Chapter 115: Counter-Assassination

Provence appeared suddenly beside Nash, swept him and the corpse of the egg-shaped demon into a black hole with a wave of his hand, and instantly teleported via a spatial gate to a small, deployed base ten kilometers away, where a waiting doctor immediately stepped forward to provide treatment.

Provence’s spatial gate shamelessly turned the combat into a turn-based affair; as long as the team members were not dead, they could quickly retreat from the battlefield through his gate to recover and then rejoin the fight, becoming a nightmare for the enemy.

While everyone was plunged into a brief, unconscious state by the psychic blast emitted by the egg-shaped demon as it died, the entire battlefield hung in an eerie stillness. Yet, one black figure continued to move at high speed.

The concept of the soul is extremely vague among the Cybermen. The "Resonators" believe the soul is sacred and inviolable, insisting on combining machinery with the soul to unleash immeasurable power through resonance. Conversely, the "Blind-Seers" firmly believe that all emotions are merely illusions generated by hormones stimulating the brain; they scoff at the soul and, without any taboos, upload themselves into cyberspace to become digitized.

Kant had naturally not reached such a point of madness, but his highly mechanized brain rendered him immune to most psychic attacks. Even if his biological brain fell into a daze, his mechanical parts would diligently complete various tasks—which was the true reason Kant had gone to such lengths to install his combat analysis system.

The vector thrusters fixed to his waist and back expelled highly compressed air, and combined with his streamlined posture and the oscillation of his nano-muscles, Kant’s speed reached nearly twice the speed of sound.

Running at supersonic speeds is a dreamlike experience. The shifts in air density distort the light, stretching everything in his field of vision into a dampened ink wash painting. The air striking him at high speed is far more terrifying than a torrent, cutting against his tough nano-muscles like blades and sending ripples through them.

However, Kant’s high-calculating mechanized brain quickly corrected the distorted light, restoring the scattered points of light perceived by ordinary eyes into clear images, and proceeded to carry out efficient, concise, and bloody slaughter.

To him, the dreamlike scenery was nothing more than boring distortion; only information and data were the truth of all things.

His high-frequency cutting blades easily sliced through the demons' incredibly hard skin, but it was merely skin. The demons' tough muscles were strong enough to clamp down on the blades if they went too deep, turning Kant into a ridiculous woodpecker with its beak stuck in a board.

Yet, this was enough. Everywhere Kant went, several demons were left in a horrifying, blood-soaked state, their skin almost entirely stripped away.

The vector thrusters emitted scorching air and were nearly melting from the high-speed operation. Kant could only feel a pang of heartache as he discarded them, switched to his final set of backup thrusters, and deployed his full armament for saturation fire.

The dazed demons quickly recovered. Having been caught off guard, they were filled with fury. Feeling mocked by the skin-stripping, they charged in a rage, only to be met by a saturation bombardment of hundreds, even thousands, of artillery shells.

Howitzers, electromagnetic cannons, laser cannons—all manner of advanced ordnance were fired as if they cost nothing.

Kant’s full-power volley was enough to level a mountain, but likewise, his ten seconds of firing at full capacity were enough to bankrupt a small nation.

As the saying goes, when the cannons fire, gold flies. The battle of the Cybermen is, in the final analysis, a battle of resources, which is a major reason why they find it difficult to grow in the "Box Garden" that prizes individual prowess.

However, these powerful demons were clearly not to be solved by ordinary explosions. The sand-type demons constantly coalesced and dispersed their bodies to dodge the artillery while swarming forward. The following demons also displayed their own unique abilities, bracing against the heavy firepower to charge ahead with speeds that were also hard to track—considerably faster than Kant, whose speed had dropped significantly. It looked as if the defensive fire net would be breached in two or three seconds.

Just as the smoke filled the air and the sea of fire raged, Provence appeared beside Kant and grabbed his hand. His superb reaction time prevented his arm from being torn off, and instead, he teleported both of them into the distance amidst the high-speed movement.

