Chapter 529: Call for Backup

Sai Men was still standing.

A Black Water Long Knife pierced his chest, and the Blue Flame of the Nether crawled out from the wound, burning large gray‑white holes in the dark‑red shirt.

Rain fell on the fire and did not extinguish it.

Instead, it turned into a thin mist that clung to his skin and rose upward.

Lin Fan's hand that held the knife was still trembling.

It wasn't fear.

It was his body that had already reached its limit.

The blue‑flame hue in his right eye was clearly fading, and Ling Xinyu's spirit, deep within the Symbiosis circuit, clung to him, so weak that even its outline began to dissipate.

"Don't force it."

She brushed him with a very light thought.

Lin Fan clenched his teeth.

"Hold on three more seconds."

Sai Men lowered his head to look at the knife that pierced his torso and suddenly began to cough.

The first mouthful of ash‑colored blood spurted onto the blade.

The Black Water blade hissed, raising white smoke.

The second mouthful of ash‑colored blood dripped down his chin, fell into the mud, and the muddy water strangely sprouted a few thin gray nodules that began to writhe before the Blue Flame of the Nether licked them, burning them to powder.

Lin Fan's right eye darkened.

"Do you still want to cause trouble?"

Sai Men lifted his hand, his long pale fingers pressing against the blade.

The movement was too light, too graceful.

It seemed as if this were not a battlefield but the curtain‑call stage of some theater.

He raised his head and looked at Lin Fan.

Half of the mask was already shattered.

On that half‑face there was only the joy of madness to the extreme.

"Don't be nervous, dear Mr. Variable."

Sai Men's voice was hoarse, still carrying a teasing theatrical tone.

"Before an actor takes a bow, they always say a few words of gratitude."

Lin Fan exerted force with his wrist.

The blade churned at Sai Men's chest.

Gray cracks crawled from Sai Men's shoulder all the way to his neck.

Sai Men coughed up another large mouthful of ash‑colored blood, his body swayed, yet he did not retreat.

He even released the hand that held the blade.

Then, under everyone's stunned gaze, he lifted that hand stained with ash‑colored blood and, at a leisurely pace, tidied the ragged collar of his suit.

"Madman."

Jiang Yuan lay down in the distance, half of his body sunk in the mud, even raising his torso proved arduous.

"What on earth are you laughing at?"

Sai Men turned his head slightly and gave him a glance.

"I laugh because you finally look presentable."

Jiang Yuan gasped heavily; each rise and fall of his chest caused the fragments of the Black Card, remnants of the shattered Dark Shadow Court, to tremble beside him.

"Cut the act."

Liang Wen leaned against the broken wall, his right arm a mass of blood and flesh, and the Black Flame Knife fell at his feet.

He lifted his chin, his throat hoarse beyond shape, and still had to forcefully press his aura.

"Villain death speeches, I've heard eight hundred of them. Yours is of average level."

A scarlet hue flickered in Sai Men's eyes.

"Mr. Dark-Blooded King, your desire to criticize is harder than your life itself."

Liang Wen grinned.

"Thanks for the compliment, remember to give five‑star rating."

Su Ming lay in the mud, raised his hand and pressed the bleeding Communicator at his ear.

His eyes stared at Sai Men, cold to the point of ferocity.

"Lin Fan, don't waste time with his nonsense."

"Finish the blow."

"When such things speak before death, it's usually bad news."

Lin Fan gave no rebuttal.

Black Water surged forward along the hilt, and the Blue Flame of the Nether burned inward through Sai Men's chest cavity.

Sai Men's body finally began to disintegrate.

First his fingertips.

His pale skin weathered into ash, mixed with the rain, and was swallowed by the muddy water on the ground.

Then his wrist, forearm, and shoulder.

Yet there was not a hint of fear in his facial expression.

Instead, he stepped back half a pace.

The knife was drawn from the chest.

Gray blood splattered.

Sai Men lifted his left hand, held the Eyeball Staff horizontally before him, leaned his body slightly forward, and performed an extremely proper hat‑off salute to every survivor on the battlefield.

Elegant.

Absurd.

