Xyrin Empire-Chapter 708 Shi Liu Ye’s Problem

Lin was gone, Yelsen was gone, the scene left behind only ruins, rubble, broken bricks, shambles, as well as a crowd of onlookers who either did not know the truth or had understood what was going on, and my wildly excessive cold sweat.

Ever since the five-person squad had landed on the battlefield with impressive impact, the cold sweat actually hadn’t stopped.

Bingdisi unscrupulously patted Monina’s shoulder, "Don’t be sad, child, war requires sacrifice, and your brother is a hero."

Monina sighed somberly, "Alas, now one less person is needed for cooking."

"I feel this has to be the most suffocated Sighing Wall to ever be destroyed," looking at the blue and white sparkling line on the ground about ten meters away, still fizzing with electric sparks, my feelings were quite complex, "Yelsen’s experience shows that if you’re going to communicate with a child with the intelligence not exceeding that of a five-and-a-half-year-old, it’s best to make your words clear and concise."

Everyone agreed deeply.

As Vega led another troop to inspect the Star Ring Fragment at the crash site, the Armored Scorpions before us were commanded by a Scorpion I wasn’t very familiar with, perhaps because she normally didn’t deal much with our bunch of No Morals fellows, the somewhat Silent long-haired Armored Scorpion, after blankly looking around at the mess, still decided the mission was the priority, silently organized the soldiers into formation, preparing to advance into the Inner City. I heard her gather several Armored Scorpion Squad commanders and explain the action plan, "My plan is, charge in, start slashing..."

A crowd of Scorpions responded with a thunderous acknowledgment, excitement of battle naturally written on everyone’s faces, indicating that this was mostly their usual process when putting their heads together to study combat plans.

Raven 001 and Ola were deploying some detection devices, the former activated the Arcane Eye to locate the life reactions in the Inner City, while the latter used mirrors to create multiple fragile probes and dropped a large number of them into the opposing temple complexes.

Those majestic temples and spired buildings were silent in the thin black mist, seemingly lifeless, but judging from the grave expression on Raven 001’s face, I knew she had located the enemy.

"Energy reaction ahead! Prepare for combat!"

Quite abruptly, Raven sounded the alarm, then in an instant, she shot up a hundred meters into the sky, a dazzling blue-white Energy Vortex completely engulfing her figure, and the next second, a meter-thick Arcane Torrent burst out from the Energy Vortex with the power of a Warship Main Cannon, cutting off a giant rock tower built up from huge stones at its midsection; the tower started collapsing from the point of impact as it fell, and before hitting the ground, the massive stone structure turned into a sky full of energetic debris. In the giant explosion of clouds, hundreds of swift silhouettes dove from the disintegrating top of the tower, emitting piercing, mournful screams as they heroically launched their attack on the invaders.

As they dove down from the sky with their brilliant light trails, I saw these enemies clearly: they were a group of females, riding black beasts, clad in deep blue Armor, possessing young faces and the tall figures common to Atlantians, with round Sun Shields in their hands and thick Light Sabers emitting Ghost Energy in their grip. These female warriors, riding those strange creatures that looked like black Unicorns, flew in the sky, and they themselves also had wing-like light flares on their backs, similar to those of birds. While theirs were not as magnificent and powerful as Alaya’s wings, considering that they were created by the research scientists of the Old Empire who never did anything wasteful, these wings were surely not just decorative; they would be fine for Flying too.

The winged female warriors, now clearly serving as the claws of the Abyss, made falcon-like piercing calls as they swirled their Ghost Energy Light Sabers, plunging down towards us. The Ravens, who had detected the energy fluctuations of the opponents in advance, were of course prepared; after Raven 001’s attack had no effect, more Arcane Arrow Rains and fork-shaped Lightning erupted from the airborne attack formation formed by the Ravens. For a moment, hundreds of Atlantian female warriors wielding Light Sabers were engulfed by the overwhelming magic attacks. But just when I thought the first wave of enemies would be easily dispatched by the Ravens, they broke through the sparkling Energy Shields, bursting out of the explosive smoke clouds!

