Chapter 8: The Horror of the Hot Zone (Part 2)
Ragnarl was suspended high in the air, silently looking at the stone mountain below him that had been turned into ruins by his Protoss artillery.
Those people were scattered everywhere and could not be found immediately. They were probably buried by rocks.
He slowly descended from the air, walked and explored among the ruins, and then, he first found Xiang Ying, then Xifeng, then Heihuo, followed by Gu Yinyue and Su Jie, and finally Longyun and Naraka. Longyun, probably in order to protect Naraka, who was a precision weapon, lay on Naraka's body, his body was covered with wounds and blood everywhere, one of his arms was twisted and broken, and the metal skeleton was exposed outside the flesh, which made Ragnarl frown slightly.
I didn't expect that even though I had restrained myself, these little guys were still hurt so badly.
The dragon sighed softly, lowered its head, and picked up the wounded from the ruins one by one. It released a high concentration of star spiritual power from its body and began to heal the weapons.
Xifeng woke up quickly, but when he looked up and saw Ragnarl, he said nothing, not even a questioning look. He just looked around, saw Gu Yinyue's pale face and blood at the corner of his mouth, and walked to his side, took out a few large recovery spirit crystals to treat him, and then went to the other side to give Atlas first aid.
It was Ragnarl who lost his temper first.
"...Aren't you going to ask why?"
"Most likely your superiors discovered you and the miko were on the same page and issued a death order or something. If you really wanted to do it, could we still keep your body intact? I can still analyze this."
Xifeng didn't even turn his head, but just kept walking around among his injured companions, and poured the star spirit mineral solution on Ying's back and Longyun's arms.
"Ah, that's right."
The dragon smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"Lord Cerland sent me orders directly from Chita to attack this ruin."
Xifeng turned his head in surprise.
"I only asked you to attack the ruins, but didn't ask you to make sure we all die?"
"If I really wanted you to die, would I have to wait until now?"
"...That's right." Xifeng sneered, "Then what exactly is your boss up to?"
The dragon lowered its huge head and sighed helplessly.
"It would be easier if you could just put it into words."
Xifeng raised an eyebrow: "Is there something that must be hidden?"
“…”
"...Are you attacking the ruins to prevent us from obtaining what's inside and thus from learning the truth?"
"That's funny."
Xifeng twisted his mouth, showing a sarcastic expression, straightened his military cap, and brushed off the dust on his clothes.
"If you wanted to prevent us from getting the truth, you should have gone to the last remaining ruin and taken action before us, right? Why did you have to come here and disrupt things like this? I'm very curious, what exactly are you—"
"Shhh."
The dragon narrowed his eyes and interrupted Xifeng, his gaze sweeping over the other people who were still sleeping.
"Just keep it to yourself and don't tell anyone. ... They'll hear you."
"……What?"
Seeing that Ragnarl was completely silent, as if he didn't want to talk about this anymore, Xifeng frowned and looked around.
"Okay, let's talk about the other things. ... Where are Beichen and Yaye? Where did you take them?"
"I don't know. Maybe..."
The dragon gave a sly smile.
"Maybe he went to explore some mysterious underground kingdom."
"...Exploration, you big-headed ghost."
Let's go back a few hours, ten minutes after Ragnarl's Protoss cannon was fired.
Beichen slowly woke up in a warm embrace. He opened his eyes with difficulty and saw only darkness. However, the warmth and breath coming from behind him were very familiar - it was Yaye.
"Yaye... where is this...? Where is everyone...?"
I remember the moment when the Star Spirit Cannon was fired, Xiang Ying opened a barrier with his back to the Star Spirit Cannon, and then pushed her in a certain direction, and then it was as if the back of her head hit something and she lost consciousness.
"This is underground, in the outer corridor of the ruins. The others... should be above ground."
"I don't know how everyone is doing... Fortunately, the three contracts are still there. But, Yin Yue, Atlas, and Obscurus Naraka..."
"Don't worry. I entered the ruins through the shadows after the attack. They are all fine, but they all suffered varying degrees of injuries and are currently unconscious."
"call……"
Beichen breathed a sigh of relief and then looked up.
