Chapter 25: Part (5): Eye of the Storm

“Sir, your marksmanship is…”

The captain was speechless with astonishment.

He saw it clearly just now.

That shot was fired at least a hundred meters away, far exceeding the effective range of a pistol…

Moreover, in such a complex environment as nighttime urban warfare—where the target is moving at high speed.

But she managed to hit the other person’s calf squarely…

Let yourself do it, don’t talk about hitting the target.

If you can even get close to the edge, you’re lucky your ancestors burned incense!

“Just a little trick.”

He swallowed hard, a chill running down his spine.

Morpheus held the still-warm pistol to her eyes, examining it with great interest. Her fingertips lightly traced the texture of the grip, her gentle tone like a soothing breeze.

“You don’t mind if I keep it, do you?”

“Of course! Please use it!” The captain was a bit distracted and hesitated for a second before quickly nodding in agreement.

He then hurriedly unloaded two spare magazines from his belt and respectfully offered them, saying, “And these too, I didn’t bring many…”

“My Lord, do you also possess this… special talent that ordinary people don’t have?” The scout accompanying him couldn’t contain his shock and mustered his courage to ask.

Upon hearing this, the girl turned her head, her gaze passing over the silent soldiers around her, her dark eyes appearing exceptionally deep in the dim light.

Instead of answering directly, she looked at the other person and chuckled as she asked in return:

What do you think?

…

The breach in the city wall at the southwest corner is a sight to behold, a scene no worse than hell.

The charred mud mixed with congealed blood was sticky and slippery underfoot, and small pieces of limbs and shrapnel filled the craters…

The corpse.

Countless corpses.

There were garrison soldiers in Eisenburg uniforms, fanatical believers in the grey robes of the Holy See, and mostly ragged civilians…

It’s even rarer to find a complete corpse.

They were all scattered all over the ground, like tattered cotton dolls waiting to be buried in a junkyard.

Stranded haphazardly, blood flowed like a river.

As far as the eye could see, there was only deathly silence.

The pervasive smell of gunpowder, blood, and rotting entrails mingled together, thick enough to be impenetrable, firmly entrenched on the battlefield.

The choking stench kept seeping into the Valkyrie’s external air circulation filtration system, making people feel nauseous…

Lin Lan stood on a destroyed tank, its black armor gleaming with a dull, matte sheen in the firelight.

The tactical goggles filtered out the most glaring crimson, making her vision appear hazy and gray under low saturation, but they couldn’t mask the bone-chilling coldness the scene evoked in her…

She wasn’t unfamiliar with dead people.

When the Oasis was destroyed, she witnessed the same tragic scene firsthand.

But it’s also quite different—

That was the excruciating pain of having one’s home destroyed.

What we are facing is pure, meaningless consumption.

The voice of the divine maiden seemed to linger in my ears, gentle and compassionate…

Yet, without batting an eye, they treated thousands upon thousands of lives as mere stepping stones, casually tossing them into the meat grinder…

A feint attack?

A diversionary tactic?

From beginning to end, it was all just an excuse prepared for this bloody invasion.

These Divine Court soldiers were no different from the refugees used as cannon fodder…

They were all tools for her to achieve her goals, to be used and discarded.

“Sir! Is that you?”

An uncertain shout came from below, interrupting her thoughts.

A small squad of Divine Court soldiers poured in through the breach. When they saw the Valkyrie standing atop the iron skeleton, they all stopped in their tracks, their faces filled with relief and awe at having survived the ordeal.

They were a follow-up force and were not yet aware of the specific situation inside the city.

The squad leader immediately stepped forward and saluted.

“Third echelon, ordered to enter the city, awaiting instructions!”

Lin Lan silently looked down at them.

—Morphia gave her the identity of an “ally,” a disguise to facilitate her actions…

Now, she is seen as a “high-ranking friendly officer” by the Divine Court forces.

“You’re too late.”

