Inside The Black Mist

The monster seemed thoroughly enraged and had entered a state of frenzy. It moved relentlessly between the stone bridges, its mouth opening intermittently to release powerful, long-range beams of light.

While it couldn\'t create a special force field like the Ghost Vehicle, its beams were still a significant headache.

During the chaos, someone threw a gravity grenade at the monster, but a beam from the monster swept it away, causing the grenade\'s gravity field to go out of control. Instead of harming the monster, it crushed three nearby stone bridges and several soldiers!

The monster’s beams, whether direct or sweeping, attacked the surrounding humans furiously. Survivors on the stone bridges struggled just to avoid these beams, with no time left to replenish their flares.

Moreover, the monster still had seven or eight of its lower limbs remaining. Aside from three or four used to move its body, the rest flailed about, creating constant trouble for the humans.

Han Shu ducked to avoid a limb sweeping over his head and shouted toward Lida, “Can’t you freeze that thing?”

“Do you think my powers are like tap water that you can just turn on and off?” Lida’s voice was filled with frustration. Amidst the dim light, Han Shu saw her crouched on a stone bridge, barely dodging a beam that passed over her head.

But Lida’s troubles were far from over. Despite evading the beam, a limb came swinging towards her.

Fortunately, a Star Essence Shield was quickly activated, absorbing the blow and shattering like glass. The limb was deflected, but the impact from the barrier still sent Lida tumbling to the side. In her desperation, she managed to grab the edge of the bridge and avoid falling.

“Hold on!” Han Shu rushed to her side, accidentally glimpsing Tianyang standing motionless on a bridge below.

“Tianyang, run! That thing’s gone berserk and there’s no stopping it! Retreat now!” Han Shu shouted as he continued moving, unsure if Tianyang heard him.

At that moment, Lida could no longer hold on and screamed as she fell.

Han Shu reached her quickly, catching her in mid-air and landing on another stone bridge with her.

He used his back to cushion the fall, ensuring Lida was unharmed. Under different circumstances, he would have enjoyed this moment with a mature woman lying on him, but the monster above ruined the mood. He set Lida down and got up.

Lida then asked, “What’s Tianyang doing?”

Han Shu looked down to see Tianyang activating his Star Essence and drawing his blade as he leaped onto a bridge.

Rolling, he got up and jumped onto a second bridge, making his way around to the monster\'s rear!

Han Shu’s heart raced as he yelled, “Tianyang, you little bastard, what are you doing?! Get back here now!”

But Tianyang ignored him and focused entirely on the monster. His ability had revealed that the monster\'s core weakness was a blood-red sphere inside its mouth.

Although it was strange that the core could fire beams, Tianyang decided to take the risk.

He had noticed the monster\'s beam emission followed a pattern, occurring roughly every three seconds.

As Tianyang leapt onto another bridge, the monster was now within sight, its back facing him, with a thick limb anchoring it to the bridge.

Tianyang turned, leaping onto the limb and sprinting down it. In an instant, he reached the base of the limb.

With the silver light of his Star Essence blade, Tianyang leapt towards the monster’s humanoid arm, striking at the elbow before twisting and jumping to its rear neck.

He even used the monster\'s back to propel himself a short distance before leaping high, showcasing the advantages of his enhanced physical abilities.

Only then did the monster seemed to notice him. Its mouth opened, and its head turned back as the red sphere revealed a small opening.

Light points flickered inside.

Tianyang drove his blade downward with fierce force. The Crimson Moon Warblade, infused with Star Essence, glowed crimson as it pierced into the monster’s bone armor at the back of its head. Tianyang tightened his grip as he was flung sideways by the monster’s head movement.

A beam erupted from the monster\'s mouth, slicing through the nearby cliff and several stone bridges before disappearing into the darkness.

Moments later, a series of booming sounds echoed as the violent shockwave from the beam carved a horizontal trench in the cliff and destroyed the stone bridges along its path.

The destruction continued far beyond.

“Tianyang!”

Han Shu’s face turned pale with rage as he feared his teammate had been struck by the beam. However, Lida pointed at the back of the monster\'s head and exclaimed, “He’s not dead!”

Indeed, Tianyang was still clinging to the back of the monster\'s head. Though he had almost been thrown off, he tightly gripped the Crimson Moon Warblade and managed to hold on.

