Chapter 55 - The Astrologer 09 Chapter 54 - The Astrologer 08 Chapter 53 - The Astrologer 07 Chapter 52 - The Astrologer 06 Chapter 51 - The Astrologer 05 Chapter 50 - The Astrologer 04 Chapter 49 - The Astrologer 03 Chapter 48 - The Astrologer 02 Chapter 47 - The Astrologer 01 Chapter 46 - The King of Clouds 15 Chapter 45 - The King of Clouds 14 Chapter 44 - The King of Clouds 13 Chapter 43 - The King of Clouds 12 Chapter 42 - The King of Clouds 11 Chapter 41 - The King of Clouds 10 Chapter 40 - The King of Clouds 09 Chapter 39 - The King of Clouds 08 Chapter 38 - The King of Clouds 07 Chapter 37 - The King of Clouds 06 Chapter 36 - The King of Clouds 05 Chapter 35 - The King of Clouds 04 Chapter 34 - The King of Clouds 03 Chapter 33 - The King of Clouds 02 Chapter 32 - The King of Clouds 01 Chapter 31 - The Night Watchman 14 Chapter 30 - The Night Watchman 13 Chapter 29 - The Night Watchman 12 Chapter 28 - The Night Watchman 11 Chapter 27 - The Night Watchman 10 Chapter 26 - The Night Watchman 09 Chapter 25 - The Night Watchman 08 Chapter 24 - The Night Watchman 07 Chapter 23 - The Night Watchman 06 Chapter 22 - The Night Watchman 05 Chapter 21 - The Night Watchman 04 Chapter 20 - The Night Watchman 03 Chapter 19 - The Night Watchman 02 Chapter 18 - The Night Watchman 01 Chapter 17 - Child of the Wind 17 Chapter 16 - Child of the Wind 16 Chapter 15 - Child of the Wind 15 Chapter 14 - Child of the Wind 14 Chapter 13 - Child of the Wind 13 Chapter 12 - Child of the Wind 12 Chapter 11 - Child of the Wind 11 Chapter 10 - Child of the Wind 10 Chapter 9 - Child of the Wind 09 Chapter 8 - Child of the Wind 08 Chapter 7 - Child of the Wind 07 Chapter 6 - Child of the Wind 06 Chapter 5 - Child of the Wind 05 Chapter 4 - Child of the Wind 04 Chapter 3 - Child of the Wind 03 Chapter 2 - Child of the Wind 02 Chapter 1 - Child of the Wind 01
Zong Yan, who’d just been designated as an “ant”, felt like he was possessed by Ultraman.
He was engaged in a fight to the death against the Lord of Tindalos. With every impact he saw ink-blue liquid scatter in mid-air. The Hounds continually tried to bore through the clouds summoned by Yun Zhong Jun, but they couldn’t pierce the god’s blockade. They could only thrash wildly in the air like millions of charged particles.
The Tindalos Hounds that reached the ground were far worse. In just a few minutes they killed or injured hundreds of investigators.
Those investigators, regardless of rank, were killed in one blow. Their throats were torn open, exposing the scarlet flesh and tissue inside.
Xu Fu took out the fly-whisk he hadn’t used in ages. With a flick of his brush, thousands of white whiskers stretched out to trap the Hounds.
Among the immortal elders residing in MU, Xu Fu had the greatest fighting power. Both Paracelsus and Nicholas Flamel were nonmilitary personnel, so only Xu Fu had joined the battlefield.
But he was a Daoist, and Daoists specialized in hunting ghosts, not fighting alien creatures.
Among all the combat forces, the Dragon Group suffered the heaviest casualties.
According to the plan of battle, Dragon Group members were originally distributed throughout Jiangzhou and stood by in every district. Dragon Group members were also the first to respond to the order to head to Dujiakou.
Because of the early warning, five of the ten Dragon Group teams had returned to China.
“Ahhhhhhh—” An investigator screamed in pain as he was gnawed by a Hound.
“Li Wu!”
He Yuan nearly opened his eyes. Instead he punched the ground with his fist, and his joints creaked from the strain.
He was the adjutant of Team 7. The captain, Si Yan, was on standby in a helicopter, so He Yuan was the acting captain during the battle.
