Chapter 1 Plan B

The roar of mechanical spiders came from behind. Heavy rotary machine gun bullets tore through the air, whistling past, and the city's alarms still hadn't stopped. Piercing sirens blared from all directions as more and more Twilight Guards poured out of their garrison, trying to intercept the dangerous elements that were rushing towards the Great Elevator.

However, those they were trying to intercept had already broken through the largest blockade, and the air columns around the Great Elevator were becoming increasingly clear before their eyes.

Hao Ren, riding on Lily's nose, was full of spirit. He glanced back and saw that the Steam Sixth Division's steam robots were not catching up. Those huge mechanical spiders seemed to be good at attacking and defending, but not at chasing. So, he reached out and rubbed the fur between Lily's eyebrows: "Well done."

Lily's eyes crossed as she nodded vigorously, extremely happy: "Woof woof—"

Almost throwing Hao Ren off on the spot.

"This is not what I... planned..." Wendel, still wrapped in a large group of bats, followed forward in the air, dizzy and disoriented, sputtering as he flew. "It's not quite the same!"

"This is called plan B!" Vivian spread her bat wings in the air, shouting as she flew. "Your Ancient was hidden deep in the city, surrounded by intricate defenses, and the Seekers' power has been completely ******* in the entire system. Did you really expect to send us to the Iron Throne safely?"

Elizabeth, carrying a huge mechanical leg that was two meters longer than her, ran and stumbled behind Lily: "I like plan B!"

Faced with this group of super-beings who didn't play by the rules and were incredibly powerful, Wendel finally said nothing, and... began to calm down slightly, wondering if it was a mistake to bring this group of people into Twilight Capital.

Perhaps it was the long trek in the dark that weakened his spirit, or perhaps the joy of suddenly finding the "fire seed" diluted the vigilance that Seekers should have, or perhaps it was really the dullness caused by age. Wendel realized at this moment that he knew nothing about this group of people: he only knew their name, knew that they came from outside Twilight Capital, and knew that they were the "Lingering Light in the Long Night," but he knew nothing about their true purpose and character.

And now, this group of powerful and mysterious strangers had arrived in Twilight Capital and quickly demonstrated incredible power. Even the Steam Sixth Division, which was once used to resist extraterrestrial monsters, was no match for these people. They were now advancing towards the Ancient's Iron Throne... Was this really okay?

After calming down from the initial excitement and joy, Wendel only felt a cold sweat slowly emerging from his forehead.

Just as these thoughts were becoming increasingly uncontrollable, a voice suddenly sounded in his mind: "Bring them here."

Wendel woke up instantly, looking around in panic: "Who?!"

"Bring them here," the voice repeated without explaining anything, its tone indifferent but with a majesty and inevitability that brooked no refusal, "They are the ones I have been waiting for."

Wendel's brain went blank for a full half minute until the shrill siren from afar startled him awake. The old man almost cried out, but he quickly closed his mouth and tried to respond in his mind: "Ancient?!"

After a moment, the expression on the old man's face finally calmed down, with a hint of joy. He looked up ahead and saw a black steel tower gradually magnifying before his eyes, so he reminded loudly: "We're here! The Great Elevator is ahead!"

At the very top of Twilight Capital, several of the most magnificent buildings gradually converged, and the platforms and steel beams extending from the buildings overlapped and connected to form a magnificent steel plaza. Heavy and huge gears and bearings rotated on the mechanical platforms at the edge of the plaza, and large pipes surrounding the plaza constantly leaked streams of incompletely condensed residual steam. Several black steel towers were the most conspicuous buildings on the plaza. These steel towers were inlaid with glittering runic symbols, and red beams of light emitted from the laser lights at the top of the towers, constantly sweeping across the entire platform.

This was where the Great Elevator was located.

The Twilight Capital guards who had been urgently summoned were already on standby on this platform.

