Chapter 160: Imperial Carriage
The images on the screen continued to play, and the magnificent imperial sedan chair stood out among the ruins, like a beacon in the desperate night.
The believers who were carrying the imperial sedan all had grim expressions. Their steps were neat and powerful as they moved through the ruins filled with blood and corpses. They seemed not to be affected by the chaos in the outside world at all. Although they were mortals, they exuded an almost transcendent sense of power.
Minamoto Yusuke on the mikoshi was motionless, still sitting upright in the shrine. He was wearing a black robe and had a solemn expression, isolated from the hunters chasing him and the tragic battlefield around him.
Bright red blood continued to flow from his wrist and drip onto the floor of the Mikoshi. Every drop of blood seemed to carry some kind of mysterious temptation, as if it could penetrate the entire Tokyo night and awaken all the hunters hidden in the darkness. The Mikoshi was marching through the devastated ruins of Tokyo. The surrounding buildings were in ruins, and there were corpses and blood everywhere, but the Mikoshi seemed to be shrouded by some mysterious power and was intact.
The hunting around was getting more and more crazy. The monsters were chasing the Mikoshi in groups, as if their minds were completely dominated by the smell of blood. They even attacked each other on the way. In order to fight for the opportunity to get close to the Mikoshi, the broken walls on the street were smashed to pieces. The violent pursuit raised the dust and ruins on the ground. For a moment, the whole Tokyo seemed to have become the center of a storm.
"Who is that? Master Sword Saint?" a refugee shouted in disbelief.
"It's really the Sword Saint! We are saved!"
Inside the shelter, the originally dead silent atmosphere seemed to be infused with a ray of light because of the images on the screen and the words “Master Sword Saint”.
Whispers gradually began to rise among the crowd, along with a faint hope struggling out of despair. All eyes were drawn to the scene, staring at the divine carriage on the screen and the frenzy surrounding it with bated breath.
"Master Sword Master? Why is he there?" An elderly refugee murmured to himself, his voice trembling, but with a bit of excitement and awe.
"Yeah, why would he be in that kind of place?" another young man whispered, with both confusion and expectation in his eyes.
"Lord Sword Saint will definitely protect us! We are saved!" A young mother held her child in her arms, with unconcealable joy and tears on her face, as if she had grasped the last straw.
"Is that really the Sword Saint?" Aso Makoto asked softly, with uncertainty in his tone.
Her eyes were fixed on the figure on the screen. Although she had been working part-time to earn tuition and had basically no entertainment activities, she had heard of the very famous Sword Saint recently. It was also because of the appearance of this Sword Saint that the security in Shinjuku area improved a lot, and those gangsters had restrained themselves a lot. In the reverent whispers of everyone in the shelter, she felt an extraordinary power, which was the expectation and sustenance of the endangered human beings on heroes.
"It's the Sword Saint! That's right!" A young girl who looked like a high school student said firmly, with excitement in her voice, "I'm a member of the Sword Saint's fan club, I won't make a mistake!"
"Can he really save us? But there are so many monsters, can he handle them all?" A young man questioned in a low voice, with a hint of uneasiness in his voice.
“Shut up! The Sword Master can definitely do it! He has never lost!” A woman next to her immediately retorted with tears in her eyes, “Do you think he is an ordinary person? He is the incarnation of God! He will protect us, just like he has done countless times in the past!”
Just as people were discussing in the shelter, the picture on the screen suddenly shook violently. The camera switched to the back of the Shinto chariot, where an extremely horrifying scene appeared. Thousands of hunters swarmed in, sweeping the entire street like a tide. Their roars tore through the air, and their waving bone wings brought up strong winds. Their hideous faces flashed a terrifying golden light in the moonlight.
"This... so many monsters!?" Aso Shin's eyes widened and her hands covered her mouth involuntarily. She had never seen an army of monsters of such a scale. The terrifying aura almost suffocated her.
On the screen, the hunters were biting, bumping, and even killing each other frantically, just to get closer to Minamoto Yusuke on the sacred parasol faster.
The ruins on the streets were trampled to pieces by them, and some buildings collapsed due to their impact. Smoke and dust rose up, as if doomsday had come. The madness and number of hunters made people wonder, is this really something that humans can contend with?
However, what shocked everyone was that the sacred palanquin was still moving slowly through the ruins, and the believers carrying it seemed to be undisturbed by any external objects, and they continued to calmly complete their rituals. Even if a hunter approached the sacred palanquin, it seemed that he could not cross the invisible barrier.
"Is the Sword Master leading them away from the city?" whispered a refugee.
Masao's thoughts were torn apart by the discussions around her, but she couldn't look away and could only stare at the screen. Yuan Yusuke's face was calm and indifferent, but the dripping blood made her feel deeply uneasy - was he willing to exchange his life for something? Could he really save everyone? -
"Did he do this on purpose?" Nono looked at the screen with a frown, then turned to look at Caesar and said, "Is he using his own blood to lure all the hunters?"
