The sky was so dark that it was impossible to tell the time of day. Under the blanket fire, various missiles exploded on the mutated ground, creating one after another mushroom cloud. The border between the multiworlds blurred. Some of the flying polypus hydroids broke out from the borders and appeared at uncorrupted locales.
When the retreating citizens at Mo Bei City saw these strange creatures, the city-wide alarm rang again. The evacuation agents ushered the citizens into nearby buildings to hide. Panic and fear permeated the crowd. The Adults prayed and the children cried. However, their voices were swallowed by the strange wails. Some of the citizens fainted. The next second a hydroid hovered closer to the ground and its tentacles lashed out. Its speed was so fast that even the anti-air defense system was unable to do anything…
Blood and guts splattered the street. The stray dog which hid inside the trash can trembled. The alarm also rang at the Phecda base located at Chi Lin City and quarantine base. The anti-air artillery fired and the tanks rolled down the street. Soldiers departed for this one-way war.
“Come with me!” Prof Shen shouted at the students. “This is the time to show what you can do after months of special training.” Prof Shen was one of the 50000 people selected by the Yith but he chose to stay.
Next to the education building at the base, Chen Jiahwa looked at the strange creatures that soared through the sky in a daze. Deng Ruotong, Liu Ziyun and the other students were equally stunned. Just as their special training was about to end, this tragedy befell humanity. Prof Shen hurried for them to get into the armored cars. It had reached a state where every capable member at Mo Bei was required to be part of the battle. These students had very high spirituality. A few days ago, just as the situation was worsening, they were given an intensive lesson on Ancient Seal. Now they would be accompanying their teachers to head towards Chi Lin City to provide support. As a shrill siren cried out, the students’ attention was pulled towards it. At that moment, a fighter jet crashed right into a flying polypus hydroid. The explosion sparked and flamed. Two pilots died on the spot.
The flying polypus hydroid had part of its body engulfed in flames. It was about to go invisible to mend its wound when it was hit by a missile and it died in an explosion too. This hydroid flew from Mo Bei City, it caused a trail of destruction in its wake.
The flying polypus hydroid was not invincible, they were creatures of flesh and blood but to take one down, a heavy price had to be paid.
The crash landing was quite a distance from the base but sparks of fire dropped down from the sky. Chen Jiahwa gritted his teeth and hurried towards the armoured trucks. Eastern State was faraway, home was faraway, but if they failed to put up a defense here, home would soon be part of the battlefield…
Most of the students were teens barely over 20. They admired the One, Phecda Hero, they worked hard during their training so that they could join Phecda, the Special Mobile Force after their graduation. However, their wish came earlier than expected. The fight found them before they could find it. Suddenly some of them started to shake uncontrollably, others wept in silence. Perhaps they were not as intrepid as they thought. Perhaps they were still too young for this.
Chen Jiahwa’s eyes welled with tears as well but he put up a brave front… People like Gu Jun would not cry at a moment like this!
Prof Shen did not blame these students, they were too inexperienced and still needed more training, alas their first actual battle was one that was unfairly cruel. “There are Phecda members among the pilots.” Prof Shen told his students, “They know how to wield the Ancient Seal and the jets’ weapons. These are the people who have sacrificed themselves…” Prof Shen aimed to inspire but he found himself welling up with tears instead. This was because he understood much clearer than his students how dire the situation was for humanity this time. “While we’re still on the vehicles, you should call home.”
What Prof Shen revealed a lot. “This time, things are very serious, it might be even more serious than the legionella pneumonia… You have to be prepared to sacrifice yourself on the battlefield. There is nowhere to run, no choice for surrender. We can only fight…”
At the command central, the number for estimated and confirmed death was climbing every second. The expected injury number had passed 30000. Even though the students had already noticed the severity of the students, hearing that from Prof Shen, some of them wept harder. However, they were ultimately elites selected by Phecda, and their training was not for nothing. Soon with encouragement from each other, they firmed up as they took out their phones to make one last call home.
Chen Jiahwa did the same. The signal was not too good but he could still hear the thrill in his mother’s voice, “Hello, Jiahwa, is that you?” The special training forbade communication with the outside world. Other than knowing that her son was safe, Chen Jiahwa’s family had no idea what kind of training he was going through. This was the first time he managed to chat with his mother after his training started.
“Mom, yes, it’s me.” Chen Jiahwa tried to not let his emotion show. Deng Ruotong next to him chuckled lightly on her phone but her eyes were red. The truck had started to move. Barren desert was all they could see outside the window. Of course, there was also the constant bombing and gunshots.
“Are you on holiday?” When Mother Chen heard her son’s voice, her voice rose in several decibels out of pure joy. “How are things at Mo Bei? Is the training too hard? The news said there is a huge sandstorm coming towards Mo Bei, you guys are not affected right?”
“Mom, you’re still as naggy as ever….” Chen Jiahwa joked before his voice caught in his throat. Whenever he called home, his mother would dominate the conversation to regale him with small things that happened around the house.
“Alright, I hear you. I’ll stop nagging.” Mother Chen laughed,
“Mom, I…” Chen Jiahwa was unable to finish the sentence, ‘might not be able to return anymore. You were right, attending Phecda University is like going to war camp. One might not return alive.’ Instead Chen Jiahwa said, “I miss your Go Ji braised ribs, the food here is never as good as you make it…”
“Then when are you coming home?” Mother Chen asked, “I’ll cook them for you. By the way, why is your place so noisy?” The students looked out the window. A different kind of flying abnormal creature soared through the sky and the students gasped in shock. Things… were getting worse?
“That… was a big nightgaunt.” Prof Shen recognized it and he explained it to the students, “Also known as Byakee, it should be on our side…” The outside world did not really understand the true meaning of supernatural energy but these students knew some of it.
There were quite a few Byakees in the sky. That inspired them and they leaned closer to the small window to get a better view of this unusual creature. However, Prof Shen knew behind every single Byakee, there was a Spell Department member sacrificing themselves