Reinforcements

In the test tube held by the Red Gloves, there seemed to be a section of a broken limb.

Its skin was like some kind of metal, and its bones were like crystal. It was a finger, undoubtedly a part taken from some Holy Remains. Whether as a seed for a Holy Mark or a vessel for descent, it was more than enough.

"With this much origin essence, it should be enough for initial development, right?"

The Red Gloves smiled and suddenly smashed the test tube in the box.

In an instant, countless shards of glass flew out, then dissipated into the air. They weren't meant to be material in the first place. The entire test tube was a container made by solidifying a universal solvent, solely to seal the inside and outside strictly.

And the moment it touched the air.

The finger bone trembled slightly, as if sensing the free air.

In an instant, the origin essence accumulated in the box over these days was drained dry, completely siphoned off by it. Immediately after, screams erupted from the auditorium.

Soon, the screams vanished.

Replaced by silence.

Only crystal-clear origin essence, like dewdrops, emerged from within, slowly seeping into the finger bone like a sweet rain. Following that, an aura of madness and malice surged from the finger bone.

Like a tidal wave, it swept out in all directions.

It was a storm.

A storm of hunger and malice.

It raged wildly into the distance, greedily enveloping everything, brutally seizing all consciousness, and autonomously drawing in all sensed origin essence… The range was the entire Old Pond Town!

The gravitational pull at the center was so strong that even Ascendants struggled to remain stable in that terrifying storm.

The Red Gloves took a few steps back, hearing a crackling sound. It was the sound of his own hair breaking.

A few strands of hair had become dry and brittle like wild grass, snapping in the wind and falling to the ground.

He raised his hand, touched his face, and felt the traces of wrinkles.

At the corners of his eyes, as if he had aged decades in an instant, dense wrinkles and age spots, typical of the elderly, appeared.

Immediately after, flesh began to sprout from the chipped gaps in the finger bone, and the bone grew… In an instant, the remaining Holy Mark was awakened, spontaneously drawing in the plundered origin essence and rapidly developing towards a complete form.

The seed was growing.

No, it should be said… recovering.

First came the first stage, Mercury, the legendary first metal, a fertile ground of origin essence completed by salt, sulfur, and mercury, the cornerstone of all things.

With this as its vessel, the consciousness remaining within the Holy Remains awoke from its slumber, casting a indifferent glance upon the world, now so unfamiliar.

Next was the second stage, Gold, the awakening of properties, the perfection of attributes. After the purification of origin essence, it formed a radiance like the sun.

However, this radiance was bluish-green, carrying a chilling coldness. Wherever it passed, everything seemed to have been weathered for centuries.

Turning to ash.

Then came the third stage, Aether, the path beyond the mortal realm.

The decaying form could no longer restrain that terrifying light. A power beyond common sense brewed within, as if planting the seed of divinity, reclaiming its original transcendent status, struggling with all its might to break free from the constraints of physical laws.

Just like the reverse scale of a dragon, the tail feather of a phoenix, the eye of Medusa, the wings of an angel, and the horns of a demon.

No longer bound by common sense.

Finally, the fourth stage, Stibium.

By now, that finger bone had transformed into a slender and fair palm, as if extending from the void, meticulously carved by a master craftsman, every detail flawless.

It had thoroughly sublimated, transcending the mortal world, no longer something mortals could touch!

It was only one step away from myth.

And at this moment, a roar echoed from afar, shaking the earth. Iron barriers grew from the ground, slowly enclosing Old Pond Town.

Isolating it from the outside.

The growth of the palm halted abruptly.

There was no more origin essence to allow it to continue recovering its original state.

As if sensing the sky outside the auditorium turning black, a sigh of regret came from the void.

The Red Gloves' expression suddenly changed. He took out a pocket watch-like depth gauge and saw the rapidly soaring numbers… In an instant, the boundary index had reached sixty percent…

This place was being stripped from reality by the Astronomical Society!

Just a little more.

Just a few dozen more seconds, and the Holy Remains could have recovered to the fifth stage, Philosopher's Stone, truly becoming a miracle of the world! It might even have been possible to recover beyond the stage of Crown, to wield divine authority…

However, the abyss between the fourth and fifth stages was now impossible to cross.

Too late!

"This is impossible… Did I stumble upon this by chance, or was I detected?"

The Red Gloves was stunned, murmuring darkly, completely unable to imagine where he had made a mistake, or if Wang Hai held some secret he hadn't uncovered yet.

Soon, he heard a faint voice.

It was like a whisper carried on the wind.

"Can't afford to worry about that anymore. Even with just one hand, it should be enough."

As he spoke, the hand gestured behind him, signaling him to stay back.

The next moment, it raised two fingers and waved them towards the direction above the auditorium. A sound like ripped cloth being torn by a machine echoed.

A hurricane erupted.

Where it passed, all bricks instantly weathered into dust, and wooden beams withered and broke, swept into the sky by the gale.

That one palm slowly rose, and between heaven and earth, it slowly clenched into a fist.

A sharp, piercing sound rang out, and the turbulent world suddenly froze, as if the operating mechanism had been tightly grasped by that hand.

The Reality Stripping procedure had come to an abrupt halt.

It was as if the entire space had been solidified within the hurricane.

Suddenly, a roar came from afar.

.

