The atmosphere was thick with dread and tension, broken only by the heavy footsteps of hundreds of thousands of reluctant Hunters moving forward against their will.
They marched grimly towards the Infinity Tower, hearts heavy with sha and fear, driven solely by Lena’s ruthless threats. Even the crimson sky overhead seed to reflect the turmoil below, clouds swirling ominously in the Martian heavens.
Suddenly, the grand tal gates of the Infinity Tower began to rumble and creak open, startling everyone on the battlefield. Lena and Gregory exchanged a confused and cautious glance, their initial triumph faltering for a split second.
"What the hell are they doing?" Gregory muttered, brows knitted with anxiety. "Are they actually surrendering? They can’t be that dumb to think we will let them live."
*ZZKKRAK!*
But before anyone could make sense of the situation, a deafening roar of thunder split the air. A streak of dark yellow lightning erupted forth from the tower entrance, slicing through the crowd of Hunters at impossible speeds. Bodies and weapons were thrown aside violently by the re shockwave of its passing, scattering them like helpless leaves though no blood was spilled.
Anna was the heart of that furious lightning, her lithe figure blurring as she surged forward. In her perception, everything slowed dramatically, as though reality itself was subrged beneath the surface of a silent ocean. Hunters around her moved sluggishly, their wide-eyed faces etched with confusion and terror, mouths agape mid-scream, frozen in her vision.
Her focus locked coldly onto Lena Hart, whose mocking smile had barely begun to fade into shock. Lena stood seemingly frozen, the device strapped around her wrist blinking ominously in Anna’s view. This was it—the chance to end the madness, to stop any further bloodshed, and to finally save Arthur.
With a surge of determination, Anna extended her tallic hand, fingers outstretched, lightning arcing fiercely from her fingertips towards Lena’s wrist.
But in that fraction of a heartbeat, Anna collided violently against an unseen force—a semi-transparent barrier of swirling wind surrounding Lena and Gregory. Anna was brutally knocked backward, crashing onto the hard, dusty surface of the plaza.
"Ugh..." Anna gasped, startled as she imdiately flipped back onto her feet, panting heavily, eyes narrowed in confusion and frustration.
Lena let out a contemptuous scoff, finally regaining her composure as she straightened her posture, snapping her fingers mockingly. The invisible barrier around her and Gregory beca visible—shimring gently like crystalline air currents rotating protectively around them.
"Thank the angels I still took extra precautions," Lena taunted smugly, lips twisting into a cruel, arrogant smirk. "I knew a demon bitch like you might be a bit too stubborn to just die quietly. I’m honestly impressed you’re even still standing—are you really so desperate to save your pathetic boyfriend? If it was his father, then I would have at least applauded you for trying."
Anna didn’t respond, gritting her teeth as she charged forward again. Her form blurred violently, crackling lightning blazing fiercely around her body. But once again, she slamd painfully into the barrier, its invisible strength violently throwing her back onto the ground.
Gregory chuckled disdainfully, stepping forward with renewed confidence. "Ha! You might have terrorized ordinary soldiers and civilians back ho, but you’ve never faced anyone like us. Did you really think that a demon slave like you can go against her masters?"
Anna remained undeterred, rising yet again with dogged determination, pushing herself relentlessly against the swirling barrier repeatedly. Each strike was deflected harshly, yet she persisted, the dark yellow lightning around her body intensifying each ti, sparks dancing wildly off the barrier.
Lena scoffed in disbelief, watching Anna’s futile attempts with bored amusent. "You really don’t learn, do you? This isn’t so weak barrier made of mana alone—it’s powered by miniature advanced mana tech. It’s powerful enough to last against the attack of five Soul Devourers at a ti." Lena gestured casually at the air, revealing a small green orb revolving serenely near her shoulder. "This thing has been protecting all along, just in case so sneaky little bitch like you tried sothing foolish."
Her gaze grew bored as she shifted attention away from Anna, raising her voice sharply toward the hesitant group of Hunters behind her. "I’m growing tired of this pointless drama. Hunters! Finish her off already!"
Anna glanced back, heart clenching painfully as hundreds of Hunters slowly approached, eyes filled with fear, pain, and reluctant resolve. They had no choice—either kill her or face Lena’s rciless wrath themselves.
Yet Anna’s heart remained defiant, the image of Arthur’s warm, determined face burning vividly in her mind. She couldn’t die here—not until Arthur was safe.
"You’re going to wish you had died in the lab, you pathetic demon," Lena sneered coldly, arms folded arrogantly across her chest.
But sothing sparked fiercely within Anna, her veins flooding with adrenaline.
"With an explosive cry of defiance, she launched herself once more at Lena’s barrier. Her lightning grew denser, brighter, crackling with unprecedented intensity. Wind whipped around her violently, the force of her charge causing the very air to vibrate and hum with raw, savage energy.
Lena’s expression tightened with annoyance. "Ugh, fine," she sighed dramatically, her finger hovering arrogantly over the device on her wrist. "I suppose I’ll just turn you into bloody mush then."
With a bored sigh, Lena tapped the device confidently, her eyes glittering with cold satisfaction—only to freeze, eyes widening abruptly in shock and horror. The device clicked uselessly beneath her frantic fingers, refusing to respond.
Gregory paled instantly, stepping back nervously. "What the hell? Why isn’t it working?"
