Chapter 88
Moreover, the injury to her right eye made it difficult for her to detect enemies attacking from the right, so while keeping a close eye on Qinglan, she also had to devote more energy to paying attention to dangers coming from other positions.
A silver light flashed beneath her feet, Efnir leaped up once more. At the same time, a beam of light descended, passing straight beneath Efnir. Efnir dodged it with a quick somersault, but instead exposed the Erosion Entity behind her to the beam's attack.
Using Qinglan's beam attack to remove some of the Erosion Entity and leveraging the opponent's attack to weaken one's own disadvantage is one of the skills that can be used in battle.
But the next moment, Efnir's eyes widened slightly.
In her vision, the body of the Erosion Entity, which had been pierced by the Qinglan beam of light, showed no signs of injury. Instead, a strange mist rose up, and at that moment, a piercing roar erupted from the Erosion Entity's mouth.
"Roar--"
Its already massive body, as large as a small car, expanded rapidly at this moment. Its solid body seemed to have veins throbbing, and sharp bone spurs grew from its arms, back, and head at the same time. Its fangs also became increasingly cold and menacing. In the blink of an eye, its body had grown to the size of a tank, and its height had jumped from two meters to more than five meters, directly surpassing the height of Efnir's jump.
"Evolution!?"
Before Efnir could even gauge the extent of the Erosion Entity, the enormous claws slammed down on Efnir head.
A flash of silver light appeared beneath her feet, and with a roar, Efnir thrust her spear upwards.
A burst of light exploded above Efnir's head, and the massive, heavy body of the Erosion Entity was simultaneously thrown back a step. Efnir, unable to withstand the force, fell from mid-air, her spear landing on the ground, her feet leaving long Trace in the earth.
An Erosion Entity attacked Efnir from behind.
Efnir suddenly flipped over, her spear slicing through the night sky. She channeled her remaining strength into a whip-like strike, pulverizing the Erosion Entity from behind.
But then, even more Erosion Entity attacked.
After launching a series of offensive and defensive counterattacks, Efnir was simply too exhausted to face these guys again in her weakened state.
Her lungs felt empty, and she had no strength left in her body. Efnir raised her spear in front of her, intending to withstand the attack with a non-fatal wound before breaking through and retreating.
Efnir never took these Erosion Entity seriously. With her abilities, even if she were surrounded by twice as many Erosion Entity, she would not be able to be harmed in the slightest.
Even after being injured, Efnir was confident that she could escape unscathed from the combined attack of the Erosion Entity and Qinglan. In fact, Efnir even considered bringing Qinglan back with her.
Any other agent would likely have met with certain death in the face of such an offensive, which is why Efnir dismissed Ayse and Elincia.
But as the saying goes... misfortunes never come singly.
The suddenly evolved Erosion Entity has become the biggest threat. This directly caused Efnir, who was originally outside the Erosion Entity's attack range, to have to take one of its attacks head-on. She then lost her chance to escape and was surrounded by many Erosion Entity.
121. Breakthrough
Now, Efnir's only option is to risk injury to gain a chance to escape.
The spear blocked the attack aimed at her heart. At the same time, Efnir tilted the spear to deflect the force and used it to propel herself up, kicking down the Erosion Entity attacking from the right and blocking its path.
The right side is Efnir's weakest point, Efnir must keep her situation under control.
But more Erosion Entity followed.
Sizzle--
Unable to dodge in time, the long, sharp spike pierced through Efnir's hair and Efnir deep into her shoulder.
Blood instantly stained half of Efnir's cheek.
Efnir thrust out with one hand, simultaneously bracing herself up and kicking the Erosion Entity away.
But then another deep, bone-revealing gash appeared on the outside of Efnir's thigh.
Her breathing gradually took on a bloody odor, and her nasal passages could barely contain Efnir rapid breathing. The excruciating pain pierced her brain like needles. Efnir gritted her teeth, roared, pulled her spear from her waist, and then slammed it down over her head, sending the Erosion Entity in front of her flying and knocking down several more that were charging up from behind.
