Rumble...
The explosion on the third floor caused a massive collapse of bricks and stones from the castle, crushing many guests who couldn't dodge in time beneath the debris, their screams ringing out endlessly.
Only half of the sniper's body who caused the explosion remained; the other half had been consumed by the Small Space Guan Tong had created and annihilated.
The electronic eye screen on its face had fallen off, revealing multiple cables connected inside the eye socket.
A robot...?
A shadow hand held Guan Tong aloft, preventing him from falling with the collapsing corridor. He stared in shock at the cables in the sniper's eye socket, never expecting this guy wasn't actually human.
But then, how could a robot use a Mind Power item?
He immediately realized he was wrong.
This guy wasn't a robot, nor was he human—he was a half-and-half cyborg, the result of Suroma's mechanical transformation of human Ascendants!
He never imagined Suroma had already mastered this technology, and it seemed quite effective. If not facing him, this sniper could probably easily take out a large number of top-tier Ascendants.
"Shangyuan, make your move."
Guan Tong notified Uenoshi through the Mind Network. The appearance of this Ascendant-cyborg sniper told him this operation probably wouldn't end quickly—Bruce had clearly prepared thoroughly.
"Got it."
Uenoshi, standing on the rooftop of a building in New Covenant City's center, responded before putting on her metal mask and patting Coal Ball's head as it lay beside her.
"Our turn."
She pulled a pre-prepared item from her Storage Box—a rocket launcher.
Aiming at the Suroma Parliament building across from her, she pulled the trigger.
"Boom—!"
The rocket shot out and struck the Parliament building.
The explosion immediately engulfed the middle floors in a sea of flames. Instantly, alarm bells blared, and numerous defense Ascendant special agents swarmed out.
They quickly locked onto the attacker's position on the rooftop opposite the Parliament building and rushed in pursuit.
Meanwhile, in the Senate, the meeting presided over by Dodge was still ongoing.
"We've just received word that the traitor Adam has appeared at Wensilisa Castle. It seems Shadow is with him as well. Yishan's wedding has been interrupted, and His Majesty is in grave danger."
Though the situation seemed quite critical, Dodge's voice was unhurried.
"Special agents from the Security Investigation Bureau and the Capital Guard are being mobilized. The war weapons deployed in New Covenant are also being activated. We must protect His Majesty from harm."
"These bastards are too arrogant!"
"Daring to attack our Suroma capital, to attack the King—they must pay the price!"
The Senators spoke with righteous indignation, but their eyes told a different story. A few couldn't even hide the slight upturn of their lips or the barely concealed schadenfreude in their gazes.
Dodge observed everyone's reactions, understanding in his heart.
He had long known the Senate and King Bruce were no longer of one mind.
Everyone had their own interests. When interests aligned, they were inseparable allies. When they diverged, they'd elbow each other out or even turn hostile.
Previously, the Senate and Bruce shared common interests, but ever since the "memory digitization" technology research began, Bruce had become increasingly autocratic, disregarding the Senate's interests and even establishing a secret experimental base the Senate couldn't manage.
This behavior left the Senators dissatisfied, though still barely tolerable.
However, recently Bruce first skipped the "Array Plan" briefing, treating Suroma's national face and dignity as nothing. Then, ignoring fierce opposition from multiple Senators, he insisted on marrying his daughter Yishan to Han Qiu, an unknown nobody from Beixing.
These actions made the Senate start having second thoughts. Now, with the wedding under attack, rather than anger, they felt secretly pleased.
As the leader of the Senate, the shrewd Dodge could certainly see this.
If something happened to Bruce in this attack, the nation's power would naturally transition to the Senate's hands.
Thud—!
Suddenly, the building shook. The Senators rose from their seats, expressions shifting to alarm.
"What's going on?"
"Report!" A security guard rushed in from the door. "The Parliament building has been attacked by thermal weapons!"
"What?!"
"Could it be the Beixing military..."
"How is that possible!"
"Everyone, calm down." Dodge said in a deep voice. "Our floor is protected by items; it won't be easily destroyed. And if Beixing's military were behind this, the impact wouldn't be this minor."
