novelraw Chapter 254: Wrath of the Thunderbird
Chapter 254: Wrath of the Thunderbird
That death-knell-like metallic groaning sound grew increasingly dense and piercing.
Above their heads, the steel beam structure, deeply corroded by pheromone dust, was continuously twisted by its own immense weight.
Countless rusted bolts and rivets popped out from their connection points like popcorn, tracing lethal arcs through the air.
This massive steel tomb was disintegrating step by step before Lin Jie's eyes, heading towards irreversible collapse.
Lin Jie's expression was grave.
"Lin Jie! We have to take it down before it completely tears this place apart!" Ethan's voice came from behind another load-bearing column, carrying urgency and a trace of frustrated helplessness.
The [Morning Star] and [Evening Star] in his hands possessed the formidable power to manipulate "gravity" and "repulsion."
But such power was utterly useless against a UMA with flight capabilities that maintained an absolutely safe distance!
Ethan couldn't waste those precious "gravity singularities" on empty air.
Lin Jie's mind was also racing at an incredible speed.Ethan was right.
They had to take the initiative, not wait for the roof to come crashing down before acting.
"Cover me!"
Lin Jie growled at Ethan, then darted out from behind the load-bearing column.
He aimed his gun at the two diagonal support cables connecting to the main crossbeam where the UMA was perched!
Two bullets, their sound completely erased by the [Serene Heart]'s perfect silencing effect and imbued with the power of Absolute Straight Line, transformed into two invisible rays of death, accurately striking the two deeply corroded, near-breaking steel cables.
With a crisp *twang*, the two cables, thicker than an adult's arm, snapped.
Losing its diagonal support, the crossbeam sagged downward under the Mothman's weight.
The UMA, which had maintained an elegant posture, hadn't anticipated someone would attack it by "pulling the firewood from under the cauldron" in this way.
Its body swayed, its black wings flapping chaotically for a few beats.
"Now!"
Lin Jie roared inwardly.
Then he raised his right hand, clenching his fingers into a fist.
[Spiritual Guidance Trigger]!
Two resonance probes pierced the core energy nodes of the divine mark on the back of his hand.
A soft white light erupted!
A translucent [White's Airspace] silently expanded with his body as the center.
Lin Jie attempted to use his own oppressive domain to completely suppress that UMA on both the mental and physiological levels!
He wanted that vulture to tell that presumptuous moth who the true master under this sky was!
The invisible pressure from an apex predator at the top of the ecological niche swept towards the warehouse's dome.
However, reality delivered a ruthless blow to Lin Jie.
That pressure, after spreading upward about seven or eight meters, attenuated and dissipated like a fountain running out of force.
It simply couldn't reach the Mothman suspended over ten meters in the air.
The distance was too great.
Although the oppressive force of [White's Airspace] was powerful, its "effective range" was three-dimensional.
Its radius could only extend to about five meters at most.
Once beyond this range, that powerful pressure would rapidly dilute into the air, losing its intended intimidating effect.
That Mothman also seemed to sense the "provocation" from below.
Its huge red compound eyes slowly shifted downward.
This was the first time it truly looked at the young man on the ground engaged in futile resistance.
Then its massive wings began flapping with even more effort.
Ineffective.
It even backfired.
While Lin Jie was briefly lost in thought due to the [White's Airspace]'s range limitation.
The large crossbeam above, having completely lost its balance, finally, with a piercing shriek of tearing metal, crashed down towards him, carrying the Mothman and tons of terrifying weight!
Fortunately, two gunshots rang out from the other side of the warehouse at that moment.
The first came from [Morning Star].
A dark golden gravity bullet struck the empty ground about two meters to Lin Jie's side.
"Hum!"
A strong gravitational field erupted.
The pulling force distorting the air acted on Lin Jie's body.
His body, beyond his control, was yanked sideways by that powerful gravitational pull.
In the same instant.
"Bang!"
The second came from [Evening Star].
A mithril-colored repulsion bullet followed closely, also striking the spot where Lin Jie had originally been standing.
