"This is Site-404. We have successfully sighted the entity's descent on-site."
Inside the Foundation site closest to the entity, a researcher in a white lab coat stared intently at the surveillance screen, his voice trembling uncontrollably. As a Foundation member trained in rigorous anomaly response, he had thought his will could resist any anomalous presence—especially with the protection of the [Hard-Heart] memetic cure.
Clearly, he was wrong.
When that distorted form on the screen truly stepped into the physical universe, the researcher's gaze was drawn to it against his will. In the next second, his consciousness felt as if it had been struck by a heavy sledgehammer. The protection of the memetic cure fluctuated violently, and countless sharp pangs of agony surged through his nerves into his mind.
AAAAAAAH!!!
It was the sensation of countless versions of himself dying at the exact same moment. Every nerve came alive, every inch of skin screamed, and every cell burned. His perception was torn into millions of fragments, each enduring some unspeakable torture. His fingers spasmed over the console, making it difficult to even complete his report.
Just then, the sky changed.
Above Site-404, the chaotic region occupied by distorted space was suddenly shrouded by a tranquil night. It was as if someone had used a massive velvet curtain to tightly cover the entire sky.
Mobile Task Force Beta-777 ("Hecate's Spear") had taken action.
The thaumaturges conducting the ritual chanted ancient incantations. The spatial distortion above the site abruptly calmed, replaced by a midnight-ink sky that seemed to isolate the entire area from the madness exerted by the entity.
The researcher quickly regained clarity and stumbled back to his post. He panted heavily, cold sweat soaking his lab coat, but he struggled back to the console.
"Reporting to Command, Site-404 is back in operation." His voice was hoarse. "The entity remains within visual range. Please provide instructions."
On the holographic screen, the figure of an O5 Councilor appeared in the corner.
"Everyone, prepare to move into attack positions." His voice was low yet reached everyone's ears clearly. "For this world. To end all human suffering. For our next tomorrow."
He paused.
"All units, free fire."
As his words fell, a low roll of thunder rumbled. Everyone instinctively looked up to see several streamlined aircraft cutting through the sky. Their wings were spread, and their sleek bodies shredded every inch of air in their path. The metallic hulls were covered in structures resembling feathers, with silver-white electricity coiling around them. Thaumaturgical shields flickered at critical points.
They were the Global Occult Coalition's "Kunpeng God-Slaying Drones"!
In the next moment, they didn't hesitate. With a mere thought from the operators far away at headquarters, a thaumaturgical attack derived from the "Stymphalian Birds" of legend erupted. Surging EVE particles tore through the air, transforming into several bolts of blazing white lightning that struck the entity's descent point with precision from tricky angles.
BOOM!!!
Blinding flares erupted. A mushroom cloud rose over the plains, and a shockwave swept across the earth, hurling surrounding debris and broken timber over a kilometer away. However, once the smoke cleared, the distorted figure remained standing as before. A strange, soap-bubble-like halo flowed over its surface; all attacks were effortlessly deflected by that layer of light.
"Thaumaturgical attack ineffective," the researcher at the monitor reported immediately, his voice dry.
"As expected." The O5 Councilor's gaze was solemn, yet he wasn't surprised. If this entity could be solved so easily, the Foundation wouldn't have had to reach the point of purging humanity. He said calmly, "Continue the attack."
After the probing attacks ended, the various factions unleashed their full power.
The second strike fell from the sky. It was a towering titan of a ship, breaking through the clouds and sailing smoothly under the shroud of the tranquil veil. From the Global Occult Coalition, the anti-gravity warship "Amelia" began charging its electromagnetic projectors, brilliant blue light condensing at the muzzles.
Simultaneously, a secret flash rose from the distant horizon. The thaumaturges of the Serpent's Hand had appeared. These free thaumaturges, who usually dressed flamboyantly and were at odds with official organizations, now stood silently in a row. Thaumaturge Tyler Bryson stood at their front, casting his gaze toward their distant target.
"How rare. I never dreamed that one day we would be fighting side by side with Bookburners and Jailers."
"..."
Clearly, no one responded to him. Tyler shrugged and didn't say anything further. After a brief collective chant, a spear of light rose from their array—a light so blinding it was impossible to look at directly, as if a star had been compressed into a javelin, carrying a torrent of thaumaturgical energy.
Both attacks hit simultaneously.
The earth shrieked. The shockwave leveled all vegetation within several kilometers, and the dust rising from the center of the explosion obscured half the sky. The intense light of the explosion consumed the entity's figure once more, but when the mushroom cloud dispersed, that spectral shadow still drifted out unhurriedly, as if the attacks were merely a passing breeze.
Then, it moved.
The presence faintly raised what could probably be called its head.
In the next second, inside the anti-gravity warship, all operators protected by layers of thaumaturgical shields raised their heads simultaneously. Their eyes rolled frantically in their sockets, their mouths tore open to their ears, and they let out inhuman shrieks. The warship lost power, falling toward the ground like a giant bird with broken wings, trailing thick smoke. It exploded into a brilliant firework in mid-air and was erased by some force in an instant, as if it had never existed.
The entity slowly turned its head, casting its gaze toward the Serpent's Hand position. Of course, the position was already empty. Only some shredded fabric and melted crystals remained on the ground, proving they had once been there.
"Continue the offensive." Inside headquarters, the O5 Councilor's voice remained calm. No one objected. Such casualties were negligible to the desperate alliance at this moment.
In the next instant, the sky was torn open. A brilliant light pierced the clouds like an arrow, precisely hitting the distorted figure.
BOOM!!!
It was a perfect sphere composed entirely of pure psionic energy. It exploded upon impact, rising from the ground like a blue sun. This was a psionic weapon launched by a demonology satellite, specifically designed to destroy and contain gargantuan psionic entities.
This time, the entity swayed. The soap-bubble halo dimmed briefly for a moment.
"Attack effective!" The researcher at Site-404 almost roared, his voice filled with ecstasy. "Repeat, attack effective! The psionic weapon caused observable damage!"
The O5 Councilor's eyes finally showed a flicker of emotion. The technicians around him had already begun frantically pulling data, analyzing the composition of that shield.
"Shield properties confirmed!" someone reported loudly. "It is a psionic-reinforced barrier, but essentially sustained by some continuous, unending energy source! Simple physical or energy attacks are nearly useless. Only high-concentration anomalous attacks—thaumaturgy, reality warping, psionics, theology—can penetrate and cause damage, but its recovery speed is extremely fast!"
"Something is supporting it," the O5 Councilor whispered, a complex emotion in his voice. He didn't say what that "thing" was. Everyone present knew. It was the entity that had invaded the human Noosphere since ancient times, the furnace that drew from human suffering to this day. Based on research estimates, humanity had nearly a hundred billion dead and tens of thousands of years of persistent agonizing will.
"We are fighting against the entirety of human history," the Councilor said calmly. "Continue the offensive. Drain its energy. End all suffering."
"We still have many trump cards to play."
Just then—
"What's the situation?" "This is impossible!" "What happened?"
Exclamations broke out across the Site-404 research station. The O5 Councilor snapped his head up. On the large screen, the shield around the distorted figure was undergoing an incomprehensible change. The energy indices began to plummet. The numbers ticking downward on the detection array left everyone stunned. According to these estimates, the entity's true body would soon be exposed to the human offensive!
No way. Was this a gift from the heavens?
The sudden turnaround left everyone dizzy with joy. The O5 Councilor stared fixedly at the screen, his pupils contracting sharply. He seemed to understand something.
"Is it you..."