Blood.

There was a smell of blood everywhere. Conrad Coetzes captured the scents accurately, but he didn't let them affect him.

He turned and walked out of the shattered metal door, where Van Cleef handed over a data tablet. Coates reached out and took it, but didn't speak. He lowered his head and began to read. What appears on the databoard is a scan from Nightfall.

Judging by the data, Harcosus 1 is indeed a fully developed planet with only one city, as advanced traders claim.

One of the three leaders of the Burning Chamber of Commerce ruled the place, and the senior traders did not name him, but they all mentioned this man with a trembling tone that revealed an extreme obedience.

Here's the funny part, the civilians who traveled with them to Nostramo had no idea of the so-called leader - they didn't even know anything about the existence of the Burning Chamber.

Conrad Coetzes looked up, and Van Cleef peered through the eyepiece at his primordial form, waiting for orders. Coetzes handed the datapad back, but instead of giving an order, he asked a question.

"How's it going?"

"According to the plan, we are gradually taking control of the important area around the minaret." Van Cleef said he wanted to say more, but a violent tremor interrupted him.

A terrible roar followed, and the company commander stabilized his body and immediately began to ask questions in the communication channel. Half a minute later, a discrete member of the hunting team gave him an answer.

"We blew up an arsenal." He said in a quiet tone in the channel. "These people even have heavy tanks, sir."

"Roger, get on with your work." Van Cleef replied in a calm voice as he watched his original form leave the burning gate.

Behind him, the scarlet cloak was swept by the wind that swept through him. The Eighth Legion's Storm Hawk and transport ship cut through the clouds, and the screams of civilians could be heard in the streets not far away. Conrad Coetzes stared at it all in silence, and that icy premonition returned.

He clenched his fists.

If you have the guts, come. He muttered to himself.

There was no fear, no trembling, he had seen Carlil chase them away, and he knew what they were.

He will never run away from it again.

——

Officer Ge-A2-4 could hear a terrible scream, and he turned to see blood dripping from his combat pistol and dagger in his hand.

He had just executed two ill-willed soldiers, and those who didn't get caught on fire were so lowly that they would rather turn their backs on their saints, even if they had already gained the gaze of the fire in the spire.

Officer Ge-A2-4 was furious at this, and his actions were not contested by the soldiers. All those who brought the fire into the body approved of his actions, and the power of the fire blessed them until now.

Until the scream came from the end of the hallway where the lights were flickering.

Officer G-A2-4 raised his gun and issued an order to his stowed soldier with his combat helmet.

They had to go through the corridor to reach the forty-nine floors, the minaret had eighty-one floors, and the forty-ninth floor was the intermediate node. Officer Grid-A2-4 was ordered to come here to shut down the power core, so that all automatic doors below the forty-ninth floor could no longer move.

He knew it wasn't a big deal for lightning-fast monsters, but they could be killed.

Officer Grid-A2-4's squad had already done this, killing three monsters with four battle droids and a full squad of twenty people as traps.

At this moment, his confidence was doubled. Soon, a team of six broke away from the group and made their way to the end of the hallway. The emergency passage of the minaret, although narrow, also provided them with some convenience at this time.

There was no way for those monsters to dodge bullets in such a small place.

The squad quickly entered, reporting to Officer Ge-A2-4 via the combat helmet, and they were steadily advancing. Then, within two seconds of the news being heard, another terrifying scream erupted again.

Officer G-A2-4 shouted, extremely hard, as if he was about to yell out all his internal organs. His soldiers began to fire at the end of the corridor without the slightest hesitation. They do not know the specifics of their companions and do not grieve for their deaths.

Burning fire blesses the souls of all, and no one is afraid of sacrifice in such situations.

The shooting lasted twenty seconds, and Officer Grid-A2-4 raised his hand and made a gesture, and his soldiers immediately stopped firing. The battle rifle's standard magazine has sixty rounds, so he doesn't have to worry about being caught by the enemy in a single salvo.

But at this moment, a dark shadow rushed towards him. Officer G-A2-4 stiffened in shock for a moment, but one of the soldiers reacted quickly and immediately pulled him to the other side.

It was two seconds before they had time to observe what was being thrown at it.

It's a corpse.

A shattered corpse - only the upper half of the body, with a mutilated spine and internal organs hanging in the bare abdominal cavity, blood spilling continuously.

His battle suit was completely shattered, and only a few broken pieces of white armor hung from his chest.

His helmet had been ripped off, but the mark of fire on his forehead had vanished without a trace, and another symbol had been carved into his forehead with a blade or something, a strange symbol with a double-headed eagle.

Officer Grid-A2-4 felt an unusual outburst of anger after a brief moment of fear, and he looked up, intending to give the order for the soldiers to advance and grab the scum who dared to blaspheme the fire. However, he will never have the opportunity to issue any new orders again.

Because a ghost was standing in front of him, silent, with a cold blue light in his hollow eye sockets. It's scary-tall, too tall to be in the real world.

Officer Grid-A2-4's sanity collapsed at this moment, and he took a step back, he wanted to kneel, but the mark on his forehead was burning with pain at this moment. Disgrace ensued, and Officer G-A2-4 roared and raised his dagger to stab the ghost.

"I admire your behavior." The ghost said. "You and Ling's squad bleed the Eighth Legion."

After that, the world of Officer G-A2-4 was left in darkness.

Carlil calmly walked past the corpses - it took him twenty-one minutes to propel upward, from the twelfth to the forty-ninth.

The efficiency was not enough, but he killed many Halkosus soldiers on each floor. With that in mind, it's okay to be a little inefficient.

His psionic energy is still working, in fact, he will always use it as long as he wears this armor. The memories and names of the deceased have become books that can be read at will, and many of his questions have been answered, but a new one is born.

One of the leaders of the Commonwealth of Harcosus, one of the heads of the Flame Chamber of Commerce, resides on the top floor of this spire.

He never leaves the place and is widely loved, giving a televised speech or participating in other programs every night at 7 p.m. to spend a good night with the people on the Harcosus One.

He reigned for a long time, and many soldiers even grew up watching his show. However, such a pro-people leader left nothing else in the memory of all the dead Harcosus soldiers.

No name, no face, no voice.

They call him the leader, but what else?

Without.

Other than that, there is nothing.

This man seemed to exist only in a dream, and every night at seven o'clock, this dream would come to the minds of the people of Harcosus One.

It's so much fun.

Carlil looked up at the top of the tower.

By this point, he could almost guess what was waiting in the dark—in fact, he had probed it once with his psionic energy.

He was cautious, so he only probed once, and in that perception, the thing stayed at the top of the tower, did not choose to leave, and even greeted him leisurely through psionic energy.

Thinking of this, Carlil couldn't help but smile. Beneath the cloak, there was some kind of rapid grinding sound alternately.

There are thirty-two more floors, and he will see the truth, as to whether the truth is as he wishes. Carlil Lohals doesn't really care.

He was tired of never-ending riddles, patience, riddles told to others, back and forth between lies and truth.

He was also tired of watching those things come and go in the darkness, seeping through the Veil and endangering this galaxy that belonged to humanity by every possible means.

- Only killing.

The ghost wandered upwards and did not go to hell.

After the update, I ate a little late, sorry.

(End of chapter)