Planet Coruscant.
Looking down from space, the once prosperous and brilliant civilized planet now looked like hell.
Mushroom clouds exploded across the surface.
Dense swarms of Borisin beast-ships occupied space, using their overwhelming numerical advantage to tear apart the Yaoqing fleet's formation.
Like a pack of bloodthirsty hyenas hunting an injured lion, they were separating and surrounding them one by one, conducting a mop-up operation.
On the ground, the Borisin were charging against the Whistling Flames merchant guild's defensive line.
Blade light and blood mist intertwined.
Screams and roars mixed together.
Whether in space or on the ground, countless Xianzhou soldiers were using their flesh and blood to build the final Great Wall, fighting fearlessly.
...
On the moon of Coruscant.
Gulp.
Carole's throat moved as she swallowed a mouthful of dry saliva, her fingertips trembling slightly.
The hellish scene before her was truly terrifying.
Her pupils contracted violently, and her breath almost stopped.
Although she had witnessed the tragedy of Nagazora, she was still a child who had never truly fought.
The only time was when she encountered the Dead, and she was also scared to tears.
Moreover, this bloody scene in space was far more stimulating than the Honkai outbreak in Nagazora.
"Is this what war in the interstellar era is like?"
Elysia was not panicked; her eyes were as clear as stars, and a faint, almost imperceptible smile appeared on her lips.
She felt a bit eager to try.
"..."
Himeko stood silently, her fists clenched until they creaked.
She was a soldier who had experienced a hundred battles, having walked through mountains of corpses and seas of blood countless times, but at this moment, her heart skipped a few beats uncontrollably.
'Werewolves' riding hideous beast mounts were weaving through the starships, using claws and cannon fire to bombard the hulls' shields.
'Werewolves' that only existed in legends were actually able to move freely in the vacuum of space in the outside world?
Absurd!
Yet it was suffocatingly real.
The star chart sent by Herta was not just marked with coordinates; it also detailed the enemy's information.
As expected of Herta, she handled everything in just 10 minutes.
Ryuga gazed at the intelligence.
"The Borisin Brood Lord is named Touman, from the Howling Moon Pack. It's a medium-sized pack, claiming to have a million Borisin."
"Generally, the largest werewolf is the Brood Lord."
The Borisin followed a tribal system.
Tribes aggregated into packs, and only the leader of the strongest tribe could serve as the pack's Father-Wolf.
After reading the intelligence, Ryuga decisively gave orders.
"Elysia, use your celestial barrier to protect the Yaoqing fleet. Also, heal the injured Xianzhou guards in the sky and on the ground."
"Himeko, transform into a dragon and tear apart the Borisin beast-ships. Elysia, don't forget to give her a shield."
"As for Carole, I'll drop you down later to clear out the Borisin besieging the merchant guild."
Vill-V was still a novice, so he wouldn't let her out for now.
She was currently in the Wallpaper House, sulking.
"Understood."
Elysia winked playfully, not panicked at all.
"I, I, I... can I do it?"
Carole was a bit trembling, but she still tried hard to straighten her back.
"Believe in your own power."
Ryuga raised his hand and firmly patted Carole's shoulder, shattering the mist in her heart.
It was encouragement, and also trust.
"Mhm!"
Carole nodded heavily. She was going to live a new life on the Luofu, so she had to perform well.
For Ryuga.
And also for her dad and mom, so they wouldn't be bullied by the Xianzhou people.
And that representative of the Whistling Flames merchant guild was clearly a significant figure; building a good relationship with her would make it easier to live on the Luofu.
She was a little dummy, but sometimes she was also very smart.
Her teacher wanted her to show her strength in front of that merchant guild representative to make a name for herself among the Luofu higher-ups.
"Alright, everyone to your positions."
Ryuga clapped his hands.
"..."
Himeko took a deep breath, slowly closed her eyes, and her breathing deepened.
Feeling the long-dormant dragon's will within her.
Feeling the scalding dragon blood roaring in her veins.