Soon, more detailed information arrived. The attacker seemed to be only one person, and their position had been locked; pursuit was underway. The attack consisted of just a single rocket, more like a lone wolf strike.
Dodge had been looking for a reasonable excuse to delay rescuing Bruce, and now the perfect opportunity had practically landed in his lap.
He immediately made deployment arrangements: "The attacker's target is likely widespread destruction of New Covenant, extremely dangerous. Immediately concentrate the Security Investigation Bureau and Capital Guard to surround and eliminate the attacker, and dispatch the latest model war weapons to intercept."
The other Senators unanimously agreed. Only the Investigation Bureau Director asked over the communication: "If all forces are diverted to surround the city attacker, what about His Majesty at Wensilisa Castle?"
Dodge said slowly, "His Majesty has his own preparations. No need to worry. Carry out the orders."
"Yes!"
After issuing the commands, Dodge exchanged glances with the other Senators. Everyone understood—in this moment, they had become a new interest community.
As long as Bruce couldn't return from the wedding, the nation would slip from that control freak's grasp and fall into their hands.
And with the former top Suroma Ascendant Adam and Shadow, a world-class dangerous Ascendant, how likely was Bruce to return without sufficient support?
The Senators silently understood.
...
Wensilisa Castle—the wedding held for happiness—was now becoming a burial ground for many, just as Moon Key had prophesied.
In the mere half-minute since Adam publicly appeared, the death toll among special agents and guests had already exceeded a hundred, and this wasn't the end.
The chaos erupted so suddenly that not only the people on-site but also the global audience watching the live stream was stunned, never expecting such a shocking turn of events.
But they couldn't keep watching—the on-site signal was quickly cut off by the Suroma government, provoking a wave of curses from viewers.
Governments around the world were desperately eager to know how the situation was developing, especially Beixing.
Though the live stream was cut quickly, the sight of numerous special agents being pierced through the body by shadow spikes undoubtedly proved that "Shadow" Guan Tong was on-site, co-planning this wedding attack with Adam.
The wedding had attracted global attention. Whether the attack succeeded or failed, it would cause uncontrollable and enormous repercussions.
But for now, there was nothing to do but worry. Even with satellite imagery, they could only capture the castle's exterior, unable to see what was happening inside.
Inside the castle, with the sniper dead, Bruce, still standing on the red carpet, placed his finger on the top of his scepter.
There was a hidden button. When he pressed it, many panicked guests immediately froze in their tracks, electricity running through their bodies, their eyes emitting an eerie blue light.
Guan Tong sensed something was wrong. The shadow at his feet instantly spread outward.
Han Qiu, also standing on the red carpet, watched the entire hall rapidly plunge into darkness, his eyes showing no fear but instead a hint of excitement.
"So this is the 'Shadow Domain.' First time I've seen it in person."
Beside him, Yishan had already slumped to the ground, her expression hollow. Her elegant white wedding gown was stained red by blood splattered from several special agents.
She looked up at the two men who, to her, were the most important figures in her life, only to find neither was looking at her.
She turned to look at the guests in the hall. Before the darkness brought by the shadows fully claimed the area, she saw many Shadow Blades slashing into the guests.
But the blades only shredded their clothes. Beneath them, the metal-structured bodies were extremely durable.
These people were... machines...
She finally realized most of the guests weren't human at all—they were cyborgs, wearing the faces of dignitaries and relatives, pre-arranged by her father. This meant her wedding had been a lie from the very start... A profound despair seized her.
These mechanically transformed bodies emitted light, illuminating the darkness formed by the Shadow Domain. Not only that, but each one drew their weapon items and launched a coordinated assault on Guan Tong.
Guan Tong watched the cyborgs charging at him, his heart shaking.
He never imagined Bruce had transformed so many Ascendants, turning them all into machines... Judging by their synchronized movements, they were less like humans and more like "humanoid Mind Power war weapons."
Bruce had full confidence in these soldiers created by the "Iron Will" project.
These soldiers retained their Ascendant identities, able to continuously strengthen through the Doomsday Rules, while also possessing the obedience of intelligent war machines and the flexibility of modifications—they were his true personal guard.
Compared to them, the so-called Security Investigation Bureau special agents and Capital Guard were never worth his concern.
