"Bao Jian, what do you intend to do once we reach the City of Gray Knights?"
"I will join the city's defense forces,"
He replied.
"The sector where I was raised and served has been destroyed. I have trained my body and mind to be the ideal warrior. I believe I will be of use to the City of Gray Knights."
"Aren't you afraid to die?"
"You offend me, Lord Lin! If I am to die, I shall die with a smile on my face, ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Every word from this cultivator was steeped in pride. It was strange—less than a week ago, he had been found completely broken in the hands of a demon-worshiper. Where did such pride come from?
"And you, Mr. Spider-Man, what do you plan to do?"
Bao Jian's voice addressed another passenger on our 'bird.' Spidey's head turned directly toward him.
"We will continue to save people."
When we transferred to the second bird, piloted by a young female disciple of Bao Jian, I signaled Spidey to the stern. We needed to talk without prying ears, though Bao Jian seemed to have withdrawn into himself, meditating in the center of the deck.
"Listen, Peter..."
I began, trying not to look at the fabric of his red suit, beneath which rhythmic movements could be seen here and there.
"After that... 'meal'... well, you know. Have there been any changes? You seem... calmer."
Spider-Man froze. His ocular lenses narrowed with a soft click, focusing on me.
"We feel satiated,"
the voice sounded much better than before, now almost
indistinguishable from a normal human's.
"The energy of this world... this 'Qi'... your theory was actually correct. Our individual minds are strengthening, and the Swarm's primal hive-mind is weakening. As we process the food within our stomachs, our senses sharpen. Every one of us—every particle of our swarm—is now a single whole. You know, Lin, it helps a lot."
I swallowed hard, remembering exactly who he had eaten. But now, something else concerned me.
"You're surprisingly calm, Peter. Do you think Bao Jian really hasn't realized that you're, well... you know, not exactly human?"
"We think he doesn't care that we refer to ourselves in the plural, or that we are literally composed of... well, you know. We think in this magical world, where so much is unusual, it's easier to accept that we, a swarm of insects, are a positive factor despite our condition."
"Tell me about your world, Spidey. The real one. Can you tell me anything about the heroes and villains of your world?"
Spider-Man looked at me, and something akin to sadness flickered across his motionless mask.
"What a question bro? . We know that you know about our world. When we first appeared here, you recognized us instantly. That means you have information that no one else in this universe possesses. Where did it come from?"
"I don't know much about the details of your world, you know Spidey,"
I said, averting my gaze.
"Do you know about our past? About who we were before we became... this?" He pointed to his hands.
"Well... yes. I know. You were a hero. A kid from Queens who just wanted to do the right thing."
"A hero... Know this: many heroes faced similar choices. The same goes for villains. In our world, we nearly fell into despair. We fought for years for the freedom of a world that was already dead, it just didn't know it yet. We lost everything: Uncle, Gwen, Mary Jane... We were left alone in an empty universe until we became a single entity."
He fell silent, glancing at Bao Jian and his disciples.
"Here, everything is different. We feel needed. We feel that we are helping the people around us, rather than just delaying the inevitable. In this situation, our thoughts have become clearer. You know, we feel like the protagonist in some anime buddy."
"And now a super-twist is supposed to happen, right? P-ha-ha."
As we spoke, the horizon began to change rapidly. Out of the mist and clouds emerged outlines that made my heart race. The Walls of the City of Gray Knights. These were no mere stone barriers. They were colossal monoliths of gray adamantite, soaring five hundred meters into the sky. The wall was so wide that ten heavy war chariots could drive abreast along its top. Across the entire surface of the stone, like the blood vessels of a giant organism, pulsed runic tracks filled with cold blue light. Every few kilometers, giant magical cannons were embedded into the masonry, their muzzles seemingly capable of swallowing a small ship.
And above all this grandeur loomed the Magical Barrier.
It was a dome of pure structured energy, resembling a faceted diamond, covering the space for hundreds of kilometers around. Sunlight, passing through it, refracted to create the effect of an endless aurora borealis in the sky. This was the "Shield of Heavenly Order"—the pinnacle of human genius, said to be capable of withstanding a direct meteor strike or an attack from a dozen Soul Nascent stage masters. The air around the barrier hummed with static tension; it felt as if reality itself was denser here, protected by the will of thousands of mage-operators.
