Chapter 35: Gold vs. Gold (1)

Back in Taizhou City,

"M-mother!"

A group of guards arrived inside the shelter, along with a woman carrying a little girl. It was the woman that was saved by Viel before he jumped inside the portal.

"L-little Song!"

Wei Song frantically ran towards the woman. The little girl also released herself from her mother's embrace, excited to see Wei Song.

"B-brother!"

The three hugged each other as tight as they can, afraid that the other will let go. They stayed like this for a while before they calmed down.

"W-where's father? Have you seen father!?", Wei Song looked behind her mother.

Wei Song's mother could only remain in silence, slowly shaking her head. Tears starting to well up from her face.

"F…father… he…he was…", the little girl stuttered, not wanting to continue her words.

"Your father… protected us with his life. He told us to hide…. But your father… you father-", Wei Song's mother was interrupted by Wei Song before she can finish her words.

"Was a true soldier", Wei Song stood firm as he held a proud expression on his face. Even though his eyes were red, his resolute blocked the tears that were clamoring to go out, "Father was a true soldier who died protecting his loved ones."

Wei Song's mother was surprised by her son's gallant stature. It seems that her son has grown up to be a fine young lad without her knowing. His husband will surely be proud of what their son is becoming.

Wei Song then faced the soldiers that assisted his mother to the underground shelter and proceeded to bow. "Thank you, sirs. For protecting my mother and bringing her here!"

The soldiers looked at each other and shook their heads.

"I am afraid we're just the delivery men."

"Hm? What do you mean, sirs?", Wei Song tilted his head in confusion.

"Little Wei… The thing is… after your father died…"

Wei Song's mother then recounted the events that have happened to her before getting to the underground shelter.

"A…golden haired boy?... VIEL!?", Wei Song grabbed her mother's shoulders.

"Y-yes, I think t-that was the name the woman said. Without him, Then I and your sister would probably be dead."

Wei Song then glanced at the bandages that were wrapped around her mother's legs. He then closed his eyes and made a silent vow, 'Viel, from now on. You are my brother.'

"D-did you mention Viel!?"

Wei Song opened his eyes to see that Diao Mei was right in front of her, wearing a worried expression on her face.

"D-do you also know him, little lady?", Wei Song's mother was the one who answered Diao Mei's query.

"Y-yes, did you see where he is!?"

Wei Song's mother nodded her head, "He entered one of those dark holes that appeared on the sky"

"W-what!?", not only Diao Mei, but Violet who was quietly listening on the side shouted in surprise.

"We must help Viel!", Violet was about to rush outside the door when a soldier blocked her way.

"I'm sorry, little miss. But General Diao had strict orders not to let anyone out. It is for your own safety."

"Nonsense! Step aside, don't you know who I am!?", this time, it was Diao Mei who forced her way to the door. But alas, the soldiers did not budge.

"I am sorry, Lady Mei. We can not let anyone out, even if it is you or Madamme. Worry not, the Elder from Golden Pavilion followed the boy through the weird portal. She will keep him safe."

Diao Mei's efforts were in vain as the soldiers seemed to really have no plan on letting her through. But once she heard the Xing Cai was with Viel, she slowly calmed herself down. All she could do now was look up to the ceiling and whisper, "Viel. Please be safe!"

----

"How are we even safe here!?"

Back in the mysterious place. Xianying was panicking as the hundreds of thousands of drakel placed their attention to her and Viel.

She was about to run through the dome when Viel stopped her, "Miss Xianying, please do no try to pass the dome. Your boobies will be the first to explode. We don't want to see that, eew", Viel shivered as he tried the imagine the scene.

"But what do you want me to do, L-lord Viel!? You should have at least placed me outside..I.. I am just a mere mortal!", although Xianying did not forget to used honorifics, she was now far from being respectful.

Viel sighed, "Look here, child", Viel placed his hand on Xianying's leg as if he was comforting a pet. "Fret not for I am here."

Xianying's eyes twitched as he saw the little boy comforting him and calling him child. She was about to retort, but then she saw some of the drakels already rushing near them.

She pushed Viel back and covered him.

She raised her gun, but she didn't shoot it, instead, she placed it on her chest. As soon as she did so, the black armor she was wearing started to disintegrate.

No, it only looked as if it did, the armor was actually somehow being absorbed by the gun, merging with it. The once small gun tripled in size as streaks of light crawled through its side. Xianying's skin was revealed as only her under armor was left to cover her body.

There were a lot of scars covering her arms and legs. A testament of a true warrior. She aimed her now bigger and longer gun towards the incoming horde of drakels. The air around her seemed to shift as the dust rotated around her… and then…

A loud ringing sound reverberated as a thick line of light was released from the gun, the recoil from the gun pushed her back a few feet. It split the incoming horde like a stone blocking the path of a river, killing hundreds in the process. But as it is with the river, the horde still continued to flow, flying towards them.

