<h4>Chapter 584: Allow Me</h4>
Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion
Ye Chong sat in Celest''s pilot cabin. His gaze was cold and ruthless. Behind Celest was a huge fleet of mechs. Ye Chong had brought all the mechs in the stronghold with him. He did not bring any shooters, since Spiders were too slow. He cannot afford to be slow.
All the students in the current stronghold, and all the students from Stronghold 2 and 3, had received the order assemble.
"There''s a spike of animal activity in Grid Z-10." The report came quickly from thems room back at the stronghold. They had released all the Hummingbirds they had.
The ck colored Celest led all 4,500 mechs across the sky.
"Full speed ahead. Destination is Grid Z-10." Ye Chong gave the order without emotion to his entire army.
The army elerated. The whirring sound of engines rumbled in the night sky. All the wild animals in their way quickly made their escape.
"What''s the mission this time, do you know?" Duan Qian whispered his question to Appilok.
Appilok shook his head. "I don''t know, but the Commander is in a bad mood today, so watch out." As a qualified leader, Appilok was sensitive to his surroundings.
"The Commander called for soldiers from the other two strongholds too. It''s d*mn scary." Another student joined the conversation.
"Enough with the questions. Just fight the way you''re trained to." Appilok warned in his low voice. He had been in this leadership position for awhile, and was beginning to develop a charisma of authority.
No one knew what their Commander intended for them in this mission, but they could sense that it was different from their usual training. This was obvious from the way they were flying their mechs. All this while, the Commander had taught them to be cautious, and to always keep an eye on their surroundings while flying at medium speed, so that they could respond in time. Now, however, the army was flying with maximum speed, charging their way through the forest.
The students were no longer amateurs like they used to be. They maintained formation despite flying at maximum speed.
As they got closer to their destination, Ye Chong noticed something was wrong. Below them,rge herds of animals were running away in panic. This unusual sight caught the attention of the students as well.
Everyone felt rmed, and braced themselves for the battle. Darkniss was no stranger to them. Those survived so far were not careless idiots. All the careless people were already dead. Besides, Z-10 was a grid they had not covered before, and that made it an extremely dangerous ce.
The sight was shocking. Tens of thousands of animals were running for their lives, as though something wasing after them.
The students were all unnerved. They recognized many of the animals here, and some of them were powerful creatures that they hesitate to engage. Most of the animals were unfamiliar to them, however, and that them even more dangerous.
Ye Chong was the exception. He knew Rui Bing''s strength. These animals would not have caused her much trouble. The truly strong creatures were further in front of them. Despite the fact, he felt invigorated knowing that he was that much closer to Rui Bing.
Celest elerated, ignoring the panicking stampede down below. The students were worried about his safety, and quickly followed him.
4500 mechs covered arge portion of the visible sky. None of the creatures challenged them in their way. Their journey was unexpectedly smooth.
Finally, they arrived.
Ye Chong saw a dozen gold colored Gold Dragons. When he saw the red-tailed beast, his eyes widened. Finally, he saw the snowshade leopards guarding the entrance to the crack. Ye Chong finally knew why Rui Bing could not afford to answer him earlier.
Both the Gold Dragons and the red-tailed beast noticed their arrival.
Ye Chong suppressed the murderous emotions he was having and delivered his orders coldly, "Draw them away. Be careful, they are very strong."
All the students were shocked. They had never heard theirmander describe anything or anyone as "strong".
Celest immediately separated from the fleet and dived straight for the ground.
In just a short moment after Ye Chong''s order was given, Appilok had already came up with the army''s strategy.
He gave the order without dy, "All troops, target straight ahead. Fire!"
All 4500 mechs fired theirser guns in unison.
The darkness in Darkniss was lifted momentarily.
Celestnded under the illumination of theser fires. The giant in ck armour was as steady as a mountain. The red flower on its back looked beguiling in the light.
It was a magnificent sight, to have 4500 mechs firing at the same time. 4500ser beams shot across the sky, directed at the 12 Gold Dragons and the red-tailed beast. These mech pilots were not as urate as shooters, but they made up for it in numbers by shooting all at once.
After the first round of fire, Appilok and his army retreated without dy.
They soon realized how lucky they were to have done so. Of the 12 Gold Dragons, only two were lightly injured. The red-tailed beastpletely avoided the attack.
