Book 6 Chapter 32.4 - Overture
He subconsciously raised his hand to touch his face, see if there was something wrong there, but even after trying for a long time, his hand still remained in place, only moving an imperceivable small distance. Obie became more and more baffled, he knew that there was definitely something wrong, but he didn’t know what exactly it was. This made him who always lacked patience feel vexed and uneasy, as well as an unsuppressable fear. At the same time, he suddenly felt as if the top of his head was a bit hot, the temperature soon afterwards becoming broiling hot, burning him until he couldn’t help but wish to cry out. However, his mouth was just like his hands, no matter how he commanded them, their movements were slow like snails, his mouth only opening up a small crack after a long time. However, the heat at the top of his head entered with extreme speed, as if a red-hot steel rod had been inserted. The steel rod was inserted in a perfectly straight manner, entering his throat from the head, down into his chest, then into the abdominal cavity, and finally out from the body. Even though the end of the metal rod had already pierced through his body, that type of scorching heat sensation was still spreading through his body, continuously igniting an even larger area of space. Obie’s consciousness was already in chaos, the pain already reaching a level that was difficult for this strong-willed, bloodthirsty veteran to bear, preventing him from thinking all other thoughts. When pain reached an extreme, it instead became a numb feeling, thus allowing Obie’s consciousness to momentarily clear up. He seemed to have understood something, only, at this moment, darkness already descended, completely submerging his consciousness.
In the team leader’s eyes, a pillar of light that was as fine as a finger descended from above, striking Obie’s head with absolute precision, instantly blasting through his body, and then entered the earth. Obie stood there lifelessly, and only after a moment had passed did his body fall down. The team leader’s intuition of danger made him shout ‘spread out!’, and at the same time, he himself also jumped to the side! Another beam of light descended from above, firing into the ground while almost scraping the sole of the team leader’s shoes, producing a small amount of soft glass material in the crushed rocks and dirt. In this small troop of five members, aside from Obie, the other individuals all instantly reacted somewhat, but only the team leader’s reactions were quick enough, barely avoiding this strike of inevitable death. The remaining members were all injured somewhat, one individual had his shoulder pierced by the light beam. He was already thrown to his side, as he moved about, the light beam plowed open a dark line of charred traces. If he was just a bit slower, his entire body would have been directly cut open!
“The enemy is above!” The team leader roared out. When he rolled on the ground, he already saw a few unremarkable specks floating in the air. They floated several hundred meters up in the sky, their sizes roughly the same as normal eagles, their external color and luster changing with their environment. Even if ordinary people were looking carefully into the sky, it would still be difficult to see them clearly. However, the soldiers on the battlefield all more or less had a few levels of perception strengthening, the leader himself having four levels of strengthening, so he immediately saw through the enemy’s camouflage, discovering things that were similar to weapon platforms floating above, more than ten of them in total.
Specks of light lit up in the sky once more. The leader’s hair instantly stood on end, the signal of extreme danger. He didn’t take the time to think any fanciful thoughts, his feet forcefully stepping on the ground, instantly shifting out more than ten meters. The streaks of light silently descended, blasting out an expanse of crystallized small holes where he originally stood. The team leader breathed heavily, his lungs feeling as if they were going to burst, his breathing already starting to release a faint bloody smell. This was a sign that he had used power exceeding his limit in that instant, only when there really was the threat of death would he go this far. The team leader raised his head, wanting to remind his own teammates to dodge, but he discovered that the battlefield suddenly became quiet. Three members were already laying on the ground, not moving at all. The only member who still showed signs of life was laying on his side, a hand reaching towards the sky, futilely trying to grab something. There were several scorched black large holes on his body, clearly struck by at least three light beams in that instant just now. With these types of injuries, the leader could tell with a single look that there was no hope of rescuing him.
The team leader’s mouth opened, but in the end, he still couldn’t hold on any longer. He didn’t try to rescue this teammate, instead jumping out, sprinting towards a distant abandoned small town. He raised his automatic assault rifle while running, opening fire at the sky. The rifle released tongues of flame, the new era designs giving bullets enough destructive force even when shooting at targets several hundred meters in the air. The corresponding increase in recoil force, for many ability users, wasn’t a burden at all.
Several blasts of flames were ignited in the sky, signs of the floating mechanical bugs being hit. However, they were extremely sturdy, after being blown back a bit of distance by a few rounds of bullets, they would recover their balance. It seemed like if one wanted to eliminate them with automatic rifles, the likelihood of them succeeding wasn’t great. The leader wasn’t hoping for these bullets to destroy the mechanical bugs, because there were more than ten of them, even if he destroyed one or two, it wouldn’t help much. The reason why he emptied his magazine, was for the last few rounds of special bullets.