sbdcsierra Chapter 43 The Silent Chapter: Preparations Before the Final Battle
Chapter 43 The Silent Chapter: Preparations Before the Final Battle
Author's Guarantee: I apologize. Due to recent exams, I've been forgetting to update or updating very late. Starting tonight, I will resume my normal update schedule. This is the last filler chapter, don't worry. There are only three chapters left until the end of the Silent Chapter. If I'm in a good mood, I might even be able to update twice.
Upon hearing the name of the person in front of him, Salestio, whose arm had been twisted, was slightly stunned. Then his expression changed rapidly, and he looked at the family member who called himself the Grim Reaper with extremely crazed eyes.
"Huh?! What are you saying, Death... Don't be ridiculous! No one can judge me, absolutely! Absolutely no one, you can't judge me, die!"
After saying that, he used his other mechanical arm to quickly fire a laser blade at the head of the so-called "Flame Beast".
However, at that moment, the one called the "Flame Beast" merely turned its enormous head, which was burning with raging flames, slightly and cast its gaze forward.
In an instant, a mysterious and profound black light suddenly shone brightly, as dazzling as lightning streaking across the night sky. Immediately afterwards, a huge black magic circle appeared out of thin air, as if it were a passage connecting to another unknown world.
A deep roar emanated from the magic circle, and a spear formed from jet-black flames slowly rose up.
The Flame Beast before him proudly raised its head, its arm slightly raised.
"Pierce him, Black Flame Demon!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the black spear pierced straight through Salestio's abdomen.
Salestio's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief. He looked down at the black fire spear that had pierced through his body; perhaps due to his full-body modifications, only mechanical parts were scattered everywhere.
"This...how is this possible..." he muttered to himself, his body gradually collapsing, his face still filled with confusion and surprise.
The [Flame Beast] that could take action merely glanced at him mercilessly, shook its head, turned around, looked down at Fildo who had fainted from the pressure of powerful magic, and slowly bent down.
He muttered to himself, "Phew~ Good thing I'm not too late. But that woman Möbius's idea is too crazy. I just wanted to find the base through the finger I left on her, but who knew that old woman would want me to transfer my consciousness into that finger and be reborn? That's insane!"
The voice of the [Flame Beast] changed drastically, from the voice of an old and dignified man to the voice of a cold and deep boy.
He slightly removed the sheep-face mask from his face, revealing a familiar face—the strongest newcomer in SSS-ranked competition, the true [Flame Beast] Gang Fengming.
As Ming sighed, he couldn't help but recall what had happened twenty-five minutes earlier.
...Timeline: 1:30 AM, after everyone watched helplessly as Fildo was taken away by Salestio.
The Aldorfrey Orphanage, now blackened by fire and completely deserted, stood silently in a corner, Lifara, Horalim, and Ming gazing at each other without uttering a word.
Surrounded by SSS and DEM members injured in the battle against the clone killers, along with Instructor Lind, Skadi, and Monica who had followed them from the previous location, the atmosphere was extremely quiet.
"Uh..." The two women and the man stood there for a long time without saying a word.
Ming broke the silence, "Fei'erduo came here on her own after hearing about it. She seems to have some connection with this orphanage, and the orphans there also..."
Lifala and Horalim exchanged a glance and nodded.
“It’s not your fault for not protecting the children. Blame the enemy for being too evil and too strong…” Horim comforted Ming, holding his shoulder. “And from what you’ve said, it seems she often comes here during her holidays. Could it be… she was an orphan here before?”
Upon hearing this, Ming remained silent, a pang of guilt stirring within him that should have left him feeling indifferent.
Just as they were still feeling awkward about this, two streaks of light, yellow and green, flew down from the sky above.
"Ah! Two of the world's top ten magicians!" Upon seeing the newcomers, one of the less seriously injured magicians, who was sitting on the ground, exclaimed.
Hearing the shouts, many of the injured team members looked over and saw two streaks of light slowly appearing in the air.
A green-haired 'girl' wearing a knight's armor-shaped manifestation device and a twin-tailed loli almost completely covered by floating cannons and wielding a large hammer are suspended in the air.
