Chapter 1352: I Will Protect You
Zero pulled herself through a broken window with wounds covering every visible inch of her.
The car was unrecognizable. The steel frame had twisted like a wrung-out cloth, the body compressed to half its size; black and yellow engine oil pooled beneath it and filled the air with a sharp, acrid smell. No ordinary person survived a crash like that. Without the Force of Nature holding her together, she would have been minced along with the wreckage.
She endured the pain and stood.
The bridge was wrecked in every direction — vehicle parts scattered across the lanes, the overturned truck sealing the road ahead. Behind her, she turned to find a line of cement mixers forming a wall across the rear. Even if her car had somehow dodged the initial accident, there was nowhere left to go.
A purely accidental collision would have brought drivers running to help by now. From the moment it happened until she had climbed free, not a single person appeared. The bridge held a silence that had weight to it.
She might have cried on any other day. The tears were there, pressing at the rim of her eyes; her body was shaking. She locked her jaw and kept them from falling.
Her uncle had warned her, again and again: the Fallen Evils target people who have awakened their Force of Nature. This was not an accident. This was planned.
I can’t let enemies see weakness. Not just useless — it would make things worse. She was not the child she’d been. She was an Awakened Martial Artist now.
A grinding sound broke the silence.
The roof of the overturned truck was torn open from the inside. A figure in a mask stepped out of the cab.
Ripping steel apart with bare hands. Walking out of a devastation like that untouched. Whatever this person was, ordinary was not it.
Zero pressed herself against the ruined car behind her.
Through the mask she felt something she had no word for — cold that started at the soles of her feet and climbed. She could not see the eyes, but the attention was unmistakable: the fixed, unhurried concentration of a snake that has already decided.
“This is the target?” Two more figures appeared on top of the truck. One was almost human, if you didn’t look at the arms or the legs. The other had wings and fangs, something out of old stories about gargoyles. Fallen Evils could transform — she knew this — but seeing it stripped the knowledge of all its abstraction. The red eddies swirling at their chests left no doubt. “She looks like a brat who hasn’t even hit puberty.”
“No need to send so many people for one child. Find a moment, bite her — she won’t even have time to scream. Better if I just take her life for Master Oracle—” The gargoyle laughed its strange, hollow laugh and opened its wings to lunge—
The masked figure raised one finger and pointed downward.
The gargoyle hit the bridge with a force that cracked the surface.
“Imbecile.” The masked figure’s voice was flat as stone. “Who told you to act?”
“Master, she’s only just Awakened—”
“That’s right. But she isn’t an ordinary Martial Artist.” The figure looked at Zero with what might have been interest. “What you see is a weak eddy. What I see is radiance around her entire body.” He bent forward in something that was almost a bow. “Am I right? World Creator — Miss Zero?”
What did it just say?
World… Creator?
Zero swallowed. “I think you have the wrong person.”
“So you don’t know.” The masked figure sounded genuinely pleased. “No matter. Everything will end soon enough. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the emissary of the Deities — Delta. I come from what you call Erosion.”
“You want to kill me?”
“Kill is imprecise. I am following the Deities’ orders to return everything to its proper place — to send stolen power back to its source. Your world is part of that.”
“Master Oracle — we’re not killing her?” The gargoyle scrambled upright with confusion on its ruined face.
“Not yet.” Delta’s tone did not change. “As a Martial Artist she is nothing of value. But never underestimate a Creator, especially inside her own territory. Your recklessness would destroy our plans. The power I can exercise here is limited by the rules; she, on the other hand, holds power without end. Before we do anything, we must sever her connection to this world. Only then can we be certain. We cannot wait long — the crack will open soon.”
Zero looked up. The sky had gone strange: translucent lines were spreading across it, folding inward toward the center of the bridge in an expanding lattice of rhombuses. The scenery beyond them had begun to shift, blurring like a place seen through disturbed water.
“There has never been a way out for you — not since you stepped onto this bridge.” Delta spread both arms wide. “All those logic-minded fools at the Martialist Association believed the Association itself was our target. What a joke. The more people they sent here, the more gaps they opened in their own defenses.”
