The celestial anomaly occurred at 7:00 PM local time on Lumina Planet. A sudden earthquake instantly swept through the entire Sero Great Forest, and naturally, it also affected the surrounding military bases.
Even standing on the fixed military-grade composite material floor, the soldiers of the General Headquarters could still feel the tremors that numbed their entire bodies.
They saw buildings swaying, towers trembling, and the arcs on the magnetic storm wall flickering more intensely, as if they could transform into rampaging Titan Dragons at any moment.
This massive base, which had given them an infinite sense of security, seemed like a fragile leaf in a raging storm during the world-shattering earthquake, and they were like invisible mosquitoes on that leaf, liable to be overturned at any moment by the might of heaven and earth.
They could also see the towering giant trees in the Sero Great Forest opposite being torn, broken, and flung into the air by invisible shockwaves and howling gales. Further away, the sprawling, majestic mountain ranges began to shift, deform, and even collapse and twist.
Yes, at this moment, the light barrier that had enveloped the entire Sero Great Forest for a whole day finally dissipated.
However, the earthquake followed immediately, as if the light barrier had transformed into the earthquake itself.
And then, what was revealed before everyone was a catastrophe of world-destroying proportions.
The New Seville Security Commander, also the current Commander of the Lumina Rebels Cultist Suppression General Headquarters, Brigadier General Juan Luben, was pulled out by his Guardians from overturned furniture and a pile of spilled liquids.
At the time of the earthquake, Brigadier General Luben was about to have dinner, and thus, he and his dinner were buried by an overturned luxurious bookshelf and floor cabinet.
Fortunately, his Guardians were loyal and courageous. Enduring the fear of the earthquake and suppressing the urge to flee in panic, they still managed to dig out the Commander.
Brigadier General Luben was in great pain. He had at least two ribs broken by the heavy antique-style furniture. But his heart ached even more, because this luxurious bookshelf, ordered from the Empire, had cost him half a year's income—note, income, not salary—and was naturally his beloved possession, but now it had completely disintegrated into a pile of rotten wood boards that still emitted a faint fragrance.
But now was not the time for double the pain. He calmly asked, “An earthquake?”
“Yes, sir, we…” The Guardian Captain was about to speak, but the General shook his head again: “No, it’s not an earthquake! I’ve been here for twenty years, and I’ve never heard of the Sero Great Forest having earthquakes. It must, it must be those spiritual energy users stirring up something strange again!”
The Guardian Captain felt that even for spiritual energy users, this scene was too exaggerated, but he couldn't refute the General, so he asked, “Then, what do we do?”
“…Order the soldiers to assemble.”
“Assemble?” The Guardian Captain looked as if he was seeing his General for the first time, almost wanting to pry open his head to see inside.
“Yes, assemble! Prepare for deployment!” The Brigadier General raised his voice, repeating his order once more.
His thinking was actually very simple. He was basically certain that the great earthquake was caused by transcendent beings. So whether he waited for the storm to pass and provided support, or if things escalated and he fled, didn't he first need to have everyone assemble?
“Oh, by the way, prepare my airship!” Brigadier General Luben hurriedly added another instruction.
“Confirmed, Commander.” The Guardian Captain finally saluted with relief and went to carry out the order.
Regardless of Brigadier General Luben's true intentions, at his signal, the soldiers within the General Headquarters did indeed regain much of their composure.
By the time everyone truly began to prepare for deployment, the great earthquake had indeed stopped.
At this moment, the detectors, which had finally returned to normal, also received real-time information from Sero Ancient City, over a hundred kilometers away. Looking at the not-so-clear images, the intelligence officers and staff felt inexplicable headaches, all feeling that today's experiences were too rich, and their brains were simply not enough.
They had just experienced a disaster film and hadn't even had time to repair the damage on site, were they now facing a monster film?
At this very moment, Sero Ancient City had long lost its former ruggedness and grandeur. The suspended platforms built into the mountain cliffs, the ornate structures circling among the giant trees, the magnificent temples and towers soaring into the clouds in the valley—all had turned into a heart-wrenching ruin, forming a terrifying tableau titled “Tomb of Civilization.”
This massive city might have been destroyed in the recent great earthquake, but the true culprit should be that colossal figure standing in the center of the city's ruins.
That was a gigantic creature… perhaps a creature. None of the soldiers who saw its true form through the monitor had ever seen such a terrifying creature in reality!
The enormous monster was sprawled over the ruins, using swirling mist and dust as cover, concealing its dark, oppressive body behind them, forming a shadow that almost covered a third of the ancient city.
Orange-red firelight and white-purple electrical discharges occasionally flickered through the mist, piercing its gaps and illuminating the monster's orange-red body.
