The Magician of Clow

Chapter 1501 Those Budding Thoughts Behind the Scenes (Part 2)
This is unacceptable!

The fatal blow was casually blocked by the seemingly weakened youth. The gaunt man's pupils contracted, and then, at that moment, the other man's light laughter rang out.
The whispered words struck him like a thunderclap! An unprecedented sense of crisis instantly gripped the gaunt man's heart.
But it was too late!
boom--!
A beam of light expanded dramatically from the white-robed youth, blasting away all the shikigami, sonic blades, and slashes. Intense magical energy erupted from where he stood in the night sky.
Countless rays of light emerged, their intricate paths intertwining, and within the finely detailed array of patterns, two points of light rotated out of the outermost circle.
A massive, mysterious, and magnificent array, tens of meters high, unfolded grandly in the night sky!

As it unfolded, the light array that had just condensed the star cone slowly rose towards its center.
The two arrays are nested together, their light as bright as day!
At this moment, bathed in the radiance of a mystic array spanning dozens of meters, his white hair and robes fluttering in the breeze, the young man held his jade ruler high, his expression radiant with a devout smile:
"Using the dragon as a guide,"

With the golden, magnificent array activated, he opened his eyes, which shone like those of a divine ruler.

"A spark can ignite a blazing fire!"

The next instant, as his words fell, the Star-Guiding Cone at the center of the array above suddenly enlarged. Empowered by the magnificent array spanning tens of meters, the already powerful attack was amplified, transforming into a strike of an even higher level.
When the mysterious formation was displayed, the giant star cone, several meters in size, resembled a spearhead of divine punishment!
Amidst the intense light and turbulent currents, the five people below looked up at the attack, their pupils filled with horror, both in its scale and its power.

This attack has clearly surpassed the B-level standard and entered the A-level realm!
"Impossible! You're clearly only a B-rank!"

Unable to believe it, the gaunt man screamed, his face contorted in disbelief. Then, a sudden thought struck him: could the other person be from that legendary...?
They couldn't think about any of that anymore; all they wanted to do upon seeing this was retreat. However, the aloof leader suddenly realized with horror that...

Unbeknownst to him, his feet were suddenly bound by a spreading array of light, rendering him unable to move!

Was he stalling just now?
"Midnight does not interfere in reality, but that is by no means a reason for you to act recklessly."

At this moment, hearing the young man speak coldly, not only he but everyone else realized that their target had been all of them from the beginning. But now it was too late.

In the face of life-or-death crisis, it was that aloof man who bit into a shikigami's communication card and shouted:

"Fire!!!"

At the same instant, the artillery units that had been positioned nearby received orders. Although they didn't understand why they were being told to do this, they opened fire without hesitation.
Rumble, rumble—!
The night trembled, and artillery fire erupted! Hundreds of missiles and shells, like a swarm of bees awakened, tore through the silence of the night, trailing dazzling flames.

A devastating barrage of bombs wove itself into the air, raining down upon the outskirts of the city!

Realizing this at that moment, the white-robed youth, controlling the giant star cone as it plummeted, frowned as he gazed at the distant firelight in the night sky.
He hadn't expected the other side to have prepared such an arrangement. Faced with missile and artillery bombardment, even he wouldn't have been able to escape unscathed without thorough defenses.

However, he used all his mental energy to maintain his strongest attack and the trapping formation, leaving him with no extra strength to defend.
However, if some of their abilities are removed, these people might be able to escape with their lives!

Caught in a dilemma, but the fleeting opportunity in the heat of battle left no time for further thought. After a brief internal struggle, he decided to eliminate the threat completely. At that moment, the young man in white gritted his teeth and swung the jade ruler down.
The giant star cone accelerated its way down from the center of the formation towards the five people, but at the same time, missiles and artillery fire rained down on them from the night sky.
The relentless bombardment brought scorching winds that threatened to engulf him in an instant!
But at this moment!

A peaceful voice rang out from the distant night.

"Absolute Sword - Leaping Spirit Abyss".

The sound rang out, and the sword arrived!
A sword beam, condensed to its utmost, flashed across the night sky. It traced a trajectory, disappeared into the void, and in the next instant, transformed into a dazzling sword light tens of meters in diameter, illuminating the night sky.
The sword light, clear and cold, swept across the sky with unparalleled power, completely suppressing the dazzling array of starlight below.

Unlike the white-robed youth who relied on array formations, this person possessed an undeniable A-level aura from the start.
The immense sword light pierced the night sky, intercepting all the roar of artillery fire!

At this moment, after the jade ruler swung down, everyone was prepared to be injured, but when they looked up and saw the sword light sweeping across the night sky, shattering all the cannon fire and leaving only sparks flying,
A look of surprise appeared on the white-clad youth's face, while the five figures below were completely engulfed by the falling star cone in despair!
Finally, when the array of lights burst and dissipated on the outskirts of the city, this tumultuous scheme came to an end.

