Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

So, she reached out her hand to stop Noah from muttering, and after lowering the finger that was touching her lips, she spoke.

"Yes, I was impulsive, so - Miss Noah, do you have any punishment for me?"

"...Forget it..." Noah rolled his eyes at the mace, "I'm used to it. It's just cleaning your ass. Besides... I also feel good when I fight."

After all, the Dragon's Thousand Arrows move was not only his most powerful move, but also his favorite move, and he hadn't used it in a long time. Being able to use it this time was like letting his long-dormant trump card see the light of day.

Noah and the mace had originally operated in this manner in Casimir. Who could truly predict everything? They'd only managed to survive through trial and error. She wasn't some brilliant strategist, just a girl trying to make ends meet. This less cautious action was the price of her own immaturity. With the mace, she was her own margin of error.

No one suspected Hedley of this action, or rather, no one would suspect Hedley. After all, this was believed to be an assassination attempt against the Blood Demon Lord, and Hedley was not aware of the Blood Demon Lord's appearance here.

Manfred hadn't considered that the assassination attempt was actually aimed at him. After all, throughout the entire operation, Mace only turned on him when he was about to escape. It looked like a simple attempt to find a hostage.

But there is no doubt that the news of the strange warrior who appeared in Londinium has spread like wildfire, and Rhodes Island and others who just rescued Heidi have also been slightly affected by it.

What Noah hadn't expected was that this action also attracted the attention of another person, who also tracked the whereabouts of the mace and even appeared directly in front of his own door -

"Nice to meet you." The other person was a purple-haired Sarkaz with sharp eyes, a tall stature, a hood, and sharp blades on his arms. "I think Dr. Kal'tsit mentioned me?"

"Miss Askalon?" Noah guessed. Kal'tsit had once said to him that several operators had infiltrated Londinium in advance. One of them was the man in front of him, the former personal guard of the Sarkaz Demon Lord, the ultimate assassin, the Son of the Storm, Askalon.

It would be fine if it was just Askalon who came to her, but the most embarrassing thing was that she was holding a person in her hand who was eager to self-destruct with Askalon right now.

"I met it on the road and brought it here."

"...Well, I roughly understand. Miss W, you are here too?" Of course Noah could tell who the other person was, but this weird scene still made her brain freeze a little.

"That bitch's temper is still as bad as ever!" W complained to Noah after being released. She had mixed feelings about Askalon. On the one hand, he had been W's superior, and during their time at Babel, both she and Hedley had been subject to his orders. But in their personal relationship, W also understood that they simply didn't get along.

However, the two had the same goals and loyalties at the time, so their relationship could only be described as passable.

And now... when this former boss of his met him face to face, his first reaction was to catch him.

"Miss Ascalon, what brings you here?" Noah ordered Mace to prepare black tea for the two of them. After all, the things in this mansion were useless if they weren't used. However, W wasn't one for elegant tasting. She simply drank the water in one gulp, smacked her lips to indicate it wasn't tasty, and then continued to complain about her old boss's inhumane behavior.

Ascalon ignored W's accusations, staring at the girl in front of him whom Dr. Kel'tsit had specifically mentioned, and said, "Manfred is my target."

"..." With just these words, Noah knew he might have ruined the real assassin's plans. After this incident, Manfred would inevitably be surrounded by the super-boss, the Blood Demon Lord. Even Ascalon would have to give up on this target for the time being. If he hadn't alerted the enemy, Ascalon might have succeeded. However, this was also due to a lack of communication between the two parties.

And Ascalon's appearance is obviously to prevent this situation from happening again.

The target crashed into a car, which was not an uncommon thing. Askalon was not angry. Rather, because she had seen the whole battle, she became somewhat interested in the fighting power of the mace.

Especially the move that the opponent used...that is, the demonic form of the mace.

Of course, this move requires the cooperation of weapons. Even if Ascalon wants to learn it, it is difficult to master it, unless Noya has time to return to Casimir and find the craftsman cat master in the new Storm Guard, who has now become a giant in the Commercial Federation, to help Ascalon make a weapon.

