354: Contrast Moe

In the Western District of Kana City, the partially collapsed Tax Official Residence had become Grom's temporary command post.

Outside the three-story stone building, the Totem Warriors of the Fierce-Mane Bear Clan had formed an impenetrable perimeter. The eyes beneath their Ox-Horned Helmets were bloodshot, and the blades of their Great Axes still bore dark red stains from last night's battle.

A Magic Shield enveloped the entire building, its pale yellow halo flickering in the smoke.

Yin Shu lay prone in the shadow of a Bell Tower Ruin three kilometers away.

With a Night Vision Talisman embedded in his left eye, Grom's agitated figure behind the third-floor office window was clearly visible—the Bearman was pounding the desk and roaring at several officers: “Idiots! Idiots!”

“First Squad, target the third floor.” Yin Shu’s voice transmission pierced the consciousness of fifty Yin Soldiers.

“Swarm saturation coverage. Second Squad suppresses the perimeter. star shatterer freezes the exits. Third Squad follows me for the finishing blow.”

Fifty rectangular metal boxes were quietly set up among the rubble. The boxes unfolded into honeycomb-shaped launch nests, and eerie green spirit runes lit up on the heads of the Spindle-Shaped Projectiles, flickering faintly in the darkness.

“Fire.”

The scream of air being torn apart suddenly drowned out the battlefield’s lingering sounds.

Hundreds of green streaks poured toward the Tax Official Residence. The Magic Shield “stress-reacted” by blazing with dazzling light, but the moment it touched the projectiles, it emitted a mournful sound of shattering glass.

The spindle-shaped warheads pierced the shield, slammed into the stone walls, smashed through the window frames, and penetrated human bodies... The muffled sounds of flesh being pierced rose and fell, merging into one continuous noise.

Inside the third-floor window, Grom’s shocked and enraged face was covered by suddenly bursting green spots.

Glazed Vine Armor pierced out from the Bearman’s seven orifices, and the sound of vines crushing internal organs was clearly audible.

Just as the Guard Captain finished condensing his Battle Qi, his calf suddenly exploded with green mist, and Bone-Corroding Vine tendrils rushed along the meridians of his limbs straight toward his skull.

“Enemy attack! We’re under attack!” The warning cry had barely begun before it turned into a mournful wail.

The roars of the Totem Warriors in the courtyard were cut short by an even more piercing shriek.

The Second Squad pulled the triggers. star shatterer Compression Shells, trailing frosty white wakes, slammed into the crowd. Pale blue ice rings rapidly exploded, freezing thirty Bear Clan elites, armor and all, into solid ice blocks.

“Crack—”

Charging warriors collided with the ice blocks, the sound of shattering mixing with the crisp snap of breaking bones.

Yin Shu’s figure burst into the courtyard. The Styx Light Blade sprang out with a hum, and the faint blue edge swept across the clusters of ice blocks... The frozen bodies separated silently, and fine dark lines remaining on the cross-sections greedily devoured the fragments.

The Light Blade spun back and cleaved open the command post's Oak Door. The Bearman Guard Squad holding crossbows behind the door were instantly cut in half at the waist.

“Grom is dead!!!” Yin Shu’s roar, wrapped in Spiritual Power, shook half of the Western District.

The fighting spirit of the Savage Mane Bear-Grizzly warriors completely dissipated as their leader’s charred head flew high into the air.

In the Eastern District, Rex’s manor was engulfed in towering flames. Rex’s personal guard was holding fast, relying on the Family Altar.

The Granite Altar was covered in Defensive Magic Patterns, and a crimson light shield firmly blocked the rain of arrows.

“That shell is pretty hard, huh?” Chen Yu sat cross-legged on the Spire Rooftop of the neighboring building, swinging her little legs.

A Crystal Candy melted sweetly on her lips, and amber-colored syrup brightened the corners of her mouth.

The Communication Jade Slip vibrated in her palm. Yin Shu’s victory report arrived, ‘riding’ on Grom’s dying roar.

Chen Yu narrowed her eyes in satisfaction, her tongue gently licking away the last strand of syrup.

“Third Team, is the Priest Corps side wrapped up?” Her childish voice came through the jade slip, carrying the sticky sweetness of the candy stain.

“Reporting to Lord Prefectural City God, the Temple Formation is broken, and Morton was shot into a sieve by the Rogue Stygian Eagle Tribe Soldiers.”

