Chapter 198

"Is it support?"

Saori and the Apostle Squad harbored different thoughts, yet none of them retreated or pursued first, nor did they get close.

Given the current battle situation between the Apostle and Saori, if either side receives reinforcements, the other side will have no choice but to flee. Since they are unsure which faction the sudden arrival belongs to, they must maintain a certain distance to avoid the most unfavorable situation for themselves.

The figure then gave them the answer with its actions—a loud explosion erupted from the dust, like waves crashing against the shore, followed by flashes of silver light and a fierce gust of wind. The black figure suddenly leaped into the air and charged towards the Apostle, instantly closing the mere fifty-meter distance between Apostle.

The speed that burst forth in that instant caused both the Apostle and Saori to show intense astonishment and trembling—such speed was something that even Saori herself could never achieve, let alone the Apostle.

And those "Stairway" left in mid-air, the first Stairway had just been formed when the dark figure had already broken through three steps at an extremely fast speed, like a cannonball shot straight towards the direction of the Apostle Squad.

"They're the enemy!!!"

The Apostle Squad reacted immediately, with the captain shouting at the top of her lungs, but it was too late—the shadowy figure appeared before her the moment she spoke.

The dark figure remained charging forward—long, flowing gray hair, piercing red eyes, and a rugged military-style blue-black combat dress. It was adorned with gold chains and blood-red ribbons, and layers of intricate and aggressive silver-black armored gauntlets covered the area below the shoulders.

While the Apostle girl stared at her in astonishment, still maintaining the same wary posture as a moment before, she gazed at her intently with a chilling smile, while simultaneously retracting her fist to her waist, the ornate silver-black arm armor making a crisp clattering sound.

A chilling sense of crisis crept up her spine and pierced her heart. The Apostle girl only had time to condense her light flames before the barrier was even constructed when the black-clad girl's fist, hidden beneath her arm armor, suddenly struck out.

At that moment, the air was compressed instantly, and a large cloud of sonic booms and a blood-red shockwave were squeezed and ejected in an instant. The violent shockwave struck all the members of the Apostle Squad, and the closest people were crushed by the aftershocks of this attack.

The Apostle were completely caught off guard, while Saori on the other end was already frozen in place.

The Apostle may not have seen what happened, but Saori, as their agent, clearly witnessed the entire process of the Apostle Squad leader's body being crushed, shattered, and reduced to dust in an instant.

The blood mist that filled the sky was the witness to all of this.

The punch brought Saori a feeling filled with the threat of death and an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.

Even though Saori wasn't a novice agent, and had experienced countless battles and seen a great deal of blood, this scene still deeply shocked her.

The black-clad girl didn't stop her attack. In the half-second that Saori was stunned, a flash of silver light appeared beneath her feet, and she charged towards the nearest Apostle again. With another simple straight punch, the victim and an Apostle nearby instantly died. The victim was instantly reduced to a cloud of blood mist, dead beyond any doubt. Those caught in the blast also suffered large sections of collapsed waists and chests, their internal organs and blood filling the rain-like scene, dying instantly as well.

This was a one-sided massacre. The nine Apostle hadn't even realized what was happening before six of them were killed in a single exchange.

The other three, their eyes blazing with fury, launched an attack on the shadowy girl simultaneously. However, instead of retreating, the Apostle girl, raising her gauntlet once more.

Saori froze for a moment, then immediately shouted, "Leave them alive!!!"

It's clear that this girl in black is also an agent, but the problem is that Saori doesn't know her at all.

There are only two possibilities: she is an agent sent by Suzuda City, or a third party has intervened in this battle. In any case, the black-clad girl's stance is very important.

Although she launched an attack on the Apostle, Saori still couldn't determine whether she was friend or foe. If she was an enemy, then the battle situation would be dangerous.

Even so, Saori always kept her mission objective in mind, which is why she asked the girl in black to leave her alive. This was also a subtle test.

The girl in black heard Saori's call and glanced at Saori from the side.