He Yuan hadn’t been stationed that far from Dujiakou. When the anomaly first arrived, many members of Team 7 were unfortunate enough to see it. He Yuan himself almost died.
“Don’t look—don’t…”
The investigator named Li Wu cried out in pain. Blood mingled with sweat and splattered on the ground, but a moment later there was only silence.
He Yuan was accompanied by almost every member of Team 7. They closed their eyes tightly, huddling on the ground, trembling with apprehension.
Their eyes were shut, depriving them of sight. Everyone knew how terrible the Tindalos Hounds were, and in darkness their fear was infinitely magnified.
As for those who’d seen the Hounds, the long wait was like anticipating their own execution.
No one wanted to die. No one wanted to die without a fight.
“Go… Get the hell out!”
One of the investigators who’d witnessed the Hounds’ arrival suddenly stood up. His veins bunched in his arms as he aimed an alchemical weapon at a Tindalos Hound, opening fire and spraying golden-red tongues of flame at the enemy.
Ordinary physical attacks weren’t of any use against these creatures. They even shrugged off alchemical weapons that normally worked against otherworldly creatures.
The Hound that had just bitten Li Wu and trampled his corpse exposed its maw to the alchemical flame, revealing its ferocious and terrible fangs to the investigator, as if it were teasing its prey.
The next second, a street lamp to one side suddenly crumpled and twisted. The metal pole reorganized in the air, forming a giant hollow sphere.
This huge metallic ball gathered up several Tindalos Hounds before they could escape and locked them tight inside.
If the angles that enclosed them were less than 120 degrees, Tindalos Hounds could escape through any surface. That meant they were nearly unkillable.
—But inside a sphere, they were trapped.
“Get up, all of you! We’re the soldiers of the Dragon Group! Even if we die, we’ll take some of them with us!”
With an explosive bang, the man in the special combat uniform of the Dragon Group stepped firmly onto the wind and landed neatly on the ground. His eyes were hidden behind heavy goggles, fierce as a hawk.
“Open your eyes! We’re soldiers! Our mission is to die before the civilians, to die on the battlefield, to spill our last drop of blood on this land!”
Yes, they were soldiers.
What was the duty of a soldier? To defend their country and fight for the people.
In the face of such a terrible threat, if the Awakened with special abilities couldn’t handle this situation, forget about ordinary citizens.
“Captain!!”
He Yuan was the first to open his eyes. He took a deep breath and shouted, “You’re right! Our team is full of Level 6 elites and Auxiliary-levels. We’re basically MU post-grads. If we can’t handle them, who can?”
A Monarch joining the battlefield was undoubtedly a big boost to morale.
Si Yan clenched his fist and mobilized more metal to encase a Hound as it tried to pounce on him.
The flowing blue-black ichor dripped onto his arm. Si Yan didn’t blink but concentrated on bending metal.
He actually specialized in lightning, but there was no way he could retreat at such a critical time.
Si Yan stole a moment to look up at the sky. High above them, a giant ink-blue mass was surrounded by a spiral-shaped storm formed of cyan and gold clouds.
From the violent fluctuations of the cyclone, they could see how intense the battle was inside. Several times the enveloping clouds began to thin out, but just as they weakened, countless clouds appeared out of nowhere and poured in almost frantically to fill the gap.
Who the hell was it—protecting the city?
“Report to headquarters. Dragon Team 7 requests permission to fight. We won’t desert the battlefield.” As Si Yan pressed the headset, a single shot rang out, targeting a Hound. The bullet was useless, of course, but before it hit the ground he added it to the growing sphere of metal.
Dragon Group headquarters had fallen silent.
Si Xun recognized his son’s voice. The gray-haired old man quietly tightened his fists. He closed his eyes and said, “Permission granted. Go and fight.”
Everyone knew what the order meant. The best a Monarch-level could do against the Hounds of Tindalos was retreat in one piece.
The West had gods of faith that were classified as Elder Gods. There were also gods in China.
But after all these years, Miskatonic University hadn’t managed to confirm the existence of ancient Chinese gods, so the problem had been put aside.
The commander-in-chief stared at the cyan and gold cyclone on the satellite map.