Xianying exhaled deeply. Her arms were shaking in pain due to the force of being pushed back by the gun's recoil. But her face still focused on the horde as she once again aimed the gun towards it.

And once again, she fired. The force this time almost pushed her back right to the edge of the dome. This time, she kneeled down, as the recoil this time was too much for her body to handle, some of the wounds on her body reopened and started to bleed.

However, she ignored all the pain she was feeling. She was about to fire again when she suddenly heard someone clapping beside her. She looked towards her left, only to see Viel cheering and clapping for her.

"Y..you… Lord Viel, this is not the time to joke around",

"You… look very beautiful, Miss Xianying", Viel said as he slowly approached Xianying.

"W-what are you doing!?", for a second there, Xianying felt her heartbeat when she saw Viel's smile. 'Get yourself together, woman! This child is a baby! How could you even have thoughts like that!? Do you want to be jailed!?���

Thoughts raced inside of Xianying's head. Maybe she hit her head hard during the recoil, she thought.

As Viel was almost right in front of her, he reached out his hand towards her.

"W-what d-do you want!? O-our age is too different, Lord Viel! P-please don't!", Xianying closed her eyes as she turned her head away. Waiting for… something. But the only thing she felt was her hands getting lighter.

She opened her eyes, only to see Viel holding her gun. The gun was almost as tall as Viel, it was truly a funny sight. Xianying slapped her forehead, how in the hells did she even have thoughts like that?

'I…I will visit the Church of the Lord God and repent once all of this is over, so please, Lord God. Keep me alive', she promised herself.

"Can I borrow this weapon of yours, Miss Xianying? Mr. Voice has been saying non-stop that Miss Lu Yi wants me to use this weapon, she seems very… excited"

"Eh? D…do you even know how to use- ugeh", before Xianying can finish her words, she was blinded by a sudden flash of light.

She covered her eyes and shook her head repeatedly, "W-what just happened!? Lord Viel, a-are you okay!? I can't see anything!"

She crouched down, trying to feel the ground. It was a minute before her vision started to recover. She squinted her eyes to try and see what happened.

Slowly, the scene became clearer for her. However, once she saw the scene, she once again blinked, wiping her eyes. She could not believe the view that presented itself to her.

"W-what the…"

The once large horde that was flying towards them were now only a trickle of their original number. The remaining drakels that were not aware of Viel and her existence until now has also became wary of them. They were no longer rushing towards the two of them unlike earlier, instead, they were just flying around them, seemingly not wanting to attack and just observing them.

"W-what did you do!?"

���Hm? Oh, I just used Miss Lu Yi's skill, Light Amplifufu… Amplifecut… Amplification!... whew, so complicated"

"L-light Amplification!? A divine skill!? You…you really are a deity!?"

"Oh, you know of it!?"

"O-of course! It's a-"

Before Xianying can finish her words, she was interrupted by a loud explosion coming from the distance.

She looked at the direction of the noise. A portion of the drakel nest erupted with Xing Cai being spewed out of it.

"M-master Xing Cai! L-Lord Viel, i-it's Master Xing Cai!"

"Hm? Oh! Sister Xing Cai!", Viel cheerfully waved her hands at the flying Xing Cai.

"Eh? No! She is in trouble!"

"Really?", Viel squinted his eyes to look at the soaring Xing Cai. "I don't think so?"

As soon as Viel said so, Xing Cai rotated in the air gracefully. She then then stretched out her arms and opened her hands.

Suddenly, a golden blade appeared on her left hand, and a golden shield on her right. The equipments glimmered as the sunlight reflected on it. Looking from afar, it would look like an armament made of light- and that is exactly what Xianying thought.

"T-that!? Master Xianying really is a celestial!"

"Maybe only her age…", Viel commented.

Xing Cai coughed as she wiped the blood on her lips. She felt as if someone was currently badmouthing her.

And then, she readied her stance while floating in the air, looking at the direction of the nest.

"KEK KEK KEK KEK", a loud malicious clicking sound reverberated in the air. It sounded like a laugh, but not like quite so.

Soon, the source of the sound revealed itself, coming out of the nest. It was a large golden drakel, about three times bigger than the ones that they have seen so far.

"I-it's the Drakel Champion!"

The Drakel Champion slowly spread its gigantic wings as it looked towards Xing Cai, as if mocking her.

"Tsk. Let's see if you still have that smug attitude when I stab you with your own claws!", Xing Cai covered herself with her shield, with the tip of her blade pointed towards the Drakel Champion.

With this provocation, the Drakel Champion started to fly towards her, with its claws ready to kill.

Xing Cai hit her shield like a gong before going back and tightening her stance, "Come!".

This signaled the start of their battle.

Gold vs Gold.