Chapter 453

Lin Xian, above!

While Lin Xian's attention was fixed on the terrifying vortex beneath the underwater cliff, Shizhi suddenly sensed a dangerous aura; she instinctively looked up—and in that instant, Kiki also noticed the anomaly and reacted immediately.

The moment Kiki's voice sounded, Shizhi's ability had already activated rapidly; Lin Xian felt a heavy pressure descend from above, and without any hesitation, the power armor's propulsion system blasted to full speed!

Hss!

A sonic boom shattered, shockwaves erupted; the instant the three broke free from the airspace, a laser beam at least two meters in diameter, accompanied by terrifying heat, slammed down, its violent energy beam sweeping across the sea and instantly detonating a hundred-meter-high wall of water!

Boom!

In high-speed overload, Lin Xian tilted sideways and saw the laser beam strike directly through the location where Ryan's group stood, completely annihilating their small aircraft; looking up, he saw the terrifying dark-red beam originating from a black-gray storm cloud, so low it hovered barely a kilometer above Chasang Island!

Atmospheric creature?!

It's hiding in that cloud! Kiki shouted.

The black cloud cover loomed darkly, blotting out the sun; Lin Xian's radar swept and immediately detected a massive silhouette with enormous wings churning within the cloud layer. As vast amounts of vapor dispersed, his vision suddenly caught a flash of black-and-white wing edges resembling a manta ray—his eyes widened instantly.

Lin Xian.

At least Special Grade!

Lin Xian glanced at the Soul-Dampening Value Detector: "We've all been marked Level 4!"

What do we do?

Eliminate it!

The instant they were marked, Lin Xian instantly felt the entire sea trembling, from faint vibrations escalating into violent chaos.

Many… are coming, Shizhi said nervously, scanning the surrounding sea; the massive abyssal vortex below seemed to stir as well.

Lin Xian and Kiki turned their gaze outward—see, the ocean appeared to be boiling; turbid bubbles surged densely to the surface, Chasang Island's earthquakes intensified, and landslides of sand and rock began rolling down its slopes.

Seeing this, Lin Xian's heart sank; he immediately looked up at the black storm cloud above and said sternly:

No matter what it is, we must eliminate it immediately!

Yet just as Lin Xian and Kiki prepared to act, Ryan's calm voice suddenly came through their earpieces.

Team Leader Lin, leave it to us—get off the sea surface first.

On the shore, Ryan's squad scattered like lightning from the exploding beach debris; Ryan stood on the sand wearing a Dark Wolf-class power armor, his gaze icy as he stared at the black storm cloud overhead, then commanded over the channel:

Vanessa, Erica, advance—Iron Arm, cover them! Gedi, keep the rest of you alert for sea activity—eliminate it within thirty seconds!

Understood!

With a precise order, the Falcon Sea Corps instantly activated combat mode; several sonic booms cracked as figures shot through the smoke and dust raised by the laser beams, streaking skyward like flying meteors.

Azir, clear a path for me.

Vanessa's voice was calm and clear, piercing through the helmet's comm system; her dark energy surged violently as she broke the sound barrier and ascended at high speed.

Coming.

Below, the massive Iron Fist Azir surged past the coastline, his lattice energy activated; white electric light surged in his eyes, his twin iron fists rose like inverted cauldrons, mechanical arms reshaping and merging into a single cannon; a black beam coalesced at its muzzle, the violent energy causing surrounding gravel to levitate—then, with a muffled air-burst, a gray shockwave roared straight into the sky, the massive recoil cratering the ground beneath Azir's feet.

Boom!

The shockwave—a fusion of energy ability and mechanical cannon—pierced upward and slammed into the giant storm cloud, detonating a vacuum zone; the immense blast tore open vast sections of the cloud, and at that moment, the atmospheric creature hidden within finally revealed its true form: the dark clouds ripped apart by the violent force, a shadow with a wingspan of hundreds of meters emerged—its silhouette unmistakably resembled a deep-sea manta ray, but its wing membranes bore abrupt black-and-white mottled patterns, just as Lin Xian had guessed: it was truly a sky ghost manta, hundreds of meters in scale!

The ghost manta's enormous wings churned in the high sky, its black-and-white wing edges tearing through the clouds, forming jagged turbulent bands; multiple steel-cable-like tail spines grew from its rear, while its ventral surface bore a monstrous mouth, deeply split like a devil's face; atop its head, two pairs of crimson ghost eyes pulsed with energy—clearly, the laser beams had originated from them.

After being torn open by Iron Arm's vacuum shockwave, the giant ghost manta sensed the dark energy fluctuations emanating from Ryan's squad; its ventral crimson ghost eyes flared violently, launching two dark-red laser beams straight at Vanessa and Erica.

Watch out!

At that moment, the slender Erica's reinforced armor suddenly accelerated, her eyes flashing; a diamond-shaped light shield, half the size of a basketball court, materialized before her, intercepting the laser beams; as the shield vibrated at high frequency, the laser energy refracted into dozens of scattered beams, like shattered crimson glass, then under Erica's control, all scattered beams were re-focused, folding like a lotus closing, and reflected back directly onto the giant ghost manta—instantly, the monster's green bio-field rapidly drained by its own laser fire, collapsing by more than half within the few seconds Vanessa and Erica ascended, its massive wings sliced open by deep gashes!

Meanwhile, Vanessa's power armor, propelled by her dark energy, darted through the refracted beams; her mechanical greatsword left a twisted, purple-black trail as she struck from behind, letting out a sharp cry as she swung the blade horizontally—again, a wave of dark energy cut from the edge, precisely severing three incoming steel-tail spines!

Squeee!

The giant ghost manta emitted a piercing shriek from the sky, its wings thrashing wildly, launching all tail spines toward the two women, while every compound eye surged with torrential laser energy, glowing crimson.

Seeing this, Erica shouted:

Vanessa, cut through the center!

Good idea.

The two women faced the mountain-sized Special Grade creature without fear: one used her energy shield to surge forward, absorbing the laser beams head-on; the other raised her greatsword, leaping over the giant ghost manta's back to prepare for the strike.

Hum!

At that moment, the giant ghost manta unleashed all its laser eyes—but this played perfectly into Erica's hands; her ability excelled at reflecting energy attacks from strange entities. She instantly targeted several weak beams, unleashing her shield at full power, reflecting the lasers to sweep across the ghost manta's back, slicing open a hundred-meter-long gash; blackened charred eyes and exploded biological tissue erupted like volcanic lava.

At that instant, Vanessa, seizing the gap created by Erica's breach of the ghost manta's bio-field, surged forward at high speed, raised her sword, aimed directly at the massive gash, and unleashed every ounce of her mechanical armor and psychic energy—she brought the mechanical blade down in one decisive slash.

Screech!

In less than half a minute, the front third of the giant ghost manta hidden in the clouds had been cleanly severed; countless compound eyes exploded into blood mist, dark energy vaporized, and without even a cry, it began plummeting downward.

Erica, your ability has improved significantly—you can now fully reflect laser energy of this scale, Vanessa said, floating in midair as she watched the falling giant ghost manta, her expression triumphant.