He turned slowly, as if lecturing an empty room. “Beneath this bridge are more than a thousand hidden cores. The Association has no knowledge of them. It is the power from those cores that allows me to drag this space into the overlapping crack between worlds. Inside the crack, all Realm of Mind territories fall under the Deities’ interference — you will receive no help from it. This is where we settle things, on equal ground, until one side returns to the source.”
As he finished speaking, the lines in the sky converged. The outside world dimmed, then went dark. The bridge lost all natural light — but as the world was torn open, the light that belonged to it remained, pale and sourceless, filling every corner of the crack.
“Now,” Delta said, “do as you wished.”
The two Fallen Evils looked at each other and moved at once — one coming from the front, one sweeping in from behind.
Zero grabbed the car frame and did not move.
To any observer she would have looked frozen with fear. She was afraid — deeply, physically afraid, the kind that made her hands shake and her vision narrow. But Fei Yuhan had warned her, had repeated it enough times that even now, even with open mouths and reaching claws closing the distance—
Stay near the vehicle. Stand straight. Face them.
Her mind had gone white. But two things stayed clear.
The first: in the moment of the crash, Fei Yuhan had torqued the car sideways and flattened the driver’s seat as the vehicle struck the truck. She had pulled Zero into her arms. A white light had bloomed around them and made the whole violent world soft while everything spun upside down.
The second: the words that had come with that light, low and steady.
“Don’t stray too far from the vehicle. Stand up straight and face them.
“I will protect you.”
Even as the gargoyle’s jaws descended, Zero did not step back.
A blade of silver light erupted from inside the wrecked car — one clean downward stroke that took the gargoyle from crown to pelvis. The light touched and vanished. The creature hung in place for one impossible moment, a seam running the full length of its body, before the two halves fell in separate directions.
Chapter 1352 - I Will Protect You
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Zero crawled out of a broken window with wounds all over her body.
The shiny and brand new vehicle was destroyed and looked no different than a pile of rags—the steel frame of the vehicle was distorted to the point of resembling a fried dough fritter, the body had shrunk by half, as alternating black and yellow engine oil leaked out and emitted a pungent smell.
The accident was so severe that no ordinary human could survive it. If not for the protection from the Force of Nature, she would have been turned into minced meat along with the vehicle.
Zero endured the pain and stood up with great effort. The bridge was in complete disorder; vehicle parts were scattered all over and the truck was overturned not far from where she stood, completely sealing the road. Zero turned her head and discovered that multiple cement mixers had sealed off their rear. Even if their vehicle had avoided the accident, it was impossible for them to leave.
If it was purely an unexpected accident, the drivers behind would had long gotten out of their vehicles to rescue the others. But from the time the accident occurred till she managed to get out of her vehicle, not a single person was seen. The entire bridge was dreadfully quiet.
If it had been any other day, she would already be in tears. But at that moment, teardrops welled by the rim of her eyes while her body trembled incessantly. She clenched her teeth tightly and disallowed her tears from falling.
Zero had frequently heard her uncle mention that the Fallen Evils targeted people who had awakened their Force of Nature; therefore, the entire accident could have been a premeditated ambush.
I can’t let the enemies see that I am weak.
Not only was that useless, but that would also worsen her situation.
She was no longer a child of yesteryear, but an awakened Martial Artist!
“Creak.”
A harsh sound caused by friction broke the silence.
The roof of the flipped over truck was torn apart from within. A figure donning a mask walked out of the driver seat.
To be able to rip apart the metallic vehicle with his bare hands and come out of the devastating car accident unharmed, it was clear that the person was not ordinary.
Zero subconsciously stuck close to the ruined vehicle behind her.
Through the mask, she seemed to sense a bone-penetrating cold intent that shot up from the soles of her feet. She could not see the person’s eyes; yet, she could sense his converged attention on her, like a viper that had locked onto its prey.
“This is the target? She looks like a little brat that hasn’t even gone through puberty.” Two ‘monsters’ appeared on top of the truck. One was still barely passable as a human with deformed arms and legs, but the other had wings and fangs like the gargoyles of legends.
But Fallen Evils had the possibility of transformation; thus, their evolution into such a state was not something strange. The red eddies coruscating on their chests were obvious signs that the two were Fallen Evils.
