"Let's go!"
Jing Yuan let out a clear whistle, like a bugle call for the attack.
Before the words even faded, Jingliu beside him had already transformed into a cold, crescent-moon stream of light, shooting out!
The ice crystal longsword in her hand did not unleash any dazzling brilliance; it simply thrust, parried, slashed, and wiped, with movements that were precise and swift to the extreme.
Wherever she passed, whether it was thick ice-armored monsters or elusive shadow constructs, they were disintegrated from within by an extreme chill the moment they touched her sword's edge, shattering into crystalline ice dust, their roars cut short.
Her sword was synonymous with efficiency and death.
On the other side, Dan Feng stood gracefully upon the ripples, his robes fluttering.
He didn't make any large movements; with just a light stroke of his fingertips, the clear water circling him wound outward as if alive, sometimes transforming into tough water whips that swept across, sometimes condensing into sharp ice cones that fired in volleys, and a dragon-shaped water silhouette swirled to guard him, scattering, piercing, or freezing the Rift creatures that attempted to approach from the flanks.
The softness and strength of water were displayed to the fullest in his hands, using stillness to control motion, clearing out a stable area.
"Damn! This firepower is too intense!"
Compared to his elegant teammates, Yingxing appeared somewhat flustered.
He narrowly dodged a chaotic energy sphere shot from a tricky angle with a backbend, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead, and couldn't help but shout: "Why do I, a blacksmith, have to be on the front lines soaking up damage?!"
"Sorry, old friend!"
Jing Yuan swung his blade to shatter a Predator lunging at Yingxing, explaining in the spare moment, though a teasing smile played on his face.
"Due to the summoning rules, I can only bring them over as a 'package deal'; I can't leave anyone behind in the safe zone to watch the show. After all, the 'High-Cloud Quintet' wouldn't be a complete lineup without one of us!"
"Package deal? This is a bundle sale! Bad review!"
Yingxing muttered indignantly, but his actions were not slow.
Seeing a few more Rift creatures closing in, his face paled, and he immediately abandoned his pride, changing his mind as he shouted at the skiff circling in the air: "Bai Heng! Help! Take me with you! I need air support!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he seemed to feel a bit embarrassed, quickly rummaging through his portable toolbox to pull out a palm-sized, intricately structured mechanism, fiddling with it rapidly.
"Golden Soul Reaper, activate! Auto mode, clear the field!"
The golden automaton, with her tall stature, face hidden behind a gorgeous metal mask, and holding two huge metal folding fans, had a flash of red light in her eyes; without the slightest hesitation, her form suddenly blurred!
"Swish!"
The next instant, she appeared more than ten meters away, leaving behind only a golden afterimage and the sight of Rift creatures disintegrating instantly along her path.
The two metal fans seemed weightless in her hands, yet when swung, they carried a shriek that tore through the air and terrifying power; wherever the fan blades passed, whether it was hard ice or energy shells, they were neatly sliced open!
Her assault speed and field-clearing efficiency were so high that they faintly surpassed the steadily advancing Jingliu!
But this was understandable.
Jingliu's current strength was affected by Jing Yuan's level, stable at LV.20.
And this Golden Soul Reaper of Yingxing was essentially a powerful mechanical construct with no concept of a conventional level; its basic performance and combat logic were extremely outstanding, and in terms of instantaneous destructive power and mobility, it even surpassed some ordinary three-star combat units.
"Now! The path is open!"
Jing Yuan's eyes flashed with intensity; seizing the moment when the Golden Soul Reaper and Jingliu tore open a gap in the monster tide like two sharp knives, he shouted loudly.
"Charge!"
Bronya, Dan Heng, Stelle, Seele, March 7th, and the others were already prepared, and at the sound, they shot forward like arrows released from a bow, rushing at full speed along the short path paved with ice crystal fragments and golden afterimages toward the stellaron core at the center of the blizzard!
The stellaron core clearly sensed the threat and emitted an even sharper screech.
Several exceptionally large elite Rift creatures with astonishing energy fluctuations—like mountain-sized Frost Giants and thunderous beast shadows wreathed in electric snakes—broke out of the ice from the core area, letting out earth-shaking roars as they attempted to intercept the assault squad.
However—
"Boom, boom, boom, boom!"
A series of dense and precise light projectiles descended from the sky like a rainstorm!
Each one contained strange anti-magic energy, striking precisely at the most vulnerable energy nodes or joints of those elite monsters!
