Skyfire Avenue - Chapter 820

Chapter 820

Chapter 820: Hello, Goddess

Lan Jue looked at his father, eyes bright, but after a moment shook his head . “I’m sorry, dad . I don’t have such ambition . I only want one thing after this fight is done – I want to live quietly with Zhou Qianlin on Skyfire Avenue . Immortality doesn’t interest me, I think I’d be happier as a man . ”

Jue Di was stunned . He spoke after a moment with a playful derision in his voice . “You lazy kid, you always have been . Fine, everyone has different aspirations and if this isn’t yours then so be it . We’ll talk more about it later . ”

Lan Jue smiled back . Of course he would support his father in his attempt to create a new immortal realm, but he wasn’t interested in living there himself . He wanted the life of a normal man, to have a wife and children and friends . That’s all he wanted, a simple life of happiness .

Zhou Qianlin didn’t offer her opinion . She stood by his side and took his hand in hers .

Just then, Jue Di’s head snapped toward the window . His eyes narrowed . “They’re here . We should get ready to greet them!”

Lan Jue’s heart skipped a beat . He gripped Qianlin’s hand tight and lifted his communicator to his lips . “The enemy approaches, prepare to defend . Let’s go!”

Both he and Qianlin vanished from the room in a bolt of crackling lightning . In the next breath they were hovering in the sky outside .

Lan Jue narrowed his eyes and let his perception spread, reaching out past the sky into the cosmos beyond . A glint of understanding flit through his expression as he realized that if the enemy was here, it meant the frontlines were likely already embroiled in battle .

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Space .

Middle Heaven began to slow down its forward momentum . In the distance the armada commanders could see the wave of purple headed their way .

The hue was, of course, from the scores of alien arrayed to meet them . There were about half as many as what met them around Angel . They were spread out wide and approached slowly .

The atmosphere was instantly tense, battle would break out at any moment .

Lan Qing watched them come with frigid expression, glaring at the screen before him . His voice was cold when he gave the order . “Change formation!”

Middle Heaven stopped and the warships around it began to readjust their arrangement . Some rose higher and others dipped low to create a stratified formation with their cannons primed and pointed straight ahead . The benefit of this structure was in giving every ship a clear line of fine, with nothing in their way to dampen attack capabilities . On the other hand it gave their enemy access to every one of them . If the aliens got close enough the humans would be forced to take the full brunt, like a surge barrier before a tsunami .

The alien forces continued to draw close, expanding ever wider . Clearly they’d learned from past defeats and spread out to minimize the humans’ range advantage . They came to a stop just outside of weapon’s reach .

Attack? They were in no hurry, it was the humans who were racing against the clock . These monsters were here to slow them down .

Once the armada was in formation the two sides maintained their distance and stared at each other across the darkness of space . Neither was eager to act rashly, for the first side to act would be the one to suffer the greatest losses and lose battlefield advantage . Lan Qing knew it, as did whoever – or whatever – was leading the alien forces .

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Angel faced a different circumstance . The fight started the instant the monsters arrived, so many that they blotted out the sun . From below the whole sky seemed to turn purple in a matter of seconds from the press of enemy numbers .

Lan Jue maintained a line of communication with his brother . From the Jewelry Master’s vantage there were far more alien attackers than when they first came to liberate Angel . His enemy was cunning, they didn’t begin the assault until they were all around the planet and could attack from all sides .

The An Lun engineers were masters of their craft . All of Angel’s new planetary defenses were online and primed to face the enemy . These were some of the same railguns they used on bastion ships so one could imagine the stopping power they possessed, but they weren’t without drawbacks . They had a long cooldown period, were less maneuverable and more .

However they tried to get around that with sheer numbers, with these reserve weapons spanning far and wide across Angel in only a matter of days . Now the planet resembled An Lun with its fields of bristling cannons . Energy rounds glittered in the dark barrels, ready to fire at a moment’s notice .