With a gesture he suddenly lifted the leader of the Dragon Group Air Force, who’d been monitoring developments on the ground, to the command platform.
“I hereby appoint you acting commander for the duration of the battle.” Si Xun tossed away his crutch and said, “Stay here and lead them well.”
“Commander-in-chief, you…” The newly-appointed commander was stunned. He stammered for a moment. “You’re going to—?”
“As the reigning second Monarch, I will also join the battle.
“From now on, you don’t have to call me commander-in-chief. You’re the commander.”
Si Xun patted him on the shoulder. He walked into the elevator without looking back.
Although his hair was already gray, his back was as firm and straight as hard steel, supporting the unyielding soul inside.
“Yes, sir!” The acting commander of the battle gritted his teeth. He stood at attention and saluted the figure’s back.
Everyone in the command room got to their feet. In silence they repeated the same action, paying the highest tribute.
""
This incident in the Dragon Group base was repeated in MU. Paracelsus walked out of the conference room.
The third and fifth Monarchs had finished their work and were also on the way to Jiangzhou via the Gate of Truth.
It was certain that this battle would be a bitter fight to the end, but no one was willing to give up hope.
Zong Yan struggled to hold on.
If he were just fighting the Lord of Tindalos, the Yun Zhong Jun card would have been enough.
But he also had to stop the Hounds of Tindalos from escaping and falling to the ground while he was fighting, and that was really tricky.
They sparred above the city for nearly fifty minutes. Even with the faith bonus, Zong Yan was barely able to fight off the Lord of Tindalos while stopping the other Hounds.
At the level of “gods”, it was sometimes difficult to tell exactly who was stronger or weaker or distinguish victory from defeat.
Time was running out.
As soon as the clock hit one hour, Zong Yan would lose his Yun Zhong Jun form and fall to earth.
When that happened, he would certainly lose his life, and at the same time all of Jiangzhou would be lost.
Only a small number of Hounds had managed to escape, but they’d caused heavy casualties to the investigators, not to mention what would happen when the Lord of Tindalos joined them.
Zong Yan really needed another plan.
“Tindalos Hounds don’t hunt down anyone but time travelers. Your archenemy, who is it?”
The blue and gold nimbus recombined, and an indistinct voice sounded from inside. In this form Zong Yan could no longer be called human.
“Yog-Sothoth. You must have heard this name.” The Lord of Tindalos bared his fangs. His claws and teeth transformed into a myriad of black flashes as he pounced at Yun Zhong Jun. “Our struggle with Yog-Sothoth has lasted for eternity, for we are invincible when it comes to time.
“We detest anyone who defies us, even if that being is an Outer God.”
The Lord of Tindalos had no concrete form, but he assumed the shape of a wolf creature with the diabolical horns of a Western demon.
Few would dare to oppose an Outer God, who stood as the ultimate powers of the universe. Unfortunately, the Lord of Tindalos was one of them.
“I have been slain by Yog-Sothoth countless times, and countless times I have resurrected at the end of eternity.”
The wolf demon gave a howl. “But as long as time exists, our struggle will go on!
“Answer me now, ancient god of another world who seeks to stop me, are you a subordinate of Yog-Sothoth?!”
Zong Yan: …
There was a culprit behind the crime, and he was caught in the crossfire.
He remembered seeing the Lord of Time and Space in the battle operations center and the smile on his lips. Zong Yan’s heart turned to ice.
Killing someone with a borrowed knife, what a good trick. Zong Yan had known nothing good would come of Tawil’s warning.
The nimbus suddenly coalesced, and Yun Zhong Jun reappeared in his divine form. He stepped out of the clouds with bare feet, and his eyes were cold and indifferent. “I am not.”
“Then why do you stop me?” The Lord of Tindalos said, “Release your cage. We only came here to find our archenemy.”
“I can let you go,” Zong Yan said. “But you cannot hurt my people.”
If Zong Yan released his clouds, the Tindalos Hounds would be exposed to human sight a second later.
To them, humans were nothing more than ants. The Hounds were here to seek revenge, yes, but killing humans was just a matter of following their customary directives.
With three minutes left, the Yun Zhong Jun status was about to end.
His fingers trembled with nerves.
Everything hinged on this.
