[FGO]: 130

Tianjin was established as a maritime defense line to protect the capital. Most of its defenses were designed to face enemies attacking from the sea. However, this time, they encountered a tidal wave of Kabane surging in from the land. It was no surprise that Tianjin fell.

A large number of survivors fled by boat to overseas destinations, leaving behind a ravaged city now occupied by the Kabane.

Ryou sighed and withdrew his gaze. Witnessing this scene, he realized the limits of human power and understood that he needed to become even stronger.

After about half a day's journey, the Shimakaze gradually approached the capital along the canal. Seeing the towering city walls in the distance, Ryou instructed Shimakaze to stop the ship.

"Shimakaze, stay here and don't move. Load the cannons and be ready to provide support at any moment. I'm going in to scout."

"Yes, Admiral! Shimakaze understands!"

Shimakaze saluted as she spoke.

Ship girls are ship girls—even if they act cute and playful most of the time, there are no more reliable teammates in critical moments.

Ryou cast a [Flight] and a [Invisibility] rune on himself and then flew towards the capital.

Passing over the towering walls, what met his eyes was a scene of hell on earth. Broken houses, damaged streets, and Kabane wandering aimlessly. The once-bustling imperial capital had now been reduced to nothing but ruins.

When the Kabane outbreak spread, people fled back to the cities, relying on the tall walls to defend against the Kabane invasion. As a result, the whole of the country was divided into small, isolated islands by the sea of kabane. Inside the cities, there were large numbers of survivors, while outside, the Kabane roamed freely. People were trapped in these cities, afraid to move.

Due to the Chinese's short-sightedness, they did not introduce new technologies based on the McRucky Engine on a large scale. Unlike Japan, where the cities were connected by a complex railway network, the Chinese cities were isolated from each other.

From Ryou's estimation, the city walls of the capital were about 8 meters high, 9 meters thick, and surrounded by a moat. Unless it was an attack by giant monsters like those in the Fused Colony, it would be nearly impossible for ordinary Kabane to break through the capital's defenses.

Especially since the Kabane had spread from the south, the capital had received warnings well in advance, but it still fell despite being well-prepared. Excluding the small chance of an accident, there was only one possibility: something went wrong from within.

After all, even the strongest fortress is easy to breach from the inside.

With these doubts in mind, Ryou noticed a massive complex of buildings in the distance—the Imperial City.

Flying over the high palace walls, Ryou's pupils suddenly contracted.

Compared to the hellish scenes outside, the area within the palace walls was like another world.

Young and beautiful palace maids, dressed in qipaos, carried trays of refreshments and tea as they moved between the palaces. Eunuchs, dressed in unique attire and sporting white beards, walked with their hands tucked into their sleeves, heads down, through the courtyards. Imperial guards, clad in armor adorned with brass studs and wearing pointed helmets, either stood like statues guarding the palace gates or patrolled back and forth in two columns.

Just one palace wall separated a land of death outside from a place full of life inside.

Faced with this bizarre phenomenon, Ryou's vigilance instantly heightened.

He landed lightly on the palace wall without making a sound and began to observe. As he channeled magic into his eyes, the world seemed to zoom in, and everything became crystal clear to him.

He immediately noticed something unusual—whether it was the palace maids, the eunuchs, or the imperial guards, their hearts all faintly emitted the same glow as the Kabane.

"They're Kabaneri!? And there are so many of them!?"

Ryou was stunned.

According to the original story, Kabanere—half-human, half-Kabane beings—were extremely difficult to produce. The Koutetsujou crew had traveled across nearly half of Japan, and only four Kabaneri had appeared, showing just how rare they were.

Yet now, Ryou could see over three thousand Kabaneri.

These Kabaneri had greatly enhanced physical speed, and powerful regenerative abilities, and were immune to Kabane infection. Apart from the need to consume human blood to maintain their bodily functions, Kabanere were the perfect soldiers to fight against the Kabane.

Ryou had once considered building an army of Kabaneri to complete this mission but dismissed the idea due to their rarity.

He never expected to find so many Kabaneri here.

Ryou was shocked and realized that things were not as simple as they seemed.

As Ryou looked at the Kabaneri, his caution grew even stronger.

Kabaneri possessed human intelligence and extremely keen senses, so any mistake could lead to his discovery. Although the combat ability of Kabaneri still posed no threat to him, it would defeat the purpose of his covert reconnaissance. Alerting the enemy might allow the mastermind to escape.

To avoid the Kabaneri, Ryou had to fly higher. Limited by their level of technology, they probably never imagined someone would invade from the sky. Compared to the heavily guarded ground, the sky was completely unprotected; there were no anti-aircraft defenses, and not a single Kabaneri guard looked up.

Ryou boldly flew over the Forbidden City.

Ryou began to observe it closely. He quickly noticed that the level of security around the Hall was more than ten times higher than in other areas. His instincts told him that there was something unusual about this place.

He extended his senses, carefully scanning the area. Despite the tight security around, he didn't detect any significant danger.

Even if he were discovered, it would only turn his stealth mission into something like an Assassin's Creed scenario.

With that resolve, he descended from the sky and landed on the roof of the Hall.

This palace was the tallest building in the Forbidden City, aside from the towers on the palace walls.

If an opponent were to appear now, wouldn't this become a showdown at the top of the Forbidden City?

This thought involuntarily popped into his mind.

"Who's there?!"

With a stern shout, a figure suddenly burst out from within the Hall, leaping directly onto the roof where he stood.

Seeing the figure fix their gaze on his location, he immediately knew he'd been discovered.

