Chapter 386 - 384: Searching, Devising Strategy, a Wife and a Son

Chapter 386: Chapter 384: Searching, Devising Strategy, a Wife and a Son

The Holy Spirit wove its own nimble Magic Silk Threads into a vast, dense web, which ultimately formed a pair of flexible, invisible wings.

With every flap, not only did the wings themselves generate immense thrust, but the airflow, influenced by Magic Power, also helped propel it forward.

The Reaction Technique, originally created by Qin Xiaoxia, the Dawn Sage, was divided into two parts: *Weaver’s Basics* and *World Power and Magic Affinity*.

His Magic Power was naturally attuned to the world’s environment. The Magic Pattern Scripture he authored was merely the product of his superb understanding and analytical ability, expressing this innate talent in a form that ordinary people could comprehend and learn from, in the hopes that other magic-wielding beings could achieve a similar effect.

In short, the principle was similar to how humans invented devices like radar, sonar, and even infrared technology by imitating the characteristics of living creatures.

This unique Magic Pattern knowledge, created by the Dawn Sage, naturally attracted many members of the Dawn Association to study it, and the Holy Spirit was one of the most outstanding among them.

It moved through the air at high speed like this just to catch up to Master Sage, who was striding forward on intermittently appearing ice crystals.

In the past, they rarely traveled so brazenly through the sky. It wasn’t that they were afraid of colliding with airplanes, but rather that it was unnecessary and a show of respect for Hua Country’s keepers of order.

But they couldn’t worry about that now. From thousands of meters up, Qin Xiaoxia and the Holy Spirit took in the full view of the vast lands below.

In Qin Xiaoxia’s eyes, a dark red hue suffused many parts of this world, appearing and disappearing intermittently.

When this color appeared, one could often glimpse a corner of the world behind it.

Looking up at the sky, beings with powerful Soul Power like them could all see that endless, dark red world. The source of the color was self-evident.

"Shadow, have you made any headway on the color changes?"

Hearing Qin Xiaoxia’s question, the Holy Spirit shook its head.

"The color of the light is extremely chaotic and has lost its former regularity. The Powers of the World from both sides are entangled in a struggle, and I can’t find an entry point."

The WHOOSH of the wind roared in their ears.

The Reaction Technique, a combination of a Weaver’s power and affinity with the world, had reached a state of perfection in Qin Xiaoxia’s hands.

With every step he took, an ice shard would condense in the air ahead of him, only to be shattered the instant it formed, maintaining his forward momentum.

Bathed in the light, it was as if Qin Xiaoxia’s feet always emitted a crystalline glow as he darted through the air.

The first wave of contact points had already been dealt with using "low-tech methods," thanks to the excellent response from the upper echelons of the World Alliance nations.

With the help of the Dawn Association’s members, they had at least been able to properly plan troop deployments and evacuation routes.

But the Powers of the World were still constantly vibrating against each other, so there would likely be a new round, or even multiple new rounds, of contact points.

"It should be difficult for some of the trickier Demons to cross over right now, and even if they do, there won’t be many. Our Power of the World isn’t just for show, after all. But if the contact deepens further, all bets are off!"

As Qin Xiaoxia spoke, he channeled his Magic Power, and an ice shard appeared in his left hand.

The instant it formed into a long, sharp spike, the ice shard split into six pieces and vanished from his hand as streaks of light.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Six faint sonic booms rang out. Infused with Magic Power, the ice shards actually grew thicker as they sped through the air.

By the time they neared the ground, they had become six white icicles, each as thick as a grown man’s thigh.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! ...

On the ground below the forest canopy, six impact craters formed. Inside them, several Demons of various sizes were either blown to pieces or had their bodies ruptured, leaving them on the verge of death.

This attack was actually a bit clever. Besides his physical strength and Magic Power, the kinetic energy accumulated from the high altitude was also a major factor.

ROAR!

Some of the wild animals that had originally fled and scattered now crept back, their gazes fixed viciously on the not-quite-dead monsters in the craters.

In the air, Qin Xiaoxia glanced back over his shoulder one more time.

What looked like a forest back there had originally been just the greenbelt around the city, but it had now merged with the surrounding greenery to become one vast expanse.

"These things right now are just taking advantage of the initial chaos. They’re no match for conventional human weaponry. But if some of the weirder ones show up, it’ll be a different story."

The advantage of human armies was the power of their weapons, but their weakness was also obvious: the physical constitution of individual soldiers.

Although soldiers were already much stronger than ordinary people, with their capabilities starting to surpass normal human limits, they were still incredibly weak compared to true Demons. If more mystically-inclined ones appeared—while it would be hard for them to completely ignore the power of firearms—they would have the potential to pose a much greater threat.

Soldiers fight soldiers, kings fight kings. Since the nations’ Evolvers were insufficient in number, the power of Dawn would have to fill the gap.

As for the few trump cards held by Dawn, they had to be kept in hand, ready to be played at the decisive moment.

Su Su’s Magic Divination was useless in this situation. Her target was the entire world; forcing a divination would absolutely result in severe backlash.

The Holy Spirit also looked away from where Qin Xiaoxia had attacked, its mind on what Master Sage had said earlier.

"Right now, cracks are still forming in the World Wall even in non-contact areas. Scattered light is affecting my vision. I’m afraid I’ll have to wait for things to ’stabilize’."

"You’re right. I was being too hasty!"

