Magical Girl's Knight Brother

Chapter 659 Starfall

Thick, dark red clouds, like congealed blood, hung low, pressing down on the twisted spires of the Black City. Faint, ominous orange-red light struggled through the gaps in the clouds, scattering onto the cold battlements and staining the ancient stone bricks with an eerie, rust-like hue.

Although the harshness of winter has passed, the air remains icy and biting, carrying the oppressive scent of the deep sea—a mixture of saltiness and sulfur—with no sign of warming up. This abnormal cold seems to be accumulating malice for some greater disaster.

Tang Zijun stood on the tall city wall, the hem of his black robe fluttering in the cold wind, which carried the smell of blood. His deep gaze passed over the crenellations and landed on a corner of the inner city square below.

There, beside the roaring campfire, Desk's towering figure stood out prominently.

The loyal mercenary sat cross-legged on the ground, surrounded by several sturdy, bearded dwarves who were drinking heartily from huge wooden barrels and goblets. The firelight danced on their dusty and scarred armor, illuminating their flushed faces.

Rough laughter, the clanging of barrels, and the dwarves' distinctive loud voices boasting, mixed with the aroma of roasting meat, created a raw yet real warmth of life in this oppressive atmosphere.

"Hahaha, old Iron Hammer, with your skills, if I hadn't taken that stone goblin's punch for you last time, you would have been a pile of dwarf sauce by now!" A dwarf patted his companion on the shoulder, spitting as he spoke.

"Bullshit! You were the one who peed your pants being chased by that thing, and I had to smash its kneecap with a hammer to save you!" Another dwarf retorted without backing down, lifting the barrel and gulping down a large mouthful.

Desk simply grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth, occasionally interjecting with a deep, rumbling voice that only intensified the dwarves' laughter.

Seeing this, Tang Zijun's tightly clenched lips twitched upwards very slightly.

It wasn't a hearty laugh, but rather a warm and touching feeling that came from the heart when one saw a tiny spark of light in the midst of heavy gloom.

Even when facing the shadow of the Old Ones, even when the road ahead is an unfathomable abyss, these warriors who follow him can still drink and boast around the campfire, maintaining the wildness and passion that comes with being alive. This resilience is the most precious light in the darkness.

Light footsteps came from behind, carrying the familiar, cool, and elegant scent of orchids.

Tang Zijun did not turn around, but instead withdrew her gaze from the noisy campfire and turned it back to the distant horizon shrouded in dark red clouds, as if thick ink was rolling around—that was the direction of the ocean.

Tan Zhixin walked silently to his side, not leaning on him completely, but only lightly touching his arm with her shoulder.

She was still wearing that simple, moon-white long dress. The morning light outlined her exquisite profile, making her look like a fragile piece of porcelain. There was a calm yet inquiring concern in her eyes.

"Yesterday...you and Lady Scáthach seemed to have talked for a long time." Tan Zhixin's voice was like morning dew, clear and slightly cool, her gaze fixed on the ominous horizon where the sea met the sky. "Did something happen?"

Tang Zijun was silent for a moment, feeling the cool touch on her shoulder and the silent companionship.

He did not choose to hide it. Facing the impending storm, he needed the strength of everyone around him, as well as their understanding.

"Hmm." His deep voice sounded somewhat ethereal in the wind, yet every word was clear. "Scáthach has discovered something unsettling. A being called the Lord of the Deep Sea Sleeps seems to have awakened."

Tan Zhixin's body trembled almost imperceptibly. Although she didn't know the terror that the name represented, the existence that could make Scáthach so solemn was clearly no ordinary person.

A pallor crossed Tan Zhixin's beautiful face, like a flower suddenly attacked by a cold wind.

"For the sake of Black City, we can't let anything from the sea land. But the deep sea is that guy's territory, not our area of ​​expertise." Tang Zijun paused, turned her head, and looked at Tan Zhixin's suddenly tense profile. "But... Scáthach offered a possibility, a rather troublesome one."

He told Tan Zhixin the legend of "Poseidon's Trident" and the dangerous plan to find the artifact in a concise and clear manner.

Listening quietly, Tan Zhixin's fingers, resting on the cold stone pile, unconsciously curled up, her knuckles turning slightly white. Ripples were faintly reflected in her calm, deep eyes.

She finally understood why Tang Zijun and Scáthach's conversation last night had lasted so long. The crisis the dream world was facing at this moment was far more unfathomable than she had ever imagined.

The battles between magical girls and heretics, as well as the past fall of the Tree Crown Kingdom, all seem insignificant in the face of the shadow of the Old Ones.