Terrifying.

The remaining Allied soldiers at the front line all fell silent.

Some still pointed their muzzles at him, some knelt half‑heartedly on the ground to staunch a comrade's bleeding, some had mud smeared over their faces, yet their eyes were filled with bewilderment.

No one had ever seen a death like this.

And no one could understand why a monster on the verge of dispersal could still perform the ceremony so beautifully.

Sai Men lifted his face.

Rainwater passed through his disintegrating body.

"Everyone, you passed."

Lin Fan's pupils tightened.

"What does that mean?"

Sai Men smiled.

This time his smile was faint.

"Don't be nervous; the clearance reward isn't issued by me."

"I'm just a disobedient host."

He stopped there, raised the hand that was already missing half, and pointed at the sky.

The sky curtain was dyed dark red, then the gray wind scraped out huge voids.

Deep within the void, there was nothing.

Yet at the instant that gesture fell, everyone felt a tightening behind them.

Sai Men's tone suddenly turned gentle.

That gentleness made the hair on one's skin stand up.

"Enjoy the scenery of victory properly."

"He has been watching all along."

The final word fell.

Sai Men's body began to collapse from the chest.

It was neither flesh tearing nor resentment fleeing.

It resembled more a sand statue blown apart by wind.

A dark‑red shirt, a black suit, pallid skin, and blood‑red eye sockets.

All turned to ash.

Gray ash particles were pressed by the rain into the mud.

The Eyeball Staff thudded down; the remaining Living Eyeball at its tip rotated half a turn, staring at Lin Fan.

In the next second, Hellfire ignited from within the staff's shaft.

The staff turned to ash.

Sai Men was completely gone.

The battlefield was silent for two seconds.

Two seconds later.

The first shout came from afar.

"Gray Mist has receded!"

"The aberration reaction is decreasing!"

"The believers' loss of control is lifted!"

In the communication channel, chaotic calls piled upon each other.

The Gospel Church believers who had been charging fell down in wave after wave.

Some's red Compound Eyes faded, blood foam spewed from their mouths as they clutched their heads and rolled in the mud.

Some's aberrant limbs quickly withered, Bone Spikes retracted under the skin, leaving huge gashes; they writhed on the ground in pain.

Even more people simply collapsed unconscious, like puppets with cut strings, thudding to the ground.

On the ruined church, the puppets controlled by blessed flesh buds lost mobility one batch after another.

At the distant third defensive line, a young soldier held a broken rifle, stared blankly for a long moment, then suddenly roared toward the sky.

"We won!"

That shout ignited the entire front.

"We won!"

"The Gospel Church is finished!"

"Medic! Quickly! There are still living ones here!"

"Lao Zhang, don't sleep, hear? I'll treat you to a drink when we get back!"

Cheering, crying, and coughing up blood mingled with the rain.

A trickster sat paralyzed on the ground, laughing until tears fell.

Someone clutched a companion whose body was only half left, cursing filthy words, while their hands trembled violently.

This disaster that swept across the Federation was finally halted.

But Lin Fan did not join the cheers.

He lowered his head and looked at the knife in his hand.

The gray blood on the blade couldn't be washed away by the rain.

Ling Xinyu emerged half-formed as a spirit from behind him, her left arm missing, her outline so transparent it was frightening.

Lin Fan opened the black umbrella and sheltered her beneath it.

The black umbrella's edge was already damaged, two ribs bent, yet it still blocked the rain for her.

Jiang Yuan gritted his teeth and pushed his upper body up from the muddy water.

The blood stain on his chest spread, his face pallid and grim, yet he still reached out his hand toward Lin Fan.

"Lin Fan."

Lin Fan turned his head.

Jiang Yuan took two breaths before continuing.

"This time, thanks to you."

"The Federation owes you one."

Lin Fan did not take that hand.

The Black Water long blade turned in his palm, the gray blood on its edge flung into the mud, burning several small bluish pits.

Jiang Yuan's hand hung in midair.

Su Ming lifted his gaze over, without interjecting.

Liang Wen also unusually kept silent.

