Chapter 83 Electromagnetic Explosion
Chapter 83 Electromagnetic Explosion
Xiao Qing and Chen Xiao had already burst out of the forest, the tool shed just a short distance away. The heart-rending wails and agonized cries from moments earlier had ignited a fire in Chen Xiao’s heart, his fear that the companions sheltering inside the shed had fallen victim to some calamity.
The moment they emerged from the treeline, the tool shed came into view. Suddenly, the pitch-black darkness of night was pierced by a brilliant arc of blue light! That azure radiance soared skyward like the aurora borealis one sees upon television, rising from the very spot where the tool shed stood. Then the blue light leaped into the heavens, coalescing into a vast, perfect circle of luminescence, much like the circular shockwave that follows a bomb’s detonation—yet without the slightest explosive crack, it spread in utter silence, rippling outward like waves on water.
In that instant, time itself seemed to stretch, slow and languid. The blue light settled into Chen Xiao’s eyes, carrying an indescribable splendor and beauty.
Ripples spread, and spread again…
Before long, the expanding circle had reached a radius of dozens of meters, far beyond the tool shed. Even the surrounding trees and the neighboring villa were now wholly enveloped by the radiant arc.
Finally, when the blue light completely cloaked the villa’s architecture, a dense chorus of shattering sounds erupted.
Crack, crack, crack—nonstop. All windows shattered into glittering fragments, lamps within the rooms exploded, every glass vessel reduced to powder, flying apart in every direction like the tiniest butterflies.
As though at that moment gravity itself had abandoned its hold upon the earth, the fracturing of the villa’s windowsill sent the airborne glass shards whirling madly, a glittering storm.
Chen Xiao was frozen in place. Xiao Qing was frozen in place.
In that instant, the eternal now.
Within the circumference of the blue light, the instant the first monster’s body was wholly consumed by the azure radiance, its once-hideous, burly form began to stir. Patch after patch of black feathers ignited first, as though set ablaze by the light, each one transforming into living flame.
The radiance was blinding. If one looked closely, one could even discern that within the blue glow the monsters’ bodies had become translucent, their bones laid bare.
The creature that had been sprawled across the windowsill was the first to perish. It opened its jaws wide, straining upward as if to roar, yet no sound escaped its gaping maw—only a brief, strangled note.
The searing current had obliterated its vocal cords in an instant. Every feather burned, every muscle, every bone, every drop of blood. In mere seconds the magnificent beast was hurled from the light’s path, crashing to the ground, reduced to a desiccated husk. As though all its combustible essence had been consumed. What remained was nothing more than a preserved specimen, perfectly frozen in the pose of head-thrown, roaring defiance.
The blue light swept onward, lasting scarcely twenty seconds. The monsters nearest the tool shed were all cast aside, landing as lifeless mummies.
Those farther away let out their final, piercing cries. Their abdomens swelled grotesquely, like balloons on the verge of bursting, and in the midst of their shrieks they detonated with dull thuds, spraying blood in every direction. The mangled bodies collapsed heavily to the earth.
Xiao Qing and Chen Xiao, standing at a distance, witnessed the horror in stunned silence. By then the blue radiance had reached them. Chen Xiao’s heart lurched. He seized Xiao Qing, drove her violently to the ground, and threw himself atop her, limbs splayed wide like an octopus, clutching her tightly to his chest.
The blue light washed over him like ripples on water. He felt a faint crackling behind him. Fortunately, his protective leather suit had activated perfectly. When the light touched his body, a translucent barrier shimmered into existence, gently deflecting the azure glow. Had it not, Xiao Qing beneath him would surely have perished.
Twenty seconds later, the light finally faded. Yet what remained was a scene of devastation. Tall trees stood beside the villa, their trunks pierced by countless shards of glass. The lawn glittered with fine, glittering fragments under the night sky. Only the solitary tool shed in the distance remained untouched.
No living monster remained standing anywhere nearby.
…
…
Bai Cai and Xu Er Shao stared wide-eyed at Ya Ya, standing upon the windowsill.
This girl who appeared so gentle and lovely… was she still human?
Ya Ya faced away from them, her back still so delicate. Only a faint trace of blue light lingered upon her palm, slowly dimming.
Then she swayed once, twice, and sank softly to the ground. Xu Er Shao rushed forward to catch her, but found her eyelids already sealed, unconscious.
Though his heart raced and his mind reeled, he could only whisper,
“Seems… all the monsters are dead?”
Bai Cai asked, dazed.
“Seems so,” Xu Er Shao replied, equally bewildered. “Are we safe now?”
…
…
On the uppermost floor of a villa farthest from the tool shed, before the windowsill, a solitary figure stood motionless in the darkness. Night cloaked the entire silhouette, yet left only a pair of eyes burning with cold intensity, fixed upon the distant shed.
Because of the distance, this villa had suffered the least electromagnetic interference. The glassware within had shattered, but otherwise the room remained intact.
“Hmph… I never imagined a low-level blue-blooded being could wield such power,” the figure sneered coldly. “What energy level was that just now? Already B-rank! Instantly channeling electricity into a powerful attack skill—Electromagnetic Explosion! That damned girl nearly ruined my plan!”
Gazing at the row of mummified corpses in the distance, the voice grew even deeper.
“I can no longer sense the source of electromagnetic energy… Has the little girl’s reserves been exhausted? Electromagnetic Explosion is terrifying, yet you can only use it once. But I still have countless Orochi left!”
The figure leaped from the windowsill in a blur, vaulting onto the terrace roof. In the darkness, arms spread wide, head thrown back toward the heavens, the figure emitted a peculiar, vibrating sound.
The frequency was not especially loud, yet those within earshot could not hear it. For humans, the sound was inaudible, but for wild beasts it was perfectly attuned to their senses.
Almost instantly, after the sound wave had spread, far beyond the island and behind the mountain slope, answering howls rose into the night.
…
…
Chen Xiao climbed to his feet and helped Xiao Qing up. “Are you all right?”
“…” Xiao Qing regarded him with a complex gaze. “I’m fine. But what… what was that just now? Those blue lights?”
“I don’t know,” Chen Xiao murmured, the faintest guess forming in his mind, though he dared not voice it.
“Why… why can’t the blue light harm you?” Xiao Qing examined him closely. “Chen Xiao, what exactly are you? Those shoes of yours, and this leather suit—none of them are ordinary.”
…
…
When the two returned to the tool shed, Xu Er Shao and Bai Cai breathed a collective sigh of relief at the sight of their safe return. The instant Chen Xiao saw Ya Ya lying unconscious, he understood everything. He gathered her into his arms and scanned her with the detector.
The life signs were steady. Yet Ya Ya’s energy had been completely depleted. According to the device, her readings now matched those of an ordinary human.
“I know you all have many questions,” Chen Xiao said gravely, “but we will discuss them after this is over.”
“Are we truly safe?” Bai Cai asked, still uneasy. “The monsters… they’re all dead, aren’t they?”
But then came another distant, blood-curdling howl, and every face in the group turned deathly pale.
“How many of those things are there?!” Xu Er Shao shouted in fury.
“The issue is not the number of monsters,” Chen Xiao declared, expression stern, “but the humans controlling them. I can assure you—someone on this island is directing the monsters.”