Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 297 - 269: New Grudges and Old Hatreds

Chapter 297: Chapter 269: New Grudges and Old Hatreds

At the exit of Aizu Castle, a phantom-like specter occupied the middle of the wide highway, surrounded by many downed members of the Katsuragi Gang. The monster flickered in and out of the barriers that had been used for defense, its misty form flitting unpredictably.

Bang!

Lila pulled the trigger, and the bullet went straight through the center of the specter without causing any damage, piercing the road behind it and leaving a crater in its wake. The monster stood in the middle of the road as if in a daze, motionless.

"Lila! You finally arrived!" Asa Katsuragi stood inside a gas station by the roadside — core members of the gang each armed with a weapon, leaning on their motorcycles. She looked anxious and uneasy, draped in a heavy, burgundy coat, holding a crowbar with a firm grip.

"Traffic jam," Lila recalibrated her sniper rifle.

"We thought the assault squad from Black Fire Innovation would come," Asa Katsuragi said angrily, "but instead, these monsters showed up! It killed many in an instant, and nothing we do seems to hurt it!"

"Black Fire Innovation won’t come," Lila jumped down from the back of Chainsaw Angel, "their first wave of attack isn’t aimed here; it’s the command center of Kyoto Infinity and its affiliated companies. Then they will take control of the anti-air defenses, security bases, airports, missile launch sites, and later, threaten or attack other third-party companies, establishing a Temporary Committee to detain and manage the population. Aizu City will be the last to fall."

"We can’t just wait for the Martinez to take down the whole of Anjiu City!" Asa Katsuragi muttered, "We need to do something, or we’ll be too passive."

"But you are being held back at the exit by a phantom monster!" Lila shook her head.

"It’s impossible to defeat it," Asa Katsuragi said in confusion, "nothing can harm it, as you’ve seen."

"It’s a Phase Demon," Chainsaw Angel said with a wealth of knowledge, "They are beings that live in the gaps, and only materialize when attacking. Bullets and bombs can’t affect them."

"So it needs to be subdued in close combat?" Lila deduced, "Make it reveal itself, then defeat it in one fell swoop."

"Exactly, let it taste the power of humans!" Asa Katsuragi leaped out of cover and charged toward the Phase Demon wielding her crowbar.

"Boss Katsuragi!"

"Aaagh—"

"Follow her!" The rest of the gang members immediately howled, rushing forward after Asa Katsuragi.

"Reckless guys..." Chainsaw Angel murmured, "but I have no right to judge others anymore, I am the one who failed."

"Your opinion is very valuable," Lila said with a steadiness.

She received a call from the Nestor Corporation Witch Department, the communication quality was poor—signals from the surrounding base stations had been damaged to various extents.

"...Lila!" Mizuiro Yoshioka’s voice came through, "...we’re trying to escape to Aizu City..."

"Has Shijin Mansion been taken?" Lila frowned.

"...Not yet... but it’s dangerous! The bombing... "

"Hold it," Lila ordered, "that’s an order."

"You’re so heartless..." Mizuiro Yoshioka’s voice was intermittent.

"Shijin Mansion is your position, I refuse to accept anyone fleeing without fighting," Lila said icily.

"Dammit..." Mizuiro Yoshioka ended the call.

"Tough," Chainsaw Angel held her breath, thinking of 102 who should be in Shijin Mansion, and silently prayed for 102’s safety.

"My gentleness is reserved for one person only," Lila said.

At the exit, Asa Katsuragi activated the battle mode of her nano armor — bright red nanobots crawled over her entire body, forming an armor that resembled a fierce dragon. The Phase Demon let out a screech and lunged at Asa Katsuragi, its massive claws sweeping through the air, materializing midway through the swing, its scaled appearance standing out starkly. Asa Katsuragi swung upward in response, her crowbar clashing with the Phase Demon’s claws, mashing them into a bloody mess.

The Phase Demon reverted its damaged claw back to invisibility. Its entire body flickered into disappearance with an extremely strange manner of movement — one second it was fighting beside Asa Katsuragi, the next it appeared over the heads of other gang members behind her.

"It’s coming—"

"Help!"

"Spread out!" They screamed in agony, overwhelmed with fear, feeling a primal dread of this supernatural entity. The Phase Demon revealed half of its body and swung its claw fiercely. Almost instantly, its sharp claws bisected two gang members — one was torn in half, viscera flying across the air, while the other took a hit to the head, neck instantly twisted, with the head dangling limply to the chest.

By the time others frantically opened fire at the Phase Demon, it had slipped back into nothingness; this time, not even a shadow was left, making it impossible to predict its next target.

"Roar!" The Phase Demon charged into the gas station by the road, directly targeting the backup armed personnel on standby there, causing them to jump in fright and hastily pick up their readily available weapons to retaliate.

The Phase Demon swiped with its claws—

Bang!

The sound of gunfire rang out, and half of its arm was shot off, falling to the ground, vanishing into thin air. Lila worked the bolt of her rifle vigorously; her magic power could track the trace of the Phase Demon. Whether it turned invisible or phased into another dimension before reappearing, Lila could instantly find its position.

