novelraw Chapter 462: I Was Here First
Chapter 462: I Was Here First
Is Big White Hair here? Have you finished fighting? The killing intent in Chen Qi's eyes gradually faded.
"The Empire never forgets, Black Hunter, tell me, your name..."
Blood Lion was like a machine with only will remaining, dragging his battered body, attempting a final desperate struggle.
"Shut up!"
Blood Hunter kicked him, directly striking the Imperial Lion's chin, knocking out ten teeth along with it.
Blood Hunter... A flicker of vigilance passed through Chen Qi's eyes.
Blood Hunter possessed the Great Whale's heart, and his one-on-one combat ability was extremely strong, an enemy not to be taken lightly.
And although Big White Hair's physical condition had improved greatly, releasing her domain would still come at a high cost.
Blood Lion, unwilling to submit, roared:
"The Empire does not fall!""We've already lost! Useless!"
Blood Hunter grabbed the lion's mane at the back of Blood Lion's head, directly gripping his skull, and smashed it downwards, creating a three-meter-wide crater!
Boom!
Blood Lion gritted his teeth, his eyes full of bloody streaks.
He looked out over this battle-scarred, ravaged battlefield.
Under the Black Hunter's domain, ninety-nine percent of the Transcendents had suffered severe mental derangement.
And because he had just set everyone's target as the Black Hunter.
Now, the situation had completely reversed!
The Empire's artillery fleet had suffered heavy damage, the War Ship had been severed by the Black Hunter.
Even now, the abyss was still devouring his troops.
Just as Blood Hunter said, their only choice now was to flee.
The Ice Witch leaned close to Chen Qi and whispered:
"Little Black Hair, be careful of Blood Hunter, he hasn't activated his domain yet."
Blood Lion turned his head, looking despairingly at his severed arms:
"Blood Hunter, help me retrieve my Backpack Card!"
"This is my final request!!"
Just moments ago, his hands had been severed by Chen Qi, and at the same time, that Backpack Card full of treasures had fallen onto the deck.
Blood Hunter lowered his head, looking at the lion-patterned Backpack Card on the deck, his expression complex.
As an Imperial Navy General, Blood Lion's Backpack Card contained not only his personal treasures but also powerful weapons the Empire had provided for this campaign!
Among them were items particularly special for a Sea Shepherd.
The Black Hunter was already a terrifying, formidable foe.
If this Backpack Card, which had collected numerous A-rank rift treasures, fell into the Black Hunter's hands, the consequences would be unimaginable!
Swish—
Blood Hunter's puppet hand moved lightly to the sixth blade at his waist:
"Ice Witch, Black Hunter."
Trying to activate his domain? Chen Qi stepped forward, shielding the Ice Witch.
Blood Hunter forced out a cold, helpless smile:
"You've won..."
Swish!
He suddenly kicked Blood Lion, sending him flying into the air.
"Losers shouldn't harbor such unrealistic fantasies."
The Empire's Lion of this battle had already had his claws severed by the Hunter;
being alive by the time he arrived was already the greatest luxury.
Blood Hunter drew his blade:
"Release. Edge Gate."
In the air, a void gate tore open, from which countless puppet hands emerged.
Although Blood Hunter was only fifth-tier, and what he contained was just an ordinary B-rank rift.
However, relying on the Great Whale's power, he himself could serve as an anchor point, directly connecting to the edge rifts.
"We have no right to demand anything."
Blood Hunter mustered all his strength, lifted Blood Lion, and threw him into the Edge Gate.
Then, he himself flashed, leaped into the Edge Gate, and vanished over this sea.
He just ran away like that? Chen Qi turned his head, looked at the Ice Witch beside him, and asked with concern:
"Big White Hair, are you alright?"
"Hmph, Little Black Hair, you've only just advanced to the fifth tier, and you're already questioning this Witch's strength?"
"You don't actually think you can defeat this Witch now, do you?"
The Ice Witch crossed her arms and snorted coldly.
Since Little Black Hair became fifth-tier, he was showing her less and less respect!
Click!
Time froze. The Ice Witch spurted a mouthful of blood onto Chen Qi's face.
The blood loss was massive!
Just Chen Qi's upper body was completely soaked in blood.
"Internal injuries are too severe..."
"Damn it! Lost my composure!"
The Ice Witch skillfully took out a towel, wiped the blood from Chen Qi's face, then resumed her original calm and composed posture.
Click! Time began flowing again.
The Ice Witch took out a towel and gently wiped a wound on Chen Qi's face:
"I'll be fine. The one who needs healing is you, Little Black Hair.
Shouldn't you worry about yourself first? The side effects of a domain far exceed your imagination."
"..."
Used to it... Chen Qi was too exhausted to even complain.
The Ice Witch was soft all over, only her mouth was hard.
The Ice Witch did not pursue the fleeing Blood Hunter.
