The Six Hundred Forty-Third Leap
Northern Tivyán, Church District.
Under the gloomy sky, outside the archives of the St. Hymn Cathedral, an unfair battle was taking place. Facing the powerful firepower of the Glimmer Frontline, three White Chalk Tier “Cup” Extraordinary Beings from the Placenta Sect were being heavily suppressed. After sustaining numerous wounds, werewolf Braun finally found an opportunity to unleash a heavy blow, causing a shower of stones to severely injure many soldiers on the frontline. This significantly reduced the frontline’s suppressive firepower.
Seeing this, Braun and Vorn immediately roared and charged at the Glimmer Frontline. The two Flame-Bearing Monks on the frontline quickly ignited their swords with flames and stepped out to meet the charging werewolves, carrying the blessings bestowed by the Ordaining Priest.
With the reduction in gunfire suppression, Sand, who had been almost immobilized, finally got some breathing room. Looking at the Glimmer Frontline ahead, Sand, covered in bl**d, clenched his teeth. Nearby the drainage outlet, a swarm of red-eyed mice suddenly poured out!
These were creatures that Sand had long ago stationed in the sewers beneath the church district. They were his scouts, sent to spy on the St. Hymn Cathedral. Now, he was using these mice to launch a surprise attack from behind against the Glimmer Frontline.
However, as an Extraordinary Being of the “Lamp,” the Glimmer Frontline’s Church White Chalks had formidable sensory abilities. As soon as the swarm of mice approached the frontline, they detected the anomaly and alerted others around them.
But now, the two Flame-Bearing Monks on the frontline had already gone to confront the charging werewolves. With so many mice, they lacked effective means to clear them out. Fortunately, the Church had ample resources; when Extraordinary Abilities were insufficient, there were enough Extraordinary Items to compensate.
Facing the swarm of mice, many soldiers in the frontline pulled out iron projectiles integrated with Sigils and Spirituality Storage Items, throwing them toward the mice. Upon hitting the ground, these projectiles exploded rapidly, spreading large flames that engulfed the diseased mice. The mice writhed and struggled in the flames before burning to a crisp and falling to the ground.
Sand’s surprise attack was thwarted. Meanwhile, the injured soldiers on the Glimmer Frontline had largely recovered under the effects of Extraordinary Abilities and returned to their positions, aiming their heavy machine guns forward.
Upon receiving the signal, the two Flame-Bearing Monks engaged in close combat with the werewolves. After enduring significant damage to their sturdy plate armor from the werewolves’ claws, they created a fire wall and swiftly retreated. Despite the werewolves’ advantage in close combat, they were halted by the numerous g*n barrels aimed at them once they bypassed the fire wall.
Suddenly, the gunfire from the forbidden library intensified. The heavy machine guns on the frontline roared again under the control of the healed soldiers, firing a dense barrage of metal bullets that rained down on the frontlines. Large amounts of bl**d splattered on the two werewolves, completely obstructing their advance. Under the hail of gunfire and the Flame-Bearers’ flames, they were forced to flee and seek new cover.
Unlike many secret societies that prioritize Extraordinary Beings, for large organizations like the Church and the state, ordinary armed forces are also crucial components of their military power—especially at the grassroots level. The Church and the state train mixed units of Extraordinary Beings and ordinary soldiers. Typically, Extraordinary Beings protect ordinary troops, enabling them to use powerful weapons to create offensive opportunities amidst the chaos caused by various Extraordinary disturbances.
When well-coordinated, such mixed units can be highly effective on the battlefield, even when Extraordinary Beings are slightly outnumbered or of lower rank. More importantly, because most attacks are carried out by ordinary soldiers, Extraordinary Beings’ Spirituality consumption is greatly reduced, giving them a significant advantage in prolonged battles compared to secret societies that rely mainly on Extraordinary Beings. This is one reason why few secret societies are willing to directly challenge official Extraordinary institutions.