Saori couldn't see her eyes clearly, but the shocking scene before her made her swallow hard. To her relief, the black-clad girl's raised arm armor didn't kill the Apostle in front of her, but instead stunned her.

The Apostle, now dizzy, could no longer maintain flight and plummeted from the sky.

The girl in black didn't even glance at her before charging towards the remaining two Apostle.

Saori flung out her chains and swiftly flew towards Apostle Girl, intercepting her while keeping an eye on the battle in the sky.

These Apostle posed no threat to the girl in black; she couldn't even escape. Under Saori's astonished and cautious gaze, the girl in black easily knocked out the remaining two Apostle.

Saori cooperated with her, chaining the three Apostle together.

The girl in black landed a step later, some distance from Saori, and the two stood on the rooftops of two adjacent buildings.

Saori cautiously observed the girl in black.

"Thank you very much for your assistance. I am 'Shadow,' and I belong to the Second Special Support Team of the Beyond the Boundary Combat Unit in Xijing City."

"Huh? That's a codename I've never heard of before..." The girl in black didn't immediately reveal her codename, but instead quietly leaped to Saori's side. "Well, let me introduce myself. I'm Asakura Mei, from the 'Funeral Bird' proxy combat team, codename 'Lapith'."

She raised her arm, which was covered by armor, and reached out to Saori, whose nerves were on edge.

"Don't be nervous. Simply put, I am the acting commander of the support operations team in Suzuda City, and also the battlefield commander..."

Lapith paused, then smiled slightly.

"And, Suzuta's chief agent."

To Saori's astonishment, she gently took Saori's hand, a soft smile appearing in her eyes.

"Then, Miss Shadow from Xijing City, please take care of me."

85. The End of the Battle

Asakura Mei, or rather Lapith, was not entirely unknown to Saori.

Saori had been given some information about herself before the battle, but it wasn't until now that she matched the person mentioned in the information with the black-clad girl in front of her.

An agent belonging to Suzuda City, codenamed Lapith, military rank colonel.

Leaving aside her military rank, like Saori and Ayse, Lapith is a "First Generation" agent. Her Order Weapon is "gauntlets." Of course, this is just a general term for the weapon she uses. In fact, Lapith's Order Weapon is not a purely defensive piece of equipment, but rather a special piece of equipment that combines defense and offense. It is a Battle Armament that completely covers both hands and forearms, making it flexible and possessing both strong defensive and offensive capabilities, and excellent in combat.

At the same time, Lapith is also the "Chief Agent" of Suzuda City. The term "Chief" means that Lapith is Suzuda City's absolute ace in terms of personal combat strength.

Lapith holds the same position in Suzuda City as Efnir in Xijing City; both are "leaders" among the agents and the city's most powerful guardians. That's why she personally led the combat support mission for the Maesakagawa Garrison District.

Incidentally, the support force for Suzuda City this time was led by Lapith and her Agent Squad "Funeral Bird".

Unlike Xijing City, which is a medium-sized city, Suzuda City is a genuine large city with several times more agents than Xijing City. Therefore, in Suzuda City, agents are divided into "teams". Including "Funeral Bird", there are 6 agent combat teams in Suzuda City, and "Funeral Bird" is the strongest of them. The team has 10 members, including Lapith. Lapith herself serves as the captain, and the vice captain is an agent codenamed "Trilice".

In short, Saori's tense heart finally relaxed a little after confirming Lapith's identity.

She breathed a sigh of relief, recovering from the shock of what had just happened, and thanked Lapith.

"These Apostle were very troublesome; Lapith, for taking them down."

As for the agent from another city, and the "chief" one at that, Saori wasn't overly nervous, but she did feel a sense of restraint that she hadn't felt in a long time.

Just like when facing Masaki Hina.

On the contrary, Saori didn't have that feeling when she was with Efnir. Although Efnir gave people a serious and earnest feeling, she was actually very easy to get along with, except for when she faced Efnir face-to-face in the last battle in the West Line Garrison District.