Certainly, the previous attack had already reduced their numbers by at least one-third, and even though the remaining two-thirds were all injured, they had withstood the frontal assault from the Heroic Combat Soldiers. This was enough to prove that the female warriors stationed in the Inner City were simply not on the same level as the Abyss Monsters outside!

A symphony of metal clashes arose from the ranks of the Armored Scorpions, sounds made by the standard Ship-Slicing Blades forcefully colliding in the air before entering combat. The collision of weapons before battle is a tradition passed down from Ancient Times among the Scorpions, indicating that upon seeing the enemies wielding Light Sabers, they instantly entered a state of neuro-combustion. The attackers fully met the two conditions that ignited the Scorpions’ combat fervor: first, they used melee weapons; second, since they were melee combatants, unbelievably, they weren’t using cold weapons!

Despite being melee equipment, the Ghost Energy Light Sabers were classified as heat weapons—at least in the rigid minds of the Armored Scorpions, any weapon with a high-temperature blade was considered a heat weapon. Thus the group, outraged by what they perceived as a desecration of the reputation of cold weapons, although I had no idea what their fury was about.

"Buzz—zzz." The standard Ship-Slicing Blades, enveloped in a Phase Shift Force Field, violently collided with the small round shields bearing the Sun emblem in the Atlantis warriors’ hands, emitting a type of low-frequency sound wave with a resonant quality. Layers of light waves rippled out from the point of impact, dispersing the impact of the brute force delivered by the Scorpions.

The most lethal attacks of the Armored Scorpions were their initial strikes in every battle. The instantaneous burst of speed and power could leave the majority of enemies dismembered before they had a chance to react. In previous fights, even if a Monster withstood the first wave of the Scorpions’ assault, it was rare for them not to be injured. But these female warriors had all managed to block the blows successfully!?

Sandora frowned, "The principle of the Phase Shift Blade is to form a deflecting and continuously moving spatial fold groove. This extremely thin layer of spatial folds can move any material it contacts to a different space, then re-emerge from a nearby spatial exit. With continuous teleportation, the Phase Shift Blade possesses unmatched destructive power against any form of solid Armor, almost impossible to withstand. But those Sun Shields... they are Rigid Shields covered with Ghost Energy, their self-replenishing speed is even faster than the Phase Shift Blades’ deflecting speed!"

This was the reason why the Scorpions’ first round of attacks was ineffective, but it seemed I didn’t need to worry about them. After their initial round of attacks were blocked, they unleashed an even more ferocious mode of striking, proving the principle that brute strength can overcome any trickery. The standard Ship-Slicing Blades erupted with the sound of thunder through the air, delivering nearly a thousand slashes in an instant, tearing apart the enemies’ Sun Shields, which overloaded and burned out in just a few rounds of combat!

The Scorpions’ attacks were savage and direct—chopping horizontally, vertically, diagonally—without any feints or intricate changes in their moves. They knew only one thing: to optimize the exertion of force with trajectories precise to the nanometer, inflicting maximum damage on the enemy with the least amount of time and effort. They aimed at one point and chopped relentlessly until it worked. This was the art of combat for the Armored Scorpions, referred to by Raven as the last uncivilized tumor in the highly civilized society of She—though one had to admit, in most cases, this straightforward approach was very effective.

The Fallen Soldiers attacking us were skilled in combat, managing to attack and defend even against the superhuman Armored Scorpions. With no thoughts of their own, and seemingly without even a sense of pain, they fought desperately, willing to exchange injury for injury, even unto death. A few hundred Fallen Soldiers breached the Scorpions’ lines, but that was as far as they got. Readjusting their strength, the Armored Scorpions, with swords in their hands breaking the sound barrier and creating thunderous roars, quickly gained an absolute advantage with brute force.

After successive screams, all Fallen Soldiers locked in close combat with the Armored Scorpions were defeated. The formidable Ghost Energy Shields and divine physiques allowed them to put up a fight rather than being overwhelmed one-sidedly like the Mixed Soldiers, but ultimately due to the disparity in strength, their Light Sabers couldn’t form an effective block against the Ship-Slicing Blades, and the Shields and Hard Armor Shells of the Scorpions were not easily breached. The Fallen Soldiers still met with defeat.

