Infinite Gods Reign Supreme

Chapter 30 - But No Oriole in Sight
Si Ming didn't know any systematic swordsmanship. Every skill he mastered during his struggle for survival in another world came from his own rigorous training and brushes with death.

And it is obvious that in such an environment, the combat skills he comprehends and masters will only be one thing.

Quick, accurate, ruthless.

Abandoning all fancy techniques, and requiring no feints or disguises, he aimed precisely at the target's vital point and struck swiftly and fiercely. This skill had saved Siming a great deal of trouble in the past.

And this time, on the battlefield of World Two, it's the same.

'嚓——'

His head fell to the ground.

The attacker with sharp bone claws ultimately failed to touch Siming's shoulder.

—[Defeat the Night Demon King to obtain 1 C-rank side quest and receive 2000 reward points.]

Weaker than a Cerberus—that's to be expected.

The total reward points were also capped at 2000, the minimum limit for a C-level side quest.

"Hmph." Si Ming chuckled lightly, extinguishing the dark flames on the Greatsword of Sin. Before the special flames could even unleash their effects, the victory was already in Si Ming's hands.

The skeletal golem, temporarily drained of its necromantic aura, reactivated and returned to the summoning domain with minor damage. The unique environment there allowed these minor injuries to heal slowly. And the more these template-based summoned undead units were used, the stronger they became in combat.

It is slightly different from the burrowing worms that are awakened as corpses.

A soft 'plop' sound.

The headless remains of the Night Demon King, still in an attacking stance, lay on the ground.

A strange scream seemed to come from the air.

It sounded like the dying cry of a giant beast, or the helpless screams of millions of small animals. A sense of chaos welled up in Si Ming's heart; he seemed to see a massive machine collapsing, a taut string snapping suddenly.

Night Demon is dead.

The collective subconscious of the Night Demons, this newly formed and massive race, is dead.

Even if it didn't die, it must be severely weakened. Until the next Night Demon King is born, the situation is unlikely to improve much.

The quiet underground suddenly became noisy.

Those Night Demons who were once intelligent, orderly, and already exhibiting early social structures are now like a pack of frightened wild beasts, a helpless pile of loose sand.

They bumped around everywhere.

They let out a sharp shriek.

Many of the individuals who were out of their minds even stumbled into this supposedly closed arena from some strange corner, only to be bitten to death by the demon wolves under Si Ming's command.

There are no longer any obstacles in this city. Siming can now move freely on the surface or underground, or go wherever he is interested in.

well.

The burrowing worms beside him began to wriggle again, their supple, sharp mandibles and tentacles easily tearing through the concrete barrier of the abandoned underground station. Not leaving, but descending. From the man-made ruins of the subway, all the way down to the solid rock layer beneath the earth.

A suitable juncture came into Si Ming's view. He activated the burrowing worm's instincts, and the mythical creature fed him back more fragmented information. It revealed the structure of the city's underground to him and told him where to take action to trigger a small-scale ground collapse.

He was very interested in this because he really wanted to verify a hypothesis. In his dimensional ring was a high-yield nuclear bomb he'd acquired from the AVP world, its parameters already adjusted to critical levels. This was his trump card, meant to deal with unforeseen circumstances.

Before reaching World No. 2, he really prepared a lot. And now...

"I really want to know just how big the difference is between Cairo and New York."

....................................

After that, nothing changed. Robert studied his compound six every day. At first, he cherished the captured Night Demon test subjects, but as more Night Demons were brought in, his experiments gradually became more extravagant—problems were discovered one after another, and difficulties were overcome one after another. And truckload after truckload of Night Demon corpses were carelessly dumped on the streets.

The research and development progress is quite encouraging. And Si Ming's daily busyness has certainly played a crucial role—he rarely sleeps, and spends almost every spare moment traveling, traversing the ruins of one massive or dilapidated building after another, regardless of whether it's day or night.

He never kept track of the number of Night Demons he had killed. But Robert thought it might be over ten thousand.

Sometimes, Si Ming would take Ishikawa Shizuka out with him so she could practice her courage and marksmanship. The results weren't exactly outstanding, but at least throughout, the Japanese high school girl in her JK uniform was quite obedient.

She obeyed his every command. She just couldn't do everything perfectly. Asking her to kill a Night Demon on her own might be beyond her capabilities. But as long as Siming helped in any way, even just whistling to attract attention, she could accomplish the task he assigned her after a flurry of activity.