Askalon hadn't come here to accuse him, but W was different. Seeing that he didn't say anything, she immediately opened her mouth and said, "I thought one of you was going to die in the camp, so I came here to laugh at you. But you two don't look injured, so I came here for nothing."

"Thank you for your concern, Miss W. We're all fine." Noah wasn't angry, but simply smiled and nodded. "But correspondingly, we may need to be a little more cautious. The Sarkaz army will increase their surveillance of the city. We also have to consider how to proceed."

"Come on, I'm not here just to show concern for you. Whether Rhodes Island lives or dies has nothing to do with me—" W curled his lips, "But compared to before, you do look a lot better now."

Noah, who had just gotten rid of the nameless will, smiled bitterly. He had been somewhat affected by the nameless will before. Although he was rational and calm, he seemed to appear... well, uncomfortable in the eyes of others.

I have to thank my teacher, Herhunzollon, for his help...

After she stripped away the influence of the nameless will, she clearly felt that her ability to control the Originium technique had declined a lot. It was better to say that her previous ability to directly control the drone and even remotely control it was too shocking. The nameless will relied on Originium and could easily control it. It had terrifying abilities that she could not understand. However, being overpowered was not without benefits. Noah now had a new level of understanding of the Originium technique itself.

It is no exaggeration to say that although she is weaker than the Nameless Will during its leaning-over phase, she is even much stronger than before being leaned over.

Of course, if possible, she didn't want to be possessed by that thing again...

Before coming here, Noah interrogated Mandela for the last time and learned that in fact, the incident in Xiaoqiu County was secretly planned by those cadres and Mandela, and this incident also made the real leader of Deep Pool, Abrana, very dissatisfied.

It is no exaggeration to say that if Mandela had not been imprisoned by Rhodes Island, he would have been secretly executed later.

In a sense, it was like saving Mandela's life.

How much of Deep Pool's involvement was there in Londinium? Noa didn't know, and neither did Mandela herself. However, she did feel exhausted during the long interrogation. Perhaps even more exhausted was that no one tried to find her, and no one would help her.

She finally realized that she had been abandoned, and her loyalty to the leader began to waver.

When people become shaken, they will look for excuses for their actions. Mandela was almost in a state of collapse after being detained for a long time and without rescue.

Noah was very clear that Mandela had indeed been abandoned... Before leaving Rhodes Island, she received an unsigned letter, and when she opened it, she found a ball of purple flame inside.

It was a letter from Abbrana, who wasn't unhappy with his escape and even extended an olive branch to him. There was no mention of Mandela in the letter at all; she had completely given up on this destabilizing factor.

Noah did not tell Mandela the contents of the letter, perhaps out of pity, or perhaps because there was no need for him to tell her anymore, and the other party more or less understood the fact that she was abandoned.

Her next fate would be either to spend her life in prison or to die for her crimes in Xiaoqiu County.

Noah has not forgotten the tragedy in Xiaoqiu County. She is not qualified to forgive Mandela on behalf of those victims, even if she herself sympathizes with Mandela.

People always have to pay for their actions.

The matter of Mandela has come to an end for now... After all, there is no need to continue interrogating him.

Noah's actions have restrained the actions of the Blood Demon Lord, especially the damage to the Light Source Stone skills contained in the Thousand Arrows of Dragon she left behind, which may cause more trouble to the Blood Demon Lord.

However, the difference between blood demons is really greater than the difference between humans and insects. Thinking of the profiteer in Rhodes Island and Mr. Blood who went crazy from time to time and was hung on the bridge, and then thinking of the Blood Demon Lord, Noah couldn't help but sigh.

If possible, Noah would like all the blood demons in the world to be like Dr. Warfarin and Miss Krosier. Being a doctor and a otaku is better than being a horror artist.

