Chapter 187

Efnir bit the corner of her sleeve tightly and quickly stitched and bandaged the disinfected wound with gauze.

Sweat beaded on her cheeks, and the intense pain gripped her brow, but she didn't utter a sound the entire time. Efnir put the painkillers in a small bandage box, tucked it into the bullet compartment behind her waist, gave herself another injection, and then slowly got up.

Her wound had stopped bleeding long ago, but the attack had aggravated her injuries a bit. Overall, her condition was still good, as agents are generally in good physical condition and there was no need to worry about wound infection. The short rest also allowed Efnir to regain some of her strength and Order Force energy.

Efnir was confident she could handle a brief, low-intensity battle, but she couldn't reveal her presence, or attracting more enemies would mean certain death.

In addition, Efnir also looted the "Sacred Relic" rings from the corpses of the two Apostle.

The two Apostle were not carrying any firearms, but they did have two daggers, which Efnir took without hesitation.

They also had alloy needles and some kind of hollow metal cylinder device on them. Efnir was a little concerned about them, but she didn't need these things for the time being, so she didn't take them.

After doing all this, Efnir quickly cleared away the Trace on the ground and slowly descended the stairwell, keeping an eye out for any Dregs or Erosion Entity.

There was no Trace of Dregs left in the building. Even after going down to the first floor, Efnir only encountered three pieces of Dregs, all of which Efnir easily dealt with using her dagger.

Efnir doesn't need to kill them; simply eliminating their threat would still be more than enough for her.

The Dregs' weaknesses lie in their "nerves," "muscles," and related tissues—in short, the structures of the human motor system that enable them to continue functioning. By injuring these weaknesses, the Dregs' ability to move can be temporarily taken away or impaired. However, killing them completely would be more difficult, and might even require the use of a handgun.

Leaving the shopping mall and stepping onto the street, Efnir cautiously concealed herself and observed the surrounding area, only to find that there seemed to be no Dregs or Erosion Entity moving about on this street.

Those things were probably attracted away by the noise from afar.

"This is much more convenient..."

However, the streets were blocked by roadblocks at intervals, rendering cars and motorcycles useless.

Efnir gripped her pistol and dagger tightly, limping along the street, skirting the building, towards the temporary encampment.

At that moment, several dazzling signal flares suddenly rose into the distant sky, and at the same time, a barrage of gunfire and artillery fire came from that direction.

"... Support troops?"

Efnir frowned slightly.

It's highly unlikely that the Apostle Squad could carry such firepower; such a large display of force likely indicates that troops at a temporary base engaged in an encounter with the enemy.

The enemy could be Dregs and Erosion Entity, or it could be Apostle.

But regardless of which side the enemy is, Yukina must have seen the signal from the support troops just like she did, so she will likely seek support in that direction.

Efnir glanced in the direction the signal flare had gone and quickened her pace.

62. Supporter

A light rain continued to fall from the sky, and the distant sounds of gunfire gradually became chaotic and were swallowed by the rain.

Before the Relay Station, the last Defense Line erected by the soldiers gradually shrank as the Erosion Entity invaded—the soldiers had killed most of the Dregs, but firearms were ineffective against the Erosion Entity, and with the obstruction of the remaining Apostle, the soldiers could only put up a difficult resistance.

The several Erosion Entity were completely unafraid of the soldiers' artillery fire and bullets. They slowly advanced towards the Relay Station, baring their fangs and claws. Their huge tails easily tore away the roadblocks set up by the soldiers, and with another claw, they tore a soldier and a heavy machine gun to Shard.

Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, and it threw metal fragments into its mouth, squeezed and chewed them, then spat them out as if it had grown tired of them.

They continued on their way.

Without a proxy, no weapon or attack can hinder the Erosion Entity in the slightest.

