Chapter 229

Seven Thunder Titans, each clad in seven layers of armor, plummeted from the sky, then hurled heavy aerial bombs, thunderbolts, and blinding fire rings toward the Black Forest; white phosphorus rounds streaked across the heavens like meteors, igniting raging fires within the forest, where smoke billowed amidst the flames, scorching and searing this twilight, and immediately after, the Tin Man V-2 type dive bombers tore open the rifts between the clouds, began dropping bombs on the densest packs of wolves, and during this process unleashed frantic barrages from their tail cannons against the ground.

The sky was torn apart, literally torn apart.

Little Red Riding Hood saw the sky above the Black Forest transform into a shattered mirror; the once-intact twilight light was "cut" into countless irregular fragments, and within each fragment reflected different scenes—dark, towering spires; bloody, grim courts; brightly lit ballrooms; and wildlands where flutes played, great ships returning at night, ancient castles overgrown with thorns... This scene was as if all the "subsets" were "collapsing" toward the Black Forest as their center.

And at the same time, all manner of things—dragons, giants, soldiers, burning wreckage and sails, castles, demons—began falling from those mirrors into the Black Forest.

The barriers between the subsets were forcibly "opened"; the Black Forest, this "original stage" within the fairy tale collection, now had its "gates" thrown open to all stories.

A majestic giant clad in steel armor strode heavily toward them; ordinary wolves' sharp fangs and teeth could not withstand this Titan's might—even though this giant could only be called a "dwarf" among the "Titan" race—the wolf packs retreated before the Titan, and a familiar voice came from the giant's shoulder, filled with excitement and joy: "Sister Red Hood! I'm here to help! Are you happy!"

Little Red Riding Hood looked up in astonishment and saw Bai Xue standing high upon the Titan's shoulder armor; although summoning seven giants simultaneously brought heavy mental pressure, the girl's face was still filled with excitement—that excitement of being able to cause chaos to her heart's content, of finally no longer needing to worry about rules, no longer needing to carefully calculate every day of her life, of being able to act recklessly just once.

Little Red Riding Hood raised her hand, pointing toward the distant sky: "Your 'mother' is coming!!"

The next second, a powerful voice echoed across the sky above the Black Forest: "Come! Come! Come!! Even to this nonsensical place, I will still bombard you all..."

The old witch's voice in the sky was only halfway out when another burst of fire rose from the earth; a knight fully clad in heavy armor stepped directly through the air, swinging his sword down at the wicked Wang Hou in her magnificent court gown: "For the King's glory!"

However, the knight was defeated within a few exchanges, but immediately after, a great army assembled amidst the raging fires of the forest; the ground forces led by the Scarecrow began firing wildly at every thing in the sky that didn't look like one of their own, and the Thunder Titans, after a brief moment of reaction, joined the battle.

A chubby tabby cat burst out from the smoke; the instant the knight fell, it swiped its paw to summon again, and several figures instantly materialized in the air—the priest from the small town, the down-and-out wandering swordsman, the traveling mage, and the hero who had just left the village.

The "King" tossed an old sword to the dazed hero, vigorously patted the latter's arm with his paw, then raised his paw to point at the sky, indicating the enemy currently engaged in combat with the Thunder Titans:

"Go fight her! Remember, you must shout about bonds, friendship, everyone in the village, and whatever else, charge forward and slash—remember! You must shout! Once you've shouted, you will definitely hit! Go!"

Dorothy, holding a saber and wearing a commander's uniform, stumbled out of a nearby crater; her face was streaked with blood, yet she smiled brilliantly: "Everyone, charge! Attack the ones marked by flares first!"

The mermaid's song began, echoing across this burning, chaotic, frenzied, scorching battlefield; within the song seemed mixed the roar of ocean tides, and a moist, gentle breath soaked everything upon the battlefield.

Rapunzel, with golden hair trailing to the ground, pulled a golden spike from the chest of a dying demon, then reabsorbed that golden spike into her hair; half of her body was bathed in blood, and amidst the mermaid's song, she slightly narrowed her eyes, inhaling deeply as if bathed in sea breeze: "Ha... this is what the mermaid's song brings... uh?"

Rapunzel opened her eyes in confusion, looking at the human-bodied, fish-tailed girl singing on a large rock nearby: "... Your singing didn't give me any buffs?"

The human-bodied, fish-tailed girl stopped singing and stared blankly at Rapunzel: "When did I say my singing could give buffs?"

"Then what's the point of you singing here?"

"It sounds good!"

Little Red Riding Hood stood in the center of this chaotic battlefield, her expression somewhat dazed as she looked at everything around her.

The development of events seemed to have already exceeded her expectations.

