Skyfire Avenue - Chapter 869

Chapter 869

Chapter 869: Sobering Kiss

The Keeper and Bookworm were helping the Pharmacist, working hard to keep enemy reinforcements at bay .

Chu Cheng had returned to Tyrannosaurus, because each bastion required a Paragon commander . Hua Li had left to gather the Tears of Neptune, as requested by Li Ke . Other than them, all the rest of mankind’s Paragons were here, at war [1 . Alright, but where is the damn Astral Phantom?!] .  However, not all of the alien leadership had come .

Including the Prince and the other three Infinite-level attackers, only seven alien elite were here . Perhaps that was the limit they could teleport with their abilities . Still, it was more than enough to destroy Middle Heaven . Losing the East’s last hope was unacceptable, so this fight had to quickly be moved elsewhere .

Ka-cha! For a moment everything froze, went silent, and was overlaid with a pink light . Then everything began to quake and ripple .

Lan Jue’s pain and rage came crashing down on the Prince . Monster though he was, he was still a living thing and the fear that gripped him was real . His defense stuttered from the Photographer’s intervention .

His hesitation lasted only a moment before everything returned to normal . In that moment Luo Xianni cast her hand toward Jun’er, emitting a beam of light that hung over the small girl . She disappeared, and with her the shell of protective power she’d created . The Photographer’s Domain shattered as well .

But as the tides of protogenia burst out, obliterating everything in the room, the aliens were shocked to find what lay behind the metal walls . They weren’t in Middle Heaven any longer . They were out in space, separate from the armada .

Teleported?

Luo Xianni’s reaction had been a clever one . She didn’t try to teleport everyone directly for she knew it was likely to be blocked by the aliens’ power . After all, their enemy had the power advantage .  

Instead she called upon the Wine Master to conceal their plans, releasing his Domain as though he were there to support their defenses . While he did so she spread her power out and carved a pocket of reality around the whole room . She moved them, and in fact that whole cabin out into space .

Since the Violet Prince was distracted by Lan Jue’s attack, he hadn’t noticed nor had time to prevent it . Thus Luo Xianni was able to succeed with her ploy . In fact even Luo Xianni was surprised it worked .

A harsh roar bellowed from the Prince . He was calling for others .

“Grab A-Jue, get him to snap out of it . ” Luo Xianni grunted, and a pink light surrounded Lan Jue and Zhou Qianlin . Both were pulled back from the Prince, and Luo Xianni took their place .

He had a healthy fear of the Photographer as well . Though she was not as powerful as that human with the staff, she was the only other creature who could stand toe to toe with him . Aside from her only Lan Jue and Qianlin’s Harmonious Swords could defeat him .

Lan Jue swiped with Captus but struck empty space . His red, angry eyes were cast all around to search for something to kill but were met with only the twinkling stars .  

It was him . He killed Xiuxiu – he killed her!

The only thought running through his addled mind was vengeance for Xiuxiu . His rage, his need for blood, had thrust him into a berserker frenzy .

“A-Jue, you have to calm down!” Zhou Qianlin hugged him tightly from behind to try and stop him from racing off . He was not himself, and the torrent of emotion he felt was preventing him from summoning his full power . The only way they might defeat these creatures is through the Harmonious Swords .

As she held onto him Qianlin released her Domain . The Light of Guanyin fell over the battlefield and the two of them . Its calming nature soothed the erratic flows of protogenia radiating from Lan Jue .

One of the most dangerous situations for a Paragon was to lose control of their protogenia . These powers belonged to the universe, and were borrowed by the Paragon . They were conduits, and if they lost control of this flow the power of the universe could backfire . A rebound like that could destroy the Paragon .

The Queen of Heaven’s powers were magnificent for just this situation . Almost instantly the dangerously regular pulses of protogenia were calmed . To Lan Jue it felt like a gust of warm wind blowing through him, soothing his heart and easing his pain .

He stopped, struck dumb in the moment of his anger . He began to shake as tears rolled down his face .

“Xiuxiu… Xiuxiu’s dead . She’s dead!” He lifted is left hand, and held tightly in his palm was a small storage device she’d given him just before she died . Somehow she’d managed to protect it from being destroyed by the Violet Prince’s attack .

He didn’t know what it was she gave him . He almost didn’t want to know, but it was the only thing of hers he had left . He felt the sorrow and guilt growing in his heart .

Lan Jue slowly turned and faced Zhou Qianlin . She looked hazy through his tears . “Xiuxiu is dead . The Violet Prince killed her . ”

Qianlin didn’t answer him . With pain in her own eyes she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply .

Her lips were warm . The essence of her – of her compassion and her love – was conveyed through that kiss into his body . It nourished him, nourished his soul . No words were needed now . Through that kiss Zhou Qianlin told him that he still had her . She was still here .

The blood-shot color drained from his eyes . Gradually the haze of rage and anguish drained away .

Qianlin put her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him away . She looked depply into his eyes . “We can’t be sad now . We have to kill our enemies, and make them sacrifices to the memory of Xiuxiu . ”

He nodded firmly, causing the tears to be cast from his face . They floated in the nothingness around them . He took her hand in one of his gripped tightly to Captus with the other .

Zhou Qianlin’s kiss had calmed enough to where he didn’t rush back into the fight . He stood at a distance, surveying what was going on .

Seven enemies . Among them were the Violet Prince and three other Infinite-level aliens . On his side, other than his brothers all other Paragons were in combat .  

Luo Xianni was trading blows with the Prince . Luckily she didn’t have to worry about universal protogenia while under the protection of Qianlin’s Domain . The Terminator also had one of the elite locked down, and for the time being he needn’t worry for his life .

But the situation was more precarious for the Gods of Wine . It was four on one, but the four humans were only part of the Realm of Protogenia . Luckily for them the Pontiff’s abilities were opposed to the monster’s, and the Gods of Wine were expertly keeping her on her back feet . If any of them slip up, however, it could mean their death .

Things also looked dire for the Pharmacist . She was strong enough to handle a Nirvana-level foe on her own, but she was currently facing three . The Keeper and Bookworm could only help from the sidelines, and their powerful attacks were barely able to penetrate the enemy’s Domain . None of the three aliens focused on them, because doing so might expose the other two to the Harbinger Faerie’s deadly abilities .

Clearly these beasts’ target was the Pharmacist herself . Under their fierce onslaught Occisus’ light was squeezed into the area just around her, the only thing standing between her and disaster . Things weren’t good anywhere Lan Jue looked .

His observation lasted only a moment, then he made his decision . He threw back his head and let loose a booming cry toward the heavens . His deep, booming shout shuddered through the battlefield, summoned from the depths of his soul, and everyone could feel it . He released his Domain and let it flow from him at full force .

In the distance at least six more Nirvana-level aliens were quickly approaching . Once they arrived, even if Chu Cheng and Hua Li joined the fight, all hope was lost .

If they wanted to survive, they would have to punish the alien attackers dearly right this moment .

His crystal-clear eyes reflected the light of Captus as Lan Jue held the legendary sword aloft . His Boundless Starlight Domain surged forth .

However it did not spread out far . In fact it expanded only three meters around Lan Jue and Qianlin before stopping . Stars in the distance dimmed once his Domain emerged, as though his power drank their light into itself . He and Qianlin let their powers flow, and they amplified each other to a shocking degree .

The Violet Prince narrowed his eyes as he glared their way . Monarch had ordered them to spare nothing to bring that sword back, but the sword wasn’t here . It was back on Middle Heaven .