If we're talking about enemies, Efnir is definitely the person she least wants to encounter, without a doubt.

"Just call me Lapith, or you can just call me by my name."

Lapith smiled at Saori, a gentle smile that clashed sharply with the scene Saori had just witnessed.

"We can talk about other things later. Right now, I'm more interested in knowing how you're doing. I hope we arrived just in time."

"The Angel has left, and the situation is currently under control."

Saori glanced in the direction of the Boundary Stele.

The sky was overcast and gloomy with rain, but there were no flashes of emergency flares. Only the smoke from flares used for communication and command lingered in the rain.

"But two teams of the Apostle Squad are still evacuating, and we still need your help. However... Senior Lapith, are you the only one who arrived first?"

The appearance of Lapith was certainly good news for Saori, proving that Suzuda City, a major ally in this battle, had intervened in the fight, making the Apostle's evacuation even more difficult.

The nine-member Apostle Squad that Saori was pursuing had been easily defeated by Lapith alone, so there were only three Apostle forces still retreating: another Apostle Squad that Ayse was pursuing, Efnir, and the commander of the Apostle Squad that Canary was pursuing, and two Angel whose whereabouts were unknown.

However, Saori also had some concerns. If only Lapith arrived alone, her individual strength would clearly be insufficient.

Lapith quickly dispelled her concerns.

"No, I was just a step ahead of them. Because of the battle here, I got here to provide support earlier."

"I see... I'm sorry, I was overthinking it."

The appearance of Lapith was not accidental. The battle between Saori and the Apostle was quite a commotion. Moreover, the battle between the Apostle Squad and Saori took place on the outskirts of the Garrison District near the Beyond the Boundary region. It was only natural that the Suzuda City combat support force, which came from the west, would encounter Saori first.

"Considering efficiency and speed, only our 'Funeral Bird' combat team has come to support us for now, but don't worry, I've already sent people to other battle sites, and I believe they will make contact with your people soon."

Although the Boundary Stele has been re-established in the Maesakagawa Garrison District, the journey from the waterway to the Garrison District still involves passing through a stretch of Beyond the Boundary Region. The ships of the Suzuda City support force are not capable of land travel and cannot easily traverse this forbidden zone. Therefore, Lapith led the Funeral Bird Operation Squad to provide support, which is their spearhead strategy.

Clearly, the current battle situation is extremely tense, and their arrival has come at just the right time.

After a brief exchange, Lapith and Saori shared some information.

Meanwhile, fierce battles broke out in other combat zones as well—the fighting reignited when reinforcements from the "Funeral Bird" combat squad arrived.

Meanwhile, Efnir and Canary also encountered members of the "Funeral Bird" who came to their aid. Ayse's pursuit force, along with Kusei Maki and Anilas who remained at the temporary base, also came into contact with Major Trilice, the vice-captain of the "Funeral Bird".

Wherever the flames of war still rage within the Maesakagawa Garrison District, the "Funeral Bird" will appear, fighting alongside soldiers or agents.

The warships' gunfire cleared away all the Dregs around the Maesakagawa Garrison District, and they were ready to launch missile support directly into the Garrison District at any time.

The arrival of the "Funeral Bird" and the support battleship for Suzuda City is undoubtedly good news.

In the direction where the Boundary Stele stands, the Angel's figure has vanished from the sky.

From the moment the Angel withdrew and the Suzuda City support force "Funeral Bird" arrived at the Maesakagawa Garrison District, the Apostle had already declared utter defeat.

Suzuda City's support team consisted of eight people, not just Lapith, with two others remaining on the warship.

They were all agents.

Only the agents were capable of pursuing the fleeing Apostle. Ayse, Efnir, and others used their overwhelming advantage to besiege and pursue the remaining Apostle Squad. The arrival of the "Funeral Bird" undoubtedly accelerated this process.

The intervention of the "Funeral Bird" directly shattered the fragile balance between the agents and Apostle of Xijing City, effectively ending the battle.

