Central District, Truth Union General Office, highest floor conference room.
Everyone stared quietly at the screen as they listened to the cold mechanical voice announcing.
"White 3 Class 4 Weapons Store votes to authorize."
"White 3 has voted to authorize the Aether Annihilation Cannon."
"Notion passed."
"All departments are to return to their posts. The Aether Annihilation Cannon is being readied..."
———
Ji Zhixiu looked up at the humongous humanoid creature the size of a mountain.
Thunderclouds and lightning shrouded around it, concealing parts of its massive body. Scales all over made some sort of armor, covering a layer of glossy, gluey fluid. In its hands was a black axe as well as a shield.
Further upwards was a squirming mass of noises and a pair of eyes brimming with white electricity.
Such a giant monstrosity was as astounding as the legends told. Even the city beneath its feet seemed tiny and insignificant.
However, this gargantuan monster that ought to immediately catch the attention of the masses in this rain-stricken city didn't trigger any panic at all.
It came with the lightning and opened a door at the same time...
Ji Zhixiu knew this and all other extraordinary beings could sense it.
Because this place was no longer reality… a fracture of the dream realm had been open and the boundaries between dream and reality had become blurred.
The reason the Magic Ovum Mirror got its name was mainly because of its ability to captivate hearts during its 'infancy'.
All that gazed at it would develop an insatiable desire to possess it and the effect only got stronger the longer the interaction.
It could control other creatures to do everything for itself and source the required nutrients it needed.
In a certain sense, it could be described as a type of magical object.
Therefore, the usual practice when discovering a Magic Ovum Mirror was to destroy it immediately.
One definitely needed to take measures to safeguard oneself should there be a need to utilize it. If not, very few people could recover from its influence.
Secondly, during its 'maturity', which was after it had absorbed sufficient nutrients, a Magic Ovum Mirror would become an 'egg' which dream realm creatures hatched from. Under the right conditions, a creature from the dream realm could use it to arrive in reality.
In other words, the Magic Ovum Mirror was actually a living one-off transportation gate.
During ancient times, magicians treated these objects as the vanguard and sentinels that were deliberately planned by dream realm creatures.
Secret Rite Tower and the Truth Union had acted speedily and had already practically wiped out White Wolf and Scarlet Cult. At first, they thought that this matter had already been suppressed... In most circumstances, such a short amount of time definitely wouldn't be enough to incubate a Magic Ovum Mirror.
The slaughtering of the populace by White Wolf wasn't enough to furnish the nutrients required to create a sufficiently large dream realm fracture, but nobody knew that they would have just used Scarlet Cult personnel as sacrifices and even their own hunters weren't spared.
Therefore, nobody imagined that a dream realm fracture would be opened abruptly and without warning.
Ji Zhixiu took two deep breaths, slowly backed off, then turned around before darting away to the distance.
Her calm and rationality supported by Steel Resolve quelled her own instinctive fear and trembling.
It made her understand clearly that the best option at this very moment was to flee.
She could go all out with her Destructive-rank power, but the chances of victory were minute. This godly entity that was already radiating a threat level of a Supreme-rank being would be better left for Secret Rite Tower and Truth Union to handle.
Heris' maniacal laughter could be faintly heard from behind her.
Ji Zhixiu glanced back and saw Heris tottering forward in the rising water towards the godly being in the rain.
A few steps later, he raised his hands high, babbling something incoherent. There was a strange glint in his eyes as warts grew rapidly on his body before bursting into distorted limbs and ripping his body apart.
Yet another few steps later, Heris' staggering stopped and he fell face-first into the water with a splash. In the next second, there was no longer any trace of him.
He had slain all of Scarlet Cult's black magicians, massacred thousands of civilians in the shadows, and sacrificed White Wolf whom he had painstakingly built over decades in exchange for summoning this god in the distance that hadn't so much as given him a single glance.
Even in death, Heris still maintained that utter devotion towards this being as a result of the Magic Ovum Mirror's enticement.
Ji Zhixiu glanced upwards. That gargantuan entity made a loud roar undecipherable by humans. It raised its black axe and made a cleave at the clouds.
