Chapter 20: Monster

“Xi Si Te, have you found anything?”

After finishing off the last person on her side, Ou Mi You walked over to Xi Si Te, who was also searching the bodies of their attackers.

She saw Xi Si Te staring blankly at a small plaque.

“Hey hey hey~~~, Xi Si Te~~~.”

“Ah, what is it?”

“Nothing, just asking if you found anything.”

“Hmm, I know who they are.”

“Is that so? As expected of Xi Si Te. Who are they?”

“They are… the Saint Assembly…”

Since Leng Qiongling was the only one who knew how to drive, the other off-road vehicle, originally meant for Wu Yin to drive and used to carry supplies, was taken over by one of the group.

He led the squad members toward a camp located a few thousand meters outside the city.

“Boss, what do we do with them?”

“Notify the brothers at the camp. Tell them to get ready. Once they enter, kill them.”

“But boss, look at their weapons. Are we really sure we can handle them?”

“Don’t worry. No matter how much they resemble devils, they can’t be bulletproof or sword-proof. Just have the brothers prepare.”

That subordinate, seeing his boss so confident, eased his mind a little.

He had only heard rumors of a squad roaming every corner of the continent, slaughtering countless Mad Beasts, almost like the incarnation of a Godslayer.

But he had never seen them in battle, killing Mad Beasts on the front lines, so he could only imagine.

Now, the legendary existence was right behind him, making his heartbeat quicken uncontrollably.

And he was about to go kill them.

Just looking at them made his heart race with fear.

Now, what he was about to do made it hard even to operate his vehicle—his hands trembled uncontrollably.

A large hand landed on his shaking hand, making the member of the Saint Assembly look up to meet the profile of the boss driving the car.

“Have faith in our belief. Don’t forget. You are standing at the turning point of history. You should be proud of this. Don’t be afraid!”

The boss’s words were firm and powerful, gradually calming the member’s body.

His hands could finally operate normally.

“Yes!”

On the contrary, now he only felt a surge of excitement.

After driving for a while, they could see the outskirts of the camp, but not many people.

The off-road vehicle driven by the Saint Assembly member suddenly accelerated and rushed into the camp, catching Leng Qiongling, who was following behind, a bit off guard.

Just as she was about to speed up and enter the camp herself, she noticed a black square falling from the sky toward her vehicle.

“Huh? What’s that?”

Before Leng Qiongling could clearly see what had fallen, it slammed into the off-road vehicle.

Instantly, an explosion rang across the entire desert.

Billowing black smoke rose like a black serpent devouring life, its tongue flicking in joyful hisses.

Flames incinerated everything around, mercilessly turning any organic matter they touched to ash.

Then, several more missiles crashed down, turning the yellow sand into a scorched wasteland.

The power of life seemed so feeble and helpless under this relentless bombardment.

“Don’t let your guard down! Grenades! Don’t stop firing!”

The camp, which had seemed empty, suddenly revealed its true face.

Hundreds of people appeared almost simultaneously, throwing their grenades as far as they could.

After tossing them, they grabbed their rifles and fired wildly, not bothering to aim.

Several machine guns poured out a constant stream of ammunition, the ejected casings hitting the ground with crisp clinks.

The deafening gunfire and explosions lasted nearly a minute.

Then the world fell into silence, as if no one dared to speak a word, leaving only urgent breathing.

“Boss… boss…”

“I’ll go check.”

The boss cautiously approached the edge of the crater that had been blasted into pieces.

The black smoke rising from below showed no sign of dissipating, and the flames gradually died out under the slightly cold wind.

Swallowing his saliva, the boss steadied himself a little, then slid down from the crater’s edge, step by step approaching the wreckage of the off-road vehicle engulfed in black smoke.

He walked forward warily.

Suddenly, he heard a crackling sound.

Nervously, he raised his rifle, finger on the trigger, and froze in place.

But after a long moment, the wreckage made no further noise.

Sensing nothing unusual, he continued forward.

Finally, he reached the wreckage.

He looked around and found no signs of anything abnormal.

After all, having been subjected to such intense bombardment, anyone with a normal mind wouldn’t think anyone could have survived.

This mid-level Saint Assembly member clearly thought the same.

Even though he had heard rumors about them, the Madman Squad—stories of slaughtering tens of thousands of Mad Beasts in a single night, of being blood-soaked Demon Gods, of withstanding attacks that could destroy city walls with their bodies—he knew those tales were exaggerated.

After all, the people who told such stories probably hadn’t witnessed it themselves.

So he confidently turned back to tell his brothers the good news.

With the Madman Squad dead, their attack on Bola City was inevitable.

Taking this city, then the next, gradually strengthening their power, and finally taking over the entire continent—it was no longer a fantasy.

Because they still had their final trump card: they had made a contract with that Giant Mad Beast.

In the coming assault, with the help of that Giant Mad Beast and the Mad Beasts it commanded, no city could withstand them.

But all of this was based on thinking with a normal mind.

Clearly, as everyone knew, anyone who treated the Madman Squad with normal thinking would end up badly in the end.

“Sir? Please hold on.”

A black hand shot out from the black smoke like lightning, grabbing the head of that mid-level member.

He was lifted rigidly into the air, his legs kicking back and forth as if they hadn’t yet realized what was happening.

“Sir, if you don’t give us an explanation, we’ll have to interpret what just happened in our own way.”

The voice coming from the black smoke was cold—polite but extremely icy, leaving the member with his mouth open but unable to say a word.

“Ah… ah…”

“Not willing to explain? Then we’ll just have to…”

“Mon…”

“Did you say something?”

“Mon… monsters… you are… devils!”

“Heh heh.”

As if hearing a joke, the voice in the black smoke laughed—light and carefree.

“Indeed, everyone who sees us like this says the same thing. But…”

The voice paused.

Though her face wasn’t visible, one could be sure she was smiling—a genuine smile from the heart, like the smile of a child praised by an adult.

“We consider this a compliment.”

“You were granted power by the deities, so why…”

“Granted to us? Heh heh…”

The laughter in the black smoke gradually became manic, causing his sense of danger, suspended in midair, to scream throughout his entire body.

“Let me tell you: we conquered it. It did not grant us anything.”