Star Division was already suited up and headed into battle .

Meanwhile Lan Jue and Qianlin hovered in the air . They surveyed the scene hand in hand, with their Godblades at the ready . Thankfully the common folk were not near enough to see . If they saw their goddess hand in hand with some strange man they might have been heartbroken .

A small smile played across Lan Jue’s lips . He turned his face toward Qianlin . “Hello, goddess . ”

Her face reddened . “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know why,” he answered, “but knowing other people worship you and I am the one who gets to hold your hand makes me happy . ”

Qianlin tittered a pretty laugh . “You and your naughty thoughts . ”

Lan Jue’s voice dipped low . “Oh I’ve got naughtier, if you want to give them a try . ”

She blushed furiously now . “You pick a fine time to talk about this . ”

This earned a chortle from him . “You’re my wife, no matter what time it is! Is it not entirely normal for a man to be attracted to his partner?”

Qianlin had been nervous seeing so many aliens approach, but Lan Jue’s patter helped her to relax .

Their enemy was practically on top of them now . They filled their view, from earth to sky and all across the horizon . Leading them was a beast twenty thousand meters long 1 that looked like a warship . It was larger than a human Capital ship and was just as imposing .

Behind the titanic creature was two figured, much smaller but no less terrifying; the Violet Prince and Princess .

When he saw them Lan Jue sucked a breath through his teeth . He knew that aliens were going to harass Angel, but he hadn’t anticipated the arrival of two of their strongest generals . Both of them commanded the powers of the Infinite . The monster they rode was just as mighty .

Was this their main force? Here to retake Angel?

The Violet Princess felt the unseeable attraction as well and looked toward him . A faint smile pulled at the corner of her pretty lips and a hungry light shone in her eyes .

Lan Jue’s heart beat against his chest . He remembered the first day he saw her on Moonfiend, back when he thought she was simply a beautiful woman . Later he would discover she was a nightmare in the flesh . She’d proved that when she struck down the Barber, revealing her Nirvana-level power . She was even stronger now .

However, the Infinite wasn’t the advantage it seemed to be . Like Paragons, they had to be feeling the effects of universal protogenia .

Star Division was gathered and arrayed before the Paragons that led them . In both numbers and size these young men and women were like ants before the alien horde . Still, they faced their enemy fearlessly . After all, they had ten Paragons on their side – what was there to fear?

Tan Lingyun, NEU’s Savage Goddess, had been placed in Lan Jue’s group . Her heart ached a little when she saw her commander hand in hand with Qianlin . Her mind harkened back to the time she spent with the masked Lei Feng . From behind, was he not just the same? All he was missing was the mask .

Both sides watched each other from across the rapidly closing space . Out in orbit around Europa the humans and aliens stared at each other, buying time . But here their enemy hoped to split the frontline’s attention and collapse their rear . The atmosphere was entirely different .

The Violet Prince thrust a hand forward and two wings of his horde came charging forward . More than five hundred wriggling purple bodies flung themselves at Star Division’s flanks .

A veil of rainbow-like color sprang into existence between the two forces . As the aliens crossed it their lightning-fast approach was brought almost to a stand-still, charging in slow-motion .

The Epochrion . As her powers manifested they were joined by a resplendent beam of white . As it swept past the unfortunate creatures were sliced in halves before they could react . They were dead before their bodies completely separated .

With her dress fluttering in Angel’s winds, the Pharmacist stood beside the Clockmaker, surrounded by Occisus’ bloodthirsty aura . The sudden death of five hundred beasts quickly boosted her Slaughter Domain, which spread out like a righteous tempest .

What was a terror for their enemies brought courage to allies . As the Harbinger Faerie’s powers washed over them, Star Division’s soldiers seethed with the need for righteous battle . They could hardly hold themselves back .

Two Paragons had, with little effort, eliminated five hundred alien attackers . It made a strong impression .