Seeing that the last Defense Line was about to be devoured and breached by a few mere Erosion Entity, the soldiers roared in despair and futilely poured fire upon it. Just then, a series of fires suddenly erupted behind the Apostle Squad's position across the street, and the Apostle's harassment attack was quickly extinguished. The soldiers were stunned for a moment by this support that had appeared out of nowhere.

Immediately afterwards, a silver light suddenly flashed in the sky above the head of the Erosion Entity was advancing unscathed from the soldiers' interception. The next moment, a silver light struck down like lightning, and the fierce wind pressure and explosion instantly engulfed the Erosion Entity's huge form.

With a deafening roar, the ground seemed to tremble as if struck by the sudden impact of the comet's center.

Amidst the thick smoke and dust, the giant claw of the Erosion Entity suddenly appeared, lunging at the nearest soldier. However, a sudden surge of wind pressure caused the menacing claw to halt abruptly in front of the soldier.

The girl with light chestnut hair held up a heavy medieval knight's shield, steadily blocking the claw attacks of the Erosion Entity.

She glanced at the soldier and spoke softly.

"Step back."

"It's Elincia!!"

Most of the soldiers here are elite troops who once fought alongside the agents. Many of them know the current agents in Xijing City. Even Elincia, who is not very active, is well-known among them and is immediately recognized.

"Support has arrived! The agent has arrived!!"

"Counterattack!!"

"Fire! Cover Elincia!!!"

The soldiers cheered and celebrated. The fierce artillery fire and gunfire seemed to ignite gasoline, and their morale, which had been ravaged and swallowed up, was once again boosted.

With Elincia joining the main battle against the Erosion Entity that had penetrated the Defense Line, the soldiers' pressure instantly decreased several times over, and the Relay Station's Defense Line stabilized.

Meanwhile, across the street, the Apostle Squad faced a surprise attack by over a hundred "surprise troops"—mostly wounded soldiers left behind in the battle, numbering a dozen or so. They were there to carry out final harassment and annihilation missions, originally planning to quickly capture the Relay Station and then immediately leave to rejoin the team pursuing Fujisaki Ryoka. However, they were unexpectedly bombarded by a hundred artillery shells from above. The sudden barrage instantly disrupted their formation, resulting in the deaths and injuries of many of the Apostle.

Before the Apostle could retaliate, a special forces unit of over a hundred men descended from the sky, followed by a barrage of bullets and explosions, while artillery fire from the Relay Station never ceased.

This unit was the Special Operations Support Force led by Shinomiyami Nami. They landed with Elincia was supporting the most dangerous frontal battlefield, while they went straight into the rear of the Apostle, where they could play the most important role, and used their airborne advantage to quickly form an encirclement of the Apostle Squad.

"Retreat immediately!"

"Retreat from here! We're surrounded!"

"Break out!"

The Apostle girls immediately retaliated, and bursts of light and flame shot in all directions. Soldiers in the special forces who were unable to dodge in time were instantly engulfed by the explosions of white light.

In terms of firepower in a direct confrontation, these special forces units, which are not equipped with heavy weapons, are naturally no match for the Apostle who use energy attacks. However, the current situation still favors the Special Operations Support Force. In addition to the ground troops that are blocking and intercepting them, some of them are flanking and supporting them from the flanks and rooftops. The Apostle are facing intense attacks from all directions and are immediately showing signs of weakness, retreating step by step.

They retreated from the street into the building behind them, attempting to shift the battle to indoor combat and create a better opportunity for their escape. However, just as the Apostle stepped into the building, a sharp, gleaming blade suddenly appeared in the darkness to their side.

The two Apostle at the forefront paused in mid-air for a moment, their running posture frozen in shock, before countless bloody gashes appeared on their skin.

The next moment, blood and flesh shattered and splattered. In the darkness, Yuan, wielding her katana, suddenly swung it horizontally and charged into the middle of the Apostle's battle line. In the blink of an eye, she swiftly sliced the closest person in half at the waist.

"Scatter!"