Chapter 55 - The Astrologer 09 Chapter 54 - The Astrologer 08 Chapter 53 - The Astrologer 07 Chapter 52 - The Astrologer 06 Chapter 51 - The Astrologer 05 Chapter 50 - The Astrologer 04 Chapter 49 - The Astrologer 03 Chapter 48 - The Astrologer 02 Chapter 47 - The Astrologer 01 Chapter 46 - The King of Clouds 15 Chapter 45 - The King of Clouds 14 Chapter 44 - The King of Clouds 13 Chapter 43 - The King of Clouds 12 Chapter 42 - The King of Clouds 11 Chapter 41 - The King of Clouds 10 Chapter 40 - The King of Clouds 09 Chapter 39 - The King of Clouds 08 Chapter 38 - The King of Clouds 07 Chapter 37 - The King of Clouds 06 Chapter 36 - The King of Clouds 05 Chapter 35 - The King of Clouds 04 Chapter 34 - The King of Clouds 03 Chapter 33 - The King of Clouds 02 Chapter 32 - The King of Clouds 01 Chapter 31 - The Night Watchman 14 Chapter 30 - The Night Watchman 13 Chapter 29 - The Night Watchman 12 Chapter 28 - The Night Watchman 11 Chapter 27 - The Night Watchman 10 Chapter 26 - The Night Watchman 09 Chapter 25 - The Night Watchman 08 Chapter 24 - The Night Watchman 07 Chapter 23 - The Night Watchman 06 Chapter 22 - The Night Watchman 05 Chapter 21 - The Night Watchman 04 Chapter 20 - The Night Watchman 03 Chapter 19 - The Night Watchman 02 Chapter 18 - The Night Watchman 01 Chapter 17 - Child of the Wind 17 Chapter 16 - Child of the Wind 16 Chapter 15 - Child of the Wind 15 Chapter 14 - Child of the Wind 14 Chapter 13 - Child of the Wind 13 Chapter 12 - Child of the Wind 12 Chapter 11 - Child of the Wind 11 Chapter 10 - Child of the Wind 10 Chapter 9 - Child of the Wind 09 Chapter 8 - Child of the Wind 08 Chapter 7 - Child of the Wind 07 Chapter 6 - Child of the Wind 06 Chapter 5 - Child of the Wind 05 Chapter 4 - Child of the Wind 04 Chapter 3 - Child of the Wind 03 Chapter 2 - Child of the Wind 02 Chapter 1 - Child of the Wind 01
Zong Yan, who’d just been designated as an “ant”, felt like he was possessed by Ultraman.
He was engaged in a fight to the death against the Lord of Tindalos. With every impact he saw ink-blue liquid scatter in mid-air. The Hounds continually tried to bore through the clouds summoned by Yun Zhong Jun, but they couldn’t pierce the god’s blockade. They could only thrash wildly in the air like millions of charged particles.
The Tindalos Hounds that reached the ground were far worse. In just a few minutes they killed or injured hundreds of investigators.
Those investigators, regardless of rank, were killed in one blow. Their throats were torn open, exposing the scarlet flesh and tissue inside.
Xu Fu took out the fly-whisk he hadn’t used in ages. With a flick of his brush, thousands of white whiskers stretched out to trap the Hounds.
Among the immortal elders residing in MU, Xu Fu had the greatest fighting power. Both Paracelsus and Nicholas Flamel were nonmilitary personnel, so only Xu Fu had joined the battlefield.
But he was a Daoist, and Daoists specialized in hunting ghosts, not fighting alien creatures.
Among all the combat forces, the Dragon Group suffered the heaviest casualties.
According to the plan of battle, Dragon Group members were originally distributed throughout Jiangzhou and stood by in every district. Dragon Group members were also the first to respond to the order to head to Dujiakou.
Because of the early warning, five of the ten Dragon Group teams had returned to China.
“Ahhhhhhh—” An investigator screamed in pain as he was gnawed by a Hound.
“Li Wu!”
He Yuan nearly opened his eyes. Instead he punched the ground with his fist, and his joints creaked from the strain.
He was the adjutant of Team 7. The captain, Si Yan, was on standby in a helicopter, so He Yuan was the acting captain during the battle.
