Qingxi River is a not-very-wide small river located in the northern part of Tivian. The King's Campus was built alongside Qingxi Lake, and the water flowing out of Qingxi Lake becomes the Qingxi River. This small river flows south all the way from Qingxi Lake, entering the City of Tivian and joining the Moonflow River, eventually flowing into the sea.
River Irrigation Bridge is located not far outside the King's Campus. It is a small bridge spanning the Qingxi River, and a road passes over this bridge leading south, one of the roads connecting the King's Campus and the City of Tivian.
At the entrance of the River Irrigation Bridge during the night, the calm river water flowed through the bridge's arch, making a gurgling sound. A river breeze blew across the surface, rustling the trees on both banks, and the streetlights along the road emitted a dim light.
"Hiss..."
In the cool river breeze, Naifnis, standing at the bridge entrance, hugged herself, tightened her clothes, and then glanced around at the quiet, empty surroundings.
"So cold... How much longer do I have to wait here?"
Naifnis murmured as she looked at her surroundings. After seeing the message Dorothy had written to her, Naifnis immediately came to the entrance of the River Irrigation Bridge and waited silently there as Dorothy had instructed.
Thinking this, Naifnis opened the book she was holding, picked up a pen, and began to write on it.
"Excuse me, Miss Dorothy, I have arrived at the entrance of the River Irrigation Bridge. How long do I need to wait here now?"
Delicate handwriting appeared on the page, then merged into it and vanished, but soon, a reply appeared before Naifnis's eyes.
"Just wait a little longer, the person who will meet you is arriving soon."
'The person who will meet me? Has Miss Dorothy already arranged for someone to pick me up? In that case, the other party should also be a member of the Rose Cross, right? Could it be Mr. Brandon?'
Looking at the words on the page before her, Naifnis couldn't help but think this way, and she felt a little more at ease.
Just like that, Naifnis continued to wait at the bridge entrance.
After a while, Naifnis still didn't see any figures. Just as she was thinking of writing something to ask Dorothy a couple of questions, there was a sudden rustling sound of disturbed grass and trees behind her.
'Are they here?'
Thinking this, Naifnis immediately turned her face and looked in the direction of the sound, and then her expression froze on her face.
Naifnis saw that at this moment, six figures were slowly walking out of the woods behind her. The streetlights illuminated their faces, and Naifnis realized that she recognized every single person before her.
Leading these people was Ci Rong, wearing a familiar mask. Beside Ci Rong were his henchmen, including members directly under him from the Eight Point Nest, as well as highly corrupted worshippers from the Secret Knowledge Society. Among them was Eile, looking at her with a gloomy expression. In Eile's hand, a furry spider was perched.
"Hiss..."
"Finally, I see you, you little bitch, Boyle..."
Looking at Naifnis in front of him, Ci Rong said slowly. Following the slowly crawling spider, they had spent a great deal of time and finally found Naifnis's trace.
The moment she saw Ci Rong and the others, Naifnis's face turned pale, and she immediately turned and ran. Eile chased after her at an astonishing speed in an instant, then slapped Naifnis to the ground. Naifnis cried out in pain.
"Ah!"
"Don't even think about running, traitor."
Looking at Naifnis lying on the ground, Eile said coldly. At this moment, Ci Rong also brought the others and slowly surrounded her, forming a circle around Naifnis, who was huddled in fear, looking at Eile before her.
"E-Eile Senior... wake up! Wake up quickly! You've been misled by Ci Rong! He's using us!"
Naifnis, cornered, pleaded with the Senior from the Society who was before her. However, Eile remained completely unmoved, while Ci Rong, standing nearby, spoke instead.
"Shut up, traitor, or I'll kill you right now!"
After speaking, Ci Rong looked at Eile beside him and asked.
"What should we do now?"
"We've caught her, take her back for interrogation. We'll get whatever information we can."
Eile finished speaking, and then two henchmen nearby prepared to lift Naifnis and leave. Just as the terrified Naifnis was about to shout something again, a familiar voice suddenly echoed in Naifnis's mind.