Kant did not struggle, but slowed down on his own and asked, "Has it begun?"

Provence nodded, staring rapturously at the colorful light debris filling the sky, and said, "It has begun."

The scene he loved most was about to unfold.

But at that moment, a black streak of lightning surpassed all reaction speeds, charging toward Eva and the others who were busy casting their spell.

Clang!

The pre-deployed magical shield blocked this lethal strike, the barrier rippling like water.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang...

But immediately after, before anyone could react, dozens—perhaps even hundreds—more attacks landed on the shield. The shield’s thick and long-lasting durability dropped to its lowest point almost instantly, shocking the fat mage so much his incantation faltered.

Over a hundred attacks landing on the shield in a mere three or four seconds was far more terrifying than a hundred scattered strikes. The shield had no time to disperse or buffer them; the point of impact was completely dented inward, forming a terrifying concave mark. The entire shield teetered on the brink of collapse, as if it would shatter into countless fragments the next second.

But then, someone finally reacted.

Ran Bingqing resolutely charged in front of the shield, using her own body to forcefully block the terrifying onslaught.

The black shadow did not pause in the slightest, and countless attacks landed on Ran Bingqing’s toned physique.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang...

Countless sounds of metal clashing rang out simultaneously, as if an iron shield were facing a volley of steel needles. The sounds even resonated, gaining a steady "thud-thud-thud" rhythm.

Her thin martial arts tunic was quickly shredded, but a layer of magical bandages held firm, defending the final line.

However, this layer of magical bandages seemed to possess no defensive capabilities; it was a unique method in the Box Garden, specifically designed to solve the awkwardness of the Apostles' clothing being destroyed while razing cities and capturing strongholds.

Ran Bingqing did not retreat a single step in the face of the shadow's attacks. Her expression remained serene, her beautiful face showing no trace of pain, and even her ample bosom showed no sign of swaying from the strikes. She seemed like a statue of Vajra, with a faint, imperceptible trace of gold even appearing on her snow-white skin.

A ray of black light surged in rapidly. It was Kazan, who had flung out his palm from afar. The gushing black blood instantly solidified into a five-meter-long whip sword, which he lashed viciously toward the black shadow.

The shadow seemed extremely confident, only tilting its body at the very last moment to dodge the strike by a hair's breadth.

But how could Kazan’s assassination be so straightforward and simple?

The tip of the whip sword suddenly exploded, transforming into countless spikes that snaked and coiled, filling every inch of space. The shadow was unable to dodge in time and was struck directly, its figure pausing for a moment.

It was this pause that exposed the shadow's true form.

A Blade Demon!

Provence was not surprised in the slightest. Only it could possess such high mobility, traveling ten kilometers in a short time to carry out an assassination.

It was also a rare, clever demon; otherwise, it wouldn't have come early to disrupt the forbidden spell.

The black blood spikes pierced into Ran Bingqing, but they only elicited crisp, metallic ringing sounds.

Ran Bingqing exhaled sharply, dropped into a horse stance, and with a thunderous "thud," she slammed sideways like a massive bronze cauldron.

Iron Mountain Lean!

The air was compressed to the extreme under this immense force and then exploded. Kazan’s black-blood cage was shattered, but the Blade Demon also let out a short, sharp shriek and finally seized the opportunity to flee.

The Blade Demon instantly retreated hundreds of meters, but it left behind a slender blade fragment. Clearly, the seamless cooperation between Kazan and Ran Bingqing had caused it to suffer a heavy loss, forcing it to leave behind one of its bladed arms to escape.

Kant calculated rapidly: "Every displacement covers 4.7 meters, with a 0.018-second interval, and a straight-line speed of 261 meters per second... Its peak speed is far inferior to mine, but it is not hampered by inertia or resistance. Its movement method is virtually equivalent to teleportation, though it cannot bypass obstacles. Its attack style also carries a trace of spatial cutting, making it very difficult to deal with. Captain, I will provide you with support—can you keep up with it?"

"A piece of cake."