Lena’s composure crumbled rapidly, panic spreading visibly across her features as she repeatedly jabbed at the device, dread quickly consuming her confidence. "What the hell is wrong with this thing? Work, damn it!"
The Hunters approaching from behind Anna imdiately slowed down, noticing Lena’s abrupt terror and Gregory’s growing anxiety. Their shared glance conveyed unspoken understanding—this was a chance to stall, to wait, and see what fate might deliver.
"Don’t just stand there!" Lena scread desperately, sweat now glistening on her forehead, eyes darting frantically between Anna and the unmoving Hunters. "Kill her already, you idiots! Do you want to die?"
But the Hunters hesitated, no longer driven forward by Lena’s threats. Their fear had shifted to her—the once-arrogant woman now openly panicking before them.
Just when they pretended to move forward,
Anna’s lightning surged violently, her power crackling and thrashing in a wild crescendo.
"Yaarghhh!" She scread fiercely, her voice blending with the thunder itself, charging forward with every ounce of remaining strength, her form barely visible beneath the brilliant storm of her dark yellow lightning.
The barrier trembled violently under her assault, ripples expanding outward, cracks forming slowly along its edges. Lena stepped back, eyes wide with genuine fear for the first ti, still futilely attempting to activate the wrist device.
"No chains...can bind now..." Anna muttered with cold, determined intensity as the cracks rapidly began to spread.
"Impossible!" Lena gasped desperately. "This barrier can’t—!"
*BOOOM!*
But her voice was abruptly silenced as Anna’s violent lightning finally shattered the barrier in a cataclysmic explosion of force and sound, sending Lena staggering backwards in shock. Ti froze again briefly, the world rendered to Anna’s eyes in sharp, rciless clarity.
Anna moved swiftly, the world blurring as she shot forward. For a split second, Lena’s terrified face t Anna’s fiercely resolved gaze before Anna surged past her with a deafening boom of thunder.
Anna’s figure appeared on the other side, slowly rising, dark yellow lightning gently fading around her and the echoes of thunder dying down until deathly silence perated the place.
Anna slowly raised her left hand as she gripped Lena’s severed forearm—still encased in the wrist device, dripping with fresh blood.
A horrified silence filled the plaza. Lena stood frozen, eyes wide with disbelief, pain, and terror as she stared blankly at the bleeding stump of her arm.
Gregory stumbled backward in horror, mouth agape, voice trembling, "L-Lena...?"
Lena stared down in raw horror at the empty space where her forearm once was, eyes wide, her body trembling violently as realization sank in. Blood pumped out in crimson torrents, painting the dusty Martian ground beneath her feet.
"AHHHHHH!!!" Lena’s voice erupted into a shrill, piercing scream of pure terror and anguish, echoing hauntingly across the battlefield.
Gregory staggered back in horror, his face drained of color, voice breaking into a terrified, desperate cry, "Lena!!"
Yet before father and daughter could even register their next thoughts, Anna’s figure vanished into a brilliant streak of dark yellow lightning, blazing towards them with unstoppable speed. She reappeared directly in front of the terrified duo, eyes cold and rciless, her bloodied tallic hands plunging forward like blades.
With a sickening squelch, Anna’s hands pierced effortlessly into their chests, fingers closing around their rapidly beating hearts. Lena and Gregory’s eyes widened, pupils trembling in uncomprehending horror, mouths gasping open helplessly.
"You reap what you enslave," Anna whispered coldly, her voice filled with nothing but bloodthirst, eyes locked into theirs.
For a split second, father and daughter stared back into Anna’s emotionless gaze, terror and disbelief frozen in their eyes. Then, their gazes turned glassy and lifeless, their bodies instantly crumpling limply to the ground as Anna withdrew her blood-soaked hands.
An eerie, heavy silence enveloped the battlefield for a brief, breathless mont. The Hunters who had stood on the brink of attacking the Infinity Tower halted abruptly, staring at the lifeless bodies of Lena and Gregory Hart in stunned disbelief. Then, slowly, sighs of profound relief rippled through the massive ranks of Hunters, growing rapidly into a crescendo of ecstatic cheers and emotional shouts of victory.
"She did it! The Thundering Reaper saved us!"
"I never thought I’d cheer for a demon, but she deserves it!"
"Hell, she freed us all! She killed the real traitors and monsters who almost enslaved us!"
"Our kind did the worst to her and yet she still chose to help us all. I have never felt so ashad to be a human..."
Everyone now knew that the Thundering Reaper was not truly evil but a demon of good heart that was enslaved by the true evil ones among them to kill innocents.
Their cheers thundered louder, echoing across the vast expanse. Anna, bewildered yet deeply moved, raised her eyes to see countless humans staring at her not with fear, but with genuine respect, admiration, and even deep gratitude. It was surreal—sothing she never dread she would witness ever in her life. Sothing she didn’t even know how it felt like and now...she felt overwheld by them showering such emotions on soone like her.
Yet Anna’s mont of silent astonishnt shattered as agony suddenly surged violently through her body. She coughed violently, blood splattering against the inside of her helt, her heart hamring painfully, racing as if about to explode.
"No...not now..." she whispered through clenched teeth, vision briefly darkening.
Rembering Arthur’s face, she steadied herself fiercely. Her body blurred once more, a streak of blazing yellow lightning tearing across the battlefield, racing desperately toward Arthur, determined not to stop until she finally rescued him.
Reviews
All reviews (0)