Chapter 59 The Rain is Burning
Nearly a quarter of the sky turned from black to navy blue, and it was never so bright even on a clear day.
Whether in the workshop, the swamp, or the courtyard, people paused in their activities, gazing blankly upwards. Twinkling stars were falling, a pure sky blue yet blazing with intense heat.
Young children reached out to the stars in delight. Older teenagers protected the children, still bewildered by what was happening. Stories they'd heard as children flashed through their minds, but they felt the speculation was too absurd. Then the elders' voices rang out, trembling with panic and despair.
"The water curtain has broken." The old people's eyes were dull. "They are coming... They are coming!!"
The people's desperate cries were drowned out by the deafening roar. The first wave of fire pierced the building and landed on the ground, setting off an eternal green flame in the courtyard. Cries, screams, fear, and hesitation filled the air. Social order was instantly shattered by the flames, and people scrambled to escape to safety.
But it wasn't just rain and relics that fell from the sky; even more dangerous lives were also descending. They were demons stalking the shadows, transparent, fleeting images, blocking the way for the terrified crowd, reaching out their clutches towards the living.
The feast of the inhuman creatures has begun, and they have waited too long!
·
"The water curtain is 8.7% damaged. It is estimated that it will no longer be able to maintain the high-level barrier effect in 30 minutes."
"Enemy relics have increased their power! The predicted time has been revised to nineteen minutes!"
"A large intrusion of outsiders has been detected. We've identified several types of natural disasters, including glowing corpses, slayer ghosts, and three demons. Multiple demonic phantoms have also appeared... Demonic reactions have concentrated in the workshop area! It's speculated that this is the arrival of an incarnated demon!!"
Ji Qiufeng sat in the center of the water-sphere-like room. A quarter of the surrounding water curtain was dyed cyan. A foul rainbow light lurked in the darkness, using cyan fire as a wedge to pry open a gap. Eyeballs, symbolizing demons, spread out densely, burrowing through the scars on the water curtain.
Anxious reports echoed through the room, and the technicians helping maintain the water curtain were frantic. These personnel, incapable of combat but vital to the city, remained hidden within the headquarters building, never deployed. Most had experienced the war before and understood the severity of the current situation.
"Youyou, I'm counting on you." Ji Qiufeng said.
The little white snake rushed into the water curtain in the room, emitting a clear divine light. At the same time, a long and lingering roar echoed throughout the city. The dragon's roar carried a majestic divine power, suppressing the large number of invading outsiders.
Inside the water-curtained room, Ji Qiufeng formed hand seals with one hand, whispering to one another as the dragon's roar resounded. Their words carried genuine power, and the doors of nearly every building in the city flung open, a gust of wind carrying people from the streets inside. Then, the buildings sank like building blocks, and the ground in the courtyard rose, revealing hundreds of hardwood fortresses and turrets shaped like dragon heads. These echoed with the already constructed Divine Vision Tower, forming a defensive line protecting the headquarters building.
Bright yellow light converged beneath Ji Qiufeng's seat, forming a bird's-eye view of Huilong City. The scene shifted according to the city lord's wishes, and the buildings in reality also made subtle adjustments. He moved the fortresses and towers one by one, strengthening the city's defenses. As the real defenses rapidly took shape, Ji Qiufeng felt pressure from all sides, and he almost wanted to close his eyes.
He clenched his fists, exhaled, and spoke so that everyone at headquarters could hear him.
"Huilong City will enter a wartime state immediately. All units must perform their duties diligently and persevere until the very end!"
·
"Everyone, ascend the nearest watchtowers and fortresses within this jurisdiction. Kill any outsiders without mercy!" Jie An, clutching the communicator tightly, shouted from the first line of defense outside the headquarters building. "Don't scare yourself! Lord Huilong will hold off the high-quality enemies. Your mission is to protect the civilians from these small-time enemies!"
"Old Jie, just keep talking nonsense!" the Hongyong District team leader cursed over the communication channel. "This little shrimp is taller than my house!"
"What's wrong? Are you scared?" Jie An shouted.
"Anyone who's afraid is a coward!" The captain's curses were mixed with the dense sound of gunfire. "Everyone be damned careful, the bastards from the black workshop are here too! Damn it!"
Explosions and piercing noises followed, and the communication was severed. Jie An opened the police car's sunroof and saw numerous black points of light interspersed with the rain of fire. The message from the tower told him that they were manned aircraft resembling discs, each aboard at least three heavily armed "Crows." Judging from their trajectory, their target was the headquarters building.
The Black Workshop launched a second wave of attacks during the height of the chaos. With Huilong preoccupied with maintaining the water curtain, they were the only ones left to fend off the attack. The defenders' towers and fortresses scrambled to deploy, their water bombs unleashing a dense barrage. But the battle unfolded too quickly; the first aircraft to descend had already brushed over Jie An's head, closing in on the rear defenses.
At this moment, a golden light rose from behind, and a flying hammer of light smashed through the flying disc. Then, a shadow blade rushed out and cut the crows in half. Ji Huaisu jumped and killed his way to the front of the battle line, grabbing the surprised Jie An and asking, "Do you have any medicine prepared?!"
