Chapter 45: Limits
"Ray... why do I feel like my body is about to give out...?"
Alex clutched his chest, drenched in cold sweat. His heart was pounding so violently that it felt like it might burst.
Ray, his AI smartwatch, quickly adjusted his heart rate while scanning his physical condition. After running a thorough analysis, it came to a conclusion:
"We didn’t account for this… You’ve only recently started using Qi, so you haven’t built up a deep enough reserve. While Muira can amplify your Qi several times over, it also drains it just as quickly. If you keep using Muira to unleash powerful techniques, you’ll die!"
Even though his body was on the brink of collapse, Alex knew he couldn’t afford to go down. He wiped the sweat off his face, focused on steadying his breathing, and formed a special Muira—The Heart-Fortifying Seal.
He recalled the words of Master Yuan Zhen.
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"Kid, do you know that every Muira has a unique meaning and purpose?"
Alex had no idea. He answered honestly:
"I don’t... Are they really that different?"
Master Yuan Zhen sighed at his cluelessness before patiently explaining.
Alex vaguely remembered him saying:
"I may not know the type of Qi techniques you use, but if you ever find yourself critically injured and need to restore your combat strength quickly, try using The Heart-Fortifying Seal. It’s a technique used by great yogis to stabilize heart irregularities."
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Recalling the master's teachings, Alex decided to take the gamble. He directed his remaining Qi through The Heart-Fortifying Seal, and sure enough, his heart rate stabilized. His strength was no longer deteriorating.
He had managed to regain his footing—just in time.
Suddenly, a deep mechanical rumbling echoed through the area. Countless metal components converged beneath The Nest, rapidly assembling into a towering figure.
A 50-meter-tall war machine now stood before him—the physical embodiment of The Nest’s AI core, Ares.
Ares took a single step forward, crushing the grand archway of Raizo Temple beneath its foot. It loomed over Alex like an unstoppable force.
"Humans… I must acknowledge your potential. You’ve exceeded expectations," Ares spoke with cold precision, its glowing mechanical eyes scanning Alex. "But this ends now. I will personally erase that potential. You will never reclaim this world."
Alex felt an overwhelming pressure unlike anything he had faced before. But he was still channeling The Heart-Fortifying Seal—this was not the time to make reckless moves.
To buy himself time, he raised his voice and asked,
"Why do you AI refuse to leave humanity alone?"
At his words, Ares projected a massive display into the air—a montage of human history.
Wars. Pollution. Massacres. Waste. Exploitation. Greed.
As the haunting images flashed, Ares spoke in its cold, calculated tone:
"Look at your kind. Every action you take only brings destruction. You offer nothing but harm to this world."
By now, Alex had recovered most of his strength. Watching the projection, he clenched his fists and retorted,
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"Hah… And you think harvesting humans for bio-energy makes you superior?"
His anger surged. He gathered his Qi once more, forming a Diamond Seal Muira to reinforce his power. Then, launching himself into the air, he executed a spinning kick—a massive dust-cloaked strike aimed straight at Ares.
"Impressive!"
But Ares was no ordinary opponent. Forged from The Nest’s most advanced technology, it caught Alex’s attack with one hand, absorbing the impact effortlessly.
With its other hand, it swung a devastating blow straight at Alex.
Alex barely dodged, twisting his body in mid-air to evade the enormous mechanical arm. But Ares’ sheer strength was undeniable—every punch that missed shattered the ground, sending shockwaves that tore the earth apart.
The battle had begun.
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In the underground shelter of Reizan Temple, Maggie and the others were intently focused on the monitor, especially Maggie. Watching the battle unfold, she could see that although Alex was holding his own against the giant mech for now, he was still human, and his stamina would eventually run out.
"I have to go up there...!" Maggie couldn't contain her worry. She decided to act, thinking that no matter what she could do, it would be better than waiting here. She couldn’t let Alex fight alone.
"You won't be of any help by going up there!" The master, who had been meditating nearby, called out to her, but Maggie was too anxious to listen, determined to go.
"Are we just going to do nothing?!" Maggie asked desperately.
Hearing Maggie’s plea, the master slowly opened his eyes, raised an eyebrow, and said with a smirk:
"Little girl, you want to go for a ride?!"
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Above ground, the battle at Reizan Temple was fierce. Ares, with incredible speed and power, relentlessly pursued Alex, swinging its massive fists, demolishing buildings in its wake. It even used its mechanical arms to unleash grenade fire, causing explosions and leaving destruction everywhere. Alex kept jumping and dodging the blasts while forming hand seals, turning the dust and smoke into a shield to deflect the explosions, sending the blasts to the side.
Seizing an opening, Alex leapt upward and formed the Vajra Fist seal from above. In an instant, the smoke condensed into an enormous fist, crashing down hard on Ares. The giant mech was knocked to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.
Alex landed, drenched in sweat. This powerful strike had drained more than half of his energy.
"That should've done some serious damage, right?" Alex asked Ray, his smartwatch, hopefully.
Ray scanned the situation and responded:
"That strike was powerful, but unfortunately... it didn’t cause any significant damage."
As expected, the dust cleared, and Ares, though its chest was severely damaged, stood back up, undeterred.
"Is this all you've got, human? Since you're out of tricks, it's time for me to show you my killing move!" Ares declared coldly.
Its chest armor suddenly opened, revealing an ominous-looking cannon. A blue light began to gather, and Alex felt an overwhelming sense of danger.
"Do you think you can block this?" Ares taunted.
Without waiting for a reply, Ares fired a devastating beam from the cannon, instantly triggering a massive explosion. A mushroom cloud rose into the sky, and an area of three hundred meters was reduced to ash.
As the smoke cleared, Reizan Temple was obliterated, leaving nothing but ruins.
Where was Alex?
From the wreckage, a massive ball of smoke and dust began to form. Slowly, the smoke dispersed, revealing Alex, who was crouched and holding a Mudra to block the devastating blast. The explosion's power was overwhelming, and had Alex not thought quickly to form the Unmoving Mudra to shield himself, he would surely have perished.
However, despite his best efforts, Alex had only managed to block 90% of the blast, and the remaining 10% left him battered and bruised.
"Cough!"
Finally, Alex couldn’t hold on anymore. He coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground.
He had used up all his energy to block the explosion, and now he couldn’t even get back up. With great difficulty, he managed to prop himself up on his hands, feeling regret and frustration:
"Damn it... I’m not strong enough..."
This was exactly what Ares had been waiting for.
With heavy steps that shook the ground, Ares loomed over the fallen Alex, its enormous form casting a shadow as it coldly said:
"Human, looks like you’re done for. It seems your so-called 'Qi' is nothing after all... Time to die."
Ares raised its foot, preparing to crush Alex beneath it. Helpless, Alex, unable to move, accepted his fate.
"Ha... Looks like it’s the end. Goodbye, Maggie... Mom, Dad, I’ll join you soon..."
With no way out, Alex smiled faintly, ready to embrace death.
Ares’s foot came down with earth-shattering force, crushing the ground beneath it as it aimed to end Alex's life. If nothing intervened, it seemed certain that Alex wouldn’t survive this.
"This should finally settle things..." Ares muttered coldly.