The transmission didn’t end there.
One last message sounded from the ID card:
[According to spell clairvoyance, there is a possibility of survivors in Blue Mountain city, please go ahead and confirm this]
[Your next mission is being arranged, please pay constant attention to any updates]
At this point, the vibration of the ID cards stopped.
“A survivor?” Gu Qing Shan commented.
“Come on, let’s go take a look. We might obtain other information as well” Crow immediately said.
“Alright” Gu Qing Shan replied.
The two of them took flight and headed towards Blue Mountain city.
They were stalled by the Apocalypse so they weren’t able to reach Blue Mountain city in time to help, so this time, they were moving at their fastest speed.
A few dozen seconds later.
They descended from above, standing in front of a burning city.
“The flame is quite considerable” Gu Qing Shan said.
He released his inner sight to scan the entire city, feeling increasingly heavier in his heart.
The scene of the city was like that of hell.
“There’s a survivor”
Leaving that statement, Gu Qing Shan vanished.
Observing the unceasing flames in the city, Crow drew his rapier and pointed it forward.
“The power of flames, turn to my sword” he lightly recited.
With that incantation, the boundless flames all over the city detached themselves and gathered onto the rapier.
The entire sky of flames was absorbed into the thin blade of the rapier.
At the same time, there was no longer anything burning in Blue Mountain city.
The city was now charred black.
Corpses were strewn all over the place.
Quite a few of them were crippled and incomplete bodies of high-ranking Combatants.
It was now that Crow flew into the city to search for Gu Qing Shan.
He soon reached a collapsed cathedral.
Gu Qing Shan was standing in front of him, observing a destroyed secluded corner of the cathedral.
An infant wrapped in diapers was silently sleeping here.
“This is our only survivor?”
Crow asked.
“That’s right, I couldn’t find any other living beings” Gu Qing Shan replied.
“You sure?” Crow asked.
“Hm, I have an ability for carpet-style searching[1], this little one is the only one left alive” Gu Qing Shan affirmed him.
Crow sighed, asking: “How did this one survive in the first place?”
Gu Qing Shan pointed at the corner and signaled for Crow to take a careful look.
When Crow observed it, he saw that the secluded corner was filled with numerous saintly runes.
“Ah, so it was a high-level isolation barrier. But is a barrier like this actually useful at all?” Crow asked in confusion.
If it was useful, the Apocalypse would have already been resolved.
Gu Qing Shan gently picked up the infant and its diaper, observed a bit more carefully, then replied: “I heard that most women and children had already been transferred to the royal capital city, so this child was most likely left here by accident. It was then caught in the Apocalypse while being protected by the barrier, but since it was only just born, the enemy it summoned was so weak that it was defeated by others, thus leaving this child alive”
His conjecture was reasonable, so Crow nodded in agreement.
“Are we going to take it with us?” Crow asked.
“What do you think?” Gu Qing Shan asked in return.
“I don’t know how to change diapers” Crow casually replied.
“Then you feed it, I’ll change its diapers” Gu Qing Shan delegated the tasks.
“I don’t have milk” Crow casually answered again.
Gu Qing Shan frowned: “Can’t you just make it something soft to eat? That has nothing to do with whether or not you have milk”
Crow sincerely told him: “Children have to drink milk—— we’re helpless when it comes to this. Let’s just see if we get a chance to hand this child over to the royal capital. At the first opportunity, we should hand it over to the people of this world, or to the organization that’s responsible for evacuation and transport”
Gu Qing Shan looked down at the infant.
It was sleeping soundly.
“Let’s take this chance while we don’t have a mission to head to this world’s royal capital and arrange for this baby properly” Gu Qing Shan resolutely suggested.
Crow agreed: “That’s right, we don’t know how to take care of children”
Just as they were about to head out, they stopped.
Around them.
Another sandstorm was brewing.
Lines of glowing text appeared from the void of space:
[There are no newcomers this round]
[Your destruction has entered the second phase]
Among the intense wind, yellow sand obscured the sky.
Two men and one baby were completely surrounded.
“Why do I feel like it’s going to be really tough this time around?” Crow doubtfully asked.
“Prepare to fight” Gu Qing Shan curtly replied.
Embracing the infant in his left hand, his right hand wielded the Earth sword.
Three figures slowly manifested from within the sandstorm across from them.
A caster, a giant donning a suit of heavy armor, and a three-headed dog whose body was clad in green fog.
