Chapter 159

Yuan looked puzzled.

The Beacon Anelace is Second-Generation Beacon developed based on Fifina. In terms of operation and function, it inherits Fifina's most unique ability to enhance vision. If even Anilas cannot detect anything unusual, then everyone else must be the same.

"This is Miss Efnir's decision, and I trust Efnir judgment, as does the Commander. Sometimes intuition is also part of strength. Miss Efnir must have discovered something we overlooked, otherwise she wouldn't have lit the signal flare so easily."

That's true.

When encountering B-class and C-Rank Erosion Entity Erosion Entity, Efnir didn't even bother to sound the alarm; instead, she decisively and swiftly engaged and eliminated them.

Since a signal flare was fired, something must have happened.

Yuan nodded knowingly and didn't ask any further questions.

Yukina leaned against the window, looking outside.

Anilas was also gazing at the misty rain when, suddenly, a faint glimmer of light disappeared into the gray sky, which Anilas noticed.

"Um?"

The warning flashed by in an instant, Anilas immediately stood up, pressed herself against the window, rolled it down, and activated the Order Force to enhance her vision before casting her gaze again.

But before she could see anything clearly, a strange change occurred in that instant—a crimson beam of light flashed on the horizon, and in just a moment, it pierced through the sky, landing straight on the Left Wing of the convoy. It slashed through like a red-hot sword, penetrating dozens of meters inward from the outermost edge of the convoy. All the vehicles swept by that eerie red light were instantly cut in half.

Anilas witnessed the entire process, from the appearance of the beam of light to its arrival and disappearance.

In less than 0.3 seconds, before Anilas could recover from her previous doubts, the vehicles of the Right Wing troops approaching the outermost perimeter were engulfed in deafening explosions.

The scorching wind and the ear-piercing explosions ignited the silent rain in an instant.

"Enemy attack!!!"

Almost instinctively, Anilas kicked open the car door. The next moment, a silvery-white light shone around her, the straps of her dress swayed in the wind and rain with her hair, and a long, narrow, black gun barrel extended from in front of her arm. She lay prone on the roof with one hand upside down, and with lightning speed, pulled the trigger in the direction from which the red light was coming, atop the rapidly drifting vehicle.

The rain seemed to freeze for a moment, the shockwave from the gunshot spreading out from Anilas, the powerful energy transforming into a gust of wind that swept away the rain and grass.

The military sirens blared, and the sounds of fire and explosions drowned out Anilas's gunfire in the rain.

Did it hit...?

Anilas, gazing at the horizon.

But all there was was a vast expanse of white; Anilas couldn't see anything except for the crimson pillar of light that had suddenly appeared.

"Could this be... 'danger'?"

An unseen enemy is terrifying; that crimson glow left Anilas fear.

She had never seen an attack like that before.

It was obvious that the troops were being watched by a very dangerous entity.

Before Anilas think further, a crimson light flashed again in the hazy white mist beyond the horizon, but this time it was aimed at Anilas.

Anilas's eyebrow twitched slightly.

The beam of light arrived faster than she had imagined; she had no time to dodge.

As if a click had passed through her body, Anilas's heart skipped a beat.

But...

The attack did not occur as expected; instead, it vanished into the rain as tiny specks of light a few dozen meters above the Left Wing troops.

Anilas clearly saw the entire process of the red light appearing and disappearing; it was like a lump of salt being thrown into water, dissolving in an instant.

"Wha... what happened...?"

Anilas horrified.

"Anilas!"

"Team leader!"

Yukina and Iris jumped out of the car a step later and landed beside Anilas.

At that moment, a dazzling ball of light rose up; the vanguard troops had once again lit signal flares.

This time, the signal flare is specifically for warning purposes.

This represents the arrival of the most threatening force among the Apostle, codenamed "Angel".

Anilas recalled what Efnir and Shinomiyami Nami had said to everyone via video before the mission began.

At that time, the destructive pillar of light in the Angel's hand left a deep impression on Anilas. But... that pillar of light was clearly a dazzling white.

15. Sharp weapon

That attack was undoubtedly from Angel.

Only Angel possess such immense power; only Angel attacks can dissipate upon encountering the Shielding Device's Order Field.

Only Angel are most likely to come and stop the investigation team's advance.

Because Angel are not afraid of bombardment by firearms.

The Apostle cannot do this; even Apostle, when faced with overwhelming artillery fire, can only choose to flee.

Therefore, before the mission began, Efnir and Shinomiyami Nami made predictions and plans for the possible situations they might face.

Because of the special nature of the codenames "Apostle" and "Angel," the most likely tactic the Apostle Organization would employ is to "use the Angel as the vanguard to reduce the combat effectiveness of the investigation forces and destroy the 'train' that provides protection for operations Beyond the Boundary, and then use the Apostle and the attracted Erosion Entity as follow-up forces to carry out sweeping operations."

That's roughly the situation we're facing now.

The organizational structure of the Apostle is still unclear. Current intelligence suggests that the Apostle Organization is composed of armed personnel and Eligible are compatible with the Order Force.

Armed personnel, including some military organizations that possess powerful firearms and have undergone rigorous training, such as Karina, a former member of the Apostle Squad who appeared in Xijing City, and the unnamed captain, do not primarily rely on armed threats. Instead, they use a translucent purple crystal to draw out the Erosion Entity and cause damage to the urban area.

Based on the intelligence gathered so far, the most dangerous of the Erosion Entity they summoned is classified as Grade A.

