Dragon Clan: Thought So Far

After the afterglow of the alchemical weapon's power faded away, the gray haze was pierced through with dozens of holes like lotus pods, through which the hazy skylight shone.

Lu Mingfei and his companions, who had already rushed to the outermost part of City 023 to directly experience the battle, were stunned. They finally knew what the beam of light rising into the sky was.

Under each shuttle ship is an alchemical matrix with mercury flowing. These alchemical matrices have been charging for the inevitable attack since entering Siberia, and their power is now beyond imagination.

When those weapons were fired, violent explosions occurred almost simultaneously on the body of the Word Spirit summoned by Beowulf.

What came out of those gun barrels was not black pellets but sharp light like that emitted by oversized welding torches.

He turned his back to Lu Mingfei and the others and raised his fist towards the shuttle fleet lined up in the distance.

The ripples on the body of the god that stood like a giant god were gradually smoothed out. After a moment, he raised the long sword that was made up of elements and pointed the blade at the old man who was lifted up by the wind in the distance.

The situation was already very clear. This old man who once dominated Northern Europe for an era did not surrender in the end. He and his honor suppressed his anger and pretended to obey Pompey's orders, but when the real hunting team was about to find Lu Mingfei, he turned against them.

Even among the people who carried out Operation Aurora, some specialists had already stood on their side.

They roared to the battlefield and were burned to ashes by flames of thousands of degrees. When the ashes fell from the sky, it was like gray snow.

Elderly people in winter windbreakers came out from the rising snow dust, coughing violently. They were obviously stunned when they saw Lu Mingfei and his group.

"Is it you?" The old man in the lead stared at Lu Mingfei's eyes.

"It's me." Lu Mingfei nodded.

The click of bullets being loaded rang in their ears, and the old men pulled the bolts of their guns in incredible synchronicity.

"Beowulf didn't expect that they could use so many powerful alchemical weapons. Even though he had prepared the Sun Disc in advance to force his Word Spirit Realm to stabilize at its peak state, it is now on the verge of collapse." The old man shook hands with Lu Mingfei. His palms were old and rough, and his muscles were as hard as some dried tree roots.

"My name is Valentin. Many years ago, my friends and I worked for the hunting team of the Nikitich family. Later, during the October Revolution, the last generation of Saint Dobrynya was killed by the revolutionary army. The family declined, and we became free mercenaries. On the one hand, we still devoted ourselves to the dragon-slaying career of the past, and on the other hand, we did some shameful things." He introduced himself, and his old and turbid eyes seemed to only hold Lu Mingfei.

Dobrynya Nikitich, also known as the Saint Dobrynya family in modern times, is an ancient clan left over from the mythological era, just like Beowulf, St. George, Cadmus and other elders.

The origins of this family can be traced back to the time of Vladimir I, the Sun Prince, when the first Saint Dobrynya killed the three-headed Longorinić on the Puchai River.

This is the most representative elder family among the Slavs, but when the October Revolution occurred, this ethnic group lost San Dobrynia forever. In the following long decades, the country has not been able to produce mixed-race institutions of sufficient weight, so it eventually fell into the second echelon of the dark society.

"I thought you... were here to arrest me." Lu Mingfei respected these old people who had lived from another era to today.

"The hunting team was called together when we found the dragon. When a team is formed, its leader is confirmed... More voices will only increase casualties, so we always follow the orders of the leader. Beowulf is the captain of this hunting team, and his words are more effective than those of the school board." said Valentin.

He and the old men around him raised their guns and aimed everywhere. In the distance, they could see the hatch of the shuttle ship open under the snow and dust, and groups of soldiers lined up and filed out.

Chu Zihang and Caesar looked at each other. They were being forced back to City 023 by these old men, but the battle in the city was far from over.

No matter they were the guards recruited by the real Bunin to guard the royal city or the desperate criminals brought from Moscow by old Bunin to save time, they were the elite of the elite in the military field. People like Okinets had even participated in the Great Patriotic War and the October Revolution, and their hands were stained with the blood of Nazi Germany and the Tsarist regime.

To fight against such an opponent, even the elite of the executive department had to be extremely alert. In fact, because this was originally a military confrontation aimed at destroying the target, both sides used deadly weapons, and even an accidental stray bullet could take their lives.

"What is Mr. Beowulf's purpose and who does he work for?" Lu Mingfei asked.

