Chapter 191

Since Yukina left, the time that has given Efnir a chance to catch her breath has allowed Efnir to recover a small amount of strength. Of course, she is still far, far away from being at her full strength, but it is enough for Efnir to use now.

Efnir's legs had been injured in previous battles, and in addition, she had injuries of varying degrees all over her body. These injuries would have rendered most people immobile, but incredibly, Efnir was still able to fight back and contend with the Apostle.

The reason for this was that the strange phenomenon Efnir discovered on her body repaired several of her most serious injuries and stopped the bleeding, which indirectly saved her life and allowed her to regain a certain degree of combat power.

All of this was unbelievable, like a miracle. If it hadn't happened to Efnir herself, she would never have believed it.

As for the reasons that caused the changes in her body, Efnir had no idea.

Strictly speaking, ever since the battle with the Angel Qinglan a month ago, Efnir has developed a very subtle difference from the other agents.

The most obvious point is that the seemingly incurable Dregsification underwent a self-healing process on her injured right eyeball, giving rise to a unique "Dust-State Vision" that indirectly and significantly enhanced Efnir's combat capabilities on the battlefield.

Today, Efnir discovers that her Apostle Form has granted her the power of "control and obstruction," and her body has inexplicably healed its most severe injuries in an instant after being seriously wounded.

Each of these aspects, taken individually, represents an anomaly that Efnir could never have comprehended or imagined.

She seems to be someone blessed by Lady Luck.

"Yukina, we're both in terrible shape, so we have to fight side by side, okay?"

"Of course... I've been looking forward to this day..."

Even though she was speaking weakly, Yukina's eyes remained clear. She leaned tightly on Efnir's shoulder, leaving her bloodstains on Efnir's cheek.

She gripped the aquamarine longbow tightly in her hand.

"Hold on a little longer, Yukina, I have a way to break through the encirclement safely."

"Hmm... I believe Naoko can definitely do it."

Efnir pursed her lips, hugged Yukina tightly, and drew her pistol to return fire quickly. She charged straight at one of the Apostle, not towards the location of Saori or Ayse, but towards the weakest side of the Apostle's encirclement.

In the battle up to just now, in order to prevent Yukina from escaping from the Apostle's encirclement or forming a united front with other agents, Fujisaki Ryoka's encirclement strategy focused on defense and containment. Therefore, the encirclement network built in the direction of Ayse and Saori was more three-dimensional and tight, blocking Yukina's retreat route layer by layer.

But after Efnir appeared, this most logical arrangement immediately became riddled with flaws.

They concentrated their defensive forces, neglecting offensive ones. Compared to the area where Ayse and Saori were located, the forces deployed by the Apostle in other positions were much weaker, which Efnir saw as an opportunity.

"Block her from the front!!"

Fujisaki Ryoka immediately understood Efnir's plan. She quickly issued an order, and the Apostle's encirclement expanded and tightened. Several people simultaneously moved towards Efnir's direction of advance, and the Apostle stopped Efnir's progress.

"Now is the time for a head-on collision! Yukina, I need you to keep a close eye on those two. Your task is to hold them off and look for opportunities to strike. I'll tell you when and where to fire your arrows, just like in training, to coordinate with my attacks. Can you do that?"

"Um."

Yukina didn't have much strength to speak; her mouth was dry, and she could barely taste the metallic sweetness in her mouth.

But her resolute and tenacious willpower sustained her, and she forcefully squeezed out the last remaining Order Force within her body, causing the arrow to solidify inch by inch.

"There's no need to use too much Order Force. Their defenses will create gaps when they move, and there will be brief openings when they are filled or generated using power. I'll find that opportunity for you, and you'll be in charge of the attack."

Efnir gently pulled down the palm of her hand that was holding Yukina.

"Your arrows are more accurate than my gun."

This difference stems from the Beacon itself; even a highly trained warrior cannot compare to Yukina's arrows in this situation.

Amidst the bursts of light and explosions, Efnir swiftly passed through the middle at an incredible angle, narrowly avoiding all the attacks. At the same time, she released her grip on Yukina's arms in mid-air, creating a brief "opportunity" of less than half a second for Yukina to unleash her arrow.

The aquamarine arrow flashed by in an instant, piercing through the gaps created by the slowly moving barriers at an extremely tricky angle. The Apostle who were gathering reinforcements were forced to stop moving. Although the arrow did not hit her, it directly tore a small hole in the already stretched and weak encirclement of the Apostle in an instant.

At the same time, Efnir launched an attack in another direction.

At this moment, the battle intensified once again from its most intense point. A massive bombing roar resounded through the sky, and rain poured down before being torn apart by high air pressure and shockwaves. The dust that rose up obscured the figures of Efnir and Yukina, followed by a fierce attack from the Apostle.

While the Apostle were still somewhat hesitant to block Yukina, they were more eager to capture Yukina alive for their own goals. This, in turn, hampered their offensive to some extent. They could only focus on blocking and surrounding her, allowing Hatsukawa Fuka to be the main force in the battle, pressing forward step by step in an attempt to achieve their objective.

