Chapter 389 - 387: The Vanished Gunshots

Chapter 389: Chapter 387: The Vanished Gunshots

Baru had long since forged the Silent Knight Order into a force driven by an incredibly powerful conviction.

Even if one passed the final assessment of the Knight Order’s training camp—which was open to all of Dawn—and chose to join, whether they could truly enter still required an internal review.

After all, not everyone who possessed excellent qualities was suited to become a member of the Silent Knight Order.

Banish hesitation. Sever fear. Never retreat. Never surrender. Fulfill your duty until death!

These were not empty words, but the noble honor of every member of the Knight Order. To join their ranks and share in this honor was, of course, no simple feat.

The oath was long since engraved in their hearts. But aside from the time they first swore it to join the Silent Knight Order, this recitation was the most profound and rousing one yet for Blaise and his men.

While these vows filled the members of the Knight Order with boundless Spiritual Power, the psychological impact on those who heard them was also immense.

Contained within these resonant voices was a boundless power that even ordinary people could feel with stark clarity.

’The pressure I feel from them is growing...’

Korang, a senior agent from the 19th Organizational Department, muttered to himself. He understood that these words were not imbued with any mystical power, nor were they using any potions. But as the sixteen of them walked further and further away, the pressure he felt from them was paradoxically increasing.

"This is the power of faith!"

A priest nearby, holding a Bible, spoke up, still making the sign of the cross with his hand.

The priest was over ten meters away from the agent, but the latter’s keen hearing picked up his words.

Korang called over with a smile.

"Father, they don’t believe in your God!"

But the priest showed no signs of anger. He calmly gazed at the powerful government Evolver.

"No, sir. That’s not the kind of faith I mean! May the Lord protect them!"

...

Neil and Oliver were eventually escorted back to the school bus by several Soldiers.

Unlike her son, who had the adolescent impulse and courage to shout those words, Oliver was far more reserved. She was no heroine from a romance novel, after all; she simply watched the scene between father and son, her eyes red.

A mix of guilt, immense pride, and anticipation churned within them. But above all, they were deeply worried for Blaise’s safety, no matter how powerful he was.

"Neil!! Don’t you dare get off the bus again, understand?! And you, Ms. Oliver, that goes for you, too!"

The master sergeant came over to give them a talking-to, then finished with a sigh.

"Let me know if you need anything."

With that, he returned to his seat and whispered to a Soldier at his side, "Did your helmet cam record that? I think mine’s busted..."

When the Soldiers returned to the front of the bus, the convoy’s engines rumbled to life once more.

The people inside the school bus could clearly see several jeeps driving in formation around them.

Though many on the bus had lost loved ones today, the feeling of having survived the catastrophe, combined with the sacred atmosphere from moments before, still lingered among them.

The chubby kid’s entire family was unharmed, a truly lucky break. He was now one of the most excited people on the bus.

"Neil, that was your dad!! Was that really your dad!? No wonder you always hated it when people talked about your dad, and no wonder you never mentioned him yourself..."

He excitedly got up from his seat and moved next to Neil.

"That oath was so freaking cool!! He said he’d get you into Dawn, do you think he could..."

His classmate and friend’s constant chatter brought Neil a little pride, but he was clearly distracted now and barely responded.

...

The sound of the evacuation convoy’s engines had faded from earshot, and Blaise breathed a small sigh of relief.

Although San Francisco was a ground-zero disaster zone, it was still subject to the intervention rules of the Power of the World. This meant that in the direction the convoy was headed, it was highly unlikely for a threat to randomly appear on the outskirts that those soldiers couldn’t handle.

They had a force of over two battalions, all elite soldiers who had survived the chaotic fighting of the past several hours. As long as they didn’t take any foolish risks, they were certain to rendezvous safely with reinforcements.

"Time is not on our side now. We have to speed up!"

With a burst from their muscles, the sixteen men’s speed instantly shot up. They ignored the Demons drawn by their loud oath, simply vanishing from their spots as sixteen blurry afterimages.

The city was already half in ruins, so they no longer had to worry about damaging the infrastructure. Blaise and his companions unleashed the full power in their legs, no longer holding back.

Often, when they needed to change direction quickly, a single step would shatter the ground or crack a wall.

BANG~

While leaping, the giant, sci-fi revolver-like Magic Steel Hand Cannon in Blaise’s hand roared. As a light flared, it instantly fired a powerful Anti-Magic Bullet.

BOOM~

A huge, dark red, worm-like monster was blasted in two. The monster was like a great sandworm as thick as a water vat, and even now, its two halves wriggled continuously like a severed earthworm.

If it were just an ordinary bomb, it might have taken a few more hits or burning the body to kill it completely. But the Anti-Magic Bullet’s attack quickly caused the two halves to go limp, as its fragile soul couldn’t withstand the force of the impact.

"Is the world on the other side nothing but muddy swamps? Why is it all such disgusting crap!"

He only fired when he encountered a somewhat threatening target and didn’t want to waste time dealing with it up close.

Blaise muttered, slinging the cannon back over his shoulder as he continued on.

The area of dense gunfire up ahead was fast approaching.

After another half-minute of high-speed travel, the sixteen Knight Order reservists exchanged glances. The intense gunfire from before had vanished.

Given the current situation in San Francisco, even if a wave of attacks had been repelled, it was impossible for the gunfire to stop completely. There would surely be at least sporadic gunfire.

A sense of foreboding washed over them. The defensive position had likely fallen.

However, they didn’t change course. They still had to go see what had happened.

About another minute passed, and after casually eliminating dozens of Demons along the way, the sixteen arrived in front of a police station.

A building designed to be sturdy and durable would definitely be a much better defensive position in this chaos than the school had been. The army unit here was no pushover either; logically, they should have been able to hold out for much longer.

But now the place was eerily quiet, with not even many Demons around.

"The stench of human blood... there are no survivors inside!"

A reservist cautiously approached the entrance, picked up a blood-stained, modified M4 rifle, and removed the magazine.

His brow furrowed. He then checked several other guns on the ground or behind man-made cover.

"The rifles on the perimeter still have more than half their ammo. The ones behind the inner barricades are all fully loaded."

His words made the other reservists frown.

This meant that before they were wiped out, the pressure on this position hadn’t been too great, which was why they could rotate their firing like that.

"This place is too damn weird. We can’t linger. Let’s move!"

Their discipline was absolute. The Knight Order’s way was never to hesitate. As soon as the command was given, they left.

They headed towards other pockets of resistance.

Because Demons appeared endlessly, it greatly slowed their advance. A journey that would normally take ten minutes at a full sprint now took twenty minutes or even longer while fighting and running.

SLAAASH~

With a flash of his spear, Blaise sliced a Yin Spirit in half. The Magic Patterns on the Magic Steel Long Spear glowed faintly, radiating a constant, intense heat.

HUFF... HUFF... HUFF...

The reservists were already starting to pant. The constant, unending stream of Demons took a heavy toll on them both mentally and physically. Besides, not all Demons were pushovers.

The bone-deep gash on one member’s leg was proof of this. His powerful muscles had already contracted to stanch the bleeding, and the wound was healing rapidly under the effects of half a Life Flower Petal.

"Hold!"

At Blaise’s command, all sixteen of them stopped dead in their tracks.

Their clothes looked as if they had been soaked in viscous gore. The blood of Demons dripped from their hair and the hems of their clothing, leaving only their faces and hands faintly recognizable.

The expressions on their faces all turned grim.

The gunfire from across the entirety of San Francisco had fallen completely silent!