Meanwhile, near the training grounds, Thumb Guy pulled an extraordinarily bizarre "book" from his robe.
The book's cover resembled a distorted human face, eyes shut tight, mouth agape in a silent, twisted scream of anguish.
This was the Human Skin Book, recently lost by the European Union. It contained a vast collection of obscure and incomprehensible ritual knowledge. Firefly might recall the city defense crisis she encountered when she first appeared and was pulled into a Dimensional Rift. At that time, the European Union's Captain, Wesley, possessed some knowledge from this book and had intended to use it to defend the city.
Of course, before the crisis could fully unfold, Firefly's experimental Ability nipped it in the bud.
Thumb Guy opened the Human Skin Book. Tangled, grotesque lines formed arcane characters that defied comprehension. Even the illegible scribbles of the worst students, derisively called "spider tracks" by their teachers, would have been ten thousand times more legible.
A mere glance at these pages would likely give an ordinary person a splitting headache.
Yet as Thumb Guy scanned the text, his excitement grew, his expression becoming that of a drug addict in the throes of a high. Still gnawing on his thumb, his eyes darted wildly across the page, devouring its contents.
This time, however, Thumb Guy bit down on his thumb with unprecedented force, tearing through the skin and ripping off the nail. Crimson blood stained his entire palm.
"Hey! You weirdo, get out of here! Stop loitering around!" The bizarre spectacle naturally drew the attention of the White Tower staff nearby.
But their concern wasn't "Why is this guy acting so strangely?" but rather "Don't cause a scene here."
In this state and region, addicts like Thumb Guy were all too common. Just as the White Tower staff member was about to shoo him away, Thumb Guy abruptly stopped tearing at his thumb, threw his head back, and began to chant loudly.
Utterly alien sounds poured from his mouth—sounds that, theoretically, human vocal cords shouldn't even be capable of producing.
The next instant, a massive purple portal, over ten meters in diameter, unfurled above Thumb Guy's head, radiating a terrifying aura that sent shivers down the spines of everyone nearby.
Beside them, Baldy "Burke" was pondering what to do. He had just said, "Miss Elysia, could you use some... flashy moves?"
In the blink of an eye, a purple portal materialized nearby, and a dripping, tentacle-like appendage emerged from within.
"Huh?! What's going on here?" Baldy "Burke" exclaimed, his first reaction one of confusion.
"Is this my lucky day?!" he thought, his second reaction one of excitement.
Though Burke had no idea what was happening, nothing demonstrated Elysia's abilities more convincingly than live combat. He turned to her and said, "Miss Elysia, I'm counting on you!"
Before he could finish, Elysia had already shifted her aim toward the portal. A faint sense of familiarity washed over her, not with the portal itself, but with the aura emanating from it.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Someone else was even faster. Bystanders began pulling out firearms and unleashing a hail of bullets at the portal.
This, Burke thought, starkly illustrated the difference between the White Eagle and the Dragon Nation. In the Dragon Nation, most citizens would instinctively call the authorities and flee. But here in White Eagle, they were reaching for their guns and fighting back?
Even the White Tower staff member from earlier had taken things to an extreme. He pulled out an electromagnetically charged rifle with an absurdly futuristic design. After a brief charging period, a brilliant blue beam erupted from the muzzle, piercing the tentacle and severing it in two.
Of course, not all White Eagles were this fearless. Another reason for his actions was that they were right outside the White Tower.
Still, it was enough to shock Elysia. Wait, are all White Eagles overflowing with martial spirit?
"WAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
In the next instant, black flesh erupted from the severed end of the tentacle, and a new appendage rapidly sprouted in its place.
As if sensing pain, a grotesque, ear-splitting roar reverberated from the portal. The main body of the tentacled creature accelerated its crawl through the gateway, and soon, an enormous black octopus materialized before everyone's eyes.
Its entire body glistened with a viscous, sticky slime. Each tentacle's base and the main trunk of its body bore massive vertical pupils that swiveled to fixate on their surroundings.
Immediately, everyone grimaced in discomfort, especially those closest to the portal. They dropped their weapons, clutched their ears, crouched on the ground, and began dry-heaving uncontrollably.
The octopus's rapid regeneration and piercing cries suddenly reminded Elysia of what its presence felt like. Its tentacles felt eerily similar to those of the Black Sheep.
Enduring the nerve-wracking screams, Elysia's bow remained steady, pink arrows flying forth in rapid succession.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Within seconds, every one of the giant octopus's dozens of eyes had an arrow embedded in it. Even those in blind spots, like the ones on its back, fell victim to Elysia's unerring accuracy. Her arrows curved through the air, unerringly finding their targets.
Is it really impossible to miss?
Next, Elysia knelt, aimed at the empty sky above, and fired an exceptionally luminous arrow.
Like a dazzling firework, the arrow exploded above the octopus's head, transforming into dozens of massive pink crystalline spikes that rained down with deadly precision, pinning each tentacle to the ground.
The largest of the crystalline spikes pierced straight through the octopus's main body, entering through its head and exiting through its mouth, pinning it to the ground.
Barely ten seconds after emerging from the portal, the octopus was blinded, paralyzed, and silenced. Only its tenacious life force kept it from instant death, as it writhed helplessly in vain.
Drawing on her previous combat experience, Elysia once again employed a sealing method. Pink crystals began to spread from each spike, and it wouldn't be long before a massive pink octopus statue materialized in its place.
But in the very next moment, another tentacle emerged from the portal.
It was clear now: Thumb Guy's lengthy "incantation" hadn't simply summoned the octopus. If that had been his intention, a magic circle would have appeared, and the creature would have materialized out of thin air. Instead, he had opened a portal, making this octopus merely the vanguard of a horde of monsters about to flood through.