Asura in Arknights

Just as Magellan was deep in thought, the knocking on the door rang out again, and a huge weight was lifted from Magellan's shoulders.

Hearing a knock on the door means that the monster is still at the door and hasn't made any other moves.

So... you didn't notice her just now?

No, the knocking suddenly stopped, which means the monster heard the noise inside the house, but because Magellan didn't make any sound afterwards, it couldn't confirm her presence?

It seems the monster locates itself by sound and possesses a certain degree of intelligence. Otherwise, it's inexplicable why it would use knocking as a deceptive method.

Having learned from her previous experience and prepared herself mentally, Magellan did not rashly send out the Dragon Drones again. She still had four Dragon Drones left, and if they were all destroyed, she would not have much combat power left.

Magellan tiptoed to the central control computer and turned on the research station's video surveillance. Although affected by the blizzard, the scene near the research station could still be barely seen.

As Magellan rotated the camera, the image appearing on the monitor sent a chill down his spine.

The one standing at her door was just one of the monsters in the group. Looking into the distance, there were dozens more of the same monsters wandering in the blizzard, and at the entrance to the canyon further away, countless more of the same monsters were pouring in through the gap.

She only slept for two or three hours... How did things turn out like this?

Is this... the root of her unease yesterday?

Chapter Twenty-Three: Counterattack (3/4)

When Magellan woke up, he found himself inexplicably in a desperate situation.

There was a monster blocking the doorway. Even if Magellan could escape from the room, she wouldn't be a match for all the monsters outside.

By the way, what happened to those two from yesterday?

Magellan thought of Li Ang and the other two. Since there was a monster blocking her door, there was no reason for those two to escape unscathed.

Turning the surveillance camera to that direction, sure enough, there was another monster knocking on the door. No tragedies like monsters breaking down doors occurred, so it seems they also noticed the characteristics of those monsters.

After thinking for a moment, Magellan turned on the surveillance camera inside that dormitory.

She didn't have a penchant for spying on others; it was just that these were extraordinary times, and Magellan couldn't care less about such things now.

After the surveillance camera was connected, Magellan searched the room several times and finally found the two people in the deepest bedroom.

At this moment, they were gathered around a table, communicating by writing. Due to the angle of the surveillance camera, Magellan could not see what the two of them were writing on the paper.

Now that Magellan has found the two men, she can't figure out how to contact them.

Although the camera was equipped with a loudspeaker, if Magellan did that, it would only kill those two people. If those two people died, Magellan alone would not be able to escape from this hellhole.

Moreover, the moment Magellan speaks, the monster outside the door will also notice her presence.

Just as Magellan was pacing anxiously, she noticed that the two people on the screen had made a new move. The Caprini girl had changed into a protective suit and picked up the long-handled staff from the corner.

The strange man who was always wearing armor also took out a short sword and tiptoed towards the door.

What...do they want to do?

Magellan wondered: Did they intend to confront the monsters outside head-on?

There are far more than one monster outside, and a head-on confrontation would be the worst course of action. However, unlike Magellan, the two of them cannot access surveillance footage, so they are clearly unaware of this information.

Now, even if Magellan were to risk danger to warn them, it would be too late.

The short sword in the man's hand pierced through the dormitory door without hesitation and plunged into the monster's body.

……

Did it hit its mark? Or did the sword miss its target?

There was no particular sensation from the sword, and Li Ang couldn't be sure if he had hit his opponent.

He and Adele had just discussed it and decided that continuing to drag things out like this wasn't a solution. Who could guarantee they wouldn't make a sound in their daily lives? Rather than dragging it out like this, they decided to strike first before making a sound. Once they got rid of that thing, they wouldn't have to worry about what would happen next.

The only problem is that Li Ang cannot sense the existence of those monsters, which means he has to fight an invisible enemy and can only determine the opponent's location through some indirect means.

After Adele was ready, Leon, by listening to the continuous knocking, roughly determined the location of the thing.

If this sneak attack had failed, Adele would have needed to finish him off from behind, so... did Leon succeed just now?

The knocking did stop, but after a brief pause of less than a second, a loud bang came from the door in front of Li Ang.

"boom--"

A deep handprint appeared on the door, almost making a hole in it.