"So...you're going to find that trident?" Tan Zhixin's gaze was fixed on Tang Zijun's eyes, filled with worry.

Tang Zijun met her gaze. There was no retreat in his deep black eyes, only a firmness as solid as a rock. He did not answer directly, but his eyes said it all.

Looking at the unwavering resolve in his eyes, Tan Zhixin felt a surge of emotions within her for a moment, but then strangely calmed down.

She took a deep breath of the cold air, and when she spoke again, her voice had returned to its usual cool and clear tone.

"I'll go with you."

The strength with which Tan Zhixin gripped Tang Zijun's hand conveyed an undeniable firmness.

Right at this moment.

Without warning, at the far horizon, deep within those swirling, viscous, dark red clouds that seemed to breathe like the breath of a deep-sea monster, an indescribable, blazing light suddenly burst forth, piercing the heavens.

That was not thunder; the purity and intensity of that light, along with the vast and tragic will it contained, instantly captivated the minds of everyone in the city.

"look!"

"What is that?!"

The dwarves' clamor around the campfire below abruptly ceased. Desk abruptly stood up, ready for battle, his towering body taut like a bow, his enormous, bell-like eyes fixed on the horizon.

The entire Black City seemed to be paused, with countless beams of light, filled with horror and bewilderment, directed at the source that was tearing through the dark red sky.

boom!!

A deafening roar, seemingly from the depths of the universe, so profound it shook the very soul, accompanied by visible ripples in space, traveled thousands of miles before crashing into the ancient walls of Black City. The entire castle trembled violently, and stone chips rained down.

Immediately afterwards, at the core of that pillar of light that pierced the heavens and the earth, a blurry yet unimaginably enormous outline, wreathed in flames powerful enough to incinerate stars, pierced through the thick, leaden dark red clouds like a meteorite struck down by an invisible giant hammer, and plummeted toward the earth.

"What is that?!" Tan Zhixin frowned and tightened her grip on Tang Zijun's hand.

Tang Zijun's eyes narrowed slightly. His perception was far beyond that of ordinary people. He captured the brief moment when the outline broke through the clouds and was bathed in the destructive flames of its own burning.

That wasn't a cold, lifeless celestial body; it was... the outline of a living being.

A being with a humanoid form, but whose size is comparable to a mountain, and whose body is surrounded by a dazzling stream of starlight. Its limbs seem to be struggling and twisting painfully as it falls, emitting an aura that makes the laws of the entire space mourn, a supreme yet rapidly decaying aura.

However, the fall did not last long.

Just as it was about to touch the denser clouds below, a whoosh!

A louder, more desolate hum resounded.

That enormous, unbelievable body, like a fragile wax figure thrown into a furnace, silently burned, disintegrated, and collapsed at an unimaginable speed, in the unbelievable gaze of everyone.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a chilling, utter annihilation that chilled the soul.

The substance that makes up its body, flowing with starlight, transforms into billions of dazzling yet cold stardust rains, falling from the high heavens. The rain of light covers the entire sky as far as the eye can see, briefly adorning the oppressive dark red canopy into a poignant and magnificent star funeral.

The starlight, like the purest diamond dust, pierced through the thick clouds, sprinkling onto the Black City, onto the earth, and onto the distant, inky ocean that harbors the terrors of the deep sea.

The cold light fell on Tang Zijun's face and Tan Zhixin's hair, carrying an indescribable sacred yet deathly chill.

Tang Zijun looked up at the gradually dimming and dissipating stardust rain.

"Another star god... has fallen."

Tang Zijun's voice was extremely low, and her tone was complex.

He couldn't even be sure whether the other party had perished in the distant past or died in the chaos of falling from the shattered void into the dream world. However, he was certain that the divine power the other party carried was dissipating at an extremely rapid speed and was stirring up the laws of the dream world.

He gripped Tan Zhixin's cold, trembling hand tightly, as if conveying something or offering her support.

Tan Zhixin felt the power from his palm and barely recovered from the shock and grief. She looked at Tang Zijun and saw the solemnity in his eyes that was deeper than the dark red clouds.

She understood that Tang Zijun's journey to the deep sea, the trident she was searching for, and the ancient rulers she would have to face... were all just small ripples in this massive catastrophe that was sweeping across several worlds, and that she had to confront them urgently.

Stardust fell silently, merging into the cold stone walls and earth of the Black City, flickering briefly before extinguishing completely.

On the city wall, there was only the howling, cold wind carrying the smell of the sea, and a deathly silence, shrouded in the heavy shadow of cosmic death.

Below, by the campfire, Desk and the dwarves looked up, mouths agape, their expressions frozen in utter bewilderment and horror, like statues frozen in time.