With the bear’s heavy strike looming, crimson runes flared across Yvette’s body. At the last moment, she reluctantly cut off the data transfer and raised her hand to block.
But to her surprise, the Bear Beast’s strength was staggering. Even with her body enhanced by Life Magic, she was swatted aside, crashing into the composite-metal wall behind her and leaving a deep dent.
Amid the settling dust, Yvette stood calmly, only slightly sore but inwardly more alert. She had assumed this conjured giant bear was just another minor foe, but its actual combat power far exceeded her expectations.
It was only because of her extraordinary physique and top-tier force-field defensive arrays that she wasn’t crushed—anything else, even an armored vehicle, would’ve been reduced to mangled scrap by that brute force.
Where had this Bear Beast come from?
Could it be a secret super-biological weapon developed by Lingman Corporation?
Outside, noises grew more intense. It wasn’t hard to imagine hundreds, perhaps thousands, of shuttles encircling the top of Greenlight Tower, with fully armed combat squads smashing through windows and pouring inside. Yet, for some reason, they were holding the exits instead of charging in.
Yvette decided to end this quickly. Fixing her gaze on the struggling Bear Beast, she lifted her hand. Under the Main Control Room’s broad dome, circles of runes appeared, releasing torrents of multicolored elements that surged toward the creature.
However, under Imogen’s cold stare, the Bear Beast withstood the dense bombardment, tearing through the elemental mist to lunge again.
Like Yvette, the Bear Beast possessed a top-grade defensive array—the rock layer coating its body could withstand elemental attacks, shedding only fragments.
Its raw strength was also terrifying. In pure power, Yvette couldn’t outmatch it.
Frankly, this single Bear Beast’s combat strength rivaled that of a Level Six Mage specializing in Earth Magic!
Realizing mage tactics alone wouldn’t solve the problem, silver-white strands burst from under Yvette’s rain-hood, transforming into several gray-white blades that slashed mercilessly at the Bear Beast.
This time, her assault worked. Large chunks of the rocky layer were hacked away, leaving bloody wounds. The beast’s ferocity waned as it let out a fearful roar.
“Flesh aberration? The power of a Demon God?” Imogen’s cold mask cracked, replaced by astonishment and a subtle, covetous gleam. “Black Tower Pharmaceuticals only let Zero and One slip away. Where did you acquire this strength? Lin-trans? Or Black Tide?”
Demon God?
Yvette’s heart stirred, recalling what the Firebearer had told her—Divine Shedding, Erosion Seed, and the Abyss all sprang from the same root.
Did that shared origin mean the Demon God?
And just who was the Demon God?
But this wasn’t the time to press Imogen for answers—not that he’d reveal anything. After driving back the Bear Beast, she charged forward—not at Imogen himself, but at the exit behind him.
The Main Control Room’s walls were made of alloy plates dozens of centimeters thick, supposedly able to withstand the main cannon of an orbital battleship (though that was surely an exaggeration). Still, the door was the best way out.
Imogen made no move to dodge. Green light flared in his hands, and in the next instant, an Owl emerged, whipping up countless cyan wind blades with Wind Magic.
And that wasn’t all. More green light surged forth, manifesting Tigers, Treants, Butterflies, and other Magical Beasts—each one with combat power no less than the Bear Beast!
With that alone, Lingman Corporation’s chairman had the ability to wipe out the entire Holy Spirit Sect single-handedly.
By the Mage Association’s standards, his power deserved a class of its own!
Seeing so many beasts capable of matching a Level Six Mage, Yvette’s pupils contracted. She tore off her hood and unleashed her full firepower.
In an instant, countless strands of Ash-White Touch radiated outward, morphing into all manner of weapons. Grouped in sets, they launched at the summoned creatures!
Boom! Deafening explosions overlapped in the vast room as streams of magic tore through the thick alloy walls, leaving them cracked and battered. Even the entire floor, suspended hundreds of meters in the air, shuddered precariously.
Yet the battle ended faster than Yvette expected.
Though Imogen, as Lingman Corporation’s chairman, wielded an eerie talent for summoning extraordinarily powerful beasts, his own close-combat skills were lacking. From start to finish, he relied entirely on his summons for cover.
Once Yvette found an opening, her Ash-White Touch speared into his chest, twisting into the shape of fan blades and shredding his body into pieces—leaving only a blood-smeared head intact, which rolled to the floor.
With the summoner dead, the beasts dissolved into green light and vanished.
Damp air mixed with cold rain swept in through the gaping hole in the thick wall, soaking Yvette’s hair.
She looked down at Imogen’s severed head and kicked it, smashing it against the metal wall until it burst into an unrecognizable mess.