However, this was only the beginning. Dense handprints were continuously imprinted on the door, and the entire dormitory trembled under the impact of this force.

In less than ten seconds, the door exploded into a shower of metal fragments with a loud bang.

This scene left Magellan, who was usually watching through surveillance cameras, dumbfounded.

She had just been thinking that the monster looked so thin and weak, its close-combat ability probably wasn't very good, and if she moved quickly, she might be able to escape from those monsters.

However, reality proved that Magellan was quite wrong.

Given the speed at which the monster threw its punch, Magellan would probably have been turned into a pile of minced meat in just one exchange.

The armored man's strength also exceeded Magellan's expectations. He stood firm like a mountain amidst the monster's storm of attacks, blocking all of the monster's attacks.

Even though the monster's presence could not be sensed, its stench and the sound of wind as it moved both unmistakably revealed its existence.

Through this indirect information, Li Ang had already sketched out a vague human figure in his mind.

A gust of wind struck Li Ang's head like lightning. He reached out and grabbed what was either a fist or a claw. With his other hand, he thrust his short sword forward and this time pierced the thing solidly into its body.

He still didn't feel like he had hit anything, but the suddenly intensified stench and the abruptly weakened force told Li Ang that the thing was injured.

With his arm gripping the object, Li Ang pulled it backward, using his waist and legs as a pivot point to slam it heavily onto the ground in front of him.

"Boom-"

Li Ang followed closely and stepped on it, but his foot, which should have crushed the thing's head, landed on empty air.

Almost at the same moment Li Ang slammed it to the ground, the thing rolled on the ground, not only dissipating some of the force but also dodging Li Ang's sure-kill strike.

This thing's combat awareness... is even better than that of an average high-ranking knight?

This combo was something Li Ang learned from Byron. An ordinary knight wouldn't have a chance to fight back at all with these three moves, but this non-human monster managed to dodge them. He was indeed quite formidable...

However, if this tactic fails, Li Ang has other follow-up plans.

The thing rolled a few times on the ground, and after it stopped, it crawled on the ground like a wild beast, crouching low as it pounced on Li Ang.

"Waiting for you for a long time."

The thing had only pounced halfway when a violent explosion occurred in its abdomen, the immense force propelling it high into the air.

Those were Originium particles left on his body when Li Ang thrust out his sword. Although it was impossible to bury the Originium particles inside his body, it was still possible to attach them to the wound.

At the same time, a huge fireball flew over Li Ang's head and accurately hit the monster that was unable to move freely in mid-air.

The explosion swept away the snow and ice in the sky, and even the interference of the blizzard disappeared briefly in the area where the explosion occurred, allowing Li Ang to finally capture the monster's exact appearance.

From the very beginning, the person who was supposed to deliver the final blow was not Li Ang. If Adele had been given a little time to prepare, the power of her magic would have been far greater than Li Ang's.

Adele's spell blasted the monster into a pile of indescribable things, which scattered all over the ground.

However, before they could relax, a frantic voice came from the room behind them.

"Watch out! There's more than one of those monsters!"

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Big Bang (4/4)

Her presence was already revealed the moment Magellan issued his warning.

Her door received the same treatment—the monster at the door instantly came to life, pounding the obstacle in front of it with punch after punch.

Magellan knew she had less than ten seconds left. The only saving grace was that all the monsters outside had been drawn away by the explosion, and now she only had to face the monster at the door.

Hopefully they can hold on a little longer.

Only after dealing with the monster blocking the doorway can Magellan go to support those two reckless guys.

Magellan unleashed the remaining four Dragon Drones all at once. Now was not the time to save on wages or hold back. Magellan knew very well that he had to go and support Li Ang and the others as soon as possible, otherwise, once they couldn't hold on any longer, the monster's next target would be Magellan himself.

The Longteng drone took off with a hum of its propellers. After regaining its balance, it turned and pointed a honeycomb-like structure on its bottom toward the doorway.

In the instant the door shattered, a slender, dark figure slipped in from the outside.

However, what greeted the monster was four Dragon Drones whose firepower was comparable to that of the Precursor.

"Fire!!"

At Magellan's command, the honeycomb structure at the bottom of the drone spewed out dazzling flames, and countless tiny Originium bombs were launched, completely engulfing the entire area in front of Magellan.