As he landed on the ground, the white-clad youth looked at another approaching youth and called out the name with delight in his eyes:
"Brother Jiangran!"

With his striking black hair, sharp eyebrows, and bright eyes, he was taller and more imposing than the young man in white. Unlike the latter, who still appeared somewhat immature, he possessed a maturity and composure that belied his youthful appearance, a gentle smile playing on his lips.

Holding a straight longsword, he resembled a peerless genius from a fantasy novel.

Nearly a decade has passed, and the boy who once traveled the world with his elders has grown up and become an incredibly powerful and dazzling young man of A-rank.

At this critical moment, he blocked the barrage of artillery fire with a single sword strike. Then, with a gentle smile, he called out the name of the young man in white:
"Are you alright, Qinglu?"

"It's alright. If I had been hurt by a few guys like that, Uncle Mingmang would definitely have punished me by making me go into seclusion again." Hearing this concern, the graceful young man named Qinglu smiled lightly, seemingly not taking the enemies from before seriously at all.
Frustrated by his carefree nature, the black-haired youth earnestly reminded him:
"Don't be careless. Don't take risks like you did just now."

Upon hearing his most respected elder brother speak, he quickly nodded to indicate that he knew he was wrong. Then, Qinglu looked in the direction of the five people, confirming that they were no longer alive, and spoke:
"However, Brother Jiangran, there are more people secretly involved in the war than you think over the years. Their existence is ultimately a problem."

Hearing this, and understanding his concerns, the young man with the sword simply replied calmly:
"Don't worry, once things settle down, we'll go and extinguish that country's night-war tradition."

Calm and resolute, his words carried a power that seemed to state facts, yet concealed a sharp edge like a sword. Hearing these words, I felt reassured.

Qinglu then looked in the direction where the train had disappeared into the night, and asked with some worry in the night wind:
"Can we win this battle in the north?"

Hearing his question, the black-haired youth smiled, also gazing into the distance at the night sky. Passing through that withered, almost burning era was like seeing a spark that had already ignited a prairie fire.

A look of certainty flashed in his eyes as he spoke softly:
"Rest assured, this land will surely win."

After saying that, he patted the young man in white on the shoulder.

"Okay, we should go."

Upon hearing this, and seeing his elder brother taking steps ahead, Qinglu quickly followed and asked lightly:

"What about Sister Linlang and the others? Have they all finished their tasks?"

The black-haired youth smiled at him in response to his curiosity.

"You are the last one."

They grew up together in the bamboo forests of the mountains, and as teenagers, they practiced cultivation and traveled together with their elders. Over the past ten years, they have all grown into independent individuals.
During the war years, the young people followed the example of their elders and went down the mountain to wipe out the nighttime invaders who dared to interfere in reality.

Just as they were about to leave after completing their mission, they stopped and instinctively looked back before stepping through the portal home.
The black-haired youth looked towards the city he had first glimpsed as a bustling metropolis, which had now fallen into ruin.

Almost ten years have passed since that trip to North America. In those ten years, he has traveled to many more places and seen many more things.

He witnessed the flames of invasion igniting across the land of China; he saw a madman, a painter by trade, leading an extreme political party to power in Germany and beginning a dictatorship.
He witnessed a president in a wheelchair implementing a "new policy" that reshaped the existing order; he witnessed the chilling purge within the Northern Alliance.
He witnessed the rise of things in the economic, political, and cultural fields, and the eventual outbreak of the Second World War due to the accumulation of numerous contradictions.

In the past decade, amidst the world's dramatic upheavals, it has slid from the Great Depression into an even greater crisis.

And it was all of this that shaped his life and perspective as he grew up from his childhood.

During this time, he also witnessed another thing: the impact of night combat abilities and those who possessed them on the waves of change in this turbulent era.

Using abilities to assist or sabotage in war, as seen tonight, is just the tip of the iceberg.

Night battles do not involve the mortal world.

This was the way his elders had always done, and influenced by them, it was also a principle he believed in. But having witnessed so much turmoil in the world, and the spread of war and suffering,

As I gaze at the Spirit Abyss in my hand, reminiscing about my childhood, I often ponder what I can do for this era with this power.

He couldn't help but think about it.

Is night battle truly unusable in the real world? Can't it be used to save lives?
In the future of this world, where should night combat stand?
That night, on the outskirts of the city, the black-haired youth took one last look at the city before stepping through the portal and disappearing from sight.
Only this thought quietly sprouted in his heart.
Finally finished! Actually, when I posted the last chapter, this one already had over a thousand words. I couldn't stay awake for six days and took a break for one day, and I was stuck again yesterday. I was just about to wrap things up, and I didn't expect that wrapping things up would get me stuck for so long. This side story was really hard to write. Now I can finally figure out how to transition into the slice-of-life part. Let me write a few silly and lighthearted slice-of-life chapters to ease things up.