In the night sky, above a thick and murky layer of clouds, moonlight poured down unimpeded, dyeing the entire sea of clouds into a flowing silver satin. The myriad stars felt almost too close to touch, their brilliance distorting the view.
In this serene world of clouds, a massive bone dragon, nearly the size of a battleship, lay in repose. Its bony wings were coated with a translucent mbrane, and its white vertebrae resembled rolling mountains, completely unaffected by the no-fly zone, suspended in the air like a forgotten island in the heavens.
At the location of the dragon’s skull, two well-dressed n in luxurious sacrificial robes were seated, having even set up a table and chairs, seemingly disinterested in the chaos occurring in the city below as they brewed a pot of red tea.
“Why are we making such a big fuss this ti? I don’t understand,” said the square-faced middle-aged man as he sipped his tea. “Aren’t we just dealing with two ordinary experintal subjects? Oh, and Naless… don’t tell you’re struggling against her?”
The man beside him, slimr with brown hair tied into a ponytail, replied, “That ‘Naless’ is indeed not the average opponent, but she’s inconsequential. The two experintal subjects are what matter most.”
He paused before adding, “You should have noticed that Black Tower’s attitude towards those two is rather peculiar, right?”
“True enough, but is there really a need to take this so seriously?” The square-faced man said. “I see Lin-trans and Black Tide doing the sa thing—only Black Tower has failed to keep their people in check…”
“But don’t forget, ‘Divine Transcendence’ is different. Although there’s no direct evidence, ‘Divine Transcendence’ is akin to the ‘Erosion Seed’ of Lin-trans biology, while Black Tide’s ‘Abyss’ is even more special.” The long-haired man stated.
He took another sip of red tea and continued, “Both the Pope and I believe that this specialness is the reason behind Black Tower Pharmaceuticals’ urgent attitude towards those two experintal subjects. Obtaining either one will reveal exactly how ‘Divine Transcendence’ surpasses the others, which is why this mission must not fail.”
The square-faced man replied, “But why do I need to be here? Aren’t you, the Soulfire High Priest, sufficient on your own?”
The Soulfire High Priest fell silent for a mont before suddenly admitting, “It’s indeed a bit challenging.”
The square-faced man looked surprised. “You’re not joking, are you?”
The Soulfire High Priest shook his head. “While I’m here enjoying tea with you, all my other attention is diverted to dealing with her… it’s not that easy.”
He then asked, “Have you found those two experintal subjects?”
“I found them,” the square-faced man replied.
“Then that’s all that matters.” The Soulfire High Priest closed his eyes, resuming control of the spiritual entities on the battlefield as he fought against the mysterious and powerful silver-haired girl.
……
The cold moonlight cascaded from the center of the night sky, coating the surface of the abandoned high furnace in the steel factory with a hard glaze.
Standing on the open grass, Ducha Besser gazed at the two little girls before him, unable to suppress a grin.
To have encountered these two experintal subjects, having one of the five Reincarnation High Priests reduced to make this effort—his luck could hardly be described as anything but extraordinary.
With a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes, he said, “Are you going to co with obediently, or should I knock you unconscious and shatter the iron lump beside you, taking you both at once?”
Upon hearing this, he saw visible tension and wariness etched across the faces of the blonde girl and the chanical automaton. anwhile, the silver-haired girl appeared unfazed, even glancing up at the sky as if she were paying him no mind.
Then he heard the blonde girl ask, “Are you the main body of a mage?”
Ducha chuckled, “Yes, I am the main body. But perhaps I’m not as weak as you might imagine.”
Most necromancers are generally not strong in their true forms, as their profession is fundantally about summons, fighting through their controlled entities rather than in direct combat.
But coincidentally, Ducha, along with his superior, the Ghoul High Priest, did not follow the path of summons. Their zombie army was rely auxiliary; they leaned toward transforming themselves into powerful ghouls, possessing terrifying physical strength and extending their lifespans.
Of course, such transformations ca at a price—most likely devolving into madness over ti. But Ducha believed that at the pinnacle of necromantic magic, there must exist a way to achieve immortality without descending into insanity, a pursuit shared by the vast majority of necromancers.
Hearing Ducha’s cocky answer, Lianna glanced at Zero and said, “I can handle this; just don’t engage.”
Zero humd in acknowledgnt, obediently stepping back a few paces, appearing quite cooperative.