“There wasn’t a need to mobilize so many people for this little brat. We can just find an opportunity to bite her and she will not even have the opportunity to cry for help. It would be better for me to help Master Oracle to take her life—” The Fallen Evil that resembled a gargoyle unleashed a bizarre laugh and extended its wings, ready to pounce onto Zero at any moment.
The one who stopped it was the masked person.
The latter merely lifted a finger and pointed downwards when the gargoyle was instantly smashed onto the ground by an invisible force. The impact was so huge that cracks appeared on the bridge!
“Imbecile, who allowed you to take action?” the masked person spoke coldly. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“Master, isn’t she… a Martial Artist that has just awakened recently?” the long-armed monstrosity asked.
“That’s right, but she isn’t any ordinary Martial Artist. All you see is her weak eddy, but I can see the radiant light around her entire body.” The masked man bowed towards the little girl. “Am I right? World Creator— Miss Zero?”
What did it… just say?
World… Creator?
Zero gulped a mouthful of saliva. “I think you got the wrong person.”
“So you’re oblivious to this.” The masked person was first startled before laughing out loud. “Regardless, everything will end soon enough. Before that, let me introduce myself. I am the emissary of the Deities, Delta. I come from the place you call ‘Erosion.’”
“You want to kill me?”
“To kill is inaccurate, I am merely on the orders of the Deities, to put everything back on the right track and return all the stolen power back to its source. Your current world is part of it.”
“Master Oracle… we’re not killing her?” The gargoyle struggled up from the ground, with a look of confusion on its face.
“Not now.” Delta replied, “As a Martial Artist, she is nothing of value. But never look down on a Creator, especially when we are in her territory. Your
blind actions will only wreck our plans. To suit the regulations, the power that I am able to exhibit now is insufficient, yet she holds endless power. So before doing anything, we have to sever the connection between her and the world. That is how we can ensure absolute success. We can’t delay for too long, cracks will form soon.”
At this moment, Zero finally realized that the overcast sky was riddled with translucent lines that formed rhombuses folding towards the center of the bridge. Aside from the rhombuses, the scenery was gradually shifting, as though they were teleporting elsewhere.
“Relax, ever since you entered the bridge, you no longer had the chance to escape—all of those foolish and logic-minded people thought that the Martial Artist Association was our target, what a joke! The more people they send, the more flaws in their defenses appear.”
Delta raised both of his hands outwards. “Beneath this bridge are over a thousand hidden cores, which the Martialist Association has no knowledge of! It is from the power supplied by these cores that I am able to pull this area into the overlapping crack between the two worlds. In this crack, all the Realm of Mind territories will be interfered by the Deities, and it will not bring you any help. This is where we will fight it out on equal grounds until one side returns to the source!”
Right when he concluded, the veins in the sky coincidentally converged together. The outside world instantly dimmed and finally turned to darkness. The bridge that had lost its light source plunged into darkness, but as the world was forcefully torn apart, the light that originally belonged remained and illuminated every corner of the crack.
“Now you can do what you wanted to do,” the masked man said.
The two Fallen Evils looked at each other and moved simultaneously, one ahead and the other behind as they charged at Zero—
Zero grabbed onto the frame of the vehicle and remained stationary. To anyone witnessing the scene, it looked like she had been stunned silly.
The young girl was truly harboring a large amount of fear in her, especially when the enemy opened their hideous and sinister mouths and appeared inches away from her—if not for Fei Yuhan’s repeated warnings, it would have been difficult for her to even remain standing.
Her mind was in a blank, but she remembered two things.
In the instant when the accident happened, her master had turned the car completely horizontal and flipped the driver seat down horizontally as they collided into the truck. At the same time, she took Zero into her embrace. A bright and white light instantly enveloped her and softened the entire process as the sky and earth turned upside down.
The second thing was the words spoken along with the warm light.
“Don’t stray too far away from the vehicle, stand up straight and face the enemies.
“I will protect you.”
Even when the gargoyle Fallen Evil was biting down at Zero, she never took half a step back!
It was also right at this moment when a dazzling and silver light shot out from the distorted vehicle and beheaded the enemy from top down. The instant the light flickered, the Fallen Evil in front froze in its spot as a split appeared from the top of its head and spread downwards, splitting its body into two perfect pieces.