But Efnir's arrival clearly disrupted this delicate balance.

Unburdened, the Apostle launched a swift and fierce energy bombardment against Efnir. In an instant, the rain was swept away, and large swathes of rubble and dust rose from the ruins. Explosions echoed one after another, and with each breath, several orbs of light were thrown at Efnir.

But none of these intensive bombardments hit Efnir.

72. Breakthrough

Efnir hovered and flew in her Apostle Form. She didn't go too far off the ground, constantly using the firepower and visibility obstructions provided by the abandoned buildings to evade the Apostle's attacks, quickly moving through the dust and explosions.

The changes in the "dust" reflected every flow of energy as lines and dark dots in Efnir's eyes, just like using a script plugin in a video game. Before the attack was even launched, the flow of the "dust" had already revealed the Apostle's attack.

If you can anticipate the Apostle's attack, you can greatly improve the efficiency of evasion and at the same time increase Efnir's forward speed.

She moved through the ruins with lightning speed, attacking one of the Apostle with a zigzag pattern.

"Concentrate your attack!! Stop them!"

The ongoing battle and the sudden appearance of Efnir almost caused Fujisaki Ryoka, who had been confident of victory, to lose her composure. This was partly due to the influence of the inhibitor on her own will and judgment, but more so due to the rapidly changing battlefield situation.

She was increasingly losing hope of winning this mission.

In her view, Efnir should have been completely incapacitated long ago, so why did she still possess such dazzling fighting power?

Moreover, no matter how dense the Apostle's attacks were, they could not touch a single hair on Efnir's head. The fierce siege, which was clearly enough to destroy the city's outer Defense Line, seemed as if they were setting off a salute for Efnir's return, which felt strangely comical.

It was a very strange state, as if Efnir possessed the power of precognition— Efnir could react in advance before the attack came, quickly escaping or retaliating. On the contrary, almost every attack launched by Efnir could accurately block the Apostle' path of advance or retreat or directly pass through the dense defensive formation to injure the Apostle behind them.

Even the fiercest attack is useless if it misses, while even the weakest offensive becomes a deadly venomous snake once it breaks through the defense.

Moreover, there was more than one venomous snake.

--Yukina's arrows always appeared at the most tricky angles and the most opportune moments, firmly blocking the approaching Apostle and Apostle targeted for a surprise attack.

While fighting alongside Efnir, Yukina's already dwindling fighting power suddenly received a tremendous boost that could not be ignored. She transformed from a frantic little rabbit forced to flee alone into a giant python, its tongue flicking as it awaited its prey. Like a piece of dead wood that would break with the slightest touch, she was suddenly ignited by something, emitting billowing heat and waving leaping sparks and scorching tongues of fire at the Apostle, hindering their siege and support.

At this moment, Efnir had already rapidly approached the weakest point of the Defense Line. Due to Efnir's deliberate actions and Yukina's distraction, the Apostle from the other two directions did not catch up to provide support in time, leaving only one Apostle facing Efnir and Yukina directly.

"Don't even think about getting through here!!"

She roared, and a massive light barrier rose up, the sudden burst of energy nearly crushing her arm. Yet, the exchange happened in an instant—the energy attack grazed Efnir's face, shredding her hair. Efnir skillfully maneuvered between ease and near-death experiences, closing in, while the thick energy barrier did not hinder Efnir attacks in the slightest. The blazing light barrier crumbled inch by inch in Efnir's hands. The next moment, the Apostle stared blankly at the fist hurtling towards him.

With a deafening explosion, dust billowed from the ruins on the ground, and Efnir leaped from mid-air, leaving a trail of dazzling starlight behind her.

The Apostle girl fell into the ruins, her fate unknown.

Fujisaki Ryoka stared wide-eyed, completely mesmerized.

This time she finally saw clearly how Efnir had breached their proud power—it wasn't a "breach" at all; she could see clearly that Efnir hadn't launched an attack at all, but had merely touched the energy barrier lightly.

It was just a slight touch.

The energy defense barrier, even stronger than concrete fortifications, instantly crumbled and vanished as if it had never existed. The Apostle, struck by Efnir, immediately lost all its power, its Battle Armament disintegrating and disappearing inch by inch.

Can the energy material formed from the Apostle Power be annihilated and Battle Armament with a mere touch?

Is this Efnir's "power"?

In this light, it makes sense that Efnir displayed absolute dominance outside the city and the incredible feat of instantly killing Hatsukawa Fuka – Apostle would be immediately stripped of their weapons and armor if facing Efnir, and would have no chance of winning.

The Apostle' greatest strength lies in their manipulation of energy materialization and the amplification of their physical power brought about by Apostle Form. However, Efnir can completely destroy and annihilate both of these powers. It can be said that, facing an opponent like Efnir, they have already lost before the battle even begins.

