CH 76

"Yeah. That creature seems to have disappeared," I said.

Suddenly, light magically returned to the corridor, but it wasn't as bright as before. Rather, the light was flickering in an unstable manner. Sounds of combat came from Aaron's position. The imperial army was at our tails. Giorno led his people and ran like their lives depended on it, gradually pulling ahead of us. Our crew, Jeferun, and two members of the college lagged behind the main group.

"Canyue, it looks like Aaron won't be able to hold on for long. Do we need to set up a defensive line and cover the crew's escape?" Old Du asked.

"Yes. Count Bao'er in as well. We'll stay and cover everyone's retreat," I said.

"I'll stay as well. Have Titan and Domo lead everyone out of here. Our equipment makes it easier for us to work together during combat," said Zhang Xingxing firmly.

"I'll stay too. After all, I've already been paid," said Sarje.

I nodded at him.

"Forget it. We should stay together. Besides, it is much more reliable to stay with those with guns," said Domo.

His remark left us speechless. At this time, Aaron arrived with two surviving Brotherhood members.

"W-we can't hold on. Run, everyone! The imperial army's firepower is too strong," Aaron said and ran deeper into the tunnel, covered in blood.

"Leader, let's try to bomb this place," said Old Du.

"No. The books here are precious history covering a period of over 100,000 years. They will all be gone if you bomb this place," said Jeferun.

"Do you think the emperor will keep these books around?" asked Old Du.

The footsteps of our enemies were nearing us.

"Everyone, prepare for combat. We'll retreat after beating them back. I'll be the first shieldbearer," said Zhang Xingxing.

She then turned her morph-capable shield to the maximum capacity. Everyone hid behind her shield. A battle-wolf was charging toward us. Mounted atop the wolf was a sturdy Eternal policeman. While charging, the policeman madly fired at us, striking our shield with laser beams, leaving numerous ripples on it.

We fired back at the policeman, focusing our laser guns on the wolf. The policeman was encased in a green shield, and under our rapid fire, the shield turned dimmer and dimmer. Then, with a pop, a hole was opened in the shield.

I heard the sound of an arrow streaking by me. When I turned my head, I saw that Titan had released a lightning arrow alongside our laser beams. The arrow stabbed right into the wolf's head.

The struck wolf collapsed onto the ground, throwing the mounted policeman off its body. Due to the momentum, the wolf eventually fell atop the policeman, and the two slid across the ground. Eventually, the policeman fainted from the pressure.

We had barely heaved a breath of relief when three other battle-wolves appeared in our vision. One of the warriors mounted on the wolves raised a rapid-fire raygun and madly fired at us.

"Heavens. This attack is too fierce. It's never-ending!" Zhang Bao'er said.

Laser beams of different colors met, creating sparks in the air. The mighty firepower of our enemies made it difficult for us to focus on a single opponent. In the span of several seconds, the three mounted warriors reached us. Shields of green and red clashed violently as they approached closer.

The three enemies were right before our eyes. I could clearly see the bloodlust in their eyes. The close distance rendered long-range weapons ineffective, so one of the imperial soldiers lifted a massive hammer hanging on his mount.

With a loud clang, a burly figure struck the imperial army's green shield with an iron staff. The staff was brutish and powerful. It worked with our morph-capable shield to deal a massive enough impact to break through the green shield.

"Gandos are truly impressive," I exclaimed in amazement.

Sarje gallantly charged into the enemy shield and swung his iron staff to sweep a soldier off his mount. The wolf opened its maws wide and pounced at Sarje. A lightning arrow arrived at an opportune time and stabbed into the wolf's chest. With a whine, the wolf collapsed.

I turned back and saw that Amethyst was preparing to unleash another arrow from her bow. Her new target, yet another battle-wolf, turned tail and ran in fear after seeing its collapsed companion. The remaining mounted soldier roared in fury and raised his massive hammer. He brought it down at Sarje's head.

With a confident pose, Sarje casually flicked his staff up to block the strike before rapidly maneuvering behind the wolf. He swept his staff at the wolf's rear limbs, resulting in a loud crack as the wolf dropped to the ground. Obviously, its limbs had been broken by Sarje's mighty strike.