The sound of explosions continued unabated. Any ordinary creature would have been dead by then, but Magellan showed no intention of stopping to check the results.

All four drones shuddered simultaneously, and a series of clicking and scraping sounds came from the bomb cells below. The bomb cells that had just been emptied were turned in another direction, and four brand-new bomb cells were aimed at the smoke raised by the explosion.

While he was trembling with fear, Magellan replaced all the drones with the most powerful weapon modules.

With this module, the Dragon Drone can carry a total of four ammunition chambers. After emptying all the chambers in one go, Magellan recalled the drone and ran towards the door while reloading it with new ammunition.

The door to the room had been destroyed by the monster, and the cold wind from outside rushed in through the gap. The smoke from the explosion was quickly dispersed by the wind, revealing a messy ground.

Under the relentless bombardment of the drones, the monster had long since turned into a pool of black, unidentified liquid. Carefully avoiding areas contaminated by this liquid, Magellan ran out of the room in one breath.

Now that the fighting has begun, there's no point in hiding anymore. Magellan turned on all the lights outside, illuminating the entire research station as bright as day.

Those monsters clearly used hearing or some other sense to locate others, and fighting in the dark would undoubtedly put them at a severe disadvantage.

Under the relentless onslaught of the monsters, the two men had retreated into the interior of the house. The monsters had destroyed the walls and windows, pouring into the dormitory from various angles. Magellan could only tell from the sounds emanating from inside that the two men were still alive.

"I'm here, over there..."

Magellan shouted loudly, trying to ascertain the situation on Leon's side.

Before she could finish speaking, the dormitory room suddenly swelled several times its original size, like an inflated balloon. Before Magellan could react, a dark object flew past her ear and crashed into her room.

Magellan stared wide-eyed as the dormitory room expanded to its limit before exploding with a deafening roar.

Countless monsters that had surged in were instantly sprayed out, flying like petals scattered by a celestial maiden to every corner. The one that had just brushed past her ear was one of those monsters.

Looking back, Magellan saw that the monster had smashed through several walls and finally stuck to one of them, turning into a flat, round disc. It was clearly dead beyond any doubt.

"Ah! My research station!"

If that flying monster caused so much destruction, what about the other monsters that flew out earlier?

Magellan turned around stiffly. Just as she had expected, the entire research station was riddled with holes by the flying monster, and there wasn't a single intact spot in sight.

"These damned monsters!"

Leon dragged Adele along, storming out of the dormitory room, which was now just a frame.

Even if he could clear out all these monsters, they would have nowhere to stay afterward. They had only enjoyed their warm bed for less than a day before encountering such a terrible situation. Li Ang felt his anger rising rapidly.

"Adele, keep an eye on the monsters' location for me. I still can't see them."

Before Adele could answer Leon, a sorrowful voice suddenly came from not far away, "Are you blind?! I've already turned on all the lights, and you still can't see where they are?"

Magellan shouted in anguish as he reloaded the ammunition magazine after bombing a monster that was just about to get up with a drone.

This was a research station that she had worked so hard to get approved for. She had been living here for almost five years, and now it was all destroyed.

Of course, Magellan knew that Li Ang was not to blame, but her heart was truly aching.

"Huh? So what if I'm blind?"

After instinctively retorting with that remark, Li Ang continued to urge, "Have you confirmed their location?"

“No, Li Ang, there are too many of them, they’re almost everywhere.”

The wave that just erupted only killed the closest monsters. Those that were farther away were only blown away because of the monsters in front of them, and they quickly got back up.

"Tsk, that wretched blizzard... If it weren't for it..."

Li Ang gritted his teeth, looked up at the night sky where snowflakes were falling continuously.

"Adele, give me a hand!"

The sudden roar gave Magellan a very bad feeling. She cried out in terror, "Wait! What are you doing?!"

However, Magellan soon saw what they were planning to do.

Two fireballs, one large and one small, rose straight up from the ground into the sky. When they reached a height of two thousand meters, the fireballs had shrunk to a tiny dot that was invisible to the naked eye.

"This is insane..."

As Magellan spoke, two loud explosions came from directly above them. The shockwaves from the explosions dispersed the dark clouds within a radius of several miles, and through the holes in the clouds, sunlight finally shone on the earth once again.

"Now I see you."