Besides them, the Apostle also possess powerful forces that the Human Federation does not have—codenamed "Apostle" and "Angel," and these two are the most dangerous entities that need to be paid the most attention to in this operation Beyond the Boundary.

The Apostle possess a unique advantage in combat Beyond the Boundary —they seem to be able to rely on some method to avoid being attacked by the Erosion Entity.

That ability was not something the Apostle were born with, a fact that has been verified through interrogation by Karina and Sakurai Sachi, as well as through Ayse's own experiments.

But how exactly they did it, Karina and Sakurai Sachi remained silent.

In short, the Beyond-the-Boundary Investigation Corps of Xijing City can only operate within the effective range of the "Shielding Device" for the Apostle who are likely to be able to move freely in the Beyond the Boundary Area, which is its biggest weakness.

The arrival of the Angel at this moment is proof of this.

The Angel, lurking in the hazy white mist, launched an attack on the troops, while the investigation team could only passively take the hits, not even knowing where the enemy was.

"Contract the formation!! Quickly contract the formation!!!"

"The Left Wing flank has been attacked!! Suffering heavy losses!!"

"Wounded! There are wounded here..."

"On my command! Fire!!"

The roar of artillery fire rose and fell, the ground beneath their feet trembled with each burst of artillery fire, and the rain was swept away by shock waves, turning into fine mist. Each ignition of artillery fire created ripples in the puddles.

Blue and black smoke rose from the leaking fuel and flames, spreading along the flow of fuel in the puddles.

The pungent smell kept assaulting my nasal cavity.

Signal flares rose into the air one after another.

"Adjust formation!"

"Enhance the shielding power!"

"Support fire!!"

"Pull the wounded over here!"

The shockwave lifted the rain curtain like a veil, Anilas, crouching on the roof of the car, fired another shot.

But she knew that such an attack was likely to be completely ineffective.

Even for her, it was still too difficult to determine the opponent's location based on the direction of the attack from a distance where there was no line of sight. Even the Second Generation Anelace, developed based on Fifina, was helpless when she couldn't see anything.

"This can't go on..."

The hot wind tousled Anilas's hair, and she looked away, gazing in the direction of the train.

Gunfire and artillery fire rose and fell, vibrating in our ears. The rain curtain had long been dispersed by the towering flames and explosions. A hazy curtain of light descended from above the "train," a sign that the "train's" "Shielding Device" had entered high-load operation mode.

The best shield against the attack codenamed "Angel" is the "Boundary Stele".

Therefore, the "Shielding Device" derived from the "Boundary Stele System Technology" became the protective shield for the Beyond-the-Boundary Investigation Corps.

However... compared to the towering, massive buildings in the Garrison District, the "Shielding Device's" maximum carrying capacity was simply insufficient to withstand the Angel's bombardment. The crimson light relentlessly pounded against the transparent shield, penetrating dozens of meters into its interior each time, bringing suffocating waves of intense heat before slowly dissipating.

Electric arcs crackled in the rain, and sparks flew between the "train" carriages.

Even the Shielding Device " running at maximum load could not completely block the Angel's attack, let alone when encountering the Angel's attack for the first time.

The red light at that time cut off and detonated the convoy of the Left Wing troops that was close to the outer perimeter in just an instant. The subsequent attack was aimed at Anilas, who was counterattacking, but she was saved by the force field released by the Shielding Device.

But it was clear that the Shielding Device was starting to give way.

If this continues, once the Shielding Device fails, the troops will face an attack from the Erosion Entity Beyond the Boundary, as well as bombardment from the Angel, and this investigation operation will fail.

Hundreds of drones have already taken off and are flying towards Xijing City in the sky above.

But... whether the drones' mission is to request support or deliver intelligence, it's no longer relevant to this unit. If they can't reach the Angel in their crisis, the unit will be annihilated.

Gritting her teeth, Anilas jumped off the roof of the car and ran towards the direction of the commander's car where Kusei Maki was.

Now, we can only use "that" tactic.

And...

This might be an opportunity to take over the Maesakagawa.

Meanwhile, the vanguard—

Her silvery-white hair flew wildly in the heat, bound together by a light blue headband.

Herul blinked, still shaken, and exhaled a trembling breath as she looked at the slender girl, Efnir, who was barely taller than her shoulder.

The girl's skirt fluttered in the strong wind, and her ribbons danced in the breeze.

The spear swept across the crescent-shaped path, resting diagonally against his waist.

The crimson beam swept across, but the burning ground stopped a foot in front of the girl. If the vitrified, charred Trace continued forward, they would point directly at Herul.

It was Efnir who protected her.

"Sir..."

Herul's voice was slightly off-key.

She simply couldn't imagine how one could possibly withstand such a beam of light.

But Efnir did it.

"Return to your positions! Proceed as scheduled during training."

Efnir shouted sharply.

"Yes!"

Herul took a deep breath and quickly ran to the side.

There, Jasmine lay in a pool of blood, while Maple crouched beside her, hoarsely shouting and firing in the direction from which the beam of light had come.

Efnir glanced at it, then leaped forward without turning her head.

With a few leaps, Efnir appeared in front of a huge van. The soldiers there saluted as they saw Efnir arrive.

"Sir! We're ready!"

The truck's rear cargo door popped open with a sharp mechanical click.

There was a motorcycle in front of me.

The car's body, with its aggressive, raptor-like appearance and sharp, silver-black lines, exudes a powerful sense of craftsmanship.