inside the mantis' skull. Its body locked up mid stride before collapsing in a heap behind him.
Another came from above.
Bruce twisted, his elbow smashing into its thorax. The impact cracked its exoskeleton, and before it could recover, he grabbed its foreleg, twisted sharply, and slammed it into the ground with crushing force. The dungeon floor shattered beneath the blow as he released a short range Restorative Detonation inside its body. The mantis convulsed once, then went limp.
He kept moving.
Red shifted forms fluidly as the situation demanded, gloves to dagger, dagger to short blade, each transformation seamless. He sliced tendons, severed joints, pierced weak points exposed in the chaos. Mana reinforced strikes landed with surgical precision, each one calculated to kill as efficiently as possible.
The mantises adapted.
Those at the rear stopped charging blindly. They attacked in pairs and trios, one feinting while another struck from a blind angle. Scythes crossed paths, creating deadly kill zones meant to trap him. Bruce noticed it immediately.
"…You're learning," he muttered under his breath.
He answered in kind.
Mana surged through his legs as he accelerated, slipping out of the encirclement and dragging the battlefield with him. He used Neural Amplification, his perception sharpening as time seemed to stretch. Movements slowed. Patterns emerged. He saw the rhythm in their attacks, the slight delay between coordination, the micro hesitation before a strike.
He exploited it mercilessly.
Bruce darted through them like a ghost, palms flashing, hearts detonating inside thick armored bodies. Mantises fell one after another, their massive forms crashing down and littering the dungeon path behind him. The deeper he pushed, the more corpses accumulated, broken, cleaved, ruptured beyond recovery.
And still,
No SS Ranked presence revealed itself.
That fact alone was unsettling.
The remaining mantises began to show signs of agitation. Their movements grew sharper, more aggressive, their attacks heavier with intent. They screeched in shrill, grating tones that echoed through the dungeon corridors, a sound filled with irritation rather than fear.
Bruce felt it.
He had crossed from obstacle to nuisance.
Then to threat.