Chapter 172 The Bridge
Chapter 172 The Bridge
"The fight is over?" Kane asked in confusion, overlooking the five hundred soldiers still spread out or dying on the battlefield. Injured or not, five hundred people were a sea of people in one location. RPGs would take a significant amount of time to kill all of them.
"Yes, it's over." Evalyn replied, turning to the recent exiles, "Evan; this is your one and only chance for reputation. Use the largest slash attack you can make to take out the central rank."
Evan, the man who attacked her in the campsite, dry-swallowed, looking at the [central rank]. A hundred people were in a line, mostly on their knees or lying down. "Y-Yes, mam."
He got into position and closed his eyes. While he felt wrong about killing his targets, he didn't see them as people. "I'm sorry, but I can't die here today…."
After a deep breath, he opened his eyes. "Slash!"
A massive, sloppy ripple of Qi twenty feet wide shot down the mountain before—
Thud! Thud, thud, thud-thud-thud, thud! Thud! Thud, thud! Boom!
"GaHhhHhhHhhhHhhhHhhhHHhhHhHhH!"
—a wailing cry from sick people rang out into the nighttime air as it sliced countless bodies in half, spraying blood everywhere.
Unlike rockets, the slash cut through everything without distinction and without stopping. It had no limit as it shot down the mountain, only stopping when it hit the ground from a sharp angle.
It was a gruesome sight that was mildly traumatic and shocked Kane and his soldiers. However, the Ice General broke everyone out of their daze the next moment.
"Congratulations, Evan." Evalyn smirked, "You are now welcomed back into Immortal Skye—under probation. So it looks like you'll survive tonight."
The man's eyes welled with tears as he was overcome with emotions. He resigned himself to death, but now he got redemption where it mattered. "T-Thank you, General."
"Do not let me down again." The Ice General warned, turning to the others, "Get into position. You now know the benefits of fighting and the consequences of not, so get ready."
All of their hearts pulsed, triggering hesitant nods driven by mixed emotions.
…
Kane overlooked the area with shock in his eyes. There were only fifty soldiers left, spread out over the battlefield, slowly getting picked off by soldiers. "It's been a minute."
"The only advantage that modern equipment has is distance." Evalyn replied dryly, "Otherwise, an attack that can slice a tank in half like a person is obviously superior. Now let's go; there are soldiers awaiting our orders."
The man's heart jolted, snapping to attention at her warning.
"Thank God, you're finally here!" General Michaels yelled, "We've got a problem."
"What's the problem?" Evalyn asked with a pounding heart, hoping it wasn't the cultivators.
"It's the fences; they're already unfunctional." He winced, "These people… they're superhumans and have ignored the electricity. Now, they're ripping the fence out of the ground."
Her eyes widened, and she followed him to the north side wall, the area with the least obstacles to reaching Immortal Skye's campus.
After she got to the gate, she entered one of the sentry towers, leading to a walkway across the wall, similar to a castle's perimeter wall.
Once standing there, she overlooked the area in horror.
As before, there was a thousand sick present; however, it was difficult to kill them. Dozens of bodies created sandbags to protect others as they reached the fence. The wall was also half a mile in width.
"They're building a staircase…." Evalyn whispered in disbelief, looking at the bodies piling up around the electric fence, allowing people to climb higher and higher. Moreover—
"AgGhHhhhHhhhHHhhHhh!"
—a dozen sick, screaming people jumped onto the fence, shaking and foaming from the mouth as they got electrocuted.
However, their bodies could take more volts than the fences offered, meant for livestock, and their feral mindsets prevented them from stopping from the pain.
Ratatatat! Ratatatat!
"GaHhHhhhHHhhHhhHHhH!"
"They just keep on the fence until we shoot them, aggravating the problem." General Michaels explained gravely, "We're running out of options, Evalyn.
We need your technique, a team to clear the bodies, or to use Guided Arrow."
"Why can't we use slash attacks?" Evalyn asked, "The fence is already useless, but our walls aren't. So let's sacrifice the fence."
The director winced, looking at the fence stacking up with bodies again.
"Whatever Kaze did to that fence, it's impossible to break through." He explained, "It's taking bullets constantly and hasn't gotten a dent."
Her eyes widened, thinking about Death's Blessing and the Soul Qi reinforcement Kaze put over the area. "Is there anything else you can tell me, anything at all?"
General Michaels pointed at the corner of the fence. "If we let too many pile up, they'll eventually rip the fence out of the ground. However…."
"That's perfect." Evalyn replied with hope but was still pessimistic due to his qualifier, "However… what?"
"Walk with me." He replied solemnly, taking her over to the corner of the wall.
When she looked over the northwest junction, she finally saw the problem. The same scene was playing out on the west wall; it reminded her that they were only looking at a small section.
"The west has natural barriers slowing the sick." General Michaels dry-swallowed, "Those lining the fence right now are mostly overflowing from the north and south.
If we don't do something soon, we'll get overrun when the west side arrives. That's why we need a team to clear the area, your technique, or Guided Arrow to get the thousands of people we have defending."
Evalyn gritted her teeth, looking to the sky. She didn't know what to do; if she did nothing, the sick would break through their ranks and start building a natural staircase, causing panic. However, if they used Guided Arrow, it would attract the Sky Plane cultivators immediately.
"Let the fence break." The Ice General ordered, "Then start using slash attacks.
If anyone uses Guided Arrow, I expect them to get swiftly reprimanded. Doing so will endanger all of Immortal Skye, and I will not tolerate it."
The general nodded in confusion, wanting to ask questions but understanding she didn't want to talk. Therefore, he ran off to get the orders.
...