She had been consciously weakening the Erosion Entity in one direction, creating an opportunity for her to break through.
Just then, gunshots rang out in the distance. At the same time, a silver glint flashed in Efnir's eyes, and a clear, girlish voice appeared on the outer edge of the encirclement of the Erosion Entity.
"Senior Efnir!!"
A dense barrage of gunfire, like a rain of bullets, erupted from outside the encirclement of the Erosion Entity, and—
"Senior Efnir!!"
The girl's voice was like a gentle breeze tinkling bells, and a crisp, resonant sound appeared outside the encirclement of the Erosion Entity.
A flash of silver light disappeared in an instant. Efnir saw the silver blade tip appear in front of the Erosion Entity's chest. Then, the blade turned and suddenly slashed upwards. The Erosion Entity's body, which was as large as a giant, was split in two by this one slash. Then, it turned into countless starlight and scattered, revealing the slender figure of the girl behind it.
"Senior Efnir!"
The girl, wielding a straight sword, shouted as she ran towards where Efnir was.
The sound of countless gunshots and the appearance of the girl also attracted the attention of the Erosion Entity. Roars rose up and surged towards the girl and the distance. At this moment, another person appeared beside the girl. She held a straight sword in one hand and a shield in the other, blocking the attacks from the girl's side, parrying the Erosion Entity's sharp claws, and fiercely counterattacking.
The gunfire attracted the attention of the Erosion Entity, and countless bullets and cannon fire rained down on Qinglan. Although they did not cause any real damage to Qinglan, they did draw Qinglan attention. Qinglan raised her hand, and the beam of light shot into the distance. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the two girls cooperated and quickly broke through towards the direction of Efnir.
The loud gunfire drew away many of the Erosion Entity, and under the two girls' relentless attack, they quickly broke through the encirclement, landing in front of Efnir, panting heavily.
"Ayse... Elincia?"
Efnir recognized the person who had come, but her voice was distorted by the intense pain and rapid breathing.
"Why are you here...?"
"Senior, you..."
Ayse looked at the shocking wounds covering Efnir's small body, bit her lip, and the words stuck in her throat.
Elincia didn't speak, but she gripped her weapon tightly, her face extremely pale.
The ground was covered in bright red blood, and the air was thick with the smell of blood. It was hard to imagine that all of this was left by Efnir alone.
"We can talk about the rest later, let's get out of here first!"
Ayse gritted her teeth and squatted down next to Efnir.
"Excuse me!"
"Wait... ah!?"
With a cry of pain from Efnir, Ayse's hands slipped under Efnir's legs and waist, and she lifted Efnir up in her arms.
The wound was pressed down, and Efnir raised her chin in pain, blood staining Ayse's sleeve.
"Put me down... I can still fight!"
Efnir cried out in pain, but Ayse wouldn't let go.
"I'm sorry, senior... please bear with me..."
Ayse hugged Efnir tightly, glanced up at Qinglan who was launching an attack into the distance, and shouted at Elincia:
"Elincia! Let's go!!"
"Um!"
Ayse, carrying Efnir and gripping a straight sword in one hand, followed closely behind Elincia, running quickly in the direction they had come from.
Elincia, as the vanguard, held her shield in front of her, a burst of silver light flashing beneath her feet, and in one swift step, she charged towards the oncoming Erosion Entity.
Clang--
The Erosion Entity's claws slid off the slightly tilted shield, and as its arm was deflected, Elincia's sharp straight sword appeared in front of its open chest.
With a blank expression, Elincia thrust her sword straight into the Erosion Entity's chest. Her immense force caused the blade to completely sink into the Erosion Entity's body. Then, with a loud shout, the blade sliced through a long Fracture and emerged from the side of the Erosion Entity.
As the starlight rose, Elincia continued her relentless charge, shield in front of her, charging forward recklessly.
But a huge figure blocked her way.
The Erosion Entity that appeared in front of Elincia was as tall as a two-story building. Its giant claws slammed down, blotting out the sky. Elincia narrowly dodged it with a somersault, and at the same time turned around and slashed with her sword, cutting into the back of the Erosion Entity's hand.