Qin Xiaoxia replied, then continued to press forward through the air with the Holy Spirit. Even if they couldn’t determine the pattern for now, they wouldn’t give up. Besides, they could kill some of the Demons they encountered along the way.

「...」

In the Special Security Team’s tactical hall, things were much more stable than at the beginning. At the very least, they were now able to intermittently connect to some military radio channels within the Capital.

"Chief, quantum communication technology has been confirmed to have strong anti-interference properties... but our quantum satellite has disappeared from its original orbit. We believe it has crashed."

"The efficiency of our information feedback is low right now, and we haven’t found the crash site yet. It’s most likely somewhere in a natural forest."

A senior female agent came in to report the situation to Tao Xingzhi.

"When can a new satellite be launched? The launch center prepared three new miniaturized satellites last year, and there are six more from the ’build first, register later’ new satellite program. Tell them to launch a satellite immediately!"

The female agent shook her head.

"I’m afraid that’s not possible. Although radar waves are also affected by the collision, the satellite base has inferred through multi-angle wavelength analysis that a contact point likely exists in Earth’s orbit. We can’t guarantee a new satellite’s stability if we launch it. It would probably just be destroyed again."

At her words, Tao Xingzhi unconsciously pinched the bridge of his nose.

The pressure on him was immense.

"The Dark Tide really doesn’t give us any room to breathe... it’s the same on the ground as it is in the sky..."

The nations of the World Alliance were now, for all intents and purposes, fighting on their own. Communication between them either had to be relayed through the power of Dawn or carried out by airplanes acting as direct couriers.

However, planes taking off now had no satellite navigation, and ground radar guidance was also subject to interference. They had to rely on onboard radar during brief moments of clarity, using terrain simulation for positioning. This made their adaptability heavily dependent on the pilot’s experience.

This damned instability affected everything. The accuracy of long-range missiles was especially impacted. Short-range attacks, however, particularly those within visual range, were not greatly affected. They could still effectively lock on to targets using inertial guidance and heat-seeking.

「...」

In the United States, nearly one-third of the buildings in San Francisco City had collapsed, and a considerable portion of those still standing were riddled with cracks.

This was one of the more severe contact points.

BANG! BANG BANG BANG! BANG BANG BANG! ...

"Ammo! Get me a mag! Hurry up and..."

BOOM!

The wall providing cover was smashed to pieces, and the officer who had been speaking was crushed flat.

DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA... BANG BANG BANG...

The surrounding forces immediately focused their fire on the two-story-tall monster.

ROAR!

A soldier was sent flying by a swipe of its tail. He didn’t even have a chance to scream; he was killed the instant the tail struck his body.

"Watch out! Get clear!!"

BANG! BANG!

The crack of an anti-materiel sniper rifle rang out, and two bloody holes were punched into the beast’s head.

Combined with the continuous fire from the others, they finally managed to kill it a few seconds later.

A captain, panting heavily, climbed to a high point on the building to get a look.

It was nighttime, which only made their battle that much harder. His line of sight was filled with the gunfire and muzzle flashes of friendly forces, and screams echoed from all around.

"Rey, have you made contact with command?"

The soldier carrying the communications equipment shouted back.

"Not yet, sir!"

"Dammit! How much ammo do we have left?"

"Enough to last until morning, sir."

The captain swapped in a new magazine and spat out his chewing gum.

"And after tomorrow morning?"

"Don’t know. You’re the officer, sir."

The responding soldier actually managed to crack a joke at a time like this, though none of his comrades could bring themselves to laugh.

The building they were in was a half-collapsed school, which they were using as a base to establish a defensive position.

And inside the building behind them were the survivors they had rescued from the area, including over thirty children and more than fifty adults.

"Neil, don’t be scared. Mom’s here, Mom’s here..."

A white woman in her forties repeated the phrase over and over, clutching a revolver in her hand. Beside her was her high-school-aged son, whose left arm was broken.

Most of the people there were quiet, but a fair number of them were just as "neurotic" as this mother.

Her son was clearly much calmer than his mother.

"Mom, be careful the gun doesn’t go off by accident. We’ll be fine."

"Neil, I heard your dad is some big-shot gangster. A guy like that must have his own connections, right? He’s gonna come save you, isn’t he? Can you take us with you when he does?"

A chubby boy, Neil’s classmate and neighbor, was so terrified that he blurted out the one thing Neil hated hearing about the most.

"Hmph... he’s probably already dead..."

Hearing this, his mother finally snapped out of her daze and gave her son a complicated look.

"Don’t talk about your father like that. He’s not what you think..."

Oliver used to think Blaise was a villain, too. Even though he desperately wanted to mend his relationship with her and their son, she never paid him any mind.

The last time she’d argued with Blaise on the phone was three months ago, when he had begged her to let him see their child. That time, she had cursed him with incredibly vicious words, cursing him to die in a gang war, cursing him to get arrested.

They were words said in anger, but she hadn’t been worried about retaliation. That man might be vicious to the outside world, but he would never hurt her or their child.

She could hear how furious Blaise had been during that call. Even now, she could still recall his roar.

"I’m not a villain!! I haven’t been for a long time!! I’m..."

His voice had trailed off then, defeated. It was unclear whether he didn’t want to say it or just didn’t have the courage. In any case, after she hung up that time, Blaise never called again.

Oliver couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of guilt, as if she had truly wounded him deeply that time.