He Yuan hadn’t been stationed that far from Dujiakou. When the anomaly first arrived, many members of Team 7 were unfortunate enough to see it. He Yuan himself almost died.
“Don’t look—don’t…”
The investigator named Li Wu cried out in pain. Blood mingled with sweat and splattered on the ground, but a moment later there was only silence.
He Yuan was accompanied by almost every member of Team 7. They closed their eyes tightly, huddling on the ground, trembling with apprehension.
Their eyes were shut, depriving them of sight. Everyone knew how terrible the Tindalos Hounds were, and in darkness their fear was infinitely magnified.
As for those who’d seen the Hounds, the long wait was like anticipating their own execution.
No one wanted to die. No one wanted to die without a fight.
“Go… Get the hell out!”
One of the investigators who’d witnessed the Hounds’ arrival suddenly stood up. His veins bunched in his arms as he aimed an alchemical weapon at a Tindalos Hound, opening fire and spraying golden-red tongues of flame at the enemy.
Ordinary physical attacks weren’t of any use against these creatures. They even shrugged off alchemical weapons that normally worked against otherworldly creatures.
The Hound that had just bitten Li Wu and trampled his corpse exposed its maw to the alchemical flame, revealing its ferocious and terrible fangs to the investigator, as if it were teasing its prey.
The next second, a street lamp to one side suddenly crumpled and twisted. The metal pole reorganized in the air, forming a giant hollow sphere.
This huge metallic ball gathered up several Tindalos Hounds before they could escape and locked them tight inside.
If the angles that enclosed them were less than 120 degrees, Tindalos Hounds could escape through any surface. That meant they were nearly unkillable.
—But inside a sphere, they were trapped.
“Get up, all of you! We’re the soldiers of the Dragon Group! Even if we die, we’ll take some of them with us!”
With an explosive bang, the man in the special combat uniform of the Dragon Group stepped firmly onto the wind and landed neatly on the ground. His eyes were hidden behind heavy goggles, fierce as a hawk.
“Open your eyes! We’re soldiers! Our mission is to die before the civilians, to die on the battlefield, to spill our last drop of blood on this land!”
Yes, they were soldiers.
What was the duty of a soldier? To defend their country and fight for the people.
In the face of such a terrible threat, if the Awakened with special abilities couldn’t handle this situation, forget about ordinary citizens.
“Captain!!”
He Yuan was the first to open his eyes. He took a deep breath and shouted, “You’re right! Our team is full of Level 6 elites and Auxiliary-levels. We’re basically MU post-grads. If we can’t handle them, who can?”
A Monarch joining the battlefield was undoubtedly a big boost to morale.
Si Yan clenched his fist and mobilized more metal to encase a Hound as it tried to pounce on him.
The flowing blue-black ichor dripped onto his arm. Si Yan didn’t blink but concentrated on bending metal.
He actually specialized in lightning, but there was no way he could retreat at such a critical time.
Si Yan stole a moment to look up at the sky. High above them, a giant ink-blue mass was surrounded by a spiral-shaped storm formed of cyan and gold clouds.
From the violent fluctuations of the cyclone, they could see how intense the battle was inside. Several times the enveloping clouds began to thin out, but just as they weakened, countless clouds appeared out of nowhere and poured in almost frantically to fill the gap.
Who the hell was it—protecting the city?
“Report to headquarters. Dragon Team 7 requests permission to fight. We won’t desert the battlefield.” As Si Yan pressed the headset, a single shot rang out, targeting a Hound. The bullet was useless, of course, but before it hit the ground he added it to the growing sphere of metal.
Dragon Group headquarters had fallen silent.
Si Xun recognized his son’s voice. The gray-haired old man quietly tightened his fists. He closed his eyes and said, “Permission granted. Go and fight.”
Everyone knew what the order meant. The best a Monarch-level could do against the Hounds of Tindalos was retreat in one piece.
The West had gods of faith that were classified as Elder Gods. There were also gods in China.
But after all these years, Miskatonic University hadn’t managed to confirm the existence of ancient Chinese gods, so the problem had been put aside.
The commander-in-chief stared at the cyan and gold cyclone on the satellite map.