86. Post-war

As the rain gradually subsided, dusk, as dark as ink, spread across half the sky. In front of the temporary headquarters of the Boundary Stele Management Office in the Maesakagawa Garrison District, small teams were gathering.

These are: the Relay Station temporary action force led by Efnir, Yukina, and Tobi; the Xijing City headquarters special support team and airborne support force led by Saori, Elincia, Shinomiyami Nami; the train temporary action force led by Ayse, Canary, Furan; and the Boundary Stele temporary garrison force led by Second-Generation Agent such as Anilas and Kusei Maki.

Finally, there was the Funeral Bird Squad, led by Lapith.

An hour had passed since the battle ended, but gunfire and artillery explosions could still be heard intermittently in the distance. The Erosion Entity in the Garrison District had been completely cleared away in the two large-scale battles, but there were still many Dregs. People who were buried under the rubble or trapped in buildings when the Garrison District fell had all turned into Dregs. These Dregs were distributed throughout the entire Garrison District area, and even a large-scale cleanup by the military would not be able to clear them away in a short time.

Besides the initial impact, artillery fire would occasionally fall on the Beyond the Boundary. This was support artillery fire from the Suzuda City destroyer fleet, which was responsible for using Lure Shell to disperse the Erosion Entity outside the Maesakagawa Garrison District in preparation for the upcoming period of vulnerability in the Boundary Stele barrier. At the same time, they would concentrate their attacks on areas where Dregs had accumulated to reduce the burden on the soldiers to clean up the Dregs.

"Colonel Lapith, Major Trilice, and everyone from 'Funeral Bird,' on behalf of the Beyond the Boundary Operations Unit of Xijing City, I welcome you."

"This is our mission, and assisting you in fighting the Apostle is also our duty."

Shinomiyami Nami, dressed in a special forces uniform, exchanged greetings with Lapith and the others with a standard military salute. Not long after, Kusei Maki appeared before them.

At this moment, Kusei Maki's arms and neck were wrapped in snow-white bandages, with a faint hint of blood showing through.

Three hours earlier, during the Angel's sneak attack and counterattack, she was injured by the aftermath of the battle. Although it wasn't life-threatening, it wasn't a minor injury that could be easily overlooked.

"Commander."

Shinomiyami Nami him with a military salute.

Unlike Canary, who showed dissatisfaction towards the newly appointed commander, Shinomiyami Nami treated him with the same strict and standard etiquette as she would with Fushihara Ayaka and Masaki Hina.

The adjutant stepped forward and said, "Commander, you are injured. The task here can be handled by me and Siyejian."

"No need."

Kusei Maki's voice was a little hoarse, but still loud.

She declined the adjutant's suggestion, stepped off the train, nodded to Shinomiyami Nami, then looked past Shinomiyami Nami towards the direction where Efnir, Anilas, and the others were, before turning to the various soldier companies. With a meaningful gesture, she raised her hand, her leather boots making a clanging sound like steel.

"Major General Efnir, Major Anilas, and all the soldiers who fought and sacrificed their lives, the situation in this raid was extremely perilous. Your fighting was the key to victory. On behalf of the military headquarters, I hereby commend you. This victory belongs to you!"

"Salute!"

Then, she turned her gaze toward the direction where Lapith and Trilice were, and walked toward Lapith.

"Major General."

"Colonel Lapith"

The leather boots scraped against the ground. Lapith's military uniform and Exile Form were quite similar. In her normal state, she lacked the domineering aura she exuded as an agent, instead giving off a reliable and gentle impression.

"Fellow agents of Suzuda City, I won't waste time with empty pleasantries. We have achieved our current victory, but frankly, I still need your help. Due to the Angel's sneak attack, Boundary Stele's energy is running low. We will face another battle before the energy supply is restored. This will determine the success of the operation to retake the Maesakagawa Garrison District. Therefore..."

Because the Angel's attack caused a shortage of the originally sufficient backup energy, a breach will appear in the Boundary Stele Barrier before the Relay Station can supply power. At that time, the Erosion Entity from Beyond the Boundary will be attracted to it.