Hundreds of Steam Council guards in steel armor stood shoulder to shoulder, forming a human wall. Their armor was unusually heavy, and each was more than two meters tall. The black, heavy armor had valves and pipes full of the city's characteristics. The dark red pressure gauges on their chests surged with the power of holy steam. They held heavy firearms, serving as the first line of defense on the platform.

Behind the Council guards were several semi-fixed heavy cannons that had been hastily erected, as well as some mobile cannons squatting on the ground. The mechanical legs of those mobile cannons were tightly fastened to the reserved docking ports on the Great Elevator platform, and between the two barrels of each cannon was a terrifying, almost lifelike mechanical eyeball that was rapidly spinning around.

Behind this second line of defense was the ultimate third line of defense: more than ten spellcasters floating in the air.

Hao Ren was surprised to see a dozen mages here—perhaps they should be called wizards. Those people in black short robes floated in the air more than two meters above the ground. Their beards and hair danced without wind, and each had a serious and cold face. Constant contact with forbidden power made their bodies extremely thin, as if they were about to turn into mummies, making them frightening to look at. Each spellcaster was surrounded by several arcane orbs. Although they were not on the same level as the magic orbs around Anthony, it was enough to prove that they were genuine battle mages.

There was actually a mage corps in Twilight Capital—Hao Ren couldn't help but be greatly surprised by the city's ever-changing and strange style.

"That's the Wizard Corps," Wendel's voice suddenly came from the side. "They are scholars with ancient forbidden bloodlines, experts in using runic symbols. Be careful of their power: the absolute power of these wizards may be weaker than the behemoths of the Steam Sixth Division, but their abilities are very strange and unpredictable. It's dangerous to underestimate them."

Hao Ren oh-ed and turned to look at Wendel, but was immediately surprised: he found that the old man's face had a mysterious smile, a look of smugness but trying to maintain restraint.

"What good thing are you thinking about?" Nangong Sanba on the side also noticed this and asked casually.

"Today is a day full of glory," Wendel's answer was irrelevant. "The Ancient is guiding our destiny."

Everyone felt inexplicable, but at this time, the Twilight Guards in front of the elevator were already facing a great enemy.

Most of them were hastily summoned in a daze. Ordinary soldiers didn't know what was happening in the city at all, and they couldn't imagine what form the enemy they were about to face would take. They heard that the Steam Sixth Division had already set off to form the first line of defense, so many people thought that things would be foolproof: the Iron Wall of the Steam Sixth Division had always been unbreakable in the minds of ordinary soldiers. They never expected that the enemy would appear before their eyes so quickly!

The Steam Sixth Division hadn't even managed to delay this group of people for more than ten minutes—this shocked the hastily gathered Twilight Guards.

And what shocked them even more was that this group of enemies had a terrifying appearance as if they came from the mythical age: a huge white giant wolf (dog) that seemed to be able to devour everything, a ferocious giant whose height was even taller than some soldiers wearing steam armor, a woman flying in the air with demonic bat wings, and a strange half-human, half-snake creature!

The wizards floating in the air obviously thought more than the ordinary soldiers on the ground. They had spent years studying those fragmented ancient histories, so at this time, they all matched the knowledge in their minds with the scene before them. An old wizard with runic symbols inlaid on his forehead pointed at the silver-white giant wolf (dog) with a slight tremor: "By the names of the ancestors! That is probably a descendant of Fenrir!"

"That snake-like woman is probably a descendant of Jormungandr!"

"That fierce-looking man must be from the Giant Country—although he is shorter than the giants, he is as ugly as the giants!"

After a self-conscious brain supplement, all the wizards had the same thought in their minds: these people in front of them almost all looked like descendants of those ancient ferocious things in myths and legends. Could it be that the end of Twilight Capital had finally arrived? Were these ferocious enemies here to complete the unfinished Twilight of the Gods from two thousand years ago?

The wizards' tension and fear seemed to infect the guards on the ground. Not knowing which soldier's hand shook, the heavy firearm roared and spewed out a long tongue of fire, and this burst of gunfire directly detonated all the firepower on the defense line.

Guns and cannons roared, and a barrage of bullets and shells swept over.