Chapter 83: Chief Exterminator, Phantom

Was it a hallucination?
Obviously not.

Little Butterfly.
That face was one Sheffield would never forget.

That was the girl from the Phantom Squad with the codename “Butterfly.”

She should have died in the Far Shore War a year ago.
Not just her, the entire Phantom Squad had been wiped out, with Sheffield as the sole survivor.

The dead cannot be resurrected!

But the nameplate hanging on her chest was the exclusive insignia of the Phantom Squad.

Little Butterfly cutely clasped her hands behind her back, appearing just as lively and playful as she had in the past.

However, Sheffield immediately realized something.

The Little Butterfly before him was a Bloodkin!

That pair of ruby-like eyes proved it.

“Little Butterfly…?”
Sheffield stared in disbelief at the slender figure before him.

“Heehee, tonight’s main star is about to arrive. To avoid getting caught in the crossfire, I’ll be taking my leave~ Bye-bye, see you next time—ah, maybe there won’t be a next time.”

With that, the lively expression on her face changed, and her crimson eyes grew a little forlorn.
She said in a low voice, “I’m sorry, Sheffield… Goodbye.”

Then, like a ghost, Little Butterfly vanished from Sheffield’s sight.

Sheffield was shocked and was about to give chase, but there was no trace of an aura left for him to follow.
What was that Bloodkin aura from just now?

Unless their strength was equal to or greater than his, it would be impossible for him not to sense their aura.

Or… was she really a ghost?

But what did her words mean?

—Tonight’s main star?

“BOOM—!!!”

In the distant sky, thunder crashed with immense force.
The deafening roar echoed for miles, and a blinding white light flickered, illuminating Sheffield’s profile against the bleached night sky.

What happened?

That direction was where Julius was heading.

But this fierce lightning… it was clearly not unleashed by him.

—A sense of crisis!

Sheffield was extremely sensitive to approaching danger.
Although he didn’t know what exactly was happening at this moment, he already sensed that something disadvantageous was unfolding.

Hearing the flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder, Su Xiao Zi also lifted her head blankly and looked into the distance.

She didn’t know which side had unleashed such immense power, but a fierce battle must be taking place over there.

The current time was 1 hour and 40 minutes after the Imaginary Space had opened.

There was still too long until the human reinforcements arrived.

These brief 100 minutes that had passed were the longest in the lives of the Exterminators in Tantan City.
Hope was a distant prospect, and the places they guarded were gradually falling.

‘At this rate, as expected, everyone couldn’t hold on until the reinforcements arrived, could they…’

Su Xiao Zi felt unwilling to accept this, but a sense of hopeless powerlessness made her feel as if she were falling into an abyss.
The Savior Action Plan… could anyone truly shoulder the arduous responsibility of being the savior…

“Big Brother… please be safe.”

Sheffield heard Su Xiao Zi’s murmur from behind him and sneered.

“What nonsense are you dreaming of? Are you praying for a dead man to save you?”
“Su Mu Zhe isn’t coming.”
“He’s already dead!”

“No, I wasn’t praying for anything.”
“But, Sheffield, my brother is not dead.”

“That’s impossible.”
“His power is now mine, and he died long ago in that Crimson Lotus Deep Area…”

“The Phantom Squad… hasn’t ended just yet…”

With no evidence, these words escaped Su Xiao Zi’s lips.
It was as if she were being called by some intuition; she seemed to sense a strange yet familiar aura approaching.

At the same time, this was also the wish in her heart.

Her brother had not died in that Far Shore War.
The legend of Phantom was still continuing…

Tonight’s battle… it’s not time to admit defeat yet…

‘Big Brother’s friends, the seniors of the Phantom Squad, the heroic spirits sacrificed in the Far Shore War… I will defend your untarnishable honor to the death and never yield to a traitor.’

‘If miracles truly exist…’

‘Please, grant me this miracle.’

“—BIG BROTHER!!!”

In an instant, the air seemed to freeze solid.

All sounds and sights slowed and solidified in that moment.
Su Xiao Zi’s heart-wrenching cry, like a sharp blade, cut through the silence, pierced the entire building, and echoed across the heavens.

“—O sword, drink my blood.”

“Scatter, O petals that dance in blood and rebirth.”

A voice, low as a whisper in a dream, yet like the toll of a funeral bell in the dead of night, suddenly rang in Sheffield’s ear.

Before he could even identify its source, a flash of lightning tore through space, appearing abruptly before him—so fast it surpassed perception, surpassed reaction, and even surpassed the flow of time.

A pair of blood-red eyes instantly set the very air ablaze.
Before Sheffield could get a clear look at the figure that had appeared, he was sent flying by a ring of blood blades with irresistible force!

“What—Ugh!!!”

He shot backward like an arrow released from a bow, crashing through several tall buildings in succession.

Thud, thud, thud—the heavy impacts sounded like the beat of death.
One after another, hundred-meter-tall skyscrapers slowly crumbled and then collapsed with a heaven-shaking roar.

Sheffield had been completely unable to mount any defense, sent flying a hundred meters while caught utterly off guard.
By the time he snapped back to his senses, he was already enveloped in a sky full of dust and debris.

And at the point where all this destruction began—

Su Mu Zhe’s right hand, clad in a white glove, rested silently on his scabbard.
His body was leaned slightly forward, the brim of his hat pulled down low, obscuring all expression and leaving only a silhouette as sharp as a blade.

The black cape of the Exterminator army whipped in the wind behind him.

He took a step, his black boots as steady as an oath, all his power condensing into the blade within the scabbard—

Then, the next strike burst forth from his hip!

A golden light exploded, like the blossoming of ten thousand stars.

[Iaido Slash]!

An invisible blade of wind that could sever all things swept out, and the surrounding buildings broke apart in response.
Rubble and steel rebar rained down, completely burying the spot where Sheffield had fallen amidst the wreckage.

Amidst the swirling dust, only Su Mu Zhe stood motionless, just as before.

Beneath the left collar of his black coat, a nameplate hung silently.
Engraved upon it were two words sufficient to silence all creation— “Phantom”.