Pedestrians scread in terror and scattered. The guards at the academy sharply raised their heads and, at the sa ti, swiftly drew the revolvers at their waists.
Nina had barely begun to speak when she was abruptly interrupted by the commotion. Instinctively, she pulled Sherry, who was next to her, then quickly turned around to look toward the direction of the screams.
(Past the curtain, past so invisible boundary.
The roaring and noise suddenly intensified to an unbearable level, sharp pain vibrated within perception, intense light filled the ears, eyes stung by the noise, skin evaporated and boiled in the wind, and an indescribable massive sphere hovered in an equally indescribable sky, madly pulsating and writhing.
Malicious entities began to stir—the irregularly swelling forms moved wildly around, shaking the entire world with their terrifying roars.
But... where was one’s weapon? Where was one’s armor? Where were one’s comrades? Where was one...?)
A horrifying, indescribably shaped black "chunk" suddenly charged out of thin air and crashed to the ground.
The chunk, resembling so kind of flesh yet constantly refracting a tallic icy sheen, kept reconstituting its bizarre surface which now and then reflected colorful illusory lights, as if sothing was roaring and pulsating within the light.
This terrifying object of dread incited panic among the crowd, and everyone scattered.
Only two "Knowledge Guardians" on site did not hesitate to pull out pistols and spell-casting tools and rushed towards the frightening "reality intruder."
Their loud shouts reached Nina and Sherry’s ears, "Kids, run!"
The guardians’ shouts jerked Nina awake amidst the sudden massive chaos. She stared wide-eyed at the center of the turmoil.
She was unsure if she was hallucinating.
Because in that fleeting mont, in those first few seconds, perhaps even shorter than that, she thought she saw sothing far more unbelievable than the terrifying chunk—yes, in that very first second, it looked... like a person.
She doubted if she had seen correctly since that mont was so brief, and looking at the reactions of the others around... it seed no one else had noticed that scene.
The guardians had already charged forward. Uncertain of the sudden "intruder’s" mysterious traits, they didn’t shoot rashly but initially shattered several vials on the ground nearby. The volatile agents in the vials quickly dispersed into the air, forming a misty, lingering "air wall" that refracted enchanting light when the sunlight hit it.
It was as if so rainbow-like crystalline barrier had ford within the surrounding air mass.
The two guardians were the first to enter the "air wall," one held a gun pointed at the still rolling, pulsating object on the ground, while the other rapidly spread more liquid and powder on the nearby ground, ignited a portable candelabrum, quickly constructed a temporary protective barrier using crystals and tal chunks, suppressing the object’s movents.
Sharp whistles then ca from the other end of the street, and other patrolling guardians promptly arrived to support. They dispersed the remaining pedestrians on the pavent while expertly performing a series of seal, suppression, and purification procedures inside the "air wall."
Nina and Sherry stood nearby, dazzled by the scene. They weren’t nervous; they were simply fascinated.
For although they had encountered quite a few supernatural events up to now, they hadn’t really seen how professional guardians "processed events" by following procedures.
Trained ordinary people controlling a sudden intruder in the real world with strict operational standards and skilled collaboration—this scene was nothing like the usual way Uncle Duncan (the captain) dealt with issues.
And just then, within the "air wall," the tal-sheened chunk that resembled living steel suddenly burst into fierce motion again, and the temporary seal hastily constructed by the guardians was imdiately challenged— the transparent shell-like structure covering the "intruder" cracked in places, emitting a piercing, tearing noise. The two guardians maintaining the ritual pressure instantly stepped back, one of their crystal prisms shattering in a mont.
But that seed to be the "intruder’s" final resistance.
The guardians quickly regained their composure amidst the panic, preparing to reinforce the seal again, only to find that the "Living Steel Chunk" in the center of the site was rapidly weakening its squirming, as if its life force was quickly fading. Strange hissing sounds and friction noises continuously emanated from within it, gradually turning somber. Its irregular surface seed to gradually solidify and settle down, its tallic "skin" spreading a grayish hue, akin to rapidly weathering stone.
In the end, it almost completely ceased all movent, except for intermittent, slight twitching on its surface, resembling the muscle spasms of a dead animal.