It seemed her condition really wasn't very good.
The tentacles behind Chen Qi picked up Blood Lion's Backpack Card.
The Ice Witch stood on the War Ship, gazing out over the battlefield.
With the departure of Blood Hunter and Blood Lion, the two of them were now the strongest on this battlefield.
No one could stop them anymore.
The Ice Witch propped her chin on her hand, lost in thought:
"Why didn't Whale Father appear?"
As the Witch Queen, although physically weak, the Ice Witch still had her final strength.
As long as she used this final power, the Ice Witch was confident no one was her match.
But Whale Father's absence puzzled her greatly.
She looked around.
This smoke-filled battlefield had gathered the greatest forces of both the Black Blood Empire and the Blackfin Crew!
In the history of the Witch Sea, Moonstone City had never experienced such a fierce war.
After this war ended, Moonstone City could easily launch a counterattack and bring the sea back under their control.
They would usher in a bright future.
It could be said this was the ultimate battle directly deciding the fate of both sides.
And undoubtedly, the moment Little Black Hair defeated Blood Lion, they had already declared victory in this war!
And both she and Chen Qi were deserving victors.
But such an important war, and Whale Father didn't show up?
The absence of one Saint was enough to cause an imbalance in the war.
"Most likely because of the Great Whale."
Chen Qi said, resting his chin on his hand.
The reason Whale Father didn't appear was most likely due to the Great Whale.
"Hmm..."
The Ice Witch nodded, leaned against the ship's side, stretched lazily, relaxing her tense body.
Regardless, at least for now, they had won.
"Number Seven! Go change the flag!"
"Waku waku (Yes, ma'am!)"
Under the Ice Witch's command, Water Spirit Number Seven hopped over and took down the War Ship's tattered Imperial flag.
Then, it hoisted high the flags of Beiguo and the Water Spirits dining ship.
One flag represented Beiguo, the other represented their master.
The Water Spirits dining ship flag? Chen Qi was momentarily stunned.
That was his flag for setting sail.
Although his ship had been constantly upgraded, the flag had never been changed.
The Ice Witch thought this flag was good and directly adopted it as their faction's flag.
The flags fluttered in the air, declaring the War Ship was now their trophy!
"Little Black Hair, come here."
"What for?"
Chen Qi was momentarily stunned, then walked to the Ice Witch's side.
Whoosh—
"Come, enjoy the breeze of victory with me."
The Ice Witch slowly let out a breath, countless heavy burdens lifting from her.
"Alright, Qi, it's time to close your domain."
The War Beast's domain had ended, but Chen Qi's domain was still active, causing the entire sea around Moonstone City to be shrouded in the abyss!
"Hmm."
After confirming there were no threats, Chen Qi closed his own domain.
The abyss beneath the War Ship closed its eyes, the black ink in the sky faded away.
The entire world returned to the sun's protection.
The twilight sunlight, accompanied by a gentle breeze, softly fell on their faces, feeling very comfortable.
Activating his domain, plus multiple Releases, had pushed Chen Qi's physical burden to its limit.
Chen Qi and the Ice Witch leaned against the ship's side, quietly watching the distant battlefield.
[You have emerged from the Abyssal Echo domain.]
The mental pollution in everyone's minds gradually dissipated, and they regained their senses.
"What happened?"
"Wait, where is our Empire's Blood Lion General?"
"Continue fighting! Don't retreat!"
The Beiguo navy quickly realized the auras of Blood Hunter and Blood Lion had vanished.
And the combined forces of the Black Blood Empire and the Blackfin Crew also realized Blood Lion and Blood Hunter had abandoned them.
Chen Qi leaned against the ship, quietly watching the conclusion of this battle.
The army collapsed like a mountain crumbling.
Having lost the support of the War Beast, the entire Black Blood Empire coalition forces fled in disarray.
However, on the sea, they had no possibility of escape left.
Realizing the Black Hunter had already defeated Blood Lion, the entire sea suddenly erupted with earth-shaking cheers.
Even the Empire's Lion had been defeated! The rest were nothing but cannon fodder!
"The great Black Hunter and Ice Witch have captured the War Ship."
"Fourth wave of magic bullet volley! Three, two, one, fire!!!"
"Don't let a single person escape!!!"
Under Madame Oli's command, meteor shower-like magic bullets rained down.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The surface forces on the sea were quickly submerged in the sky-filling artillery fire.
On land, the steam mecha squad composed of Water Spirit Number Three, Burry, and the Moonstone City Workshop advanced with unstoppable force, step by step driving the Imperial soldiers on land into a dead end.
The fleet led by Palu annihilated one of the enemy's main forces, the artillery unit.
The Empire's special submarine unit hidden underwater was about to sneak away when they saw the Black Lantern Dragon slowly swimming towards them, opening its giant maw.
