Embers Ad Infinitum

Red Wolf Zone, Senate.

Zennaga—who was sitting on a black motorcycle—looked ahead at the people who had fallen into the Six Realms of Rebirth and Existence and were struggling in pain. He then chanted a Buddhist proclamation.

He didn’t want to punish these people, but he hoped to use the Six Realms of Rebirth and Existence to make them feel pain and gradually calm down or stop having the energy to participate in the riot.

In short, Zennaga’s goal was to ‘appease’ everyone one area at a time so that the scene of corpses strewn across the ground and blood flowing everywhere wouldn’t happen. Therefore, he treated everyone equally—including the Subhuman Guard behind him—by sending them into the Six Realms of Rebirth and Existence.

For this, he had clearly foreseen that he would be sent flying and bloom with blood. However, he still straightened his body and didn’t get the motorcycle to retreat.

Upon seeing that most of the citizens in the area ahead had already been hit by the Six Realms of Rebirth and Existence, falling to the ground and struggling in pain, Zennaga twisted the throttle and let the motorcycle drive through the dispersed city defense forces.

He wanted to influence the demonstrating citizens further away.

At this moment, a figure suddenly appeared beside him. This figure held a United 202 and pulled the trigger at him.

Bang!

It was only when the gunshot sounded that Zennaga had a premonition and sensed something. By the time he came to a realization, it was already too late. He only had time to create a barrier and block one of the bullets. The other bullet drilled into his body and pushed him off the motorcycle.

In midair, Zennaga felt intense pain.

Glorious Scale is also involved in this chaos? This thought flashed across his mind.

Glorious Scale believed in June’s Kalendaria, Golden Scale. Some Awakened had the ability to hide themselves and block premonitions. They were the most suitable group of people in the Ashlands for carrying out assassinations.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Zennaga saw his blood splatter in the air like a blooming, bewitching flower. He couldn’t help but recall the conversation he had with his senior brother, Zennero, after returning to Sikhara Temple last night.

The Enlightened said in a concerned and angry tone, “The people you brought back ran away! Not only did they trigger chaos on the seventh floor, but they also seem to have added fuel to First City’s situation. The chaos might really happen.

“If it weren’t for your benevolent thoughts and if you had directly handed them over to the Hand of Order, how could all of this happen? Over the years, haven’t you suffered enough from your compassion? Do you feel even an ounce of regret when you think back about it?”

Zennaga remembered that he fell silent for a few seconds before answering: “No regrets.”

Amidst the intense pain, Zennaga—who was about to fall to the ground—cast his gaze at the large number of citizens surging over from the distance. He vaguely realized that there were fewer people than he had imagined, giving him the illusion that he had overcounted.

Without the energy to care about these matters, Zennaga closed his eyes and used the Six Realms of Rebirth and Existence again.

Bam!

He fell to the ground, and fresh blood quickly splattered.

…

Golden Apple Zone, 14 Round Hill Street, outside the classic-looking villa.

Shang Jianyao aimed the single-man combat rocket launcher at the enemy standing atop the black car. Kanna also took the opportunity while the other party was blind to raise her left hand, prepared to use the Sluggish ring.

At this moment, Avia—who was in the bathhouse lobby—had already woken up. She wasn’t in a critical state because of Khal’s Cardiac Arrest.

Her maid suffered the attack instead. This wasn’t a substitute ability or item but a contingency plan set up by the Virtual World’s owner today.

She and Avia knew very well that this place might be attacked once chaos broke out in First City and most powerhouses were lured away.

The organization that tried to eliminate the clues regarding the Old World’s destruction definitely wouldn’t let go of such an opportunity. Therefore, the Virtual World’s owner named Aneva had given Avia ‘Agnosia’ that could last nearly half an hour.

This was a special effect that evolved from Mind Corridor abilities like prosopagnosia and being directionally challenged in the Shattered Mirror domain. It could be used on enemies, preventing them from remembering the target’s looks, characteristics, or corresponding location and consciousness fluctuations. Then, the enemies would wrongly lock onto unrelated humans.

It could also be used on targets that required protection. When the enemy saw or sensed the target for the first time, they wouldn’t be affected. But once their attack was interrupted and interfered with, their lock on the target would be ‘lost’ and would naturally ‘link’ to the nearest human.

