Chapter 723: Where is she? (3.5k)
As night deepened, in the inn, a group of Shadow Jingwei surrounded a young girl on a white bed. E Huo, held in the girl’s hand, had transformed into the Dragon Pattern Long Sword, emitting a faint white mist.
In a dream.
Like a surreal dreamscape, the girl Su Jiu, cloaked in raven feathers, transformed into a crow and soared through a river of stars. She pursued a white dove, which suddenly vanished, as did the starry river. In its place
The crow flew over a long fiery line. After an unknown amount of time, a landing spot finally appeared in the distance: a dark, tall tower.
The tower pierced the sky, topped with a brightly burning cluster of flames, comparable to the light of a watchtower.
“The Town-Protecting Level has fallen, and several King-Level Strangers have led their armies to break through the Skarnov Defense Line. They will arrive here in half an hour. Executive Ross, we should leave.”
She landed on the tower, and a stern voice echoed from behind her, carrying a metallic, battle-hardened aura that could only be forged through years of combat.
“You take those Crown Princes and flee to England (the United States). Establish a government-in-exile there. They have top-tier Alchemy Arrays, and they’ve long signed a mutual defense treaty with the Blood Clan. King-Level Strangers won’t be able to deal with them.”
Gentle words suddenly resounded, tinged with sadness and helplessness.
The crow, Su Jiu, turned its head and saw a face that closely resembled Weir’s, with long golden curls swept to the front of her chest, giving her a wifely appearance. However, a long rapier was tucked into her waist.
“Then what about you…”
Behind her stood a tall, one-eyed man clad in silver-white armor, covered in sword marks. The deepest of these was on his shoulder guard, bearing a nearly split trace.
“Phew…”
The woman addressed as Speaker turned her head, picked up a white cigarette with her fingertips, and exhaled a puff of white mist. Her azure eyes shone with unwavering resolve.
“As the Chief Executive of the Watchers, I cannot leave with you. I must hold my ground with the Eighteenth Division until [Night] and the allied forces arrive. This is our pact. Otherwise, if these Strangers are allowed to roam free, it will cause great chaos.”
Su Jiu’s mental power swept over the woman, feeling like a pebble sinking into the deep sea. The woman seemed to sense something and suddenly turned her head towards the crow, her eyes narrowing as she casually glanced over.
“What is this…”
This action tightened Su Jiu’s heart, even causing her to hold her breath. Although she knew it was a dream, she felt an indescribable sense of suffocation.
“But will [Night] and those monsters truly come?”
Upon hearing this, the one-eyed general looked further into the distance, his eyes reflecting a sea of crimson flames. The speed at which these flames spread made even his weathered eyes tremble.
King-Level Strangers were far stronger than ordinary human cultivators. Even the Chief Executive before him could only barely hold her own against two without being at a disadvantage.
Exhaling another puff of white smoke, Ross ignored him and leaned against the railing, her exceptionally beautiful face etched with fatigue.
“You may leave. Take the royal bloodline and the sole heirs of several influential families away from here. As for the citizens, take as many as you can. I will try to stall for time.”
She tilted her head again, pausing for a moment before speaking again, “This is a military order.”
“We have been alerted by the [Watchers], and the common people have already been evacuated in advance.”
The one-eyed officer said no more, instead placing his right hand over his chest and bowing to Ross, responding with a heavy tone, “May the God of Freedom be with you. Herbert offers his highest respects to the Lucas family.”
With that, the officer turned and, with a bang, exerted force, transforming into a stream of light and disappearing from the solitary tower.
Only Su Jiu and the woman named Ross remained in the tower. The atmosphere turned cold. Su Jiu prepared to spread her wings and leave, finding the dream too strange, and she felt a sense of threat while still asleep.
“Little one, aren’t you going to say something?”
Ross smiled at the crow that Su Jiu had become, her azure eyes seeming to pierce through it, filled with curiosity.
“You… can talk to me?”
Being addressed, Su Jiu felt her hair stand on end. She was absolutely certain this was a dream, so why could the other person talk to her?
Was this a disguise by that Young Lady from outside?
It was too bizarre.
“Are you a messenger of [Night]? I smell the aura of [Elegy] on you.”
Ross pressed the extinguished cigarette butt against the railing, twisting it a few more times, before turning her head, revealing her exquisitely beautiful, wifely face, almost untouched by time.
“I… am not an envoy of [Night]. This must just be a dream I’m having… It seems to be a dream about the Demon Wars of the past.”
Su Jiu felt utterly confused. The phantom woman before her could speak to her and even had DLC-like plot elements; this was too surreal. She then stammered, changing the subject.
“Why don’t you ask me some other questions?”
From their conversation, it seemed like this was a war involving Strangers in Europe, but she wasn’t very familiar with history. The war of the Strangers was a subject not covered in high school and only an elective course in university.
“A dream? The past Demon Wars?”
Upon hearing this, Ross froze. Her eyes met the crow’s again, as if trying to penetrate it, but she couldn’t glean any more information. She lit another cigarette, the flame illuminating her weary face, adding a touch of life.
“Little crow, can you tell me, will we win this defensive battle?”
“…I don’t know.”
Su Jiu hadn’t researched this particular battle in France in detail, so she could only shake her head. She saw a flicker of longing in the illusory woman’s eyes.
“Hoo—”
Ross let out a sigh, her spirits visibly sinking. It was less of a question to Su Jiu and more of a desire for conversation. “Heh, indeed, we can’t win. They are too strong, too strong.”