"Great Aka, I want to inform Naifnis to get ready now. When you hear a gunshot, immediately run and roll into the grass on the stone beach below the riverbank."
'Gunshot?'
Hearing this voice, Neff was stunned for a moment, and then the next moment, a cracking sound echoed through the night sky over the riverbank.
"Bang!!"
A huge gunshot rang out, and a bullet flew from the opposite bank of the river, across the water, and with extreme precision, pierced the head of the masked person in the crowd. Ci Rong, shot in the head, his brains splattering, his lifeless body fell down just like that.
At this moment, on the opposite bank of the Qingxi River, in a patch of shadow, Vanya's figure was standing there, holding a rifle pointed at the far bank of the river. A faint wisp of white smoke was still rising from the dark muzzle.
After arriving at the scene, Vanya saw the situation on the opposite bank. After quickly writing a couple of sentences to Dorothy to inform her of the situation, she took action.
On this side of the river, watching Ci Rong's body fall, everyone present was startled by this scene. Naifnis, who had been warned and was prepared, immediately got up and ran, ready to roll down the nearby riverbank. The nearest henchman saw this and immediately went to stop her.
"Don't think you can escape!"
"Bang!!"
The second gunshot rang out, and the henchman who had just gone to stop her also fell to the ground, shot. Naifnis also took the opportunity to roll down the riverbank and fell into the grass on the stone beach. Seeing this scene, Eile nearby shouted loudly.
"Sniper! Find cover!"
Amidst Eile's shouts, the remaining henchmen immediately began to look for cover and hide, while Eile determined the sniper's position through the muzzle flash on the riverbank, then stepped onto the River Irrigation Bridge and sped towards the opposite bank of the river at an astonishing speed.
During this time, Eile's face began to squirm and deform, eventually turning into another young male face. This... was Ci Rong's original face that should have been hidden beneath the mask.
'Hmph! It was just a precaution in case, but I didn't expect to actually need it!'
Eile... or rather, Ci Rong, thought this in his heart. During the slow tracking process following the spider earlier, Ci Rong had considered the possibility of encountering other combatants from the Rose Cross at the end of the pursuit and the possibility of a fight. After the incident at North Pine Forest Farm where he was ambushed, he had become slightly more cautious. When he came, he had swapped identities with Eile.
Ci Rong had Eile put on his mask, while he himself used his ability to transform into Eile's appearance. He is a Shadow Masked Man, on the Path of """Shadow""", a Black Earth Stage Extraordinary primarily of """Shadow""" and secondarily of """Cup""", possessing the ability to freely change his appearance and easily disguise himself as others.
Friendly reminder: The website is about to be revised, which may cause loss of reading progress. Please save your "Bookshelf" and "Reading History" in time (screenshots are recommended). We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause!
Relying on this identity swap, Ci Rong successfully avoided being killed by the first sniper shot while completely unprepared. Now it was time for him to launch his counterattack. Based on what he had just seen, there was only one point of muzzle flash on the opposite bank of the river, so there weren't many people who had come.
On the opposite bank of the Qingxi River, Vanya, who was propped up with a rifle and shooting, watched the extreme shadow rapidly approaching her side, and her heart couldn't help but feel extremely nervous.
'Ahhh... I clearly killed the head of those guys, why haven't they scattered yet?'
Seeing the rapidly approaching shadow, Vanya thought frantically in her heart. When she had communicated with Dorothy in the car earlier, the other party had told her that if a fight occurred and the opponent had a leader, it would either be a bald man or a masked man. If she encountered a bald man, she should run immediately, and if she encountered a masked man, she should sneak attack and snipe the masked man with one shot, and then she could fight.
But now, Vanya had clearly killed the masked man, but the other party showed no signs of retreating. Helplessly, facing the rapidly approaching shadow from the bridge, after Vanya fired a shot and missed, she threw away her rifle, then drew a long sword from her waist, and affixed a Symbol to herself.
