Chapter 2269: The Chaos of Moon Bay

Take a few steps forward, Xia De raised his right arm and slashed violently toward the sky; a brilliant arc of silver light severed the vampire beast diving downward along its body's midline into two halves.

As blood sprayed and the corpse hit the ground, Xia De leapt from the ground into the air, stomping on floating playing cards for leverage, performing a second jump to ascend higher; then, crossing his arms before his chest, his body transformed into a massive silver moonlit cross against the fiery sky, annihilating the giant bat swarm attempting to attack civilians fighting the fires.

When he landed again on the burning street, he looked up and saw a ringed warlock with wings sprouting from his back, descending from the aerial battle to the street below.

His back wings were dragon wings, but his face was shriveled like a desiccated corpse, two sharp fangs protruding from his mouth.

"Dragon-blooded vampire?"

Xia De frowned and asked, and behind the ringed warlock, his eighth-rank Ring had already materialized:

"Stranger, this is our affair with the Zhengshen Sect—do not meddle."

"Doing this in the city—you truly aren't afraid of death?"

As he spoke, Xia De once again transformed into silver moonlight rushing forward with "Moonlight Slash: Fourth Form"; the dragon-blooded vampire raised both hands and also transformed into a crimson blood-cross charging forward:

"Then die!"

The silver and crimson crosses surged forward, meeting head-on in the center of the street against the backdrop of burning buildings and cries for help.

Boom~ The moonlight and blood mist merged, but as the explosion's smoke cleared, at the intersection of two deep grooves carved into the street, Xia De held 【Uchira's Staff】, staring at the ringed warlock at his feet—his right arm blown off, his left half vanished—then narrowed his eyes past the drifting embers and ash toward the city's deeper core:

"So, what exactly is happening?"

The entire northern quarter of Moon Bay City seemed to be burning, yet in truth, the fires were few—but linked together, they were horrifying.

Giant bat monsters flew wildly through the sky, attacking citizens who dared fight the fires on the streets; police and sect ringed warlock squads patrolled everywhere, trying to shoot down the flying beasts.

An unknown number of dragon-blooded vampires fought in the air against the sect's high-rank ringed warlocks, while the sect's main force stood at the docks by the sea, confronting over twenty dragons flying in from the distant ocean.

A chaotic night, everywhere the sounds of screams, weeping, and explosions. Citizens untouched by the battles in the south and north of the city huddled trembling inside their homes, while those unfortunately caught in this human-versus-nonhuman war struggled desperately to flee.

Mutated giant bats, swarms of small vampire bats, dragon-blooded vampires, vampire beasts—these attackers were escalating chaos in the city's northern district.

Xia De, who had entered through the gate opposite Shizhong Bridge, expanded his Veil's range while maintaining it, hoping the snow would help more people, and moved along the burning zones, trying to rescue more civilians.

The 【Stone Heart】's ability to sense heartbeats proved even more effective in this environment; most monsters Xia De encountered on the ground perished under that lethal moonlight.

Along the way, Xia De encountered a sect team: a squad of three fourth-rank and one sixth-rank ringed warlocks, belonging to the Peace Sect; they did not ask who he was, but shouted to him from before the burning building as they fought off vampire beasts diving from above:

"Four people are trapped underneath!"

Thus, a lightning rifle streaked with silver-white arcs precisely struck the ringed warlock commanding the vampire beasts from above; the low-intelligence vampire beasts scattered in panic, and Xia De immediately rushed toward the half-collapsed three-story apartment, inhaling deeply:

"Frost Spell!"

White frost spread from his slow exhalation across the building; the flames were swiftly suppressed, and after they died out, even the charred ruins were coated in a layer of white ice.

The three low-rank ringed warlocks hurried past Xia De to rescue survivors from the rubble; snow now also covered this street district as Xia De arrived.

Xia De halted his spell and asked the sixth-rank ringed warlock attempting to suppress the entire street's flames using church power:

"What exactly is going on now?"

The black-haired middle-aged man nodded wearily in greeting, yet still did not ask Xia De's identity:

"Vampires attacked Chengbei; dragons attacked Chengnan; a small area in Chengdong has completely lost contact with the outside world.