After firing the beam, the monster’s mouth began to close. Tianyang knew he had to act quickly. He bent his knees, pushed off from the monster’s bone armor, and leapt onto the monster’s head. Performing a flip, he ended up facing the monster’s eyes, his head downward.

In the monster’s remaining eye, Tianyang’s figure was reflected. The shadow in the pupil showed him reaching for something at his waist and then tossing it.

Something was thrown into the monster\'s mouth just as its jaws closed.

The monster then tried to grab Tianyang, who pointed the blade at the monster\'s face and angled it towards a stone bridge below.

The monster missed its grab, but a limb from below swung up, punching towards Tianyang!

With the rush of wind in his ears, Tianyang saw a dark shadow coming from below. He quickly curled his body, passing just beside the shadow, but still got brushed by it.

The violent impact sent Tianyang flying across the bridge, uncontrollably falling into the void.

He barely managed to glance at the monster, which had opened its mouth again, light shining from inside.

Suddenly, the monster’s facial armor caved in, and its entire head twisted like a screw.

The exoskeleton, red and white muscles, curved horns, and black mane—all collapsed towards a single point. During this process, the spherical core of its will cage was shattered.

In the end, the monster’s upper body vanished completely, its corpse hanging between the stone bridges. After a while, the limbs released their grip on the stone slabs, causing the disintegrating corpse to fall and collide with several stone bridges before disappearing into the dense black mist below.

Unfortunately, Tianyang couldn’t see this outcome. All he saw was the gravity grenade he had thrown into the monster’s mouth taking effect, crushing the monster\'s head with the collapsing gravitational field.

Then, he collided heavily with something hard at the back of his head, causing his vision to blur and him to lose consciousness.

Before losing awareness, Tianyang’s final thought was to tightly hold onto the Crimson Moon Warblade as he fell into darkness.

……

At the temporary command post at the entrance of the town, filled with various instruments and cables strewn about, the general with a cold, proud demeanor stood with her hands on the command platform.

“Still no news?” She demanded.

Standing on the other side of the platform, Ling Feng adjusted his glasses and replied, “We’ve temporarily lost contact with the troops on the fallen bridge. However, there’s light, and monster roars from below the abyss, which suggests our people are engaged in battle.”

“What about the support teams?” Fei Mei’s narrow phoenix eyes were filled with murderous intent.

Ling Feng checked a data panel. “They’ve reached the edge of the abyss and are preparing to provide support.”

“Too slow. Tell them to hurry,” the general said, clenching her white-gloved hand. “It seems I underestimated the intelligence of these dark creatures. There was no sign of trouble when the regular army crossed the bridge, but they managed to set up an ambush while our transcenders were passing through!”

“I’m also at fault. I should have deployed inspection teams while they crossed...” Ling Feng lifted his head, the cold light from the command post’s lamps reflecting off his glasses, making it hard to see his expression.

Fei Mei looked at him. “If Commander Chu Yan were here, he probably wouldn’t have made such a mistake, right?”

Ling Feng’s expression didn’t change. “Since the commander specifically proposed that you lead this joint operation, it means he has confidence in you. General Fei Mei, carry out your plan without any burden or pressure.”

Fei Mei’s delicate lips curved slightly. “How can there be no burden or pressure? The Iron Wall and the Strategy Department are closely watching me. This mistake will surely give them an opportunity to criticize.”

Ling Feng replied calmly, “That will be a concern after the operation ends.”

Fei Mei smiled proudly. “You’re right.”

Ling Feng turned away, trying to conceal his unease behind the action of adjusting his glasses. He wondered quietly if Tianyang was in trouble.

Nearby the incident site, several ambulances were parked in an open area.

Injured individuals were being rescued and transported, making the medical team extremely busy. Medics carried stretchers back and forth between the edge of the abyss and the ambulances, taking the injured inside and directing them to different rooms based on their injuries.

Xun got out of one of the ambulances, anxiously scanning the edge of the area. Many were being rescued, but she didn’t see the person she was hoping for.

Suddenly, she spotted a rugged man with a scruffy beard and hurried over.

“Captain Han! Captain Han!”

Han Shu was sitting on the ground, resting, when he heard someone calling him. Looking up, he saw a young woman running towards him.

Xun stopped beside Han Shu, breathing heavily. “Captain Han, Tianyang… Is he alright?”

Han Shu looked at her, offering a bitter smile and sighing. “That kid Tianyang fell…”

“What!” Xun exclaimed in shock.