With a gesture he suddenly lifted the leader of the Dragon Group Air Force, who’d been monitoring developments on the ground, to the command platform.
“I hereby appoint you acting commander for the duration of the battle.” Si Xun tossed away his crutch and said, “Stay here and lead them well.”
“Commander-in-chief, you…” The newly-appointed commander was stunned. He stammered for a moment. “You’re going to—?”
“As the reigning second Monarch, I will also join the battle.
“From now on, you don’t have to call me commander-in-chief. You’re the commander.”
Si Xun patted him on the shoulder. He walked into the elevator without looking back.
Although his hair was already gray, his back was as firm and straight as hard steel, supporting the unyielding soul inside.
“Yes, sir!” The acting commander of the battle gritted his teeth. He stood at attention and saluted the figure’s back.
Everyone in the command room got to their feet. In silence they repeated the same action, paying the highest tribute.
""
This incident in the Dragon Group base was repeated in MU. Paracelsus walked out of the conference room.
The third and fifth Monarchs had finished their work and were also on the way to Jiangzhou via the Gate of Truth.
It was certain that this battle would be a bitter fight to the end, but no one was willing to give up hope.
Zong Yan struggled to hold on.
If he were just fighting the Lord of Tindalos, the Yun Zhong Jun card would have been enough.
But he also had to stop the Hounds of Tindalos from escaping and falling to the ground while he was fighting, and that was really tricky.
They sparred above the city for nearly fifty minutes. Even with the faith bonus, Zong Yan was barely able to fight off the Lord of Tindalos while stopping the other Hounds.
At the level of “gods”, it was sometimes difficult to tell exactly who was stronger or weaker or distinguish victory from defeat.
Time was running out.
As soon as the clock hit one hour, Zong Yan would lose his Yun Zhong Jun form and fall to earth.
When that happened, he would certainly lose his life, and at the same time all of Jiangzhou would be lost.
Only a small number of Hounds had managed to escape, but they’d caused heavy casualties to the investigators, not to mention what would happen when the Lord of Tindalos joined them.
Zong Yan really needed another plan.
“Tindalos Hounds don’t hunt down anyone but time travelers. Your archenemy, who is it?”
The blue and gold nimbus recombined, and an indistinct voice sounded from inside. In this form Zong Yan could no longer be called human.
“Yog-Sothoth. You must have heard this name.” The Lord of Tindalos bared his fangs. His claws and teeth transformed into a myriad of black flashes as he pounced at Yun Zhong Jun. “Our struggle with Yog-Sothoth has lasted for eternity, for we are invincible when it comes to time.
“We detest anyone who defies us, even if that being is an Outer God.”
The Lord of Tindalos had no concrete form, but he assumed the shape of a wolf creature with the diabolical horns of a Western demon.
Few would dare to oppose an Outer God, who stood as the ultimate powers of the universe. Unfortunately, the Lord of Tindalos was one of them.
“I have been slain by Yog-Sothoth countless times, and countless times I have resurrected at the end of eternity.”
The wolf demon gave a howl. “But as long as time exists, our struggle will go on!
“Answer me now, ancient god of another world who seeks to stop me, are you a subordinate of Yog-Sothoth?!”
Zong Yan: …
There was a culprit behind the crime, and he was caught in the crossfire.
He remembered seeing the Lord of Time and Space in the battle operations center and the smile on his lips. Zong Yan’s heart turned to ice.
Killing someone with a borrowed knife, what a good trick. Zong Yan had known nothing good would come of Tawil’s warning.
The nimbus suddenly coalesced, and Yun Zhong Jun reappeared in his divine form. He stepped out of the clouds with bare feet, and his eyes were cold and indifferent. “I am not.”
“Then why do you stop me?” The Lord of Tindalos said, “Release your cage. We only came here to find our archenemy.”
“I can let you go,” Zong Yan said. “But you cannot hurt my people.”
If Zong Yan released his clouds, the Tindalos Hounds would be exposed to human sight a second later.
To them, humans were nothing more than ants. The Hounds were here to seek revenge, yes, but killing humans was just a matter of following their customary directives.
With three minutes left, the Yun Zhong Jun status was about to end.
His fingers trembled with nerves.
Everything hinged on this.