For instance, the three White Chalks from the Placenta Sect were nearly helpless against the Glimmer Frontline’s assault, suffering extensive damage. These three White Chalks could hardly inflict any meaningful harm on the Glimmer Frontline. Although the Glimmer Frontline had no fewer Extraordinary Beings than their side, if it were a pure Extraordinary Being conflict, they wouldn’t have been so overwhelmed. Werewolves, as the strongest fighters among the White Chalks in terms of direct combat ability, could cause considerable damage in close-quarters fighting.
Currently, much of the werewolves’ Spirituality was wasted on healing gunshot wounds, preventing them from matching the Glimmer Frontline’s Extraordinary Beings in a one-on-one exchange. They couldn’t fight back with their injuries, only relying on precious Spirituality to heal continuously. If this continued, the werewolves would exhaust their Spirituality while the Glimmer Frontline would suffer minimal losses. For the Glimmer Frontline, exchanging gunfire for Spirituality was extremely advantageous.
“Cursed… There’s no choice…”
Faced with the overwhelming gunfire, Braun, who was constantly retreating, realized they were slowly falling into a dire situation. In this desperate situation, he finally decided to use his ultimate move.
Seizing a momentary lull, Braun vomited violently and spat something into his claw. He looked closely and saw it was a test tube containing a dark red liquid.
After grabbing the test tube, Braun threw it at the Glimmer Frontline without hesitation. A sharpshooter from the “Lamp” on the Glimmer Frontline noticed Braun’s unusual behavior and immediately fired a shot, shattering the tube mid-air. The liquid inside splashed onto the ground.
Then, a pungent smell spread through the air. Seeing this, Braun slightly relaxed. All he could do now was wait.
…
In the distant outskirts of Northern Tivyán, in a vast, continuous forest, Duval stood alone, dressed in a black raincoat. His gaze fixed on the distant sky. When his extraordinary sense of smell, which was so strong it defied logic, detected changes in the air, he knew he had received the signal.
The marker was set, the situation was critical; he had to act.
After interpreting the signal, Duval finally began his action. As Spirituality surged within him, his body underwent drastic changes.
“Click click click…”
Amidst strange muscle movements, Duval’s physique began to inflate dramatically. Muscles burst through the black raincoat, revealing deep black fur. His original teeth turned into fangs, and his nails became claws. His face bulged grotesquely as Duval began his transformation into a wolf.
Grow… Grow… Grow… After starting the transformation, Duval’s body continued to swell uncontrollably. Two meters, three meters, four meters… eight meters, nine meters, ten meters… Duval’s form kept growing until it reached about twelve or thirteen meters.
What appeared in the forest was a giant beast taller than many trees, with sharp claws and teeth, robust muscles, black fur covering its entire body, and a powerful wolf tail behind it, all signs of immense strength and wildness. On its shoulders rested two massive, bizarre wolf heads, both opening their mouths, drool dripping continuously.
The Dual-Headed Giant Wolf, this was the terrifying form Duval took after transforming into a werewolf. Once the werewolf transformation was complete, Duval began to move. First, it lowered its body, landing on all fours like a true beast, its eyes ferociously focused on the distance.
Then, Duval burst forward with a sudden surge of energy, turning into a blurry shadow that sped towards the south, toward Tivyán.
Accelerate, run! Duval used all four limbs to sprint forward at high speed, exerting tremendous force that shattered the ground, creating craters. Its massive body easily broke through trees in its path.
As Duval accelerated, its speed increased dramatically, stirring up a strong gust of wind that scattered leaves behind it. In a short time, Duval ran several kilometers, bursting out of the forest and into an open field, where the dense buildings of the southern city came into view.
Finally, Duval ran up a hill. At the top, it used all four limbs to launch itself into the air, jumping high into the sky.
“Boom!!”
With a loud noise, the hill was directly impacted by Duval’s final jump, creating a large pit. Then, Duval’s body shot upward like a black rocket, flying at a high angle toward Tivyán.
