"Cough... cough..." Amidst the rolling dust, Qiuda coughed as he slowly climbed up from the ground. Debris was still falling from above, and the once towering building was now only half its original height. Fortunately, the collapsed beams and wall foundations formed a narrow shelter, which allowed him to survive.
"Is anyone alive?" he shouted with effort, but the rushing dust quickly filled his mouth.
Obviously, it was unlikely that his teammates would hear his call.
Qiuda had no choice but to pass through the gaps between the beams and stones, and climb upwards towards the light.
With the help of the dim light, he could see several pieces of broken wood stuck in his arms and legs, and the oozing blood had stained his military uniform red. The retardant had undoubtedly played a key role again. If it hadn't blocked the pain, he didn't know how long it would have taken him to recover from the fall.
After finally crawling out of the rubble, Qiuda suddenly discovered that several devils were less than ten meters away from him—they were clearly the same troop that had charged straight at the clock tower earlier. If the Spider Devil's strike had come later, annihilating them would have been only a matter of time, but now the situation had been reversed.
The enemy's purpose in surrounding him was self-evident: to eliminate any survivors who might have escaped this disaster.
Qiuda didn't hesitate much.
He knew that his chances of leaving here alive were slim. A bolt-action rifle could only fire one bullet at a time, and with the speed of a Berserk Devil, it would be enough to tear him to pieces in the time it took him to pull the bolt.
Even so, he resolutely raised his rifle.
For the Sand People, death was not terrible; what was terrible was not seeing hope.
If his death could ensure the continuation of the clan and allow his wife and children to eat their fill, that would be enough.
At the moment of firing, Qiuda couldn't help but recall the moment when he had shouldered the heavy pressure of the Iron Sand City's major clans and resolutely joined the Great Chieftain—that night, he had also charged towards the Raging Wave and Bone Carver clans with the determination to die.
A Berserk Devil fell to the ground with a bang as the gun fired, while the other three rushed towards him quickly.
At this distance, claws were more effective than throwing spears.
In an instant, a large open hand reached out in front of him—if it grabbed him firmly, he feared that half of his face would be crushed!
It was at this moment that Qiuda suddenly felt that his body was no longer under his brain's control.
His body leaned backwards, dodging the fatal attack at an incredible angle, and then using the rifle butt as a fulcrum, he jumped backwards, using the force of the fall to soar into the air and complete a beautiful backflip.
By the time he landed, the second bullet had already been pushed into the chamber!
What on earth was going on?
Qiuda was completely stunned!
Was it a side effect of the retardant? Not only did he not feel the superimposed pain, but his movements were even more agile—except that all of this was not of his own volition.
Even while he was stunned, his body showed no signs of stopping.
The devil roared and charged over, but the Sand Person's hands holding the gun were steady as they raised it. The moment he fired, the muzzle was almost against the enemy's forehead!
"Bang—"
The enemy's head exploded.
The second Berserk Devil had also arrived in front of him. As if learning a lesson, it didn't pounce on Qiuda immediately, but instead drew its bone spear and swept it horizontally. The only thing the latter could use to defend himself was the rifle in his hand, and his body did indeed do so—the result was that the rifle was directly knocked away under the enormous difference in strength, and fell into the rubble with a thud.
Just as Qiuda thought everything was about to end, his body once again made an unexpected move. He stepped forward and crashed directly into the Berserk Devil's arms, drawing the bayonet from his waist with his right hand.
This stab went from bottom to top, piercing the enemy's helmet from the chin.
A red mist burst out immediately!
By the time the enemy's hands reached back to hug him, wanting to take him down with them, Qiuda had already slipped out of the opponent's grasp like an eel.
The Berserk Devil staggered back two steps before finally kneeling softly on the ground.
To defeat a devil with physical strength far superior to humans in close combat was something Qiuda had never imagined, but now he had not only done it, but had also taken down two in one go?
The last remaining Berserk Devil finally raised its bone spear.
But the target it aimed at was not Qiuda, but a broken wall of the clock tower ruins!
The spear pierced through the wooden window on the wall like a flash of lightning, and a small figure cried out in alarm, falling out from behind the broken wall.
It was Falla!
The Berserk Devil ignored its shriveled arm and strode towards him, and Qiuda also involuntarily changed direction and charged straight at the enemy. The two arrived in front of Falla almost simultaneously, and at the moment the Berserk Devil made its move, his military knife pierced the opponent's throat from behind.
Red mist spewed out from the wound, splashing onto Falla's raised arm.
His companion let out a shrill scream, and Qiuda realized with surprise that control of his body had returned to him.
"Could you be—"
Looking at the other party's rapidly decaying arm, he suddenly understood.
"Why... are you here?"
Unlike the former churches of the Northern Lands, the Mojin did not regard witches as symbols of evil, but rather as goddesses with extraordinary powers. Because of their small numbers, clans that could possess a goddess were generally also potential replacements for those in charge of Iron Sand City.
Qiuda had once heard a rumor that a tribe called the Sandstone Clan had followed the Azure Water Queen on a distant expedition to the far north under the leadership of its goddess, never to return. And that goddess was called Kabala, and her ability was to instruct others to work for her.
But they did not receive the reward they deserved. The departure of a large number of young men left the Sandstone Clan in a slump, and the women and children who remained in the far south were annexed by other clans. It was not until the Great Chieftain re-established the laws and rules of the desert that the clan's name was preserved.
Superb combat skills, an uncontrollable body, and a Mojin background... After witnessing this incredible scene, he could not find any other reasonable explanation other than that Sandstone Goddess.
But now was obviously not the time to think about it. He took out a roll of bandages from his pouch, tied Falla's arm tightly, then scraped off the decaying skin with a knife, and then threw the other party over his shoulder and ran towards the permanent fortifications.
"Don't... tell anyone about this..." came a soft murmur from behind.
"But—"
"I'm begging you." The other party interrupted weakly.
Qiuda hesitated for a long time before nodding slightly, "Okay, I won't say anything."
The gunshots around them continued to ring out, but the frequency had slowed down a lot.
He saw that the Spider Devil that had broken into the city had been blown half its body away by field artillery and had completely fallen into paralysis.
After entering the inner city, people jumped out from hidden places every so often, alternately covering their retreat to a safe area. When the figures of air knights appeared in the sky, Qiuda knew that they had finally blocked another wave of devil attacks.
Perhaps the next encounter would be the garrison's last defense, but at least for now, victory still belonged to them.
However, to Qiuda's surprise, half an hour later, all teams received new orders to abandon Windswept Fortress and retreat to the West Ridge exit.