In an instant, the axe lit up with a glaring brilliance. Just like actual lightning, forks extended from both the top and bottom ends, joining the sky and earth together.
Thunder roared and lightning crackled within the clouds before countless streaks of electricity shot down, destroying everything in the area.
The 'god' that had been summoned was unfolding its domain.
"All personnel on standby. The Truth Union will commence the first Aether Annihilation Cannon shot. Team One to Four are to clean up dream beasts that escape from the fringes of the dream realm. Team Five and Six are to prepare for the second shot according to the set plan. All remaining personnel are to provide cover for the Aether Annihilation Cannon..."
Gresham Winston, Section Chief of Secret Rite Tower's Combat Department and a current Great Radiant Knight, barked out orders via the communications apparatus.
After issuing out his orders, he put down the communications device and watched the massive rain god in the distance. Suddenly, he recalled something and turned to his aide and shouted, "Where's Joseph?!"
His aide hesitated for a moment before replying, "He has already been contacted. He asked for the coordinates where the dream beast appeared and said... this dream beast was walking on a path to its doom and we don't have to be so worried."
Winston froze up for a moment and asked inexplicably, "How is this fellow so confident at a time like this? But it does seem like his style back then..."
Before he was finished, he noticed an extremely bright ray of light from the corner of his eyes.
"Annihilation Cannon? That fast..." Winston squinted and then said without a change in expression. "No, that's not the Annihilation Cannon!
"Who is that?!"
———
The meeting concluded and everyone dispersed. Only Andrew was left alone in the conference room.
Baam!
"Damn it!" Andrew smashed his fists into conference desks with a black face as he stared at the unceasing rain and lightning outside the windows.
It was rare for him to lose his temper. However, this time, it was a lapse in his strategic planning. White Wolf that was originally a slight annoyance had become a full-blown issue that required the activation of the Aether Annihilation Cannon because of his mistake.
Although the Truth Union didn't fear the threat of Supreme-ranks, it didn't mean that Supreme-ranks were easy for them to deal with. They merely had the ability to fight against Supreme-ranks, but the price they would have to fork out was equally as painful.
With sufficient preparations, it wouldn't be too difficult for the Truth Union to methodically get rid of a Supreme-rank entity.
But now, the situation had erupted so abruptly... Andrew could basically see the ridicule in his fellow Vice-Chairman Derrick's eyes.
However, Andrew still persisted with his opinion that the bookstore owner definitely played a secret role behind the scenes.
The Aetheric Surveillance Network failing, this huge, unknown array as well as their surprising familiarity with Norzin's structural layout was definitely not something White Wolf could have done all by themselves.
Moreover, traces left behind by Wilde in these White Wolf hideouts as well as the hunter's operations further verified this point.
"Wait, what is that?!"
Andrew's pupils contracted as he strode to the screens of aetheric surveillance apparatus displaying the battle situation. He reached a hand out and enlarged one of them.
Within the dark rainy sky, a bright silhouette like a blazing white flame had appeared at the fringes of where the thunderclouds connected with the earth.
This figure encased in light seemed ethereal and rode on a huge and majestic griffin.
The griffin spread its wings and released a shrill squawk, as if announcing that its owner had emerged from legends.
At this moment, both Secret Rite Tower and Truth Union personnel could see the armored elf with golden hair, austere olive-green eyes, and a long sword which was like a burning flame flying in the wind.
Andrew didn't know how long this battle lasted but it felt like a mere moment. The elf threw forth that light and flame which turned into a white beam that instantly passed through the skull of that rain god.
The sword-light made a loop and returned back to his hand with rumbling sounds echoing as if announcing his triumph.
The god within the rain growled in anguish as its body started to crumble starting from its head. Its eyes full of lightning were extinguished, and with a crash, the massive body collapsed to the ground, creating a huge wave within the floodwater.
At that moment, Andrew had backed into the corner of a table. When he regained his composure, he realized that it had barely been ten minutes since the order had been given to utilize the Aether Annihilation Cannon.