Lin Fan looked at Jiang Yuan, with no warmth of victory in his eyes.

Only cold.

"Don't mention owing."

"What you owe is too much."

Jiang Yuan's Adam's apple moved.

"The Dragon-Rearing Plan has been halted. The Wei Gong Association is changing."

Lin Fan gave a slight smile.

It was brief, and also cold.

"Changed?"

"Can the Fierce Ghosts that were eaten come back?"

"Can they line up to resurrect and applaud you?"

Jiang Yuan could not speak.

Lin Fan lowered the black umbrella toward Ling Xinyu.

"I will fight for humanity."

"Because I and Xin Yu still love this world."

"Because there are still those foolish ones who want to save people."

"Also because I don't want to see the gods treat everyone as toys."

He looked toward Jiang Yuan.

"But this doesn't mean I acknowledge you as friends."

The rain dripped down from Jiang Yuan's chin.

He withdrew his hand, his palm covered in mud.

"I understand."

Lin Fan turned around.

Black Water spread beneath his feet, passing over gravel and shell casings.

Ling Xinyu turned her head and glanced at Jiang Yuan.

In that eye there was no resentment, nor forgiveness.

Only exhaustion.

Liang Wen suddenly spoke.

"Hey, Lin Fan."

Lin Fan's steps paused.

Liang Wen leaned against the wall, trying to strike a cool pose, but the wound made his facial muscles twitch from pain.

"Next time we meet, leave a spot for me to make an entrance."

"Today you snatched the final scene, and you were too ruthless about it."

Lin Fan did not turn back.

"We'll talk about it when we're both still alive next time."

Liang Wen clicked his tongue.

"This kid, his words are really unpleasant."

Su Ming added coldly.

"Better sounding than your chuuni last words."

"Su Ming, you really have low emotional intelligence."

"I survive not by emotional intelligence."

Lin Fan held up his umbrella and walked into the rainy night.

Black Water carried him and Ling Xinyu, moving past the collapsed armored vehicle, past the unconscious believers, past the cheering crowd.

No one stopped them.

And no one dared to stop them.

A few seconds later, his figure blended into the rain, leaving only a faint blue light flashing far away before disappearing entirely.

Jiang Yuan gazed in that direction and whispered, "Will he come back?"

Su Ming sat up, pressing his still-throbbing temple.

Yes.

As long as the deity remains, he cannot escape.

Jiang Yuan gave a bitter smile.

You're quite good at comforting people.

I wasn't comforting you.

Su Ming lowered his head and took out the communicator.

I'm just stating the bad news.

Just as he finished speaking.

The communicator in his bosom suddenly emitted a piercing screech.

It was not a routine call.

It was the highest emergency channel.

The red warning light flashed wildly, bathing Su Ming's face in blood-red.

Everyone's cheers were suppressed at that moment.

Jiang Yuan lifted his head.

Liang Wen also put away his carefree expression.

Su Ming answered the call.

From the communicator came a wet, sticky rubbing sound.

Like chunks of meat crawling across a metal wall.

Then came the crackling of electric current.

Then Qin Zhixia's roar squeezed out from within.

Distorted.

Hoarse.

Also mixed in was the sound of something gnawing on bones.

The top-secret zone has been invaded by high-dimensional beings!

I can't hold on... Lu Yu is also about to fail!

An overload alarm came from the mechanical arm over there.

Qin Zhixia seemed to be speaking while fighting, her words chopped into fragments by impacts.

We need someone to reinforce Qiu Ce Yuan!

The last few words fell, and a scalp-tingling laugh came through the communicator.

It was not Qin Zhixia.

Nor was it human.

The channel cut off.

Su Ming gripped the communicator, his whole body frozen in the mire.

Jiang Yuan locked eyes with him.

Their pupils contracted simultaneously.

The next second, Jiang Yuan yanked off the blood-stained bandage on his arm and snatched the shadow-patterned poker cards scattered in the mud.

He staggered to his feet, his chest wound still bleeding.

But his dark eyes lit up again.

The remaining core combat strength that can still breathe!

At maximum speed!

Follow me to reinforce Qiu Ce Yuan!