A cold, deep electronic voice emanated from the armor:

“The situation has changed. The main force has already advanced as planned—your mission has been changed.”

“Change?” The soldier in charge was taken aback.

“The enemy’s main force is returning to defend the eastern flank, intending to encircle them.”

“You shall immediately turn northwest, outflank them, and wipe out the remaining resistance forces there.”

Her voice was flat, and she raised her armored arm, pointing in a direction completely opposite to Morpheus’s path.

“But the divine messenger’s order is…”

“Morpheus is pursuing Eisenburg’s core target; I’m taking command here,” Lin Lan interrupted him, her voice suddenly becoming more forceful.

Click—

[Valkyrie] stepped forward on the broken cannon barrel of the tank, and the immense pressure made the soldiers below hold their breath.

“You want to disobey orders?”

“No… I wouldn’t dare!” The officer immediately stood at attention. “We’ll carry it out immediately!”

He turned and yelled at his men, “Turn around! Destination: West Side!”

The entire squad of soldiers immediately changed direction and ran without suspicion toward the area that Lin Lan had casually fabricated, which was actually heavily guarded by Eisenburg troops…

As they disappeared beneath the wall, the chill in Lin Lan’s eyes did not diminish in the slightest.

She wouldn’t be soft-hearted because of these invaders, nor did she want to get involved in this city that had once remained uninvolved…

But she could use them to wear down Eisenburg’s forces, or to disrupt Morpheus’s rear.

Having too few pieces, one can only try to make the other two sides fight each other…

For the next ten minutes or so, she acted like a ghost commander, using the privileges granted by Mephissia to redirect one infiltrating Divine Court squad after another in the wrong direction, towards the inescapable trap laid by the defending forces…

Then he watched indifferently as they excitedly flew like moths to a flame towards the graves he had chosen for them.

Only after doing all this did she finally stop this cat-and-mouse game and cease her lingering.

Lin Lan retrieved the route of Morpheus’s main force that he had analyzed earlier, and with heavy steps, he followed the blood-stained path towards the outer edge of the city.

Before I found the grain of rice…

“You’d better pray I don’t find you first…”

…

[Backup node connection successful]

The inner scalpel of the [Seraph] was as silent as deep space, until the notification sound of Girupa finally rang out.

Standing before the ruins of the safe house, on the virtual screen surrounding Serafina, the alarm color representing the South Sector signal station turned from red to yellow.

“not enough……”

What are the exact coordinates of the interference source?

[Triangulation is underway based on signal attenuation and refraction data…]

[Model building in progress…]

Analysis complete.

Data streams flashed before the woman’s eyes, and a 3D map of the southern district of Eisenburg was instantly brought up, with several flashing red dots precisely marked.

[Coordinates of the interference source:]

【1: E113.452, N22.813, Altitude: 12m — Probability: 91% (Main urban road, suspected heavy jamming vehicle)】

【2: E113.501, N22.809, Height: 75m — Probability: 76% (Communication Tower Ruins)】

【3: E113.488, N22.821, Height: 33m — Probability: 59% (Abandoned high-rise residential building)】

【4: E113.469, N22.817, Altitude: 20m — Probability: 64% (Old-era power station)】

【5: …】

Seven sets of coordinates lit up, but there was no hesitation in her eyes: “Coordinate number four, send it directly to the Armed Command.”

[Priority Targets Announced]

Before Kirupa’s text could finish displaying, it was immediately interrupted by Serafina’s words.

[Recommendation has been cancelled]

[Command confirmed]

“The jamming vehicle is bait; the communication tower is too big a target; the power supply to the high-rise building is unstable and cannot support the operation of ultra-high-power equipment.” The woman didn’t even look at Kilupa’s probability analysis; she only had absolute confidence and cold decisiveness.

[Algorithm recording in progress…]

The propulsion units of the silver-white armor once again spewed out scorching flames.

Her figure transformed into a shooting star, soaring into the sky from the massive breach in the underground city, heading straight for the southeastern district.