Not perfect. But as a newcomer, he is already far superior to all other newcomers in the East China Sea team that Si Ming has encountered in both worlds.

—Perhaps the Japanese people of the Heisei era also had their merits, but I just hadn't met them before.

Si Ming realized that he wouldn't raise his expectations of Ishikawa Shizuka any further. He figured they might find a more suitable rookie for the Donghai team in the future. And then, they would naturally have time to consider ways to make the best use of their talent. But for now…

—Ishikawa's cooking is quite good.

This is the truth.

Robert and Sam both spoke highly of Shizuka Ishikawa's cooking. The Colonel praised her almost every time they ate, and Sam's tail wagged wildly whenever he saw Shizuka Ishikawa enter the kitchen.

Si Ming also thought it was quite nice. Although it was a bit strange, he could indeed taste a hint of home in the food that Shizuka Ishikawa prepared. It could be an illusion, or it could be the effect of self-suggestion. But whatever the reason, Si Ming admitted that the value Shizuka Ishikawa could provide by staying at the base to cook, tidy up, and help Robert was far greater than that of going out hunting Night Demons with him.

Time flowed slowly and smoothly. The total time a reincarnator needed to survive was fifteen days. And two weeks was not a very long time.

..............................

Anna swallowed hard. As she drove her SUV, equipped with UV lights, into New York City, she suddenly realized that her actions might have been a complete mistake. She saw one Night Demon corpse after another lying dead by the roadside, whereas normally, Night Demons, with their incredibly efficient metabolisms, never wasted a single ounce of flesh.

New York is... not normal.

but……

"Sister Anna, are we slowing down?" The little boy traveling with her in the passenger seat looked at her obediently.

He was Ethan, an orphan, the youngest child in the settlement. And she and he went to this place carrying the hopes of the settlement.

They were supposed to arrive in two weeks, because three weeks earlier, the people who had been hiding in the mountain settlement had finally repaired their only radio, which wasn't completely broken, and obtained a survivor signal from New York. The man who called himself Robert Nefert, who seemed to be quite famous in the early days of the disaster, brought news of the New York shelter, which was exactly what the settlement needed.

The settlement was on the verge of collapse; the Night Demons' appetites were growing ever larger, while food in the mountains was dwindling. Even though the survivors were clinging to life thanks to the crucial fact that the KV virus becomes inert in cold environments, they knew they had to make a decision in the face of the escalating food crisis.

So Anna, the most harmless-looking and the most skilled negotiator, volunteered. She brought along the youngest, Ethan. They had come to New York seeking help. And if the situation at the New York shelter wasn't ideal, at least young Ethan would be able to reach a place where he could survive.

They were supposed to set off twenty days ago, but a sudden North American storm delayed their journey. By the time the weather cleared and road conditions improved, half a month had been wasted. Fortunately, the radio broadcasts from New York never stopped playing during this time, giving them confidence and strength.

until……

"Don't look outside, Ethan, don't look..."

Her heart was pounding. Anna had no idea what kind of monster lurked in New York, capable of such a rampant hunt for the seemingly endless night demons. Every cell in her body screamed, urging her to turn around immediately and floor the accelerator. However…

She needs to figure it out.

Deep down, a sense of wishful thinking was brewing within her.

Perhaps the shelter in New York wasn't built by one person, but by a group. Perhaps this group possessed such formidable military power that they could hunt down Night Demons as easily as killing chickens?

The little boy reached out and gently tugged at the hem of her clothes.

And in the next instant, her heart almost stopped beating!
A gasp escaped his throat. His hands and feet turned icy cold in an instant, as a stark white human skeleton stood blocking the path of the SUV slowly moving through the city!
No, those aren't skeletons. They're ghosts, monsters. They move, and they're charging towards the SUV!
Her fingers trembled violently, and fear gripped her heart in an instant. She tried her best to press the accelerator, but her once nimble legs were now completely unresponsive!
“Anna… Sister…” Ethan’s voice stammered with fear.

She turned her head with difficulty. The car, which had been moving, had stopped at some point—no, not stopped, but lifted up by a powerful force, losing all friction. The fully powered front and rear wheels were spinning futilely in the air. And a human skeleton, with eerie flames flickering in its eye sockets, was now standing beside the car.

The skeleton's jaw opened and closed, as if trying to convey something. A cracking sound came from the spinning wheels, filled with an eerie and inexplicable atmosphere.

It was like a curse, like madness.

She fainted on the spot with a 'gurgling' sound.

(End of this chapter)