The Phase Demon, having missed its mark, immediately retreated instinctively. This time, it vanished completely, burrowing into another space and did not return.

Whew... Everyone on the scene let out a sigh of relief and cast admiring looks toward Lila. Clad in black combat armor, Lila Nestor had become their savior!

Just then, the sound of a klaxon blared repeatedly.

"Assemble!" A Sakura painted Kyoto Infinity shuttle machine quickly arrived, traveling through the underground road, calling out to them, "In the name of Kyoto Infinity Security Headquarters: we are conscripting all armed personnel and witches of New Aizu Security Company and Nestor Corporation. Your units will be subject to unified dispatch by the wartime supreme command!"

"This..." Asa Katsuragi furrowed her brows, officially, she was still a security contractor recognized by Kyoto Infinity.

Temporary workers, cannon fodder.

Any idiot knew what being "conscripted" under these circumstances meant. Lila thought to herself. Her side would definitely be sent to the front lines to have a showdown with the Martinez and the Yama, to fight against the advanced warship and the ancient monster, spilling their own blood until it runs dry, all just to protect the interests of Kyoto Infinity.

Even if they helped Kyoto Infinity win the defense, the outcome would be meaningless. They would still be shackled by Kyoto Infinity, continuing to eke out an existence within their designed system.

"Refusal," Lila said firmly, holding her sniper rifle, "Due to constraints, my company cannot coordinate with your operations."

"This is a Kyoto Infinity company territory!" The Kyoto Infinity personnel spoke forcefully, "Your company is subordinate to the Kyoto Infinity management system. If you refuse to respond to the call, everyone will be assigned a negative credit code, all company privileges will be revoked, and you will be subjected to severe accountability!"

"Try tagging that monster overhead in red; tell it the Century Pure Land System restricts its movement. Unfortunately, you also don’t have the capability to ward off external enemies," Lila aimed at the critical components of the shuttle machine, "Now, get lost."

"Scum of Aizu City." The shuttle machine turned and fled immediately. It too was evading the pursuit of Black Fire Innovation’s heavy combat planes, whose professional pilots were demonstrating their exceptional military prowess.

After the Kyoto Infinity personnel left, those on the scene each had their own thoughts.

"Anjiu City is burning in the flames of war; everything is changing," said Chainsaw Angel, looking into the distance. Her gaze penetrated the underground passage, seeing the massive structures collapsing amidst the smoke, the ground shaking continuously without pause from the beginning, as if an infinite-sized monster was incessantly writhing.

"Have we completely torn faces with Kyoto Infinity now? No more playing the corporate hierarchy games with them?" Asa Katsuragi asked Lila.

"The master isn’t here; I need to have the courage to make decisions," said Lila coldly, "It was the company that broke me into pieces—there’s no difference between these giant corporations. We must defeat them, it’s just a matter of sooner or later. The present is the starting point of our proclamation of resistance; we will all respond to the call."

"Do we have enough forces?" Asa Katsuragi mused.

"Sorry, I’m late, got stuck in traffic," Kong Tai rushed over, trailing behind him were 8 large trucks. From them, numerous members of The Flying Birds Group rapidly descended, each one holding a standard-issue rifle, dressed in uniform, ready to join the battle at a moment’s notice.

Meanwhile, at the Shijin Mansion.

The sudden attack made Shallow Dream cry out in fear. She hid in the center of the activity room, disturbed by the exploding bombs and loud noises everywhere. The real-time reports on the news flickered by, but she still caught a glimpse of the dreadful image of Yama—its body covered with human skull faces, frightening in appearance, devouring lives, hill-sized, hardly affected by bullets or artillery.

"Lila asked us to hold this place!" Mizuiro Yoshioka dashed downstairs shouting, "Don’t be afraid!"

"Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid!" 102 hugged Shallow Dream tightly, "You must not be afraid!"

"Wooo..." Shallow Dream wept on 102’s shoulder.

Mizuiro Yoshioka thought of the sophisticated defense system that Xu Yang had left for the entire Shijin Mansion and immediately activated it.

High-grade metal shields rose from within the building, reconfiguring to protect each piece of vulnerable glass. Piercing alarms sounded inside the building as every entrance was locked down by blast doors. All radar and alarm systems went online, and suspicious movements on each floor were instantly reported.

It was for this reason that when the Black Fire Innovation para-dropped assault team arrived at the rooftop of the Shijin Mansion, they were also alerted immediately.

"Someone’s coming down!" Mizuiro Yoshioka tapped into the camera feed and saw several well-trained Black Fire Assault Squad members landing on the rooftop terrace of the Shijin Mansion. According to prior reconnaissance by Blackfire spies, the Shijin Mansion was considered a safe drop zone awaiting auction.

"This is Witch Division territory!" 102 yelled, "Drive them away!"

"...Black Fire Innovation is the chief culprit behind all the tragedies," 101 longed for revenge, "They turned us into tools for killing."

"Let’s go, take them out!" Mizuiro Yoshioka, also angry, said, "Black Fire Innovation never pays on time and doesn’t provide insurance for temporary workers."

Destroying Black Fire Innovation, unquestionably the right thing to do.