"Illegal border crossing detected, soul imprint comparison complete, threat level increased—"

Within the brief moment of its appearance, Ai Qing's phone received an alert from satellites overhead, even identifying the origin of the hand:

Terrorist organization 'Green Day' affiliated mutant—'Ten Calamities' Fourth: Wind Calamity, Threat Level A, disaster alert sent.

Despite their shock and resistance to Ai Qing's report just moments ago, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, genuinely grateful for her stubbornness.

Only Ai Qing's expression grew increasingly grim as she silently flipped her phone.

But she still hadn't received any messages from Huai Shi and the others confirming their successful evacuation.

"Tsk..."

She frowned in annoyance, then quickly stopped hesitating and looked up, asking, "Then what are you waiting for? For him to order? Hasn't the Special Affairs Department even made final preparations?"

After receiving confirmation from both the middle-aged man and Ai Qing, less than ten seconds later, a roar came from afar.

Thunderous roars echoed one after another, and the earth trembled.

Three kilometers outside the cordon, on a high slope, smoke and dust continuously rose, the pungent smell of gunpowder spreading with the constant tremors.

Steel behemoths lay prostrate on the ground, reflecting a cold light under the illumination.

Following the command from the command center, the massive base unfolded, as if wedged into the earth, and the heavy cannon barrel slowly rose, pointing diagonally at the sky.

Distance calculation complete.

Impact point calculation complete.

The next moment, fire erupted!

Eleven long-awaited howitzers roared, projecting deadly iron light into the sky. In the next instant, a terrifying force, enough to incinerate the entire church dozens of times over, descended from above.

The hand that had been locked in a stalemate with the cordon seemed to sense the sudden attack. The little finger on its side lifted slightly and flicked outwards.

A hurricane surged, and an iron hue lit up within it. The violent wind sounds collided, actually emitting sharp noises, and countless sparks flashed within.

The Iron Flow Wind swept out, fiercely shattering half of the grenades. Then, that little finger lightly swiped, and the Iron Flow Wind collapsed inwards, gathering the remaining grenades into a single point.

The next moment, a scorching burst of fire exploded in the sky.

The sudden burst of fire illuminated the unharmed hand.

Then, a second wave of bombardment descended!

"—Very good, continue, maintain the suppression fire."

In the command room, the middle-aged man became excited, showing no sign of discouragement.

The counterattack from the Wind Calamity's hand proved one thing: it was not yet capable of withstanding a direct bombardment. Otherwise, there would be no need to waste time on such things.

The reality plane, as a sanctuary for ordinary people and the cornerstone of the world, had the strictest regulations and rules. Unless one reached the 'natural enemy' rank, transforming into a walking hell on earth, it would be absolutely impossible to directly contend with physical laws.

As long as the firepower was sufficient, under the encirclement of the army, there were precedents of 'coronated ones' falling.

"It's a shame, if only we had missiles..."

Ai Qing sighed regretfully, hearing the man's surprised shout: "High-level reality reinforcements have already departed!"

She was stunned, first relieved, then vaguely felt something was wrong: the current reality guardian on duty in Dongxia seemed... not very reliable, right?

Thinking of the rumors circulating among her colleagues, her heart sank again.

Under the frantic firing of sixteen howitzers, even with constant counterattacks, that hand, which was resisting the forces of the cordon, was still sinking inch by inch.

It was being suppressed.

Even the entire church had largely collapsed. Unfortunately, no signs of survivors were seen in the observation.

This was expected.

The mutant known as the Beast of Wind Calamity was most skilled at creating origin essence vortices, drawing others' origin essence as fuel. Now, inside the church, no, the entire Old Pond Town was probably already...

During the brief waiting period, the atmosphere in the command center gradually became more solemn.

Normally, reinforcements would be 'air-dropped' directly into the current reality via secret realm transit, a process that took less than three minutes. Yet, the wait this time felt incredibly long. Only the arriving reinforcements, guardians of the current reality, kept sending text messages to reassure the people in the command center.

"We've set off!"

"Coming, coming, we're on our way."

"One minute until we arrive!"

Messages arrived every few minutes. At first, everyone held onto hope, but as time went on, they lost the will to say anything further.

Finally, dire news came from the artillery positions.

Ammunition depleted.

"There's some traffic, I'll be there soon!"

As the text message alert sounded, a hand, faintly scorched black, was suddenly raised. It ferociously shattered the power stripping the current reality. Then, the five fingers clenched into a fist, and a hurricane gathered, casting a distant reflection upon the iron enclosure that had sealed off the entirety of Old Pond Town.

The next instant.

Smash!

The earth trembled and the mountains shook.

Amidst the howling hurricane, it was as if countless artillery shells roared in unison. The invisible wall that physically sealed the surroundings began to vibrate violently. The iron enclosure boomed, the ground at its foundation shook, and traces of cracking appeared.

The blockade had loosened.

A crack also appeared on that hand, but it paid no mind. It was raised again, and smash!

Boom!

On the iron enclosure, the crack spread further, accompanied by a metallic groan.

The people in the command center had pale faces, yet reinforcements were still nowhere in sight. All they received was a lighthearted text message:

"Hold on, I'll be there once I take a detour!"

Boom!

That fist struck out again.

This time, the fissure on the iron enclosure expanded once more, revealing a fatal gap.

The Wind Calamity beast broke free from its cage!

Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp~