Jinzhou.
The heavy rain abruptly stopped, the falling rain curtain solidified into countless suspended silver threads, and the splashing sound of rain between heaven and earth came to a halt. Human voices became clearly audible in this moment.
"The devices interfering with Court of Savantae technology have been converted into receivers for Court of Savantae technology signals. Personnel have been dispatched to dismantle all Court of Savantae-related creations within the territory."
"Based on the principle of the shielding bracelet, the academy's technology has amplified its range to cover all of Jinzhou."
"Everything is proceeding without error, Magistrate. I have already killed the Fractsidus member who destroyed the protective barrier."
Sanhua's voice rang out in the central square of Jinzhou City. Before her stood a figure as clear and shallow as the moon.
"How much longer until the protective barrier is repaired?"
"I've already asked the academy; it's estimated to be repaired within five minutes."
Upon receiving this reply, Jinhsi let out a slight sigh. She set down the bitter tea in her hand that was emitting wisps of white steam. A trace of weariness appeared on her elegant face:
"As expected, what is meant to come cannot be avoided after all."
The raindrops suspended in mid-air began to tremble—one drop, two drops, countless drops... turning into thousands of anti-gravity falling stars, ascending in reverse along their original trajectories.
They skimmed over wet window sills, passed through shirts swaying on clotheslines, grazed the edges of buildings, shattering and mottling the warm-toned lights that had lit up within Jinzhou City.
Puddles on the road began to shrink, damp fallen leaves returned to dryness, and the ripples splashed by rolling raindrops seemed to be played in reverse.
The only thing unchanged was the perfect full moon phase on the horizon, chilling to the bone.
Under an invisible force, that unbearable past of Jinzhou City was gradually reappearing.
"Sanhua."
Jinhsi quietly watched this reversing heavy rain and spoke softly:
"Sanhua, your eyes can see frequencies. Please tell me: how is my body's condition?"
"Very bad. The frequency in your body has been collapsing continuously, and it cannot be reversed."
"Heh, as expected. If I had discovered and dealt with the Fractsidus earlier back then, perhaps there would have been a different outcome."
Jinhsi smiled bitterly, but her gaze gradually became firm:
"Sanhua, if... a grand and momentum-shaking battle occurs here, how many Jinzhou citizens do you think... would pay attention to it?"
"Many, Magistrate. Many."
"Then I... must seize this opportunity to come again and win cleanly and decisively."
Only by winning cleanly and decisively could she thoroughly erase the fear in the hearts of Jinzhou's people from that period and heal this deep, ugly scar engraved in Jinzhou.
Invisible frequencies gathered and reorganized in the middle of the square.
In the curtain of Retroact Rain, a hemispherical red barrier suddenly appeared out of thin air.
That barrier initially had only a three-meter diameter, but in the blink of an eye, it expanded crazily, extending outward at dozens of meters per second, accompanied by maniacal laughter.
The blood-colored barrier completely enveloped the entire Jinzhou City. Countless unaware Jinzhou citizens fearfully stepped out of their doors, once again seeing this familiar barrier.
The fear once dominated by Whisperin Erosion climbed back into their hearts, making them tremble with terror.
"What's going on!"
"That red-clothed freak from the Fractsidus is back?"
"Isn't he dead?"
"Where is the hero of Jinzhou?"
"Magistrate, save us!"
Boom!
The explosion on the square instantly overwhelmed all the noisy sounds. Countless fearful gazes turned toward the square.
There, the iconic structure of Jinzhou City—the central beacon.
It was broken.
A red figure stepped out from the curtain of Retroact Rain, poker cards in his hand flipping freely. The corners of his mouth raised in a contemptuous arc, and a playful voice sounded:
"Just now, I accidentally seemed to have broken something."
A Fractsidus member reported from behind him: "Report to Overseer Scar, you just blew up Jinzhou's central beacon."
Scar impatiently swung a slap, heavily knocking that member to the ground: "Get lost! I don't need you to remind me."
He clapped his hands, and two Fractsidus members behind him worked together to carry out a ferocious black-purple eyeball half the height of a person.
In the next instant, those two members laboriously pried open the eyelids of the black-purple eyeball, and the sinister, evil pupil beneath the eyelids gradually emerged bit by bit.
Around the square, countless Jinzhou citizens watching this scene from afar had no more illusions in their hearts.
They knew that Fractsidus Scar had truly made a comeback. As long as that eyeball fully opened, endless whispers would completely drown Jinzhou.
In the past, Jinzhou City had fallen in exactly this way.
"Sacred light!"
A clear and cold voice abruptly sounded. That eyeball, whose pupil had not yet fully opened, was attacked by a terrifying snow-white energy. The two artisans beside it were directly reduced to ashes.
"Who is it!"
Scar was shocked and furious. He twisted his head to look toward the sky, only to see a dragon-horned girl as white and serene as the moon hovering in the air on her sword.
Jinhsi's gaze was ice-cold and resolute. She stepped forward, resonance energy erupting from her body, her voice spreading throughout the city:
"Please have no fear, citizens of Jinzhou. I, the Magistrate, will definitely protect Jinzhou completely!"
Coming again once more, she must guard Jinzhou, and moreover—win beautifully!
As Jinhsi's words fell, the panicked commotion in Jinzhou City immediately subsided. All the citizens looked toward Jinhsi with eyes full of expectation.
"Hehehe, Magistrate of Jinzhou..."
Scar held his forehead and suddenly began laughing in a low voice, his laughter growing increasingly rampant:
"Last time, the lord of that small place said the same thing, but later, ah, all her citizens were very well taken care of by me!"
Several poker cards flew out like lightning, shattered by several Sentinel illusions swung out bare-handed by Jinhsi, exploding into large amounts of smoke and dust in mid-air.
From behind the smoke and dust came a deafening roar. A massive horned demon figure leaped from below upward, piercing through the thick smoke and dust, wielding a blade and heavily slashing toward Jinhsi in mid-air.
Although his mouth was disdainful, Scar's body was honest—from the start, he sacrificed his biggest trump card: Overclocking transformation, even hiding in the smoke and dust for a sneak attack.
That massive wooden blade built up momentum, wrapped in sharp wind sounds. If it hit, even Jinhsi would be shattered to pieces.
But such a strike had already been deduced hundreds, thousands of times in Jinhsi's mind.
"Disgusting posture, moves full of openings."
In her second playthrough, Jinhsi coldly snorted. She only slightly shifted sideways in mid-air, and that massive wooden blade missed her fluttering hem by a hair's breadth.
"What!" Scar's pupils suddenly contracted. Before he could change his move, he only felt the flow of time suddenly slow down. He heard a ethereal clear shout by his ear:
"Fallen star!"
He only felt a chill in his chest, as if pierced by some foreign object. His massive body uncontrollably plummeted. During this, cold blade edges constantly roamed around his body, adding deep knife marks one after another.
"Sacred light!"
The massive body about to hit the ground was once again collided upward into the sky by a Sentinel illusion rising from the ground.
"Pfft—ah!" The powerful impact force caused Scar to spit out a mouthful of black blood. In mid-air, with nowhere to borrow force, his four vertical pupils reflected that dragon-horned girl with magnificent light radiating all around her.
Sentinel illusions surrounded the hovering Jinhsi. As she formed seals with her hands, vast energy continuously surged out—
"Heaven ordains. Banish all vice!!"
The clear and cold words, like a final judgment, fell together with dragon roars and thunder shocks.
After the thunder suddenly rang out, on the Jinzhou square, the horned demon and the group of Fractsidus figures were no longer seen. Even the only broken central beacon quietly restored to its original state.
As for the blood-colored barrier surrounding Jinzhou, it turned into scattered points of light and dissipated, revealing the reassuring protective barrier behind it.
"Magistrate Jinhsi! Magistrate Jinhsi!"
Someone excitedly shouted at the top of their voice, immediately followed by more people in unison:
"Magistrate Jinhsi!"
"Magistrate Jinhsi!"
"Magistrate Jinhsi!"
The shouts grew louder and louder, until the whistling cheers resounded throughout the city.
In the corner of the square, a clear and shallow moon-white figure turned back. A gentle smile that had not been seen for many days finally appeared on her exquisite face.
At her side, that black figure following her like a shadow showed an expression of intolerance:
"Magistrate, your body is becoming more prone to Overclocking..."
Once upon a time, how high was the Magistrate's Overclocking limit? Now, just slightly using power, her entire person was almost about to shatter...
"I can still hold on. Let's return to City Hall, Sanhua. Help me connect to the frontline communications."