Chapter 281: Broken Home Firm |
Moonlit Harmony Home Firm!
Information about this firm swiftly flowed through Ashe’s mind—the Azura Mission Ranking: 2nd place, National Mission Ranking: 9th place!
It’s one of the two firms in the Azura’s notorious ‘One Palace, Two Firms, Three Families, Four Major Companies’!
Despite the seemingly friendly name of this firm, it is quite the norm. After all, firms belong to the service industry; they can’t afford to put on a standoffish front, especially in the last fifty years as industries evolve rapidly. Previously, there were less than ten firms per region, but now dozens of firms are competing in the same market. The shift from a seller’s to a buyer’s market has naturally led to internal competition.
On the other hand, names like ‘Funeral Firm’ serve as negative examples. One would instantly think the person in charge is likely a nonsensical Riddler, who might even bring unique and eccentric ideas to their work—indeed, this wasn’t a wrong guess.
However, such an attitude towards service no longer suffices today.
Fortunately, having been in operation for over two hundred years, the Funeral Firm can still survive with such a name and service stance. Yet, when it fell into Annan’s hands, the firm had already declined to the tenth position in its district, showing that these old-fashioned workshop-style firms are no longer suitable for modern times.
In contrast, Moonlit Harmony Home Firm embodies the enterprise of the new era—memorable name, full-on advertising, thorough service, heartwarming prices, and a complete training process for employing sorcerers. Thus, within just a few decades, it has become a force to be reckoned with in the Azura region.
Moreover, Ashe and his companions realized through accompanying Annan on missions that the firm’s strength doesn’t lie in the sorcerers themselves, but in…
“Why the silence?” Menard spoke, “If you don’t make a stance, then I can only assume…”
“You’ve rejected the goodwill of Moonlit Harmony.”
Buzz!
With shattering sounds coming from all directions, everyone sharply realized dozens of drones had broken through from various levels of the building!
“Broken Home Firm’s signature move,” Annan rapidly explained. “Modern smart homes almost entirely rely on data analysis from the Gospel. They can use the Gospel as a medium to invade all drones, mechanical spiders, hovercars, and any other device with an automatic operating system. We must deal with them, or we won’t be able to call a hovercar to leave.”
They resided hundreds of meters up in the inverted layer, which provided great views but limited their mode of entry and exit—they could either fly down directly by hovercar or take an elevator to the ‘ground’ of the double-tiered city and then take a car.
However, both options required an automated transport system. If they couldn’t neutralize these two enemies who could invade any smart device, using any transport would be like voluntarily lying in a coffin and delivering themselves to the enemy!
“Split into two teams, the front team will forcefully make a breakthrough to handle those two, while the rear team provides cover.” Annan, in his pajamas, gripped his beloved Miss Donna’s shotgun: “I’ll provide cover, but I need one more person.”
Nobody thought Annan was shirking his duties because the rear team’s task was even more critical—now, dozens of drones were swarming in from other parts of the floor, and the rear team had to deal with these armed drones with fewer people, ensuring these rogue delivery units didn’t interfere with the front team’s mission!
“I’ll do it,” Harvey patted the coffin beside him, “One for two.”
Necromancers are indeed reassuring when it comes to numbers.
“Move.”
There was no time for discussion or hesitation. The sound of the drones’ rotors, as if ready to strangle someone, was getting very close, and the drones on the other side of the ice screen were also reloaded—within a few breaths, thousands of shot bullets would shred everything in the room!
Banjeet was the first to rush out, his hands already clenched around his dual guns, a misty chill constantly bursting from the barrels.
In the Gospel Kingdom, gun technique was even more prevalent than in the Blood Moon Kingdom. Even a mage like Banjeet, who majored in ice magic, would study gun technique to enhance his spellcasting—thanks to the great shot bullets, allowing fireballs and ice blasts the chance to break the sound barrier!
Miracle Bursting Ice Spike Shot!
Just as the gun fired, several small holes suddenly appeared in the ice screen, perfectly allowing the deadly Miracle Shot Bullets to pass through and strike the enemy!
This scene caused Ashe and Igor’s pupils to constrict—being Sorcerers, they naturally understood the value of this maneuver. It was capable of deploying both a Defensive Miracle and an Attack Miracle simultaneously, and even allowed for a brief Loophole in the defense for the Attack Miracle to take effect… Frankly, with such micromanagement, Banjeet could easily rank among the top combatants of the Two Wings!
In Sorcerer Battle, there are two tactical objectives: self-preservation and inflicting damage on the enemy.
However, for a Sorcerer of the Two Wings Realm, these two goals are hard to achieve simultaneously. One might either use offense as defense, like the Swordswoman Witch, or defense as offense, like Ashe.
Ashe is a typical case of having ample defense but insufficient offense. He can cast Sword Barrier to protect himself, but since the Sword Barrier restricts movement, he must rely on spirit techniques like ‘Heart Sword’ and ‘Substitute’ for Long-range Attacks.