"Look at that, Mister Lin,"
Bao Jian whispered. I saw the fire of life burning in his eyes, reflecting the radiance of the dome.
"This is the peak of our species. A fortress that cannot be taken. Here we will be safe; here we will fight."
I looked at this majesty, and for a moment, the fear receded. The beauty was so profound it gripped my soul. I saw thousands of patterns drawn on the wall shimmering together. It was a true manifesto of humanity, proof that mankind was at its zenith...
Smoke. Oily, coal-black smoke rose not from chimneys, but from the very depths of the city. As we reached the limit of direct visibility, the full picture of the place revealed itself.
The Great Barrier, that 'indestructible' diamond, was in tatters. Enormous, jagged holes in the energy fabric yawned everywhere, and cracks radiated in all directions from their edges like a shattered windshield.
The runic tracks on the walls no longer pulsed—they leaked sparks, slowly fading away. Within the monoliths themselves, monstrous holes could be seen, through which one could glimpse the inner parts of the city engulfed in fire and turned to ruins. The sounds of explosions merged into a single rhythmic, pulsing march of death. It was not like the sound of gunfire or magic spells—it was the sound of reality
collapsing. From beneath a central breach in the wall, right through the adamantite thickness, something reached out. It was a shoulder clad in crimson skin and a hand studded with bone spikes, each the size of a tower. The monster was slowly rising from the ruins.
The wall, five hundred meters high and encircling hundreds of kilometers, reached only to the creature's... waist. It... i-it's...
"D-D-DEMON!!!!"
one of Bao Jian's disciples finished my thought. We had to run—run as far as possible.
The head of the creature, situated in a shimmering rift in reality, turned slowly. We saw only the edge of its bottomless mouth.
Bang! The first explosion. The head of the screaming boy disintegrated into a bloody mist, painting the shards of the 'indestructible' barrier red.
Bang!
Another disciple, a sturdy young man who just a minute ago was clutching the hilt of his sword, turned into a headless mannequin. His skull didn't just crack—it detonated from within, unable to withstand the mental pressure radiating from the Red Giant. A bloody mist hung in the air like a fine spray, tinting the magical shield of our 'bird' a pale rose color.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three more. The female pilot, whose hands had just been confidently steering us toward safety, went limp. Her head popped silently, like overripe fruit, and the remnants of her consciousness—gray bits of brain and shards of bone—fanned out across the magical control panel. The disciples' birds jerked, losing altitude and beginning to roll onto their sides.
I watched this, paralyzed with horror, unable even to scream. My mouth was open in a silent spasm; my nostrils were filled with the smell of blood and scorched copper.
Bao Jian stood in the middle of this slaughterhouse, motionless. His face, which had so recently glowed with noble pride for humanity, was now a deathly gray, just like ash. He looked at the bloody mess at his feet—at what remained of his legacy, of his disciples. I looked into his eyes, expecting to see the extinguished embers of life, but no—infinite bitterness had not quenched the flame of his faith. His entire path as a warrior, decades of training, the pride of a cultivator—even now, all of it could be seen in him; one could see the unbending will of humanity. And then his eyes widened, and he looked directly at me.
And then he smiled.
BANG!
The world around me turned dark red. Bao Jian's head disintegrated into pieces right before my face. Warm, sticky droplets splashed into my eyes, my mouth, and down my collar. His headless body swayed and, caught by a gust of wind, collapsed onto the bird.
My breath caught. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird, and then suddenly, everything went silent. The roar from behind the walls, the scream of the demon—everything turned into white noise. My vision narrowed to a tiny pinpoint. Darkness began to creep in from the edges, cold and sticky, filling my mind and promising relief from this absolute nightmare.
Consciousness began to fade like a dying candle. The last thing my flickering memory captured was a sudden movement from the side.
A thin, incredibly strong thread glinted in the rays of the setting sun, and someone's strong, many-armed embrace closed around my body, yanking me from the falling bird a split second before my consciousness flickered out, and then I blacked out.
*****
Alright, here's a new chapter! Make sure to drop your thoughts in the comments, guys, and don't forget to use your Power Stones! :)