Flames rose from beneath her feet, spiraling up her body, and her skin took on the luster of ink-black dragon scales.
Her figure constantly grew taller in the flames, her spine lengthened, her limbs twisted and reconstructed, her bones cracked, and her entire body was reshaped.
After a sky-shaking dragon roar, a massive black dragon soared into the sky, its wings spreading like burning clouds, its dragon eyes as deep and black as ink.
She raised her head to the sky and roared at the heavens.
"How is your state of mind?"
Ryuga looked up and asked.
Protean Jak'Sho had exerted its power. It was originally an ancient red dragon form, but he had reshaped it into the form of the black dragon Acnologia from Fairy Tail.
Elysia, Carole, and Vill-V were also wearing it.
That guy Lygus could not only use Irontomb to search the universe, but he also had eight others outside.
Himeko's appearance would be big news.
A new High Elder.
Would the Interastral Peace Corporation report it?
How would the Xianzhou react?
Such a major event, even if those eight clones outside weren't interested in following it, they would find out sooner or later.
And the two sides could exchange information.
Himeko was going to Omphalos with him. If she showed her red dragon form and appeared inside Omphalos, by his side, what would happen?
With a No. 1 IQ, you don't think he could see that?
By then, he'd probably have to start a fight with Lygus directly.
So, Vill-V, Carole, and the others also used Protean Jak'Sho to change their appearance.
And after Himeko went to Omphalos, Ryuga would only let her show her half-dragon form.
The Curio Mirror of Transcendence was doing its job.
One look, one copy.
Another look, another copy.
"No problem for now, but I estimate it won't exceed 30 minutes."
Himeko responded, her dragon language low and clear.
The dragon transformation couldn't be sustained for long; the boundary between the dragon soul and the human soul was blurring. Once 30 minutes passed, she might enter a state of dragon madness.
"30 minutes? The battle will be over long before then. Let's go—"
Ryuga clapped his hands.
Before his voice fell, the black dragon had already flapped its wings and soared, leaping from the surface of the Coruscant moon and charging straight at the Borisin beast-ships in space.
"Roar—!"
...
At this moment.
The Yaoqing flagship.
A foxian girl with hair as white as snow stood on the deck, her long hair with a white-to-cyan gradient flying in the wind, her arms holding a hard bow carved from cyan jade.
Every time she pulled the bowstring, cyan ripples would appear around her.
Whoosh— Whoosh— Whoosh—
Arrows pierced the air, tracing three streaks of cyan light.
Every arrow carried sharp Imaginary energy, tearing through energy barriers, piercing through beast-ship armor, and stabbing into the ships' rotting wood.
Then, explosions sounded, and the beast-ships' hulls shook as alarms wailed.
The white-haired foxian girl was the future General Feixiao.
Her current age and appearance still had some gap from the plot, appearing slightly immature.
Those eyes also lacked the steady aura of a victorious general, having more of the sharp anxiety of a young military leader.
The battle situation was not optimistic.
The Yaoqing flagship's shield flickered violently under the continuous Borisin bombardment, creating layers of ripples as the energy readings plummeted.
It looked like the hull shield would completely melt away in the next second.
The two sides were firing back and forth.
After an unknown amount of time.
"Valiant Knight, the hull's defensive shield will be breached in 30 minutes."
Feixiao gritted her teeth and ordered: "Continue charging!"
The voice of the Qingqiu Guard soon sounded in her headset again, mixed with the bitter noise of mechanical overload.
"Valiant Knight... the energy reserves are less than 30%, and the charging efficiency is less than 40%. We... didn't bring enough."
"!!!"
Feixiao's brow furrowed tightly, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
She closed her eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air.
After receiving the distress signal from the Whistling Flames merchant guild of the Luofu's Sky-Faring Commission, she had led the fleet at full speed to provide support, but who would have thought they'd fall into a trap.
Surrounding a point to strike at reinforcements.
The Borisin pack never intended to quickly slaughter the Luofu's Sky-Faring Commission merchant guild.
