Cryptomining Supervillain

Chapter 223: 223 THE INVINCIBLE BUG

223 THE INVINCIBLE BUG

Inside the fortress, the real Nicaesa gasped, blood spilling from his mouth.

His life was tied to the projection. If the Anima fell, so would he.

One of the Shadows loomed over him, its voice echoing like thunder.

"Lord Nicaesa, you've defended this place long enough. Your time is done. Your world no longer needs you."

Nicaesa coughed, forcing words through pain.

"We are not invaders. We are defenders. It was you who crossed into our world first….killed our kind for the ability to gain powers."

"I am merely defending our homeland from your invasion", Nicaesa spat.

The second Shadow laughed…a terrible, echoing sound.

"And yet you build fortresses in our world. You slaughter our faithful and claim to protect yourselves. Your hypocrisy reeks of mortal arrogance."

Their words stabbed like truth.

Even Damen, far below, paused as he heard them echo through. Part of him knew… the aliens weren't entirely wrong.

Humans could have closed the space rift instead of building a fortress in the alien world. But politics and survival were never simple.

Humans needed a foothold into the alien world….to be able to harvest meta artifacts by killing the aliens.

Through the projection, Nicaesa's golden form raised its head again. His voice trembled but burned with conviction.

"Without this fortress, your rifts will multiply and spread into more places in our world—your world's corruption will spill across ours. I must stand here… because if I don't, no one will."

The Shadows grinned, their fangs glinting red.

"If your world truly understood its peril, it would have sent more like you."

"Do not tell us," the other added mockingly, "that there is only one superhero left in all your world?"

Nicaesa smiled faintly, even as blood ran down his chin.

"Perhaps… that is the greatest truth of all. Our world has failed us."

The golden Anima flickered.

The Shadows raised their scythes for the killing blow.

And far below, Damen's body blazed with new energy as the last Core of Genesis fused into his system.

"Core of Genesis Level 8: 128/130"

"Core of Mind Level 6: 32/54"

The fortress shuddered.

The alien gods struck.

And two dying lights—one golden, one sapphire black…rose against the darkness.

"Arghhh!" Lord Nicaesa screamed as the scythe tore through his Anima projection. His spectral hammer shattered, and the entire projection flickered, collapsing in a storm of light.

It was the end for Lord Nicaesa.

Then, a blinding blast ripped through the battlefield, vaporizing the scythe before it could strike again.

It was Black Halo.

He hovered in midair, his cloak fluttering in the collapsing fortress, his eyes gleaming with molten light. Though not yet Rank S, the aura around him pulsed with divine violence.

"Great… my Halo's Judgment destroyed the Shadow's strongest scythe," Damen murmured, feeling the surge of power hum through his veins. "Its effectiveness is nearing Rank S."

The Shadows recoiled. "You again…" one hissed, their voice echoing like metal scraping bone.

"You were never this powerful before."

Last time, the Shadow of Anubis hadn't even used its true powers, and blocking a single blow had nearly cost Damen his everything. But now, he'd shattered their mightiest scythe ….and he was still standing.

The secret lay within him.

The Heart of Ra, the Core of Electricity, improved and elevated the rank of his skill and now over a hundred Cores of Genesis coursed through his body, fusing into a monstrous power source.

The twin Shadows raised new scythes, dark blue matter dripping from their edges. "To defeat us," one declared, "you are not enough."

Damen raised his hand …. and two searing beams erupted from his chest, slicing through both scythes in a heartbeat. The Shadows staggered, shrieking in disbelief.

"How can you hold so much power?" one demanded.

The other Shadow's gaze narrowed. "I see it now… he carries our blood. He's burning his own blue blood to power his beams!"

The first Shadow laughed. "Foolish human. Burning your blood to fight… The more you fight, the weaker your blood becomes."

Damen laughed back, dark and defiant. "The last thing I need is more of your cursed blood. The more I burn, the better."

He could feel it …. each attack drained his alien blood essence, but that was no curse.

It was liberation.

The less alien blood in him, the weaker the bloodlust's hold on him.

And as the blue glow in his veins dimmed, the power in his Halo only grew purer.

Damen's fury wasn't reserved for the twin Shadows of Anubis alone. His gaze swept over the alien horde spilling through the fractured fortress, some of them racing toward the space rift.

"Damnit, I can't let the creeps get to our retreating convoy", he muttered.

With a roar, he unleashed another volley of plasma beams from his chest at quick succession.

"Halo's Judgment- Echo Out"

Each shot detonated with concussive force, vaporizing thousands of alien bodies in blinding bursts of light. Dust, fire, and molten debris rained down as the horde staggered under the relentless assault.

Damen grinned, surveying the battlefield.

These weren't the usual Shadow Hounds. Killing the small, weak ones barely nudged his Blood stat beyond Rank BB.

But these…. these were different.

They were deacon-level beasts, massive and powerful, their deaths sending raw energy coursing into his veins.

Each strike tempered his armor, strengthened his body, and pushed his Blood stats higher with every kill.

Still, there was a cost.

The relentless use of his Core of Genesis to fuel his attacks drained his blue blood, keeping his Blood Rank hovering around Rank BBB.

Yet even that limitation was a blessing in itself.

"This is incredible," Damen laughed, sparks of electricity flickering across his armor. "My body and armor keep growing stronger…and it's almost like cheating. All without paying any price … and I lose alien blood in the process, which is a blessing."

The longer Damen fought, the stronger his body armor becomes but the cost was mitigated by a loss of alien Blood which he doesn't want.

He swung his arm, unleashing another volley of plasma.

Dozens of deacons disintegrated in a single strike. Each kill sang through him like a pulse of power, and his armor gleamed brighter, sharper, harder with every passing second.

"I have a bug… an invincibility bug, hahaha," Damen's laugh rang out across the battlefield, fearless, almost godlike, even as the horde pressed in around him.

The Shadows of Anubis paused mid-air, their scythes raised. Their eyes glimmered with something approaching concern.

"This human… this mortal… seemed endless."

Every time he struck, more energy surged through him. Every strike only seemed to sharpen his resolve and make him stronger.

If the battle continued at this pace, they realized with unease, even they might not prevail.

-----

The twin Shadows of Anubis focused their attention on Black Halo.

He was their main threat now…. not the dying Lord Nicaesa.

So, they left the fortress and lunged at Black Halo, their colossal scythes raised high. The air trembled as the weapons fell like mountains collapsing from the heavens.

"Damnit, how the hell do I avoid two huge mountains falling on me at once?" Damen complained.

The double scythes of Anubis were real and would smash Damen into bits if he couldn't avoid or destroy them. Then something came to his mind.

Damen didn't flinch.

Instead, he closed his eyes for a heartbeat, before he opened them again…. this time they were glowing blue.