Snap!
The ancient, weathered bones, brittle as dry twigs, snapped underfoot. Lifting her leg, only a scattering of fragments remained on the ground.
Atoris gazed up at the colossal, circular building before her. On its decaying sign, a cruciform medical symbol was faintly discernible.
The Floating City had named this old-world structure the ‘Lize Medical Center’. Even now, largely ruined, its remaining footprint spanned over 400,000 square meters, making it the largest medical relic in the entire region.
One could only imagine its grandeur when it stood intact. Yet, today, it was nothing more than a demon’s lair.
It was a place one was forced to enter, despite knowing it teemed with death.
Her external mechanical armor, powered by a Soul Devourer’s essence, had returned to optimal operational status. As her knees subtly bent, the numerous miniature high-pressure air pumps installed within retracted.
With a light leap, Atoris effortlessly ascended to the second floor of the circular structure.
Wailing shrieks, mingled with the sounds of weapon explosions and gunfire, faintly echoed from deep within.
[Detecting human life signs approaching!]
[Warning: Large number of common Soul Devourer signals detected ahead! Warning! Shadow entity discovered…]
Listening to the electronic signals in her ear, Atoris gripped the hilt of the sword at her waist. Bolstered by her external armor, she instantly shot forward at the peak of human speed.
–Quick, ammunition resupply! Damn it! Where are the mechs? Get the mechs to cover our retreat!–
–Captain Des, Captain Des hasn’t made it up yet!–
–You all go! Take all the medicine, I’ll cover you!–
Roar!
After advancing only five or six hundred meters, a cacophony of shouts and other noises reached her ears. Atoris clenched her jaw slightly and accelerated.
From the electronic backpack at her waist, a faint, pale green mist imperceptibly diffused. The clamorous shouts gradually receded, replaced by a myriad of rustling whispers that seemed to draw near from an infinitely distant world, murmuring forbidden languages into her ear.
Reaching the summit of a small, mountain-like ruin before her, Atoris looked down.
A small squad of five or six individuals was desperately fleeing. Behind them, a dense horde of lizard-like monsters surged from the distance. Amidst the lesser Soul Devourers, a gigantic, corpulent, spider-like black entity flickered in and out of sight within the darkness.
Its thick, hideous scales were terrifying to behold, and six crimson eyes glared savagely from the shadows at the constantly fleeing humans. Around it, the other Soul Devourers seemed to instinctively leave a wide, clear area for it to move, as if guarding their commander.
Atoris launched herself, leaping directly from the high ruins.
The auxiliary turbojets ignited, transforming her body into a missile, imbued with unparalleled speed.
Swoosh!
Yaaaaargh!!!!!!!
Two tentacles, each as thick as a thigh, slammed to the ground. The previously orderly Soul Devourers around them instantly lost their coordination, devolving into utter chaos.
The colossal spider-like shadow monster let out a bloodcurdling shriek, its six crimson eyes all fixing on the slender figure before it.
[Weaver, a lesser demon of the Shadow World. Possesses innate command abilities and low-level intelligence. All signal sources originate from the tentacles on its head. The base of the tentacles is its weakest point…]
Smoke still billowed from the turbojets on her back as Atoris wielded her golden holy sword, enveloped in a faint green glow—a sight both sacred and demonic.
Roar!!!
–Watch out!–
A fierce gust of wind assailed her face, and shouts from others echoed from behind. Yet, Atoris remained oblivious. In that instant, every cell in her body felt intoxicated, plunging into an unprecedented frenzy, her senses dramatically heightened.
The whispers in her ear poured forbidden knowledge into her mind, one after another.
Just as the creature’s sharp leg was about to pierce her body, Atoris’s turbojets spun at high speed once more. Leaning back slightly, her entire body slid beneath the monster in that fleeting moment.
To the wide-eyed astonishment of the few people behind her, the monster—which typically required an armored tank equipped with specialized armor-piercing rounds to destroy—trembled in place before collapsing limply, like a toy that had lost all power.
The external mechanical armor hummed softly, powered by its energy supply. Atoris flipped the monster over, revealing a horrific wound beneath.
[Weaver, weak point located at the center of the lower abdomen. Destroying the energy crystal within the abdomen will be fatal!]
With a flick of her golden longsword, a pale green liquid splattered onto the ground, emitting a sizzling, corrosive sound. A faint smile curved Atoris’s lips.
‘A shadow monster, huh? Nothing special…’
Cutting open the creature’s massive head, she retrieved a pink, fist-sized crystal from within. Atoris glanced back once more.
–Thank you…–
The faces of the five or six-person squad were pale, some even trembling slightly. Even the middle-aged man who appeared to be their captain could only force a smile, his pupils flickering with unconcealed fear.
–You are… a Luminary?–
Atoris said nothing, merely placing the pink crystal into her backpack with an expressionless face, then turned and walked deeper inside.
–Cap-captain, is that really the legendary Luminary? So young…–
–Can we also possess such power?–
–Luminary… sigh. Believe me, you wouldn’t want it… that cursed power…–
The voices behind her gradually faded, and darkness surged from all directions, engulfing Atoris’s vision.
****
The night sky was like a curtain of deep blue, adorned with twinkling stars. The profound azure was enchanting, dotted with countless tiny stars that grew in number, dancing across the blue carpet, joyful and beautiful.
Inside the flower shop, Lin Xuan had locked the door early after dinner. At this time, when she usually attended school, she typically didn’t open the shop anyway.
“Well then, Fenrir, if anyone knocks, just bark twice!”
Everything was ready, and Lin Xuan casually instructed the puppy beside her.
‘Well, it really was just a casual instruction.’ Lin Xuan knew best how pitiful her shop’s foot traffic was, but what if there was an ‘if’? Just like the flower language of the potted plant she sold to a customer yesterday.
‘Putting other things aside, one must always have hope~’
“Woof!”
The puppy, whether it understood or not, let out a soft, childish bark at that moment.
“Then, guarding the shop is up to you!”
Smiling, Lin Xuan earnestly replied to the puppy, then eagerly picked up the virtual reality headset. On the display, the red battery icon had turned green, showing 100%.
“Hehe, let me try out the black technology of those nobles recently!”
Since achieving financial independence, Lin Xuan hadn’t touched such high-end gadgets in a long time. She could only play the most basic commoner cards in Pantheon Legends…
****
The puppy looked up. Boundless chaos filled its surroundings, as if this were the primal birthplace where everything in the void originated. Vast, eerie, and strangely shaped figures guarded the center from all directions.
Three colossal pillars stood silently. The central golden pillar, in that instant, emitted billions of rays of light—not merely something existing in a single spatiotemporal continuum, but connected to the ultimate source that bestowed life upon everything within the boundless expanse of all existence.
Just a single glance made the little husky’s fur stand on end. The power it had painstakingly accumulated was instantly depleted in resisting that madness, accompanied by severe after-effects that directly threatened its very essence.
“Woo~”
The puppy huddled, pressing tightly against Lin Xuan’s leg. It felt the stinging pain in its head seemed to lessen considerably as a result.
Sleepiness washed over it like a tide. It yawned slightly and soon fell into a deep slumber.
(｡>∀<｡)