They just besieged the Whistling Flames merchant guild on Coruscant, like a hunter fishing, quietly waiting for reinforcements to arrive.
And the true target of those wolf cubs was the fleet coming to support.
"Dammit..."
Feixiao gritted her teeth and sighed.
The bowstring vibrated again, and she suddenly turned, her gaze locked onto the edge of the deck.
A burly Borisin leader clad in bone armor leaped onto the hull, his giant axe raised, slashing down towards her head.
A cold light flashed in Feixiao's eyes as she pulled the bow to a full moon. The arrow, wrapped in cyan light, pierced through the air, piercing the leader's chest and pinning him to the deck.
Blood instantly gushed out, covering the deck. "What did Ms. Herta say?"
Just ten minutes ago, the fleet had received a reply from Herta Space Station.
However, if they didn't come soon, they would be finished first.
"Valiant Knight!"
In the headset, the Qingqiu Guard's voice suddenly rose, shouting excitedly, "We just received an encrypted message from Ms. Herta, saying that reinforcements have arrived!"
"...?"
Feixiao was stunned. What the hell!?
If she remembered correctly, starting from Herta Space Station, even at the fastest speed, it would take more than half an hour.
Just then, a dragon's roar shook the sky.
The terrifying sound waves even made the distant Borisin beast-ships tremble.
"A dragon!?"
"Where did that dragon roar come from?"
"Dammit, could it be that a High Elder has arrived?"
Inside the beast-ships, the hearts of the various tribal leaders trembled violently.
But how could that be?
The nearest Xianzhou Luofu was three days' journey away.
Feixiao, who was pulling the bowstring to its limit, had her fingertips trembling, and she froze in place as the bowstring hummed.
Her green pupils contracted violently as she saw...
A massive dragon galloping from the depths of the galaxy.
Its entire body was as deep and black as ink, with blue ancient patterns winding all over it.
The dragon body, thousands of meters long, carrying the momentum of tearing through space, crushed through the star system at near-light speed, charging straight at the Borisin fleet.
The beast-ship fleet was in an uproar.
Before they could react, the dragon had descended like divine punishment.
The beast-ships roared, opening their mouths to bite.
Boom!
The dragon performed a 'Dragon Fang Thrust', crashing into a bear-headed beast-ship with the force of ten thousand tons.
The thousand-meter giant ship was instantly sent tumbling and flying, its metal shell torn like paper under the strike.
The Borisin inside were like grains of sand, wailing and tumbling within.
They were constantly squeezed and crushed together, and blood exploded into a crimson mist in the weightless vacuum.
Like a blooming flower of death.
Before the other beast-ships could react, the dragon had already soared, its claws tearing through space, its five fingers like blades, swinging down fiercely.
Rip—
An eagle-headed beast-ship was torn apart in mid-air, snapped in half from the spine, with large amounts of blood spraying into the starry sky.
Then sparks flew, and the energy cores exploded one after another.
Crimson flames bloomed silently.
"Roar—!!!"
The dragon's roar shook the universe.
Its giant mouth opened, and a blazing red flame gushed out from deep within its throat, incinerating the heavens and boiling the seas.
Wherever the flames passed, the beast-ships melted like wax.
And the Borisin inside didn't even have time to let out a scream before they were covered in molten armor and then turned to ashes.
The firelight stretched across the starry sky.
Looking at the surging swarm of beast-ships, the black dragon gave a snort, swept its tail, and suddenly rotated its body. Terrifying fire spread out in all directions with her as the center.
A large number of beast-ships were burned into skeletons.
The color of the flames didn't matter.
He wasn't worried about being targeted by Lygus.
Who said a black dragon had to breathe 'black flames'? Plenty of black dragons breathe red fire.
Feixiao was still frozen, the bowstring in her hand already released, her small mouth open, her green eyes reflecting the image of the dragon incinerating the world.
Her heart pounded like a drum, and her mind was blank.
Was this the reinforcement Ms. Herta spoke of?
A black dragon?
