Super God Academy: Kabuto

This area was once the heart of Annie Eld's rule, and the stone castles and temples are now mostly in ruins. Not destroyed by war, but covered and corroded by a viscous, seemingly living, dark blue biomass. This substance wriggles on the broken walls like living creatures, secreting a pungent, fishy-smelling slime that softens the once-solid stone into something as soft as mud.

Qi Lin lay prone atop a half-collapsed clock tower, her "Thunder Dragonfly" transformed into a sniper rifle. The muzzle peered through the cracks in the brickwork, aiming at several low-level Triangular Entities slowly patrolling the street below. Her breathing was steady, her gaze focused, but the fine beads of sweat on her forehead betrayed the pressure she was under—not from the enemies below, but from the omnipresent, insidious whispers in the air trying to penetrate her mind.

"Why hasn't Tsukasa come back yet..." The thought flashed through her mind, and she forced herself to concentrate. After discovering the unusual energy gathering in this area, Tsukasa had asked her to set up an observation point here while he went to investigate further. Almost an hour had passed.

Suddenly, a triangular object resembling a giant starfish with a single eye in the center stopped on the street below. The murky eye slowly turned and pointed towards the clock tower where Qi Lin was hiding!

We've been discovered?!

Qi Lin's heart tightened, and her finger gripped the trigger. But just then—

"Hey, looks like I've come back just in time."

A cheerful voice sounded behind her. Qi Lin turned around abruptly and saw that Kadoya Tsukasa had somehow squatted down on the broken wall next to her, snapping another picture with his camera.

"Sir!" Qi Lin breathed a sigh of relief, but then lowered her voice, "The one down there..."

"I know." Tsukasa Kadoya put down his camera, his gaze sweeping over the triangular shapes that were beginning to converge on the clock tower. "They seem to be very sensitive to energy fluctuations. Did you use your Thunderfly to scout ahead?"

"I only used the lowest power passive scan..." Qi Lin said with some annoyance.

"It's not your fault, these things have a rather peculiar way of sensing things." Tsukasa Kadoya stood up, brushing the dust off his coat. "But it's alright, we've pretty much done the reconnaissance anyway."

He looked at Qilin, his smile fading slightly: "Qilin, pack your things, we need to leave Fraser—for now."

"Leave?" Qi Lin was taken aback. "But the pollution here hasn't been cleaned up yet, and Brother Wei and the others should be arriving soon..."

"The situation has changed." Tsukasa Kadoya interrupted her, his tone unusually serious. "Something even more troublesome is coming, over at the Kamigawa Ruins. Lin Yu—I mean, the other Lin Yu—has asked me to inform everyone to prepare."

"Another Lin Yu?" Confusion flashed in Qi Lin's eyes, then she thought of the "black-clad" version of herself her brother had mentioned before. "He appeared? What did he say?"

"He said..." Tsukasa Kadoya paused, seemingly considering his words, "The main force of the Void is coming, to the old land of the Divine River. He temporarily 'entrusted' this matter to me, asking me to inform the people who need to be informed."

Qi Lin opened her mouth, unsure of what to say. The appearance of Lin Yu in black seemed like a fantasy to her, and the so-called "entrustment" made her even more uneasy.

"What about my brother?" she asked, voicing her biggest concern.

Tsukasa Kadoya paused for a moment. "He said 'he needs more time.' I didn't get a clear answer from him. But..." He looked at Kirin, trying to lighten his tone, "Since that 'man in black' dared to temporarily entrust the universe to someone as unreliable as me, it means your brother shouldn't be in any major problems, at least not an imminent danger."

These words did not completely reassure Qi Lin, but she knew now was not the time to press for answers. Below, the starfish-shaped triangular creature had extended several tentacles covered with suckers and began to climb the outer wall of the clock tower. Several other triangular creatures also gathered around, emitting a teeth-grinding friction sound and a low mental hum.

"Let's get out of here first," Tsukasa Kadoya said. "I'll explain everything to you on the way. I've already sent a message to Wei Laoqi and the others using a special frequency, instructing them to meet at the designated coordinates and head directly to North Star—they might need them on Earth."

"Earth?" Qi Lin asked as she quickly put away the Thunder Dragonfly, "Something happened to Earth too?"

"Not yet, but it will soon become the focus." Tsukasa Kadoya had already deployed the dimensional barrier. "Your brother is stationed on Earth, He Xi is on Skyblade 7, Keisha is in the Heavenly Court of Merlo... If the Divine River Ruins really collapse, these places will be on the front lines of the void impact. We need to let the people who need to know know, and then..."

He paused, his eyes sharpening: "Then let's see if we can accumulate more chips before the 'endgame' arrives."

The light from the dimensional barrier engulfed the two. The next second after they disappeared, several sticky tentacles pierced through the wooden planks at the top of the clock tower, and dark blue biomass surged in like a tide, completely covering and corroding the spot where Qi Lin had just been hiding.