Endless Debt Chapter 1345 - 106: The Chaos of Conflict (Part 3)

In the darkness, a streak of bright light stabbed into the Communication Officer’s eyes. He saw a tsunami-like mass of flame brewing inside that monster’s body, its flesh splitting open into a channeled passage of meat, with tongues of fire darting along it.

He muttered, "You’ve got to be kidding me..."

The next moment, the roaring burning wind surged to explode, and as the monster’s body shifted, that burning wind became like a Fire Sword cleaving heaven and earth, slowly sliding toward the Outpost, turning every cliff of rock it touched red-hot, then molten.

"Find cover!"

The Communication Officer shouted, warning everyone, but he had no time to hide.

A heat so intense it could evaporate a person rushed against him. He stood there in a daze, his legs as if frozen solid, unable to move.

The Communication Officer watched with his own eyes as the burning wind swallowed building after building, saw twisted silhouettes dissolve into ash in the light. He knew he would be one of those ashes, yet his heart was unexpectedly calm, without the slightest trace of fear, as if numb.

A massive shield dropped from the sky and slammed down in front of him, splitting the burning wind like a solid reef. The searing flames licked at his body, but were immediately blocked by a dense Ethereal Barrier.

The burning wind gradually subsided. The Communication Officer stood there, still dazed; a few seconds passed before he belatedly looked up. He saw a sturdy figure bounding in a chain of leaps along the cliff face, landing heavily at his side, then hefting the scorching red-hot Giant Shield onto one shoulder.

"Ah... ah!"

After being hit by shock after shock, the Communication Officer had thought his mindset was strong enough, but when he saw the newcomer’s face clearly, his last psychological defenses snapped like a final straw on a load, and he groaned uncontrollably.

Hart smoothed his thick fur, gave the Communication Officer a sidelong glare, then strode forward and smashed apart a string of fleshy growths with the Giant Shield.

Before the Communication Officer could react, a series of piercing metallic shrieks rang out. Following the sound, he saw the large freight elevator platform responsible for transporting supplies plummeting out of control along its rails, trailing a bright spray of sparks.

A thunderous impact boomed, making the ground shudder several times. The deck plate toppled over with a crash, revealing a cluster of ash-grey figures.

Ether reactions flared one after another across their bodies, then linked together, as though they had become a single entity. The Communication Officer recognized this phenomenon; it was a signature move of the Origin School’s Condensers.

An Ethereal Shock blasted apart the proliferating flesh, and a milky-white, translucent barrier descended, just in time to protect one staff member after another. They smoothly took over the Fourth Group’s tasks, suppressing the spreading flesh and keeping up continuous fire.

A man with a sword at his belt, looking like a commander, strode over and spoke to the stunned Communication Officer.

"I’m Yas, leader of the Sixth Group. I need you to report the current situation on the battlefield to me."

In an instant, the Communication Officer felt as if he had found a backbone to rely on, eyes filling with tears.

With the Sixth Group joining the battle, the Outpost’s perilous situation eased, even reversed. The Origin School people excelled at group combat, like a silently advancing giant wall, driving those horrific masses of flesh off the high platforms one after another.

"Are you sure this is a place where rookies are supposed to come?"

In the midst of the fierce fighting, Qico, the Sixth Group’s newly joined member, had panic and unease written all over her face. She had thought the recent operations against the Night Race were already as dangerous as it got—until they received the emergency order and arrived in the Abandoned Land.

Just a few minutes ago, Qico hadn’t even known there was such a hellhole inside Oubos, let alone that titanic monster not far away, looming like a range of mountains.

Her hands and feet felt numb, her limbs icy cold.

"Relax, rookie," Kemp patted her shoulder. "It’s in times of crisis that people grow the fastest."

"This is a bit too much crisis, don’t you think?!"

Qico couldn’t stop herself from complaining. This time she really felt the urge to resign. When she looked around at the others, they were expressionless as they dealt with the twisted flesh, and she couldn’t imagine whether they were being professional and rational—or just completely numb.

"Why are all of you so calm? Did you already know about these freaky things?"

Not far away, Hart shook his head. While casting Ethereal Barriers on the others, he replied, "No idea. Absolutely no idea."

Hart went on, "But... maybe we just got used to it. In a long career, you’re bound to run into strange things now and then."

The others nodded in agreement, and then, in another charge, helped the Fourth Group seize yet another high platform.

...

Shifting his focus from the Heart Core Net back to what lay before his eyes, Evan gazed at the vast sea of fire. After a long period of scorching, the shamblers seemed to have evolved countermeasures: their bodies were now covered in a sturdy, fire-resistant layer of bone, and they surged forward like tides of death, assault after assault.

If it were only these waves of shamblers, the pressure on the defensive line would still be manageable. But besides them, the terrifying Night Race were also lurking in Stealth. They had released large numbers of Bloodthirsty, those degraded-bloodline products far more dangerous than the shamblers.

The enemy leveraged their sheer numbers to exert enormous pressure on the line. High Tier Night Race watched everyone like predators, reeking blood-stench spreading everywhere.

Evan forced himself not to think about the Outpost; trying to look both ways would only cause both defensive lines to collapse.

Amid the blazing sea of fire, a hoarse roar rang out once more. A new wave of shamblers erupted, their bodies twisted and deformed, covered all over with thick bone plates—like overgrown keratin, bulging from their skin into horn-like protrusions.