Crow pointed at the three-headed dog with his rapier: “Fiend, it looks like a dog from your hometown”
“Don’t know him” Gu Qing Shan replied.
“Be careful, it seems to carry a sort of potent venom. You’re probably unaffected, but the little one in your arm most likely isn’t” Crow said.
Gu Qing Shan nodded.
Both of them were a bit cautious.
Because the fluctuation of the three monsters across them seemed to be a bit strange.
The caster first looked at Crow and announced: “Swordsman, I am your opponent”
The giant brandished his battle axe and howled at Gu Qing Shan.
The three-headed dog looked towards the young child in his arm, drooling with saliva.
What this meant was quite clear.
Crow quickly asks: “Can you deal with two of them at once?”
“I’ll be fine, as long as this child doesn’t wake up” Gu Qing Shan replied.
“Don’t worry, it’s sleeping very soundly, it won’t suddenly wake up at a time like this” Crow said.
The child suddenly woke up, curiously looked at Gu Qing Shan, and then——
“Waaa, waaa, waaa~”
The infant immediately started crying.
Gu Qing Shan: “…”
The three-headed dog leapt forward first——-
The battle had begun!
Crow brandished his rapier and said: “I’ll kill that caster first and return to help you!”
He immediately flew forward.
As he saw the three-headed dog leaping at him, Gu Qing Shan’s figure became blurred and split into 7-8 illusions.
Each of the illusions was exactly the same as his real body.
—-Hitman movement technique, [Flowing Shadow Steps]!
The three-headed dog was confused, unsure which Gu Qing Shan it should go for.
Suddenly, a line of glowing text quickly appeared:
[Attention! One of your abilities has been extracted by the giant! Please be cautious of it!]
Gu Qing Shan’s expression changed.
What?
It can use one of my powers as well?
He turned to the giant.
The giant abruptly roared:
「 Fiend, I know your codename is Dragon King of Atrocity Jail. I’m calling you out, you dare answer me? 」
Gu Qing Shan: “…”
Answer my ass!
He was still shocked by this development.
During the second appearance of the Apocalypse, it immediately broke my armor, and now it can even make use of my ability!
The baby in my hand is still crying and struggling about.
If I were to be frozen right now——
Gu Qing Shan stopped observing them.
He abruptly tilted his body and unleashed a slash towards the three-headed dog!
The three-headed dog stood still in confusion.
——-Gu Qing Shan was still a distance away from where it was.
How could that attack hit me?
Pssh!
Blood splattered.
The three-headed dog scattered into a mist of blood as it fell backwards.
Secret Art, [Life Seeker]!
Because the three-headed dog seemed to be venomous, Gu Qing Shan decided to kill it from a distance.
——facing against this Apocalypse, he didn’t want to reveal too many of his trump cards and sword techniques yet.
Gu Qing Shan pulled his sword back and turned to the giant.
Seeing how he insisted on not answering, the giant turned his eyes and shouted again: 「 Fiend, if you refuse to speak, I’ll assume that you’re afraid to answer! 」
Gu Qing Shan’s expression changed.
This way, answering would make him fall under the effects of the skill, but if he doesn’t answer, he’d be admitting that he was afraid to answer, which is also a type of answer.
A second later.
Gu Qing Shan was frozen in place, unable to move away from that spot.
He silently sighed.
This giant is sly, being able to come up with such a way to use the Azure Dragon Origin Hex.
——-but, isn’t that cheating?
Or, perhaps this is the true essence of this skill?
As Gu Qing Shan was pondering, the giant had already charged towards him.
Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!
The ground trembled.
「 You’re frozen now aren’t you, pitiful soul. I’ll send you to the Apocalypse in one hit! 」
The giant grinned cruelly and brandished his battle axe, swinging down on Gu Qing Shan!
Gu Qing Shan stood still and faced him head-on with his sword.
Clang——-
A resounding sound of clashing weapons.
The giant and his axe were both sent flying.
Gu Qing Shan’s sword vibrated as he pointed straight towards the giant.
A gigantic sword phantom shot like a bolt of lightning; caught the giant, then slashed him into a mist of blood to be scattered by the wind.
Secret Art, [River Blocking Iron Sword]!
Gu Qing Shan continued to hold the baby in one hand and the Earth sword in the other shaking his head: “Sorry to inform you but, if it’s a contest of strength, my sword won’t lose”
[1] I’m unsure how to explain this properly. Basically, a type of searching that’s done like rolling out a carpet onto a flat surface, ensuring that every corner is covered
