Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Sudden Change
The lingering echo of the artillery strike still rang in their ears. From the camp behind them, three bright green signal flares finally shot up, standing out sharply against the smoke-filled sky.
Seeing this, Vice Director Gao dispelled his magic. The thick earthen wall dissolved into streams of light.
A searing wave of heat rushed toward them, carrying the thick stench of scorched earth and the foul odor of burnt flesh, so suffocating it was almost impossible to breathe.
"Follow me. Stay alert!"
Vice Director Gao’s voice was low as he took the lead. The four-person squad advanced in a combat formation, cautiously moving through the battered woodland.
For the first hundred meters or so, the scene was dominated by the aftermath of the terrifying shockwave. Trees as thick as bowls had been uniformly knocked over and snapped in two. Dense thickets of bushes were flattened as if by an invisible giant’s palm, and the ground was littered with shattered branches and leaves.
As they pushed deeper, the smell of smoke in the air grew heavier, carrying a slight burning sensation with each breath. The light seemed to dim as well, blocked by the dust and smoke that billowed from the area ahead.
It was in this area that they encountered the chaos they had expected: countless Demon Beasts and Spirit Monsters that had narrowly escaped from deeper in the forest were now fleeing outwards in a panic. Most were injured, some with burn marks on their bodies. They had completely lost the will to fight, concerned only with their desperate escape.
"Clear them out!" Vice Director Gao ordered decisively.
What followed was an efficient and merciless reaping.
Yang Wenqing brought up the rear, collecting valuable materials from the Demon Beasts and setting fire to the twisted creatures that were deeply corrupted by Demonic Qi.
The advance continued for about half an hour.
When a palpable heat wave began to fill the air, the soil underfoot darkened, and they could faintly make out an area ahead completely shrouded in thick smoke and dust, Vice Director Gao raised his hand again, halting the team’s advance.
His sharp gaze swept over the hazy zone ahead, an area dominated by smoke and fire. In a deep voice, he said:
"We’re here. This is the perimeter of the artillery zone. Stay sharp. The situation inside is unknown, and the danger might not be completely gone."
Just as he finished speaking, two combat teams from the Operations Division appeared on their left and right flanks.
Vice Director Gao immediately gave the order, "Hold positions and maintain vigilance. Wait for the rest of the combat teams."
Following Vice Director Gao’s command, the two Operations Division combat teams expertly took up advantageous positions on the flanks. Their runic rifles pointed warily in all directions, forming a stable triangular defensive formation with Yang Wenqing’s squad.
Vice Director Gao stepped aside and activated the Communication Array in his badge, speaking in a low voice with the other commanders. He was clearly synchronizing information and coordinating the next phase of the operation.
Taking advantage of the lull, Yang Wenqing took a moment to more closely observe the area ahead, which had just undergone a devastating baptism of fire.
However, a thick curtain of dust obscured most of his view, revealing only the faint silhouettes of shattered giant trees. The pervasive smell of char and burnt flesh reached its peak here, mixed with a dense, sickening aura of fiery malevolence.
The once-violent and chaotic flows of Spiritual Qi seemed to have fallen into an eerie stillness in the wake of the artillery’s utter destruction. Yang Wenqing could even feel his Golden Core instinctively recoiling, warning him against absorbing any energy from the area ahead.
Time passed as they waited. After a quarter of an hour, the airflow in the forest seemed to strengthen slightly, like an invisible hand patiently brushing away the heavy curtain of smoke and dust to reveal the charred silhouettes ahead. The suffocating stench of char and burned flesh was also diluted by the breeze; while still foul, it no longer felt so oppressive.
"There’s still a life sign in there! And it’s frantically absorbing this violent energy!"
Vice Director Gao’s gaze swept over Wang Jianchao and Liu Xin. He then began communicating with the other commanders. After about ten seconds, the front-line branch leaders in their white uniforms reached a consensus.
Then, Vice Director Gao produced a command flag and sent it hovering in mid-air. The flag grew with the wind, instantly transforming into a massive banner of light. Countless arcane silver runes flowed out from it like living things, weaving through the air and joining with similar runes spreading from other directions. Together, they rapidly formed a huge, complex Array of light, enveloping the core of the artillery zone!
It was a powerful sealing Array, designed to cut off the exchange of energy between the inside and outside and to suppress any abnormal fluctuations within.
Just as the curtain of light was about to close, the Golden Core in Yang Wenqing’s mind trembled violently. He clearly sensed that at the bottom of the massive, ring-shaped crater at the heart of the blast zone, an energy vortex had formed!
"Stay alert! Find cover!"
Vice Director Gao shouted. He had obviously sensed something was wrong.
The instant Vice Director Gao’s voice fell, a tiny, faint crimson flame flickered to life without any warning at the bottom of the charred, deep crater at the center of the blast zone.
At first, the flame was no bigger than a candle’s, but in the next instant, it expanded with terrifying speed!
BOOM!!
A colossal pillar of crimson fire shot into the sky as violent energy erupted. The newly formed silver sealing Array was as fragile as glass; it didn’t even last a full second before it shattered into pieces with a grating crunch. Along with it, the massive forest barrier surrounding the area rippled violently like water struck by a boulder, then burst apart with a deafening roar!
A searing shockwave carrying destructive power swept outwards in a ring. Wherever it passed, the charred remains of trees instantly turned to ash, and the ground was scoured flat once more!
"Get down!"
Vice Director Gao roared, his Spiritual Light flaring as he tried to shield those behind him. But in the face of this cataclysmic power, his personal defenses seemed pathetically weak.
Yang Wenqing felt an irresistible force slam into him. He immediately activated his Golden Light Body Protection Spell with all his might. The initial impact consumed most of the Spiritual Qi in his Qi Sea, but fortunately, the Spiritual Qi here was dense enough that his Golden Core helped him recover in an instant.
Unable to hold their ground, Wang Jianchao and Liu Xin saw their chance and used the momentum to dive behind Yang Wenqing for cover.
But the sky-piercing pillar of fire did not last. Instead, it rapidly converged, transforming into a streak of crimson light that shot into the thick clouds high above like a reverse meteor.
At the same time, a clear, cheerful voice tinged with a hint of mockery seemed to whisper in everyone’s ear as it spread clearly across the entire area:
"Hahahahaha! Thank you all for lending me a hand! I shall repay this karmic debt one day!"
As the mocking voice echoed, the crimson pillar of fire had already vanished into the sky, but the terrifying shockwave from its eruption had not yet subsided. It continued to crush everything in its path, rolling outwards like a physical tsunami.
Vice Director Gao’s Spiritual Light shield flickered violently after holding for just two breaths, on the verge of shattering. He let out a muffled grunt, a trickle of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. He was clearly injured internally. Realizing he couldn’t take the full force of the blast, he made a split-second decision, flickered, and also retreated behind Yang Wenqing.
In that moment, Yang Wenqing had become the foremost shield for the four-person squad.
