Mister Zero, Her Story: Chapter 74 – The “Ember”… Doesn’t Erupt
Just as the pulse cannon barrage ended and the force field deactivated, the sandstorm intensified, its fury unleashed as it surged towards the Ember Furnace.
At the same time, the Dawn suicide squad engaged the Yan City forces sent to intercept them.
Invisible spiritual flames burned around the seventeen figures standing on the precipice, their final gambit.
“They’ve broken through,” Lin Cheng’s muffled voice echoed from within his heavy armor, tinged with exhaustion.
Even with the “Ember’s” support, controlling such heavy armor was physically and mentally taxing.
And his opponents weren’t the mindless calamity monsters from the pioneering days, but Dawn’s elite.
After being initially caught off guard, Dawn had quickly regrouped and launched a counteroffensive.
“Expected… Our hastily assembled defenses couldn’t stop them…”
Li Ping’s condition was even worse. He was covered in wounds, his sword arm hanging limply, traces of destructive spiritual energy lingering on it.
He could exploit openings, assassinating isolated Dawn members, but each attack left him vulnerable.
Although few in Dawn could match his and Lin Cheng’s combat experience, they were still seasoned veterans.
Li Ping had fallen for several traps, lured by feigned weaknesses, and the resulting counterattacks had taken their toll.
He had only managed a few hasty bandages while Dawn’s force field was active, a meager comfort.
Almost all healing ability users were at the hospital, tending to the wounded. Yan City couldn’t afford dedicated healers on the battlefield, not during such a high-casualty engagement.
Of course, for Lin Cheng and Li Ping, this was nothing new; they had experienced far worse during the pioneering days.
But now…
“The pulse cannons need to cool down, they’re already overloaded,” Lin Cheng received the message from the Pulse Cannon Battalion and shook his head. “Other units are on their way, but it seems they won’t arrive in time…”
“And more importantly, our forces can’t get through.”
Li Ping stared at the figures ahead, the Dawn suicide squad holding back the Yan City forces.
They, like Li Ping and Lin Cheng, had ignited their spiritual energy.
But unlike them… they didn’t have the “Ember” to replenish it.
Igniting their spiritual energy meant death.
But they were prepared to die… Their only wish was to delay Yan City’s advance.
Even as enemies, Li Ping and Lin Cheng couldn’t help but be moved by their sacrifice, a sense of helplessness washing over them.
Yan City had done everything they could… even more.
But Dawn’s strength wasn’t just their power; their conviction was just as strong as Yan City’s.
Even after suffering over thirty percent casualties, they hadn’t wavered.
Yan City, fighting with the “Ember” and their defenses, hadn’t even lost twenty percent.
Of course, such comparisons were meaningless; each number represented a life. But it still showed Dawn’s resilience.
This resilience came from “Mister.” Without him… Dawn wouldn’t be Dawn, not the Dawn of today.
This was why Rhine, knowing this costly operation was just to retrieve a corpse, still felt it was worth it.
If the world knew that Dawn’s revered Eldest Mister was being used as a weapon by the Free Federation, and Dawn did nothing… what would happen?
The consequences would be severe, the worst-case scenario being Dawn’s complete collapse.
Some would join other factions, some would become refugees, and others… would become even more extreme, their hatred for the world amplified.
Although this operation was born of necessity, it also had a deeper meaning.
The raging sandstorm, as it advanced, gradually shrunk, but it was still unstoppable by Yan City’s defenses.
Their meticulously crafted second line of defense was like paper before this force of nature.
Their only chance was to attack Dawn from the flanks or the rear, to slow their advance.
But the Dawn suicide squad had blocked this possibility, sacrificing their lives to hold back Yan City’s forces.
A “Peril” level ability user’s resolve, when facing death, was terrifying.
And there were three “Peril” level ability users among the suicide squad.
Having ignited their spiritual energy, their combined power far surpassed even Lin Cheng and Li Ping’s.
And their objective wasn’t to eliminate Yan City’s forces, but to protect Dawn’s advance.
Defense was easier than offense, and Yan City’s hasty attacks were easily repelled. Even the pulse cannons, firing at overload, couldn’t breach their lines.
One after another, the members of the suicide squad fell, but the remaining few held their ground, unyielding.
From above, a straight line could be seen rapidly approaching the Ember Furnace in the core district.
Explosions and bursts of spiritual energy erupted along its path, but none could touch it, not even close.
But sometimes… close wasn’t enough.
Finally, eight hours after the war began, five and a half hours after the first line of defense fell, half an hour after the second line was breached, and an hour before the first large-scale reinforcements arrived, Dawn reached their destination.
Yan City’s Ember Furnace.
Having exhausted the swirling air currents that fueled it, the massive sandstorm stopped before the Furnace and dissipated.
Only a path of destruction, cutting through Yan City’s core district, remained.
Dawn had started this operation with ninety-seven “Ruin” level ability users and twelve “Peril” level ability users, including Rhine.
Now, only sixty-one exhausted “Ruin” level and eight “Peril” level ability users remained.
