From the end of the world

Chapter 642 Scorching Heat 1
The stranger who appeared on the rooftop jumped down.

The rooftop was six stories high; an ordinary person falling directly onto the concrete would at least suffer a broken bone. However, this unfamiliar figure was no ordinary person. Without even trying to cushion the impact after landing, she instantly switched to a high-speed sprint, shooting towards the dozen or so monsters surrounding me like an arrow.

Yes, "she"—this unfamiliar figure was a woman in her twenties.

She had a handsome face, a long black ponytail, healthy wheat-white skin, and a slender, athletic body like a cheetah, reminiscent of a vibrant, athletic woman with a toned physique from working out in the gym. She wore a black uniform of the Impermanence, wielding a sharp, blood-stained Impermanence sword. As she moved at high speed, the reflection of the sword's blade stretched and lengthened rapidly, transforming into a straight, sharp beam of light that instantly struck the face of the monster that was directly in her path.

Half of the first monster's head was cleaved off horizontally. In a fraction of a second, a moment when even the human brain's reflexes couldn't react, the remaining dozen or so monsters all reacted violently.

Like having explosives under their feet, these monsters accelerate from a standstill to peak speed in the blink of an eye, a feat achieved through the manipulation of magic. No animal in the same weight range can sprint as fast as they do. The magic binding them transforms their bodies into beast-like siege weapons, capable of smashing through buildings, let alone human flesh and blood.

The woman's combat prowess, however, surpassed that of the monsters in every aspect. Whether it was reflexes or movement speed, she held an absolute advantage. Like a nimble and skilled bullfighter, she effortlessly found a secluded space to dodge amidst the charging and biting frenzy of a dozen monsters, and as she brushed past them, a dazzling flash of sword light pierced the heads of two more monsters, killing them instantly.

If it were a herd of carnivorous animals in the wild, they would probably have realized they had bitten off more than they could chew by now. But these monsters showed no fear whatsoever. In fact, they seemed to be deeply enraged, forgetting all about me, the "easy target." They opened their blood-red maws and let out a fearless roar, launching a frenzied counterattack against the woman.

Judging from her magical energy fluctuations and combat performance, this woman possesses the strength of a resident. Although it's a bit embarrassing to constantly compare her to Agent Kong, her speed and strength are only slightly inferior to Agent Kong's level, while her skills far surpass them.

The combined strength of these dozen or so monsters would certainly far exceed that of a woman, but in actual combat, calculations cannot be made that way. Without the use of firearms, a human with ten times the physical strength of an average person could potentially defeat a hundred or even a thousand men—a legendary warrior from ancient times, practically a god descended to earth. The power of ten people distributed among ten is entirely different from being concentrated in one person; this highlights the importance of density.

This woman possessed exceptional combat awareness, effectively utilizing her strengths in both ability and weaponry. Through skillful maneuvering, she avoided being surrounded by the monster horde, while simultaneously leveraging the length advantage of her straight sword to deliver a fatal blow from a safe distance.

Within a few rounds, the number of monsters had dwindled to single digits. The woman's battle resembled a tedious task she had done countless times; though her expression was serious, she showed no unease, killing without flinching. Concise, efficient, and hitting the mark.

When the number of monsters had decreased to only three, she suddenly charged forward as if to say, "It's about time to call it a day." Her longsword suddenly burst into orange flames, and the sword light, infused with flames, severed the heads of the last three monsters.

One of the heads rolled to my feet.

The battle is over.

The woman turned to look at me, blood dripping and sliding down the surface of the Impermanence Sword. She didn't sheathe her weapon; her gaze remained wary. I walked towards her.

"--Do not move."

A chilling voice came from behind me—she moved with lightning speed to my very back, and the still-dripping sword of death was placed next to my neck.

"What a disheartening threat," I thought to myself, as I asked, "Who are you?"

“These are my lines,” the woman said warily. “Which faction are you with, and why are you here?”

"Which force are you referring to?" I asked in return.

“Don’t answer a question with a question.”

The woman spoke in a threatening tone, while simultaneously observing me cautiously, "Strange, I can't sense any magical fluctuations... Could it really just be an ordinary survivor? But how could a survivor, especially a child, stand so brazenly in the middle of the street at a time like this..."

It's normal that she can't sense my magical fluctuations.