Ascalon and W quickly left the mansion. Ascalon had only come to inform them not to attack Manfred, and W's reason for coming here... was probably just to confirm whether they were dead or not. After the mansion returned to silence, Noya picked up the red teacup on the table, as if thinking about something.

"...Maybe it's just my imagination..." Noah put down his teacup and sighed. "From the beginning, I had a very bad feeling."

"...Your intuition is always accurate." Mace added, "What should we do next?"

"...I..." Noah suddenly shuddered, her eyes instantly dyed red, and then she heard a roar -

This is the roar of the city defense artillery—

Chapter 49: Buying Time

The roar of the city defense artillery made the entire land tremble, and there was more than one shot, but continuous firing. The explosive bombing sound was deafening, forcing Noah to cover his ears.

"What happened?" Her voice was faint amid the roar, but fortunately, the mace still heard it. But now they had almost no intelligence to speak of. They only knew that the city defense cannons, like shackles unleashed, were firing furiously at the city's plots. Those seemingly solid plots of land were like crackers against the cannons, easily torn apart. With the continuous barrage of fire, the entire area seemed to have been plowed through, leaving ruins everywhere, even the factories on the plots were blown away.

Do the Sarkaz no longer need factories?

Noah had to guess that when she logged back in, Hedley was right beside her, frowning as he watched this scene that looked like hell on earth.

"…Are there any feelings?"

"It's just like back in Xiaoqiu County." Noya's face was filled with sorrow. "In the face of the violence of modern firearms, civilization seems so fragile. This should have been the busiest industrial area."

"Now, this place only has one name left - ruins." Hedley closed his eyes and sniffed the smell of gunpowder. The flames of war were igniting the entire Londinium. After this crazy bombardment, the Sarkaz's anger was vented. He could see some of his men cheering and applauding. It was not that they were inhumane, but the sense of relief that had been suppressed for too long surpassed sympathy and the mercy that humans should have.

Perhaps there is a madman living in everyone's bones. Some people use rationality as shackles to bind it, but there will always be a day when it will break free from the shackles.

"What's the situation?" After the bombardment, many collapses occurred under the ground, and Clovisia could only determine the losses during the brief intervals between the bombardment.

"—Areas D and E have suffered severe damage, and the roof structures of other areas have also suffered varying degrees of damage!" This isn't good news. It means the bombardment could penetrate their protective shield at any moment, shattering them completely. Not everyone has the strength to withstand the city's defenses, even if it's just a secondary artillery piece. "Nineteen days of minor injuries, no serious injuries. Most were knocked down from their perches by the shock of the bombardment."

"I told you we should have moved earlier!" the merchant representative of the Self-Defense Army complained. However, her complaint wasn't directed at the commander; it was simply self-remorse. She should have stuck to her own opinion. "We need to move to a safe area!"

"Safe? Where is safe? Inside the city that is directly targeted by the city defense artillery? The safest place might be the bottom of the Shard!" Clovisia was not surprised that her base was exposed. In fact, the approximate location might have been known a long time ago. The other party did not clean up the ground before only because the factory on the ground was still useful, and now - they finally made up their minds to cut their losses.

Many times, it’s not that humans can’t defeat animals, it’s that humans just don’t want to get hurt. However, once they are hurt, humans will enter a 100% critical strike stage and will fight to the death.

When the losses were so great that the other party no longer had any concerns, just like the injured people, the madness of the Sarkaz was already engraved in their bones. Noah could even hear the faint laughter.

Perhaps, the faint laughter came from the so-called Sarkaz souls.

After careful calculations by engineers, the base's defense layer can only last for a maximum of 30 minutes, and this also takes into account the cooling time of the gun barrels. So strictly speaking, it can only withstand two more rounds of artillery fire before it will be completely melted.

"We need to move quickly, start the train." Clovisia couldn't panic at this moment. She was the commander, and if she panicked, everyone would panic. They had no choice but to use their last resort. Beneath Londinium lay what was arguably Terra's most complete underground rail system. While not used by civilians, it could support rapid underground movement. It was their safest means of movement until the underground tracks were destroyed.