The imperial soldier was rather nimble; the moment the wolf dropped, he jumped off the wolf before engaging Sarje in melee combat. The close-range battle made it impossible for us to help. Gandos might be incredible combatants, but Sarje clearly lacked combat experience. Thus, the experienced imperial soldier could fight him to a draw.

While the two fought, about a dozen imperial policemen appeared. When the police saw the fighting, they fired their guns without saying anything. The imperial soldier did not expect to be attacked from behind. A laser beam pierced through his chest, leaving a big hole and instantly claiming his life.

"Dang! These people are killing their own men!" exclaimed Zhang Bao'er.

I quickly turned on my shield and covered Sarje with it, protecting him from the shots.

He quickly retreated behind us. Once again, two parties exchanged fire, each protected by a shield.

"This won't do. I can see more and more reinforcements coming. We won't outlast them," said Old Du.

"Old Du and I will stay behind. The rest of you need to retreat. There are too many of us to fight effectively. Stop being stubborn. Take the smart choice!" I said anxiously.

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In our current situation, it was indeed more favorable for us to retreat in batches. After thinking about it, Zhang Xingxing agreed. When I saw that Zhang Bao'er was about to say something, I gave him a furious glare. He hurriedly shut his mouth.

"Canyue, Old Du, be careful. I'll retreat with them. Catch up to us as soon as you can," said Zhang Xingxing.

"Go, now. We don't have much energy left," I said.

Zhang Xingxing then led the other team members and the few from the college as they retreated deeper into the corridor. Old Du and I turned our shields to the maximum capacity to cover their retreat. About 50 enemies had gathered before us, filling the corridor and exchanging fire with us.

Facing 50 opponents by ourselves, we were struck repeatedly, causing our energy to drain like a leaking pipe. About 10 minutes later, I saw that I only had 18 hours' worth of energy left.

"Old Du, this is enough. We need to retreat as well," I said.

"They seem to be recharging," said Old Du.

I looked at the enemies before us. They were all assembling into a formation. Seemingly having noticed that there were only two of us, they started marching toward us after entering into formation.

"This is bad. The enemies are charging. We won't be able to resist them. Retreat!" I said.

"No. If we retreat now, the leader and the others will still be nearby. Use all our high-energy bombs and see if we can collapse this tunnel," said Old Du.

"How about these books? We will be the ones to destroy them if we bomb the tunnel," I said.

Old Du looked at me and said, "You Bluelings have a saying. Imperfection is true beauty. There is providence in everything."

That was fallacious reasoning, but it did relieve me from the burden of morality. I did not hesitate and installed the six remaining high-energy cluster bombs onto the corridor. I saw Old Du install the ten bombs he had on him.

"My god. The explosion of these bombs can probably rival a nuclear warhead," I said.

After finishing the installation, we turned and ran madly, ignoring the gunshots from the enemies behind us. After running for over three minutes, a deafening explosion erupted behind us. The heat wave and impact from the explosion traveled along the corridor, heading toward us.

We couldn't run faster than the shockwaves as the might of the explosion engulfed us. Both of us were blown into the air before crashing heavily into the ground. Even more of my energy drained from hitting the ground. The aftereffects of the explosion lasted for over five minutes before calm returned. The entire corridor was pitch black as the explosion had fully damaged the lighting system.

We lay on the ground in a dazed state, as though we were stunned by the explosion. Our infrared vision activated automatically, allowing us to stare at each other in a daze. Suddenly, a silly smile formed on Old Du's face. I also smiled. We couldn't control ourselves from smiling after surviving such an explosion.

"I have 16 hours' worth of energy left. How about you?" Old Du asked.

"I have 13 hours left," I replied.

"Turn off the suit for now. Perhaps there are bigger difficulties waiting for us," said Old Du, returning to the same calm tactician he was.

A void seemed to have cut the corridor in half, reducing the part where we came from into nothingness. All around us were books and overturned chests. I looked up from the severed end of the corridor but all I saw was nothingness, as though we were surrounded by a space devoid of anything, not even air. Everything out there seemed to be in a state of stasis.

"Canyue, let's leave. I wonder if Zhang Xingxing and the others were harmed by the shockwaves. We need to catch up to them," said Old Du.

We then continued deeper into the corridor. But we had barely taken a few steps when I heard the sound of a raygun being fired behind us.