Once Firefly had also retreated to a safe distance, Lianna spun around, transforming into a shadowy blur that darted toward Ducha. Shadows slithered out from beneath her clothing, forming into three piercing tendrils aid directly at the giant zombie’s potential weak spots.
In an instant, the battle erupted, with Lianna’s movents appearing sowhat clumsy, but her speed and strength were strikingly abnormal. She darted around the massive zombie with incredible agility, using her shadow tendrils as both anchors and springs, executing various acrobatic maneuvers akin to an agile squirrel.
Ducha found himself becoming slightly disoriented. Standing at over three ters tall, with his imposing ghoul body, he was unable to land a single hit on Lianna, whose height barely reached one and a half ters. Due to their speed disparity, each of his attempts resulted in nothing but digging craters in the ground.
However, despite the evasion, injuring Ducha was no simple task. Years of honing his constructs had rendered his ghoul body impervious to harm. Even in the absence of any defensive spells, he could endure direct hits from a magitek ch’s heavy artillery unhard. While Lianna’s tendrils were sharp enough, only striking vital points like his eyes would make a significant impact; otherwise, they would rely leave minor scratches on his dense skin.
“Should we do sothing? The surrounding zombies are multiplying…” Firefly approached Zero, speaking softly.
With Ducha fully focused on his brawl with Lianna, the neighboring fiends were rely gathering around but remained stationary, presenting a pri opportunity for cleaning up.
“Let’s wait until Lianna’s done; without a master controlling them, those zombies will eventually fall,” Zero squatted down, resting her chin on her hands, a teasing smile adorning her face.
“Do you really think she can win?”
“Of course! I always believe in Lianna.”
“What about you? Do you think you could defeat Ducha?” Based on past experiences, Firefly felt increasingly reliant on Zero.
Zero’s smile broadened, but for so reason, deep within her dark red eyes, there lay a hint of strange and complex emotions concealed beneath her long lashes.
“Sure,” she said, looking down thoughtfully, her smile unwavering. “But I can’t always take care of her and you. There are many days ahead…”
Firefly couldn’t comprehend Zero’s words, only noting that since arriving in Firth River, Zero had increasingly beco more peculiar, even before Yvette had shown up, she had sensed such changes.
What was about to happen?
But what exactly was it?
And why was she silent about it?
Humanity is truly a complex creature… Firefly sighed inwardly.
……
Minutes later, the eerie silence of the abandoned steel factory shattered with a heartrending shriek.
As Firefly lifted its head, it witnessed a tendril of dark shadow piercing through Ducha’s chest, shattering his internal magical core and several crucial etheric reactors. The surrounding steam started to leak out from his body, resembling a bomb on the verge of detonation.
Lianna nimbly jumped off Ducha, distancing herself as she panted heavily, her face pale, sweat saturating her golden bangs.
During the tussle, she had been ticulously targeting a specific spot on Ducha’s chest. After a sufficient amount of ti, she had finally achieved a breakthrough, destroying his artificial magical core and essential components.
Although she did not manage to kill Ducha, with most of his magical core damaged, his strength would rapidly diminish, leaving him gravely weakened.
“Wow! We really won!” Firefly cheered upon seeing Ducha kneeling weakly on the ground.
Almost simultaneously, the densely-packed horde of zombies surrounding them fell to the ground like cut wheat. Clearly, without their master’s magical supply, the undead army had beco completely paralyzed.
The situation had dramatically turned in their favor!
“I’m out of strength; Yvette, you finish him off,” Lianna slumped down onto the ground, gasping out, her voice faint.
During the previous battle, she had expended all her magical energy and stamina. In a one-on-one scenario, she should have been the one finishing off Ducha.
Fortunately, Ducha’s orders were to capture them alive, which ant he fought constrained and didn’t dare to deliver lethal blows, otherwise she would have had no chance whatsoever.
“I’ll do it!” Firefly quickly raised its gun, aiming for Ducha’s head.
Yet just as they were about to sound the charge for a counterattack, an unnatural noise erupted from the night sky.
It wasn’t thunder but the piercing scream of a colossal entity tearing through the clouds at incredible speed.
The kneeling Ducha suddenly looked up, his zombie expression shifted from confusion to a malicious smirk, his gaze fixated firmly on the two girls.
Lianna and Firefly instinctively gazed upward to the sky.
Then they saw, beneath the vastness of the starlit sky, a massive bone dragon, its eye sockets burned with ghostly blue flas, erged from a patch of black clouds, descending towards their location like an ancient beast resurrected from the void.
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