"So... that's how it is... is that really how it is...?"

The more Fujisaki Ryoka doubted, the more she felt that everything made sense.

"This strategic 'weapon' is so well hidden, and the intelligence reports don't mention it at all... Is it because it's not needed to deal with the Erosion Entity?"

Sorrow and anger welled up inside her. Before the battle, Fujisaki Ryoka had never imagined that she would be defeated in such a humiliating and shameful way.

But she had to make a choice.

Efnir and Yukina easily broke through the large net laid by the Apostle, and behind them were their companions on the outer layer who were fighting with other agents.

At this moment, Ayse, Saori, and the others launched a fierce attack, forcefully restraining all the Apostle and preventing Apostle from turning back to surround and block Efnir and Yukina.

The tide has turned.

The battle was doomed to fail the moment Efnir appeared.

No matter how unwilling she was to admit it or face it, Fujisaki Fuka had no choice but to accept this fact.

"Stop chasing!"

Staring intently at Efnir's departing figure, while the agents and soldiers launched a fierce attack to cover Efnir, Fujisaki Fuka gritted her teeth, burning with resentment and anger, her eyes almost bleeding.

She slowly and laboriously raised her hand and gave orders to the other Apostle.

"Prolonging our battle lines will be disadvantageous. The pursuers should withdraw; we're preparing to leave!"

She lowered her voice.

"This battle has ended in defeat..."

But they must ensure they have a chance to make a comeback.

Just then, a piercing airburst suddenly resounded through the sky. The next moment, a deafening explosion swept across the entire Maesakagawa Garrison. Fujisaki Ryoka looked up in horror and saw smoke slowly rising from somewhere at the end of the street.

This is... a missile attack!

The Beyond the Boundary Forces did not carry weapons of this scale, so this time it was probably Suzuda City's maritime support that arrived.

Is there any way to escape now?

73. Counter-encirclement

The battles between the Apostle and their agents, and between the soldiers, were divided into two main battlefronts.

One of these was an encirclement of Efnir and Yukina, while the other was an interception of Ayse, Saori, and the soldiers stationed on the train.

Efnir escaped the encirclement, but was not entirely out of danger—there were still interceptions from the outer perimeter.

But Fujisaki Ryoka knew that if Efnir could easily penetrate the encirclement net, then she could escape from the interception net even more easily, because Ayse, Saori, and the others would create this opportunity for Efnir.

The outer perimeter of the Apostle's defenses can hinder the support from Ayse and Saori, and conversely, Ayse and Saori can also use this to impede the Apostle's actions.

The Apostle have now lost their chance for final victory.

After confirming that Efnir had successfully broken through, Ayse and the others immediately launched a fierce counterattack and suppression. The Apostle's battle lines were pushed back step by step. Ayse and the others moved towards Efnir while restraining the Apostle's movements.

Under the agent's relentless pursuit, the Apostle, already shaken by their defeat in battle, suffered further casualties.

"Withdraw..."

Fujisaki Ryoka practically gritted her teeth, staring intently at Efnir's approaching gaze with extreme resentment, before managing to utter those words with great difficulty.

Her eyes met those of Efnir in mid-air.

Efnir was breathing heavily, her purple eyes were cloudy but bright, she was disheveled but calm, as if she had been destined for this outcome, showing neither the joy of being rescued nor the fear or relief that had happened in this battle.

What Fujisaki Ryoka saw in Efnir's eyes was "expected" and "calmness" honed through countless battles.

There was even a strange undertone, like the gaze of a dangerous predator eyeing its prey, which sent a chill down Fujisaki Ryoka's spine for a moment.

"Captain! We... we haven't lost yet!"

The Apostle under her command were also greatly shaken by the current situation. They were unable to make a judgment, torn between anger and hatred on one side and the predicament of being forced to give up everything on the other.

"I'm willing to continue fighting! Captain! I will make them pay the price!! I will make the murderer who killed Yuko pay with his blood!"

"That's right! Captain! We can't just retreat like this!"

"If we go back like this, Captain, what will you do...?"

"That's enough, stop talking..."

Fujisaki Ryoka pursed her lips and looked away.

She hadn't felt this chilling illusion in a very long time. Taking a deep breath, she raised her gaze again, staring at the two people in front of her. "In any case, it's too late to say anything now. Efnir's escape from our grasp is a fait accompli, and with the help of other agents, she will soon be back in a safe place. We will inevitably face the most intense artillery fire from the Xijing City forces—they have been waiting for a long time."

Because Efnir and Yukina were still behind the Apostle's battle lines, the train troops did not use large-scale bombing attacks from the start of the battle in order to avoid friendly fire.

Once Efnir and Yukina successfully escape, the enemy will launch a massive, sweeping attack without any restraint.

The Apostle will then face an even more difficult situation.

"We can't hold onto Efnir, that's a fact. We might as well use her as our last resort and retreat from here as soon as possible. Otherwise, if Xijing City launches a counterattack, we will surely be wiped out."