Edited by Aelryinth
“Ah! My eyes!”
“Run!”
After the Freemason high-tier beastmasters exploded, together with their subdued beasts, the intense light produced was like a bright sun, blinding the crowd who was observing the situation from the side, forcing tears out of their eyes.
Everyone covered their eyes, crying out in pain.
That wasn’t the end of it. After the bright light faded, the resulting shockwave brought with it a terrifying momentum and swept out in all directions.
In the other three directions, the shockwave’s momentum was greatly reduced after it swept into the Freemasons’ buildings, destroying them. It didn’t spread too far before coming to a stop, not causing any further destruction.
Outside the Freemasons’ buildings, however, the relatively fewer buildings with unstable foundations weren’t able to slow the expansion of the shockwave.
The scattered buildings were flattened. The momentum of the shockwave continued unabated, sweeping out.
With that, the blinded crowd hundreds of meters away were in for some troubled times.
They weren’t able to evade at all, and were struck by the shockwave directly. Their fragile bodies were immediately swallowed up by the force, and they lost their lives instantly.
——
However, no one cared about the life and death of the spectators.
Before the explosion happened, Zhang Che had warned everyone loudly. The military personnel all panicked, abandoned their subdued beasts, and flew away.
For a brief moment as the shockwave swept its way through, subdued beast after subdued beast was torn to shreds and turned into masses of light, like a beautiful display of fireworks.
However, the soldiers were in too much of a hurry when retreating. About a dozen of them didn’t manage to get out of the range of where the shockwave was the strongest. Even a few high-tier beastmasters whose physiques were far stronger than ordinary men were unable to withstand such a powerful shockwave. Blood spewed out from their seven orifices, and they died without being able to make a sound, meeting their tragic ends.
“Damn it!” At the rear, Huang Juyun became extremely angry after witnessing this scene. He immediately ordered his subdued beast, the Metal Tyrant, to quickly rush up, and block for a bunch of soldiers who couldn’t retreat in time, taking on the terrifying shockwave.
The violent shockwave produced rumbling noises when it struck the Metal Tyrant. Many scars appeared on its body instantly. Some tiny objects resembling metal fragments flew off of its body.
Even this powerful epic-quality subdued beast was heavily injured after it was struck by the shockwave!
Fortunately that fellow had an incredibly tough defense, and didn’t die on the impact. Otherwise, Huang Juyun would have been so sad he wouldn’t even have had the heart to cry.
——
Zhang Che was flying on the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon towards the Freemason headquarter’s main courtyard.
The dragon’s advantage in speed was fully displayed here.
Although Zhang Che was very close to the detonation point earlier, he still managed to retreat hundreds of meters on the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon after recalling his other pets and subdued beasts. He wasn’t hit by the shockwave at all.
Even so, his forehead was covered in cold sweat.
-As expected of the methods of the demons! He Luotu ordered his subordinates to self-detonate right away when he realized things weren’t in his favor. Luckily I noticed it early, or I might have met my end there!
-This fellow has to die, or there’ll be endless troubles!- Zhang Che decided in his heart at that moment. He had to kill the demon-possessed He Luotu here, no matter the price!
If he was allowed to escape, heavens knew what kind of trouble he would cause in the future!
Putting all else aside, that fellow was skilled in controlling the souls of others. If he escaped and found another batch of powerful mid and high-tier beastmasters, then had them go to areas with dense populations and cause another huge explosion, the results would be unthinkable!
At that thought, Zhang Che had the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon stop, and hurriedly looked back where he was earlier. He saw He Luotu on an airborne subdued beast, gaining altitude and trying to leave this place.
“This time I definitely can’t let you escape!” Zhang Che murmured. Without a second thought, he ordered the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon to fly higher and gave chase to them.
“Uncle Huang, I’ll leave it to you to take care of the rest. Leave He Luotu to me!”
—
Huang Juyun was shocked. Although he was worried about Zhang Che’s safety, he wasn’t in a good position to ask him to stay in front of all the soldiers.
After all, judging by the speed He Luotu was leaving, even if the soldiers present had epic-quality subdued beasts, it would be difficult for them to catch up to him. He could only let Zhang Che, who owned an epic-quality beast like the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon whose speed was its forte chase after He Luotu.
“Be careful, Xiaoche!”
Helpless about it, Huang Juyun could only shout out a reminder to tell Zhang Che to watch out for his own safety. His underlying meaning was to tell him not to force things if it didn’t seem possible.
The Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon’s figure was about to disappear from the sights of those present, leaving behind only Zhang Che’s trailing voice.
