Chapter 492: Fate: Part 1
Black and white were covering the sky. A city of a million population, Henricqal appeared like a fragile china that could be destroyed in an instant as the two forces fought.
If the black hand came down and destroyed the Tower of Dusk, Henricqal would no longer be able to maintain the holy light defense on the outer perimeter and the black mist would overrun the city.
Pure white flames were burning on Lin Sheng’s body as holy light poured out from him. Now, the things that truly limited him was not the quality of the holy power but his ability to direct it. At first, he thought his physique was strong enough to support an endless conversion burst of holy power. But now, he realized that this level of output was too slow. He started to feel his power was being held back.
The giant black hand was pressing down like the body of a mountain, forcing him back down toward the Tower of Dusk.
A minute had pa.s.sed. Then two minutes. The giant black hand hesitated all of a sudden as the sound of a flute came from a far distance, gradually soft to loud. The black hand started to pull back as if it had gotten some kind of message.
Before Lin Sheng could know what happened, the black hand faded and started to dissipate into the surrounding clouds like sea waves washed down a sand castle on the beach. It felt like the giant hand had never appeared before, like an illusion that vanished in the blink of an eye.
Lin Sheng was panting, his skin flowing with the light-red glow of the Dark Wheel. He had summoned nearly all his strength. Had it not been for the sound of the flute, things could have ended up badly for him. The Tower of Dusk would be destroyed, he would be badly wounded, and destruction would befall Henricqal. The fate that would await him was plain to see.
“I must… must quickly find a way to deal with the Black Tide!”
At first, Lin Sheng was still confident of himself. But now he finally understood what the powerful beings in Blackfeather City were facing back then.
People down there on the streets were cheering, celebrating Lin Sheng’s successful stopping of the giant black hand. Only those clerics and Darksiders with keen eyes knew how dangerous the situation had been just now.
This was only at the Sanctum’s strongest base, Henricqal. If this were to happen in other places, in the defensive cities, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Lin Sheng reached to touch the in-ear comm. It was no longer there, shattered when he clashed with the black hand earlier. There was nothing he could do about it. Returning to the Tower of Dusk, he heard the siren blare.
“Lord, something’s wrong!” Cainphas voice came from the electronic screen display.
“What is the situation?” Before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, another bad news came.
“There was an explosion near us, in the defensive city’s direction. I’m afraid the worst has happened there.” Cainphas said.
“Isn’t communication down?” Lin Sheng said in surprise.
“We don’t need communication to know…” Cainphas paused, then continued. “Look into the sky in the south and you will know.”
Lin Sheng quickly came to the window facing south, looking into the distant sky. A giant smoke column, grayish black, was rising in the gray horizon, accompanied by a bright-red light shimmering in the background. One could imagine the size of the smoke column when looking from this distance; it must be unimaginably ma.s.sive.
Lin Sheng became silent. After a long while, he spoke.
“I want to go back to Xylond. I hope the portal is still operational.”
“All the best.” Cainphas did not know what more to say.
Things happened too quick, catching everyone by surprise. They had just finished with Faldt not long ago. Now came the disaster of an epic scale.
Lin Sheng nodded as he shifted his main consciousness on the Thunderbeast in the Xylond Sanctum.
….
….
The Sanctum HQ, Xylond.
The Night Lord, Khadula, the Steel Lord, and a few other top operators who had just joined the Sanctum joined Lin Sheng in his Thunderbeast body in the hall.
“Ladies and gentlemen, a disaster is happening, we have lost contact with the other Sanctum divisions. Thankfully, the portal that Lord Holy Emperor built earlier is still operational. We can go to the Henricqal division through the portal. Henricqal is the strongest division of the Sanctum. We can draw support from each other.”
Sitting on the main chair, Lin Sheng directed the Thunderbeast to sweep his eyes across everyone. “The Night Lord, how is your holy power cultivation going?”
“Everything goes smoothly. My holy power has reached the level of Two Wing. Although still not capable enough for serious combat, it should be more than enough for regular purification needs. On the other hand, my dark energy has gained tremendous improvement. It seems it suits me more.” The Night Lor’s face was solemn. As lazy as he was, he knew what was the priority. If he screwed up now, he was afraid he would not have the chance to get lazy next time.
Just Two Wings? Was it not a little too weak?
“I’ve got the biggest improvement!” Khadula put up her hand. “I have a few thousand avatars cultivating the holy power and dark energy together. With the whisk of my hand, I can summon all of them together and my strength will be just right about the level of a Four Winger!”
Even Khadula was suppressor-cla.s.s. Lin Sheng shot the Night Lord a look.
Meanwhile, the Steel Lord’s face stony. He did not say a word until Lin Sheng’s eyes landed on him. “Same here. I’m about the level of Four Wing, both in dark energy and holy power.”
The rest of the people took turns to report their progress. But only the veteran commanders had the most attention from Lin Sheng.
“Henricqal was attacked by the black hand, an extremely power enemy. Had the attack happened here, all of us combined would not even be able to withstand its finger.”
Lin Sheng said, still sitting in the main seat.
“After this, I will traverse between these two places. Keep your eyes peeled. And hope you all could alert me at the first instant when something happens.”
“Understood!”
“Night Lord.”
“I’m here!”
“Your strength and acuity are the strongest among the people here. Inform me immediately if you see something; it takes time for the black hand to form. But I need you to alert me at the first instant.” Lin Sheng instructed.
“I’ll try…”
As a Shadow Dragonking, the Night Lord had a better sense than everyone else for an energy like the black mist. And Lin Sheng had learned about this before his main consciousness arrived here.
“Beside, please move all family members of the Sanctum personnel to Henricqal through the portal; the facilities are more comprehensive over there,” Lin Sheng said.
“Including your family?” Khadula asked.
“Of course.” Lin Sheng looked up toward Shermanton’s direction. “A disaster is looming near. I hope we can stand together to sail through it. Believe in the Sanctum and also believe in the holy light and me.”
“Holy forever.”
“Holy forever!”
Everyone bowed their heads and echoed.