[Power station coordinates: E113.469, N22.817, H+20]

[Authorization confirmed: Serafina von Karen]

[Priority: Highest]

[Approved]

[—Strike launched]

In just a few seconds, in the heart of Eisenburg’s military district at the far end of the city, the heavy cover of a missile silo hidden underground slowly opened, revealing a sharp, menacing glint.

There were no alarms, no countdown.

boom!

A long, tactical missile, trailing an orange-red plume, rose into the sky and pierced the night sky.

Upon reaching its highest point, the warhead separated and hurtled towards the locked-on old-fashioned power station with terrifying speeds exceeding several times the speed of sound!

Boom! …

A muffled, deafening explosion came from afar, and a huge fireball shot into the sky, like a sun that had briefly risen, illuminating the area as bright as day!

The shockwave followed closely, sweeping across the land and making the windows of buildings rattle.

Even in the underground central city, one could still feel the vibrations beneath one’s feet…

[Strike complete]

The source of interference has been removed.

Almost simultaneously with the explosion, the yellow alert indicating signal interference on the holographic screen inside the [Seraph] helmet immediately disappeared.

Communication in the southern district has been restored.

“Your Majesty!” Suddenly, the highest military command channel was connected, and the general’s excited yet tense voice came from the other end of the channel.

[Integrating data from all monitoring nodes in the South District…]

[Data link is connected]

Efficiency is the primary element of modern warfare.

A flood of requests and reports came in, but the woman had no time to pay attention to them. She blocked out all the noise and focused entirely on the screen in front of her.

“Report the situation.”

“Communications restored in the southern district! Enemy jamming stations destroyed! Our forces are reorganizing the defenses and launching pinpoint strikes on the remaining three directions! Expected to be operational within fifteen minutes…”

“Don’t bother with me,” Serafina interrupted him coldly. “Focus your energy on eliminating the invaders.”

“yes!”

[Re-tracking targets: Mili, Kaya]

[Locked]

[Target’s last known location: Southeast District, outside the Second Medical Station]

Before Serafina, countless surveillance cameras immediately lit up and replaced each other, a torrent of data surged in, and timestamps were calibrated to the point in time after the trail was lost.

[Retrieving internal surveillance footage from the medical station…]

Soon, a scene was magnified and took center stage in her vision—the internal corridor of the medical station.

But this is real-time.

Due to unstable signal, there is some static and noise in the video, but the scene is still clearly visible.

Inside the crowded medical station, the wounded were piled up haphazardly around the lobby, while medical staff busily moved among them…

Serafina’s gaze swept rapidly across every corner, trying to find the figure that was making her uneasy.

No.

No……

It’s not here either…

But just as the woman’s heart sank, her pupils suddenly contracted.

Because a figure has entered the range of the surveillance camera…

Murphysia.

She wore a dark purple robe that symbolized holiness, her gray hair was neatly braided, and she gracefully stepped over the bloodstains on the ground as if strolling in her own garden.

A faint smile remained on the girl’s beautiful face. Her pure purple eyes swept across the chaotic crowd, oblivious to the screams and wails around her, as she too searched for treasure…

Seemingly sensing something, the other person stopped and then slowly raised their head—

Dozens of meters away from the lobby, she stared intently at the surveillance camera hidden under the eaves.

It was as if, through this small lens, she had transcended the barriers of space and was gazing at Serafina soaring through the night sky…

That look in his eyes was filled with undisguised greed, fanaticism, pleasure, and…

A sense of impending victory, accompanied by smugness and boasting.

Facing the camera, her thin lips moved slightly.

Even if it can’t be heard, the lip-reading information that can be deciphered has already been displayed on the side by the [Seraph]’s Kirupa AI…

–I.

–of.

After saying that, the girl raised the gun in her hand, pointing the dark muzzle at the camera.

Bang–!

The image shook violently, and the screen was instantly engulfed by blinding snow and noise…

The signal was interrupted.