Looking at her tired face, Su Jiu felt an inexplicable discomfort and finally spoke, “Although I don’t know about this war, humanity paid a heavy price, but ultimately they won. The Strangers were repelled by the allied forces, and we defended this land.”
Upon hearing this, Ross stared blankly at her. After a moment of silence, she suddenly smiled, “A nice aspiration. It would be even better if, in that era, people weren’t afflicted by [Yi] and everyone had enough to eat.”
Her smile was beautiful, like a field of irises blooming below.
She lightly tapped Su Jiu’s head and chuckled, “Little crow, even your dreams are too timid.”
As Su Jiu blinked, about to say something else.
“RUMBLE!!”
The sky suddenly became overcast with dark clouds, and thunder rumbled. The surrounding atmospheric pressure rapidly increased. In another part of the sky, a colossal, fiery red figure thousands of feet tall suddenly appeared, covered in strange runes, its face obscured. However, the flames engulfing its body instilled boundless terror.
Dense, fiery red figures, like oversized hornet wasps, appeared behind the colossal figure, their eyes glowing with a crimson light, looking incredibly eerie.
“Blood food, submit.”
A booming voice like thunder resounded, conveying only a single message: to raise the humans and monsters here as blood food.
Looking up at the giant, Ross’s eyes darkened. She turned and instructed Su Jiu, “Leave this place. Go and witness the vision you spoke of.”
“If it were possible, I truly wish to go back and drink that freshly brewed wine.”
Saying this, she casually discarded the cigarette butt, crushing it with her brown combat boots. Taking a deep breath, she drew the rapier from her waist. Behind her, a brilliant ice-attribute law halo emerged, and she pointed her sword forward, announcing sonorously,
“Eighteenth Division!”
“CLANG!!”
As her voice fell, the sound of swords being drawn echoed slowly upwards from the city below. These were the humans who had not yet fully evacuated, most of them belonging to the legions under Ross’s command.
Countless law-infused lights surged upwards from below. Men and women alike, this was the last line of defense, composed of the lowest-ranked High-Rank Battle Kings, and also the main force of resistance.
“Hold back this torrent of Strangers!”
As Ross’s voice dropped again, the scenes before Su Jiu flashed by like a movie. She saw the city turn into ruins, saw countless War God Levels fall, and saw their Chief Lord utterly defeated.
Blood Frenzy fell.
The heavens and earth were plunged into darkness, with dust swirling like a fiery abyss. This was a war with no suspense.
Just as she thought it was all over, the entire sky, scorched red, seemed to darken. In the distant horizon, countless black figures appeared, carrying a familiar scent –
[Elegy]’s.
“ROAR!”
At this moment, a colossal, ethereal white dragon claw descended from the sky, reaching towards the somewhat tattered, fiery red giant. It looked like E Huo’s paw magnified countless times.
With the involvement of other forces, the war concluded in a brutal manner. Monster, human corpses, and the severed limbs of Strangers mingled together in a gruesome melee.
After an unknown duration, a ray of morning sun pierced the battlefield like a long sword.
At this point, Su Jiu’s perspective shifted to a figure wearing a black cloak. The cloaked figure’s gaze was distant, fixed on the air ahead, as if bidding farewell.
“The crow will forever be with the dove. We will look after your family.”
“Is He a Dragon Country Person?”
Speaking in accented Dragon Country Mandarin, Su Jiu was somewhat surprised, but she had no time to think. The surroundings began to transform. She found herself on a dark path, her form changing from a crow back to human.
The Miss Ross appeared before her again, her body somewhat translucent.
“Little crow, is this your true form? You’re quite cute, just as short as my second daughter.”
She held a rolled cigarette in her hand, also appearing somewhat ethereal, her voice very gentle.
She looked up at Su Jiu, as if sensing something. She suddenly froze, pursed her lips, and gently pushed her, smiling.
“I see… Wake up.”
“Ah?”
As she was pushed, Su Jiu jolted, as if stumbling down stairs, her feet landing heavily on the bedframe with a “bang!”
“What’s wrong!!”
The group of Shadow Jingwei was startled by her action and rushed over. E Huo, having transformed back into human form, was yawning repeatedly, dark circles under her eyes as if from extreme exhaustion.
She had been eating normally when Su Jiu suddenly grabbed her, and instinctively transformed into a sword. However, once transformed into a sword, she couldn’t revert to human form.
“Nothing?”
Shaking her head, Su Jiu looked at the joyful sounds coming from outside the window. She suddenly realized something and turned to ask Shadow One, “Is it the evening of the next day?”
“Yes, Boss. You slept for a whole day. Even when the candle burned out, you didn’t wake up.”
Shadow One nodded. Wearing sunglasses, she held a cup of milk tea, displaying a remarkable level of humanity.
Su Jiu’s mind flashed back to the woman who died due to delayed reinforcement. That person might have been an elder from Weir’s family.
This scene left her with a sense of lingering unease. If only Night had been faster.
She mused for a moment, then glanced at the night sky outside, suddenly getting up and saying in a low voice, “Let’s go. To the theater.”
“Knock knock!!”
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Su Jiu frowned and walked directly over, pulling open the door to face a familiar face—
Weir.
“Miss Su Jiu, the mission is complete.”
Upon spotting Su Jiu, the latter smiled faintly, then took hold of Su Jiu’s small frame with her arm, carefully leading her back into the room, and then sitting herself on a wooden chair nearby.
“Wasn’t it as simple as I said? After tonight, we can leave…”
Before she could finish speaking, Su Jiu gently pushed her away. Su Jiu looked at the Young Lady, her blood eyes seeming to possess a certain deterrent power.
“Where is she?”