Chen Yu giggled, tapping the altar below with the Candy Bamboo Stick: “Hear that, Rex? Your allies and enemies are all finished.”

The Blood Lion General’s roar pierced through the flames: “Abyss bastard! If you have the guts, come down and fight me one-on-one...”

The smile on Chen Yu’s face suddenly vanished, and her chubby little hand waved backward.

Five “Swarm” launch boxes immediately unfolded on the Spire Rooftop. The Spindle-Shaped Projectiles had already locked onto the weakest connection point of the altar’s light shield.

“Send the General on his way.”

The dense green streaks poured down. The crimson light shield flickered for three breaths before suddenly exploding into a shower of sparks.

The altar’s cornerstone collapsed amid corrosive sounds, and Rex’s lion mane was swallowed by green spots.

The squelching sound of vines penetrating Heavy Armor and crushing the heart was completely drowned out by the roar of the collapsing building... One day later, dark red water seeped from the Dungeon’s stone walls, and the smell of rust mixed with rotting flesh bored into people’s nostrils.

Bato, the Fifth Prince of the Behemoth Tribe, huddled in the deepest part of the straw pile. Iron chains wrapped around his slender ankles, leaving deep, bone-visible bloody marks.

The youth’s characteristic pale gold mane was matted with blood clots, and every tremor caused flakes to rustle down.

“Clang~”

The Styx Light Blade cleaved directly through the Iron Door. Crimson molten iron immediately splashed onto the ground, and the rising heat mixed with the smell of blood made it impossible to open one’s eyes.

Yin Shu stepped inside, treading on the still-twitching remains of the Jailer. The sole of his boot crushed half an exploded eyeball, making a sickening, sticky sound.

The Light Blade hovered an inch from Bato’s brow. The cold air made the whip scars on the youth’s face twitch violently, and the blood vessels beneath his skin trembled.

“By the Pope’s decree, we welcome the Fifth Prince to ascend the Throne.” Yin Shu’s voice scraped against the damp stone wall.

A “hoarse, hoarse” sound rolled out of Bato’s throat, like a Young Beast being choked. His unfocused pupils couldn't even manage to fixate.

“Ugh, it’s so dirty!”

Chen Yu jumped in, lifting her snow-white skirt. Her Deerskin Boots precisely avoided the spreading pool of blood on the ground.

She squatted in front of Bato and poked the youth’s sunken cheek. Her amber eyes shimmered with honey-like light, and her voice was so soft and sticky it sounded like pulled sugar: “Poor little thing, does the whip hurt?”

The youth’s stiff neck managed to lift his head slightly, and only then did Chen Yu’s reflection appear in his eyes.

Chen Yu suddenly tilted her head, the Silver Bells in her hair jingling softly. She leaned in close to Bato’s ear, her warm breath brushing against the youth’s frozen earlobe.

“Tsk, your Royal Father was still shouting your name before he died. Your four older brothers’ heads are hanging on the City Gate now, their eyes long since pecked out by crows...”

Bato trembled violently. His spine hit the stone wall heavily, and the dry straw in the pile was shaken into the air.

“Shh...”

Placing a finger on the youth’s cracked lips, Chen Yu smiled, her eyes curving like crescents. As if performing a magic trick, she pulled out an Oil-Paper Package and held a piece of Sweet Cake to Bato’s mouth.

The cloyingly sweet scent enveloped the stench of the Dungeon, creating a bizarre contrast that made one’s stomach churn.

“Be good, open up.”

Bato instinctively shrank back. Chen Yu immediately pinched his jaw, and with a little force, compelled the youth to open his mouth, shoving the Sweet Cake down his throat, where it stuck and nearly choked him.

“Cough, cough, cough~”

“Hehe, why are you crying?”

Chen Yu yanked Bato’s hair, forcing the youth to look up at her. The pupils that had just been innocent and sweet were now filled with shards of ice.

“Isn’t this great? All your enemies have been killed for you.”

The White-Haired Loli pressed against the youth’s cold, sweaty forehead, articulating every word clearly: “All you have to do is obediently sit on the Throne and become the Abyss Church’s most loyal dog.”

The iron chains rattled loudly. Bato struggled like a madman, his limbs kicking wildly in the straw, splashing bloodstains all over his Prison Clothes.

Yin Shu’s Light Blade instantly pressed down. The tip pierced the skin between the youth’s eyebrows, and a trickle of pale golden Beast Blood flowed into his eye socket, staining his eyeball crimson.