Evalyn watched the walls with darkened expressions. Hundreds of sick people jumped onto the fence, overloading it, causing sparks to fly throughout the area. It was getting precarious.
Luckily, the pressing bodies caused the ground to groan under pressure, slowly letting the fence loose from the ground.
"Just a little bit farther." She whispered, watching the fence bend with the soldiers on ceasefire. Everyone waited with beating hearts as it happened.
Finally, the fence broke, creating a makeshift bridge to the wall. Now, the sick could climb the walls!
The soldiers panicked, angry at the development, and fearful. However, they switched their tune a moment later.
"Now, Veronica!" Evalyn ordered.
Veronica nodded and jumped onto the fence, kicking a sick person in the face. As the sick scaled the north side wall, she looked to the left and pulled her hand back. "Mortal Slash!"
While she didn't need to say the name, she yelled it to gather everyone's attention. As a result, they watched a massive slash of warping Qi fifty feet in width cut across a quarter mile of space, cutting a hundred screaming insane humans in half in an instant.
Then she ran ten feet to the west fence, almost ripped out. With a jump, she hit the ground. "Mortal Slash!"
Another ripple of Qi ripped through the atmosphere, taking out another hundred and slicing the fence in half.
It was possible because the other half went down, removing its ability to make a bridge. Moreover, she could cut the fence because the blessing was weak and meant to stop mortals.
"Get back up here!" Jake roared, looking at the woman on the ground.
She ran to the twenty-foot wall as instructed and jumped with her superhuman strength. However, she only jumped fifteen feet, missing Jake's hand. It was already a feat, but it wasn't enough.
"Evalyn!" Jake yelled, looking at the blonde, panicking alongside Veronica.
However, the Ice General was conflicted about what to do and how to handle the situation. Guided Arrow or using her technique? What should she do?
"What are you doing!?" He cried, getting ignored as zombies ran up, getting mowed down by machine gun fire.
"Yes, what am I doing?" She whispered, "Have I lost basic common sense thinking of raw force?"
"Evalyn!" Jake cried, failing to catch the jumping Veronica again.
The blonde didn't answer. She simply jumped over the wall silently.
While everyone expected her to face the sick, she landed in front of them, turned around, and ran at the black-haired pixie.
Veronica's eyes widened in shock as she felt arms wrap around her body. "Evalyn, please help! They've got—"
Before the woman could scream, thinking the sick had caught her, her body went airborne, moving to the top of the wall.
The blonde didn't make it, but she threw the pixie over the wall unceremoniously.
Since the wall was twenty feet high, she threw her in the air from a height that could kill normal humans, sentencing her to crash face-first into the interior of Immortal Skye.
Jake panicked in disbelief, watching the falling woman in slow motion. He acted immediately, jumping from the wall at high speed, skillfully catching the woman before they crashed into the ground, rolling.
Both panted for a moment, with the regent holding her head, protecting it from hitting the ground.
After his heart slowed, he pushed up, looking at the woman to check if she was okay.
Only then did he realize that their faces were six inches from each other, staring into each other's adrenaline-crazed eyes.
Both's hearts raced again, gazing at each other's nervous expressions. They hadn't kissed since the night he lost his virginity, showcasing her desire to let him act.
While Jake was nervous, he awkwardly moved his lips closer. When he got an inch from them, her eyes widened in surprise. He was going to kiss her, and he pulled back in a panic, thinking he had done something wrong.
However, the black-haired woman grabbed the back of his head and forcefully pulled him back, locking their lips together.
It was a powerful moment, releasing the cathartic emotions the two had built up.
Evalyn, who had jumped over the wall after killing a dozen sick with her bare hands, gazed at the two from the wall with a strange look in her eyes. "They deserve this."
Turning away, she overlooked the area, listening to the thousands of sick running up the west mountainside. It was far from over.
Meanwhile, a group of ten robed men and women stood in a circle, hovering a hundred feet above the ground. Additionally, an eleventh person was hanging in the air.
"Tell them what you told me?" A robed man with neon green eyes demanded of a woman he held from the back of the neck.
The shaking woman dry-swallowed and looked at the others, exerting a suffocating pressure.
"The man that captured me was from the Blackfoot Clan and killed everyone." Martha said hesitantly, "They are using this opportunity to kill cultivators like you while your power is restricted to the Heaven Realm. Experience and techniques can get overcome by numbers that way."
All the cultivators were shocked, looking at the woman viciously as if to say [if you're lying, we'll rip your throat out]. However, she cowered but didn't add qualifiers.
"I can verify that he used a distinctive shadow attack, as he attacked me with it." The cultivator stated, "Also, whoever it was has stolen a hundred Ergo Seed kits.
According to this woman, he's moving to the Markwood event to rendezvous with his team. What should we do about this?"
The cultivators cringed, unsure of what to do.
"What about Crux, Mitus?" A blonde woman who exerted heavy cultivation power asked.
"According to the woman, the perpetrator claimed they killed her." He said, "The man also cited information that we know but she shouldn't. It seems legitimate, Mary."
"But if he's a shadow user, what's to say Crux is not connected to them?" Mary asked, "She could be working with the Blackfoot Clan. After all, she is a deserter as far as we know."
"I'm not sure." Mitus said, "Perhaps we should split our forces and follow the abnormal power levels east of us and go to Markwood simultaneously."
"Is that wise?" Another man asked, "What if Crux is alive and with the man?"
"Do you think Mitus and I are incapable?" Mary asked viciously.
"No, mam." The timid man dry-swallowed, "We'll do as you say."
"Okay, it's decided." Mitus said dryly, "Split up. Mary, go check out the forces in the east. I'll go to Markwood. Move!"