"Hey, you old woman! When I was beating you up just now, you dared to fight back, which greatly reduced my support time. I even heard from Linde on the walkie-talkie that one of their team members was captured. It's all your fault, you old woman."
As soon as she revealed herself, Joliana immediately launched into a tirade against Möbius, who had been hiding nearby and using a mysterious instrument to examine her physical condition.
In contrast, Möbius kept her head down, seemingly searching for something below. Then, she glanced slightly at Ming, who was talking in the corner, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.
"Alright, alright, stop scolding me, little Jolena. I even helped you build this Percival, so this isn't how you treat your benefactor, is it?" Möbius teased, before immediately swooping down.
"Damn it, that old hag, what are you doing! Don't run away!"
"Oh dear~ Oh dear~ Little Jolena is really angry with me. By the way, I still need to work on the morale of the DEM team members, so I won't play with you, little kid~ Oh, and don't forget that if your SSS can't handle this matter tonight, they might lose some ground with the British Royal Family~ Hehe."
After making his sarcastic remarks, Möbius flew down without saying a word to gather the almost unharmed DEM team members and begin to regroup.
"No need to worry. The people of London have already been quietly evacuated by personnel dispatched by the SSS leadership. Moreover, I have seen that Salestio teleportation device before; it can only teleport people to the vicinity of a nearby marker object, making it impossible for them to escape London. As long as we capture him, I will definitely apply to the board for promotions and raises for you, and grant you a week's vacation!"
As Möbius spoke directly above them, he displayed a picture. Undoubtedly, while there are truly righteous people in DEM, most are driven by self-interest. Compared to talking about those orphans who were recklessly taken away, it is probably more effective in mobilizing their resolve to improve their personal interests.
Ming watched from the corner, his eyes filled with contempt.
After the speech, Möbius gave the order, and the DEM members quickly took action.
Meanwhile, seeing that the DEM team next door had already formed their ranks, the SSS team members also formed their ranks and stood ready, waiting for their only world magician to give them an inspiring declaration.
However, Jolena on her side was utterly uninspiring. Seeing everyone's expectant eyes, she opened her mouth but couldn't utter a single word.
The SSS team members exchanged glances, starting to feel restless. At this moment, an embarrassed Jolena coughed in the air, subtly signaling to her nearest instructor, Lind.
'That adorable Lind, go and manage your soldiers! I'm no good at giving speeches!'
Having received Joliana's hint, Lind immediately understood. He strode forward, stood at the front of the line, and loudly proclaimed:
"Fellow colleagues, I believe you all understand the purpose of this operation. We must not only rescue the trapped children, but also completely destroy DEM's conspiracy! This is a battle between justice and evil; we cannot back down, we cannot be afraid! Let us join hands and fight together to protect world peace!"
Lind's words were inspiring and powerful, full of fighting spirit, which invigorated the SSS team members.
"Let's go!" With Lin De's order, after listening to the speech, all the team members immediately activated their display devices and began searching for traces of the enemy's recent escape.
At this moment, inside the burned-down orphanage, because the two girls hadn't gone over to tidy things up and he hadn't gone over to Zhua Ming's side, he was alone, standing alone on the second floor, in the most severely burned area, leaning against the wall, seemingly lost in thought.
Just as Ming was deep in thought, Möbius, who had just led the other DEM members away, slowly walked upstairs and quietly looked at the boy in front of him who was gazing at the bright moon.
"Klein!" Möbius whispered.
Hearing someone call his name, Klein snapped out of his reverie. He looked at Möbius in front of him, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
"How did you know I would be here?" Ming asked.
"I've come to see my good apprentice~ After all, I just had a confrontation with my former colleague. I heard that the children have all been taken away." Möbius walked steadily to Ming with a solemn expression and brought his face slightly closer.
“So can you stop pretending, Klein?” Möbius said bluntly, then ripped off the glove from Ming’s left hand, revealing that his middle finger had disappeared as if it had been severed.
"Huh?! It hasn't recovered. I remember seeing it when I used the thermal imaging sensor during the landing. But... you could control regeneration before!" Möbius's smile gradually became distorted, and his face drew closer and closer.