At the rear, Fen and Little Crow finally had help and began working with Beiguo's medical department to treat tens of thousands of wounded.
And at the battlefield's furthest edge, the logistics troops, many members of the Black Blood Empire and Blackfin Crew fled in panic.
"Run! We can't leave these weapons for Beiguo!"
"If we must! Tie these weapons and sink them into the sea!!"
The Empire's logistics troops fled while carrying weapons more important than their lives.
Among them were a large number of weapons, rare products from A-rank and B-rank rifts.
These were dangerous weapons the Empire had painstakingly obtained from sea rifts.
The Black Blood Empire officers in the warehouse believed as long as Beiguo didn't get this batch of equipment, they still had hope of turning the tables!
"Hurry! No ships are chasing us yet!"
"Act immediately!"
We can still turn this around!
However, soon, a voice interrupted them.
"Waku waku (Don't let them escape!)"
The special red crab squad led by Water Spirit No.1 had already captured the logistics supply ship.
Water Spirit No.1 charged into the warehouse, using a Water Explosive Bomb headbutt to directly slam the Imperial officer against the wall, knocking him unconscious.
"Waku waku (Master said! Can't let you escape!)"
"It's the Black Hunter's hound, run!"
"I just touched it, is that okay?"
"Why does something so cute fight so well!?"
"The Black Hunter's pet beast isn't something we can look at directly! Run!"
Everyone fled in panic;
they had no hope left of turning things around.
Water Spirit No.1 and the little crabs stood guard over the warehouse, quietly waiting for their master to come claim them.
On the War Ship, the flags fluttered.
An hour passed. Chen Qi and the Ice Witch quietly watched everyone complete the final cleanup work.
And beneath Noah's Wall, Beiguo soldiers herded Imperial prisoners into Moonstone City.
"Little Black Hair, we should probably leave soon too."
The Ice Witch said.
The two went to Noah's Wall to meet with Commander Madame Oli.
Upon seeing Madame Oli, the Ice Witch immediately asked:
"Madame Oli, how is the battle situation?"
Madame Oli's gaze fell on Chen Qi. After bowing, she said:
"Under the great Black Hunter's leadership, we have achieved a great victory.
Without Blood Lion's support, the total number of escapees across both Imperial battlefields is less than twenty thousand.
Eighty percent of the forces either died in battle or became prisoners of Beiguo."
Eighty percent casualties... The Ice Witch stroked her chin.
Achieving such results despite starting at a disadvantage was already a miracle.
This outcome also meant their great victory.
Madame Oli let out a breath, looking at Chen Qi.
Because of Hayer's defeat, if not for the Black Hunter, their Moonstone City would probably have been slaughtered, turned into hell.
She couldn't help but recall the first time she met Chen Qi, how she had looked down on him because he seemed too young!
Madame Oli's face flushed slightly with shame as she said:
"Black Hunter, Ice Witch, thank you again for your help.
Beiguo will not forget your assistance. You saved Moonstone City. We will immediately apply to the Imperial Capital for the highest-level rewards for you! A thousand thanks!"
Madame Oli was deeply ashamed.
The Ice Witch stroked her chin:
"I hope you can fulfill your promises sooner rather than later."
"Rest assured! We will apply for skill cards and weapons forged by several of the Empire's large workshops, usable only by fifth-tier Transcendents. We will absolutely not disappoint your expectations."
After thanking them repeatedly, Madame Oli went to handle the battlefield and try to awaken the unconscious Hayer.
Chen Qi stretched his body and smiled slightly.
On those Black Blood Empire naval fleets were still a large number of the Empire's rift resources.
With these resources, his and the lambs' strength would welcome another wave of improvement.
Just then, Chen Qi caught a faint scent of flowers.
"Teacher!!!"
Fen ran over urgently!
Such a caring disciple who worries about her teacher! My adorable Fen! The Ice Witch smiled slightly, opening her arms, ready to receive Fen's hug.
In the past, whenever she completed an adventure, Fen would rush over to hug her.
Fen flashed past the Ice Witch, whooshing past, and tightly embraced Chen Qi:
"Qi! You and Teacher are both alright!"
A tear fell from the corner of Fen's eye.
Even beings as strong as Teacher and Chen Qi could fall, die in this war!
This was a life-and-death battle between Saints. Fen had been very worried about Chen Qi and her teacher!
"Fen..."
Chen Qi felt the increasingly tight warmth against his chest, also hugged Fen, and gently patted her small head.
"..."
The Ice Witch watched this scene, taking a deep, cold breath.
She already knew Chen Qi and Fen's relationship was extraordinary.
If not for this campaign, Fen would have long taken Chen Qi home to meet her parents!
But she hadn't expected Fen would hug Qi first...
I was standing in front of Little Black Hair, in front... The Ice Witch silently retracted her outstretched arms.