Was this my jinx at work?

Ryou couldn't help but smile wryly as he casually dispelled his invisibility.

When the figure saw him gradually appear from thin air, a look of triumph crossed their face.

Just moments ago, she had been lying on the dragon throne when she suddenly sensed a faint trace of a living presence above her. Without hesitation, she had rushed out, and upon seeing the seemingly empty rooftop, she had been momentarily puzzled.

However, her face had remained an expression of absolute certainty, as if she had already found the intruder.

It turned out there really was an invader who had been tricked into revealing himself.

It's true what they say: the more beautiful a woman, the more deceptive she can be.

Indeed, standing before him was a stunning beauty.

She was dressed in a qipao palace gown that fit her perfectly, clinging to her voluptuous figure.

On her head was a dowager crown adorned with pearls, golden phoenixes, gems, and coral, all of which shimmered in the sunlight, further enhancing her aura of nobility.

Her fair, oval face was strikingly beautiful, exuding the regal grace of a peony and the allure of a rose.

On her fingers were long protective covers made of gilt bronze, engraved with begonia patterns and inlaid with pearls, jade, and tourmaline.

She looked exactly like the classic depiction of an empress dowager in the various dramas he had seen.

Except, this Empress Dowager seemed far too young and beautiful.

Even with his high standards, Ryou had to admit that her beauty could easily rival that of the heroic spirits under his command.

The beauty's red lips parted slightly as she sternly questioned:

"Who are you, daring to trespass in this palace?!"

At this moment, the commotion had also drawn the attention of the imperial guards.

They formed teams of three, with two creating a human platform by clasping their hands together, while the third stepped on it.

Soon, the wide rooftop was crowded with people.

Over a hundred heavily armored imperial guards were thrown onto the roof.

"Empress Dowager! This humble servant is late to your rescue, a crime deserving of death! Please, Empress Dowager, forgive me!"

A commander, whose armor differed from that of the ordinary soldiers, pushed through the crowd and knelt before the woman, saluting her.

So, she is the Empress Dowager?

After the commander finished his salute, he immediately pointed his spear at Ryou.

"You audacious scoundrel! How dare you attempt to assassinate the Empress Dowager! Surrender at once!"

He shouted, pointing at him.

Ryou was instantly speechless.

"Seize him! If he resists, kill him on the spot!"

The Kabaneri commander flew into a rage, pointing at him and loudly ordering his men.

Over a hundred Kabaneri guards immediately charged at him.

The roof of the palace was covered in smooth glazed tiles, yet these heavily armored imperial guards moved with agility and swiftness.

From his estimation, becoming a Kabaneri had increased their overall attributes by at least one or two times.

If he could unlock the secret to mass-converting people into Kabaneri and form an army of them, it would greatly accelerate his efforts to cleanse the entire world!

Ryou's heart burned with excitement, and his gaze toward the woman opposite him was filled with desire as if he were looking at a treasure chest filled with riches.

The woman involuntarily shivered, feeling as if she had been targeted by something terrifying.

With his heightened senses, Ryou could tell that the woman opposite him was strong, but the threat she posed was far from life-threatening.

If she couldn't threaten his life, then she was nothing more than a treasure chest waiting to be opened!

As for the hundred Kabaneri guards charging at him, they might be able to handle an army of ten times as many ordinary soldiers.

But they were no match for him!

Without wasting any words, Ryou summoned a large katana, nearly as tall as he was.

He held the sword horizontally at his waist, his hand resting on the hilt, and stepped forward with one foot.

He assumed a standard iaido stance.

As soon as the foremost enemy was within two meters of him, a silver-white lightning bolt flashed, followed by a dozen more, flickering in the air.

The silver-white light traced a massive hemispherical shape, and as soon as over a hundred Kabaneri stepped into it, they froze in place.

There was a light "click" as Ryou calmly sheathed his sword.

This sound was like the flip of a switch; countless blood streaks suddenly appeared on the Kabaneris' bodies, and then they shattered into dozens of pieces. Blood sprayed like a fountain.

Ryou nodded in satisfaction. This technique, which he had developed during his dream trials, was something he had named [Storm], a wide-area sword skill.

However, when he demonstrated it to a sword master like Sasaki Kojiro, all he received was a single comment: "All show, no substance."

But Ryou was quite pleased with it himself—it was perfect for clearing out mobs.

While he remained at ease, the two people opposite him were utterly shocked, especially the imperial guard commander, whose eyes were nearly bulging out of their sockets.

No matter how strong a Kabaneri was, they were still within the realm of humanity.

Ryou's display had already reached a superhuman level.

However, thinking of the Empress Dowager's methods, the commander could only suppress his urge to flee and positioned himself in front of her.

He didn't dare engage Ryou in combat, but he loudly berated the soldiers below, ordering them to come up and die in his place.

"You idiots! Hurry up and get up here to protect the Empress Dowager!"

When the commanding officer gives an order, the rank-and-file soldiers naturally have no choice but to obey. Soon, they were forming human ladders and searching for real ladders, turning the solemn scene into a chaotic hustle and bustle.

Seeing this, the Empress Dowager frowned slightly.

"Enough! You disgraceful fools, get down this instant!"

Her crisp, commanding voice was full of authority.

The imperial guards immediately retreated in shame.

The commander hesitated and glanced at the Empress Dowager, only to receive a fierce glare from her phoenix-like eyes, nearly causing him to miss a step and fall.

Finally, only two figures remained.

PS: I only used Google Maps. If there are any errors, I apologize in advance.