Chapter 342: Battlefield
67th Avenue had already been reduced to ruins.
Snowflakes fluttered in the sky above the battlefield, but not a single one successfully touched the ground as they were sucked up and evaporated by the large quant.i.ties of invisible aether, turning into huge swirling vortexes of water vapor.
The entire street, along with the surrounding buildings, was completely destroyed.
Fragments and broken bits were lifted and carried off by an invisible force, causing them to be suspended in midair, forming revolving streams of metal surrounding two apparent force fields; one white and one black.
From above, it was as if this was all a small planet surrounded by an asteroid belt, still expanding, crushing, and shattering the surrounding ground.
The reason for the current situation was a rather simple one.
Joseph and Wilde both had a simultaneous breakthrough to Supreme-rank during the battle, triggering the eruption and rapid collision of the surrounding aether.
Personnel from Secret Rite Tower’s Logistics Division were scattered around the fringes forcefield, leaving enough distance to consolidate the Dream Creator’s enchantment so as to prevent ordinary folk from entering by mistake.
Meanwhile, knights of the Combat Division had taken up positions on terrain that were still intact. Most were either injured, healing, or resting. They could only stare at the gigantic forcefield blankly and the overall morale was very low.
From the moment the explosion of aether was detected in the center of the battlefield, they were no longer the decisive force of this war. Still, they would still have to fight the remaining members of the Corpse Devouring Sect.
However, in reality, among those that remained, there weren’t many that could continue fighting.
When two Destructive-rank beings leveled up to Supreme-rank at the same time and clashed against each other with their fullest might, not many could stay alive to witness it. In fact, less than ten percent of those present at that time were still living.
As for those that failed to evacuate in time… They had already been crushed into powder and floated around with the surrounding dust within the forcefield.
It"s over. It"s all f*cking over. That was Winston’s first thought when he heard the Logistics Division’s energy report that the concentration was rising rapidly and that two cores had appeared in the center of the battlefield.
Regardless of how calm this chief of the Combat Division was known to be, he still had the urge to cuss.
At present, it had been nearly three hours since Joseph heard the news that his daughter was trapped on the battlefield, thus breaking out of Secret Rite Tower and rushing to the scene. In the meantime, Secret Rite Tower’s main forces had also arrived there.
The center of the battlefield was covered by the Dream Creator’s enchantment, and that isolated the outside world from receiving information of everything that went on within. Only those inside could know how intense the battle was.
Naturally, as the chief of the Combat Division, Winston ought to be on site. But at the same time, he still needed to maintain command of the overall situation.
However, even he would have no way of getting close to the center of the battle, nor interfere in any way. Thus, he could only inform Secret Rite Tower’s Council of Elders and have them make the decisions.
After all, Destructive-ranks weren’t just for show. A single one possessed power to cause ma.s.sive destruction.
The only fortunate thing was that Melissa had been saved… No, putting it more accurately, she had been fine to begin with and had even slain three Pandemonium-rank members of the Corpse Devouring Sect.
The problem was that Corpse Devouring Sect members were being replaced at a rate that was far too quick. By relying on blood sacrifices to rapidly increase their strength, they could even use the lives of their compatriots as a basis.
In other words, the more Corpse Devouring Sect followers were slain, the stronger their remaining members got and the more people were sacrificed. This was simply a situation that seemed impossible to solve.
Although Melissa was fine, the squad that had carried out this mission was thoroughly decimated. Captain Vivian had also met an unfortunate death when another of Wilde’s followers arrived and took her down with a despicable team up with Night Falcon.
The young Melissa had never experienced such a cruel situation. Before she could even rejoice the slaying of three evil-doers with her newfound power, her smile froze on her face.
If not for Winston arriving in time to pull her out, Melissa, who had been rooted to the spot, would have been crushed by the force field.
Currently, the young lady sat at the side with a blank look in her eyes, just like so many other Combat Division personnel. No one could easily accept the sudden deaths of comrades that had been talking with them just a short while ago. No matter how experienced a knight they might be, anyone would still be at a momentary loss in the face of such huge casualties.
It wasn’t limited to just the knights of Secret Rite Tower; many Corpse Devouring Sect members had also suffered the same fate.
However, the difference was that the Corpse Devouring Sect members torn into pieces by the invisible aether were directly absorbed by the chaotic black force field of aether produced by Wilde, adding a terrifying shade of blood to it, just like squirming blood vessels.
Evidently, during Wilde’s ascension, he had been using the Corpse Devouring Sects iconic blood sacrifices and turning those followers into nourishment for himself.
Those believers themselves had practiced their own blood sacrifices to increase their own strength countless times and now all of this power was absorbed by Wilde.
Blood sacrifices upon blood sacrifices… Wilde had basically built these devotees up as nourishment, using them, manipulating them, and finally consuming them. This black magician, whose cruelty and cold-bloodedness was well known, had displayed such an extreme level of efficiency.
These believers that had been brought to the battlefield by him as sacrificial offerings were tools and stepping stones for him to get even stronger.
"The current situation is really bad…” Winston gazed in the distance at the two aetheric force fields trying to engulf the other. One looked like the sky illuminated by blazing white flames, while the other was more like a coagulated lump for black flesh like a squirming heart. The Combat Division chief uttered into the communications device, “Wilde is too well-prepared and has had this planned out for a long time already. Moreover, his strength is constantly increasing by the minute. Although Joseph…appears to have the upper hand for now, Wilde is getting scarier as this goes on.”
Greg couldn"t believe it. He looked out of the room’s windows at the quiet, dark snow night and felt his skin crawl as he observed the beautiful snowflakes falling gently.
It turned out that the earthquake and lightning from before were actually the aftermath from a clash of two Supreme-ranks.
How far was the Central District from 67th Avenue? Nearly half of Norzin laid between the two.
Even so, Greg had felt that obvious tremor, so it was unimaginable how dangerous the epicenter of the battle was.
Yet, this group of ignorant mortals were still drinking and making merry, talking about a tomorrow that might not even exist!
Greg suddenly grasped a blind spot and quickly asked, “Isn’t the Tower planning to stop them? Why did you come looking for—” He stopped himself mid-sentence, having nearly said, “this demon for help”.
With a shake of his head, Winston replied, “Apprentice Knight, the Council of Elders only a.s.signed this mission to you and only you. Since you’ve already made contact with the bookstore owner, then we just have to find out what he’s thinking. Get it done as soon as possible. We will have to act accordingly to the information you obtain.”
But there’s a critical situation going on, and shouldn’t the first priority be stopping the fight between Supreme-ranks?
The Tower clearly has that ability, yet they want me here to find out what this demon’s thoughts are! They are simply treating Joseph and countless citizens as tools to probe further!
How is this any different from Wilde"s actions?
What are they trying to do?!
Countless thoughts ran through Greg"s mind, yet he stifled them, not daring to voice out till his face turned red.