novelraw Chapter 267: Repulsion vs. Magnetism
Chapter 267: Repulsion vs. Magnetism
The confrontation did not last long.
The UMA known as the Jersey Devil quickly lost curiosity about the two tiny invaders before it.
It opened its long, narrow, horse-like mouth once again.
"Watch out!" Lin Jie and Ethan simultaneously dove to opposite sides!
The instant they left their original positions, a force field brimming with distorting power erupted once more from the Jersey Devil's body.
The steel floor where they had just been standing turned into a soft piece of tinfoil, violently ripped upward and crumpled by an invisible giant hand!
With a metallic shriek, the entire floor slab was torn open, creating a fissure several meters long. The twisted edges of the steel plate flashed with dangerous electrical sparks!
This was only the beginning.
The Jersey Devil seemed pleased by this game of destruction.
It strode forward on its disproportionately long legs, charging towards Ethan's direction with a peculiar, stilt-like gait.Its speed was astonishingly fast, but eerily, its feet did not fully touch the ground. Instead, they glided atop a faint, repulsive magnetic field, making each step swift and utterly silent.
Simultaneously, a "humming" sound began to emanate from the external brass components on its body, forming a powerful magnetic field with a radius of about twenty meters.
The steam pipes above Lin Jie and Ethan's heads creaked incessantly as the metal components inside were forcibly magnetized, repelling and attracting each other.
Valves at the junctions were violently twisted off, spewing out scorching white steam.
The needles on all the wall-mounted instrument panels were jammed, pointing rigidly in the same direction—towards the Jersey Devil's location!
And the most lethal were the brackets securing the cables and pipes.
Screws and rivets seemed to be given life. They broke free from their threaded constraints, levitated rapidly in mid-air, and then transformed into a deadly "shrapnel storm" of metal, whistling as they shot towards Lin Jie and Ethan!
The entire world seemed to be collapsing under the roar of this UMA!
"Damn it!" Ethan rolled awkwardly through the rain of flying rivets. The twin revolvers in his hands became unusually heavy because the metal components inside the gun bodies were being violently pulled by that powerful magnetic force, making it impossible for Ethan to aim steadily at the high-speed gliding target.
In the face of this large-scale, indiscriminate attack, his precise and flamboyant gun-fu was completely useless.
Ethan realized he had to stop this monster's movement first; otherwise, both of them would eventually be buried alive in this hellscape of twisted steel and scorching steam.
He stabilized his posture after a roll, aiming his left-hand [Morning Star] at the charging Jersey Devil.
"[Morning Star]—[Gravity Bind]!"
He shouted and pulled the trigger.
A bullet engraved with a rising sun pattern flew from the barrel.
It didn't fly towards the Jersey Devil's body but hit the floor three yards in front of it.
Upon impact, an invisible, powerful gravitational field with a diameter of about five meters, brimming with immense attractive force, abruptly formed!
The Jersey Devil, in the midst of its high-speed charge, seemed to crash into a wall made of thick syrup.
Its forward momentum stalled, and its body was involuntarily pulled down and restrained by that powerful gravitational force.
Its long limbs clawed desperately at the ground, engaging in a frantic tug-of-war with the immense pull.
"Success!" A flicker of joy passed through Ethan's eyes.
Lin Jie, who had been calmly observing the battle situation, seized this fleeting opportunity.
Without hesitation, he raised [Serene Heart], the muzzle locking onto the temporarily immobilized Jersey Devil's head.
This was the first perfect attack window that had appeared since the start of the entire fight.
An alchemical bullet quietly left the barrel, shooting straight towards the UMA's horse-like head!
But that bullet, which should have traced an absolute straight line, collided with an invisible, distorting wall when it entered a distance of about one foot from the Jersey Devil's body.
Its trajectory warped bizarrely!
Influenced by the magnetic force, the metal projectile traced an arc in the air, grazing the edge of the Jersey Devil's body before finally ricocheting off a distant wall with a loud "clang," leaving only a shallow bullet crater.
"A shield?!" Ethan exclaimed in shock.
"No, worse than that." Lin Jie's gaze turned grave. "It's a force field.
It has formed a powerful magnetic repulsion field around its body that continuously repels all metallic objects!
Conventional ammunition... is ineffective against it!"
As the saying goes, misfortunes never come singly.
Ethan soon discovered that the gravitational field constructed by [Morning Star] was trembling within the Jersey Devil's magnetic storm.
He could feel his Grotesque Armament was struggling against an even more domineering physical law.
"I can't hold it for long!" Ethan gritted his teeth. "Its magnetic interference is too strong!"
The Jersey Devil realized this too.
It gave up its futile physical struggle and turned its horse-head towards Ethan.
High-frequency currents began to appear on the external mechanical devices on its elbows, followed by a highly focused magnetic pulse blasting towards Ethan!
Ethan couldn't see the trajectory of the attack.
He only realized that the steel floor beneath his feet, along with the iron in his bloodstream, seemed to be boiling.