Caesar's eyes were serious. "Maybe he wants to gather all the hunters... to catch them all in one fell swoop."
"But how did he do it?" Xia Mi couldn't help but ask, her tone full of confusion and shock, "Those hunters now don't care about the attacks of others at all, it's like they are completely controlled.
"The power of blood." Angé whispered, his eyes still fixed on Yuan Yusuke on the screen, "That is not the blood of ordinary people, at least not the blood we understand."
"Principal!" Hearing the voice coming from the side, Nono turned her head and found that it was Angé and the others. However, they were in a very miserable state at this time, with blood all over their bodies and many wounds. Finkel and Chu Zihang next to them were also covered with wounds.
"I knew that Lu Mingfei was no simple guy. The principal might be the unawakened Dragon King!" Nuonuo shouted.
Angers nodded slightly, his eyes still fixed on the imperial carriage on the screen, and said in a low and meaningful tone: "Lu Mingfei... is indeed not a simple person, but it is too early to draw a conclusion as to whether he is the Dragon King or not."
"Is it too early?" Nono frowned, with a hint of anger and anxiety in his voice. "Principal, your attitude is too irresponsible! His blood can trigger a hunting riot of this scale and even directly control their actions. How else can this be explained? Do ordinary people have such power?"
Caesar sneered: "Whether he is the Dragon King or not, humans who can do this are no longer 'ordinary people'."
"But the question is, why did he do this?" Chu Zihang spoke, his tone as calm as ever, but his brows were tightly furrowed. "If he really is the Dragon King, he can choose to hide and wake up after the human race is completely destroyed. But now he is using his own blood to lure these hunters. What does this mean? Will the Dragon King also sacrifice himself for humans?"
Ange lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then raised his head and said slowly: "It depends on whether he knows his identity, or...whether he accepts this identity."
"Accept the identity?" Nuonuo was stunned for a moment, "You mean, he may not know that he is the Dragon King?"
Anger nodded: "We can't rule out this possibility. Or maybe he is just an 'accident'. There is some kind of blood power flowing in his body that we cannot understand."
"What a madman..." Finkel gritted his teeth, his face pale. He turned his head to look at the picture on the screen. The area around the divine carriage was surrounded by countless hunters. The roars of those hunters were deafening, but they could never really get close to Yuan Yusuke.
Xia Mi's face was full of complexities at this time: "But can he really solve the problem by doing this? There are too many hunters, even our entire armed forces can hardly resist them, let alone him alone."
Ange took a deep breath and said slowly: "He won't fight alone."
"What do you mean?" Nuonuo was startled, and looked at Angers in confusion. Angers' mouth slightly raised an intriguing smile, and his eyes flickered with an elusive light: "No one can stay out of this catastrophe in Tokyo. Lu Mingfei is betting, and so are we. The outcome of this battle will determine the future between humans and dragons."
"What are you betting on?" Caesar frowned, his eyes cold. "Are you betting that those monsters will be completely led away by him, or are you betting that we can survive this battle?"
Ange slowly shook his head: "Neither, he is gambling on the meaning of his own existence."
At this point, Angers turned to look at Nono and the others, his expression suddenly becoming extremely serious: "But we can't rely on him alone. The battlefield in Tokyo has reached the most critical moment. We must make a decision."
A trace of hesitation flashed across Nuonuo's face: "Principal, what do you mean?"
Angé clenched the sword tightly in his hand, his eyes as cold as frost: "Lu Mingfei used blood to divert most of the hunters, but a dragon king awakened in Hongjing, and we failed to stop him. Now he is in Tokyo, we have to find a way to get rid of this dragon king."
Nono's eyes widened, looking at Angé in disbelief: "What?! The Dragon King has awakened? He is in Tokyo now?! We paid so much before just to prevent the Dragon King from awakening, but now..."
"Yes, we failed." Ange's voice was low, but it revealed a chilling calmness. "We fought hard in the battle of Hongjing, but the Dragon King still woke up. He is now in Tokyo and is gradually recovering his strength."
"Which Dragon King is it?" Caesar asked in a cold tone, tightly gripping the Desert Eagle in his hand, with murderous intent flashing in his eyes. "Is it the King of Sky and Wind? Or the King of Earth and Mountains? Or any other Dragon King?"
Ange slowly shook his head, his voice calm and suppressed: "It's the White King."
The air solidified instantly.
Nuo Nuo's pupils shrank suddenly: "White King? The legendary and most powerful Dragon King besides the Black King?"
When Xia Mi heard what Angé said, her face changed. She didn't expect that there were so many Dragon Kings in Tokyo now.
Ange sighed with a complicated expression: "Someone is secretly pushing all this... But it doesn't matter anymore. He has revived, and we have to face this fact."