That was the Raw Consumption Symbol seized from Field Manor during the battle of Luer. Vanya also got a lot when the spoils were divided.
After Vanya finished attaching the Raw Consumption Symbol, Ci Rong's figure had already rushed in front of her. He drew a short knife from his hand and slashed rapidly towards Vanya. Vanya raised her long sword to parry, just managing to block the incoming short knife.
"Clang!"
The crisp, loud clash of weapons echoed through the darkness. Ci Rong, who had been hiding in the dark as a sniper, felt a moment of surprise that his swift attack was blocked. He immediately flashed to Vanya's side, changing his angle to attack her again, but he was still blocked by Vanya, who had reacted in time. She flicked her sword, deflecting the short knife to the side, then, seizing the opportunity, she thrust her sword straight for Ci Rong's throat, but Ci Rong dodged with unusual agility, only a small piece of fabric was sliced from his clothing corner.
"""This sword technique..."""
Seeing the sword technique Vanya displayed, Ci Rong couldn't help but start to take the enemy before him seriously. He then focused his mind even more, and raising his short knife, he engaged Vanya in close combat.
For a time, figures leaped and darted across the field, and the sound of clashing blades and knives rang out incessantly.
Ci Rong is an Extraordinary person assisting the """Cup""", so his strength is not low. It is comparable to the Thirster among normal Apprentices, and also to Vanya who used Life Devour, therefore, the two sides are almost equal in terms of strength. In terms of skill and experience, Vanya steadily surpasses Ci Rong by a margin, however, Vanya's advantage in skill cannot secure victory at this time, because the speed difference between the two sides is too great.
Ci Rong is a Black Rank """Shadow""", in terms of agility and speed, he is a notch higher than the Stealth Shadow of the normal Student Rank, therefore, the speed difference between Vanya and Ci Rong is very large, so large that it is difficult to compensate with skill.
After Ci Rong became focused and serious, Vanya began to be increasingly at a disadvantage in the battle. Her attacks simply could not hit the agile Ci Rong, while Ci Rong, using his speed advantage, continuously attacked Vanya from various angles. After Vanya's first two attack attempts failed, she was forced to switch to full defense, parrying Ci Rong's swift offensives from constantly changing angles.
Ci Rong's attacks are fast and have many angles. He can even rely on his ability to temporarily sink into the darkness, reduce his presence, and then launch a sudden surprise attack, therefore, many of the attacks launched by Ci Rong are outside Vanya's blind spots. If Vanya hadn't activated her 'mind's eye', allowing her to perceive the enemy's attacks without blind spots and parry them in time, and also able to predict the opponent's movements and attacks in advance based on master-level experience, she would have died countless times already.
This is the absolute stats gap brought about by the difference in rank. Unless Ci Rong's speed is reduced by forty percent, otherwise, Vanya cannot win.
"'Ah... I can't hit him at all, I can only passively parry, I won't last long!'", Vanya cried out helplessly in her heart, if this continues, she will soon be defeated.
Although she has the blessings of Life Devour and Laulent Sword Technique, Vanya is clearly still unable to directly challenge a Black Rank opponent across ranks, and the opponent is an extremely strong close-combatant, a """Shadow""" plus """Cup""".
"""Lord... please help me!"""
...
During this bitter battle, Vanya prayed desperately in her heart, meanwhile, far away in the underground secret room, Dorothy, who was anxiously waiting for news, couldn't help but be startled when she heard this prayer, and her brows furrowed.
"""This is... Vanya's prayer, is the situation above not very good?"""
Hearing Vanya's prayer, Dorothy instantly became a little nervous. She wanted to help at this moment but couldn't actually understand the situation above at all. As she was pondering, a thought suddenly occurred to her.
"""System, can I obtain the visual information of the connected person through the information channel?""", Dorothy asked the system, since the information channel can transmit all kinds of information, and visual signals are essentially a type of information, then they should also be able to be transmitted. And as expected, the system immediately replied.
"""Yes, but for complete real-time transmission of visual information, the information channel needs to be widened. Each time this is done, it will consume additional 'Qi', and the other party must not resist."""
