Chapter 496
The young lady of the Russell family, whom he doubted the most, was now in the banquet hall, speaking to Queen Vitalis... The Duke of Russell beside her nodded solemnly in agreement.
What on earth were they planning?!
Were they out to get him?! But what exactly were they doing?!
Why couldn’t he understand what each of them was up to?!
An inexplicable sense of powerlessness and the rage that came with it made Qiangyin grit his teeth.
Kill!
Kill them all! He knew what they were after!
“Blood and fire!”
“Charge!!!”
The battle cry resonated through the assembled troops, as all the cavalry let out a thunderous roar, swept up in a euphoric melody that stirred their blood, driving them forward in the direction commanded by Qiangyin.
Qiangyin’s target was the most crucial piece of information from the second retrospective—The Church of the Savior Goddess.
He aimed to pierce through the dark, oppressive veil before the statue of the goddess, to see what they truly intended to do in his kingdom, right under his nose!
Iron hooves shattered the smooth stone slabs, and the charge of countless armored knights made the ground of Ansu tremble slightly. This steel torrent, which had once instilled fear in countless enemies, was now tearing through all obstacles—buildings and civilians alike—trampling over ruins and flesh, racing toward Westminster Square.
Meanwhile, at Westminster Square, before the statue of the Savior Goddess.
A dark canopy obscured the square, cutting off all external information.
Before the shattered statue, a massive blood array flickered with crimson light, and in mid-air, a gigantic blood-red vortex hovered before a terrifying figure cloaked in shadow, resembling Eleanor.
Its chest was torn open, revealing a half-black heart marred with silver cracks, pulsating powerfully. Each throb seemed capable of driving one to madness.
“Thank you for the hospitality... ‘Mother Goddess’.”
A ghostly voice emerged from the shadowy cloak.
“What’s the dessert this time...?”
On the ground, a red-haired girl, pale from blood loss, looked up at the terrifying presence that resembled an evil deity and slowly spoke, “You know him; you’ve killed him.”
“Oh? That one again?”
The dark canopy slowly dissipated, and the terrifying aura surged forth, sweeping in all directions. Almost all ordinary people and even the slightly weaker extraordinary beings collapsed in an instant, driven mad and screaming at its arrival.
“Looks like... this time you want to finish it all...”
The ethereal voice echoed again, tinged with a hint of regret, as if lamenting the loss of something it could no longer obtain for free.
The once clear sky was now shrouded in dark clouds, and the sounds of iron hooves and battle cries grew closer.
The Anomaly slowly turned its gaze toward the thick smoke rapidly approaching from a distance, raising its right hand.
A black crescent moon formed before its distorted, ethereal hand, radiating an aura that seemed capable of annihilating everything, and it was shot forth.
Buzz—
The dozens of meters high black crescent flew out with a faint buzzing sound, destroying everything in its path—buildings and lives alike—plowing a trench in the ground as smoothly as a hot knife through butter.
Boom—!
As the black crescent struck the steel torrent, countless shields of various colors appeared in front of the troops, layering upon one another to absorb the damage, producing a series of explosive sounds.
“Sigh...”
A ghostly sigh escaped, whether lamenting the hardness of the opponent's defenses or the limitations of its own power was unclear.
The figure cloaked in black began to twist, multiple terrifying wings emerging from its back, expanding its form. Its horrifying black feet sank deep into the ground—Anomaly revealed its true, ethereal self.
In the distance, Qiangyin stared in terror at the colossal otherworldly creature before him, a rare expression of fear crossing his face.
He didn’t miss it; he noticed a small red-haired figure standing behind the terrifying creature, seemingly locking eyes with him as if through some psychic connection.
Silver dials and dark golden gears spun in her eyes, and he sensed the unique aura of “Uniqueness.” It was a presence he was all too familiar with, one he often sensed.
In his mind, the Serpent Chain buzzed, as if responding to her.
In an instant, Qiangyin understood everything.
So it was...
“Uniqueness”!
A similar type of “Uniqueness”!
No wonder... no wonder everything had happened so suddenly, as if he hadn’t noticed anything at all! The other party possessed a similar ability!
Qiangyin burned with jealousy!
The reason he hadn’t perceived anything, the reason he had fallen into their trap, was that from the very beginning, his retrospection and hints had been utterly ineffective! Even the retrospection itself might have been designed by them!
“It’s you!!!” Qiangyin slammed his hands down on the keys.
A wave of terrifying sound erupted, flipping over the debris before him, crashing toward the red-haired girl.
But a light, floating black veil simply blocked her, and all the piercing sounds vanished into the blackness as if swallowed by an endless abyss.
His attack was instantly neutralized, and Qiangyin gasped for breath, shouting, “I know you! You’re the key person hiding beside Aivina and Lucy! I’ve figured you out! You’re hiding with them in the De Shield Group’s hotel!”
As if struck by a thought, a manic smile twisted Qiangyin’s face. He shouted at the girl in the distance, “You’ve lost! You’re only at Tier 2! You have no chance to prepare for everything after the next retrospection!”
“You took half a day to set this up, while I! I will crush the entire De Shield Hotel in an instant at the first moment of retrospection! You’ll be reduced to a pile of mush!”
“No one can save you!”
Xia Er calmly watched Qiangyin, who was spiraling into anger and madness. Under the influence of the Anomaly, rage was corroding his reason, and his every action was unconsciously veering toward the extreme.
“Oh.”
Xia Er raised his eyes to glance at the time displayed on the system panel.
“12:15:12”
“Countdown -5:44:48”
The Pope had already set up the otherworldly node two minutes ago.
Xia Er turned to the Anomaly, suppressing the anger that made her chest tight, and coldly said, “Aren’t you going to make a move?”
“Hehe...” The ghostly voice echoed in Xia Er’s mind, the Anomaly spoke in a personified tone, “Such delicious anger and fear... I must savor it. Are you in a hurry? If not, let me enjoy it a bit longer...”
At that moment, the Anomaly resembled a true evil deity, relishing the emotions of human anger and fear as if they were a feast.
“Make a move? You don’t need to!” Qiangyin seemed to have heard Xia Er’s words. He knew he couldn’t deal with that terrifying otherworldly creature and couldn’t bypass it to harm the red-haired girl.
The Serpent Chain had already marked the timeline for his retrospection; as long as he successfully executed it, he could eliminate the girl in advance!
Previously, he had struggled to find a target, but now, with a target in sight, Qiangyin felt confident and emboldened to kill her directly!
All he needed to do was leave all the information about the girl on the mark! He had already assembled all the markers that could accurately lock onto her!
“What’s wrong?”
At that moment, the cold voice of the red-haired girl came from afar.
“Are you planning to commit suicide? Then rewind?”
Xia Er had seen through Qiangyin’s thoughts.
Qiangyin’s intentions were not hard to guess; in fact, Xia Er had already done what he wanted to do.
Like himself, Qiangyin was a product drifting outside the timeline. The difference was that Qiangyin relied on the “Uniqueness” of the Serpent Chain, while he depended on the system.
“Uniqueness” was unaffected by the timeline, allowing a segment of Qiangyin to be preserved at a specific moment in time.
Understanding the “Uniqueness” of the Serpent Chain through the lens of the system made it quite comprehensible.
The past Qiangyin, the future Qiangyin, and the present Qiangyin all moved forward in parallel across different timelines and “simulated” worlds.
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