Chapter 469: His Departure
The square was in complete chaos, with fighting breaking out everywhere. Anno could no longer tell which side was theirs and which side was some resistance group taking advantage of the confusion to kill people.
All she knew was that she had to keep attacking, couldn't stop, and couldn't lose.
Her tiger's mouth was numb from the shock, but she still gripped the long sword tightly and, in perfect coordination with Sitar, attacked Xi.
The core energy was continuously draining from her body, a loss she had never experienced before, like a dam bursting.
They have now completely broken ties with Xi, and if they cannot successfully escape from the City of Heaven, the consequences will be unimaginable.
Thinking of this, Anuo's eyes grew even colder and more ferocious. After seizing Xi's weakness, she nimbly spun around, her long sword flashing in her hand, and slashed heavily at Xi.
With a crisp sound, Anno's sword was shattered by the golden shield that had solidified in front of Xi. She was also thrown back by the force of the impact. Sitar flashed over and supported her waist, stabilizing her body.
Anuo held the broken knife in front of her eyes. The knife was broken into a small piece, and her hand was also cracked from the impact, with blood dripping onto the ground.
Seeing this, Sitar looked at Xi with deep eyes. He squeezed her hand, then released it, shielding Anno behind him, and transformed into his complete original form, his claws reflecting a dazzling light in the sunlight.
"Anunu! I can't stabilize the core's energy anymore, I have to shut down your core!"
Anno clenched his fist. "Wait a little longer. If we shut down the core now, we won't be able to deal with them at all!"
As she watched Sitar and Xi fight, their figures almost blurred into afterimages, Anno looked around, searching for a new weapon, when her gaze met that of Zero Nine, who was dealing with the guards nearby.
Seeing that she was holding a broken knife with blood dripping onto the ground, Lingjiu quickly went to her side.
He took out a bottle of hemostatic spray and sprayed it on Anuo's hand, then took out a roll of gauze and quickly bandaged her hand.
Before he could say anything, Anno drew the long sword from his waist.
Just as Anno was about to rejoin the battle, a bright flash suddenly streaked across his head.
It was a bomb that landed in the middle of the city with a tremendous roar.
Immediately afterwards, more bombs fell throughout the city of Sky City. The resistance organization and some high-level Celestials took the opportunity to try to eliminate the enemy and seize power in the chaos. They disregarded the lives of the people and dropped a large number of bombs in the city, focusing their attacks on the square near where Anno and his group were located.
Anno and his team's energy had been drained by the City of Heaven to the point where it was almost beyond their capacity. After the shield formed by the core energy blocked more than a dozen bombs, it finally collapsed.
The bomb landed in the middle of their square, and debris flew everywhere.
Anno could no longer hear any other sounds; the dust filled the air, obscuring the view of all those fighting.
A bomb fell on Anno's head, and her eyes flashed with fire.
There was nowhere to hide in the empty square.
Sitar and Caesar ran towards her, and Zero Nine turned around and hugged her to protect her. The bomb landed not far from their feet. Anno felt the earth shake and her body feel a huge impact.
Ling Jiu, holding her, was thrown away and rolled to the ground. Anuo heard the sound of machinery operating, and her ears were ringing incessantly.
"Cough cough cough..."
She coughed, choked by the dust, and reached for her side, calling out, "Zero Nine..."
Anno called out several times but received no response from Zero Nine. After groping around for a while, a mechanical arm grasped her hand.
She turned her head and saw Zero Nine lying on the ground, his legs blown off, blue mechanical fluid oozing out, and sparks crackling from the circuitry.
She suddenly rushed to Ling Jiu's side, "Ling Jiu!"
Lingjiu squeezed her palm reassuringly, "I'm fine, I can't feel any pain, it'll be fixed when the time comes."
"Boom!"
Another bomb landed not far behind them, and flying debris hit them. Anno threw himself on Zero Nine to shield him from the shrapnel.
"Let's go, it's not safe here." Ling Jiu pushed Anuo's body.
Anuo tried to help Lingjiu up, but Lingjiu pried her hands off, saying, "Let's go!"
The sound of bombs whistling through the air rang out one after another, about to fall on their heads. Anno hugged Lingjiu tightly, "Feixing! Feixing can protect us!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a golden light flew towards her, and a long golden rope wrapped around her waist, pulling her away from Ling Jiu.
Amidst the dust and smoke, she saw Xi holding the other end of the rope, reaching out his hand to her.
As she flew toward him, Anno caught a glimpse of Fei rising from the ruins. In a single glance, Fei pounced on her, cutting Xi's long rope. Just as the bomb was falling, Anno saw wings unfurl behind him.
"boom!"
A series of loud bangs rang out in succession. Anno was deaf for a moment, followed by a long period of tinnitus.
Fei held her tightly, trying desperately to fly into the sky, but the violent shockwave from the explosion, carrying debris, still knocked him to the ground.
He fell to the ground with Anno in his arms. The last bomb landed beside them. Fei turned her wings and hugged Anno tightly. She was hit by the shockwave of the bomb and slammed into a half-collapsed wall.