Nevertheless, both the Gold Dragons and the red-tailed beast were angered by this provocation. Caw! The Gold Dragons shrieked as they pped their gold wings, and charged straight for the mechs. The students were surprised by how fast the creatures were. The red-tailed beast studied the mechs coldly and followed behind the dragons.
All the mechs retreated at full speed.
It was quiteedic in fact, to see a dozen Gold Dragons and a red-tailed beast pursuing an entire army of over 4000 mechs.
At first, some of the mechs tried to fire back at them whilst retreating, but they never hit the creatures. The animals could not fly as fast as mechs, but they were more agile in the sky. The fact that they could even theirser beams made the students realize that they should stop wasting energy.
Lucky for them that the Commander''s orders were to draw the animals away, and not kill them.
Hence, the students stowed away theirser guns and ran for their lives. At maximum speed, Harmony of the Winter Aria was very fast. It was now a battle of velocities. The battle had reached a stalemate, but it was good news for the mech army.
However, they were also getting further and further away from their Commander.
Celest hadnded at a good spot. It was standing right next to the crack. From here, it could look down inside the crack.
Ye Chong immediately stepped out of Celest and jumped down into the crack, withdrawing Celest back into its dimension keystone at the same time.
Rui Bing held on with all her strength. Her face was still wet with tears. She tasted something salty by the corner of her lips. It might be tears, or sweat. The snowshade leopard was too strong. In the narrow space in the crack, there was no room to dodge. This was a battle of physical strength. She was just a woman. Her arms were beginning to feel sore. Few men couldpare to her tenacity.
Nevertheless, she must not give up. Behind her were Sang Kan and Aried. Sang Kan was still unconsicous, and Aried could not fight.
More importantly, a voice had told her to hang on!
Hang on! She gritted her teeth and fought on, despite feeling her arms getting more and more tired, and despite her heavily sweat-drenched training garb. Her breathing was beginning to lose rhythm. It was like breathing in fire with every breath. Her legs felt so very heavy …
Hang on!
The fight was intense. With every sh, Rui Bing felt her daggers slowly slipping out of her hands, but still she held on to them.
Time was passing so very slowly …
Crash! Suddenly, a few rock splinters fell down from above. Then, arge figure followed suite,nding right in front of her.
"Allow me."
These two words were delivered without emotion. There was no anger, no emphasis, not even an inflection. It was as calm as she remembered it to be. However, these two simple words brought tears to her eyes once again. She bit down on her lips to stop herself from speaking. Her legs nearly gave way beneath her. She reached out with one trembling hand to support herself on the cliff beside her, but refused to move her eyes away from the deceptively slim figure. Her vision was getting blurry, and she could only see blurry figure. She really wanted to see him clearly …
Tears continued to flow down her cheeks.
Ye Chong crouched down with his hand lightly holding onto his dagger. He had saw Rui Bing''s movements, and knew that she was at her limit.
For some reason, Ye Chong felt terribly murderous, like something he had been suppressing for a long time had burst.
The snowshade leopard sensed the strong killing intent radiating from Ye Chong. As a sensitive and intelligent creature, it now felt hesitant to attack.
The man and the animal stared at each other for a full 10 seconds.
"Guardian." This was Ye Chong''s next sentence, brief and precise.
A hand covered with soaking wet white training garb passed an inconspicuous ring to him. Rui Bing said nothing throughout it all.
Ye Chong took the ring and put on Guardian. He was familiar with this part. There was a lot of sweat in Guardian, left by Rui Bing. This filled Guardian with a very familiar scent that reminded Ye Chong of many obscure memories from long ago that he had yet truly forgotten about. As Ye Chong put on Guardian, he was immediately soaked in Rui Bing''s sweat. Rui Bing had fought a very difficult fight.
Ye Chong breathed in the familiar scent without expression.
The snowshade leopard studied the gold colored human in front of it. It was puzzled by what it saw.
Ye Chong did not give it time to figure him out. An emotion he could not quite describe was struggling inside him.
He made his move!
Ye Chong lunged like a bullet towards the puzzled snowshade leopard, leaving an afterimage behind it. He was full of energy, and his attacks were more deadly.
Compared to Rui Bing, Ye Chong''s attacks were more ruthless, direct, and powerful! Ye Chong was feeling murderous. His attacks had no room for mercy.
Ye Chong did not feint. His first move cut out a patch of ck fur from the snowshade leopard. His second move was a dagger strike at the snowshade leopard''s front paw. The snowshade leopard screamed in pain and froze.