A terrifying force, transmitted through magnetic resonance, slammed into his body with brutal force.
"Pfft!"
Ethan spat out a mouthful of blood. His body was blasted backward by the powerful repulsive force, crashing into a wall lined with instrument cabinets and triggering a series of blinding electrical sparks.
The restraint of the gravitational field also vanished due to his severe injury.
The freed Jersey Devil let out a roar tinged with the meaning of a victor.
It turned around, aiming the red light points on its head at the last remaining target in the power room—that Eastern youth.
In its view, this hunt was nearing its end.
Lin Jie hadn't moved a single step since firing his shot. He wasn't just spectating, nor was he paralyzed by fear.
He was observing and analyzing, using his mind that surpassed ordinary humans to deconstruct every aspect of the enemy before him.
The Jersey Devil's ability seemed unsolvable.
It controlled one of the most fundamental physical laws—magnetism. In this power room constructed of steel, it was the absolute monarch.
But from the seemingly chaotic destruction, Lin Jie had found a fatal "Achilles' heel."
Any creature, as long as it was still a creature, would inevitably possess "instinct."
And instinct could be dominated by fear!
In the precious dozen or so seconds Ethan had bought for him, Lin Jie had already found a sword that could shake the "heart" of this monarch of steel.
It wasn't in his hand; it was in his bloodline.
Watching the Jersey Devil step closer, Lin Jie clenched his right hand into a fist.
The hidden [Spiritual Guidance Trigger] operated silently.
He didn't retreat. Instead, he took a step forward.
The Jersey Devil was puzzled by Lin Jie's advance instead of retreat.
But its killing instinct quickly overwhelmed that tiny curiosity.
The external machinery on its body began to flash again, preparing to unleash another wave of deadly electromagnetic pulse!
Unfortunately, this time, Lin Jie's move was faster!
In the split second before that destructive magnetic field could fully form, Lin Jie spread his arms wide!
[White's Airspace]!
The terrifying pressure originating from an ancient Egyptian deity and an apex predator at the top of the ecological niche transformed into a white tidal wave, sweeping through the entire power room.
The Jersey Devil, poised to attack, stiffened.
Its biological instincts as a UMA screamed a sharp alarm in the midst of this battle.
It couldn't sense any energy fluctuations, nor could it see any physical attack.
But it "smelled" it—the scent of death!
What it faced wasn't just a tiny human, but a prehistoric behemoth that had just awoken from slumber!
That absolute suppression stemming from life hierarchy, defying all logic, caused a one-second tremor of fear in its movements.
However, Lin Jie's [White's Airspace] was effective against it, yet not completely effective.
This UMA had undergone a certain degree of modification by the Brotherhood of Light. Its biological instincts and mechanical commands were engaged in a fierce conflict within its mind.
Its body trembled, wanting to flee yet bound by commands to stay put.
But these few seconds of hesitation were enough for Lin Jie!
His true killing move wasn't just [White's Airspace] itself.
Once the Jersey Devil fell into confusion, Lin Jie moved swiftly. His target was a row of steam pipes on the wall behind the Jersey Devil.
Channeling all his strength into his legs, he rushed to a valve and used all his might to turn the valve handle, scorching hot from the steam!
"Hiss——!!!"
Scorching, high-pressure white steam gushed out from the emergency pressure relief port of the pipe!
Within mere seconds, the entire power room was submerged in a dense, white steam so thick you couldn't see your hand in front of your face!
While the Jersey Devil's magnetic force was powerful, the magnetic field couldn't repel these pervasive water vapor particles.
Its vision—those two burning red light points—was reduced to the extreme within the dense water mist, becoming a blurry red glow.
More importantly, this high-pressure steam wasn't ordinary water.
It was purified water, processed by boilers to remove the vast majority of minerals!
A poor conductor of electricity!
Using the most basic knowledge of physics, Lin Jie had created an "insulating domain" for himself and Ethan that could weaken the enemy's electromagnetic attacks.
Attack forcibly interrupted, vision completely obscured, abilities greatly weakened... One blow after another plunged this modified UMA into chaos.
It couldn't understand why its power had suddenly failed.
Panic stemming from instinct caused its movements to freeze for several long seconds.
"Now!"
Lin Jie's explosive shout rang in Ethan's ears.
Ethan quickly snapped back from the pain of his injuries.
He aimed his right-hand [Evening Star] at the Jersey Devil's body, exposed outside its magnetic protection, and pulled the trigger.
"[Evening Star]—[Repulsion Burst]!"
A bullet engraved with a waning moon pattern whistled forth.
Upon striking the Jersey Devil's chest, the bullet released a kinetic repulsion shockwave!
The tough, gray-white skin and bones were as fragile as paper before the unstoppable repulsive force.
Its chest caved inward and shattered. Its entire body was blasted backward by the immense force.
Behind it was precisely that "biological battery" imprisoning the Deep Sea Moon God!