That should make sure he’s not coming back…
But remembering the calm on Imogen’s face in his final moment left her uneasy.
There was no time to dwell on it. The expenditure of Aberrant Mana had been outrageous, and her ordinary mana was nearly depleted. Every clash from here on would burn through more Aberrant Mana than she could afford.
Without hesitation, she darted out through the breach, plunging into the storm raging hundreds of meters above the ground. Ignoring the swarm of shuttles aiming weapons at her, she dissolved into shadow and vanished.
Five minutes later, Lingman Corporation’s Security Chief, the Police Commissioner, and the Mayor of Jade City arrived at the Main Control Room entrance, stunned speechless—almost fainting on the spot.
They had been asleep when the message arrived: a violent intruder had attacked Greenlight Tower’s top-floor Main Control Room, slaughtering senior executives and key staff of Lingman Corporation.
A disaster. Lingman Corporation was the emperor of the entire Emerald Continent; an assault on Greenlight Tower was like assassins storming the imperial palace!
If something had happened to the “emperor,” what would these officials do?
“Where’s Mr. Ashford? Is Mr. Ashford safe?” the Security Chief demanded of his subordinates, his face twisted with fear, nearly unhinged.
Just then, steady footsteps approached from the elevator. The Security Chief turned to see Imogen Ashford emerging not far away, and he exhaled in relief. At least the emperor was unharmed.
Clad in a white suit, looking entirely unruffled, Imogen strode to the Main Control Room doorway. Gazing at the restless Security Chief and the tense Police Commissioner and Mayor of Jade City, he asked warmly, “What happened here?”
“Mr. Ashford, the company was infiltrated by an unidentified powerhouse—” the Security Chief stammered. “The suspect was short, dressed all in black. I spoke with Mr. Eugene, and he said the intruder might be Nameless—the one said to rival the Soulfire High Priest of the Holy Spirit Sect, a newly advanced Level Six Mage!”
He stressed the intruder’s suspected identity, mainly to prove it wasn’t incompetence on their part but the opponent’s overwhelming might—a world-class powerhouse whom even Chief Mage Eugene couldn’t handle. What could he have done?
Imogen’s expression grew serious. “Such a thing happened?”
“Mr. Ashford, we’ll open an investigation immediately and make sure the culprit is caught,” the Police Commissioner declared.
“Thank you, officer,” Imogen sighed. “The area attacked housed the company’s servers. I’m afraid a lot of technical and commercial secrets were leaked, and rumors will surely spread.”
“Don’t worry, any media that dares to stir up rumors will face the full weight of the law!” the Mayor interjected.
“Thank you for your support, Mayor,” Imogen replied graciously.
Soon, after handing the matter over to staff and police, Imogen returned to his office. Standing by the window, he gazed silently at Jade City’s rain-blurred nightscape.
After a while, he murmured to himself, “Nameless is most likely connected to Black Tower Pharmaceuticals. She’s too strong—only Divine Shedding could grant such power. Erosion Seed and the Abyss don’t come close.”
“But she’s neither Zero nor One. According to our intel, she’s appeared alongside them and maintains a certain closeness.”
“Who do you think she is? A new product from Black Tower, maybe we should call her Number Three?”
“Vincent Omega didn’t inform us of this. Besides, the creation of Zero and One was already an accident.”
“Because of that mad Dr. Dillon? But who knows if it was truly his doing—or the Omega Family’s plan that went awry, forcing them to shift the blame.”
“There’s another possibility. Could Zero or One have transferred part of their power to her?”
“We can’t rule it out.”
“She must be captured. Much has already leaked; all we can do is suppress it. But if we catch her, we’ll learn who’s behind her—and gain the power of Divine Shedding as compensation.”
“Use Green Angel. There’s no other choice.”
“Agreed.”
“Agreed.”
After repeating “Agreed” a dozen times, Imogen turned to the side. Through the glass of the penthouse window, the massive Rune Mother Tree loomed—like a world tree supporting the heavens—still radiating bright light in the stormy darkness, seemingly eternal.
A few hours later, in a rented room in the old district, Yvette emerged from Shadow Sneak and pushed the door open. There was no sign of Lianna or Firefly, but she wasn’t surprised. The two had been invited by that junior-high girl, Louisa, to hang out at her home and stay overnight. Yvette only needed to keep in touch.
She switched on the light, tossed her soaked raincoat into the bathroom, and settled onto the sofa. Using fire to dry her damp hair, she began sorting through the mass of classified intel stored in her soul-core.
Book 2: Chapter 154: Evacuation
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