The Fanatics' Holy Lament

"Gift?"

In the Radiant Holy City, Su Ming frowned slightly after hearing Jielusi's account.

The city walls have been completely suppressed, and the Glorious Crown Knights Legion stationed outside the city has been taken over and is being transferred to the temporary containment area in batches.

As for the garrison and auxiliary troops on the city wall, they have all been disarmed and are now marching down the wall in formation towards another containment area.

Next came the task of taking control of the city.

There are too many people to deal with, and the tasks are too complicated. It would be abnormal if there weren't some underhanded schemes in such a situation.

But there's no need to be hesitant!

Su Ming raised his hand and said resolutely, "The entire army enters the city!"

Yuya's report came through, "Su Ming, we've found the underground entrance to the defensive Magic Power center!" She spoke rapidly, "But there are a large number of guards there!"

The intelligence team she brought into the city numbered less than ten people; they were good enough for covert reconnaissance, but not enough for direct combat.

Upon hearing this, Su Ming immediately realized that something was wrong.

The remaining fighters of the Radiant Holy City who still possess fighting power should have retreated before the city walls closed in.

That was a window he deliberately left open.

After all, the forces available to take control of a city of 500,000 people are limited. Rather than trying to surround everyone, it would be better to let some of them leave to reduce the pressure of taking over.

Anyway, with the Radiant Holy City as a fulcrum, there are plenty of ways to deal with the aftermath.

"Which unit is it?" Su Ming asked.

Yuya, hiding in the shadows, quickly observed the situation. After a moment, she whispered, "It's the ' Fanatical Will ' battle group! About a hundred people, all Intermediate Rank- to High Rank spellcasters!"

Upon hearing this, Zijin's expression turned serious.

"Yuya, make sure you stay hidden!" she hurriedly reminded her. "These people are all extremists, no different from lunatics. If you get involved, it'll be a real problem."

"I understand," Yuya replied.

"Bone Machine First Battalion, Second Battalion, go and wipe them out," Su Ming ordered without hesitation.

According to previously obtained intelligence, "Fanatical Will | The total number of members in the chapter is about three hundred. Yuya seeing one hundred people does not mean that there are only one hundred people."

On the city wall, a large number of Bone Model war machines had already climbed up and were ready for deployment.

As soon as the order was given, the Bone Machine First Battalion and Second Battalion munitions of the Bone Weapon Battalion immediately scaled the wall and jumped down from the height.

The continuous clattering sounds were the impacts of their feet as they landed on the stone pavement. The swarming skeletal machines advanced along the wide street toward the city center, heading straight for the area marked by Yuya on the tactical platform.

But the next moment, something unexpected happened!

Buzz buzz buzz-

Hundreds of defense nodes within the city lit up simultaneously, and a surge of Magic Power rose from the ground, creating a new ring of light.

They rose higher and higher, quickly converging and closing at the top, forming an inner ring of defensive barriers in the blink of an eye, effectively keeping the Bone Machine Battalion out.

What's going on?!

Su Ming immediately looked at Newman, while glancing at his watch.

According to previous calculations, it will take at least half an hour for the "Angel's Protection" Magic Power center to recover from the tremors.

There are clearly still ten minutes left!

Newman stared at the reactivated defensive shield, especially the extremely abnormal crimson color on it. After a moment of thought, his soul fire suddenly leaped.

"Oh no—could it be that?!"

Explain yourself!

"Sacrifice!" Newman's soul fire dimmed. "By directly establishing a connection between a living person and the Magic Power core, we can forcibly quell the chaotic energy within the core. By sacrificing our lives, we can forcibly activate ' Angel's Protection ' ahead of schedule!"

Zijin's expression changed slightly, and she completed the mental calculation almost instantly.

"A city defense array of this scale—it would kill at least two hundred mid-to -High Rank spellcasters!"

Su Ming's breath hitched upon hearing this.

Filling the ranks with two hundred of their own men—this "Fanatical Will" is beyond madness; it's outright terrorism, willing to destroy themselves to launch an attack!

It's no wonder Newman hadn't considered this possibility beforehand.

Su Ming's eyes grew colder and colder:

Now that they've gone this far, what exactly are these fanatics trying to do?

"Beianqi, electromagnetic weapon fire!" Su Ming immediately ordered. "Newman, recalculate the shield-breaking time!"

****

In the city center, near the entrance to the "Angel's Protection" Magic Power hub, a hundred figures clad in white robes slowly rose into the air.

The person in the lead was none other than Valence.

The remaining members of "Fanatical Will" hovered in mid-air, raised their hands in unison, and began to cast some kind of spell.

