Siege Hammer (Part 2)

Everything that had happened in the compartment felt strangely familiar to Ronan.

One was Fearful Roar, which had almost recreated Ronan's experience on the overpass. On the soul level, it exposed even more essential things. Judging by everyone else's expressions, though, they clearly still knew nothing about things like "spores."

The other was the fallen "Brave Warrior." Ronan felt his sudden misfortune deeply. When he had been forcibly dragged out of his body earlier, that same dim, invisible shock had passed through him, blasting his "soul" right out.

Now that he looked at it, this was truly a Siege Hammer that acted directly upon the soul. One blow, and the physical body in reality had no means of resistance whatsoever, leaving the soul exposed to a direct strike—there was something profoundly occult about it.

"Brave Warrior" clearly lacked the ability of Astral Projection. This blow was probably very bad news.

Ronan's thoughts stirred. He bore no grudge against the military combat personnel. He had no wish for lives to be lost because of some inexplicable "Darkside Creature." After a brief hesitation, he issued his first command to the Burning Demon Shadow since the battle began.

Inside the compartment, the Burning Demon Shadow paused slightly. The Dark Seclusion flames it controlled had already burned away all the restraining forces around it, restoring its freedom and greatly increasing its power. Yet Ronan's command traveled through the chain directly to its Core Layer, leaving it with little ability to refuse.

The Burning Demon Shadow split off a streak of bloody light, swept up the smoke spilling from "Brave Warrior's" body, and forcibly stuffed it back in. It then circled through the air, treating the Fire Clouds continuously erupting around it as though they were nothing, before wrapping itself in dark flames and crimson light and escaping the compartment.

At the same time, Ronan's Soul Body silently followed more than ten meters behind.

According to Liu Tao, the military used Shadow Mist to detect Darkside Creatures by observing whether signals across various information bands showed a tendency to interfere with reality. Ronan did not understand the calculations involved, but he knew that his current state, even if the Burning Demon Shadow had forced him into it, could be maintained for long periods mostly because of his own "Format."

His Astral Projection naturally carried a tendency to interfere with reality. Otherwise, he would have become something nonhuman in that chaotic darkness—how could that be possible? In that case, within the Shadow Mist, he was likely a natural Signal Source. If he and the Burning Demon Shadow went in completely opposite directions, it was hard to say who would be caught first.

A diversion was out of the question. He could only pull the wool over their eyes...

Holding the chain, he kept neither too close nor too far away, following behind the Burning Demon Shadow while carefully adjusting his route.

The Burning Demon Shadow still existed on a level beyond ordinary sight. Yet because its immense power frequently interfered with reality, it appeared in the military's detection system like blazing flames, radiating murderous brilliance in every direction.

The well-trained soldiers outside lagged by only about half a second before, prompted by the alert, turning their gun barrels and using those special Fire Clouds to seal off the corridor.

However, the Burning Demon Shadow had used Fearful Roar, absorbing others' fear in a peculiar manner for its own use. Its power had surged for the moment, making even Ronan struggle to control it, much less these soldiers who could only rely on specialized equipment to fight.

Even though Fire Clouds filled most of the corridor, the Burning Demon Shadow continued onward as it pleased. It occasionally fired pinpoint shots with the Siege Hammer. Although Ronan repeatedly restrained it, preventing damage on the scale of the first strike, anyone hit still collapsed on the spot, unconscious and difficult to rouse.

Faced with an invisible enemy, not even knowing why they had fallen, such an eerie situation was an immense test of Human Hearts and will.

Even strictly trained soldiers could only follow their combat manuals and maintain continuous fire. The fear and panic in their hearts were ultimately unavoidable.

Against the Burning Demon Shadow, this was an unsolvable deadlock. As a result, the number of strange "spores" in the corridor surged again. They rose in great quantities not only from the wealthy second-generation youths who had broken down, but also from the soldiers in battle, spreading, infecting, and exchanging among themselves.

The power of fear was like an avalanche, crashing down upon everyone present. The combat formation made up of elite soldiers, as well as the rhythm of their successive fire, had visibly begun to fall into disorder.

"1, 2, 3... 7, 8!"

Including the one still lying in the compartment, there were nine well-trained elite soldiers wearing advanced Exoskeleton Armor. The combat squad they formed was enough to contend with powerful Aberrant Species in the wilderness.

Yet beneath the Burning Demon Shadow's savage might, they had no ability to fight back at all.

Watching this scene, Ronan felt somewhat conflicted.

Just that morning, he had still been a suspect forcibly detained by the police. Faced with an apparatus of violence, he could only obediently bow his head. Yet only a few short hours later, the power he dominated was already capable of defeating an elite military squad head-on. This power was strong and terrifying, mysterious yet tangible.

Still, judging from what he saw now, it was also clear just how overwhelmed the planetary government was when facing the wilderness, Aberrant Species, and Darkside Creatures.

Ronan was not the sort of good child who worried about the country and its people, but he remembered a saying:

Everyone is only three hundred kilometers from the wilderness.

Every person on this planet faced the threat of Aberrant Species, and now it seemed that threat was far greater than the government and media usually claimed!

Ronan was not one to indulge in sentimentality. He quickly recovered from his reflections, slightly reined in the Burning Demon Shadow's ferocity, and adjusted the route, preparing to pass through walls again and return to his body.

Yet the next moment, the Burning Demon Shadow sent back a restless reaction. Only a fraction of a second after it did, Ronan also sensed something inexplicably. Shifting his attention, he heard a series of heavy footsteps.

At the end of the corridor, a vivid color like deep blue Seawater turned around the corner and approached step by step.

It was another suit of Exoskeleton Armor. Its slightly flattened, faceted helmet had once been called "the most masculine exoskeleton design."

But to Ronan, it looked like a praying mantis before it pounced. The reflected light from every angle possessed the piercing sharpness of a blade.

A low, thin hiss sounded from behind the fully enclosed helmet. At the same time, the shoulder and neck, chest and abdomen, ribs, limbs, and every other part of the exoskeleton underwent subtle distortions. In an instant, the entire armor seemed to swell by a full size.

Strange grids of light began to appear across the armor's painted surface, forming straight lines, arcs, hyperbolas, and various other shapes.

Fine currents seemed to dart across the armor's shell, but upon closer inspection, how could they be currents? They were clearly a layer of densely interwoven flames, clinging tightly to the deep blue armor like Seawater.

Only the dazzling firelight swayed faintly.

Deep Blue Walker... Prototype Format state!

Several thoughts flashed through Ronan's mind in rapid succession before converging on one:

Format Fire!

Before the thought had fully passed, translucent firelight spilled from the Deep Blue Walker's advancing form. Clear and limpid in texture, it swept silently through the corridor like spreading ripples, then intertwined with the Fire Clouds unleashed by the military, instantly producing an astonishing reaction.