It really works! Just widen the network cable! Hearing the system's reply, Dorothy's heart brightened, and she immediately sent her prayer to Vanya and Naifnis on the ground.
"""Great Aka, I will provide help to my companions in the bloody battle, please do not resist."""
After sending out the prayer, Dorothy's expression became serious, and then she spoke to the system.
"""System, prepare to connect Vanya's and Naifnis's visual information for me."""
...
Above ground, on one side of the Qingxi River bank, Naifnis, who had just fallen below the river embankment, was quietly moving forward in the grass on the stone beach below the embankment. Listening to the continuous clear sounds coming from the other side of the river, she couldn't help but feel a surge of tension in her heart.
"""Is the reinforcement Miss Dorothy mentioned fighting over there? I hope they can win, it's a shame I can't help as an ordinary person."""
While thinking this, Naifnis made her way to a staircase in the distance, and then cautiously climbed back onto the river embankment using this staircase, and then looked back towards the River Irrigation Bridge entrance where she had just been.
Naifnis saw the remaining few henchmen of Ci Rong emerging from cover. They gathered at the bridge entrance, looking towards the distant battlefield, seemingly talking about something. At their feet were two corpses that had been shot earlier.
"""Those few, they aren't planning to go over and help, are they... I don't know how many people Miss Dorothy's reinforcement has, but if these guys go over to help, won't it be bad..."""
Looking at the scene in the distance, Naifnis thought worriedly, and just then, a familiar voice echoed in her mind again.
"""Great Aka, I will provide help to my companions in the bloody battle, please do not resist..."""
"""This is... Miss Dorothy's voice?"""
Hearing this voice, Naifnis felt slightly puzzled, and then felt a strange sensation in her mind, but because of the voice just now, after hesitating for a while, she didn't resist this feeling, and Vanya, who was fighting in the distance, also made the same choice.
Then, Naifnis's and Vanya's visual information began to be transmitted to Dorothy's mind through the information channel. At this moment, what the two of them saw before their eyes, Dorothy could also see, their field of vision was Dorothy's field of vision.
This feeling was not unfamiliar to Dorothy, it was like a Corpse Puppet providing her with a field of vision, except this time, the Corpse Puppet was replaced by a person.
After consuming 2 points of """enlightenment""" and successfully connecting to Vanya's and Naifnis's fields of vision, Dorothy in the secret room immediately began to observe the battlefield, seemingly searching for something.
Vanya's field of vision was dazzling, filled with scattered knife gleams and rapidly moving phantoms everywhere, while Naifnis's field of vision was very stable. Dorothy then found what she was looking for within Naifnis's field of vision—two corpses, the two corpses that Vanya had killed at the beginning.
"""Got it, since it's a battle... there must be corpses..."""
Looking at the corpses within Naifnis's field of vision, Dorothy smiled slightly, then activated the Corpse Puppet Ring, and began to control those corpses from an ultra-long distance, through the thick layers of earth.
That's right, the reason Dorothy borrowed Naifnis's and their fields of vision was to use them as observation points, activate the Corpse Puppet Ring, and control the corpses on the battlefield.
Dorothy's Corpse Puppet Ring has a maximum control distance of a three-kilometer radius. Dorothy seems to be deep underground, on the sixth floor of the underground ruins, but in fact, these six floors combined do not exceed a depth of sixty meters. Such a depth hardly affects Dorothy's control distance, now Dorothy can be entirely seen as simply unable to move within a certain point in the King's Campus.
Three kilometers is enough to cross some small counties in Dorothy's previous life. The ruins of the Xing Shu Xiu Shu Hui (Star Numerology Scripture Society) are located beneath the King's Campus, and the location where the battle is taking place is not too far from the King's Campus, it's only about one kilometer away, which is exactly at the limit of the Corpse Puppet control range for Dorothy, who is underground. Dorothy only needs to perceive that area and have a view of it to make the Corpse Puppet Ring work and raise the corpses.