Chapter 286: Still Human

A smooth, transparent, boundless mirror surface.

A pit juts out abruptly, a hollow sunk into the ground.

Around the pit, several rings of fortifications were built from wreckage and corpses.

At this moment, a squad of Black Watch surged out from behind the fortifications made of their comrades' bodies, raising Rifles already loaded with lighted ammunition, attaching Bayonets, and charging the densely packed, towering Dead Spirits infantry with a bayonet assault.

Then......

A barrage of dense Gauss rays pierced the earth; under the gaze of the comrades behind them, the charging Black Watch disintegrated into flying ash.

Even though some were hit by the Gauss rays, a few Black Watch rushed to slam their Bayonets hard into the ribcages of the Dead Spirits infantry, whose bodies were composed of living metal, before they completely lost their own bodies.

No Dead Spirits infantry fell; although the Bayonet struck a crack in their ribcage.

But that hardly counts as a wound; even if it were, the living metal of the Dead Spirits can reconstitute after being shattered, so such a minor scratch heals almost instantly.

This scene drove the other defenders behind the fortifications into complete despair.

A large number of troops in standard Star Realm Army uniforms, bearing a myriad of insignia, dropped their weapons and turned to sprint toward the pit behind them.

The few Black Watch remaining, faced with the fleeing allies, instinctively tried to raise their weapons to enforce military law, but seeing the scarce magazines and the approaching Dead Spirits, they gritted their teeth, lowered their Rifles, and could only spread their already thin numbers to shore up the increasingly empty defense line.

Then they leaned against the rear of the fortifications, silently watching their comrades abandon the position, until the entire field was left with only their handful of people.

Afterward, the Explosive Gun and a female voice's furious rebuke shattered the brief calm before the Dead Spirits charged the position.

The Black Watch curiously looked over; the first thing that caught their eyes was a military flag, followed by a Battle Nun standing before it, holding an Explosive Gun.

She kept pulling the trigger at the fleeing Star Realm Army.

Seeing the routed soldiers slain by the Battle Nun, the Black Watch showed little excitement or satisfaction in their eyes.

They simply took a final deep breath, loaded the last magazine, listened to the approaching footsteps of the Dead Spirits behind the fortifications, and prepared to rise as the commander of their legion, fighting to the very end.

But the instant the Black Watch withdrew their gaze, the silhouette beneath the flag suddenly made everyone pause.

Several bewildered individuals instinctively offered a prayer toward that 'divine statue'.

But before the prayer even ended, everyone's eyes widened instantly.

Because they knew a statue could not truly carry a flag forward!

All the Black Watch's gazes instantly fixed on the figure beneath the flag.

Xisi completely ignored the corpses of routed soldiers at his feet, slain repeatedly by Danika's fury, and did not look at the moving 'divine statue' that walked among them, startling the Star Realm Army into kneeling on the ground.

Holding a military flag in one hand and a Black Spear in the other, Xisi stepped before them under the Black Watch's staring gaze.

Gauss rays fired from the nearby Dead Spirits' hands; Xisi raised his Black Spear, which siphons ammunition from Subspace, and instantly detonated a massive blast amid the distant dense formation of Dead Spirits infantry.

Then the Gauss rays halted; the distant Dead Spirits glanced at the 'Rifle' in Xisi's hand, then at the spot of the recent explosion. Their heads, full of electronic components, paused briefly and even began to emit a faint smoke.

The Black Watch, hearing the distant Dead Spirits finally cease moving, stared intently at the figure they had seen countless times in churches, barracks, and on portable statues, calmly walking past them at their most desperate moment.

When all the allies around them fell back, he stood at the very front of the soldiers, just as the age‑old legend foretold!

Then Xisi planted the military flag into the fortifications, turned his head to look at the newly risen Black Watch gazing up at him, his face solemn:

"Rise."

"Prepare to charge."

There was no grandiloquence, no lofty rhetoric; Xisi spoke as if it were a mundane, routine matter.

Yet, for some reason, hearing that flat‑toned voice made the Black Watch's eyes instantly redden, and even the routed soldiers slain by Danika behind them froze, their faces flushing with a mix of shame and excitement.

Click!

The sound of the Explosive Gun being loaded echoed as the tall Sakan silently stepped beside Xisi, tilting his head toward Xisi; even the fire lizard's knowledge of Xisi came only from holy scriptures and legends.

But at this moment, after a brief silence, Sakan lowered his gaze:

"It is my honor to fight alongside you, sir!"

After Sakan finished speaking, Xisi withdrew his gaze from the descendants of his own legion at his feet, then lifted his eyes forward, where the Dead Spirits legion, having recovered from initial shock, now stared back.

The Explosive Gun and the Gauss rays first sliced across the mirror.

Then came lasers and footfalls, accompanied by mortal shouts, roaring toward the somewhat disoriented Dead Spirits army.

Bursting black flames, crimson sharp swords.

Within the dense Dead Spirits formation, Xisi continuously pulled the trigger and wielded his Long Sword, cutting down large blocks of rigid Dead Spirits beside him.

Behind him, mortal soldiers followed, roaring as they charged in, engaging the Dead Spirits in close combat.

Even among the crowd, besides Sakan the fire lizard, several Battle Nuns burst from the tunnel, linked up with Danika, and fervently followed Xisi, pulling triggers.

The helmet adornments of these Battle Nuns indicated they all belong to the First Saint Order, meaning these Battle Nuns are native to Alert Star and devoted exclusively to serving Xisi.

Perhaps due to their close proximity to the First Saint they revere, these Battle Nuns even emitted a faint golden Divine Light.

"I am the First Saint's Sword, dedicated to slaughter."

A prayer rang out, accompanied by the roar of the Explosive Gun.

"I am the First Saint's Armor, dedicated to protection."

Another prayer echoed, with another blast.

"I am the First Saint's Fury, dedicated to judgment."

Prayer after prayer, the faces of Danika's Battle Nuns alternated between calm and tension.

Each time they followed Xisi in pulling the trigger, their devout prayers earned an ever‑brighter Divine Light upon them.

The spirit‑driving dead zone indeed isolates and even suppresses Subspace, but now the First Saint they worship stands before them, so how could they not receive the proper Blessing?

The battle raged on for an indeterminate length of time.

The surrounding revivable Dead Spirits infantry reassembled an unknown number of times.

A floating Obelisk, accompanied by a violent self‑detonation, crashed to the ground with a roar.

Amid the billowing smoke, Xisi, clad in Gilded Silver Armor, stood atop the Obelisk, the Black Spear pointing at the base, the military flag fluttering at the pinnacle.

And the battlefield, noisy for an unknown duration, now stood...

Still human!