Chapter 212: Open the Hatch, I'll Be Right Back, The Three-Headed, Six-Armed Shadowflame Demon God

Chapter 212: Open the Hatch, I'll Be Right Back, The Three-Headed, Six-Armed Shadowflame Demon God

"Hmm?" The cat perched on Xue Jing's lap lifted its head, its emerald-green vertical pupils narrowing as it glared at Ning Yuantai. The tips of its front left paw extended, revealing silver claws that glinted with deadly coldness.

It seemed that it was ready to strike at Ning Yuantai and give him a new "decoration" on his face the moment Xue Jing gave the order.

However, the cat's attempt to take advantage of the situation didn't succeed as Xue Jing gently pushed down its fluffy little head. He didn't pay attention to Ning Yuantai's slip of the tongue and instead asked,

"Can you handle it, or do I need to step in?"

Ning Yuantai patted his chest confidently and replied, "Don't worry, encountering air pirates in the inner ring is as common as going to the convenience store next door to buy a pack of cigarettes. It's a piece of cake!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the launcher-like devices mounted on both sides of the front of the plane lit up.

A dull red glow converged, emitting a 'bubububu' sound, followed by a loud bang as it launched two beams of pale red laser cannons towards the air pirates.

However, this overly flashy frontal assault proved ineffective as the air pirates quickly scattered in all directions, dodging the two beams.

Xue Jing's gaze shifted towards Ning Yuantai.

"Hmm? These air pirates seem quite experienced. But rest assured, just watch." Ning Yuantai said confidently.

As soon as he finished speaking, countless missiles were launched from the wings of the Dragon Core fighter jet, streaking through the sky towards the air pirates.

These were heat-seeking missiles that were impossible to avoid. They had excellent flexibility and could even turn on a dime, ensuring their targets had nowhere to hide.

However, this time, the air pirates had a countermeasure. They opened a round hole in the front of each of their vehicles, from which they fired a round, red light orb.

Dozens of these orbs shot out in all directions, causing the countless heat-seeking missiles to change their targets and chase after the red light orbs instead, not a single one hitting the air pirates.

"Infrared decoy flares?" Ning Yuantai was taken aback.

"How do mere air pirates have access to something like this?"

Xue Jing, with his arms crossed, remained silent. The cat jumped onto the armrest of the chair, its eyes fixed on the air pirates outside the porthole.

The pirates were raising their right hands and shouting something, although no sound could be heard, they looked excited.

"The missiles we're using have advanced infrared imaging guidance technology. Ordinary heat decoys wouldn't be able to interfere with the tracking," Ning Yuantai furrowed his brows, "But these light orbs that can instantly radiate a massive amount of infrared light..."

"Strange," he continued, "These are products from the last century, but they're still considered military supplies today. Mere air pirates shouldn't have access to them."

Xue Jing glanced at him and asked, "What do you make of it?"

"Rest assured, we have elite members of White Crow and Zigo on board, all of whom are air combat specialists. This batch of air pirates won't be a problem for long," Ning Yuantai assured.

He scratched his cheek, looking a bit embarrassed as he added, "I mean..."

Xue Jing, with his arms still crossed, tapped his arm with his fingers and shook his head. He then stood up and said, "Never mind. According to what you've said, this batch of air pirates seems to have some tricks up their sleeves. I'm afraid they might have something else up their sleeves... The people on this plane are here to pick me up, and if any casualties occur, it wouldn't look good for me."

He spoke in a low voice, "Have someone open the hatch. I'll be right back."

Ning Yuantai was taken aback and dared not refuse. He quickly replied, "Yes."

He picked up the small intercom from the wall next to him, pressed it, and ordered, "Open the hatch."

Xue Jing patted the cat's head, asking it to stay put, and then walked towards the small compartment's exit.

Over twenty members of White Crow and Zigo stood at attention in the aircraft cabin passageway, awaiting their combat orders.

"Lord Jing."

"Lord Jing?"

Recognizing the legendary youth who had single-handedly taken down a pure-blooded dragon species, they greeted him respectfully as he walked by. They understood the magnitude of such an accomplishment and thus held him in high regard.

Everyone unconsciously made way, creating a path for Xue Jing as he walked by, smiling and nodding at them.

"Squeak—" The hatch slowly opened, and the strong wind rushed into the cabin, ruffling his shoulder-length hair.

He held onto the edge of the hatch and looked down.