Which High Elder had arrived?
She didn't remember any High Elder in the Xianzhou Alliance who could transform into a giant black dragon.
In the starry sky, the flames gradually died down, and wreckage floated.
The black dragon slowly retracted its wings, its dragon eyes scanning the battlefield to confirm if there were any more threats.
...
Just then, flawless pink starlight fell from the depths of the star sea, as if the Milky Way were pouring down. Points of brilliance gathered into a pillar of light, covering the Yaoqing fleet.
The shields were filled in an instant, with ripples of light appearing.
Then, more 'celestial barriers' fell from between the stars, the starlight weaving into a net, completely enveloping the Yaoqing fleet.
More pillars of light fell onto the surface of Coruscant, protecting the Luofu's Whistling Flames merchant guild within.
The Borisin who were attacking fiercely were hit by the barrier and instantly sent flying, their flesh tearing and exploding.
"Please listen to my plea, stars!"
Elysia had taken action.
In the center of the starlight, her slender fingers traced across the sky, triggering the resonance of the stars.
Following her call, pillars of bright green light containing vigorous life energy poured down from the heavens.
They gently enveloped the Xianzhou soldiers.
Firefly-like starlight swirled around everyone.
The healing light brushed over every wound, smoothing out scars, erasing pain, restoring stamina, and reigniting spirits.
Everything was made new.
Feixiao was stunned again. Who?
Herta had invited others as well?
Just then, an even more bizarre scene appeared.
Feixiao's pupils contracted, and her breath almost stopped as she saw...
"Sand?"
Golden grains of sand gathered into a stream, pulling each other, gathering more and more, and soon forming a grand stream of sand.
Like a waking dragon, it wound and galloped between the stars, with an unstoppable momentum, charging straight at the Borisin beast-ship swarm.
"Ah—"
"It's a devil."
"Run!"
"Quick, run, ugh—"
The Borisin line collapsed instantly, as they steered their beast-ships to flee into the distance.
Unfortunately, wherever the sand stream passed, life withered.
The beast-ships that once dominated the star system and had fierce flames were quickly shriveled and cracked after being brushed by the flowing sand.
The metal shells withered and peeled off.
The flesh-constructed hulls were like dried branches, peeling off layer by layer, finally turning into wreckage floating in the vacuum.
The scene was extremely terrifying.
And the Borisin inside were not spared either.
The flowing sand seeped into the cabins, brushing over the flesh.
In an instant, the once-arrogant Borisin warriors had sunken eyes and cracked skin, turning into curled-up mummies.
Along with the withered beast-ships, they floated in the dead star sea.
The whole process was so fast it was almost absurd. Feixiao felt like it was just the blink of an eye.
One second, the beast-ship fleet was still full of killing intent; the next second, they had all become withered bones in the sand.
A huge wave rose in Feixiao's heart.
What kind of existence had Herta invited?
...
On the surface of Coruscant.
The Luofu Whistling Flames merchant guild ship.
Tingyun stood at the bow, her luxurious ancient-style dress fluttering in the wind.
She was extremely beautiful, with features like a painting, and her light green peach-blossom eyes were like spring water, with a faint natural charm in her gaze.
The fox ears on her head twitched slightly, and the fluffy cloud-like tail behind her swayed gently.
Revealing the shock and unease in her heart. She hadn't even recovered from the celestial barrier and the healing holy light.
A massive, entirely gilded figure of an Eagle Spirit with wings like blades spread its arms, and a thousand layers of flowing sand soared like an angry dragon, sweeping in all directions.
Wherever the sand stream passed, swaths of Borisin let out shrill roars.
The moisture in their bodies was instantly extracted, leaving only shriveled corpses like dry wood falling to the ground.
Tingyun took a light breath, the shock in her charming eyes hard to hide.
"Eagle Spirit... such power, could it be... a certain General of the Xianzhou has arrived in person?
But, an Eagle Spirit?
She didn't remember any Xianzhou General's spirit being an Eagle Spirit like this.
To be continued…