Chapter 440: Promise [V5C147 – A Distance Within Reach]
Song Zining had only finished half his words when he felt an inconceivable force on his hands and his entire body. While latched onto Qianye’s arm, he was dragged along through the air.
Qianye dashed dozens of meters and arrived beside the young girl in an instant. A horizontal sweep from East Peak immediately cut several werewolves into two while the subsequent downward whack crushed two more vampires. With that, the young girl’s siege was broken with relative ease.
“Eh?” Qianye suddenly felt as though he had overlooked something. He glanced back and was faced with Song Zining’s furious glare—the latter was still grasping his arm firmly, but his body seemed to have been dragged across the ground.
“Zining, um…” Qianye didn’t know what to say, so he just acted dumb.
Song Zining clambered up and patted the dust off his black silver armor with a snort, his expression furious. “Savage! Barbarian! You’ve been led astray by that Wei clan boar! How am I supposed to fight you in the future?”
The twin-bladed girl broke into a laughter without the slightest bit of desperation in her demeanor.
Qianye glanced at her in surprise. Only then did he realize that she wasn’t injured at all and that the blood on her body belonged to others.
Song Zining’s expression turned serious as he made introductions. “Miss Nanhua is my… erm… female friend… one of them at least. Actually, it’s not easy for me to defeat her if she goes all out.”
Qianye couldn’t help but view this maid-like young girl in a different light. Qianye had clearly witnessed Song Zining’s combat strength. A person even he couldn’t defeat easily wasn’t one to be trifled with. It was just that Qianye felt Song Zining’s tone of voice to be somewhat odd.
At this moment, the battle had already entered its final stages, and the routed soldiers were starting to scatter after Luther’s main forces were wiped out. The Dark Flame defenders charged out of the gates under the cover of the cannons to give chase.
However, there was still a fair number of elites among them, and most of those belonging to certain tribes or regions formed their own units—their general fighting power was still significant although they weren’t led by dark race champions. The small units thus retreated gradually while fighting back, inflicting numerous casualties among the Dark Flame pursuers.
At this moment, both sides were engaged in a chaotic battle with everyone fighting tooth and nail. The large cannons on the city walls had stopped shooting to avoid friendly fire. The timbre of origin guns on the battlefield became exceptionally conspicuous after the cannons stopped rumbling.
On the other end of the battlefield, the image of an odd beast appeared in the air and charged toward an unremarkable, petite figure. The creature possessed deer antlers and five hook-like claws. That was the innate skill totem of a demonkin! There was actually a second demonkin on the battlefield besides Luther.
That little figure charged forward, her cape unfurling like a flag in the wind as she spat out a one-meter long streak of flames. The rumble of her gun was like rolling thunder as it reverberated through the battlefield.
Qianye’s eyesight was extremely sharp. He glanced back and immediately saw the fist-sized bullet emerge from the muzzle at inconceivable speeds. He instinctively sensed the astonishing firepower of the shot.
That small figure was, in fact, Blackmoon. A single shot from her pushed that demonkin warrior two steps back from dozens of meters away, his origin barrier fluctuating wildly. The beast-image in the air was also swaying violently as the momentum of his assault became stagnant.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Blackmoon reloaded at lightning speed and fired continuously, repeatedly pushing the demonkin back. His origin defenses soon shattered, and a terrifying bloody hole appeared on his body. The innate totem in the air had also dispersed.
Blackmoon rushed toward the demonkin warrior's body, cut off his head, and hung it at her waist. These movements were incomparably smooth and well-practiced. There were ten-odd soldiers under that demonkin’s command, but they were all intimidated by Blackmoon’s vicious methods and didn’t dare go forward.
This girl had blasted a rank-eight demonkin’s origin barrier apart and killed him in one shot. This went to show that the firepower of her gun was already close to grade-eight. However, gunpowder armaments were advantageous in that they could fire continuously as long as one had enough ammunition. The weapon was a handgun to her, but it was actually more like a human hand-cannon; the recoil was naturally quite powerful. Under the champion rank, only mechanized hybrid bodies like hers could withstand such a force.
After collecting the rank-eight demonkin, Blackmoon hopped into the group of enemies and began hunting down high-ranking warriors among the routed enemies. She didn’t even bother to spare those below rank-five a second glance. This little girl was like a wolf on the battlefield and was both agile and deadly despite her small frame.
Song Zining had also noticed Blackmoon. “A Highbeard warrior?”
Qianye nodded. “Correct. Blackmoon is a friend I met along the way who’s come to earn some military contributions in Blackflow City.”
Song Zining gazed at the girl for a while as though to assess her. “Almost all the Highbeards are on the rebel army’s side. I’ve had quite a lot of dealings with them, and they’re indeed quite difficult to tangle with. It seems this Blackmoon is a high-ranking warrior among her clan. Although their traditions dictate that they should be loyal to the employer, it’s really best to be more careful.”
“Rest assured, I’ll keep an eye on her,” said Nanhua.
Qianye nodded in consent. With the strength Nanhua exhibited just now, she indeed had the capability to suppress Blackmoon somewhat.
