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"I don't know." Valentin was silent for a moment. On his shoulders hung medals that had been polished to a shine. His weather-beaten and wrinkled cheeks were as hard as steel.
"Our original intention was to kill you here, but the order was changed temporarily... Beowulf must have known something a long time ago, but he and the people behind him did not trust us."
Lu Mingfei frowned, his eye sockets sunken by the overwhelming red light. The red-gold beam of light with a diameter of dozens of meters that enveloped the divine body was like the Buzhou Mountains rising from the ground. It easily pierced through the clouds and even shot straight into the distant space.
Such a magnificent scene can be seen from the Volga River hundreds of kilometers away, and tomorrow the headlines of newspapers around the world will be sensational headlines such as "Suspected alien fleet forced to land in Siberia".
"But look at the old man who is confronting Beowulf in the distant sky. He is the elder of the Gattuso family..."
"β." Caesar said through gritted teeth.
Valentin was a little annoyed that a young man interrupted his narration, and looked up at Caesar who was standing with Lu Mingfei.
In the eyes of these old guys, the young master of the Gattuso family is obviously not as important as Lu Mingfei, the living saint of the modern times, whose name is glorious in the history of slaying dragons. Caesar, who is known to be the leader of an era among the same generation, can't even make his name appear in the conversation of the old people.
When the throne of the King of Bronze and Fire came to an end, the world could only remember the young man who overthrew the throne.
"Who are you?" When Valentin coughed, his vocal cords seemed to be leaking, and his voice was so hoarse that it made people's bones tremble.
The soldiers traveling with the hunting team were from the Gattuso family, but Valentin and his companions were recruited by Beowulf on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. They and the hunting rifles in their hands that once drank dragon's blood have been silent for nearly a hundred years. During these long years, these people did not have much communication and contact with the outside world, and knew very little about the changes in the world of mixed-races. The Gattuso family was just the name of a huge ethnic group far away in the world. It was difficult for them to know Pompeii, let alone Caesar.
"Caesar Gattuso," Caesar said, "but I prefer to be seen as a child of the Gullveig family."
Lu Mingfei's heart moved slightly. He knew that Gullveig was Caesar's mother, but he didn't know how many secrets were hidden behind this name.
If he had seen the photo that Frost sent to Caesar, he would be shocked that this woman with the same name as the Nordic Valkyrie actually had the same face as Maria, the Holy Maiden of the Far North.
"I know you, the oddball in Gattuso's family." Valentin laughed strangely.
Caesar did not deny this claim.
"If Beowulf's purpose is to hunt β, then you must make him withdraw from the battlefield now and immediately!" His expression was more serious than ever.
The hunting team from St. Petersburg had escorted Lu Mingfei, Caesar, Chu Zihang and the other three into the alleys of City 023. More than ten pairs of bright golden eyes looked at Caesar at the same time.
"As far as I can remember, the elders of the family have never left the Blue Palace. The sarcophagi where they sleep and the hall where they hold meetings are all in that ancient manor." He whispered. In another alley adjacent to them, gunshots sounded like thunder. Apparently, a fierce tug-of-war was going on there.
"Pompeii told me about the clan rules in the family, and he also showed me the ancient book written on parchment. I am not interested in the content, but there is a clan rule that is clearly written."
"What?" Valentin and the other old men checked their weapons for the last time and found that they were in the best condition.
The troops under the command of β were about to break into City 023. The minefield between the platform and the moat seemed to have no effect on them. These people walked side by side in groups of three, with a distance of several meters or ten meters between them. One after another, anti-infantry mines and anti-tank mines exploded under their feet, and the flames of the explosions blew away the ice that had been torn apart in the violent vibration just now and the soil that had frozen like stones.
The moment the fan-shaped fire produced by the mine explosion took shape, a violent air pressure burst out from the inside out of the member in the center of the group. That air pressure formed a circular air wall, and the fire and supersonic flying metal fragments were blocked outside the air wall.
The spirit of words. A place without dust.
But even the Gattuso family cannot gather such a large number of elite combat members who possess the same kind of Word Spirits. It can be imagined that they have already achieved mass production of alchemical items that can be engraved with the effects of Word Spirits.
The old men in the hunting team were able to arrive safely without triggering an explosion when passing through the minefield because they were originally part of the country's military system. The mines here were not concealed, and they could spot the clues at a glance.