The giant arm raised by the Frost Giant was blown to pieces, and the electric ball condensed by the thunderous beast shadow was detonated in mid-air!
"Don't forget we're still in the sky!"
Bai Heng's cheerful voice rang out through the skiff's communication device, carrying a hint of mischievous satisfaction.
The skiff performed an agile roll and dive, its machine guns spitting tongues of fire.
"Hold on tight, Yingxing! Dive bombing mode initiated—wahhhh, don't pull my hair! We're going to crash!"
Accompanied by her excited shouts were Yingxing's even more miserable wails of "Slow down! I'm going to throw up!"
Taking advantage of the moment the elite monsters were stunned by the aerial firepower, Jingliu and the Golden Soul Reaper had already broken through the final barrier like ghosts, both attacking the stellaron core at close range!
Jingliu's sword tip condensed a point of extreme cold starlight, thrusting straight at the stellaron core!
The Golden Soul Reaper folded her two fans together, turning into an indestructible golden drill, spiraling forward!
"Clang!! Hum!!!"
Two even louder, ear-splitting explosions erupted!
The dark force field around the stellaron core twisted and rippled violently, its light flickering uncertainly, yet it still stubbornly resisted these two fierce attacks capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks!
Jingliu's sword tip was blocked outside the force field, unable to advance an inch; the Golden Soul Reaper's golden drill spun crazily, sparking countless blinding sparks, but it could not penetrate!
"Is it still not enough?!"
March 7th exclaimed.
Just at this moment of stalemate, with everyone's nerves stretched to the limit—
"Cover me!!"
Stella's shout pierced through the chaotic battlefield.
She did not hesitate at all, as if she had been waiting for this moment, or rather, following the mysterious hint from Cocolia.
A determined light flashed in her eyes; she straightened the laurel crown on her head and then, like a wild horse off its tether, ran at full speed straight toward the front of the stellaron core!
"Protect Stella!"
Dan Heng reacted first, his cloud piercer spear sweeping away a surviving monster attempting to intercept her.
Bronya and Seele immediately formed a crossfire, clearing threats on both sides of Stella's path.
March 7th's ice arrows were fired like they were free, creating slippery ice obstacles on the ground to slow down the pursuit of other monsters.
Bai Heng piloted the skiff in a thrilling low-altitude hover, using machine guns to clear stray bullets and energy splashes in front of Stella.
Stella pushed her speed to the limit, her mind clear and empty, leaving only that stellaron core ahead, getting closer and closer, emitting an ominous and powerful fluctuation.
She narrowly dodged a chaotic light projectile shot from an angle, the scorching airflow brushing past her cheek.
She leaped, nimbly flipping over the remains of a giant ice beast that had been frozen by March 7th's arrows and was currently disintegrating.
Facing a Rift specter floating at low altitude, waving energy tentacles, she didn't hesitate to slide under it, narrowly passing beneath it as the cold energy tentacles swept past, almost brushing her back.
Under the gaze of everyone—companions, the High-Cloud Quintet, and even the countless Rift creatures in the blizzard—this girl, who did not seem to excel in direct combat, miraculously crossed the final death zone with a series of almost instinctive, adventurous dodging maneuvers.
The next second, she had rushed to the front of the stellaron core, a place where the dark force field was almost within reach.
Without a second of hesitation, without even thinking about the consequences of touching it, Stella stretched out her arm while running, her fingers spread wide, and slammed her hand down toward the stellaron core that was still rotating and emitting a heart-palpitating light—
Just as her fingertips were about to touch the layer of distorted force field on the surface of the stellaron core,
A sudden change occurred!
The light of the stellaron core did not surge in retaliation; instead, it seemed to be under some kind of incomprehensible internal interference, flickering violently and irregularly, like a lamp with a bad connection.
And deep in Stella's consciousness, the system panel that only she could see, like a screen under strong interference, flashed with garbled code crazily, finally freezing on a line of unprecedented, blood-red warning text:
[Special hidden permission activating...]
[stellaron core "Jarilo-VI" connection protocol—force override command—execute? Y/N]
Time seemed to be infinitely stretched at this moment.
Stella's hand stopped at a place only a hair's breadth away from the surface of the stellaron core.
In her pupils, the chaotic light of the stellaron core was reflected, along with the glaring blood-red prompt in her field of vision.
The sound of the whole world seemed to disappear, leaving only her own violent heartbeat and that line of choice which seemed to carry endless weight:
Y... or N?