Cyber Era Witch-Chapter 49 - 35 Collapse
49: Chapter 35 Collapse
49 -35 Collapse
The Underground City lost order, giant rats roamed freely, and the poor headed to their deaths.
Asa Katsuragi tensed her will, compelling herself to stand.
Bullets or not, fighting was like an instinct.
Before the Ratmen could fire their sneaky shots, she had already killed many, her crowbar now blood-red, covered with sticky tissue from smashed Ratmen skulls.
The Ratmen, seeing her shot but not falling, felt a hidden fear and dared not act rashly.
Around her, twenty or thirty gray-haired Ratmen lay on the ground, bludgeoned by the crowbar into indistinguishable masses of flesh and blood.
The reckless who saw their comrades’ death didn’t dare make a move.
A white-haired Ratman stood out from the rat crowd.
The black-haired and gray-haired Ratmen all showed reverence to this white rat, clearly its intelligence was higher than the others, and its posture more upright, not as hunched and sleazy as the ordinary Ratmen.
“Only you are left,” remarked the White-haired Ratman, observing Asa Katsuragi.
“The Suzuki Group…
they are quite strong,” Asa Katsuragi moved her wrist, tossing away her emptied gun, “Remember…
we are the rulers of Katagi District.”
“Go, chop her up,” the white rat beckoned an extremely muscular black-haired Ratman to take action.
“Ga!” This black-haired Ratman was at least two meters tall, his body was knotty with muscles, covered with dense hair, he couldn’t be called a Ratman at all—in Asa Katsuragi’s eyes, calling him a black rat monster might be more appropriate.
“Come on!” Afraid of being shot, Asa Katsuragi had actually seen the white rat commanding several Ratman gunmen preparing to fire sneakily.
She pressed her previously shot wound and quickly retreated to the courtyard.
“Ayah!”
“Bleeding!”
“What to do?”
“So many Ratmen…” The surviving residents trembled with fear.
Asa Katsuragi was about to reassure them when the big black rat charged in.
It roared fiercely, wielding a katana, slashing towards Asa Katsuragi.
Asa Katsuragi tried to block with her crowbar, but with a piercing clang, the katana instantly split the crowbar.
The broken end flew off, hitting the wall and making all the lanterns in the courtyard shake violently.
“She’s lost!”
“Save us!” The people were terrified upon seeing this.
I’ve failed.
Asa Katsuragi’s heart sank.
She stepped back, her eyes falling on the Suzuki Family Samurai Sword hanging on the shrine gate—instinctively, she wanted to rush over and grab it, to resist the formidable enemy.
—But it was the family weapon of the boss.
As a servant of the Suzuki Family, how could she…
“Take this!” A bespectacled student also saw the red katana, immediately snatched it from the shrine gate, and threw it rapidly towards Asa Katsuragi.
As the long sword left the shrine, a grayish fog began to seep out from beneath the door, casting a sinister purple glow, with white foam flowing out.
But even if they noticed this phenomenon, they had no time to be distracted.
“Catch the sword!” People saw Asa Katsuragi staying put and couldn’t help but shout.
Asa Katsuragi watched the sword flying towards her.
What a mess!
What a joke!
Constantly fooled and overlooked in her short life, the loyalty she believed in worthless, her life meaningless…
So what!
She grabbed the blade, turned, and cut towards the big black rat.
It also raised its sword, and the two weapons collided fiercely in midair.
Bang!
The clash of metal was deafening!
In that moment of collision, Asa Katsuragi found the thrill in life once again!
The katana was vivid red, invincible.
It instantly sliced the black rat’s weapon in half, throwing off its stance.
Come on!
Seizing the moment, Asa Katsuragi pushed forward with the sword, piercing the big black rat’s chest with the tip.
It screamed in agony, stumbling back.
With another swing, she ended its life, leaving the rat to bleed out and collapse on the ground.
The dying screams of the big black rat sent a shiver through the assaulting Ratmen outside.
Blinded by rage, all else was cast aside.
Asa Katsuragi charged forward, and the other survivors’ spirits were lifted as they followed her out.
Seeing Asa Katsuragi charging out like a god of death, the white rat immediately ordered several Ratmen to shoot, but the bullets fired at Asa Katsuragi couldn’t stop her, like hitting the front armor of a tank.
“Die!” Asa Katsuragi held the blade high as the Ratmen ran away, no one daring to confront her head-on.
Asa Katsuragi stumbled out, her body burning up, half-asleep, her brain completely mush, running solely on the hot blood of defiance in her heart.
She no longer knew what she was doing was right.
Being in a gang was wrong, handing over the Toshiaki Megastore to Xu Yang was wrong, staying behind to hold the fort was wrong, using the head’s family weapon as a servant was wrong, escaping the shrine was wrong—
Having made so many mistakes, then, was her very existence in this world a mistake?
Kanako and Farosa walked into the house and were startled to see Asa Katsuragi, bloodied and fierce, rushing out.
“This one!” Kanako shouted, “What happened to her?”
“Never mind her, the stuff inside is important.” Farosa vaguely sensed the active Divine Power nearby.