But Gattuso's well-equipped private army was able to crush them.
Soon, an army large enough to influence the outcome of the battle or even end it completely and quickly could be pushed into the city.
What follows is a close combat.
"Senators who enter the Qunzel Palace are not allowed to go out alone." Caesar said coldly.
Valodia was stunned for a moment.
This means that β may be accompanied by another powerful hybrid, but he has not shown up yet...
"It's too late..." He calmed down his lonely mood.
"The arrow is on the string." Valodia said in a hissing voice.
—A man wearing a white winter suit buried himself in the snow deep in the fir forest, biting an unlit cigar and holding a huge sniper rifle with a strange shape but murderous aura in his arms.
It is called a gun, but in fact it is more like a cannon.
This is the latest work from the Equipment Department of Kassel Academy. It has only one bullet, a mercury core alchemical armor-piercing bullet embedded with a fragment of the Philosopher's Stone.
The pair of golden pupils that shone like will-o'-the-wisp in the shadows were like the eyes of an eagle, staring intently at the situation on the battlefield.
Amidst the beam of light rising from the elemental turbulence, the majestic giant stepped out with a bang. Huge gullies appeared on the ground, bloody wounds appeared on the back of the old man in white robe, and the black dragon wings spread out in a narrow arc.
The words that β recited caused a riot of the elements between heaven and earth. Strong winds howled in the sky and on the ground, and the domain of the Wind King's Eye swept across the surroundings.
Beowulf has been taking dragon blood for many years, and his bloodline has long reached the limit of human beings. The divine body controlled by him wields the long sword condensed from elements at a seemingly slow speed. The long sword tears a huge gap on the surface of the field of the Wind King's Eye, and the golden glow flows on the gap like the aurora.
One after another, storm horns came down from the clouds and swept in from all directions, tearing the armor on the surface of the gods' bodies. The old men from another era had obviously fallen into a tense battle.
The opportunity has finally arrived. Han Gao suddenly stood up from the snow. His body was no longer hunched, but as straight as Ange. The bones all over his body were making slight popping sounds, and he held the sniper rifle weighing dozens of kilograms horizontally.
There is no aiming process, no preparation time.
The bolt was pulled, and emerald green powder exploded from the barrel, penetrating and soaking every gap between every part of the weapon like an electric current.
Then, the parts engraved with the alchemical matrix were unlocked one by one, and a living spirit awakened in this gun.
Red hot gas was discharged from the alloy tank and input into the interior of the gun barrel. When the pressure reached the limit, a slight sound of the lock breaking exploded in Henkel's ears.
Han Gao let out a long breath. He knew that as long as this shot was fired, a new era would begin.
The history of the mixed-bloods will be rewritten from today. Can the emperor... be overthrown?
The old man had a blank expression on his face, and the domain of Word Spirit. Holy Judgment was like a gust of wind blowing through the withered treetops around him.
The concentrated spirit and will were integrated with the machine in his hands. This was the god-killing weapon that Flamel and Gottingen had assembled at great cost. The fatal trajectory had undoubtedly already taken shape in Han Gao's mind.
The core of the Philosopher's Stone, the world of elemental turmoil, the β that forms the dragon-shaped cross...
All of this is being connected by an invisible arc.
Fate is sealed at this moment.
"Let us witness the coming of that new era, Ange."
"Gods..."
Han Gao gently pulled the trigger. The sound of the gunshot was completely absorbed by the alchemical matrix, but the explosion still illuminated everything around. The mercury-core alchemical armor-piercing bullet whistled out of the barrel, and the bullet was spinning at high speed. The brass shell quickly detached from it, and the liquid mercury was like flowing nano-metal wrapped around the transparent emerald green crystals. It shot at a speed faster than sound towards β, which looked more like a dragon than a human, four kilometers away.
The old man was still chanting the spiritual words, and at a certain moment, scarlet roses suddenly burst out on his forehead.
Then another flower bloomed at the other corner of the eyebrow.
β's eyes widened, bloodshot.
Then the pair of wings suddenly lost all their strength, the domain of the Wind King's Eye was shattered, and he fell to the ground like a piece of rag.
Only then did Han Gao's remaining two words come out of his vocal cords.
"……dusk."
Chapter 588: Qing Palace
The huge column of light that rose from the ground and pierced the sky shattered into pieces like solid glass, accompanied by the roar of mountains and seas.