Earlier, rumors of an angel-class relic appearing in the countryside north of the city drew away professors from the three major academies and the headmaster of Saint Byron's. The remaining thirteenth-rank elders in the city and Professor Miller Stewart, the thirteenth-rank Dean of the Serkess Medical College known as the 'Iron Punisher,' are now at the seaside fighting those dragons.

Not only dragons, but many rotting merfolk have crawled out of the fog-shrouded sea. Moreover, churches within the city have been attacked—everywhere is short on personnel. If you wish to help, sir, go to the city center—the sect's teams have taken the Belltower of Belindel as their high ground, but it is being frenziedly attacked by vampires; that's where help is most needed."

But Xia De did not go to that belltower; after bidding farewell to the Peace Sect's four members, he continued moving south from Chengbei. Only when he reached the edge of the chaotic sea of fire did he glance back, then end his Veil and transform into a swarm of red butterflies soaring into the sky.

There was no longer need to worry about being seen, for above the entire city, all manner of strange things flew. Besides the vampire monsters, fireballs with self-awareness had even emerged from the burning flames of Chengbei—these fireballs, bearing the Whisper Element, flew from Chengbei toward all corners of the city; once they fell, they instantly ignited buildings.

Compared to those things, the crimson energy streams drew no attention at all.

Order in Moon Bay's central district was far better than the chaos of Chengbei, but that did not mean it was entirely safe.

Large groups of armed gangsters or pirates, along with looters seeking to exploit the chaos, exchanged gunfire with police on the streets; noble guards and servants, holding torches and oil lamps, nervously assisted police and soldiers in suppressing those trying to take advantage from rooftops, windows, or estate walls.

The grounds of Belindel Estate appeared calm, but as the red butterfly swarm landed in the courtyard, gunfire immediately erupted.

"It's me."

Xia De stepped out of the darkness, holding a silver light sphere with a bullet pinched between his fingers; the gunfire instantly ceased.

The maid, rushing out from the opened front door, quickly led Xia De inside; Miss Swift also descended from the roof and soon met him.

No supernatural power could be felt in the courtyard of Belindel Estate, but once inside, the four elements, circulating in harmony with witchcraft, formed an impregnable defense.

Miss Swift, with her flaxen hair and bare white wrists rolled up, looked efficient; she briefly embraced Xia De, then spoke rapidly:

"The city began falling into chaos an hour ago—it seems the Dragon Feasting Cult and vampires have teamed up, harassing the city from both north and south."

She did not use the word "attack," clearly not believing Moon Bay City could be easily breached:

"Originally, I, Miss Miss Difa, and Matilda remained in the estate. Miss Miss Difa took three high-rank girls to Margaret Estate about twenty minutes ago; Matilda is still on the roof."

As she spoke, Emily and Agelina appeared from the stairs above—they looked both frightened and slightly excited.

"How are the Belindel girls? Didn't she say the Light Worshipers' Study Group's outpost in the city was in Chengdong? Just now, as I came through, I saw Chengdong was the calmest.

By the way, the Orthodox Church ringed warlock I met said a small area in the east of the city lost contact with the outside world—is that them?"

Xia De asked again; Miss Swift nodded:

"Probably. We lost contact with them about half an hour ago.

Some powerful force has deployed a massive illusion—far away, you can't see what's happening there. But Miss Afrola has arrived; we now have four great witches, plus Miss Ilesa. Miss Miss Difa said not to worry—if you come, you can go there to check."

As the highest-ranked witch apprentice, Miss Miss Difa had authority to command when the great witches were absent.

Xia De nodded in understanding:

"But what is this night truly for? Even if the Dragon Feasting Cult is mad, they wouldn't think they could breach Moon Bay City—do they intend to summon that deep-sea Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu again?"

Miss Swift could not answer this question, yet the chaotic night had already lasted an hour, and the surface of Moon Bay Harbor remained perfectly calm—nothing like the signs of summoning that deep-sea Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu.

Worried about the witches' situation, Xia De did not go up to greet Miss Matilda on the roof; he decided to depart immediately.

Miss Swift saw him off at the door, but Xia De was stopped by Emily:

"Xia De, take Little Liana with you."

She gently pushed the pure-white beast forward; it took a few steps, then turned to look at her; once certain Emily truly meant for it to leave with Xia De, it happily trotted toward him.

"That works out well enough."

Miss Swift said:

"A unicorn is faster, and it has the ability to heal curse damage. Miss Belindel may need it on her end."