The biggest problem now is that... the station where the train is located has been occupied by the Sarkaz. Now if they want to move quickly, the only way is to retake the station.

The Sadien area must be abandoned, and then they must move to other areas.

With Heidi around, her other companions will make their actions smoother. Of course, the prerequisite is that they must evacuate the Sadien area in time.

"We need to buy time for the rebels to evacuate, Hedley." Noah looked at Hedley and said seriously, "Your concealment is much more important than mine. This time, I will handle this matter. I will seize control of the city defense artillery, but I will definitely be exposed. By then, you will have to sever your ties with me."

"...I understand. How much time can you buy?" Hedley understood that the other party was already prepared to be surrounded, and he couldn't attack. There was no time to hesitate at this moment, so he simply asked for the time.

"I... at least fifteen minutes. With the Blood Demon Lord here, I can't guarantee I can complete this mission—" Noah whispered. She truly lacked confidence. The current scene overlapped with that of Xiaoqiu County before her eyes. Finally, she said with conviction, "I cannot bear to see tragedy repeat itself. If this is what I call fate, I will fight it. Farewell, Mr. Hedley."

"Goodbye." Hedley didn't know that the Noah in front of him was using the body of a shapeshifter cluster. In his eyes, Noah was going to die. In addition to respect, there was only sadness in his eyes.

Heroes continue to fall, and warriors continue to move forward.

Those who die are heroes, and those who continue to advance are warriors.

Next time, and the next time, will it be me?

Hedley looked at Noah's back and clenched his fists.

"Seal off all exits from the target area and keep a close eye on the station. I don't want them escaping into another ditch." Manfred naturally knew what targets the enemy could choose if they wanted to quickly relocate. He had already deployed a large number of troops to garrison the station. If this group of people were to fight against a powerful enemy, he wouldn't mind completely crushing the rebels. "Set up dynamic tracking for ground moving targets. If they persist and try to crawl to the surface and use other vehicles, they will have to face even more intense fire."

"Tracy taught you well in tactics and command." The Blood Demon Prince's face was now paler and more oppressive than before. He had stood by his side since the assassination attempt. "It's a pity that the Son of Storm followed the alien demon king. Otherwise, we would have both an excellent commander and a top-notch assassin."

"I don't want to mention her." Manfred's eyes flickered. "In fact, I think my head is still one of her targets."

"If she had the ability, all members of the Sarkaz Military Council would be her targets, but she's just an assassin, nothing more." The Blood Demon Lord sneered, "In fact, an assassin who considers escaping unscathed has lost the meaning of her existence. If she fights to the death, perhaps she can really kill you?"

"I haven't defeated her," Manfred said bluntly. "If she really makes up her mind, I will definitely die."

"You really believe her."

"No one knows her better than me. I respect her choice and believe that her goal is not unrealistic - we just have different positions." Manfred responded, "I stand on the side of the Sarkaz, and she - stands on her own side."

"So what's your own position?"

"..." Manfred was silent, then spoke. "My position is the Sarkaz's position."

Under Manfred's command, the inner defenses were strengthened, and even the city's defense guns had their commands changed to prevent anyone from hijacking them and interrupting the bombardment. It could be said that the city was impregnable.

However, when you have a group of shapeshifters around you who can transform into other people at any time, then all secrets will no longer be secrets.

Manfred suddenly appeared on the top of the city wall and came to the city defense cannon in front of everyone's gaze. No one stopped him. He was the supreme commander here and he had the right to go anywhere.

"Have the city defense artillery instructions been revised?"

"Yes, according to your needs." The craftsman responsible for adjusting the city defense cannon was not a Sarkaz, but was captured by the Sarkaz. There was anger and uneasiness in his eyes, but in order to survive, he had no choice but to betray his country.

"Okay, now I suspect the previous instructions have been leaked. I'm going to change them," Manfred ordered, gazing at the craftsman before him. "Only you and I know the new instructions. You better understand this."

