Chapter 1399 — The Mantis

The vast command hall instantly became "empty." Jinna looked at the immersion pods, now quietly sealed, drew a deep breath, and returned her gaze to the holographic projection ahead. The marker representing the lock reappeared at the center of the display. She steadied herself and began to call out: "Chief Gunner, report the status of the supercritical accelerators."

Only silence came through the communicator.

"Chief Gunner, report the status of the supercritical accelerators," Jinna Prince called again after a moment's wait. "The Dawn of the Mortal World must enter combat again. Chief Gunner, report your—"

A burst of static came through the communicator. After a moment of interference, what Jinna heard was Rebecca's voice: "This is Rebecca Cecil. The chief gunner is dead. The deputy commander and the second-class gunnery sergeants are dead as well. The accelerator array is now under my direct command."

Jinna was momentarily stunned, then blurted out instinctively: "Your Highness, you—"

"I am listening to your orders," Rebecca's voice came again. Through the interference, Jinna could not discern the imperial princess's present emotions, nor imagine the situation on the other side. "Loading is complete. When do we fire?"

Jinna looked at the distant vista in the holographic projection. That living mountain range covering the land was slowly heaving, its surface covered in countless shocking wounds. The searing heat left by the previous magic-bolt discharge had not yet faded; the distant sky shimmered faintly with heat distortion. The dense clouds that had once been dispersed had at some point gathered again. Beneath the dim daylight, pale blue streams of light were gradually welling up through the blood-soaked ravines of the Creeping Calamity, showing that it was brewing its next ferocious attack.

"Now," Jinna Prince said curtly.

The next second, a shriek born of energy turbulence came from deep within the Dawn of the Mortal World, followed by the astonishing impact of the supercritical accelerators igniting. The entire sky-fortress shuddered violently, and more than a dozen blinding streaks of light lanced toward the ends of the earth like spears. Almost at the same instant, the Gorgon fortresses cruising near the Dawn of the Mortal World also roared in unison, one after another bright "artillery" trails searing the atmosphere, tearing the sky, slamming savagely into the Creeping Calamity's surface.

A deafening chain of explosions swept across the distant land. The mushroom clouds billowing skyward and the blood-red mist formed from vaporized flesh and blood tissue shrouded the entire Deep Blue Well in a storm vortex. The attack the Creeping Calamity had been brewing was interrupted by this sudden, ferocious counterstrike. The energy drawn from the Deep Blue Well ran wild across the land, becoming scattered lightning that raced across half the Tarash Plains like a herd of stampeding beasts.

Across the Tarash Plains, nearly every frontline of the Alliance witnessed this dreadful clash. They saw the flashes rising between heaven and earth and the columns of smoke like a hundred volcanoes erupting, and were awed by this scene that surpassed myth and legend. But no one had the leisure to marvel at the spectacle—the aberrations surging in like a tide were still frantically assaulting the defensive lines around every Terminus Tower.

Jinna Prince stared fixedly at the dense clouds at the far edge of the horizon. Within that heavy mist, the naked eye could not possibly make out the Creeping Calamity's current condition, and the powerful energy interference prevented many of the Dawn of the Mortal World's sensors from scanning the target point's energy reactions. She heard a commander beside her murmur: "Is it over..."

"The target still exists."

The main brain's voice, devoid of emotional fluctuation, sounded in the hall, like a winter wind sweeping through this summer day.

In the holographic projection, the thick smoke at the far end of the distant land happened to be scattered by a gust of wild wind. After the smoke—composed of superheated steam, dust, and radioactive energy clouds—dispersed, a black biological megastructure, still slowly writhing, appeared before everyone's eyes. Its condition was shocking: nearly all the tendrils and limbs on its surface had been swept flat by the energy impacts, great swaths of flesh and blood tissue had been turned by the earlier barrage into the clouds of the sky and the scalding blood-rain falling upon the nearby battlefield. Lava flowed across the surrounding land, and some of that lava had even backflowed into the Creeping Calamity's body; portions of its "organs" foamed and smoked within the magma.

But this symbol of calamity was still alive, and the slow process of regeneration had already begun.

Jinna Prince saw the flowing blue light—those streams gathering slowly within the Creeping Calamity's body, converging along burned blood vessels, nerves, and muscle clusters, becoming orbs of light at the focal points of the bio-cannons.

It was not only alive; it was preparing to counterattack.

But Jinna also noticed that the Creeping Calamity had clearly reached the point of exhaustion. Its colossal body had been all but torn into a dozen pieces by the supercritical accelerators; now great swaths of flesh and blood tissue were barely held together by a limited number of "granulation buds." Many of its organs lay exposed, and after each pulsation they showed signs of further decline. The energy drawn from the Deep Blue Netway flowed through its nerves and muscles, and wherever it passed, green smoke rose; black scorch marks representing decay spread along the paths of that energy flow, and now covered nearly two-thirds of the Creeping Calamity's body.

Clearly, dozens of accelerator-projectile bombardments had dealt that thing fatal damage, and directly siphoning the planet's energy to launch attacks was by no means a light undertaking. To counter the threat of the Dawn of the Mortal World, the Creeping Calamity was recklessly devouring power that was not its own—power that had let it pierce the Dawn of the Mortal World's shield, but was also burning this monster from the inside out.

"It is about to die..." Jinna Prince gritted her teeth. "Perhaps one more volley is all it will take to finish it completely! We need—"

"Commander, the Dawn of the Mortal World's shield cannot withstand the next attack," the main brain's emotionless voice sounded in the hall, stating facts in cold numbers. "The supercritical accelerators require cooling and reloading. The Creeping Calamity's attack will arrive before that. Our remaining secondary guns, main guns, and inferno incendiary rounds are all incapable of inflicting effective damage on the target—this vessel recommends the immediate evacuation of all human personnel within the fortress."

"...Immediate evacuation of all human personnel?" Jinna looked toward the main brain. "What do you mean?"

"...At the time of my design, my creator, Your Highness Frostbloom, preset within me the capacity for independent combat," the main brain said calmly. "Efficiency will decline somewhat, but this is an acceptable plan. When the next attack comes, I will do my utmost to survive, and to survive until all accelerator projectiles have been fired—under the synchronized attack of the remaining Gorgon sister-ships, this should be sufficient to destroy the target."

Jinna drew a soft breath, but just as she was about to say something more, an officer's voice suddenly came from beside her: "Ma'am! Look over there!"

Jinna looked up in astonishment at the largest holographic projection in the hall.

She saw bright trails of fire suddenly materializing in the sky above that living mountain range—traces left in the heavens by thunder, lightning, and flame. And she saw vast forms emerging from behind the clouds: the shadows of dragons that ruled the sky.