novelraw Chapter 428: The Strategy to Destroy the Heart
Chapter 428: The Strategy to Destroy the Heart
The tall figure in the black robe finally concluded, his voice like freezing ice, “What we must do is not kill him, but destroy the human image he depends on at its root.
Let the people of Daxia see with their own eyes that the savior they pin their hopes on is, at his core, still an Aberrant driven by primordial desire!
When trust completely collapses, no matter how powerful he is, he will have no place to stand in Daxia!
He may even... be destroyed by his own people with their own hands.
That, is the most brilliant strategy to destroy the heart!”
Silence fell over the space again.
Several black-robed figures stood quietly, melting into the surrounding darkness.
……
Southern border of Daxia.
Panshi Fortress.The afternoon sun was swallowed by thick Mist, the air heavy with gunpowder.
“Report! The third defense line on the east side has been breached! Repeat, the third defense line on the east side has fallen!”
“Fire suppression ineffective! Repeat, armor-piercing rounds and spiritual explosive shells cannot penetrate its shell!”
A piercing alarm blared over the communications channel.
On the city wall.
Commander Chen Hao, stationed on duty, stared intently at the massive silhouette drifting in and out of view within the Mist.
It looked like a giant monitor lizard, but its whole body was covered with writhing flesh tumors, a terrifying presence.
The aura of a Catastrophe, first-stage pressed heavily on everyone’s chests.
Every time it swung its long tail, entire sections of alloy fortifications shattered like paper.
The gray-green breath it spat out could corrode and dissolve anything it touched.
“Damn it!”
Chen Hao slammed his fist onto the console, knuckles whitening.
Half of his elite squad had already been lost; two Adjutants at Abyss Realm, eighth tier, were one dead and one critically wounded, yet that monster hadn’t even suffered a light injury.
Chen Hao’s eyes were bloodshot. He snatched up an encrypted communicator:
“This is Panshi Fortress! We are under attack by a Catastrophe, first-stage Mist Creature! The defensive line is about to collapse! Civilians are in mortal danger! Request highest-level combat support! Repeat, request highest-level combat support!”
……
At the same time that the distress signal was sent.
In Black City, while training, Su Zhan’s encrypted communicator on his wrist began to vibrate.
Li Su’s urgent voice came through immediately: “Mr. Su! Emergency report from Panshi Fortress in the south! A Catastrophe, first-stage Mist Creature has broken the line; civilians are imperiled! The Military Department implores you to assist immediately! Coordinates have been sent!”
Su Zhan’s eyes hardened, not a flicker of hesitation: “Received.”
Before the words finished, his aura violently changed.
His complete Calamity-level Aberrant Form manifested without reservation.
Time Acceleration was applied to himself, and behind him fleshy wings flapped hard.
“Boom—!”
A sonic boom detonated on the spot.
The black-gray streaks Su Zhan had become tore through the sky, ripping the heavens as they shot toward the southern border like an arrow tearing through the firmament.
The speed was far faster than any of his previous flights.
He had to reach that inferno before the disaster unfolded.
……
Southern border of Daxia.
Panshi Fortress.
Ruined walls and debris everywhere.
Alarms sounded intermittently, adding a layer of desolation.
“Hold! Hold it for me! Behind you is the evacuation corridor!”
Commander Chen Hao’s voice echoed through the amplification array.
Half of his face had been cut by flying debris; blood mixed with sweat and dust flowed down, but he didn’t bother to wipe it away.
As far as the eye could see, the once-indestructible alloy defense lines lay in ruins.
The Catastrophe, first-stage monster codenamed the Corrosive Demon Wyrm moved like a mobile calamity.
It resembled a monitor lizard magnified dozens of times, covered in constantly writhing flesh tumors, each breath releasing gray-green fumes.
Its thick tail casually swept, sending a heavy armored vehicle spinning like a top and smashing it into a distant wall, erupting into a fireball.
“Boom!”
Another segment of the defense line collapsed beneath the Wyrm’s sharp claws.
Rubble and metal shards rained down, instantly burying several soldiers who couldn’t dodge in time.
“Concentrate fire on its eyes!”
An Adjutant roared, leading the remnants of an Awakened squad to gather dazzling Spiritual Energy and fire at the Wyrm’s relatively vulnerable head.
The Wyrm only slightly tilted its head, and a translucent membrane instantly covered its eyelids.
“Pfft pfft pfft...”
The attacks hit that membrane like stones sinking into the sea, only stirring ripples before vanishing without a trace, leaving not even a scratch.
Instead, the Wyrm was enraged and opened its maw, unleashing an even thicker gray-green breath that swept toward the attackers.
“Scatter! Scatter now!”
The Adjutant’s eyes bulged; he screamed hoarsely.
But it was too late!
The breath covered too wide an area and moved too fast!
Several Awakened in the front lines couldn’t even emit a scream; their protective spiritual lights shattered, and the moment their bodies touched the breath they began to dissolve rapidly.
Flesh melted away, bones softened.
Within one or two seconds, they were reduced to smears of fetid blood and pus.
“Old Zhang! Xiao Wang!!”
Survivors howled in grief and rage, but could only watch their comrades be utterly annihilated in that brutal manner.
Fear gripped every heart.
If even high-tier Abyss Realm experts were so helpless, what could these ordinary Soldiers and low-tier Awakened possibly do?
“Commander! The evacuation corridor on the west side has been breached by roaming Mist Creatures! Civilians are suffering casualties!”
Another piece of grim news arrived.
Chen Hao swayed, a mouthful of reverse blood rising to his throat, which he forced down.
He looked at the Wyrm advancing like a mountain.
He looked at his heavily wounded subordinates.
He looked toward the terrified cries coming from the civilian quarter.
A sense of powerlessness almost swallowed him.
Is it over?
Will Panshi Fortress become history today?
All these soldiers who entrusted their lives to him are going to...
“Hum—!”
A terrifying Pressure descended from the sky with no warning.
The sky seemed to darken in that instant.
A dark red streak of light brazenly landed at the very center of the battlefield.
It cut right between the Corrosive Demon Wyrm and the last defense line on the verge of collapse.
The streak dissipated, revealing a figure within.
At that moment, everyone who saw it.
Whether the remaining defenders on site or the command staff watching through monitoring devices, their breathing stopped, their minds blank.
What... was that?
A human-shaped silhouette, yet covered in fine black scales.
A pair of curved, dark dragon horns arched above its brow.
Behind it, massive fleshy wings beat slowly.
Its eyes were nonhuman golden vertical pupils, sweeping the battlefield without a trace of feeling, finally locking onto the arrogant Corrosive Demon Wyrm.
Su Zhan!
Chen Hao instantly recognized the newcomer.
The special figure who had just caused a massive upheaval at the press conference, the one with dual identities.
He... he had actually come!
And he arrived in such a... such a stunning fashion!