Driven by tremendous force, Duval flew diagonally upwards to thousands of meters in the sky. Looking down, it saw the densely packed urban landscape below. This powerful hunter soared through the sky, instinctively heading toward the distant target.
Soon, it saw the towering cathedral standing on the ground.
After reaching its maximum height, Duval began to dive downward at high speed. When its altitude dropped to a certain level, Vania, in the Archbishop’s office, was startled and looked out the window in shock.
“That is…”
Jumping, this was Duval’s chosen entry method, the only way to avoid Tiered Vision detection for a short period of time.
Tiered Vision nodes were ordinary Glimmer believers living in Tivyán. Within a certain range centered on the St. Hymn Cathedral, any Glimmer believer could provide wide-area surveillance of about one to one and a half kilometers. All Glimmer believers were the eyes of the Church. Regardless of which direction Red Tier beings approached Tivyán from, they would be detected near the city outskirts.
However, this characteristic of Tiered Vision also posed a problem. Since the detection nodes were believers, who lived in the city and spread outward, the detection range of Tiered Vision was broad but relatively flat, forming a flattened elliptical reconnaissance circle. It excelled at detecting ground and low-altitude units but struggled with high-altitude targets.
Thus, if Duval had simply run into Tivyán, it would have been immediately discovered by Vania’s Tiered Vision and alerted the An Yin Bureau’s Red Tier reinforcements. Duval might have been intercepted by the approaching Red Tier Wind Mage before reaching its destination.
However, entering by jumping was different. The upward detection range of Tiered Vision was only about one and a half kilometers. As long as Duval jumped high and far enough, it could remain mostly outside the detection range for most of the entry process, only being detected when it neared its target and started descending. By then, it would be too late. For high-altitude flight targets, “Lamp” Extraordinary Beings within the Church could easily spot and react in normal circumstances. But now, with the Church District in chaos, no one cared about what was flying in the sky.
Thus, Duval transformed into a swift, dark shadow, plummeting straight down from the sky over Tivyán, accurately landing on the empty space in front of the archives.
“Boom!!!”
With a loud roar, the earth trembled violently, and a large cloud of dust erupted, spreading across the square. The Glimmer Frontline could no longer see their target, leaving everyone stunned by the scene before them.
“What is this?”
Looking at the dust cloud, Gaspare couldn’t help but ask in confusion. And in the next second, a terrifying howl swept away all confusion.
“Roar!!!”
The thunderous wolf howl spread from the center of the dust cloud, dispersing it entirely. Suddenly, a massive monster over ten meters tall appeared before the Glimmer Frontline. Standing in the giant crater formed by its impact, it roared with its two heads, having traveled nearly twenty kilometers after a long run to reach its hunting grounds.
From the start, Duval unleashed a Red Tier-level fear howl, which echoed throughout the Church District and surrounding streets. Affected believers and citizens felt inexplicable fear, screaming and fleeing blindly. The entire Church District and surrounding areas plunged into chaos.
In front of the archives, the Glimmer Frontline suffered a direct impact from the fear howl. Guardian Monks found it difficult to resist such a powerful spiritual shock, swaying and staggering. Eventually, they reluctantly reduced the scope of their Commandments, removing most of the ordinary soldiers and low-tier Extraordinary Beings from protection, focusing instead on protecting themselves and a few White Chalk-tier colleagues present.
This approach led to the complete mental collapse of the nearby army composed of low-tier Extraordinary Beings and ordinary people. They screamed and abandoned their weapons, fleeing in panic. Some individuals too close to Duval were psychologically affected, collapsing and foaming at the mouth. Within a moment, Duval destroyed the low-tier Extraordinary Beings and ordinary followers of the Glimmer Frontline, leaving only a few White Chalks standing.
“This really is… a unique way to make an entrance…”
On the carriage outside the Church District, Dorothy watched the chaotic scene outside the window and couldn’t help but remark.
