Logan stood in the ruins, his face pale as he looked up at the sky.
He could clearly feel that, far away in so unknown world, Shadow’s true body was breaking free.
Breaking her one bit of consciousness before had only made her angry.
But this ti, the direct humiliation had made her lose all patience.
"I need to find a way to strengthen the seal quickly." Logan said, wiping blood from his lips. "Or... destroy her completely."
Otherwise, when Shadow’s true body finally broke free, it wouldn’t just be a projection anymore.
At that point, the whole Federation — even the whole continent — would be in danger of total destruction.
So, Logan vanished in a flash and appeared above the Snow Dragon.
Since Shadow had focused all her power on Saint Heart City, the Snow Dragon had survived the first attack and managed to escape.
When the others saw Logan, they went to tell him the good news. But Logan’s face was cold.
"Call an ergency eting of the Federation’s top leaders. Now. Right now!"
Logan vanished again and returned to the Snow Dragon’s eting room.
At that mont, the Federation leaders who were guarding the Snow Dragon were arriving one by one.
Old Corleone saw Logan and imdiately handed him a phone. "Look." he said. "This just ca from Twilight City."
On the screen, three thousand civilians who had been evacuating suddenly stopped.
Their eyes all turned a strange black, and their bodies stiffened. They turned together, facing the city wall, and started marching in perfect unison.
"Are these Shadow puppets?" Logan gripped the phone, his voice icy.
Old Corleone’s face was dark. He nodded. "It’s a group transformation by Shadow Vein. Shadow is still affecting the main cities of the Federation. We stopped the rebellion and the invasion, but we haven’t removed Shadow Vein yet."
Before he finished speaking, more ssages popped up on the phone.
Logan opened them one by one and his eyebrows furrowed.
In the central business district of Twilight City, the crowd was starting to get restless.
So people had black Shadow Beings markings on their wrists and necks. Their eyes lost focus, and their movents beca robotic.
A shadowy figure made entirely of dark energy ford slowly above the comrcial area.
"Logan!" the Shadow figure’s voice rang out through the city’s broadcast system. "Do you think throwing into a volcano ended everything?"
She raised her hand and pointed at the crowd below.
"Every ten minutes, I’ll randomly choose a city. Like this, I’ll wake up 300,000 puppets. The first city? Twilight City’s central business district. I heard it’s your hotown!"
In the video, the people controlled by Shadow Beings were already gathering on their own, forming neat lines.
There were at least 30,000 of them, and the number was growing fast.
"Damn it!" Logan punched the control panel.
"Supervisory Council, all mbers! Any familiar tars still able to move, co with !" Logan ran out of the eting room and opened a big teleportation gate right outside.
"Go help Twilight City! First, stabilize the central business district and stop the Shadow Beings from spreading!"
The familiar tars and officers waiting outside also saw the video on their phones.
Then, hundreds of figures ran out from the ruins and rushed into the gate.
Before Logan could step in, the Ancestral Spirits girl and Lilith stopped him.
The Ancestral Spirits girl said, "I know what you’re going to do. Let go. Others can help control the puppets."
Logan nodded.
In Twilight City’s central business square, familiar tars suddenly appeared like gods from the sky, surrounding the shadow puppets.
These people had just been turned. They didn’t have much strength, but they caused so trouble for the familiar tars and the Supervisory Council agents. Still, everything was under control.
Soon, the first group of shadow puppets was caught. Nearly 10,000 were gathered in the center of the square, shouting loudly.
The Ancestral Spirits girl looked at them and slowly bent down. She put her hands on the ground. Green waves of Life Purification spread out from her, and the Shadow Beings markings on the puppets faded like water.
"Works!" a detective said, surprised.
But the Ancestral Spirits girl looked even paler. "I can only stop it, not destroy it. Bring the others over. I can make them quiet for at least 24 hours."
In the Snow Dragon’s eting room, a long table was filled with people.
Almost all the surviving leaders of the Human Federation were there, and almost everyone had injuries.
Logan sat at the head of the table, his face pale.
The leaders of the seven Federation cities had all co, most of them hurt.
Logan sat at the head, looking pale but with sharp eyes. "Report the situation."
Genera Camilla stood up and called up a hologram map. "The defense of Saint Heart City is badly damaged. Five frontline commanders, including General Monet and General Darwin, are seriously injured and out of the fight. The Blood Cultivation Realm of the city is broken by 70%. The remaining Shadow Army from the other six cities is still roaming around."