However, the wound was shallow and did not cause much damage to the Erosion Entity.
"This guy... don't fight him head-on. There are too many enemies here, and it would be very dangerous if we were surrounded again..."
Efnir's voice was weak and feeble, her teeth clenched.
This enormous Erosion Entity was the one that evolved right in front of Efnir. For Elincia and Ayse, a combined attack could take it down, but there were many other Erosion Entity around, and fighting it here would obviously give them a much smaller chance of winning.
"Let's go that way! Don't get entangled!"
Ayse shouted, and carrying Efnir, ran in another direction.
Elincia followed closely behind.
The agent ran much faster than a professional athlete, and the massive, cumbersome Erosion Entity body couldn't catch up in no time.
Thud--
A deafening roar echoed through the air. Elincia used her shield to slam the Erosion Entity in front of her into the ground, while simultaneously dodging attacks from her side. She raised her arm high, wielding a sword in one hand and severing the Erosion Entity's legs with one stroke. With her other hand, she used the hard edge of her shield to smash the Erosion Entity's head on the ground, crushing it into starlight.
As the dim light in the Garrison District gradually cleared, Ayse and Elincia came into view of the special forces and Garrison District soldiers. Masaki Hina stood at the forefront, her arms crossed in front of her, her cold gaze fixed on the direction of the Angel. The soldiers were firing continuously towards the Angel, and it was their gunfire that attracted the Erosion Entity, reducing the pressure on Ayse and Elincia.
At this moment, under the bombardment of the beams, some of these people were also injured, and corpses lay on the ground not far away.
Efnir was being held by Ayse, and she saw this scene too, biting her lower lip tightly.
When Masaki Hina saw Ayse and Elincia, and then saw Efnir in Ayse's arms, she raised her hand high and shouted.
"Retreat!!!"
122. Teardrop
Temporary Command Post--
Yukina and Kanade Kotone each carried a first-aid kit as they walked down the corridor. The kits weren't heavy, so Kanade Kotone could easily support them with just her uninjured hand.
Canary was injured and retreated from the battlefield. She was brought here and protected by people sent by Fushihara Ayaka. Since Yukina had nothing to do, she and Kanade Kotone took on the role of nurses' assistants.
The cacophony of rotor blades cut through the night sky as a helicopter, its signal lights flashing, moved past the window, slowly landing a short distance away before disappearing from sight.
"Ah..."
Kanade Kotone and sighed deeply.
"There's a parent-teacher meeting tomorrow, ugh..."
"Um..."
Yukina responded softly, turning her gaze away from the window.
Parent-teacher meeting...
I wish I could go with my sister tomorrow.
It's okay if I don't go, as long as my sister comes back safely.
"Shiomi- san, how about we go get some shaved ice after the parent-teacher meeting tomorrow? I know a pretty good place, it's newly opened."
"I... maybe I have other things to do..."
Yukina an awkward smile.
She had already made plans with her sister to go shopping for autumn clothes after school.
"Is that so..."
The Kanade Kotone paused for a moment.
"Speaking of which... it's really hard to believe... Shiomi- san, you know what? I was really shocked when I saw you and Yanase- san."
Kanade Kotone smiled slightly and sighed.
"Suddenly, I feel like this world is so far away from me... Fighting and all that... I've never thought about it before. But honestly, I really admire you guys, because it's because of you that this city can exist here so safely..."
Hearing the Kanade Kotone and say that, Yukina a little embarrassed.
"Actually... I haven't officially joined as an agent yet, I haven't done anything..."
Yukina recalled the first time she learned that her older sister was Efnir; her feelings at that time were probably even more exaggerated than Kanade Kotone's.
"Don't be modest, you went out to battle today, while I can only sit here and cheer you on..." Kanade Kotone paused, then suddenly changed her tone, "Speaking of which, Miss Canary looks about the same age as us... She suffered such a serious injury... I hope she recovers quickly..."