Previously, others couldn't sense my magical energy fluctuations because my presence was so immense, creating an invisible effect. However, my current strength here isn't yet at the level of a powerful being, so naturally, that phenomenon doesn't occur. It's just that I've skillfully concealed my magical energy fluctuations, which is why she hasn't noticed. The reason for doing this isn't for concealment, but simply to efficiently utilize every bit of magical energy I can draw upon when my available power is limited. The so-called "magical energy fluctuations" are essentially the power I disperse, like the heat emitted by a flame into its environment. While it's impossible to completely eliminate the dissipation of my power, I'm currently beyond the ability of this woman to detect my true strength.

If my observation is correct, this woman should be a believer in Amitabha Buddhism.

The three flaming javelins she used upon her entrance, and the final move that imbued the Impermanence Sword with a flame effect, both exhibited magical fluctuations similar to Xuanming's. This wasn't her own power, but rather she was borrowing external divine power. This reminded me of the "Zhuangcheng Blade" used by the missionaries of the Peach Blossom Spring in the past, but it's clear that the woman didn't rely on magical artifacts or runes; she was purely invoking power through her spiritual faith.

She was undoubtedly one of the Prophet's followers who intended to attack Peach Blossom Spring in this city.

I think she probably knows a lot about the changes and secrets happening in this city. However, she's currently on guard against me, so I doubt she'll speak to me properly. While I could force her into submission, I don't know if taking action against Xuanming's followers would be noticed by Xuanming himself, who is also in this city.

A believer's devotion, sufficient to perform miracles, can have their prayers reach the divine. I don't want Xuanming to discover my intrusion into this place yet, at least not until I can unleash my full power here.

What should we do? We need to think of a clever and roundabout way to extract the information we want.

This kind of mental challenge also piqued my interest. For the first time in a long time, I put my mind to work. It's embarrassing to admit, but since meeting Xiaowan, I've relied on her for most things that require thinking. Now, having only been away from her for a short time, I'm already starting to feel a bit out of place.

"Speak up! What's wrong with you?" the woman urged. "If you don't tell me..."

"I'm just an ordinary person," I said at first.

The woman asked with great suspicion, "Do you think I'd believe that? A grown-up child, oblivious to the danger, walking around in such a dangerous environment, and wearing such clean clothes..."

I remember reading a saying in a martial arts novel: there are four types of people you shouldn't mess with when traveling the martial arts world—the elderly, women, children, and monks. A weak person who can move freely in dangerous environments is either a fool or someone with hidden depths. If a woman saw me, it would be like seeing a mysterious little girl bouncing a ball in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere—she would definitely be suspicious.

And I must admit that my reaction did lack the acting skills to portray fear.

"I've been staying in the basement for a while now..."

I started making up a story for myself—based on the information I had gathered before, the background I created was that I was a teenage survivor of a monster disaster that happened more than twenty days ago. My parents took me and fled, hiding in a small warehouse in a remote part of the city. There we had some food and water there. But recently, the food and water ran out, and my parents went out to explore but didn't return for a long time, so I had to come out of the warehouse to move around.

To enhance my persuasiveness, I also used hypnotic power of words.

Normally, with my current strength, which is below the level of a dwelling being, I wouldn't be able to unleash the power of the Great Impermanence's words. However, the Divination Master explained to me last time that the Great Impermanence's natural privileges are not fundamentally about the magnitude of power, but about density. In other words, even with my current level of magical power, as long as I can achieve sufficient density, theoretically I can still unleash the natural privileges such as the power of laws governing heaven and earth and the power of words.

I haven't truly become a bad-level Witcher yet. As long as my perception and control remain unchanged, even if the power I can mobilize here is temporarily reduced, I am still a being of great uncertainty.

However, the magnitude of the power still has a significant impact. I haven't quite figured out how to apply the "Law of Heaven and Earth" technique here yet, and while I can use the power of words, it only works on a small scale. If, in my normal state, I could forcibly reverse the natural climate and social culture of an entire region with a single sentence using the power of words, my current limit is influencing the psychological activities of the person in front of me.

Finally, I asked the woman the question that concerned me the most.

"...Speaking of which, there was once a massive explosion in the city, like a nuclear bombardment. The city was destroyed, and I died in it..." I said, "But when I came to, I found that everything had returned to normal...How could that have happened?"

(End of this chapter)