Chapter 55: Eye of the Storm (5)
“My lady, your marksmanship…”
The captain couldn’t help but gape.
He’d seen it clearly.
That shot was at least a hundred meters out, far beyond a pistol’s effective range…
In the chaos of a nighttime alley fight, with a moving target no less.
Yet she hit Kaya’s calf dead-on…
If it were him, even grazing the target would’ve been a miracle.
“Just a small trick.”
“…” He swallowed, a chill running down his spine.
Murphyxia held the still-warm pistol, studying it with interest, her fingers tracing the grip’s texture, her gentle tone soothing like a spring breeze:
“You don’t mind if I keep it, right?”
“Of… of course! Please, take it!” The captain snapped out of his daze, nodding hastily.
He fumbled to unclip two spare magazines from his belt, offering them respectfully. “Here, I didn’t bring much…”
“Divine Envoy, do you also have… one of those extraordinary talents?” The scout, unable to contain his awe, dared to ask.
Murphyxia turned, her deep purple eyes piercing through the silent soldiers, profound in the dim light.
She didn’t answer directly, instead smiling lightly and countering:
“What do you think?”
…
The southwest wall breach was a vision of hell.
Charred earth mixed with congealed blood, sticky and slick underfoot, littered with body parts and shrapnel filling craters…
Corpses.
Countless corpses.
Eisenburg’s uniformed defenders, Church’s gray-clad zealots, and most of all, ragged civilians…
Few were intact.
Like broken dolls in a landfill, they sprawled across the ground.
Scattered, blood pooling.
A desolate silence stretched as far as the eye could see.
Smoke, blood, and the stench of rotting organs mingled, thick and inescapable, clinging to the battlefield.
The choking odor seeped through the [Valkyrie]’s filtration system, nauseating…
Lin Lan stood atop a wrecked tank, her black armor gleaming dully in the firelight.
Her tactical visor filtered out the harshest reds, turning the scene gray, but it couldn’t dull the bone-chilling horror…
She’d seen death before.
The fall of [Oasis] had shown her similar carnage.
But this was different—
That was the pain of a home destroyed.
This was pure, senseless slaughter.
Murphyxia’s voice echoed in her mind—elegant, compassionate…
Yet unflinchingly tossing thousands of lives into the meat grinder as mere stepping stones…
A feint?
A diversion?
All just pretexts for this bloody invasion.
These Church soldiers were no different from the refugee cannon fodder…
Tools for her goals, discarded when spent.
“Ma’am! Is that you?”
A hesitant shout broke her thoughts.
A small Church squad poured through the breach, stopping at the sight of the [Valkyrie] on the tank’s wreckage, their faces a mix of relief and awe.
They were a follow-up unit, unaware of the city’s situation.
Their leader saluted.
“Third echelon, reporting for duty! Orders, ma’am?”
Lin Lan looked down silently.
—Murphyxia had given her an “ally” status, a disguise for free movement…
To these Church troops, she was a “friendly commander.”
“You’re late.”
Her cold, electronic voice crackled:
“Plans have changed. The main force has broken through—your orders are updated.”
“Updated?” The leader blinked.
“Enemy forces are regrouping in the east, planning to flank.”
“Go northwest immediately, clear out residual resistance.”
Her voice was flat, her armored arm pointing in a direction opposite Murphyxia’s advance.
“But the Divine Envoy’s orders were…”
“Murphyxia’s pursuing Eisenburg’s core target. I’m taking command here,” Lin Lan cut him off, her tone sharpening.
Crunch—
The [Valkyrie] stepped forward on the tank’s broken turret, its oppressive presence stifling the soldiers below.
“Defying orders?”
“No… never!” The officer snapped to attention. “We’ll execute immediately!”
He turned, barking: “Pivot! Target west district!”
The squad shifted course, unquestioningly charging toward the heavily defended area Lin Lan had fabricated…
Watching them vanish under the wall, her icy gaze didn’t soften.
She felt no pity for these invaders, nor did she want to meddle in this once-neutral city…
But she could use them to bleed Eisenburg’s forces and disrupt Murphyxia’s rear.
Her pieces were few—she had to make the other two sides tear into each other…
For the next ten minutes, she played a ghostly commander, using Murphyxia’s authority to redirect Church squads into Eisenburg’s fortified traps…
Then watched impassively as they eagerly rushed to their graves.
Done with this cat-and-mouse game, she stopped.
Lin Lan pulled up Murphyxia’s main force’s projected route and strode along the blood-soaked path toward the city’s outer ring.