One pull, one push.
These two diametrically opposed forces, under Ethan's precise control, formed a vector thrust centered on Lin Jie's body.
Lin Jie only felt his body first yanked sideways by a tremendous force, then pushed forward from behind by an even stronger force.
He became like a stone launched from a catapult, flying and tumbling towards the safe area diagonally ahead.
"Rumble—"
Just as Lin Jie's body rolled out of the danger zone, that massive steel crossbeam smashed into the spot where he had been standing.
Flying stone fragments and steel shards shot out in all directions.
Lin Jie felt a searing, burning pain on his back as if touched by a red-hot branding iron.
But he had ultimately survived.
At the critical juncture between life and death, Ethan, with his miraculous marksmanship and tactical understanding, had pushed Lin Jie out from under Death's scythe.
But the crisis was not over.
The crossbeam's fall triggered a disastrous chain reaction, more steel beams and concrete chunks began raining down from above.
"Boom!!"
At that moment, an enormous impact sound suddenly exploded from the warehouse's iron door!
That sturdy iron door was struck head-on by something, denting inward with an extremely exaggerated shape.
With a second, even more violent impact sound, the door was kicked clean off its frame by an irresistible force!
Amidst clouds of dust and flying sparks, a bear-like burly figure bathed in moonlight, like a divine weapon descending from heaven, appeared at the thoroughly breached entrance.
It was a Native American man at least over two meters tall, with explosive muscle definition all over his body.
He wore only a simple vest sewn from some kind of beast hide adorned with primitive totemic patterns, revealing hard, bronze-colored muscles covered in old scars.
His face had sharp, well-defined features, and a pair of keen, wild black eyes were fixed intently on the falling Mothman in the warehouse airspace.
And in his hand, he held a single-edged Native American war axe so large it was heart-stopping!
The axe had a primitive design, its handle crafted from a single, polished giant beast leg bone, while the massive crescent-shaped axe head displayed a deep bluish-black color as if struck by lightning.
A wild, domineering aura erupted from him.
He was like an ancient god of war stepping out of Native American mythology!
And he truly was a "god."
At least in the eyes of the I.A.R.C. North American branch, and all the hunters struggling in this cruel New World, he was the most reliable and powerful "Guardian Deity."
Elite Hunter Ranking, thirty-fifth place!
The absolute ace of the I.A.R.C. North American branch!
"Skullcrusher" Hawk Hawkeye.
Hawk seemed to have no interest in any form of social interaction with guests from the Old World like Lin Jie.
His eyes held only the prey.
As that Mothman was about to hit the ground, Hawk moved.
His massive physique erupted with astonishing speed completely disproportionate to his size in a short time!
The ground beneath his feet cracked and shattered!
He transformed into a blurry afterimage, launching a decisive death charge directly towards that Mothman!
"For the glory of the Thunderbird, [Thunderbird's Wrath]!"
A battle cry erupted from his mouth.
The lightning-patterned natural markings on the blade of the war axe named [Thunderbird's Wrath] in his hand suddenly lit up.
"Crackle—"
Blue-white electric arcs were drawn and compressed from the air, then all gathered onto the bluish-black axe blade.
Finally forming a half-meter-long, cicada-wing-thin "electric blade" that radiated heat capable of melting steel!
This was the power of [Thunderbird's Wrath]!
It could highly compress the ever-present static electricity in the air, then transform it into the purest thunder.
Hawk ignored the continuously collapsing "rain of death."
His body weaved and leaped among the falling steel beams and rubble, each step precisely landing on structures about to break, then borrowing force to leap at the last moment before they completely shattered.
And the massive war axe in his hand, wrapped in blue-white plasma arcs, transformed into a whirlwind of death.
Each swing brought forth blinding electric light and destructive heat waves.
The corroded, teetering metal structures blocking his charging path were, before that electric blade capable of instantly melting steel, as fragile as butter sliced by a hot knife.
Steel cables were effortlessly severed and melted, forcibly clearing a straight path to his prey!