They had paid a heavy price, just to reach their destination.
Rhine looked up at the Ember Furnace.
A frail figure atop the Furnace also looked at Rhine. Sun Biwu, Yan City’s only remaining “Peril” level ability user, had locked onto his aura.
“Farewell… Brother Biwu,” Li Ping’s voice, filled with suppressed grief, came through the communicator. A rare smile appeared on Sun Biwu’s usually stoic face, and he turned and jumped into the Ember Furnace.
…
Since the beginning of the war, Sun Biwu had remained here, prepared.
And when Rhine decided to reveal himself, using his ability to force their way to the Ember Furnace, Sun Biwu only had one objective.
—To kill Rhine.
Even if he couldn’t kill him, he had to inflict a crippling injury.
As he jumped into the Ember Furnace, Sun Biwu had thought he would only feel relief, his decades of torment finally ending.
But as his consciousness faded, perhaps influenced by some ability, memories of the pioneering days flooded his mind.
He felt… a pang of regret…
Feeling the scorching heat of the surging spiritual energy, Sun Biwu closed his eyes slowly, his consciousness merging with the Ember Furnace.
The endless energy almost shattered his mind, but his “Peril” level mental fortitude allowed him to withstand it, giving him a chance to directly control the “Ember’s” eruption with his will.
Rhine’s spiritual energy signature had already been locked on; the surging tide of energy was about to be unleashed.
But just then, Sun Biwu saw a figure appear in his chaotic mind, as if out of nowhere.
No, was it really in his mind…?
Could it be… inside the Ember Furnace?!
An intruder!
A small, icy-blue figure flickered past, its movements impossibly swift, like a fleeting illusion.
This momentary distraction caused him to miss his chance to unleash the “Ember’s” eruption on Rhine.
“No…”
Sun Biwu tried to focus, but he couldn’t, his consciousness being consumed by the raging spiritual energy…
He fell into a bottomless darkness.
“Huh?”
Luo Yan, just awakened, saw an old man falling from somewhere.
Startled, she instinctively used her ability to save him, seemingly attempting suicide.
However, the ability she instinctively used wasn’t “Envy,” but “End.”
A spatial rift opened, swallowing Sun Biwu.
Less than a second later, another rift opened in a safe location, and Sun Biwu was ejected.
“…”
Luo Yan was momentarily confused, then, seeing the bandages covering her body, she realized what had happened.
“Damn it, I almost caused a disaster!”
Luo Yan slapped her forehead. She had forgotten about switching bodies!
This was “End,” a Space-type ability, a single uncontrolled outburst capable of collapsing District Two!
Fortunately, even subconsciously, Luo Yan seemed to be quite skilled in using “End,” especially for rescuing people.
However, Sun Biwu was now unconscious, lying motionless on the ground.
Luo Yan cautiously approached, checking his breathing before sighing in relief.
“Good, good, he’s still alive…”
She patted her chest, her control over this body improving.
It seemed One had planned this. Before her consciousness faded, she had prepared her body.
No chaotic memories, no stiffness or awkward movements.
Luo Yan flexed her arms; it felt like her own body.
But it was still strange…
Perhaps influenced by One, Luo Yan’s emotions were more pronounced. Even with her face covered in bandages, a hint of confusion could be seen in her one visible eye.
What was One planning?
Why had she deliberately isolated her original body, leaving this one for Luo Yan to use?
Perhaps the urgency of the situation hadn’t allowed One to explain, but this was clearly a deliberate arrangement.
“Right, where am I…?”
Luo Yan stood up and looked around.
She was in a sealed, empty space, surrounded by flickering flames, an unbearable heat.
And this heat was strangely… seeping into her spiritual energy, threatening to ignite it.
But One’s body wasn’t so easily ignited. She had been a “Destruction” level ability user, one of the strongest.
Even after death, her body’s power, although diminished, wasn’t so easily affected.
Therefore, Luo Yan only felt a slight warmth, nothing more.
However, just because she was fine didn’t mean Sun Biwu was.
Luo Yan could see that, perhaps due to this space, the old man’s spiritual energy was burning.
“But how do I get out of here…?” Luo Yan frowned.
Even if not for herself, for the old man’s sake, she had to find a way out quickly.
And the war between Yan City and Dawn was still raging; more lives were being lost with each passing moment.
If Luo Yan appeared now, in One’s form, she could stop this meaningless war.
But after searching for a while, she couldn’t find an exit.
The space was like an empty, unrendered world, only the flickering spiritual flames.
Just as Luo Yan was starting to panic, a few faint spatial rifts flickered around her.
“Wait…”
Luo Yan suddenly recalled how she had instinctively used “End” to save the falling Sun Biwu.
“End” was a Space-type ability, but Luo Yan hadn’t seen any related information (Yan City had practically none), so she didn’t know its true power.
The only time she had seen “End” unleashed was when she killed the “Witch of Envy’s” will fragment… Its terrifying power, not even a spiritual form could escape.
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