Before she found Mili…
“You’d better pray I don’t find you first…”
…
[Backup node connection successful]
The [Seraphim]’s helmet was silent as deep space, until Kirupa’s prompt sounded.
Standing before the safehouse ruins, the virtual screens around Seraphina shifted, the south district signal alert turning from red to yellow.
“Not enough…”
“Where are the interference sources’ exact coordinates?”
[Triangulating based on signal decay and refraction data…]
[Building model…]
[Analysis complete]
Data streams flashed before her, a 3D map of Eisenburg’s south district popping up, red dots precisely marked.
[Interference source coordinates:]
[1: E113.452, N22.813, Altitude: 12m—Probability: 91% (Main road, likely heavy jammer vehicle)]
[2: E113.501, N22.809, Altitude: 75m—Probability: 76% (Comm tower ruins)]
[3: E113.488, N22.821, Altitude: 33m—Probability: 59% (Abandoned high-rise)]
[4: E113.469, N22.817, Altitude: 20m—Probability: 64% (Old-era power station)]
[5: …]
Seven coordinates lit up, but Seraphina didn’t hesitate: “Target four, send to military command.”
[Prioritizing strike target—]
Kirupa’s text was cut off by Seraphina’s voice.
[Recommendation canceled]
[Command confirmed]
“The jammer vehicle’s a decoy; the tower’s too exposed; high-rises lack stable power for heavy equipment,” she said, bypassing Kirupa’s probabilities with absolute certainty.
[Recording algorithm…]
The silver armor’s thrusters flared with blazing exhaust.
Seraphina shot skyward from the underground city’s breach, streaking toward the southeast.
[Power station coordinates: E113.469, N22.817, H+20]
[Authorization: Seraphina von Karen]
[Priority: Highest]
[Approved]
[—Strike initiated]
Seconds later, in Eisenburg’s core military zone, a hidden missile silo’s cover slid open, revealing a chilling warhead.
No sirens, no countdown.
Boom!
A sleek tactical missile launched, trailing orange flame, piercing the night sky.
At its apex, the warhead detached, plummeting at supersonic speed toward the targeted old-era power station!
BOOM—!!
A deafening explosion roared, a massive fireball erupting like a fleeting sun, illuminating the area like daylight!
The shockwave swept the ground, rattling building windows.
Even in the underground city, the tremor was felt…
[Strike complete]
[Interference source neutralized]
As the explosion hit, the yellow interference alert on the [Seraphim]’s holographic display vanished.
—South district comms restored.
“Your Majesty!” A general’s excited yet tense voice broke through the military command channel.
[Accessing all south district surveillance nodes…]
[Data link established]
Efficiency was modern warfare’s first principle.
A flood of reports poured in, but Seraphina muted them, focusing on the screens.
“Report.”
“South district comms restored! Enemy jammer destroyed! We’re reorganizing defenses, targeting the other three fronts! Estimated fifteen minutes to—”
“No need for details,” Seraphina cut him off coldly. “Focus on eliminating the invaders.”
“Yes!”
[Resuming tracking: Mili, Kaya]
[Locked]
[Last known location: Southeast district, near Second Medical Station]
Countless surveillance feeds lit up before Seraphina, timestamps aligning to the moment the trail went cold.
[Accessing medical station internal surveillance…]
A feed zoomed in, dominating her view—the medical station’s inner corridor.
Real-time, but grainy with signal noise, the scene was clear.
The overcrowded station had wounded scattered around the hall, medics weaving through…
Seraphina’s eyes scanned every corner for the figure haunting her thoughts.
Nothing.
Nothing…
Not here either…
But as her heart sank, her pupils contracted sharply.
A figure stepped into the frame…
Murphyxia.
Her dark purple robe, a symbol of divinity, was pristine, her gray braids immaculate, stepping over bloodstains as if strolling through her garden.
Her delicate face bore a faint smile, her pure purple eyes scanning the chaotic crowd, untouched by the screams and wails, searching for her prize…
As if sensing something, she paused, slowly looking up—
From dozens of meters away, she stared directly at the camera hidden under the eaves.
As if, through that tiny lens, she locked eyes with Seraphina soaring in the night sky…
Her gaze brimmed with unabashed greed, fervor, delight, and…
The taunting certainty of victory.
Facing the camera, her lips moved.
Though silent, Kirupa’s lip-reading analysis displayed the words:
—I.
—Win.
She raised her pistol, its dark muzzle aimed at the camera.
Bang—!
The feed shook, swallowed by static and noise…
Signal lost.