BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM-Chapter 1323: The Azure Thaid (3)

The Lacustris Alligatoridae surged from the water as Erik got closer. Erik stood his ground by the ancient tree, feeling the solid bedrock beneath his feet.

Erik met the beast's gaze. It was clearly intelligent, yet its eyes burned with rage.

The thaid charged. Its clawed feet tore chunks from the earth as it closed the distance between them. Erik waited until the last possible moment before moving, gathering mana into his body.

<Let's see who is going to win.>

The beast jumped on Erik, but he avoided the attack. Erik wasn't making barriers because he needed to lure it outside the water.

Erik waited until the last possible moment before moving, gathering mana into his armor. The Absolute Castle still had Nathaniel's ability. The resulting punch came out with thousands more energy than it would have had if Erik didn't use that power.

The thaid's body shuddered from the force as Erik's punch connected. It could do nothing but growl.

Emily shot. The crack of her rifle split the air, the bullet striking near the creature's eye but failing to penetrate its hide.

<I need to use more mana…>

The thaid shook off the impact like an annoying insect bite.

<Its scales are too thick!> Emily recharged the rifle.

The creature recovered, rising to its full height and locking eyes with him again. Erik dodged once again.

Another shot rang out. The bullet struck, but left only a superficial mark on its armored scales.

The Thaids' under the monster's control joined the battle.

<Take care of them.> He said to the clones, who joined the fray.

Erik used the distraction to his advantage, channeling mana into his Elemental Lord brain crystal power and creating wind blades.

He sent them hurling toward the thaid. They struck the monster's hide with enough force to cut through steel, but most of the energy behind them got dissipated by the thaid's natural mana armor and its scales.

Only a few created wounds, since they landed in the gaps between the armored plates.

The monster let out an angry roar, showing its yellow teeth. The sound was so loud it shook the ground and echoed across the lake.

Though barely hurt, the creature was furious. It threw its head back and opened its mouth wide. A ball of water formed in its throat and squeezed together.

Then the monster shot out a powerful stream of water. Erik rolled out of the way, feeling the wind from the attack brush past his shoulder.

The water blade sliced a tree in two as it passed, the top half crashing to the ground.

Erik didn't wait for the creature to attack again. He released multiple wind blades in rapid succession, targeting the wounds he'd already opened.

This time, the attacks went deeper, drawing more blood. The thaid roared in pain and intensified its assault, unleashing a barrage of water jets that forced Erik to use telekinesis to avoid getting sliced. He was also creating barriers to protect Emily.

However, to make sure the barriers weren't shattered, he had to pour a lot of mana into them.

Their battle continued. Erik moved around the creature's attacks while striking whenever an opening presented itself. The thaid matched his movements.

<This one is tough.> Erik said to the biological supercomputer, studying the thaid's movements. <Its scales are like armor plates, and it still hasn't used some of its brain crystal powers.>

[Yeah, you need to be careful, but at least we are in the open now. The battle is not as hard as it was against the bug queen.]

Here, Erik could fly, and while the creature's attacks could reach him, the distance was still going to make them weaker. Besides, Erik had his armor on, so he would not be injured easily.

<Any suggestions?> Erik asked, keeping his eyes fixed on the monster.

<Exploit the gaps between scales. There is not much I can say.>

<It's not much to work with.> Erik gathered more mana.

Erik found himself working harder to stay ahead of the monster's attacks as the battle progressed. But it wasn't easy.

The creature was as fast as the Queen Bug and had a ton of mana. Besides, it learned with each exchange, adapting its strategy to counter Erik's movements and attacks.

Each water jet came closer to finding its mark, forcing Erik to use more mana to avoid them or to pump his armor up.

The thaid then plunged into the lake once again, sending a wall of water surging toward Erik. He used telekinesis and flew skyward.

[Protect Emily.]

That was a large attack, so Erik pumped more mana into his Absolute Wall to make sure she and the clones were ok.

From his position, he could see Emily and the clones were alive and moving to another position, still under the barriers' protection.

Looking down at the churning waters, Erik gathered more mana. He needed to shift tactics. The beast's defenses were strong.

He also got proof of what would have happened if he didn't pay attention when he fought the Queen Bug and went all out with his mana.

He would have destroyed the cave, and that was because, with the amount of mana the alligator-like thaid was going to use, it could do the same for the lake area.

The creature didn't care about the lab; it only cared about the lake, which meant it didn't matter if the lab got destroyed. Yet Erik was once again constrained. Against the bug queen, he would have risked making the cave collapse and killing his friends. Against this thing, he risked destroying the lab.

Getting this far was going to help, since the lab was on the other side of the lake, but if he wasn't careful, he could still damage it.

<Why I only end up in tough battles?>

[You are searching the labs—of course you'd encounter resistance. Still, you're fortunate that the proto-thaids created by the Silverline Corporation are the strongest in this area. They're actually less dangerous than some other thaid variants.]

The creature submerged, Erik channeled mana, and formed a colossal fireball that struck the water's surface.

<I can't pour more mana than this without making a mess…>