“Don’t worry, Uncle Huang. I won’t let this fellow get away!”
Huang Juyun raised his head to look at the sky in the end, then sighed and lowered his head, shifting his gaze to the ruins caused by the explosion earlier. He ordered sternly, “Search this area immediately. Don’t let even one cult member get away!”
“Yes, General!” the soldiers under him responded loudly.
Almost all of the Freemasons’ high-end forces had self-detonated. Their president had made his escape, leaving only the lowly pawns behind. It wasn’t at all difficult for the powerful soldiers to clean up the rest.
A huge number of subdued beasts were summoned out by the soldiers, surrounding the Freemason headquarters tightly. The residual members of the Freemasons couldn’t form a decent resistance and were wiped out.
Of course, they were not people who didn’t care about their life and death. Most of them surrendered. They were stripped of their combat gear and were forced to hand over their beast cards, then arrested and escorted away.
——
“Damn it, that brat actually has such a speedy subdued beast! He really deserves to die!”
He Luotu had originally thought he could escape safely, but after he had flown dozens of kilometers southeast on his flying mount, he suddenly realized Zhang Che was actually giving chase on the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon. Zhang Che’s speed wasn’t any inferior to his, and was even slightly faster!
He Luotu knitted his brow tightly. He believed he wasn’t a match for this human warrior, and thus he could only grit his teeth and continue fleeing southeast.
Originally, he had planned on flying to another city to look for his other clones, and build up another organization.
However, Zhang Che was chasing him relentlessly. The military’s air forces would surely move quickly and surround him from all sides. It would be almost impossible for him to get away if he continued staying on the mainland.
As such, He Luotu quickly changed his plans and directly flew in the direction of the sea.
Xinfan City was only a few hundreds of kilometers away from the ocean. Once he reached the waters, there’d only be that brat behind chasing him at the most. At that time, he’d have more options to take, be it fighting or running.
He Luotu wasn’t afraid. As for the possible dangers that might appear at sea, he didn’t care at all.
The exotic beasts that remained above the waters for the past decades were indeed a huge threat for humans. But to He Luotu, they were nothing.
It could even be said that if he really couldn’t shake off that brat’s pursuit, he could totally abandon this body and take over one of those exotic beasts, easily making his escape.
He didn’t believe that brat would be capable of doing everything. As long as he dove into the waters, that brat shouldn’t have a way to continue chasing him, right?
——
Zhang Che wasn’t worried at all as he gave chase.
Given He Luotu’s strength, his subdued beasts couldn’t threaten his safety at all. His flying mount’s speed was a touch lower than the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon. As long as he didn’t let up on the chase, he’d catch up to him sooner or later.
Also, although He Luotu’s true identity was a mysterious being of the demon realm and might have many unfathomable methods, Zhang Che really wasn’t afraid.
No matter how incredible they were, his methods were limited to mental attacks!
This was indeed an extremely headache-inducing method of attack for other beastmasters. However, Zhang Che wasn’t afraid of such attacks at all, since he possessed the rainbow crystal.
As such, Zhang Che had a calm expression as he flew on the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon’s back. His eyes were locked onto the target of his chase, He Luotu. He thought to himself, -I’ll see where you can run to!-
After chasing for some time, the distance between the two had shrunk to about ten kilometers.
This distance could be said to be the opposite extremes of the world if they were on land. His target might slip away if he was even slightly inattentive.
However, in the vast skies, ten kilometers was only ten thousand meters; it was truly very close.
After getting a closer look at the direction He Luotu was escaping to, Zhang Che had a better idea of his plan. He smirked coldly inside. -Hehe, you think I can do nothing to you if you ran to the waters?-
On the contrary, this made Zhang Che very happy.
If He Luotu was determined to escape to another city with a dense population, it’d be tricky for Zhang Che to make a move, since he had to be mindful of the safety of the civilians.
However, that fellow seemed to have a short-circuit in his brain. He actually escaped in the direction of the ocean, where no one else was around. Zhang Che really didn’t have to hold back, then.
At that time, no matter if in the sky, or in the waters, the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon was a highly capable beast. No matter how many mysterious methods He Luotu had, they’d be absolutely useless!
Not only that, after he became aware of the direction He Luotu was escaping in, Zhang Che even had the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon slow down a tiny bit inconspicuously, feigning to be exhausted. He trailed behind He Luotu from afar, in case the latter grew urgent and changed his mind, deciding to fly inland once more.
——
Less than half an hour later, the two left the mainland and arrived above the ocean.