Before it could react any further, Ye Chong kicked at the center of its soft belly. Ye Chong delivered the attack without reserve. It was an attack so powerful that the snowshade leopard''s strong body was tossed backwards.
Aoo - The creature went silent before it midway through its painful howling. Ye Chong had chased after the snowshade leopard''s body before it touched the ground, and left a bloody hole where the white fur patch on its forehead was.
Wham! The snowshade leopard that was still alive moments ago now crashed heavily into the ground, kicking up dust inside the crack. Its eyes slowly turned lifeless.
Everything happened so quickly that it was hard to keep up with the fight.
Mei Wu was bbergasted. She knew Ye Chong as a weaponsmith. How could he be … She turned her gaze towards the snowshade leopard''s dead body, and thought it felt like a dream. When she saw a single person able to hold out against a snowshade leopard for so long, she already thought it felt surreal.
Now, she saw another person killing a snowshade leopard in under 10 seconds. Heavens! Was he even human? Mei Wu thought she must be going mad.
Rui Bing had calmed herself down by now. She was a Jie expert, and had better control over her emotions than normal people. Aside from the fresh tears on her cheeks that she had not wiped dry, she looked like she always did. She did not care to wipe her tears, since Ye Chong''s battle had had her full attention.
Her eyes showed how happy she was. She could feel Ye Chong''s improvement since shest saw him. He was much stronger and faster than before. More importantly, he was alive, and standing right in front of her.
Before this, Ye Chong would not have been able to kill the snowshade leopard so easily. Just as Ye Chong knew Rui Bing''s strength, Rui Bing also knew Ye Chong. She knew that he was strong enough to deal with their current plight. Rui Bing tried to regte her breathing so that she could recover her strength quickly and help Ye Chong, no matter how little she could offer.
Rui Bing kept her longingness to herself and closed her eyes. Her expression became serene, and her breathing slowed down.
Given a little time, a Jie expert could achieve plenty more.
The mechs that were pursued by the Gold Dragons and the red-tailed beast suddenly scattered in all directions.
The animals were surprised - which ones should they go after?
In that short moment of hesitation, a few hundred mechs were still in front of them. They were two squads. The red-tailed beast chased after one of the squads, while the Gold Dragons went after the other.
When the other squads were out of sight of the animals, they all switched directions in unison.
"Assist the Commander," Appilok ordered with his low voice.
Everyone was feeling panicked. They had carried out the Commander''s orders sessfully, but now they were worried about his safety. 4000 mechs regrouped and headed towards where their Commander hadnded earlier.
Ye Chong had killed a snowshade leopard, but he had also angered the other three snowshade leopards waiting outside. They charged towards Ye Chong without hesitation.
Bang! Wham! The three snowshade leopards were like three heavyweight mechs. They sped up inside the narrow crack. Rocks cracked under their paws. The sudden disturbance shook down some of the loose rocks from above.
Ye Chong bent his knees and leaned forward. He held both daggers in a cross.
Inside Guardian, Ye Chong''s vision was filled with ever-shifting white lines. Even so, Ye Chong maintained his calm. The daggers in his hands never once trembled.
They were closer now! Closer!
Ye Chong opened his eyes.
With a soft yell, his knees straightened like a spring, and his body shot forward at an incredible speed. He was even faster than the snowshade leopards.
Where he stood before were two footprints deeply impressed into the ground.
The three snowshade leopards grew bigger and bigger in his eyes. He was fast!
Now! Ye Chong leapt and pulled his hands in. He crashed into the first snowshade leopard with his left shoulder.
The first snowshade leopard was sent flying backwards. It lost control of its movements and blocked the way of the other two animals.
The other two snowshade leopards reacted remarkably well. They did not slow down because of their injuredpanion, but instead leaped up towards the rocky walls on both sides. They bounced off the walls and barely avoided the first snowshade leopard that was thrown backwards, slipping past theirpanion from both sides. The entire process was smooth and streamlined.
Ye Chong hadnded on his feet by then. His curled feet pressed deep into the ground from the heavy impact.
At the instant Ye Chongnded, his leg muscles rippled like waves. This was the September Lan Family''s muscle control technique! The energy from his feet, amplified further by Guardian, was terrifying!
Ye Chong flitted in a gold shimmer of light towards the two snowshade leopards, unafraid of them.