At this distance and in this position, the Apostle were hampered by their own energy attacks and the density of their squads, and immediately fell into a passive position. In the blink of an eye, Yuan alone killed three people.

Meanwhile, high in the sky, Saori was chasing after the direction in which Efnir and Yukina had fled. Thanks to the superior maneuverability granted to her by her wingsuit, Saori quickly spotted Yukina leaving the shopping mall from afar.

At the same time, she also saw the Apostle Squad closely following behind Yukina.

Saori tightened the straps around her waist, turned the wingsuit around, and suddenly rose up, using the towering buildings as cover to chase after Yukina from the side.

At the same time.

Yukina and the Apostle team quickly moved between the buildings. Before long, several more figures quickly followed and chased after them. These were the Apostle Squad members who had sent out the Erosion Entity Summoning Crystal after the Apostle Squad chased after Yukina and followed them. Fujisaki Ryoka led this team.

They quickly followed the route taken by the team ahead, but the Apostle who had chased after them from the shopping mall building soon noticed something was amiss.

"Wait, where's Hui Jiu?"

After Yuko's death, there should have been six members left in their two Apostle Squad, but for some reason, after chasing after them, they did not see Hui Jiu, who was supposed to follow.

"Did they fall behind and end up in the rear?"

"No! I haven't seen her at all!"

The encirclement and interception process required the cooperation and interception of other teammates. The absence of one person who should have been there made them feel very uncomfortable.

"Damn it... this isn't the time to worry about this, keep chasing! Enemy reinforcements have arrived!"

63. Interception

Gunshots and bullets can block a person's ears and eyes.

Most people who grew up in this era have never seen or heard of the existence of air-based units soaring through the air, which is an advantage of air support surprise attack units.

However, the advantage can only be brought into play with careful command and accurate insight. Using the blind spots created by the buildings as cover, Shinomiyami Nami delivered an unexpected and heavy blow to the Apostle Squad in front of the Relay Station. However, their existence could not escape the sight of the Apostle who had been chasing Yukina in the city.

They noticed the roar from high above earlier and looked up to see the transport planes and Airborne Unit in the distance.

At the same time, gunshots suddenly rang out in the sky several streets away, followed by the flash of a signal flare. This scene was witnessed by Yukina and the Apostle. Both sides immediately made a judgment. Yukina tried to turn around and escape in the direction from which the signal flare rose, while the Apostle Squad members spread out and subtly blocked Yukina's path.

"Tsk... why haven't the reinforcements arrived yet!"

The situation has changed, but now we have no choice in what we're doing.

The temporary team leader frowned.

Although she had some doubts about the current situation due to the rapidly changing circumstances, the situation at that time did not allow her to question or change the combat mission.

They must catch up with Yukina and kill their target, Efnir.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred, and a silver glint suddenly pierced through the buildings at the corner of the street to the side.

It was a silver chain with a small knife at the tip, aimed straight at one of the Apostle Squad who was caught off guard. The Apostle instinctively raised her palm to try to block the attack, but the chain suddenly twitched, striking upwards like a whip, and the knife bypassed her attack, piercing her shoulder.

Blood splattered in the air, and chains coiled around her arm like venomous snakes. The immense force tightened as the chains taut, breaking the Apostle's arm and pinning Apostle down.

The Apostle girl let out a loud shout, trying to break free, and the other Apostle immediately reacted, instantly condensing into orbs of light to prepare for the rescue.

But they were too late.

The Apostle girl, who was tightly bound by chains, suddenly felt a tremendous pull from the chains. She saw that the other end of the chains was held in the hand of a girl shrouded in a black robe, whose light purple hair flowed down from under the hood and danced in the rain.

She was wearing a mask.

The masked girl suddenly tightened the chains, Apostle girl to lose her balance. At the same time, the girl in the black robe raised the muzzle of a gun in her other hand.

With a loud bang, the gunshot rang out like thunder. As the chains yanked the Apostle down, the bullet grazed the chains and struck the Apostle between the eyebrows.