Even though ‘Heart Sword’ is indeed adept at long-range Swordsmanship, its destructive power is not even one-tenth of that of a Swordswoman Witch in close combat.
When attacking, one is in a precarious position; when defending, the damage is almost negligible.
This is even more evident in Gun Technique practitioners—they are safe behind cover, but they can’t shoot; once they do shoot, the enemy can retaliate.
Banjeet’s ice screen is undoubtedly an excellent Defensive Miracle, yet it also blocked his own attacks. However, Banjeet was able to maintain the integrity of the ice screen while sending out the Shot Bullets… Though it seemed straightforward, this was a tactical system that put him in an unbeatable position!
Until Banjeet’s arcane energy was depleted, the opponents could only suffer one-sided devastation from him, unable to reach anyone behind the ice screen!
Snap! Snap! Snap!
The sound of the ice spikes shattering was as crisp as breaking wine bottles, and the unmanned swarm in front was instantly devastated, the electrical sparks screaming as they fell!
Unbeknownst when, Igor was biting on a whistle, suddenly moving close to Ashe’s ear, and blew the whistle with all his might!
Whistle!!!!
The whistle sound instantly overpowered all gunfire, turning this sound into the most vile and filthy poison bugs through a Miracle, piercing the enemy’s eardrums and burrowing into their brains!
Miracle Mind-Piercing Shriek!
Even though it wasn’t specifically targeted, Banjeet, Annan, Lise, and Harvey, among others, were all simultaneously affected. Only Ashe, who was close at hand, felt as if Igor was grinding his teeth right next to his ear.
Ashe’s extensive Battle experience allowed him to instantly understand the flaw of this Miracle: the closer the target, the weaker the Mind-Piercing Shriek. Conversely, those enemies trying to distance themselves suffered as if their brains were being hammered by sonic waves.
Ordinary area-effect Miracles distribute arcane energy evenly, ensuring that enemies are damaged no matter where they are; however, superior area-effect Miracles allocate arcane energy to the most likely positions of enemies, maximizing the efficiency of the damage dealt.
The Swordswoman’s ‘Blood Flower Water Moon’ operates similarly. Before casting, she often swings her sword forward not to attack, but to force the enemy to retreat, as the maximum damage of Blood Flower Water Moon occurs just beyond the reach of her sword.
At this moment, the two enemy agents within the optimal attack range felt as though the whistle sound was a sword piercing through their heads!
“Cough!” Menard grunted, feeling as if his brain had turned to mush, bending over and kneeling like a shrimp, with blood dripping from his nose incessantly.
Leman staggered as well, but she managed to maintain her composure and promptly summoned a dozen Drones to shield herself, just in time to block another round of bursting ice spike bullets!
However, it didn’t matter. Outside, countless Drones were on standby, many of which were carrying delivery and takeout orders. Unfortunately, these orders would soon be automatically cancelled due to unexpected events, leaving many late-night workers hungry.
But these Drones were not yet equipped with automatic Firearms; they could only serve as a wall of shields.
On the highway directly beneath the inverted skyscraper, hundreds of Drones were lining up to be equipped with automatic Firearms from shipping containers, then taking off to join the Battle above.
The emergency delivery Drones naturally could not carry Firearms, but they were left with installation backdoors, allowing them to transform into airborne firepower at any moment. Therefore, Moonlit Harmony Home Firm only needed to drive an ammunition truck around the city to instantly create an army of Drones.
Furthermore, the exterior walls of the inverted skyscraper were now swarming with hundreds of Mechanical Spiders joining the battle. The elevators inside the building had stopped operating, and all automatic doors in Annan’s residence were locked, effectively blocking all escape routes.
Menard and Leman never intended to engage in a deadly fight with the Funeral Firm. Their plan was to use Drones and Mechanical Spiders to slow down their targets, trapping them inside this building at negative fifty-first floor, and simply wait for the arrival of ‘Baroness Cicada’.
Even though the Funeral Firm demonstrated considerable combat capabilities, Menard and Leman were still confident about this mission. In this ‘big family’ of the city, Moonlit Harmony Home Firm acted as the controlling Butler!
Whiz!!
The whistle sounded again, and at the same time, another round of Shot Bullets made of bursting ice spikes came flying.
However, Menard and Leman were prepared this time. They covered their ears and barely resisted the sonic assault, while a swarm of Drones rushed forward to detonate the Miracle Shot Bullets!
‘If this is all they’ve got, they might be overwhelmed by Drones before the Baroness even arrives…’
Just as this thought crossed Menard’s mind, he suddenly saw a Sword Shadow emerge from behind the curtain of ice. It did not strike towards them but instead embedded itself in the ceiling.
Hmm?
They looked up at the longsword trembling in the ceiling. The next second, the longsword emitted a pale yellow glow, and then—
Suddenly, a man in a Dark Red Trench Coat emerged from the hilt. He swiftly drew the longsword, kicked off the ceiling with both legs, and like a falling meteor, he plunged alone towards the two!
Miracle Rush!
“Good evening, I’m here to develop your Sorcerer Handbook!”
