The Witch Hunter System
chapter-767

The hydrogen bomb was a second-generation nuclear weapon that comprised two stages, using fission power to trigger nuclear fusion. As such, its explosive power was hundreds to thousands of times stronger than an atomic bomb, which solely used nuclear fission power.

At its core, its peak energy output would reach 100 million degrees Celsius, four to five times hotter than the sun.

Even the power of Rank 7 Divine Beings would be inferior to such explosive power.

But despite such great explosive power, the nuclear weapons weren't practical in killing Rank 6 Divine Beings, let alone ones that were Rank 7. Its destructive power was too widespread and instantaneous.

Nevertheless, it was still more than enough to give Abaddon the scare of his life.

When Vaan's hydrogen bomb detonated right before the Asura Domain, it lit up like a newborn star, radiating blindingly throughout the space region.

At the same time, the Asura Domain instantly shattered, and the colossal surge of energy blew Abaddon far away—into the gaping maw of the Earth Spirit Worm behind him.

Moments later, Abaddon shattered the Earth Spirit Worm and broke free once more. However, lingering shock and fright colored his face.

Despite being thousands of meters away from the epicenter of the explosion, Abaddon still suffered scorching burns all over his body. His graceful appearance was changed to that of a tormented soul from Purgatory. He looked like a rock golem with lava veins.

The power of the hydrogen bomb was simply too frightening.

Fortunately, its power wasn't focused.

Otherwise, if such explosive power had erupted from within Abaddon's body instead, he would have undoubtedly died even if he had nine lives to spare.

Abaddon couldn't help but re-evaluate Vaan – His mastery of several laws wasn't his greatest strength, but his alchemy knowledge!

"Y-You know High Alchemy!" Abaddon uttered with solemness and shock.

The recovery of his left arm was already slow due to Hecate's lingering fusion law power. With the addition of nuclear burns, his recovery became even slower.

"High Alchemy? Is that what you call it?" Vaan paused, turning around with a smile. He glanced at Abaddon, who hesitated to pursue him further.

Evidently, after eating one of his boom babies, Abaddon had become apprehensive, not that he found it surprising.

The hydrogen bomb was as powerful as he had imagined.

Nevertheless, in a world of magic, he still considered it to be crudely made. If he could combine science and magic, he would be able to develop a true divine-killing weapon of mass destruction.

Just as Abaddon recovered the courage to hunt, Vaan took out another piece of Deepsea Steel.

Abaddon immediately paused his advance with a wary look.

He also summoned a new Asura Domain to protect himself. The last explosion had struck him from thousands of meters away, and that was enough to inflict lingering surface injuries on him.

Wouldn't he be severely injured or even killed if the next explosion occurred right next to him?

"What's wrong, Abaddon? You look a little pale," Vaan ridiculed with some amusement.

Abaddon gloomily stared at the chunk of radioactive metal and sensed its extraordinariness potential. No doubt, it was the main material for creating that big explosion.

However, extraordinary materials like that had to be quite rare and precious.

"I admit that I have underestimated you and eaten quite the loss," Abaddon acknowledged.

"However, how many more times do you think you can recreate such a powerful explosion? I reckon that piece of metal you have there is quite precious, and there shouldn't be much of it left—"

Before Abaddon finished speaking, he saw Vaan briefly pull out ten tons of Deepsea Steel and stow them back inside his Heaven-Swallowing Space.

"That last explosion only consumed fifty kilograms of Deepsea Steel. I still have over ten tons. Why don't you tell me how many times I can recreate it?" Vaan mentioned slyly.

In truth, even if he had enough Deepsea Steel for two hundred of the same hydrogen bomb, he couldn't create so many at once.

Topaz's mana capacity wasn't high enough to keep up with all of the Earth Transmutation and Earth Manipulation. Almost half of it was already consumed in that last hydrogen bomb.

Thus, he could only create one more until Topaz recovered her mana.

Nevertheless, showing off his collection of Deepsea Steel was more than enough to bluff Abaddon.

Just as Vaan expected, Abaddon was struck speechless by his display of wealth.

However, Abaddon wasn't stupid either. He knew Vaan couldn't recreate the hydrogen bomb two hundred more times even if he had the resources. That said, even if Vaan could recreate it several more times, that would still be enough to deter him.

After all, the explosion had stripped away his Asura Domain, which wasn't easy to maintain, to begin with. Its destruction also consumed a lot of soul force.

If the Asura Domain was destroyed several more times, he might even run out of soul force first!

Suddenly, Abaddon found himself at an impasse.

Since he had offended the Soul Master, he had no choice but to kill before he could grow strong enough to threaten him. However, the problem was that the Soul Master knew High Alchemy and could already threaten.

Once his soul force was exhausted, he wouldn't be able to use the power of law to protect himself.

The next explosion after that would kill him.

It took a moment before Abaddon realized Vaan's Earth Manipulation and Earth Transmutation didn't seem to make use of the Earth Law. But at the same time, it couldn't have been his own magic either.

After all, men couldn't use magic unless they made a certain sacrifice. Even if they did, their cultivation shouldn't be that high…

Just when Vaan thought he had bought himself a substantial amount of time, Abaddon's killing intent suddenly surged.

Once Vaan saw that look, he immediately knew Abaddon had become desperate and more dangerous.

'It should have already been thirty minutes. So, Hecate should have arrived by now, right?' Vaan wondered.

Unfortunately, it was too far away to check on the imperial capital and get an update on the overall situation.