Zhang Che still didn’t let the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon increase his speed back up. After all, they were still too near to land. There was still a chance of him flying back to the cities if He Luotu panicked.
-I’ll follow you on a trip to the far open waters, then! I’ll see what methods you have at that time to escape from me!- Zhang Che thought. He had the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon accelerate a tiny bit, shrinking the distance between the two slightly.
He was afraid He Luotu might have some unknown methods of increasing his speed. If he decided to employ such methods, it was very likely he’d disappear from Zhang Che’s sight. It’d be very difficult for him to continue chasing then.
—
On the other hand, He Luotu was incredibly happy to see Zhang Che chasing him all the way here.
“Really, there’s a path to Heaven for you, but you chose to ignore it, barging right into Hell when there’s no way in! I’ll definitely use my secret techniques to draw all the powerful exotic beasts in the sea over when the time is right! I’ll see how you’ll deal with them!”
As one of the clones of the supreme demon, although He Luotu’s individual strength didn’t count for much, he had many unfathomable methods. He was confident he could cause unimaginable problems for Zhang Che during their upcoming battle.
This game of cat and mouse went on for about another hour.
At present, the two were several hundred kilometers away from the mainland. It was already impossible for either of them to turn back.
——
Back at Xinfan City, the battle at the Freemason headquarters had already ended.
He Luotu had escaped far away, and the other high-end forces had been sacrificed. The remaining members truly couldn’t cause much trouble for the military.
After killing some diehard members who stubbornly tried to resist , the others’ desire for survival finally triumphed over He Luotu’s mind control. They handed over their respective beast cards one after another and knelt on the ground, pleading for mercy.
A Major came running up in front of Huang Juyun and saluted, then gave a brief report on the battle results. “Reporting to Chief, all the cult members have been either killed or captured. No one escaped. Please instruct us!”
Huang Juyun nodded in satisfaction, then asked, “Very good. Everyone’s worked hard. How are the casualties on our side?”
Those left were only the foot soldiers. Huang Juyun couldn’t be bothered to care about the battle results. He asked what he was most concerned with.
“Reporting Chief, during the final battle, only a few soldiers were injured. After all, the enemies’ forces were greatly crippled. However, during the earlier huge explosion, our losses were a little high. A total of eighteen soldiers lost their lives, including three high-tier beastmasters.”
At the end of his report, the major’s voice lowered.
During the huge explosion earlier, some of the soldiers responsible for stopping the Freemasons’ top executives from escaping were caught unprepared and couldn’t retreat in time. The casualties for them were a little more severe.
To paint a clearer picture, those were all mid-tier and above beastmasters. Three of them were even high-tier beastmasters! They were all elites of the elites. Although it was expected that there would be casualties in this battle, no one expected them to be so heavy.
A look of pain flashed in Huang Juyun’s eyes. Such heavy casualties tugged at his heart.
This time, they weren’t prepared enough for the demon’s methods. Even though they had many preventive measures in place before the battle started, they didn’t expect their enemy to order his top subordinates to self-detonate so resolutely. Their methods were truly hard to believe!
After a brief silence, Huang Juyun commanded loudly, “Quickly clean up the mess and immediately escort all the captives back to Bei Du on the cargo planes!”
“Yes!”
——
The military came quickly and left quickly. Very soon, only a devastated piece of land was left behind.
As for the tragic scene and the crowd who was caught up in the battle, naturally Xinfan City’s locals would clean up. They weren’t the responsibility of the personnel involved in this operation.
Before they left, Huang Juyun looked to the southeast. He was very worried for Zhang Che’s safety.
He could tell from the huge explosion earlier that the demon spy’s methods were unfathomable. Heavens knew what other hidden aces that escaped demon had up his sleeves…
However, Zhang Che had already gone and given chase. Huang Juyun could only hope he could neutralize any dangers and successfully complete his mission.
—
On the journey back, Huang Juyun contacted the top brass of the military and reported the results of the battle to them. In the end, he requested that military headquarters to mobilize the nearby air forces to conduct a search in the southeast, hoping that they could be of help to Zhang Che’s pursuit.
At the very least, he wanted to know where Zhang Che had chased that demon to!
The military top brass viewed this matter very importantly, too. Not only did they mobilize the air forces in the nearby cities, they even used the satellites to scout the areas southeast of Xinfan City carefully, hoping to find any useful information.
However, the clouds were extremely thick in the skies above the seas near Xinfan City on that day. The spy satellite was unable to see through the cluster of clouds and scout things out accurately.
They couldn’t find where Zhang Che had chased He Luoto off to…