The view from ten thousand meters above the ground was breathtaking. Strange buildings that Xue Jing had never seen before were scattered across the land at regular intervals.

Without another thought, Xueheng leaped out of the plane and into the sky.

His body twisted in mid-air, powered by his core, facing the band of air pirates head-on.

Suddenly, a crackling sound filled the air as two sharp, silver-white lightning horns sprouted from his forehead.

As arcs of electricity flickered, silver-white thunderous feathered wings materialized around Xueheng, resembling a divine garment woven from the heavens' lightning.

Black airflow converged around him, igniting into blazing black flames that transformed him into a black giant, only the upper half of which was visible.

This giant was vastly different from his previous transformations, featuring three heads and six arms, each adorned with heavy armor.

Black flames coalesced in the palms of the six arms, materializing into six distinct weapons.

A dagger, a sword, a spear, a staff, a whip, and a bow.

From a distance, he resembled a mythical celestial being casting an awe-inspiring spell.

However, the color scheme leaned more towards the demonic, with silver-white lightning crackling across his form, giving him the appearance of a malevolent demon god.

The band of air pirates, who had been cheering excitedly, suddenly caught sight of this formidable being and fell silent, their voices sticking in their throats.

"Wh-what is that?"

"A giant?"

The air pirates stammered in astonishment.

But before they could react further, the black demon god, consisting only of an upper body, flew towards them at breakneck speed.

With incredible swiftness, he cut through the air, leaving trails of colorful flames in his wake. In the blink of an eye, he appeared right in the midst of the dozens of air pirates.

A massive black broadsword, over a dozen meters long, slashed through the air in the demon god's hand.

"Shua—!!"

"Clang, clang, clang, clang—"

With a single strike, it seemed as if even the void itself was cleaved apart. The broadsword's arc created a powerful burst of airflow, rolling the clouds into a huge fan-shaped vacuum. Within this area, several air pirates and their aircraft were instantly reduced to fragments of flesh, machinery, and blood.

Simultaneously, the demon god's other five arms launched their attacks. The spear, iron whip, staff, sword, and bow each found their marks among the surrounding air pirates.

The faint golden spear light swept across, the iron whip's end lashed out with explosive sonic booms, the staff resembled the legendary sea-halting divine needle, shattering everything it touched, and the bow's perfect prediction ensured that each arrow took down at least one air pirate, sometimes even skewering three in a row like candied hawthorn berries.

In just the first exchange, this seemingly professional band of air pirates found themselves crying out in despair, suffering heavy casualties. Remains and debris rained down towards the ground.

"Ahhhh!!!"

"Damn it, open fire, open fire!!!"

The remaining air pirates raised the various weapons they carried and unleashed a frenzy of colorful lasers and bullets at the black three-headed, six-armed demon god.

The attacks landed on the demon god, causing shadowflame armor to shatter and leaving charred 'wounds' that oozed black flames.

Upon realizing the effectiveness of their attacks, the air pirates grew excited and continued to fire relentlessly.

However, someone soon noticed that the number of attacks landing on the shadowflame demon god was decreasing, and soon only a few beams remained.

One of the air pirates looked at his companion in confusion.

He then realized that of the dozen or so survivors, only he and the person next to him were left; the others had vanished.

Just as he was puzzling over this, a spiral trail of colorful flames shot past him at incredible speed.

The next moment, his companion was grabbed by a figure with lightning horns on his forehead and crackling electric arcs dancing across his body.

The tall figure tightly gripped his companion's neck, and with a crunch, flesh, bones, and blood exploded, reducing the companion's neck to the thickness of sugarcane. He died instantly, his body going limp.

Holding the corpse, the figure slowly floated in front of the terrified air pirate, looking down at him with calm silver-white eyes devoid of any human emotion, only cold indifference and contempt.

"E..." The air pirate's mouth moved, but fear had stolen his voice, and the gun in his trembling hand slipped and fell towards the ground.

Not far away, the black demon god slowly disintegrated into black flames, revealing a translucent golden humanoid 'pilot' within.

Xueheng curiously examined the air pirate's red cockscomb hair and the sunglasses embedded in his face and said, "Your style is pretty cyberpunk, but the technology you're using is a bit lacking."

The air pirate quickly raised his hands and pleaded, "Spare my life, please!"

Ning Yuantai watched this scene through the porthole, his mouth agape.

...

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end