Translator: Sean88888 Editor: Elkassar1
There was a saying that a hill in the distance was never as close as it seemed. That was an accurate description of Sheyan’s current situation.
The magnificent artifact/palace/building at the city centre progressively became bigger and taller in his view, but the Protoss buildings separating them seemed to stretch on forever. After passing a row of buildings, he would just be greeted by another row. There was no end to them in sight.
Aldaris suddenly frowned. “There’s a fight going on over there! I can feel the fluctuation of energy. Someone’s casting Psionic Storm!”
Sheyan was surprised to hear that. “Casting Psionic Storm in a place like this? But Psionic Storm is ineffective against enemies who hide in buildings. It’s never a good idea to cast Psionic Storm in a city.”
“I don’t know, but now’s not the time to get distracted,” said Aldaris with a shake of his head.
But Sheyan disagreed. “I think I smell blood. Not the disgusting smell of Zerg body fluid, or the faint ethanol-like smell of Protoss blood. It might be my comrades. I have to go take a look.”
Aldaris, of course, expressed considerable indignation and dissatisfaction at Sheyan’s decision, but it was simply too dangerous for him to walk in this city that had a deathly atmosphere without the protection of an MT, so he could only follow after Sheyan. They passed through a dazzling but empty store and a square with a lot of disorderly seats before they found a bloody armour fragment on the ground.
The armour was made of carbon-based mangalloy. These types of armours were built to be strong and lightweight, so they were widely used by human Marines. This piece of armour appeared to be the part that protected the heart, so its wearer had most likely met their demise already.
Another thing of note they found were traces of a High Templar’s death in the vicinity of the armour fragment. It appeared to be Ronnie’s doing, because the High Templar seemed to have been killed with a single strike!
About a kilometer further, they heard the familiar sound of 10mm C-14 Gauss rifles going off, coming from ahead. The shooting was fast and intense, but from the sound, they could tell that only three guns were firing.
Suddenly, there was a scream, and the sounds of shooting became more chaotic. Sheyan hastened his steps and managed to catch sight of Ronnie engaging in a bitter fight with a Dark Templar hero who was wearing a black cloak. The Protoss hero’s head was so big that it seemed as if a mass of tumours had grown on it. His eyes had also become blood red, like the eyes of the Zerg.
The Protoss hero swung his Shadow Scythe around and struck down on Ronnie’s head. His action exposed a huge opening in his defence. Based on Ronnie’s ability, he could definitely fatally hurt the Protoss if he stabbed the Protoss’ chest in that instant, but Ronnie would also suffer a heavy blow if he did that. His habit forced him to dodge the enemy’s strike.
But at that moment, Sheyan suddenly shouted, “Don’t dodge, Ronnie. Stab!”
A multitude of thoughts flashed across Ronnie’s mind, but he gritted his teeth and forcefully halted his dodging actions. The Blood Weapon in his hand dazzled brilliantly as it pierced towards the enemy.
They traded blows!
The sharp Shadow Scythe slashed down with a faint vibration, leaving a trail of electricity in its wake. Ronnie only had time to make sure the attack did not land on his head. A series of terrifying explosions went off on his shoulder, as if a storm of blood had suddenly risen out of nowhere!
But Ronnie felt like he had only suffered a flesh wound. The injury was far less serious than he had imagined it would be.
However, when he saw saw Sheyan stagger unsteadily, he knew that Sheyan had somehow absorbed most of the damage he should have suffered.
That’s right. Sheyan had used ‘Survival Mark’ on Ronnie at the same time that he shouted.
Meanwhile, Ronnie’s Blood Weapon ferociously advanced towards the enemy. The Protoss immediately reached out and grabbed Ronnie’s weapon, but half his left palm ended up being completely severed by the immense force of the blade. His palm became a tragic white stubble.
Ronnie’s strike stabbed fiercely into his heart. The Dark Templar hero’s eyes bulged, his face becoming as red as blood. The power of the Blood Weapon exploded in his body and pierced into his inner organs. The Protoss hero may have a strong body, but every time his heart beat, another wound would be made on the heart by the sharp edge of the blade. Can you imagine the feeling?
The light in his eyes quickly turned dim. His gaze was initially full of bitterness and unwillingness, but it turned into relief as the large tumour on his head withered away. His body muscles relaxed, and after spitting out a mouthful of blood, he fell to the ground, devoid of life.
