Free Web NovelChapter 86: Unpredictable Warzone (1)
Guanguan City in Sector Two had dissolved into chaos, looking less like a civilian sanctuary and more like an active war zone.
Buildings had collapsed. Roads were cracked apart. Sirens screamed from every direction.
Smoke filled the air and everywhere... Devil Lizards.
The monsters flooded the streets in endless numbers.
They resembled grotesquely oversized crocodiles with four glowing eyes and two whipping tails. Jagged spikes protruded from their backs while their jaws stretched unnaturally wide, exposing rows upon rows of sharp teeth.
Every growl shook the ground beneath them.
Xinyuan cut through another one. His dark mist condensed into a massive scythe that sliced cleanly through its neck.
The creature collapsed instantly.
He barely looked at it.
Instead, his attention drifted elsewhere. To the Espers.
The Rift Bureau was here and they were organized.
That was the first thing he noticed.
No one was fighting alone. If one Esper lacked the strength to finish a monster, another immediately stepped in.
If one was injured, someone else covered them.
The lower rank Espers moved through the battlefield as efficiently as the combatants, evacuating civilians and stabilizing wounded Espers.
It was coordinated. Disciplined.
Xinyuan watched quietly.
Nearby, Wang Chenxi incinerated a Devil Lizard with a burst of fire before stepping beside him.
The city suddenly trembled.
Both Espers looked up.
The large rift hanging above the city shuddered violently and expanded.
A deep growl echoed from within.
The sound alone made several civilians scream.
Chenxi frowned. "The rift is expanding."
"I noticed." Dark mist drifted from Xinyuan’s body. His eyes narrowed. "We should get closer."
Chenxi gave him a look. "The Rift Bureau already looks like they want to arrest us."
Xinyuan laughed softly. "I’m sure they’ll come around."
Before Chenxi could respond, Xinyuan moved.
Dark mist exploded outward. Tentacles erupted from the shadows and rushed through the streets.
One Devil Lizard was torn apart.
Then another. Then ten more.
The creatures barely had time to react before they were ripped to pieces.
Meanwhile, Chenxi’s hands ignited with roaring fire as he followed behind.
Together, they carved a path straight toward the rift.
Soon, Xinyuan stood directly beneath the hovering enormous rift. It looked like an enormous eye staring down at the city.
Devil Lizards continued pouring from its depths. Screams echoed below.
The city had been lost long before he arrived.
Xinyuan stared at the opening, his feet lifting from the ground. Without hesitation, he flew directly into the rift.
"What the hell is he doing?!" A tall man spun toward the sky in disbelief. One of the Rift Bureau commanders. "Did that idiot just enter a large rift?"
His face twisted with irritation. "Who the hell volunteers for a suicide mission?!"
A female Esper hurried toward him. She had dark green hair and wore an amused expression. Completely unlike everyone else who looked horrified. "I think that’s the Disaster-Class Esper, Commander."
The commander blinked. "What?"
His expression immediately darkened.
Before he could say anything else, the Devil Lizards suddenly changed direction.
Instead of charging forward, they started running away.
The commander frowned. "What are they—"
Then he felt it. Something cold. Very cold.
The temperature dropped instantly.
Frost spread across the broken streets.
Several Espers turned. Their eyes widening.
In the middle of the battlefield stood Shu Yuzhen. His red hair had shifted into a vivid icy blue. His ember-colored eyes were gone, replaced by sharp crystalline blue.
The air around him crackled with frost.
Yuzhen grinned looking far too excited. Then he raised a hand.
The ground exploded.
Massive ice spikes erupted upward like a frozen forest.
One. Ten. A hundred.
The Devil Lizards never stood a chance.
The spikes impaled them mid-charge. Pinning them to buildings. To roads. To the ruined remains of cars.
In seconds, the battlefield became a graveyard of frozen monsters.
And for the first time all morning, the Rift Bureau Espers stared at the newcomers in complete silence.
Because suddenly they weren’t sure which was more dangerous.
The monsters. Or the Espers helping them.
Yuzhen let out a heavy breath. The exhale coming out as visible frost.
His excited expression suddenly changed into worry.
"Oh no." He hurried toward the nearby Espers. "Did I hit anybody?"
The question came so suddenly that several Espers simply stared at him.
"I calculated the trajectory properly but there were a lot of moving targets and I might have misjudged something and—" He looked genuinely distressed. "Nobody lost a limb, right?"
Silence. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Chenxi, who was sitting atop an overturned car nearby, rubbed his forehead.
There he goes.
One of the Rift Bureau Espers finally cleared their throat. "...No."
Yuzhen visibly relaxed. "Oh thank goodness."
The same Esper blinked and said quietly, "Thank you."
Yuzhen’s eyes lit up instantly. His smile somehow became even brighter. Then he waved. "No problem!"
And immediately ran off. Because more Devil Lizards were already emerging to replace the ones he’d killed.
The city remained a warzone.
Chenxi’s gaze remained fixed on the rift overhead.
Most of the other Espers were doing the same.
Everyone was wondering the same thing.
What exactly was the Disaster-Class Esper doing in there?
Large rifts weren’t ordinary disasters. Even experienced Espers avoided entering them recklessly. And according to the Rift Bureau’s readings, the corruption levels inside this one were absurd.
Dangerously high. Unstable. Unpredictable. The kind of rift that could collapse tomorrow. Or remain active for years.
Nobody knew.
"Team Four, report your status." One of the Rift Bureau Espers pressed a hand against his earpiece.
A moment later, his expression tightened.
The others immediately shifted formation around him. Covering him while he communicated.
Chenxi watched quietly.
They were being professional. He could respect that.
Nearby, several Espers were whispering amongst themselves.
Their eyes occasionally drifting toward him, Yuzhen. Toward the rift.
"They’re definitely high-ranked Espers."
"That doesn’t matter."
"They’re outsiders."
"If that really was the Disaster-Class Esper, then we’re going to have problems."
"The Old Blood faction won’t ignore this."
Chenxi pretended not to hear.
Another roar exploded from the rift. Louder this time. Much louder.
The entire city seemed to vibrate.
Every conversation died instantly. All eyes snapped upward.
The rift distorted as something massive pushed against the opening from the other side.
A gigantic severed head burst through.
The corpse crashed onto the cracked street below with enough force to shake nearby buildings.
Concrete shattered. Dust exploded into the air.
Everything froze.
For several seconds nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Nobody even blinked.
The massive head lay there motionless. Its twisted features unmistakable. Its scales blackened. Its jaws large enough to swallow a truck whole.
One of the Espers dropped his weapon. "What..."
Another stared. Completely dumbfounded. "No way."
Even Chenxi rose to his feet.,His usually calm face finally showing surprise. "What the hell?"
The creature was a Mutated Dovos.
A monster that normally required multiple elite teams to kill. And someone had apparently thrown its head out of the rift like garbage.
The dark rift rippled again.
Xinyuan emerged with a serious expression on his face.
Dark mist swirled around his body, expanding behind him. Taking shape into two enormous wings. Identical to the ones possessed by the dead Mutated Dovos.
The sight sent a chill through everyone watching.
Xinyuan’s left eye glowed a brilliant crimson and before anyone could speak, before anyone could even ask what happened inside, Xinyuan charged back toward the rift.