"Not necessarily. It's just that in my mind, that finger is still there. I just haven't severed the connection between my spiritual power. I still can't fully control my immortality." Ming shook his head helplessly.
Mobius's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Oh, so this is your backup plan? Using this severed finger to find the opponent's hiding place?"
"Your reasoning is pretty much correct... but how did you know that?" Ming looked at the woman in front of him with some unusual interest.
"What's so hard to understand! Usually, I often see you with a long face, looking like the whole world owes you money. But when you encounter a slightly tricky situation, hey, the subtle twitching of your facial muscles can't be hidden, and you'll be betrayed in an instant!" she said with a grin, a hint of cunning in her eyes.
"Hmph, so that's how you usually describe me, old woman. But I've never really liked you either, though congratulations on getting it right," Ming replied irritably.
"As expected of my lovely Klein!" Möbius exclaimed excitedly. "Then tell me quickly, where is Salestio hiding?"
Ming took a deep breath, pointed in the direction of London, and said in a low voice, "Based on my spiritual perception of other people's fingers, he is hiding under the clock tower in London."
Möbius frowned slightly: "I see... But this has become a bit troublesome. It's not far from the refuge in London. If we accidentally go there..."
"You still care about the lives of innocent people?" Ming's face was filled with disbelief when he heard what Möbius found troublesome.
"No, it's just that if he uses an ordinary person as a shield and we at DEM stand by and do nothing, our reputation will be in trouble." At this point, Möbius turned to Ming and asked, "I believe our proud Klein, you don't really want to see others suffer, do you?"
"So what?" Ming seemed to have guessed what Möbius meant.
"Of course, this will allow the powerful spirit [Flame Beast], which even I, the ninth magician in the world, can defeat, to make its appearance!"
"So you want me to change my identity and go over there to resolve this first?"
"Yes, you guessed right~ I'll give you 30 minutes. Then, I'll use the excuse that I've located their position with the monitor to lure both people there. That should be enough time for you to do your thing, Klein~"
After a moment's thought, Ming agreed to Möbius's proposal.
Just as he was about to sneak away when no one was around, using the spiritual connection he left on his finger to search for the past.
Möbius spoke again, calling out to Ming.
"and many more."
"What is it now?" Ming, whose body was already burning with black flames and who was preparing to reveal his spiritual armor, turned around and asked.
"Hehe, Klein, no, I suddenly have a bold idea..."
“Project your consciousness onto my severed finger, and then use my regenerative and immortal properties to completely transfer it there. This will save a lot of time,” Möbius said, his eyes gleaming.
Ming was taken aback. "How can this be? It's too dangerous!"
Möbius laughed. "Don't worry, you have regenerative abilities, you'll be fine. Besides, this will solve the problem faster, won't it?"
Ming hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded. He knew time was of the essence and they couldn't afford to waste any more time. After speaking, Ming closed his eyes, but Möbius continued:
"But don't use your full strength yet. You two spar for about ten minutes first. Otherwise, even if you're good at hiding your spiritual power, this is London, after all! It's the place with the most high-level magicians!" Möbius shouted.
"What do you think?"
“Give me ten minutes, and I’ll secretly install a spirit energy shield around the clock tower, a device based on your spiritual power. Then I can attack as fiercely as I want,” Möbius said. Ming Ting rolled his eyes and couldn’t help but retort.
"Hehe, I really have made quite a contribution to your research."
Möbius scratched his head. "Uh... in a sense, yes. According to you, the development of the rear-display device has obviously progressed a lot with you here... Ah, haha, it's okay, how about we send a few to your SSS later?"
Ming didn't speak, nor did he bother to argue. He silently closed his eyes and projected his consciousness onto his severed finger.
As Ming did this, his body gradually turned charred from bottom to top, and just as this charring was about to spread to Ming's head...
As if remembering something, Möbius stepped forward again and whispered in Ming's ear:
“Remember… the key to what you think you can’t beat is…” After Möbius finished speaking, Ming’s body was completely covered in charred black.
It then completely turned into coke and shattered, turning into carbon powder that floated in the air.