The most urgent task now is to distinguish between the enemy and us on this battlefield. With his current strength and means, no matter which side he joins, it will bring an overwhelming change to the situation.

Based on Lu Mingfei's superficial understanding of the human political landscape, it is hard to say that Beowulf and the group of guys who are using alchemical weapons to attack the divine body realm have completely different goals.

Maybe they just had different interests, so a bloody conflict broke out?

"I don't know." Valentin was silent for a moment. On his shoulders hung medals that had been polished to a shine. His weather-beaten and wrinkled cheeks were as hard as steel.

"Our original intention was to kill you here, but the order was changed temporarily... Beowulf must have known something a long time ago, but he and the people behind him did not trust us."

Lu Mingfei frowned, his eye sockets sunken by the overwhelming red light. The red-gold beam of light with a diameter of dozens of meters that enveloped the divine body was like the Buzhou Mountains rising from the ground. It easily pierced through the clouds and even shot straight into the distant space.

Such a magnificent scene can be seen from the Volga River hundreds of kilometers away, and tomorrow the headlines of newspapers around the world will be sensational headlines such as "Suspected alien fleet forced to land in Siberia".

"But look at the old man who is confronting Beowulf in the distant sky. He is the elder of the Gattuso family..."

"β." Caesar said through gritted teeth.

Valentin was a little annoyed that a young man interrupted his narration, and looked up at Caesar who was standing with Lu Mingfei.

In the eyes of these old guys, the young master of the Gattuso family is obviously not as important as Lu Mingfei, the living saint of the modern times, whose name is glorious in the history of slaying dragons. Caesar, who is known to be the leader of an era among the same generation, can't even make his name appear in the conversation of the old people.

When the throne of the King of Bronze and Fire came to an end, the world could only remember the young man who overthrew the throne.

"Who are you?" When Valentin coughed, his vocal cords seemed to be leaking, and his voice was so hoarse that it made people's bones tremble.

The soldiers traveling with the hunting team were from the Gattuso family, but Valentin and his companions were recruited by Beowulf on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. They and the hunting rifles in their hands that once drank dragon's blood have been silent for nearly a hundred years. During these long years, these people did not have much communication and contact with the outside world, and knew very little about the changes in the world of mixed-races. The Gattuso family was just the name of a huge ethnic group far away in the world. It was difficult for them to know Pompeii, let alone Caesar.

"Caesar Gattuso," Caesar said, "but I prefer to be seen as a child of the Gullveig family."

Lu Mingfei's heart moved slightly. He knew that Gullveig was Caesar's mother, but he didn't know how many secrets were hidden behind this name.

If he had seen the photo that Frost sent to Caesar, he would be shocked that this woman with the same name as the Nordic Valkyrie actually had the same face as Maria, the Holy Maiden of the Far North.

"I know you, the oddball in Gattuso's family." Valentin laughed strangely.

Caesar did not deny this claim.

"If Beowulf's purpose is to hunt β, then you must make him withdraw from the battlefield now and immediately!" His expression was more serious than ever.

The hunting team from St. Petersburg had escorted Lu Mingfei, Caesar, Chu Zihang and the other three into the alleys of City 023. More than ten pairs of bright golden eyes looked at Caesar at the same time.

"As far as I can remember, the elders of the family have never left the Blue Palace. The sarcophagi where they sleep and the hall where they hold meetings are all in that ancient manor." He whispered. In another alley adjacent to them, gunshots sounded like thunder. Apparently, a fierce tug-of-war was going on there.

"Pompeii told me about the clan rules in the family, and he also showed me the ancient book written on parchment. I am not interested in the content, but there is a clan rule that is clearly written."

"What?" Valentin and the other old men checked their weapons for the last time and found that they were in the best condition.

The troops under the command of β were about to break into City 023. The minefield between the platform and the moat seemed to have no effect on them. These people walked side by side in groups of three, with a distance of several meters or ten meters between them. One after another, anti-infantry mines and anti-tank mines exploded under their feet, and the flames of the explosions blew away the ice that had been torn apart in the violent vibration just now and the soil that had frozen like stones.

The moment the fan-shaped fire produced by the mine explosion took shape, a violent air pressure burst out from the inside out of the member in the center of the group. That air pressure formed a circular air wall, and the fire and supersonic flying metal fragments were blocked outside the air wall.

The spirit of words. A place without dust.

But even the Gattuso family cannot gather such a large number of elite combat members who possess the same kind of Word Spirits. It can be imagined that they have already achieved mass production of alchemical items that can be engraved with the effects of Word Spirits.

