Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1542 The Lunar War (Fifty-Four)

Tracer bullets, burning with crimson flames in the night, marked the trails of the metal storm.

Compared to the sturdy steel dome, the primary function of the gray, rapidly hardening foam was to seal the gaps and withstand the extreme temperature differences of the void. This thick sealing layer was easily melted by the miniature armor-piercing deuterium fusion warhead. Even if the old circulating oxygen generators started operating automatically, and even if the emergency repair system continued to spew out inert chemicals that had been stored in canisters for thousands of years, the already thin air in the clan settlement could not withstand repeated leaks.

This is what Olariel saw.

Just seconds before, the civilians of the Mikimilian clan were fleeing in panic; now they lay on the ground, gasping for breath, their eyes bloodshot, their hearts pounding. Others were simply sucked into the air along with debris by the overpressure, only to fall freely after being released from the airflow, crashing onto buildings and becoming mangled carcasses. The wide main road leading to the clan's royal council hall was littered with the remains of buildings and civilians, as the human army's armored tracked vehicles mercilessly crushed any obstacle in their path. Buildings were pierced and toppled by the armored vehicles' laser weapons; structures hiding large numbers of civilians were forcefully filled with burning refined chemical fuel, thick smoke rising straight up, flames leaping within the smoke columns, gathering into a pungent black cloud above the steel dome.

Despair overwhelmed Auraril's mind like crossing the lunar terminator and plunging into the eternal dark side. From that moment on, all commands, all visions, all pride were shattered, and the cries for survival became the sole command guiding her movements. They said the Chimerian clan was a cold, mysterious, and inhuman clan; they said the Chimerian clan was so obsessed with witchcraft that they forgot the strength of steel and the body; they said the Kree Empire had transformed the Chimerian clan into cold souls, their hearts unmelted by camaraderie.

Olariel can assure anyone that these rumors are true.

Until now, everything he saw overturned those claims: several civilians who had received basic psionic training were loudly chanting incantations they shouldn't know, trying to use their spiritual power to stop the chemical flames licking at the walls and leaping upwards; a security officer, armed, led dozens of equally armed civilians hidden in the ruins of a building, attempting to ambush a human army armored vehicle that drove past them.

But all the struggles proved to be in vain.

The psyker, attempting to stop the flames with a spell, stood on the rooftop, choked by the thick smoke, and plunged straight into the fire, burning to death without a sound. Immediately afterward, faint but continuous explosions echoed within the building, and a deep purple, magnificent flame engulfed the inferno, engulfing the entire structure with even greater ferocity. Strange figures danced wildly in the flames, then vanished; the officer leading the civilian rebellion used a looping broadcast device to announce his identity to everyone using military communication channels—Auraril and his squad—proving he was a member of the Black Bolt Clan's allied forces, and ordering all combat-capable individuals to a designated location to join him in the fight against the invaders. But minutes later, he and the civilians firing at the armored vehicles were struck by never-before-seen black-armored human genetically modified warriors emerging from the shadows, and then all contact was lost—not even the sound of a psyker's shield shattering was heard.

"What should we do, Commander?" a Chimilian warrior asked anxiously.

"I...I don't know."

"Commander!" Another soldier pointed to the burning spire in the distance, handing over night-vision binoculars. "There's something there!"

In the dazzling firelight, tiny shadows are easily overlooked.

However, in the high-resolution magnified image from the telescope, what was hidden by the pulsating light is clearly visible.

Aurarir gasped, the chemically pungent air from his breathing mask filling his lungs without restraint. He saw the bodies hanging from the wizard's spire sculpture, feet down, swaying precariously in the rising heat—the bodies clad in the wizards' magnificent robes, but no longer as swaggering as when they were alive. Their arrogance and vanity had vanished without a trace, along with the gaping wounds in their chests and abdomens, and the entrails squeezed out by the negative pressure and scorched by the flames. They were like dissected fish, their white ribs severed, like victims undergoing autopsies in a morgue.

The horrific sight caused Auraril to break out in a cold sweat. Radio control was lifted, and as soon as the Chimerian clan and other Inhuman armies opened their communication systems, agonizing screams and wails would immediately clog all communication channels, like a esophagus stuffed with shards of glass.

If Auraril had turned on the video communication channel at that moment, he would have found that the horrific images of the execution of the Chimilian clan wizards were already being broadcast everywhere. Any Inhuman in Attilan who turned on their television to learn about the situation would inevitably see the hijacked signal rebroadcasting the brutal deaths of those Inhumans. The Genetic Council urgently banned all propaganda broadcasts of information other than mobilization orders. However, many civilians in other settlements—including the Spire where the Birdmen clan resided—had witnessed the Chimilian clan's horrific fate firsthand. Perhaps some Inhuman civilians, after witnessing this tragedy, intended to resist the invaders, but the genetically modified warriors would not give them time to change their minds, nor would they give the Attilan royal family time to bolster their courage. Because he was carrying out orders and fleeing in panic, Auraril and his hundred-strong guard missed this message that would ignite fear and riots.

Captain Gronov Rutov stood in the shadows, overlooking the burning city.

In thermal imaging, the city appeared as if engulfed in flames. Every surviving mutant, whether hiding behind brick walls, rocks, or alloy bunkers, was laid bare before Captain Gronov Rutov. His claws and arm armor were stained with blood, and the digital emblems on his matte black power armor were covered in blackened blood—two hours was enough for a tactical squad and a tactical support squad to destroy the city, to kill every living thing they could see—the Emperor had ordered him to bring destruction to this mutant city, and so he would. The actions of the Chimilian clan and their own genetic mutations amounted to refusing a surrender and signing a verdict. That parchment contained only one sentence: death.

The distant rumble of explosions echoed, and a series of muffled, distorting roars resounded from the steel dome. Metal warped, rock shattered, and the flames of justice rained down from the sky, threatening to reduce this city of sin to ashes. The Chimilian clan mutants no longer attempted to cross the streets; even as buildings crumbled, they refused to leave the protection of the bricks and stones, for whenever someone tried to cross, bullets from nowhere would slice through the air, blasting the unfortunate soul several meters away, turning them into a pile of bone fragments and minced flesh.

An invisible grim reaper roams the city.

Captain Gronov Rutov exhaled and aimed his crosshair at a target inside another building. The target was obscured by the rubble, but that was no problem for the genetically modified soldier. The computer automatically adjusted the design parameters of this sniper rifle, and the muzzle suppressor automatically released sound waves to neutralize the gunshot. No matter how these mutants searched for the genetically modified soldier, they would find no clues.

His death is imminent.

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)