Thick, long tentacles, like those of an octopus, spread out from behind the mist, swaying in the stagnant evening cold air, like a surging mass of demonic seaweed, sucking the nutrients from this planet and stirring up fierce winds. But what was truly terrifying was that each of those tentacles emerging from the mist seemed to have a distinct head with clear features—some ferocious, some disgusting, some horrifying, some twisted. It was as if each of its tentacles was a snake-bodied monster.
This must be the origin of the name Myriad-Headed Beast, right?
As the winds stirred up by these snake-like bodies or tentacles grew fiercer, the dust and mist gradually began to thin. A pillar-like body gradually became clearer.
It resembled a colossal carnivorous plant twisted and assembled from crimson flesh and dark coal-like stones. The crimson flesh formed the plant's branches and pistils, while the dark stones stood askew like carapaces, forming the petals.
As for those tentacles with various monster heads, they would be equivalent to vines, perhaps.
What an ineffable and terrifying image; just one glance felt like it would drain one's sanity. However, if one could truly brave its ugliness and look closely for a few more moments, one might even perceive a twisted beauty in its form.
The soldiers found it incredible. Their rationality told them that no one with normal aesthetic sense could possibly accept such an image. Yet, their emotions disagreed.
Ordinary people naturally didn't know that this was merely the material beings' natural yearning for things from the Void Realm.
Indeed, some scientists believe that the Void Realm should be a higher-dimensional world. And the craving of lower-dimensional life for higher dimensions is also natural.
In any case, this transcendent Void Realm demon beast had indeed fully entered this material world in its physical form.
Of course, not only the General Headquarters but everyone else would certainly notice it.
Ten thousand meters above in the sky, the massive Corsica battlecruisers passed through the clouds, revealing its majestic and rugged steel fortress-like form directly above Sero Ancient City and the Myriad-Headed Beast.
“Finally here! This is a Void Realm demon beast! It truly is—” Elinore looked down at the demon beast below with great interest. She had never seen such an opponent, so her sense of novelty was naturally at its peak.
Autumn Mountain Yawata nodded: “Yes, the Myriad-Headed Beast. One of the top-tier Void Realm demon beasts, certified by the Guerrilla Association as a Planet Catastrophe-level threat. It possesses almost infinite vitality, as well as abilities like spatial shockwaves, great earthquakes, void walking, and spatial stabilization!”
“Compared to the Empire's Mountain King Strongmen, who is stronger?”
“The Mountain King Strongmen are far inferior. If we were to compare it to the Empire's war behemoths… it should be comparable to those few thousand-year-old Titan Dragons.”
Her senior sister responded with an noncommittal “Oh,” with an expression that said, “Is that all?”
“There have been instances of thousand-year-old Titan Dragons taking down battlecruisers, you know,” Yahata reminded her expressionlessly.
“I know, I’m not taking it lightly. Haven’t you seen that the engines and shields are all running at full capacity? We can bail out anytime.”
Autumn Mountain Yawata nodded with satisfaction. He pushed up his glasses and added, “This way, it’s the Lumina Rebels and the cultists themselves who caused their own demise. The crime of destroying the ancient city will not be on us, no matter what.”
“What do you mean?” Her senior sister looked at him with confusion.
“The reason New Seville’s local anti-rebellion forces didn’t use orbital bombardment was due to pressure from the international community, who said that Sero Ancient City was a cultural heritage of the All-Galaxy and hoped it wouldn't be destroyed in the war. The Earth Government relayed their opinions to the Star District Government, and the Star District Government then informed New Seville. To be honest, with so many layers of pressure, if I were Brigadier General Luben, I wouldn't dare to act rashly either.”
“…In plain terms, they didn’t dare to take responsibility,” Elinore sneered.
“Precisely. But if those at the top don’t dare to take responsibility, why should we expect those below to take responsibility?”
Elinore gave Autumn Mountain Yawata a half-smile, sideways glance: “Lieutenant Autumn Mountain, I understand now why Yuli gets along so well with you.”
“…Your subordinate is truly mortified!”
Elinore turned and strode with her long legs towards the bridge. She adjusted her military cap and said in a deep voice, “Vacuum Shockwave Bombs, pipes 1, 2, and 3, begin energy injection! 4, 5, and 6, prepare for loading! Shields continue to operate at normal power! Firepower team, what’s the status of the neutron bombs?”
Feedback from various departments quickly came from the bridge, all indicating everything was normal and ready for action.
Autumn Mountain Yawata followed behind Elinore, reminding her, “The electromagnetic signals are still chaotic, but since the Void Ring is gone, communications should be able to be barely restored. Should we contact Captain Yu Lian?”
Elinore hesitated for half a second, then bit her silver teeth and said in a deep voice, “…Yuli said, once you see the enemy, don’t hesitate! Attack immediately! I choose to trust him.”
Autumn Mountain Yawata nodded, without any objection.
“Vacuum Shockwave Bombs, commence bombardment!”
Well, I'll just pay off my debts casually today.