"Even worse is Temple City." Genera Camilla said, switching the screen. "Judge Arthur sent a ssage. A second group of Shadow Army, about 100,000 strong, is attacking Temple City. Judge Arthur is holding them off, but he’s under a lot of pressure."
"How is she doing this?" a City Lord asked, his voice shaking. "Her projection was trapped in a volcano, wasn’t it?"
"An anchor." said old Corleone from the corner. "She must have a power anchor. Otherwise, she couldn’t control seven cities and keep her pressure so strong. Just using the Shadow Veins across the Federation isn’t enough for that much Shadow Energy."
"But finding her anchor in such a short ti is impossible!" Genera Camilla frowned.
The eting room fell silent at this news.
At that mont, the shadows in the corner of the room twisted.
Two crows appeared and landed on the table, then changed into the shapes of Fischl and Vincent.
Smack!
Vincent placed a heavy old book on the table. "We don’t an any harm. I’m here to tell you that The Black Church has a way to track Shadow’s anchor."
"The first Pope once captured a secret book from the Shadow Tribes. It has all the details." Fischl said, opening the book and pointing to a yellowed picture. It showed three connected rune nodes, each linked to a vague human shape.
"The Shadow Tribes used the [Trinity Anchor thod] a thousand years ago. It needs three high-level carriers: a strong person’s body, a living Legend-level being, and a large energy node."
"By using these three, a Saint-level person can project a strong shadow from inside a seal and affect the real world.
"The old books say the living carrier has to be at least a 20-star stage and deeply controlled by Shadow Beings. They beco [Shadow Puppets], not just regular hosts."" Vincent added.
He lit a cigarette, looked around the room, and smiled. "You don’t think soone is missing from this eting, do you?"
Hearing this, everyone looked around. Logan’s eyes turned even colder. "You an Diablo?"
"Exactly." Vincent nodded. "According to The Black Church’s information, Diablo, the Judge, has been deeply controlled by Shadow Beings. He’s the living anchor that keeps Shadow’s projection going. Otherwise, how do you think Shadow managed to beat you so badly?"
Fischl walked over to Logan and handed him a vial of dicine. "Diablo is right now in the underground of the Judgent Tribunal, locked inside his own Blood Cultivation Realm. No one can get close."
At that mont, the eting room door opened.
A high priest nad Magdalena in a white robe walked in, followed by the shadow of a twelve-winged angel.
"The Temple’s ancient books also have sothing like this." she said, placing another old book on the table and opening a page. "The Trinity Anchor thod really exists. Shadow uses it to control Shadow Vein indirectly."
Three pieces of information t here.
Logan’s mind worked fast. "Body... living person... energy node..."
On the battlefield of Saint Heart City, the body of the Pri Minister, Newson, had been missing for a long ti.
In the Judgent Tribunal headquarters, Judge Diablo, the second in command, was currently sealing himself, keeping everyone away.
The Federation Central Bank controlled nearly 80% of the Human Federation’s financial flow. It was the absolute core of the economy.
"Elena!" Logan turned to the vice president of the Rune Guild. "Use your runes to find the exact locations of these three places."
"Give five minutes." Elena said. She closed her eyes and quickly moved her hands in the air, drawing runes.
The pale blue lines spread like a spiderweb, matching the ritual patterns from The Black Church’s ancient books and the records in the Temple’s secret texts.
Four minutes passed. Elena opened her eyes, looking a little tired. "I found it!"
She opened the full-map display and started marking. On the holographic map, three red points lit up at the sa ti.
The first point was deep underground in Saint Heart City.
The second was in the underground prison area of the Judgent Tribunal.
The third was in the underground vault of the Federation Central Bank.
Logan stood up and looked at everyone in the room. "We don’t have ti. We have to split into three groups and attack at the sa ti. We need to cut off Shadow’s control over the cities."
"First group: I’ll lead. Natalia, Sophia, and Lucia, you’re with . Our target is the underground of Saint Heart City. We destroy Newson’s body!"
"Second group: Solon, Camilla, and Dominic. Your target is the Judgent Tribunal. Free Judge Diablo and cut the living anchor!"
"Third group: Old Corleone leads. Your target is the Federation Central Bank. Take control of the head of the bank and disable the shadow mine bombs!"
"When all three anchors are cut, Shadow’s projection will disappear for good."
"Move out!"
...
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