“Damn it!” Caesar punched the wall angrily, his teeth chattering. “We were just chased by those hunters and now we have to deal with a Dragon King? This is simply an impossible task!”
"We have no choice." Chu Zihang spoke coldly, his face without a trace of expression, only calm murderous intent, "If we don't stop the White King, he will completely recover his strength, and then the whole of Tokyo, and even the whole world, will be turned into a battlefield by him."
Finkel's face was paler than paper. He trembled and said, "Wait... wait! We can't even deal with those hunters now, and now we have to deal with a Dragon King?! Principal, should we consider retreating? Save our strength? We can't all die here!"
"Retreat?" Nuo Nuo sneered, his tone full of cold sarcasm, "If we retreat now, where will we be able to retreat to after the Dragon King recovers his strength?"
Ange nodded slightly, his eyes cold: "Nono is right. In this battle, we have no way out. Tokyo is the end of this battle. If we fail here, the world will lose hope forever."
"But how do we fight?" Finkel couldn't help but ask, "We don't have enough manpower and equipment right now! The White King is the strongest Dragon King, what can we use to fight him?"
"We have a way." Ange's voice was low, but full of a certain firm strength. "Lu Mingfei has already held back most of the hunters for us, giving us a chance to catch our breath. Now, we must seize this opportunity and gather all the strength we can to launch a final attack on the White King before he fully recovers."
"Even with Lu Mingfei's strength, we may not win..." Nuonuo gritted her teeth, but finally she took a deep breath, raised her head and looked at Angers, "Okay, I'll listen to you. You decide how to fight."
Angers eyes slowly swept over everyone, finally stopping at the image of the Imperial Carriage on the screen, his eyes revealing a hint of cold determination: "Don't worry, the reinforcements from Kassel Academy will be here soon."
-
"Are you okay, head of the family?" Sakura dragged the seriously injured Gen Chisheng aside breathlessly and began to bandage his wounds. Gen Chisheng had countless wounds of varying sizes on his body, and there was a wound that almost pierced his heart. If he hadn't activated the dragon bone mode, he might have died.
In the previous battles, he had always been at the forefront. If it weren't for him, few of the elite soldiers from the eight Sheqi families around him would have survived.
"I'm fine... Why did those hunters suddenly retreat?" Yuan Zhisheng waved his hand and said.
“Master, look quickly!” Crow shouted, pointing at the screen that suddenly lit up at the side. The screen showed the scene of Lu Mingfei attracting the hunters.
“That is…” But what attracted Yuan Zhisheng was not Lu Mingfei who was sitting on the imperial sedan chair, but the people who were carrying the imperial sedan chair.
Yuan Zhisheng's pupils suddenly contracted, and his eyes were fixed on the figures carrying the imperial sedan chair on the screen. Even though the picture was a little blurry, he recognized those figures at a glance - they were the most famous patriarchs among the Eight Snake Families.
"Master Ryoma and Master Miyamoto..." Genji repeated in a low voice, his voice hoarse and full of disbelief, "They... are still alive?"
"But how come they are there? Why are they the ones carrying the mikoshi?" Sakura's face was full of confusion and shock. The scene on the screen completely overturned her cognition. "Didn't they...didn't they lose contact before? There are even rumors within the family that they may have died at the hands of those hunters..."
"Something's wrong..." Yuan Zhisheng frowned, staring at the screen with complicated eyes, and there was a hint of uneasiness in his voice, "The Ryoma family and the Miyamoto family are the two oldest branches of the Snake Eight Families, but now, they actually appeared in the team carrying the imperial sedan chair, and it looks like... they don't look like they are being coerced."
"What the patriarch means is..." Ying was stunned and didn't even dare to think further.
"They volunteered." Yuan Zhisheng said coldly, his eyes like knives, piercing the familiar figures on the screen, "Master Ryoma and Master Miyamoto were not forced to carry the imperial sedan chair. They followed willingly."
"Willingly..." Crow muttered to himself, his tone full of disbelief, "They are the backbone of the Eight Snake Clans! Why? Why would they abandon us and help that guy Lu Mingfei?"
"No matter what the reason is, they must come back and give me an explanation!" Yuan Zhisheng gritted his teeth, endured the severe pain in his chest, and slowly stood up. The wounds on his body were bleeding again, but his eyes were as firm as iron.
"The heads of the eight Sheqi families must not abandon their duties, let alone their families! Patriarch Ryoma and Patriarch Miyamoto, making such a choice without authorization is a betrayal to all of us!"
Ying quickly stepped forward to support him, her face full of worry: "Master, your current physical condition..."
“I’m fine.” Yuan Zhisheng waved his hands, his tone cold and hard, “Gather all the elites of the Eight Snake Clan who can still fight. We must rush to the battlefield. No matter who Lu Mingfei is, no matter why they betrayed me, I will ask them personally!”
(End of this chapter)