In just over a dozen seconds of engagement, the Scorpions proved with their great swords who the true kings of close combat were.

Hundreds of Fallen Soldiers, with Light Wings on their backs, fell to the ground, their small round shields and Light Sabers gradually extinguishing.

"Hmph, heretics who heat their blades," commented one Scorpion Soldier, leaving me speechless.

But just as we were about to check the bodies of those unfamiliar enemies, a strange phenomenon occurred: the Fallen Soldiers slain by the Armored Scorpions dropped to the ground and began to transform into twinkling dots of light. Spiraling upward, they gradually disappeared into the air in a magnificent scene reminiscent of the last minutes of an emotional drama where everyone hands out their ’lunch boxes’—were all of the enemies ascending to heaven?

Ares saw my confusion and, now having the time, explained in a low voice, "Those just now were Valkyries, they possess the power of resurrection. I didn’t expect even those warriors to have been contaminated."

"Valkyries?" I was stunned for a moment. "Did Zeus ’acquire’ Odin?"

Ares: "What is ’acquire’?"

Hades: "Which one is Odin?"

Sandora elbowed me in the waist. "Ah Jun, get serious. The mythologies on Earth are basically all derived from the descendants of Atlantis. They do have a Mount Olympus and Zeus, but it’s not like they’re exclusive to the Greek God System—the enemies’ shields just now even had the characters of the Sun God ’Ra’ on them."

I had to have Sandora fill me in on Earth knowledge again!

Ares looked around and, seeing that no one could explain what ’acquire’ meant, simply shook his head and said, "The Valkyries emerged in the late stages of the war. By that time, the demons’ army had the ability to resurrect endlessly, and their numbers were still increasing day by day. Meanwhile, the number of Atlantis warriors was limited and grew slowly. As the war progressed, the number of Great God’s warriors dwindled. To maintain combat power, the Great God began creating a type of soldier that could continuously resurrect—namely, the Valkyries and Anubis. They are equipped with the Sun Shield, Sunburn Longsword, and Dusk Scepter, all personally crafted by the Great God. They have power between that of ordinary soldiers and us, the Divine Servants. More importantly, their souls are undead. After their bodies are destroyed, they will be transported back to the Holy Hall of Resurrection, capable of rejoining the battle after just a few hours..."

"How are these soldiers created?" Sandora suddenly interrupted Ares, frowning in inquiry.

Ares smiled slightly, "Devout Atlantian warriors who have sustained grievous injuries voluntarily go to the Ascension Workshop. Their useless mortal remains are purified by the Holy Flames, and their souls ascend into the sacred furnace, imbued with new life force. Male warriors are resurrected as Anubis, and female warriors as Valkyries. These warriors basically don’t think, feel no pain, but they can still fight and perform better than ordinary soldiers."

"So it is," Sandora murmured, "extracting the soul while the person is still alive and merging it with Ghost Energy to form something like an energy body Angel Envoy, then injecting it into an artificially created body. That’s why those Valkyries we saw just now could be on par with Armored Scorpions in terms of physical prowess: their bodies are essentially at the level of Angel Envoys. Only fanatical belief could make a carbon-based life endure such agony..."

I opened my mouth but ultimately didn’t say anything, just shrugged my shoulders, "There must be a Valkyrie regeneration factory in the Inner City. We need to figure out a way to get our hands on those things first."

No one objected. All soldiers followed commands closely and cautiously entered this city district ravaged by the Abyss. Hades was very familiar with the roads of the Inner City and pointed us toward the nearest command center, which is where the ground forces are now heading.

"Although I don’t quite understand, it seems like you’re not in a very good mood?"

A somewhat unfamiliar girl’s voice rang by my ear. I turned around to look, and it was a white-haired maid with a white headband and a miniskirt maid costume. Since the demons of Fantasy Country were weak in terms of defense, they, excelling in long-range magic attacks, were being protected along with Raven in the central area of the team. This white-haired maid was right beside me.