The old men in the hunting team were able to arrive safely without triggering an explosion when passing through the minefield because they were originally part of the country's military system. The mines here were not concealed, and they could spot the clues at a glance.

But Gattuso's well-equipped private army was able to crush them.

Soon, an army large enough to influence the outcome of the battle or even end it completely and quickly could be pushed into the city.

What follows is a close combat.

"Senators who enter the Qunzel Palace are not allowed to go out alone." Caesar said coldly.

Valodia was stunned for a moment.

This means that β may be accompanied by another powerful hybrid, but he has not shown up yet...

"It's too late..." He calmed down his lonely mood.

"The arrow is on the string." Valodia hissed.

—A man wearing a white winter suit buried himself in the snow deep in the fir forest, biting an unlit cigar and holding a huge sniper rifle with a strange shape but murderous aura in his arms.

It is called a gun, but in fact it is more like a cannon.

This is the latest work from the Equipment Department of Kassel Academy. It has only one bullet, a mercury core alchemical armor-piercing bullet embedded with a fragment of the Philosopher's Stone.

The pair of golden pupils that shone like will-o'-the-wisp in the shadows were like the eyes of an eagle, staring intently at the situation on the battlefield.

Amidst the beam of light rising from the elemental turbulence, the majestic giant stepped out with a bang. Huge gullies appeared on the ground, bloody wounds appeared on the back of the old man in white robe, and the black dragon wings spread out in a narrow arc.

The words that β recited caused a riot of the elements between heaven and earth. Strong winds howled in the sky and on the ground, and the domain of the Wind King's Eye swept across the surroundings.

Beowulf has been taking dragon blood for many years, and his bloodline has long reached the limit of human beings. The divine body controlled by him wields the long sword condensed from elements at a seemingly slow speed. The long sword tears a huge gap on the surface of the field of the Wind King's Eye, and the golden glow flows on the gap like the aurora.

One after another, storm horns came down from the clouds and swept in from all directions, tearing the armor on the surface of the gods' bodies. The old men from another era had obviously fallen into a tense battle.

The opportunity has finally arrived. Han Gao suddenly stood up from the snow. His body was no longer hunched, but as straight as Ange. The bones all over his body were making slight popping sounds, and he held the sniper rifle weighing dozens of kilograms horizontally.

There is no aiming process, no preparation time.

The bolt was pulled, and emerald green powder exploded from the barrel, penetrating and soaking every gap between every part of the weapon like an electric current.

Then, the parts engraved with the alchemical matrix were unlocked one by one, and a living spirit awakened in this gun.

Red hot gas was discharged from the alloy tank and input into the interior of the gun barrel. When the pressure reached the limit, a slight sound of the lock breaking exploded in Henkel's ears.

Han Gao let out a long breath. He knew that as long as this shot was fired, a new era would begin.

The history of the mixed-bloods will be rewritten from today. Can the emperor... be overthrown?

The old man had a blank expression on his face, and the domain of Word Spirit. Holy Judgment was like a gust of wind blowing through the withered treetops around him.

The concentrated spirit and will were integrated with the machine in his hands. This was the god-killing weapon that Flamel and Gottingen had assembled at great cost. The fatal trajectory had undoubtedly already taken shape in Han Gao's mind.

The core of the Philosopher's Stone, the world of elemental turmoil, the β that forms the dragon-shaped cross...

All of this is being connected by an invisible arc.

Fate is sealed at this moment.

"Let us witness the coming of that new era, Ange."

"Gods..."

Han Gao gently pulled the trigger. The sound of the gunshot was completely absorbed by the alchemical matrix, but the explosion still illuminated everything around. The mercury-core alchemical armor-piercing bullet whistled out of the barrel, and the bullet was spinning at high speed. The brass shell quickly detached from it, and the liquid mercury was like flowing nanometal wrapped around the transparent emerald green crystals. It shot at a speed faster than sound towards β, which looked more like a dragon than a human, four kilometers away.

The old man was still chanting the spiritual words, and at a certain moment, scarlet roses suddenly burst out on his forehead.

Then another flower bloomed at the other corner of the eyebrow.

β's eyes widened, bloodshot.

Then the pair of wings suddenly lost all their strength, the domain of the Wind King's Eye was shattered, and he fell to the ground like a piece of rag.

Only then did Han Gao's remaining two words come out of his vocal cords.

"……dusk."