Chapter 173

Chapter 173: The Boundless Dark Realm 28

The grotesque creatures, waving their tentacles, rushed out of the “door” one after another. A tentacle covered with barbs and suckers swung by with a loud smack, attaching itself to the camera and toppling the device. The image on the display became distorted, showing the wriggling tentacle in the monitor.

There was a zap as the screen first turned into static, then emitted black smoke and exploded.

Li Wanran, her face pale, grabbed the communicator and spoke rapidly, “Need backup at the Old Industrial Zone!”

The armored vehicle was only a few hundred meters from the tobacco factory, surrounded by many personnel. They had to stop those monsters tonight; they couldn’t let them infiltrate the city!

Li Wanran also lowered the window and picked up a night vision scope to observe the situation. She noticed several massive black shadows breaking through the broken windows of the tobacco factory and squeezing out through the gaps. Their flexible bodies, despite their huge size, could squeeze through small openings, and some even flew out of those windows. Some monsters could fly!

Bang, bang! Shots hit the flying monsters, causing them to screech and plummet.

The crew aboard the armored vehicle were intercepting the sudden emergence of the xenomorphs.

Each monster was oddly shaped as if crawling out from hell, creatures not supposed to exist on earth. Some were covered in tentacles, others had multiple eyes, and some brandished scythe-like forelimbs that moved too fast for the eye to track.

“Are these xenomorphs?” Li Wanran exclaimed in horror.

She was seeing xenomorphs for the first time, but Song Tingshuan wasn’t — she had more experience in this area.

Song Tingshuan pulled out a box from under the seat, grabbed a loaded gun, and said calmly, “Many of these xenomorphs I don’t even recognize. Has this ‘door’ opened just for an instant, or will it remain open in the future?”

As she spoke, a shadow rapidly approached the armored vehicle.

It was a Scythe Demon! And it was a mature phase Scythe Demon!

Its body reached the height of a person, its bone hooks in the forelimbs shimmering under the moonlight. It waved the bone hooks, causing a whistling sound as they cut through the air.

Song Tingshuan’s pupils dilated as she yelled urgently, “Cease targeting!”

The incantation took effect, swaying the Scythe Demon’s bone hooks at the critical moment, causing them to miss the vehicle.

But at that moment, Song Tingshuan’s legs gave way, and she fell to her knees in the car, coughing. Blood seeped from her mask. The incantation was very demanding, especially since the demon was in its mature phase, making it extremely difficult for her to exert any control over it compared to controlling a growth-phase xenomorph.

If the object targeted by the incantation was stronger than Song Tingshuan herself, her efforts would not only fail but also cause backlash.

The Scythe Demon did not give up and shot forward with incredible speed, catching up to the armored vehicle. Its bone hooks slashed out again, aiming for the tires.

Song Tingshuan ignored the blood dripping and commanded, “Dodge the vehicle!”

The driver of the vehicle sharply turned the steering wheel. With the screech of tires, the bone hooks once again narrowly missed the wheels and pierced into the ground dangerously.

However, the Scythe Demon had multiple attack organs. As the bone hooks embedded into the ground, it released another scythe.

Sparks flew! The armor-plated special tires of the armored vehicle burst with a sound!

Smoke rose, and a long black mark scorched the ground as one side of the vehicle lifted off and rolled over.

The Scythe Demon’s scythes could cut through both human flesh and metal; second-world ballistic vests had no effect against its attacks, clearly demonstrating its ferocity.

Everyone in the vehicle was flung around in the crash. Fortunately, due to the quick collision, their weapons didn’t misfire, allowing everyone inside to move again. Li Wanran struggled to stand, briefly checking the driver, who was protected by the airbag, with minor injury only temporarily unconscious.

The bodies of awakened individuals were far stronger than ordinary people. Hence, both she and Song Tingshuan remained unscathed.

Song Tingshuan was soaked in sweat. Her lips trembled, and she said, “This vehicle can’t withstand the Scythe Demon. With just two hits, it will break through entirely. Our guns can’t damage it; it has an outer shell. Even our high-caliber weapons aren’t effective, except perhaps heavy artillery.”

“Is there any way to lure it away?” Li Wanran asked.

“How can we? As soon as we appear, it could slice our heads off like chopping vegetables,” Song Tingshuan said. ‘Letting others come to help is like feeding it.” She stopped the armed personnel from going out to fight. “Don’t go! You’ll be killed faster outside.”

