Li Hao quickly snapped back to his senses. This was no time to marvel at archaeology, it was very dangerous! His teacher had said that these ruins were hazardous, filled with sharp blades that suddenly appeared, footsteps that heralded death, and flames that instantly burned a person to death. Perils lurked everywhere.
Another shriek echoed in the distance; it was slightly pained!
Li Hao’s ears twitched—it wasn’t too far away from them. It might be from the next street over! There were also faint sounds of weapons clashing against each other. Were the black-armored soldiers fighting the newly arrived supernaturals?
“Let’s go!” Li Hao darted out of the alley and made for the street across the way. Liu Long and Liu Yan quickly caught up to him. While they didn’t know the young man’s goal, all they needed to do was follow him at this stage. They didn’t know anything here.
As Li Hao drew close to the shriek, he saw a battle underway in a plaza. Just as the young man surmised, it was black-clad soldiers on one side, roughly forty of them. On the other were the independent supernaturals and small organizations that’d come in first.
Blood splattered the ground. Black-armored soldiers had suddenly appeared alongside the footsteps, but their arrival brought the extinguishment of light. It used to be that Li Hao and the rest could see things clearly because there was illumination, but now this place was frightfully dark.
It wasn’t until a fire supernatural lit his mysterious power that the crowd could see that armored strangers had suddenly appeared around them. Color drained from their faces—how could there be anyone here??
“It’s the Night Watchers!” someone roared. Only the Night Watchers had explored these ruins before, so their first thought was that these people were all Night Watchers! The agency had left people behind!
Footsteps sounded; a Black Armor appeared next to him the moment he called out. The soldier walked on the ground instead of flying or leaping around. A sword was unsheathed with a schick and sank into flesh, separating head from neck. The person who’d cried out was summarily executed without another word!
He was decently strong as a Fullmoon, but counted among the weak for this expedition. Even so, Fullmoons were powerhouses in Silver Moon. And yet, he’d been slain with one stroke by a Black Armor!
Not only that, but the fire supernatural who’d lit a flame gasped as footsteps sounded in his ear. Three swords shot out of the void, aimed high, middle, and low. They sealed off all directions and connected at the same time, sectioning the man into three.
Spontaneous elimination!
The fire supernatural was a Plenilune close to Sunflare, but he hadn’t been able to defend against the attack either!
Firelight faded away. Someone wanted to scream with terror among the crowd, but another person with a rapidly shifting expression quickly said, “Don’t make a sound and don’t create light...”
He felt danger around him as soon as he spoke, but he needed to remind his peers! Instead of creating more sound, he punched outward and sought to dive into the ground. Shock filled his face instead.
He couldn’t bend the earth!
Damn it, his skills were inapplicable here! He never thought there would be a ground that could inhibit the earth bending skills of an earth supernatural. His punch had come with considerable force and sent a soldier reeling. But because he couldn’t escape into the earth, a sword appeared in front of his chest the next moment and stabbed deep.
Powerful earth energy exploded to defend its master, but more footsteps sounded in the blink of an eye. Five swords appeared, jabbing at his head, throat, temples... All of his vital points were targeted by a sword, and enormous force powered them!
One sword sank into his throat with a soft sound, followed by a second, a third...
All of the swords found their target and the earth supernatural sagged to the ground. He was a Sunflare! Not only did his skills prove ineffective in this place, but he died without understanding the circumstances.
Quiet draped over the premises while the group was horrified beyond belief. They didn’t dare make a sound or create light to see by. Darkness shrouded them, freezing their thoughts with fear. Enormous regret assailed them! They shouldn’t have come! What were these soldiers in black armor? Night Watchers? Who were they kidding?
The Night Watchers would’ve brought out this force a long time ago if they possessed it. Others had been able to estimate these soldiers as moderate Darkmoons. But they didn’t exude energy ripples, making them more like martial masters.
Martial masters, however, at least breathed and had a heartbeat. These soldiers didn’t seem to have anything. They deployed their weapons in a very methodical way as opposed to random haphazardness. They were so well-coordinated that it was unbelievable!
One could avoid the first stroke, but maybe not the second. And after that came a third and fourth!
There were only approximately forty people present from the small organizations, roughly the same number as the Black Armors. Some had died before reaching this spot, and now more had just died to the soldiers. Even though there were numerous Sunflares among the group, none of them dared make a sound or move a limb. They didn’t even dare give rise to stronger energy ripples.