The blood mist pierced through the Apostle's head, and the glimmer of light and Battle Armament in her hand, which had not yet risen, slowly turned into floating stardust and vanished, dissolving into the rain.

The unexpected attack claimed the life of one of the Apostle, and the other Apostle sensed the danger in their shock. Meanwhile Yukina, who was fleeing ahead, also noticed the brief battle taking place.

Yukina had never actually seen Saori in person; she had only seen Saori on television. However, as a former number one fan who followed Efnir's movements and now her official agent, she immediately recognized the silver chain in Saori's hand—the very same Order Weapon used by the First-Generation Agent, codenamed "Lily."

Given that she had just witnessed the arrival of air support forces, Yukina had a pretty good idea of Saori's identity.

"I'll cover you! Get Senior Efnir away quickly!"

Saori shouted loudly to Yukina, without suspicion, hugged "Efnir" tightly and ran quickly towards the direction where the signal flare had risen in the distance, while also feeling a sense of relief.

Now that reinforcements have arrived, Efnir will surely be rescued.

From afar, Yukina's gaze pierced through the misty rain, spotting a dark figure rapidly approaching from several streets ahead where the signal flare had been launched—a colossal creature, over ten meters tall, its body a mixture of black and blood, its armor menacing, smashing and crushing all the roadblocks in its path.

That was the "train" that was supposed to be parked at the temporary base, and on top of the "train" stood Furan, Ayse and others. They had obviously noticed the commotion caused by Yukina's escape and were rushing over with the train, clearing away the Erosion Entity and Dregs along the way.

"It's Ayse and the others!"

We're saved!

A glint appeared in Yukina's eyes. She stepped down the Stairway and sped up as fast as she could. At the same time, the Apostle chasing behind her looked anxious.

"Quickly, chase after her! We absolutely can't let her get away!!"

They chased after Yukina with all their might, trying to intercept her before Yukina made contact with the train's reinforcements, but Saori's attacks were relentless.

"--Your opponent is me."

The silver light was like a venomous snake coiling around the branches, and the blood-stained dagger was like a bright red tongue. The remaining four Apostle were an exhausted force that had experienced several battles and long pursuits. They were tightly restrained by Saori's fierce pursuit.

Saori's Order Weapon is a bladed chain, agile and swift. During her time as an agent, she was already one of the best among agents of similar experience, comparable in strength to Elincia. She also had a wealth of combat experience, and chasing between buildings and fighting in alleyways were her absolute home turf. The four Apostle could only barely withstand Saori's attacks because of their numerical advantage, but even so, their Apostle were breached time and time again, and their injuries were gradually accumulating.

They could barely hold on for a while, but this only widened the gap between them and Yukina. Saori, on the other hand, continued to fight them with ease, not in a hurry to kill them, but slowly closing in like a cat-and-mouse game. Saori's chains were like a huge, impenetrable net, completely disrupting the rhythm of the Apostle's attacks. Her only goal was to keep them completely behind, which only made the Apostle more anxious.

Their hearts sank heavier and heavier.

Even with all their might, the four Apostle couldn't pose much of a threat to Saori. This was the difference in strength between the legitimate agents and them, or rather, the difference between the "eliminated" and the "Eligible." They were ultimately just some kind of "failure," and they knew this better than anyone else.

They were getting further and further away from Yukina, and the pursuit seemed hopeless.

However, a violent explosion suddenly came from ahead—the buildings on both sides of the street in front of Yukina's only way collapsed due to the powerful explosion, blocking the train's path. Amidst the rising dust, the figures of about ten people appeared. The one in the lead was none other than Fujisaki Ryoka, who led the Apostle Squad to take a shortcut from another direction to intercept them.

Fujisaki Ryoka, who had intercepted Yukina at close range, instantly saw the "doll" hidden under the hood in Yukina's arms. Her expression immediately darkened, consumed by fierce anger.

Kill her!