Vast arrays of runes lit up, pale to the point of being sickly, their luster so cold it sent chills down one's spine.

That thing was nothing like holy magic; instead, it swirled and gathered in the night sky like rotting pus, dripping down like a stream, and then spread wildly in all directions along the ground.

An ominous and eerie aura spread out.

The residents who witnessed this scene turned pale and retreated in terror.

Zijin's eyes flashed with blue light as she rapidly analyzed the structure of the runes.

Meanwhile, Su Ming had already begun to devise the fastest way to break the shield.

The missiles in the vertical launch system had just been used to bombard the fleeing Divine Covenant Faction; there weren't many left, and there wasn't time to reload them.

If we rely solely on electromagnetic railguns -

"It will take thirty minutes!" Newman quickly reported. "Although these lunatics activated the magic circle ahead of schedule through sacrifice, the state of the Magic Power center is still abnormal!"

But judging from the situation, thirty minutes is clearly not enough!

In the center of the city within the light curtain, the pale magic circle, like a monster with its jaws wide open, rapidly expanded along the ground.

A resident, terrified, fell to the ground and was unable to escape; his body was enveloped by the light.

The almost transparent milky-white golden light, wrapped with wisps of blood-red light, was forcibly extracted from his body and slowly floated towards the fanatic in the air.

The man's body stiffened, and his life force visibly began to decline.

"Su Ming, it's ' The End Holy Mourning'!" Zijin finally finished her analysis. "They want to extract the life force of the city's residents, convert it into power, and concentrate it into their own bodies!"

Newman's soul trembled as he listened.

"This kind of evil magic—they actually dared to set it up," he muttered. "The residents whose life force is drained will die, and those fanatics who bore the power will all die afterward!"

"But before they die—" Su Ming realized, "They will receive an extremely powerful power boost!"

"Right!"

The Zijin quickly completed the calculations.

Because the outermost nodes were closed by the Feather Race Alchemists, the enemy could only activate the inner ring barrier, trapping approximately 200,000 residents.

"Regarding this quantity—"

The result caused Zijin's pupils to shrink slightly.

"Probably enough—to temporarily assemble these hundred people into an archbishop level!"

Upon hearing this, everyone froze in shock.

One hundred madmen nearing the archbishop level, whose lives are on the verge of extinction—this isn't a question of whether we can stop them, but rather how much of our own forces will be destroyed!

Even the Pansy could be damaged!

"No way!" Newman exclaimed anxiously after only a rough calculation of the magic circle's spread speed, "They can cover the entire area inside the defensive shield in ten minutes at most!"

****

At the battlefield near Lake Guz, Yise and his companions, having learned of the unusual situation, were already rushing back.

Zhapulai, Xialike, and the strong members of the Tian Shu Battle Group were also rushing over here.

Yise's urgent voice came through the communicator. "Su Ming, please evacuate immediately! Let us come back and handle this!"

"You're too late," Su Ming's voice was eerily calm. "Besides, I've already figured out how to break the shield."

Yise was taken aback. "What?"

Su Ming gazed in a certain direction in the night, his eyes sharp as knives.

"Use something heavy and fast enough to smash it open!"

He switched channels immediately.

"Miao Xin, H-6 WZ, all engines up!"

On the other hand, Miao Xin didn't even ask why.

She led the crew back to the aircraft and started it up as quickly as possible. The APU was at full load, and all power supplies, fuel, and other systems were activated.

The hydraulic systems were put into operation one by one, and the engines began to roar and awaken.

Zijin looked at Su Ming and whispered a reminder, "But the current H-6 WZ is not in the right state. The bone dragon has detached; it's just an ordinary skeleton now."

"It can combine with the bone dragon, so it can naturally combine with something else." Su Ming walked up to her and took her hand directly.

"Come, help me rewrite the White Bone Mark and reconnect."

Zijin glanced at him and took a soft breath.

"Let me make this clear first, this is your own request!"

She closed her eyes.

The next instant, the White Bone Mark spread out around the two of them. The long-lost star map appeared all around, flowing and swirling, like some magnificent and ancient ritual being lit up.

On the Pansy, which was stranded on the beach, the corresponding White Bone imprints were also activated simultaneously.

Some bony structures detached from the ship's hull and flew up, as if drawn by an invisible hand, surging towards the fuselage of the H-6 WZ, filling the gap left by the departing bony dragon.

White Bone marks climbed upwards, flowing across the ship's hull and seeping into the seaplane's bone structure.

Such a massive reconstruction almost forcibly disrupted the original Magic Power cycle.