She felt she was witnessing a "war"—a war sparked between numerous fairy tales in the most incomprehensible way; now Dorothy's rebels and the heroes appointed by the King were attacking the wicked Wang Hou; the white phosphorus rounds summoned by the girl selling matches were bombing the wolf packs in the Black Forest; dragon slayers plummeted from the sky; the evil witch died in the aftermath of a red dragon's fall; Jack's beanstalk was slowly strangling the Red Queen; and the giant guarding the golden goose had its head smashed by a pumpkin carriage, now crashing down from the sky with a boom.

And there was a mermaid singing on the battlefield, sometimes lyrical, sometimes rock, and when the mood struck, even a bit of b-box; it was useless but sounded good, like providing a BGM for this scene of frenzied absurdity.

Then, she heard the harsh static coming from the sky.

She looked up in astonishment and saw that shadow spanning the heavens, generated by Anka Ela's projection, as if suffering immense pain, violently twisting like a spasm; she saw numerous tiny cracks suddenly appear on its surface, and those terrifying eyes extinguished one by one amidst the violent trembling.

She also vaguely saw a... rift; that rift stood in the center of the Black Forest, as if it had been there from the very beginning, yet only now revealed its true form before her eyes.

She saw Yu Sheng turn his head, a pleasant smile on his face.

"What did you do?" Little Red Riding Hood asked loudly in astonishment.

"Anka Ela made you have so many nightmares; now it's time for it to have one," Yu Sheng said with a brilliant smile, explaining what he had done in the simplest way, "I waited until its 'gaze' focused here, then tore up the scripts of all the 'stories'; now it should be too busy to stop me."

Amidst the roaring artillery fire around them, Little Red Riding Hood had to shout very loudly: "You've wanted to do this all along?"

Yu Sheng laughed heartily: "Of course!" Then he turned around and strode toward that rift: "I'm going to see what's really behind the stage."

Little Red Riding Hood instinctively called out: "Then we..."

Yu Sheng waved his hand without looking back: "Keep causing chaos, make as much of a scene as possible, until the forest collapses and everything burns away; then you will meet again in the wasteland; you can rest there for a while; finally, if everything goes smoothly, the next time you open your eyes, you will be back at the valley camp."

Little Red Riding Hood stood in place, staring somewhat blankly at the backs of Yu Sheng, Hu Li, and Erin; after a few seconds, she instinctively muttered, repeating what she had just heard.

"... Reunite in the wasteland after death, celebrate to your heart's content, until returning to the mortal world in the sanctuary... Why does that sound so mystical?"

At this moment, Yu Sheng could no longer hear Little Red Riding Hood's muttering.

He, along with Hu Li and Erin, passed through the center of the chaotic battlefield, crossed the last small stretch of scorched earth occupied by wolf packs; after effortlessly clearing all obstacles along the way, that "rift" was now within arm's reach.

Only after coming this close did he realize that the scale of this rift was actually far larger than imagined.

It was almost like a towering wall reaching from heaven to earth, standing before them, filling their vision.

Occasionally, a faint humming sound came from within the rift.

No single word, sentence, or paragraph is missing; all content is included here!

The crying of infants and other sharp static had vanished at some unknown time.

"Really going to go in..." Erin felt somewhat tense: "It's quite scary."

Yu Sheng did not answer, but instead looked into the little doll's arms.

That tiny squirrel was still curled up in the doll's arms.

"You can stay in the Black Forest," Yu Sheng said to her, "Where we are going next is uncertain; it might be very dangerous, or very terrifying—of course, it could also be something completely unexpected."

"Squirrel Knight..." The squirrel propped itself up in the doll's arms; she instinctively spoke, but then hesitated; after another two seconds, she suddenly waved her paw vigorously: "I'm going with you!"

"Why?"

"I..." The squirrel shrank its neck slightly, but still met Yu Sheng's gaze: "I want, I want to see... what 'Anka Ela' really looks like..."

Yu Sheng stared at her for a while, then finally nodded gently: "Alright, you come with us; stay obediently in Erin's arms; don't run around."

After that, he walked into that rift without hesitation.

A brief fall, disoriented perception, dizziness, and illusions within the darkness.

He felt himself falling into a crisscrossing "network"; countless things resembling plant roots spread through the darkness, supporting platforms of various sizes; he also felt as if he were rushing through a pipe, like cargo being transported within it; he was unsure how long he had been "falling" in the darkness—perhaps only a few seconds, or perhaps a very, very long time—and then, suddenly, he felt the sensation of having solid ground beneath his feet.

Yu Sheng opened his eyes hesitantly.

Hu Li, Erin, Yu Sheng, and the tiny squirrel all looked at the scene before them in astonishment.

They stood in a white corridor; the walls and floor of the corridor shimmered with a metallic luster.

Yu Sheng's gaze swept around and landed on a plaque on the corridor wall.

It bore unfamiliar script, yet for some reason, he understood it—

"Ankaera - Maintenance Passage"

(End of Chapter)