The battle situation at this moment had been decided. Only Luther’s main squad was completely routed and wiped out, but the demonkin viscount’s death had deprived the other camps of upstream command. Hence, all of them chose to retreat.
Blackflow City erupted in jubilation after the last of the dark race army disappeared into the distance.
Having been isolated since the beginning of the siege, no one believed this small border city would be able to escape being leveled. This great, unexpected victory seemed like an otherworldly outcome to the military masses of the city.
“Let's go, we’ll talk more over wine.” Song Zining patted Qianye’s shoulder and left the cleanup of the battlefield to the Dark Flame officers.
Song Zining and Qianye sat down in the study after returning to the city.
Song Zining completely relaxed when the both of them were alone. Gone was his usual showy demeanor and the murderous spirit he exuded with his mask on. He sat down with a manner as calm and tranquil as the deep waters. His comportment was perfectly harmonious, and each of his movements was akin to shifting clouds and flowing water.
Qianye sat across from Song Zining. He was the complete opposite of the latter, his body exuding natural valiance and tyranny—it was as though he would shatter any and all obstructions with a strike of his blade.
Song Zining observed Qianye for a while and said while shaking his head, “You’re indeed different from before. It seems you’ve had some extraordinary profits during this Iron Curtain bloody battle.”
Qianye laughed wryly after recalling his experiences in the Black Forest. “I’ve formed a blood core.”
Song Zining wasn’t as surprised as Qianye had expected and seemed, instead, to be expecting this development. He tapped lightly on the table and produced a transparent leaf with prominent veins which floated toward Qianye. “Do you mind letting me take a look?”
Qianye activated his blood energy and pointed onto the leaf. Both of them trembled ever so slightly as a mottled, chaotic light flashed through the air.
Bewildered, Song Zining dispersed the leaf with a wave of his hand. “That’s odd. Having no clan insignia in your body means that you were never infected. Why is it that even the Song Clan Ancient Scroll failed to refine these blood energies? On the contrary, they even formed a blood core.” He pondered for a moment then asked, “But I noticed you’re still activating the Combatant Formula when using this heavy sword?”
Qianye extended his right hand with a nod. With a light “whoosh”, the scarlet origin power glow of the Combatant Formula emerged from his arms.
Song Zining laughed after some thought, “Then it’s fine. Who can cut open your body to find that blood core? By the time you become a champion, it’s fine even if you use some darkness origin power in your attacks. It’s just that the Combatant Formula might not be able to help you cross the champion barrier…” He hesitated for a moment and continued, “The Zhao clan’s secret arts can be considered one of the best among the major clans. Maybe you should consider…”
There wasn’t a shred of ease on Qianye’s dark countenance. He suddenly cut Song Zining short and said, “Zining, promise me one thing.”
Song Zining’s demeanor changed abruptly, and he nodded solemnly without even asking what Qianye wanted to say. “I promise that I’ll kill you with all my might if there’s a vampire capable of suppressing your will with their origin blood. I won’t let you live like a zombie.”
Qianye exhaled deeply with an expression of relief.
Song Zining inquired, “You were completely off the grid these days. What exactly did you encounter? Could it also be the Nangong family?” At this point, Song Zining’s voice turned cold and was filled with undisguised killing intent.
Qianye said after a moment of silence, “I’ve dragged you down this time.” At this moment, he was already aware that it was likely the Nangong family who had blocked Song Zining in Blackflow City. According to the present circumstances, their target should’ve been him instead.
Song Zining broke into a laughter. “There’s no need for such words between brothers. I wouldn’t have come here to fight a disadvantageous war if I were afraid of trouble. Moreover, my own troubles aren’t any less than yours. Do you mean to say I shouldn’t burden you in the future?”
Qianye also laughed. “Fine then. The ones hunting me down are Bai Kongzhao and the Nangong family, but I’ve finished off most of the Nangong family’s men.”
Song Zining’s gaze focused. “Bai Kongzhao? I’ve heard of this person. But do her actions represent the Bai clan?”
“I don’t know either.” Qianye shook his head.
Song Zining got up and paced a couple of times around the study. “What plans do you have?”
“I won’t let Bai Kongzhao off, but I’m not sure about the Bai clan’s attitude toward this matter.”
Song Zining became silent for a while. Even he had to think carefully in the face of a gigantic entity like the Bai clan. He spoke only after a while, “There are many experts among the Bai clan’s elder generation, but they lack a supreme expert to oversee them. Although they have three divine champions, two of them are already one foot in the grave and haven’t come out for a long time. Bai Aotu’s authority has grown progressively stronger in the recent decade. After all, she’s the one with the highest chance of becoming a divine champion.”
Song Zining said after a pause, “Bai Aotu’s character is extremely tyrannical and overbearing, and Bai Kongzhao was personally recruited into the clan by her. We’ll definitely clash with Bai Aotu if we kill Bai Kongzhao, and thus a battle with the Bai clan is inevitable.”
Qianye nodded and replied indifferently, “I understand now.” The two spoke in a relaxed manner as though their opponent wasn’t a major clan but a landowning household instead.