"Leak... How is that possible... No. I'm not questioning your judgment... Whatever you say is true." The craftsman's first reaction was that it was impossible, but when Manfred frowned, he immediately changed his tone and said, "Change it! Change it now!"

The Manfred that appeared here was, of course, Noa in disguise. Luckily, she'd carefully observed Manfred's appearance and clothing that time, allowing her to infiltrate. The real Manfred couldn't be seen at this moment, so she had an opportunity. She had as many flaws as she wanted, but those people, because of Manfred's identity, would automatically ignore them. Now, she had used her command to override control of the city defense cannons. The time she could buy... depended on how long she could hold the control room.

After the coverage was completed and Noah had complete control over the city defense artillery, she ordered the craftsmen to leave on their own, and even specifically instructed them to give them freedom and not to treat them unfairly. Then she entered the control room alone, looked at the dazzling array of dashboards, and shook her head with a headache. However, she had just memorized the order of the craftsmen's operations, so even without professional knowledge, she could perform a one-to-one replica of the operations.

After she pressed the button, the city defense artillery went out.

The cessation of the city defense artillery fire immediately caused a reaction from the Sarkaz, especially Manfred. He never expected that despite all the defenses, his home was still stolen.

"Come here! Go to the control room! We need to take back control of the city defense artillery. The troops inside the city should be alert. Our city defense artillery is controlled by the enemy and is likely to bombard friendly forces!" Manfred reacted quickly and immediately planned to take people to the city defense artillery control room, but the Blood Demon Lord raised his hand.

"No need. My followers are already heading there. They'll be there soon. You just need to take over the city defense artillery after the operation is over." The Blood Demon Lord smiled bloodily. "Clean up the control room while you're at it. The scene might make you lose your appetite."

Just as Lord Blood Demon said, the door of Noya's closed control room had begun to deform, and the horrific roars and bombardments from outside were endless. The door of the city defense artillery control room was made of thick steel plates, but even so, it seemed not enough in front of the followers sent by Lord Blood Demon, a group of monsters with blood-red tentacles wrapped around their bodies. A long sword materialized in Noya's hand - it looked exactly like the Martyr's Sword that he had given to Margaret.

Using a bow and arrow now would be courting death—I needed to defend this place like a true knight...

Noah held the fake Martyr's Sword in his hand, looking at the door in front of him that was gradually deforming and about to collapse. A shadow began to appear behind him.

The next moment, as the gate was breached, countless blood-red tentacles rushed in through the cracks in the gate. Noah was already prepared, and two sword lights directly cut off the tentacles - the light attached to the sword came from the Linguang family's source stone skills.

Facing a creature like the Blood Demon, the Lin Guang family's Originium skills were obviously more effective than shadow spells. At this moment, Noah's body was emitting a faint golden glow, as if a real golden Pegasus had descended.

"I won't let any of you guys go--" When the descendants of the Sarkaz came to the control room holding iron rods wrapped with tentacles, Noah's light stung them. The blood-red tentacles on their bodies that gave them power instinctively resisted this light and even made a sizzling sound like frying.

"A Golden Pegasus appeared in the control room? How is that possible?" Manfred was stunned for a few seconds upon hearing the news, though the Blood Demon Lord was now intrigued. "Golden Pegasus, in the distant past, before the Sarkaz were even Sarkaz, during our battle with the gods' people, we suffered greatly from the Golden Pegasus's Originium skills. Unexpectedly, now—a Golden Pegasus is standing in our way."

That’s right—in the distant past, when the Golden Pegasus were still the gods’ people, they once severely damaged the then-powerful Sarkaz Blood Demon clan.

Their light is the nemesis of the Blood Demon Clan.

They spread light, slew crazy blood demons, and made a great name for themselves.

At this moment, just like at that time, Noya, who was spreading light, like the ancestors of the light, met the descendants of the blood demon.

Chapter 50: Ancient Showdown

"The city defense artillery suddenly stopped working?"

"What's going on? Is there a design flaw? Or is there a malfunction?"