The explosions finally stopped, but Anno still couldn't hear anything, though she could hear the voices of many people in her mind.
Sital's, Caesar's, and...
"Your Highness!"
"Your Highness!"
"Anunu!"
Anno hadn't heard so many voices in her consciousness network for a long time, but she had no time to feel joy or think about anything.
Fei was still holding him tightly with one hand, her body trapped in the ruins. His black and red wings were still wrapped around her. Only when she came out of his arms did she see the wounds on his body.
One of his hands had been blown off, his wings were riddled with holes, fragments pierced through his abdomen, and a thick steel bar pierced through his chest.
Anuo touched his cheek with trembling hands, calling him in a hoarse voice, "Fei..."
Fei opened his eyes with difficulty, and seeing that she was alright, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He gently moved his lips and asked, "Are you hurt?"
Anno's tears welled up instantly. "I...I have core protection, I'll be fine, you idiot!"
Feixing's core energy protected her, but it couldn't protect Fei.
Fei felt Anuo's hot tears fall onto the back of his hand. He smiled slightly and reached out to wipe her tears. "Don't cry. I don't want to see you sad."
Anno quickly wiped away her tears and grabbed his hand. "Yes, I am Ying Shuo! I can heal you. You will be alright. I will take you back to the Zerg and take you home."
Anno held his hand to his forehead, his body glowing faintly, his antennae and bands of light radiating even brighter light. The light extended from Fei's hand along the dim insect patterns on his body, but stopped abruptly at his arm.
"Hurry, hurry!" Anno roared, desperately trying to use her healing ability, but her ability was like a flame, lighting up and then quickly going out, no matter how many times Anno tried, it was all in vain.
They had consumed too much core energy before, and the core's self-preservation mechanism had automatically shut down the energy. Coupled with the suppression from the City of Heaven, Anno was unable to use his powers at all.
Sitar and Caesar crawled out of the ruins and frantically found Anno, only to find her trapped in a pit with the Zerg traitor named Scarlet beneath her.
The wounds on his body... were almost all fatal.
Caesar tried to step forward, but Sitar stopped him.
Anuo was still trying her best to save Fei, who looked at her calmly and gently, her eyes full of relief.
"I'm fine," Fei said, trying to comfort her, but her voice grew weaker and weaker.
"Your Highness..." Fei called out softly to Anuo. This time, the "Your Highness" was no longer just something she said along with the other celestial beings, but a firm one, indicating that she knew who Anuo was.
He also knew who he was.
"Your Highness, I am sorry. I have become a weapon in the hands of foreigners and have harmed my own people. I deserve to die."
Anno shook her head, crying, unable to utter a single word.
She tried again and again to save Fei.
"Useless Your Highness, my spine is shattered and my spinal whip has been severed."
A soft object stretched out with difficulty toward Anno, but finally fell down. It was Scarlet's spine whip, its light already dimmed to the point of being almost invisible.
"Your Highness, can you touch it again? I really love the feeling of being connected with you. Whenever I feel this way, I know who I am and who Your Highness is."
Anuo gripped his whip tightly, looking at him through teary eyes, "Hold on, Mother and the others are here, they will definitely save you. You are not allowed to sleep, understand? I command you, you are not allowed to fall asleep!"
Fei smiled and said, "Your Highness, I know my name now, and I will never forget it."
Fei reached out and touched Anuo's tear-stained cheeks. "My name is Fei, Your Highness. Don't be sad for me..."
The light on the spine whip in Anno's hand dimmed completely, turning cold.
Her eyes trembled for a moment, she stared blankly at Fei for a while, then lay on his chest, her shoulders heaving violently.
"Your Highness..."
Before long, the light above Anno's head dimmed, and she found herself surrounded by a group of people.
Bazel and Tanville are both here.
Sitar jumped down from the edge of the pit, helped Anno up, and gently wiped the tears from her face. "We will take his soul back to reunite with our ancestors."
Anno asked in a hoarse voice, "Why? Given the Zerg's physical structure, he wouldn't have been able to...?"
"He didn't have outer armor."
Sitar explained why Scarlet's body was more fragile than that of ordinary Zerg.
Anno was shocked and reached out to touch his skin. When the insectoids die, they reveal part of their original form. At this moment, Fei's skin was covered with a very thin and brittle shell that would break at the slightest touch. This was a thin shell that grew back to protect the flesh after the outer armor was forcibly peeled off.
The insectoid horns, characteristic of the Zerg, were also visible on his forehead, but they were all broken off.
Anno had never seen his original form before, and upon seeing it, she closed her eyes in distress.
After a while, she opened her eyes and looked at Fei, reaching out her hand to him. Sitar, Bazel, and the other members of the family also reached out their hands, and the insect patterns on their bodies lit up.
Under their energy connection, the scarlet insect pattern lit up again.
They are re-coalescing Scarlet's consciousness within their own consciousness network so that his soul can be brought back to reunite with his ancestors.
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