Chapter 138: Ruin Eruption Skill
The first purified Blood Crystal gradually dissolved within Cain’s palm.
Pure crimson energy flowed into his body.
Unlike the energy contained within a Mana Core, the Blood Crystal carried an exceptionally dense vitality along with it. Cain could feel the energy spreading through his flesh before circulating deeper into his body.
He guided it toward the Ruin Mana Core.
The dark-gray sphere immediately began absorbing the energy without any difficulty.
Cain picked up another Blood Crystal.
Then another.
He maintained a steady pace as the purified crystals disappeared one after another.
With every absorption, the amount of energy accumulated within his Ruin Mana Core continued to increase. True Ruin flowed steadily across its surface while the Core refined everything being drawn into it.
The Flawless structure, which had already been extremely stable, gradually began compressing even further.
Cain could clearly feel the difference.
He was getting closer and closer.
After absorbing several more Blood Crystals, Cain reached for the Core belonging to the 2nd Echelon zombie he had killed earlier.
The moment he began absorbing it, a considerably larger stream of energy entered his body.
His Ruin Mana Core trembled.
Its rotation accelerated for several seconds as True Ruin surged across its surface before gradually settling again.
Cain kept his eyes closed as he could feel that there was a clear boundary ahead of him.
The difference between Flawless and Perfected and he was getting increasingly close to crossing it.
Cain returned to the remaining Blood Crystals.
More crimson energy entered his body.
The pressure contained within his Ruin Mana Core continued rising as the energy inside became increasingly compressed.
When Cain finally absorbed the thirtieth and last Blood Crystal, the crimson energy flowed through his body before disappearing into the Core.
He waited for several seconds, but nothing happened.
"..."
Ron looked toward him from nearby.
"Did it work?"
Cain did not answer as his entire attention remained focused on the Ruin Mana Core inside his chest.
The amount of energy contained within it had already become enormous. The Core felt so close to the next stage that Cain could almost sense the boundary directly.
But it had not crossed it.
"Are you fucking serious?" Cain’s eyebrow twitched.
He then opened his eyes.
Thirty purified Zombie Blood Crystals, a 2nd Echelon Core, and yet his core was still short for reaching the Perfected Stage.
Elara understood from his expression and asked.
"Not enough?"
"Just barely." Cain replied in disappointment.
His gaze moved toward the others, then slightly downward as several of them were still holding the Cores they had collected from the 1st Echelon zombies.
The moment everyone noticed where Cain was looking, Ron sighed.
"Here we go."
Cain stood up.
"Lend me your Cores."
Cole instinctively pulled the Core in his hand a little closer to himself.
Cain raised an eyebrow as he looked at him.
Cole immediately extended his hand and said, "I wasn’t refusing."
"I didn’t even say anything."
"Your face did." Cole rolled his eyes.
Cain took the Core without bothering to respond.
The others began handing theirs over as well.
Nobody seriously complained as they had already received equipment or resources from Cain worth far more than a single 1st Echelon Core.
More importantly, everyone understood that strengthening Cain directly increased their chances of surviving the World-Class Mission.
Once he had collected enough, Cain sat down again.
He absorbed the first Core.
The Ruin Mana Core trembled slightly.
He then absorbed another.
The new energy was immediately drawn inward and compressed together with everything already stored within the Core.
Still not enough.
Cain picked up a third Core.
The moment its energy entered his body and was absorbed, something suddenly changed.
The Ruin Mana Core stopped rotating.
Cain’s breathing paused.
For the first time since its formation, the Core became completely still.
Then it began to shrink as all the True Ruin Energy contained within compressed toward the center.
The Core became smaller and its density rose rapidly.
Cain felt the pressure inside his chest intensify, but there was no pain.
Instead, the sensation reminded him of something being repeatedly compressed until there was almost no wasted space remaining within it.
The Ruin Mana Core continued shrinking.
True Ruin became denser with every passing moment until the amount of energy contained within such a small Core almost seemed impossible.
Then everything stopped.
For a brief moment, there was absolute stillness inside Cain’s chest.
The next instant, the Core expanded.
Boom!
A wave of True Ruin erupted from Cain’s body.
Everyone nearby immediately retreated.
Dark-gray energy swept across the surrounding ground.
The black-gray soil beneath Cain deteriorated wherever the wave passed. Fine cracks spread outward, while several stones near him rapidly lost their structural integrity and crumbled into dark powder without ever being physically touched.
Cain’s eyes opened, a faint golden light flashed through his pupils.
[Ding!]
[Ruin Mana Core has absorbed sufficient energy.]
[Ruin Mana Core has advanced from Flawless Stage to Perfected Stage.]
Cain remained seated for several seconds as he examined the changes inside his body.
The Ruin Mana Core had returned to a steady rotation, yet it felt completely different.
The Core was denser than before, and the True Ruin Energy contained within seemed far more compressed despite occupying almost the same space.
Cain slowly clenched his right hand and the True Ruin Energy responded instantly as the dark-gray energy flowed through his arm almost the moment the thought appeared in his mind.
There was barely any delay.
More importantly, controlling the energy had become noticeably easier.
Cain allowed a thin layer of True Ruin to spread across his fingers.
The energy remained perfectly stable.
He then moved it outward slightly, but it was still stable.
A smile appeared on his face.
"Finally."
Only a short while ago, Cain had needed fifteen Cores merely to push his Ruin Mana Core from Tempered to Flawless.
After seeing how much energy that advancement required, he had expected Perfected Stage to remain out of reach for quite some time.
Yet they had only been inside the Invasion Corridor for a short period, and he had already completed the final stage of his current Mana Core progression.
The resources available here were clearly on an entirely different level from what they had been finding on Earth.
Cain was still examining his newly Perfected Ruin Mana Core when another notification suddenly appeared.
[Perfected Ruin Mana Core detected.]
[Your control and compression of True Ruin have reached the requirements for a new skill.]
[A new skill has been awakened.]
Cain’s eyes widened slightly.
The next information panel appeared immediately afterward.
[Ruin Eruption]
[Instantly releases highly compressed True Ruin from the user’s body or a selected body part.]
[The released True Ruin violently destroys and destabilizes surrounding matter, energy, and defenses.]
[The power and range of the eruption depend on the amount of True Ruin released.]
Cain stared at the description in silence.
Ron noticed his expression.
"What did you get?"
Cain did not answer as he slowly raised his right hand instead.
Ever since Ruin had evolved into True Ruin, one particular problem had continued irritating him.
He could already release True Ruin beyond the limits of his physical body.
Partial Dragon Manifestation had proven that when Cain extended the energy several centimeters beyond his claws.
He had even managed to separate it completely from his body in the form of an unstable crescent.