When supernaturals didn’t dare utilize their abilities, their reaction speed, battle capabilities, night vision, and other skills were less than martial masters. Martial masters excelled in terms of physique. Their bodies were very durable even if they didn’t deploy their internal force. Thus, martial master night vision was excellent, but supernaturals had to rely on their mysterious power to bolster their eyesight in the dark.
They could only vaguely discern faint outlines in the gloom. When someone in the expedition activated their power for a better look, sharp swords swiftly cut through the air. That educated the remaining supernaturals that energy ripples, sound, and light would all attract attention. It was safer to not move.
These Black Armors didn’t seem to be alive, utilizing sound and supernatural ripples to determine the direction of their targets. So... did that mean the survivors would be safe if they didn’t move?
Flight supernaturals could no longer contain themselves when they felt a black shadow approaching them. One of them swiftly shot into the sky to escape from this place!
Being able to fly was often the most surefire way to preserve oneself. This particular supernatural was fine at first when he soared into the sky. As he exulted in the joy of escaping, a ray of light abruptly shot through the air. He didn’t have time to stop or evade it. Instead, he exploded like he’d been hit by a missile!
The ray of light also illuminated the ground, revealing the supernaturals in hiding. They cursed inwardly and were shocked out of their senses. What was that?? A flight supernatural had been obliterated by a ray of light!
The key thing was, the ray brought clarity to the situation on the ground. Black Armors searching for the interlopers focused with sudden accuracy and attacked.
“Ah!!” Screams and shrieks abounded!
Black metal swords slashed through multiple throats or ran through numerous heads. A powerhouse couldn’t withstand the pressure and unleashed fire energy with a roar, sending out searing flames with a burst.
A Black Armor was sent flying and fell to the ground. While it wasn’t incinerated, everyone could see it struggle to regain its footing. That brought hope to the heavyweights in the crowd. Joy dawned on their faces!
While these soldiers were strong, they weren’t invincible. They could still be taken down! Some more Sunflares rose in resistance at the sight, further exposing the limits to Black Armor strength. Despite their synchronization, multiple soldiers were sent flying. Since the supernaturals were fighting, they didn’t care about making sound anymore.
“These suits of armor seem to be supernatural objects, they’re hard to destroy! Knock them back and attack them through the air. Also, don’t fly ourselves. There might be an air restriction in place here...” Those more knowledgeable and experienced quickly identified the various prohibitions of their area.
They could not fly! Flying past a certain height would result in that ray of light that annihilated a Sunflare. Who dared fly after that? The supernaturals fought back en masse!
Some took advantage of the chaos to run. Cursing, the Sunflares caught in battle fled as they fought. There were more people entering the ruins behind them. They needed to find the large organizations as those had Solars and origin weapons. They didn’t want to needlessly go to their deaths anymore!
As strong as the Black Armors were and as many as the soldiers had killed, they could only watch as multiple powerhouses fled the scene.
Soldiers that’d fallen to the ground picked themselves up after a while. They gave chase, chasing the trespassers to the end of the plaza. As the survivors fled for their lives, these soldiers seemed to receive a command that recalled the entire squad.
Black Armors vanished in the dark, walking toward Li Hao and the others. The sound of footsteps slowly faded away.
When they were gone, the trio finally dared to exhale their breaths and wipe away foreheads dripping with sweat.
Fuck, that was scary! Those soldiers looked to be only Darkmoon, but they were undying. Those that’d been incapacitated could stand up at the end and walk off like nothing had taken place. There’d been at least a dozen Sunflares in that group of supernaturals. A couple had died in the blink of an eye and more than a dozen Darkmoon slain. They’d lost half of their number, but didn’t take out a single Black Armor.
Out of the trio, only Liu Long could truly stand against initial Sunflare at the moment. Li Hao might be able to, whereas Liu Yan would have a difficult fight on their hands. If they ran into a handful of Black Armors, that would be the end of the road for them.
It was awful! And there hadn’t been that many soldiers on the scene. The trio knew that there were plenty more near the inner city.
Could this ancient city even be explored by humans?
“Let’s... go....” Liu Long was wavering. There was a difference between being brave and rushing to one’s death. After seeing the soldiers in action, he felt that just five of them would absolutely be enough to kill him. And the key thing was, the enemy wouldn’t die! That was the most despairing of all!