"Then you have to get out quickly—"
"What are you going out for?"
Yaye bent his fingers and knocked on Beichen's head.
"If you don't tell me, you'll be buried under such a huge pile of rocks and there's no way you can get out. Why do you think Xiang Ying pushed you towards the entrance of the ruins? He must have guessed his intention and wanted you to enter the ruins and get the most crucial thing."
"ah……"
"Even though he seems frustrated most of the time, he still has pretty good judgment at critical moments."
"Yeah." Beichen gave a slightly worried smile. "I'm just too worried. Although the Protoss cannon attack was fierce, it's clear that Ragnarl doesn't want to kill us. So, our top priority now is to retrieve the most important item from this ruin."
"That's good to know. Everyone must be waiting for us to get our stuff and return."
"Um!"
Beichen nodded vigorously and patted his cheeks with both hands to cheer himself up.
With a laugh, Yaye helped her stand up and touched her up and down.
"It looks like there are no serious injuries, it's okay."
"Yaye, what about you?"
"Have you forgotten that I have the ability to transform into a shadow? If it weren't for this skill, do you think I would have survived until now despite offending so many humans?"
Beichen just frowned.
"Really? But why do I feel that Yaye's aura is a little weak? The attack of the Star Spirit Cannon is not a purely physical attack, right? Even if your body can avoid the attack, the energy aspect...?"
"Why are you so sharp, damn Matcha, at this very moment?"
"This concerns Yaye's safety! Of course we have to confirm it carefully!"
Yaye snorted. Although his expression was domineering, it could be seen that he was actually quite happy.
"Okay, it's just some internal injuries, nothing serious. It's enough to protect you in this godforsaken place."
But Beichen refused to compromise and stretched out his hand:
"Here, drink some blood quickly. Yaye is a Fallen Dark Seed, so the Star Spirit Ore Solution isn't particularly useful, is it?"
"Forget it, you have to keep your strength."
"drink."
“…Just forget it!”
"……drink."
"You damn Matcha, you actually disobeyed me? Are you itching for trouble?"
Beichen instinctively shrank his neck, but still muttered softly and extended his hand.
"Drink."
“…”
Yaye rolled his eyes helplessly, then hugged Beichen tightly in his arms, opened his mouth showing his fangs, and bit him!
“──”
Although it looked like he was using a lot of force, Yaye was an expert in blood-sucking after all, so Beichen only felt a pain in his neck at first, and then only a strange numbing sensation remained - as if an electric current had passed through his spinal cord. Beichen's whole body shook, and he felt weak all over.
...Yaye, don't flirt in a place like this.
Beichen glanced helplessly at the tall figure hugging her - having been sucked blood many times, she certainly knew Yaye's many ways of sucking blood: drinking directly from the arm was a snack, biting the shoulder was a way of acting coquettish when in a bad mood, and the neck was a main meal - but if there was that strange tingling and numb feeling, similar to pleasure, when having her blood sucked, it usually meant that Yaye was teasing her subtly.
But no matter how nervous Beichen felt, Yaye still sucked a little slowly, and the tip of his tongue would occasionally rub against the skin of her neck - until she could no longer maintain the strength to stand and collapsed limply in his arms, he snorted with satisfaction and let her go.
"Ya, Yaye...you...business is more important! Everyone is still unconscious, how can you..."
"I won't die! Who told you to always have so many people around you? It's hard to find a chance to be alone. How can I let it go when I finally have one?"
Yaye kissed her lips hard in annoyance, then stretched out his hands and pinched the flesh on Beichen's cheeks. Beichen's eyes darkened when he heard that, but Yaye picked her up nonchalantly and slowly walked towards the darkness deep in the ruins.
There was silence for a minute.
In the dark corridor, the only sounds were Yaye's footsteps and the light of the lighting crystal that Beichen took out. The surrounding stone walls were very similar in texture to the ruins of Latia that he had visited last time. It seemed that they were indeed buildings from the same period.
The corridor was long. The light from the illuminating spirit crystal couldn't penetrate the darkness and reach the end. It looked like it would take a while. Perhaps because the surrounding scenery was so depressing, Beichen lowered his head and nestled in Yaye's arms, staring intently at the light source in his hand, silent, as if thinking about something.