"What medicine?" Xie An was bewildered. The crows' broken bodies fell to the ground, and the tension gripped Xie An's heart like an invisible hand. He saw the cross-sections of the bodies emitting a golden light.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Firefly Corpses!" Jie An cursed loudly, and at the same time was glad that he had made preparations. "Everyone, pay attention! These crows are all Firefly Corpses. Switch to Blessed Water Bullets and keep your distance during the battle—!"
Ji Huaisu shoved him against the hood of the car. A crimson claw scraped across Jie An's scalp, leaving a chilling, sharp sound in the air. Jie An broke out in a cold sweat; if Ji Huaisu had been a moment slower, his head would have been gone. He glanced around, trying to find the enemy, but everywhere he could hear gunfire and the frantic movements of his teammate. The shadows of the people morphed into strange shapes under the flames.
He realized something was amiss. A person's shadow shouldn't have morphed into anything approaching a sharp angle. As Jie An sensed something was amiss, the shadows began to boil like water, and demonic claws leaped from the shadows. A similar attack emerged from behind him, as two shadow-dwelling demons suddenly launched their attack!
Ji Huaisu swung his hands, striking simultaneously with his hammer of light and his shadowy blade, forcing the two demons back. They emerged from the shadows into the light, revealing sinister and ominous forms. The shadowy demons walked on six legs, their bodies pierced by a pattern of claws, fangs, and blades, like wolves stitched together by countless sharp objects in shadow. The contours of their heads shifted constantly, resembling deeply twisted, acute-angled triangles. Their bodies, illuminated by the firelight, formed no shadows.
Outer Path Sephiroth 2, Natural Disaster Seed, Demon Killer.
"I'm going to give it a try." Ji Huaisu picked up the giant sword, "I'll leave the command to you, be careful!"
She ran with all her might, carrying the light shield on her back. The two slayers followed her like sharks scenting blood. They were demons born in the light, and they loved to devour the light and heat. The light shield was no match for the slayers' minions, so she could only rely on the shadow swords to fight them.
Jie An leaned against the police car, his heart in turmoil. Everything had happened so suddenly that he felt like he was acting when he was giving orders. The real him was still squatting in the kitchen, thinking about dinner.
He heard the report from the team members who had boarded the fortress, and he saw the crows on the aircraft open fire, killing the lookout on a distant tower, and then being shot down by concentrated water bombs. He stood in the hail of bullets, realizing that his mission was completed and there was nothing more he could do about this battle.
Jie An climbed into the car and pounded his forehead, forcing himself to think. There was clearly something unusual going on in this battle. How did the workshop owner manage to control so many glowing corpses? Unless he was a high-ranking Scourge, anyone with that ability would have already decimated the entire resurrection force. His target was the headquarters, which meant he had intelligence on Huilong City. The front line in the courtyard was barely defensible, so where else could he go...
Elevator. The large elevator in the center of the ancient tree led directly to the headquarters, allowing the enemy to pass through unhindered by the stairwell. He realized it in an instant, grabbed the communicator, and yelled, "Is anyone in the workshop area?! The Black Workshop is attacking the ancient tree!!"
As soon as he asked this question, Jie An fell into despair. The large elevator had stopped working during the first wave of the attack. They had no personnel stationed in the sky; the island was completely under the control of the Black Workshop. But then his breathing quickened, and the other yellow crystal, separate from the team's internal communication, flickered slightly. The man's response was calm, as if he were detached from the situation, but at this moment, it was particularly reassuring.
"I'll take care of it."
·
Chu Hengkong put away the communication crystal and lifted the broken ceiling with one hand.
The aftermath of the first wave of attacks burned down the Ansa workshop, causing the production equipment to explode, the warehouse to catch fire, and the small storefront to collapse completely. Mrs. Ansa, under the ceiling, suffered a bloody head injury and a broken leg, having escaped only by holding up the counter to provide space.
"Mirror...Mirror of the Moon..." she muttered to herself.
She could no longer hold on, passing out from blood loss. Clutching a small mirror, she carved out a final clue from the smoke. Most of the salvage workers retreated after hearing the warning, but Mrs. Ansah, mindful of the task at hand, remained in the workshop.
Chu Hengkong dragged her out from under the counter and performed simple first aid using the bandages the shop had left. He left the Ansa workshop, and amidst the flames, strange crows emerged. They treaded on the flames, like real crows flying from all over the workshop area. Their bird-head masks fell off, revealing unusual, inhuman faces.
Colorless "masks" sprouted from their faces, each one displaying a distinct expression: ecstasy, lamentation, obsession, madness. Countless more masks then appeared across the crows' bodies, spreading like boils, completely enveloping them. Then, the transparent masks shattered simultaneously, their limbs mutated, swelling, and twisting, transforming into bizarrely hideous demons!
There were demons shaped like bone-white seahorses, one-eyed demons resembling mammoths, and all sorts of demonic bodies laughed in the flames. The demons that had been interfering with the human world through illusions had finally found their chance to be incarnated. Nearly half of them looked at Chu Hengkong, their voices thick with greed, hatred, and anticipation.
"Hello again, Chu Hengkong."
Chu Hengkong unsheathed his rock blade with one hand, the blade humming with joy as it was unsheathed. The firelight illuminated the man's hardened profile. He faced the demon with his back to the workshop, his coat fluttering in the scorching wind.
"It's a pleasure to kill you all again," he said.
(End of this chapter)
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