Therefore, Avia’s maid suffered Cardiac Arrest in her stead.

The pitiful girl’s scream in the dream indirectly helped Avia wake up ahead of time.

In the Shattered Mirror domain, states like prosopagnosia and being directionally challenged might not only be a price but also an ability. This was applicable to many Awakened domains—the manifestation of the price one paid might be an ability of others.

At this moment, Avia looked at the dying maid on the ground and knew that the expected attack had arrived.

She turned her head to look at the old, broken phone in her hand. Then, she switched on the screen, pulled up the contacts list, and found an unlabeled number.

Avia was very hesitant, unsure if she should press the button.

In the past few years, she had never tried to call the ‘number.’ She wasn’t sure if it would bring danger to herself. She only remembered her grandfather—First City’s former emperor, Oray—saying to her and her father before he died: “Don’t give up on this phone until it’s beyond repair. Don’t dial this number unless there’s no other way.”

Amidst her thoughts, Avia’s vision suddenly turned black. Her consciousness remained clear, and she felt like night had arrived in advance.

She could only vaguely make out the furniture in the room. This at least proved that she didn’t lose her vision.

No, there are no windows in the bathhouse lobby. It relies on lamps for illumination regardless of day or night… Avia’s heart palpitated as she frowned.

This was definitely not normal darkness.

Avia wasn’t the only one who felt like night had arrived prematurely. Shang Jianyao, Kanna, and the others also entered such a state of vision, but they could only see the outlines of the objects around them.

This… Kanna—who was prepared to influence Khal—diverted her attention to sense her surroundings and searched for the source of the change.

Pure and dazzling light erupted in midair the next second, purging away the darkness.

This stung Kanna and Shang Jianyao to the point of them instinctively closing their eyes. It filled the blind Khal’s vision with white.

After this dazzling whiteness disappeared, the Blind effect on Khal ended early due to the stimulation. He regained his vision and saw Shang Jianyao pointing the rocket launcher at him.

As soon as their gazes met, Shang Jianyao greeted him by pulling the trigger. He didn’t wait for Kanna to work in tandem with him because Khal could now see his surroundings.

Boom!

At close range, the rocket fired by Shang Jianyao only deviated a little before exploding.

However, an invisible barrier seemed to appear around Khal, blocking the violent blasts.

As Khal staggered, he was only thankful that he had woken up and reacted in time. The outcome would’ve been unimaginable if he had been hit by the rocket head-on!

…

In the North Shore wastelands.

Han Wanghuo, Zeng Duo, and Genava were closely monitoring the situation at the Red River Bridge to determine how many First City powerhouses and regular troops had returned from the surrounding area.

Suddenly, they saw a large number of city guards dancing—a vigorous dance.

If it were anyone else, they would definitely be looking at each other with blank expressions. However, Han Wanghuo and the others had experienced the strange battle outside Early Spring Town as bystanders.

“The powerhouse guarding Early Spring Town has also returned?” Han Wanghuo said with uncertainty.

There might be more than one powerhouse with such abilities.

Genava wasn’t using binoculars, but he seriously observed for a while. “From the rhythm of the dance, it should be the same song as the one used by the person in Early Spring Town. There might still be coincidences, but the probability of coincidences is very low. My preliminary judgment indicates that it’s indeed the same person.”

Zeng Duo quietly listened to Genava’s analysis and blurted out, “This means that Early Spring Town’s defense has been reduced to a minimum?”

“Yes.” Genava gave an affirmative answer.

Han Wanghuo nodded and fell silent for a while. “This is our chance.”

“Aren’t we going to wait for Big White, Hey, and the rest?” Genava objected.

Han Wanghuo gave his reason. “We don’t know when they can leave the city to rendezvous with us. This opportunity might be the last.”

In fact, Genava’s analysis was the same. But he felt that as a smart bot, he couldn’t appear too programmatic, mechanical, and stiff. Therefore, he still emphasized the previous plan.

Zeng Duo hesitated. “I agree. Uh, Old Han.”

At this moment, she wished she could rush back to Early Spring Town immediately. However, she couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. She felt that she didn’t have the needed strength without October Xue and the others.

The red light in Genava’s eyes flickered a few times. “Alright, let’s head to Early Spring Town now.”