The vehicle carried technological equipment but lacked heavy weaponry. Song Tingshuan suspected that even missiles wouldn’t work on the Scythe Demon, which was swift and wouldn’t stand still to be hit, similar to a praying mantis. Facing a mature Scythe Demon, even the second-world Investigation Bureau’s combat teams had fatalities.

With the Scythe Demon stopping the vehicle, it wasn’t eager to kill off the prey. Instead, it gave out joyous screeches and slowly approached the overturned vehicle, acting like a cat playing with a mouse before finally eating it.

Li Wanran picked up the communicator and said, “Signal flare at ten o’clock position.”

Without three seconds passing, a signal flare rose into the night sky, a sign of reinforcements from another location. The color-changing signal attracted the Scythe Demon’s attention.

But Li Wanran felt despair when it glanced at the flare before moving closer to the overturned vehicle.

“It actually has intelligence…” she mumbled.

They were trapped. A dazed driver was in the vehicle, and the Scythe Demon moved too fast for them to escape. Furthermore, Song Tingshuan’s incantation ability was ineffective, and Li Wanran’s own abilities weren’t geared for battle, while their weapons were as useless as scratching an itch for the Scythe Demon.

They watched the advancing Scythe Demon on the monitor, feeling like they were staring down death itself.

The Scythe Demon raised its bone hooks.

The next second, a deep blue vortex appeared beneath it. The Scythe Demon seemed to lose balance and nearly fell into the vortex. However, it reacted quickly, stabbing its scythes into the ground to halt its descent.

Struggling to free itself from the vortex, the monster screamed as its lower half was enveloped and disappeared. Blue-green blood splattered across the ground.

White smoke rose with a hiss, burning ominously, and some of the blood even landed on the armored vehicle, corroding the steel exterior.

The scythe had sliced off parts of its body, yet it still moved and twisted, struggling fiercely.

But once the blue vortex dissipated, another emerged, once again right beneath the Scythe Demon, dragging it down inexorably. As the last part of its body vanished, the vortex tightened, severing what remained of it.

A gust of wind passed, leaving behind only the Scythe Demon’s head, blue-green blood pooling and bubbling where it had fallen.

Song Tingshuan’s mouth gaped in disbelief. Li Wanran was equally shocked as she looked around for the girl she’d seen multiple times during the scene retrospection.

Song Tingshuan attempted to open the door, but found it deformed and stuck.

Just as she prepared to kick it, a deep blue vortex flashed and created an opening through which someone could fit.

Song Tingshuan looked up, seeing a figure standing directly opposite her at the door.

The car was on its side, so she stood atop it, looking down into the vehicle.

She wore a face mask and a deep blue hooded sweatshirt… Song Tingshuan instantly realized who this was, the same girl mentioned repeatedly by Li Wanran, seen often at the tobacco factory.

Before she could react, the girl backed up and jumped off the vehicle.

Li Wanran whispered, “We need to get out now… Whether or not she helped us.”

The girl stood nearby watching Song Tingshuan and Li Wanran climb out of the vehicle, along with a few others in black combat gear. Together, they pulled out the unconscious driver.

Song Tingshuan jumped out and exchanged a glance with Li Wanran before turning towards the girl.

The girl’s clothes were untouched. Behind her, the destroyed body of the Scythe Demon was piled. Its cut flesh was smooth and clean, contrasting with its severed head nearby.

She seemed to have dealt with the Scythe Demon effortlessly.

“Greetings,” Li Wanran said stepping forward.

“Hello,” Kui Xin responded, glancing at her. “Can you keep a secret?”

Taken aback, Li Wanran initially thought the girl had witnessed her in the retrospection, but then she realized the girl was unaware of her actual capabilities or the findings from her investigation in the factory.

“What you refer to as a secret must be regarding your extraordinary abilities,” Li Wanran said.

“Yes, good,” Kui Xin replied.

Her voice was young, and her age was probably even younger than Li Wanran had estimated.

“This night will be busy with clearing out the monsters,” Kui Xin said. “Are more monsters coming out?”

“No, the door opened for only a brief moment,” a male voice suddenly said from the scene.

It was only then that Li Wanran noticed a man standing under a tree ten meters away, his clothing slightly disheveled and torn, with remnants of blood on it—indicating he had just been in a fight.

“Pigeon, you’re here as well,” Kui Xin nodded to Tang Guan.

“Just arrived,” Tang Guan greeted Kui Xin politely. “Spearhead Adder.”

“Spearhead Adder and Pigeon?” Song Tingshuan was confused for a moment, quickly realizing these were codenames.