From the very beginning, when Bruce authorized Dr. Haisen to launch the "Iron Will" project, he understood clearly: only the power one could completely control was true power. Any power relying on other free wills was false power that could betray at any time.
These Ascendant cyborgs were universally powerful. Even if their Mind Power hadn't reached a thousand, their thought networks seemed to be connected through some intelligent method, creating a synergistic effect.
Each one cooperated with the others in attack, over a hundred cyborgs moving in perfect unison like a single person. Combined with their immunity to the Shadow Domain's darkness, they momentarily managed to somewhat suppress Guan Tong.
Adam also hadn't expected Bruce to be this insane, turning all the nation's powerful Ascendants into cyborgs. This enraged him, but he also knew he had to subdue the situation quickly.
Just as he was about to go all out, a figure charged in front of him.
"Kill!"
A man whose body had transformed into a brown bear roared. Adam recognized him as Scarface using his ability, surprised he was fighting for Bruce.
"He's being controlled by Paul," Guan Tong's voice came through the Mind Network. "You handle Scarface; I'll take the rest."
"But you—"
Adam thought Guan Tong, surrounded by over a hundred cyborgs, wouldn't be able to spare attention elsewhere, but he had underestimated him.
These cyborgs were formidable, their metal bodies tough to damage with ordinary Shadow Blades, and electronic pulse rounds ineffective. But that didn't mean Guan Tong had to aim for instant kills.
His strength had always been in crowd control.
Tens of thousands of dense shadow lines spread out like a vast net, entangling and binding those cyborgs, restricting their movements.
Then he activated Body Swap, finding Paul hiding behind a corner pillar since the battle began.
"Your Holiness, looks like you didn't hide as well this time as last."
"!!!"
Startled, Paul immediately commanded Scarface, who was under his control, to abandon Adam and turn back to face Guan Tong.
But his reaction was far too slow.
Accustomed to hiding in the rear and having his followers fight up front, Paul had no reaction time when facing a seasoned Ascendant like Guan Tong, who had experienced countless battles firsthand.
"Pfft—!"
Guan Tong swung the short blade Silver Fox had given him for his birthday, cleaving Paul's head off. He didn't use Mind Power, knowing Paul likely had defensive items against it.
In situations like this, a sufficiently sharp man-made blade was far more straightforward and effective than Shadow Blades.
Paul's perspective spun as he saw his body growing distant. A few fragmented thoughts flashed through his fading consciousness.
Was his life ending here? Bruce... Han Qiu knew this was a trap, so why did they still send me here? Why didn't they protect me? That thing Dr. Haisen had me do... So after that, I was already a squeezed-out orange...
With his head hitting the ground, Paul's consciousness completely faded. Guan Tong stepped back, dodging a sharp hawk's claw strike.
He looked up at Scarface, who had transformed from a brown bear into an eagle, surprised that even with Paul dead, the control effect from his ability still lingered.
"ROAR—!"
Scarface had completely lost his mind. Only the last command Paul had given remained in his consciousness: "Protect him, kill Guan Tong."
Now that Paul was dead, the "protect" command had failed, but the "kill Guan Tong" command remained.
With a furious roar, Scarface's eagle body began to change again.
Not back into a brown bear or a war wolf, but a fusion—retaining the eagle's wings while gaining a bear's torso and a wolf's limbs.
"Three beasts fused, combining the advantages into one... So this is your strongest form," Guan Tong said, looking at the hybrid monster before him without hesitation.
Just as he and Ye Dang had eliminated those cultists controlled by Paul, since Scarface was mentally enslaved, there was only one path left for him.
But while focused on Scarface, he was also keeping part of his attention on Bruce and Han Qiu on the other side.
Especially Han Qiu. If those cyborgs were Bruce's trump card, then aside from using defensive items to resist Adam's gravity abilities, Han Qiu hadn't used any ability or weapon at all.
This put Guan Tong on high alert. When even Bruce's expression showed some strain, why was Han Qiu still so calm and composed? What exactly was his backing?
Guan Tong didn't know, but he understood it would soon be revealed. As long as they were within the Shadow Domain, there was nowhere to run.