Su Ming and Zijin performed high-speed calculations and rewrites, creating a new pathway for the reconfiguration of the H-6 WZ.

Soon, the White Bone imprint transplant was completed, and the new cycle closed. Faint fluorescent light appeared throughout the fuselage, as if the entire H-6 WZ had been infused with new life.

White Bone Fortress - Flight Mode, Remastered!

Without the support of the White Bone imprints, the Pansy's light immediately dimmed considerably. However, at present, it was only a decrease in bone toughness, which was not a problem for this temporarily stranded giant ship.

Newman, standing to the side, grinned from ear to ear.

"It's that same haphazard, non-standard technical structure again!" he couldn't help but complain to Zijin. "So, when we have to change it back to Pansy, I'll be the one filling in all the holes, right?"

"We'll see when the time comes," Zijin replied quite calmly.

Newman was furious. "Then if you're so capable, don't take my job and dump this mess on me!"

Zijin didn't answer, but just gave him a smiling look.

The "pity" in that expression made the halfling skeleton want to curse even more.

****

On the reborn plane, all engines were running.

Miao Xin excitedly went through the pre-flight checklist, her fingers flying across the switches and control panel, her voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement. "Whoosh! My plane is back! Su Ming, I forgive you for leaving me in the back to play with the controller!"

Don't forgive so soon.

"Flight control system full-range check complete," the co-pilot reported.

"Hatch doors, hatch covers, and cargo door locked," the mechanic reported.

"Engine parameters are normal."

"Takeoff clearance confirmed," Miao Xin said. "Begin taxiing."

The H-6 WZ has been released from its moorings and is beginning to break away from the Pansy.

Miao Xin chose the takeoff direction based on the waves and wind speed.

"Tell me, what are you planning to do this time?" Miao Xin began to inquire about Su Ming's purpose.

"Fly over to the Radiant Holy City."

Miao Xin was taken aback.

"Huh? That's a seaplane!"

Strictly speaking, the H-6 WZ is classified as a ground effect aircraft. It relies on the ground effect during near-ground flight to achieve a lift gain of about 30% and a reduction of more than half of the induced drag during low-altitude, high-speed skimming.

This behemoth is best suited to environments such as the sea, ice floes, salt marshes, and large, flat mudflats.

When the terrain is complex, airflow and attitude control become extremely dangerous.

"It has wings and a powerful enough engine," Su Ming said calmly. "Guess how it differs from a real skyplane?"

As they were talking, the H-6 WZ began to accelerate.

The massive fuselage cleaved through the waves, leaving a long white trail. Before long, the steel-boned monster rose from the sea and roared into the night sky.

Miao Xin stabilized the aircraft's attitude, gracefully turned towards the mudflats, and headed towards the Radiant Holy City.

At this moment, Su Ming's control also switched to the skeleton of the H-6 WZ.

Compared to the Bone Dragon, which only provides the single function of Magic Power circulation as its core, the White Bone Mark grants far more comprehensive abilities.

And so, the renovation began!

The massive float structure beneath the fuselage was the first to detach, and large sections of redundant skeletal structure broke away from the aircraft and plunged into the sea. The entire aircraft suddenly felt lighter, and its pitch angle noticeably increased.

Immediately afterwards, the wing structure also began to change.

With the increased angle of inclination and narrowing of the airfoil, some of the excess components were stripped off and discarded on the spot.

With a significant reduction in weight and a sharp drop in drag, the H-6 WZ's climbing ability and speed have increased dramatically!

Miao Xin sensed the changes in the aircraft and quickly coordinated with the control surfaces to maintain attitude balance.

"I love this!" Her eyes lit up.

As the modifications continued, the total weight of the aircraft was reduced by nearly 40%, and the cumbersome and sluggish feeling completely disappeared. The huge aircraft even exuded a sense of lightness and agility.

"That's fine."

Su Ming's voice was decisive.

"Maximum thrust!"

Miao Xin and the passenger simultaneously pushed all twelve throttle levers to their maximum. Before long, the engine revs surged to 100%.

Twelve coaxial, counter-rotating twin propellers spun wildly. Their slender, swept-back blades resembled scimitars, fiercely slicing through the air, their roar tearing through the night.

Miao Xin stared at the speedometer, very happy.

Three hundred days!

Three hundred and fifty days!

Four hundred days!

"Not enough, keep improving!" Su Ming said, "Although it's a propfan engine, from a technical standpoint, you can go even faster."

You really think highly of me!

Miao Xin complained, but still pushed the accelerator to its maximum limit of 105%.

The power of the H-6 WZ will increase again.

©