Yaye lowered his head and touched Beichen's head with his chin.
“…What are you thinking about?”
"Huh? ...Ah, no... nothing."
"Hmm...it seems I've been too indulgent with you lately. You've even learned to lie."
"No, no, no!"
Beichen immediately gave a servile sneer and shook his head violently.
"I'm thinking about some random things. Don't mind me, Yaye."
"...Is it because of what I said just now? That was just a complaint. I've vented my anger by saying it, so there's no need to take it to heart."
"Yeah." Beichen's voice sounded muffled. "But if you think about it carefully..."
"What?"
"I once blamed your ex-wife. But...it's true, there are some things she didn't do that I didn't do either."
“…”
Yaye looked at her expressionlessly for a few seconds, then suddenly curled his lips and smiled ghostly, which frightened Beichen and almost rolled out of his arms.
"Tired?"
"ah……"
"You're tired, aren't you? It sounds nice to say you're having the best life possible, and others might be envious, but the person you're dealing with has multiple times the happiness and equally multiple times the responsibility. Don't deny it... If I were you, I'd be tired too."
"I'm just like this sometimes." Beichen smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Just leave it alone for a while. Yaye, don't worry about it."
Yaye didn't say anything.
He knew that there was no need for him to comfort her in this regard, because even if he did, it would not be a complete solution.
This would be a dark shadow buried deep in her heart that would follow her for the rest of her life, a shackle with a sweet taste. Even if she could temporarily forget it under the appearance of happiness, once it was late at night and she was in such a dark and silent environment, she would still have to face it.
Guilt, self-loathing, exhaustion.
——Just like they are also bearing the pain suppressed in their hearts at the same time.
But so what.
No one can live without any sins. When you gain something, you must lose something, and when you lose something, you must gain something. They can hold a lot of happiness and joy in their hands, so what does it matter if they endure a little dissatisfaction and discomfort?
At least she is an outstanding, hardworking woman who makes him care about her.
At least compared to other warriors in this world, they were incredibly lucky. Because of her, they all had an eventful, happy, exciting, and fulfilling life...
After all, life is not a fairy tale. If the prince cannot tolerate the princess's lengthy makeup time, and the princess cannot tolerate the prince's habit of grinding his teeth and kicking the quilt at night, how can the two of them continue to live happily together?
"Whatever you want."
So, Yaye just increased the strength of his arms, trying to convey his body temperature to her.
"It's just that I still remember what I said in your conscious world."
“…”
"If you're tired, just act like a spoiled brat. That's a woman's thing. Look at me, even though I'm not a woman, when I'm unhappy, don't I just come to you and complain directly? That's how people should get along with each other."
"Um."
Beichen smiled, looked up and kissed Yaye on the cheek.
"Don't worry, I won't get tired as long as you are here!"
Yaye narrowed his eyes: "Huh! What do you mean?!"
"ah?"
"Does this count as a kiss? A comfort? I'm still fuming!"
“This—”
Beichen rolled his eyes a few times, then with his cheeks slightly blushing, he hugged Yaye's neck and moved closer - this time he finally kissed the other's lips.
“…Is this okay?”
"Humph, if the situation wasn't so unstable, I would have killed you right here and there!"
Yaye smiled evilly and patted Beichen's thigh, then as if remembering something, he lowered his head and whispered a brief word in her ear.
Following these words, Beichen's eyes suddenly widened and his pupils became slightly moist.
Then, she also smiled, buried her head in Yaye's neck, and said the same thing.
“──”
Then, Beichen, who had recovered a little strength, got off the ground, and the two began to rush through the corridors of the ruins. With Beichen, the genuine Red Moon Priestess, there was naturally no obstruction along the way. After looking at some information about the ruins, they found that they were all the same as the Latia ruins, some insignificant research reports on shapeshifting weapons. So Beichen called up the map and began to study the structure of this base. Sure enough, there was indeed a small room with particularly strict protection measures, named "Between the Holy Books".
After making up their minds, Beichen and Yaye followed the map and headed towards the holy books. When she was exchanging her views with Yaye on the way, she suddenly discovered a problem - Yaye could understand the text of the information in the ruins.
