Above the ruins of the west gate, a violent wind whipped past, carrying the pungent smell of gunpowder smoke.

Wada Hirayama stood there quietly.

His figure was thin and emaciated, his oversized black kimono snapping loudly in the wind, and his empty left sleeve swaying with the breeze.

Yet, this one-armed old man who looked like he was on the verge of death felt like an insurmountable mountain pressing down on everyone's hearts.

Those civilians who had just climbed up the ruined city walls, about to step into the wilderness and gain freedom, turned weak in the knees when they saw Wada Hirayama blocking their path, unable to take even half a step further.

In those pairs of eyes that had originally ignited with hope, there was only fear and despair left.

Wada Hirayama slowly raised his eyes.

There was not the slightest emotional fluctuation in his turbid old eyes, viewing them as pigs and sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

He looked down at the dense, surging crowd below, his aged lips parting slightly.

"Go back."

Just three simple words.

The voice was not loud, without shrieking or roaring.

Yet it split open an abyss of fathomless depth in front of everyone.

One step further forward meant being smashed to pieces.

At the very front of the crowd, several Great Xia Nation agents exchanged glances, seeing the resolute determination in each other's eyes.

"Don't listen to him!"

"Charge through! As long as we charge through, we..."

Before the words could finish.

Wada Hirayama's withered, skeletal right hand slowly rested on the hilt of the blade at his waist.

"Clang—"

A clear and resonant blade hum rang out.

Not a single person even saw how he drew his blade.

They only felt a fierce, chilling light flash before their eyes, as if splitting this dim world in two.

Afterwards, he casually slashed and returned the blade to its sheath.

The movement was smooth and flawless, reaching the ultimate speed.

"Splat! Splat! Splat!"

A hundred meters away.

The voices of those Great Xia Nation agents who were shouting loudly and trying to organize a breakout abruptly stopped.

Their bodies stiffened in place, and then, under the gaze of everyone, their bodies instantly shattered into pieces.

Fresh blood gushed out, dyeing the ruins beneath their feet red.

Even on the hard concrete broken walls, a terrifying slash mark that was bottomless and dozens of meters long appeared.

Silence.

The surroundings were dead silent.

The originally clamorous crowd instantly lost their voices.

Everyone was awed by the might of Wada Hirayama's single slash, their brains turning completely blank.

"Gulp..."

It was unknown who swallowed a mouthful of saliva, the sound clearly audible in the silence.

Subconsciously, the crowd began to back away.

One step, two steps.

As long as that old man stood here, ahead was a restricted zone and the end of life.

Inside the underground temporary command room.

The atmosphere was oppressive to the extreme.

From the communicator came the trembling and despairing voice of a frontline team member: "Le... Leader, there's no other way..."

"That's Wada Hirayama... an SS-Rank Expert..."

"Brothers... brothers can't even take a single move from him..."

"What should we do next? Team Leader Tang, are we... are we all going to die here?"

Tang Qi tightly gripped the communicator, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

He steadied his mind, forcing his voice to sound calm: "Don't panic! It's not time for despair yet!"

"Listen to my command, everyone remaining immediately blend into the civilian crowd and do not easily expose your identities!"

"Preserve your vital forces and wait for reinforcement!"

The other end of the communicator fell silent for a moment, followed by a bitter laugh.

"Reinforcement?"

"Leader... do we still have reinforcement?"

"Facing an SS-Rank Expert... unless the Marshal arrives in person, no one else coming will be of any use..."

Despair spread across the communication channel.

Tang Qi gritted his teeth, his eyes resolute.

"We do!"

"Lord Ever-changing Star Lord told me that reinforcement will arrive immediately!"

"And... our reinforcement this time is very powerful!"

"Powerful?" The team member on the other end smiled bitterly, "How powerful could it be? Could another SS-Rank Expert possibly come?"

Just at this moment.

"Bang!"

The door of the adjacent room was smashed open with a "bang".

Maeda Hanami ran in with an excited expression, her usually icy-cold face flushed red with excitement.

"Tang Qi! They're here!"

"The teleportation array! The teleportation array is starting to react!"

Hearing this, Tang Qi's heart shook, and his entire body sprang up from the chair.

"Let's go!"

Without the slightest hesitation, he quickly followed Maeda Hanami and rushed into the room where the teleportation array was located.

The moment they entered the door.

A terrifying spatial fluctuation rushed toward them.

In the center of the room, that originally dim and dull teleportation array was erupting with dazzling brilliance.

The violent energy fluctuations caused the surrounding air to begin twisting and vibrating.

"Hum—!!!"

Accompanied by a low hum.

Dazzling white lights flashed one after another.

Tang Qi instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes.

As the light subsided slightly, he hurriedly opened his eyes to look.

In the center of the teleportation array, several figures stood upright.

The leading person wore a Star-Moon Robe and held a staff.

It was none other than the SS-Rank Forbidden Spell Mage he had seen on television, Gandalf!

Tang Qi was ecstatic in his heart: "Lord Gandalf! That's wonderful! With him here, he can at least block Wada Hirayama!"

However.

The next second.

His gaze fell on the figures behind Gandalf, and his pupils suddenly shrank.

On Gandalf's left.

A man wearing a black cloak cradled a long sword, his black hair covering his eyes, arcs of lightning faintly dancing around his body, exuding an extremely sharp and fierce aura.

On the right.

A burly and muscular man clad in heavy armor and holding a giant shield stood like an iron tower, his mountain-like heavy oppression making people feel a difficulty in breathing at just a single glance.

Further back.

A man with a delicate and handsome appearance, dressed in a black aristocratic formal suit, was gracefully adjusting his cuffs, his shadow writhing beneath his feet as if it had a life of its own.

There was also a man carrying an archaic longbow on his back with a vigilant gaze, surveying his surroundings.

And at the very back.

A man wearing a pure white holy robe, with six phantom light wings faintly emerging behind him, radiating an inviolably sacred aura all over his body, was resting his eyes.

Tang Qi couldn't help but widen his eyes.

His heart almost jumped out of his throat.

"Th... This..."

He opened his mouth wide, but could not make a single sound.

Merely the powerful auras unintentionally emitted by these few people, gathering together, made him, a battle-hardened agent leader, feel a suffocating shock.

SS-Rank!

Unexpectedly... they were all SS-Rank!

He had originally thought that the "powerful reinforcement" in Ever-changing Star Lord's mouth was likely Lord Gandalf.

After all, SS-Rank Experts weren't cabbage growing in fields; being able to have one come was already a blessing.

As a result...

Not only did Gandalf really come.

Behind him were also five equally terrifying SS-Rank Experts!

Including Gandalf, a full six of them!