"Target activity decreasing, stop reaction to Catalyst 17," a guardian holding a revolver in one hand and several vials in the other quickly said.
Another guardian, holding a particularly thick heavy book in both hands, intently stared at the "Living Steel Chunk" in the center of the site while sensing sothing. After a mont, he spoke, "The target has no cognitive activity."
"Still signs of activity in the center area, but it’s subsiding... no signs of external communication detected."
"Class III catalysts are insensitive and do not belong to any ’known species’ of invaders... When is the team from the academy arriving?"
"We have sent the ssage, they need a minimum of fifteen minutes."
"Understood. Everyone, be vigilant, pay attention to your ntal state, and do not leave the barrier area. Report imdiately if you see or hear anything unusual."
The guardians were professional and swift in dealing with the sudden situation, although what had entered the real world was an "entirely new entity" not recorded before. They showed no sign of panic — until a sudden voice ca from beside them.
"Um... Mr. Guardian, what is this thing?"
Nina, pulling Sherry along, had reached the nearly inactive "Living Steel Chunk" and both girls, with incredible courage, were carefully observing the nearly two-ter-diater "substance" on the ground when the forr couldn’t help but ask curiously.
The nearest Knowledge Guardian nearly jumped on the spot.
The middle-aged man, who wore a cloak and appeared more like a middle school teacher than a warrior in deanor, turned his head in horror, only to see the two young ladies standing behind him — the ones who had initially walked up to him, perhaps to report sothing. He had thought that these two girls would have been evacuated imdiately, so why were they still here?
And the next second, the guardian realized an even more incredible fact.
"How did you get in?!"
He stared dumbfoundedly at Nina and Sherry, his eyes swiftly flickering to glance behind them — the "air wall" used to block off the area was still intact, floating several ters away, and the barrier, shimring with a rainbow crystalline texture, showed no signs of being breached, nor had he felt any physical touch against this barrier...
How did these two girls, who looked like middle school students, just stroll in?!
"I walked in," Nina saw the guardian’s dumbfounded reaction and the imdiately defensive posture of the other guardians, and she finally felt a bit nervous, "just... just walked right in."
Beside her, Sherry quickly nodded, using her long-practiced but recently unused acting skills to look innocent and obedient, "We were just curious and ca over to look, sir..."
"Walking in?!" The guardian stared, his years of professional training prompting him to silently recite Rahm’s prayers in his mind while he placed one hand on his gun handle, his eyes firmly fixed on the two girls in front of him.
A faint silver light erged at the bottom of his eyes.
However, Nina and Sherry rely stood there harmlessly, like two ordinary children out shopping.
And Nina really didn’t know what had happened.
She noticed the encircling mist, but just felt that this gas represented a "division line," like a fra drawn on the ground with white paint; naturally she walked right in, feeling no barriers — just as sunlight naturally passes through glass.
As for Sherry... Sherry didn’t feel the barrier either.
Because she walked with the sunlight.
The tense and bizarre standoff lasted several seconds, and the guardians on site, as if facing a great threat, half of them had faint silver lights swimming in their eyes. Rahm’s blessing temporarily enhanced their ability to discern reality, to observe these two girls who seed ordinary, yet whose actions and words hinted at sothing suspicious.
Nevertheless, they found nothing unusual.
Only the oldest-looking middle-aged Knowledge Guardian still felt a vague discomfort in his heart; he always felt sothing was hidden in front of him, deep within the smile of one of the girls, and so he couldn’t help but glance at Nina again, the light twinkling in his eyes.
But suddenly, he felt it might be unnecessary to continue watching — this baseless thought made him unconsciously retract the light in his eyes.
The guardian rubbed his eyes, montarily forgetting the unease that had just surfaced in his heart.
"We didn’t an to interrupt your work, did we?" Nina said apologetically.
The guardians exchanged glances, a few of them quickly exchanging looks and murmuring amongst themselves.
The most senior-looking middle-aged guardian stepped forward, his expression serious yet slightly cautious.
"Sorry, ladies, could you please... co with us?"
(I have a headache, fever, a cough, and a sore throat. Not sure if it’s Covid again... Wish luck.)
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