Sheyan stared at the Dark Templar who was turning into spots of light and remarked somewhat uncertainly, “This guy seems to be…under Zerg control?”
“He is,” Aldaris affirmed. “We have no idea what the Queen of Blades is capable of. Before this, she was able to master the Psionic Storm ability just from discovering a genetically compatible Archon. I don’t think it’s anything strange that she’s able to master Mind Control too.”
(TL: Mind Control is a Dark Archon ability.)
The sound of gunfire was heard again, intermingled with the furious roar of Pontin. Sheyan rushed towards the source of the noise together with the others. Once he reached the place, he saw dozens of ordinary Zerglings ganging up on Pontin. Pontin was protecting Annie and Kyrgyzna behind him. He was injured all over, but he looked like he could still hang on for some time.
The three contestants instantly joined the fight. Aldaris’ Psionic Shockwave was particularly effective against the smaller Zerglings as it was an area wide attack. But by the time they managed to rescue Pontin’s group from the danger, Kyrgyzna had already stopped breathing. Her throat had been torn open by a Zergling. Despite Pontin’s best effort, all he could do was to prevent her body from being devoured by the Zerg creatures.
Kyrgyzna’s death struck Pontin hard. Even after all the Zerglings were dead, he still swung his welding torch about wildly while screaming furiously. Sheyan had to knock Pontin unconscious before he could take the welding torch away from his hand.
Sheyan then took out the ‘Endless Vodka’ and fed Annie two mouthfuls of the liquor. The Medic moaned and soon came back to her senses. She immediately went to work after that; disinfecting, cleaning and treating Pontin’s injuries with familiar ease. As expected, medical treatment should be left to the professionals.
Although time was pressing, they had no choice but to stop and wait for Pontin and Annie to recover. Annie obviously cared for Pontin very much. Some parts of her body were still bleeding, but she ignored them and opted to treat Pontin first, all the while complaining that Sheyan had used too much force when he knocked Pontin unconscious.
Sheyan could only shrug. He was thinking of one thing, and that was why the group was still attacked when they had already reached this place.
‘Something’s very wrong with this assault…. In terms of aggro, I’m the one who had taken away the Queen of Blades’ treasures, so I should be the one she hates the most. Even if she’s doing this out of personal reasons, she should have gone after me instead of them.’
‘The assault squad mainly consisted of a controlled Protoss hero assisted by Zerg troops. Such a combination has never appeared before in previous Zerg attacks…’
‘Considering all the possibilities, the most probable explanation is that it was all a coincidence. It’s a little hard to believe, but it’s also the explanation that has the highest chance of being true…’
‘The encounter between the two sides was pure coincidence. The controlled Protoss hero probably knew some sort of secret, so he was sent by the Queen of Blades to guide the way for the Zerg. No, this isn’t a coincidence!! I asked Pontin and the rest to head towards the Judicial Council building which stores the strongest weapons. The Queen of Blades is also targeting the place. Doesn’t that mean we’re on the right path?’
Upon thinking of this, Sheyan instantly told the others, “The Protoss have probably sent troops to this area too. Their main goal is definitely the Keystone at the centre of the city! They wouldn’t send too many people, but those they sent must be the cream of the crop. As long as we can deal with them, we can get our hands on the Protoss secret!”
Pontin regained consciousness and was staring at Kyrgyzna’s body with extreme grief. Sheyan walked over, cut off a strand of Kyrgyzna’s hair, wrapped it up carefully, and placed it in Pontin’s hand. He told Pontin seriously, “It’s not impossible to save her.”
“What?” Pontin was obviously astonished.
Sheyan smiled and explained, “There are already some high-end cloning technologies in operation, but due to the astronomical cost, they can only be used on a small scale. If we can acquire an important achievement this time, cloning Kyrgyzna with this strand of hair shouldn’t be a problem. Of course, her memory will stop at the moment before her death.”
“Really?” asked Pontin with his eyes wide open.
Sheyan nodded, and Pontin was instantly filled with fighting spirit.
After that, they continued on. Two kilometres later, as Sheyan had anticipated, they were attacked by a small squad of Protoss troops. The one leading the Protoss squad was none other than Tochego, who liked to move fast and strike fast.
Tochego and the twenty-odd ordinary Zealots with him were obviously no match for the human group. Aldaris alone could take care of all the Zealots there with his area-wide Psionic Shockwave, while Tochego was bound to lose once Sheyan or Ronnie managed to get close to him.