Beowulf slowly walked to where β fell and checked the body that was dead beyond death due to a bullet piercing through the skull. Dense bullets and tracer bullets that connected the muzzle like silver threads in the night covered the area where the old man was, and burst into dense sparks on the armor of the god's body.
His body was riddled with holes and seemed about to collapse at any moment. Red-gold light seeped out from the cracks in Beowulf's body, mixed with the color of blood.
He seemed to be surrounded by thunder, with fire suppression coming from the Gattuso family and the academy's executive department on all sides. Lava-like rivers of fire flowed on the glass armor of his divine body, but Beowulf suddenly froze.
β, β whose skull was shot through by the Philosopher's Stone...he is not dead yet.
A huge wound was left on his temple. The spinning bullet destroyed his entire frontal lobe and half of his brain. Through the wound, one could see the red snow on the other side of the ground.
A huge amount of black blood spilled out. Even the Dragon King should have been close to losing his life in this state. Only the second brain located in the spine was still functioning and helping them maintain the functioning of their body. But this old monster who walked out of the Qunqing Palace was still staring with his eyes wide open, which were bloodshot due to the explosion of intracranial pressure, and a loud sound came from his throat.
This kind of vitality has gone beyond the scope of human beings and is more like some kind of monster.
Beowulf shook his right wrist, and the dragon blood, as hot as lava, was sent to this arm by the beating heart.
The skin peeled off and the bloody flesh was exposed in the cold air. The pale scales emerged from the depths of the flesh like needles, reminiscent of some rapidly growing moss.
After piercing the body surface, those needle scales immediately opened up and turned into scallop-like scales that fluttered slightly. The next second, the scales suddenly closed with a loud clashing of metal.
Beowulf ignored the elite troops of the Gattuso family who were approaching him on the battlefield.
He stretched out his right hand, which had been completely deformed into pus-like features, and strangled β's neck fiercely.
All Master Flamel wanted was a certain elder in the Palace of Azure, and he didn't care whether that elder was a corpse or alive.
Through the sniper rifle's scope, Henkel saw Beowulf breaking free from the halo. He grabbed the old man, who was as emaciated as a mummy, by the neck and lifted him up, as if he was going to remove the almost shattered head from his shoulders in the next second.
But suddenly Beowulf paused.
Han Gao was also stunned.
He saw that the old man, whose fame spread across Europe in an age of blood and fire, suddenly turned his gaze to him.
There had been a golden torch burning in Beowulf's eyes, but now the torch had gone out.
He very slowly lowered his head and looked at his chest.
Only at this moment did Han Gao see that a black spike-like weapon had pierced into Beowulf's back at some point, pierced through his heart, and came out from his chest.
It was a black three-pointed bayonet with silver-white and scarlet liquids flowing on its surface. They were Beowulf's blood and the mercury that had been tempered before it pierced Beowulf's heart.
The movement of the divine body, with lead-gray clouds above its head and lava flowing out of the cracked gullies under its feet, suddenly slowed down.
The white threads growing from Beowulf's body have collapsed. They did not disappear immediately, but collapsed bit by bit like a bridge across a deep abyss.
When those scattered white threads finally completely dissipated in the air, the domain of the Word Spirit and the Divine Body also turned into a turbulent flow of elements, just like the domain of the Wind King's Eye that β had just chanted, and was blown away by the wind to the howling distance.
At the moment when the giant light and shadow that looked like it was forged from glass collapsed, a huge blood-red rose bloomed on Beowulf's chest.
He knelt down weakly, his golden eyes, weakened and dimmed by blood loss and mercury erosion, staring fixedly in Han Gao's direction.
Han Gao bit the cigar between his teeth fiercely, then he pulled the bolt again, took out a new bullet from his lapel pocket, and pressed it into the chamber with a click.
There was no aiming process, the dangerous and deadly field unfolded instantly, and the Word Spirit. Holy Judgment was activated again.
The holy words that directly anchored death from fate failed this time in a rare way, and the bullet fired by Han Gao shattered in mid-air.
He shuddered violently.
All this was accomplished by a projectile fired in the opposite direction.
The two bullets collided while moving at high speed, turning into an insignificant spark in the strong wind.
At the same time, Han Gao sensed a sudden change in air flow occurring beside him.
Han Gao let go of the gun, reached out and grabbed someone's collar from the air, and threw him far away.