She must be a very serious person, as even when speaking during a march, she was observing her surroundings with a vigilant expression. Judging by her demeanor, she seemed quite accustomed to this state of alertness. Between her fingers, she held several silver-white throwing knives, which faintly bore traces of blood, indicating they had already been effectively used in the previous battles.

"Shi Liu Ye?" Having seen her once or twice before, and as a well-known figure in the Eastern World, I easily called out her name.

"I didn’t expect you to remember my name," said the maid with proper manners, who still remembered to nod and bow slightly while moving swiftly, showing the grace of a noble servant. "I don’t mean to be presumptuous in starting a conversation; I just wanted to ask how you plan to arrange things for us after the war is over."

I looked at her with some surprise, wondering why she would suddenly say something like this. All the demons in Fantasy Country seemed not to worry about their future. Could it be that Shi Liu Ye was one of the rare crisis theorists?

Perhaps my questioning gaze was too straightforward because the maid in front of me looked somewhat unnatural, but in the end, she seemed to make up her mind: "This is me asking on behalf of my mistress. Miss... She seems to have seen something bad."

I was a bit puzzled by her sudden statement and immediately began to recall what abilities the Miss that Shi Liu Ye mentioned had: Remilia Scarlet, the so-called Miss, was a 500-year-old vampire with the so-called ability to manipulate fate—though she just looked like a loli and seemed about as tall as Pandora. As a vampire, an unsociable species, combined with her capricious and childlike personality, Remilia hadn’t appeared in front of me until the ascent plan to prevent Atlantis from falling started, and that’s when the inhabitants of Red Demon Mansion showed up.

Remilia’s ability was called "manipulation of fate," but of course, she was far from reaching that sensational level. It was more like a kind of halo effect rather than manipulating fate: saying a word to someone could lead them to experience unexpected events, or even completely change a person’s life, giving an ordinary person a higher chance of encountering adventures unimaginable to most people during their lifetime. The effects were produced unconsciously. If that was also called manipulating fate—then Lin Xue, that troublesome aggregation, was much more professional than Remi. That girl’s trouble-making halo had successfully thrown the Imperial Leader from Sahara into the Otherworld.

Although it couldn’t be called manipulating fate, Remilia could actually grasp some powers derived from "fate", such as seeing fragments of a person’s past, foreseeing the inevitable future of some unlucky person, or preventing things from happening that dissatisfied her through her own words. So what exactly did the mysterious Miss see in me?

Under my and Sandora’s curious questioning, Shi Liu Ye didn’t hold back much and frankly mentioned the things that worried the mistress of Red Demon Mansion enough to send her own maid to gather intelligence.

"Although you don’t seem like someone who would do those things," Shi Liu Ye Sakuya said with a bit of nervousness, "the Miss has seen that recently there’s often an endless disaster hovering over your past, from wars to extinction, death, gloom, and unclear chaos."

I was silent for a while before saying, "I mean, does anyone ask others so naively: ’Are you a bad person’?"

"It’s a bit reckless to ask others directly, but the military analysis meeting every night at the Miss’s place is even more troublesome."

I understood instantly: This was a story about a "child" who accidentally saw something bad and couldn’t sleep at night, causing all hell to break loose in the house and finally forcing someone to come out and find the culprit for a clear answer. When Lin Xue’s ability was not quite skilled, she often caused such disturbances, leading our whole family to fall into collective paranoia for quite a long time.

I looked at the maid’s expression beside me; indeed, she looked quite depressed and tired. It seemed that these last few days, she had been thoroughly drilled by her beloved Miss. Her coming to talk about these matters was probably just out of excessive curiosity, looking to change her mood. As for how serious she really was, it probably wasn’t more than ten or twenty percent.

But now that Shi Liu Ye had reminded me, I did indeed need to start thinking about certain aftermath issues.

Of course, the first thing was to dispel Shi Liu Ye’s unfounded worries: "Actually, it’s just that I’ve been very unlucky... really." (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to QiDian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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