"Strange—come to think of it, it's strange that Xiang Ying was able to look up information in Chita. When we first arrived at the ruins, Xiao Peng clearly said he couldn't understand any of this."
"What's there to not understand? Isn't it just the common language of Senagard?"
"Yeah?"
It seems that for some reason, the database has become structured so that the language changes depending on the user?
"In other words... between the time I entered the Latia Ruins and now, someone has... added the common language of Senagard to these systems."
“It’s getting more and more chaotic.”
Yaye snorted unhappily, then moved his gaze forward a dozen meters:
"...We're here. Based on our last experience, this room will be guarded by violent iron ghosts. Be careful."
The two looked at each other, Yaye stretched out his hand to summon the sickle, while Beichen took a few high-level attack spirit crystals, walked forward carefully, and placed his hand on the crystal stone at the door.
The extremely thick door made a dull roar and shrank layer by layer into the surrounding walls. At the same time, a musty smell, along with a sinister murderous aura, poured out from it.
When Beichen saw the pair of golden eyes hidden opposite him, his whole body trembled involuntarily, and then a strong chill surged up his spine.
——My body is telling me that the opponent is a powerful enemy that cannot be underestimated.
However, the other party didn't give Beichen time to be surprised or hesitate. It stood up in the darkness with a puff of dust, as if shaking off the ashes on its body. Then, the next second, it let out a low, hoarse roar, its eyes flashing a fierce light in the darkness, and it rushed straight towards the two of them!
clang!
Yaye stood in front of Beichen, and blocked the opponent's bite with the handle of the sickle. Beichen reflexively jumped back a few steps, then aimed at the front of Yaye's sickle and crushed a spirit crystal "Fire Dragon" - with a loud bang of flames, in the light of the fire, she finally saw the opponent's true appearance - it was a huge black leopard covered in iron armor.
The flames forced the leopard back a few steps, and Beichen took the opportunity to duck and charge after it. The corridor was too small for a long-handled weapon like Yaye's, so the battle had to be led to the room behind it, between the sacred books. Since it had been ordered to guard this place, it would definitely chase after him!
Sure enough, after Beichen ran into the room of holy books, the leopard immediately gave up the confrontation with Yaye and turned around to pounce on Beichen in the room!
Beichen rolled over to avoid the leopard's pounce. The next second, Yaye rushed to her side and swung the sickle again to force the leopard back. Beichen took this opportunity to look around - she had to find a way to activate the device in this room - then, she saw a pillar in the center of the room with a crystal stone similar to the one at the door.
Got it!
She ran over with joy and put her hand on it, but found that although the lights in the room were all on and many photon screens popped up around, the Black Panther's attack had never stopped. Under Yaye's harassment, it kept roaring and trying to move closer to Beichen.
Strange! Since she's already been confirmed to be a shrine maiden, why──!?
Could it be that this leopard was not originally in the ruins?
Just as he was hesitating, Yaye on the side suddenly roared angrily.
"Damn it, my sickle is so hard...it can't even cut through its shell!!"
Beichen was shocked when she heard this, but she calmed down in a few seconds.
"Yaye, transform into a weapon! I will use you!"
When a weapon is held, it is much stronger than using it in human form. Although Yaye, as a Fallen Dark Species, will cause the holder to suffer great pain, she can't care about that at the moment - it's not like she hasn't used Yaye before, this kind of pain can be endured!
Yaye probably knew that the weapon was not hard enough and how dangerous it would be in the current situation where he was outnumbered. After hesitating for a few seconds, he swung it hard, forcing the leopard to jump back. Then he took this opportunity to transform into a black light and came into Beichen's hand.
Beichen's combat uniform was instantly covered by the black full-body light armor, and in his hand appeared the large sickle that was shining with black magic light.
She gritted her teeth and stared at the huge black shadow opposite her, ready to endure the severe pain from Yaye──
But soon, she and Yaye were stunned.
"What, what's going on..."
The black panther leaped forward again, and Beichen instinctively took a few steps back. The bone wings behind Yaye's full body weapon form floated into the air.
"...Where's the pain?...The backlash from the Dark Seed...is gone?"
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