Seeing the blood-stained katana in Asa Katsuragi’s hand, she realized the shrine’s seal had been broken and felt a rush of elation.
Oh God, God.
The noble and majestic God…
The one that mortals fear, that witches revere…
I slaved away for you for so many years with all my heart…
Now let me taste your succulent corpse, you wouldn’t blame me, would you!
Farosa was about to approach the shrine when even more people came running.
“Waaaah—”
“Help—”
Behind Asa Katsuragi, a dozen survivors sprinted frantically, with bolder Ratmen in hot pursuit, hurling stones, knives, or shooting.
They took down the slow and dragged them away to eat, a dire situation indeed.
More ratmen swarmed in, eyeing the trail of blood left by Asa Katsuragi, realizing that this woman had to fall at some point, and their courage swelled.
“Wipe out these disgusting creatures—” Farosa raised her hand, ready to unleash her power.
“No!” Kanako grabbed Farosa, “There are more behind us!”
Farosa turned her head and indeed, several ratmen had circled to their back, greedily eyeing Kanako, Farosa, and Asa Katsuragi, planning to trap and kill them inside Suzuki Springs.
Farosa felt frustrated, damn it, really damn it, there were too many ratmen, and her power was so limited.
“I must…” Farosa still insisted on using her power.
Kanako’s heart pounded madly, realizing that the few of them had no way to break through to the inside and directly reach the Shrine.
“I command you to go!” Kanako said sternly, “Lady Aquilia!
Trust my judgement!
If we rush now, we all die, if we hold back now, someday we might live to come back!”
There were ratmen in front and behind, and if they charged forcefully, death was certain.
The situation was severe, forcing Farosa to reconsider her determination to proceed alone.
But it was so unbearable!
She was just one step away from getting back her magic power!
“Kill them all!” the white-haired rat shouted from afar, “Kill!”
More ratmen ran up from behind it.
The ratmen seemed endless, baring their teeth, grinning grotesquely, and howling madly.
Just one or two releases of power would never allow her to reach the Shrine alive.
“Damn it!” Farosa turned her back and walked out.
So near to the source of divine power, almost within reach!
All because of these ratmen, emerging from every corner, bloodthirsty, never-ending.
All she could do now was swallow the bitter consequences.
“Huff, huff, huff…” Asa Katsuragi could walk no more, utterly exhausted, and she collapsed heavily onto the ground.
Why should this person fall!
Fury filled Farosa.
“Get up and fight!” Farosa turned towards Asa Katsuragi, chanting spells rapidly, releasing the miracle of healing, a strong life force emerging from within Katsuragi, restoring her strength.
“Fight…” Asa Katsuragi gripped her katana, struggling to her feet, “Fight for what?”
“I don’t know; ask Xu Yang when he wakes up.” Farosa said irritably, “He’s full of ideas.”
Xu Yang?
Right.
Katsuragi tightened her grip on the sword and charged outwards.
Perhaps Xu Yang would give me an answer.
Seeing Katsuragi revived, the ratmen blocking the path outside changed their expressions and squeaked strangely.
They had seen too many weak and powerless humans, believing all humans were no different, until they witnessed such a fierce woman.
So they grew timid and finally left the path, fleeing.
Breaking through the encirclement, including some citizens who escaped from Suzuki Springs, the survivors crawled onto the shuttle machine like a dozen dying dogs, escaping the rat tide with difficulty.
Lila started the engine and quickly drove the shuttle away.
The atmosphere inside the cabin was oppressive.
Kanako looked solemn, Farosa was full of anger, Asa Katsuragi had a vacant gaze, and Nidelaide felt overwhelmed by the situation, so she picked up her phone again.
The extreme agony was shared among each other, and even if someone tried to say a few words to rally spirits, they would stop after seeing the others’ expressions.
Farosa especially despised it all.
Chaos, death, violence.
She looked out the window and saw the ratmen crawl out one by one, they gnawed on corpses, scrambled for pieces of flesh, retrieving the remains of their own kind.
The weaker ones hastily reorganized under the high-pitched commands of their leader, shuttling through the dark underground city, continuing to hunt humans.
My power hasn’t recovered, what am I to do?
Farosa pursed her lips, curling up in a corner of the shuttle.
She disliked the others, especially the noisy survivors who had just boarded.
They were ragged, anxious, depressed, and barbarically impatient.
“Got anything to eat?
I’m starving.”
“It’s really big in here.”
“Ah, there were too many ratmen…”
“Did you see that woman’s head?
Horrifying.” The survivors who escaped from Suzuki Springs kept talking to each other to alleviate the terror in their hearts.
First threatened at home, they escaped the first wave of ratmen attack, took refuge in Toshiaki Megastore, then were taken away by Suzuki Group, abandoned, and finally survived death, clinging to this shuttle.
The sudden turmoil in just a few hours made them extremely sensitive and distrustful of everything.
The survivors were especially hopeless.
Kyoto Infinity, while renowned, was utterly powerless to control such a remote underground district, leaving people to be crushed by swarms of rats.
All promises, contracts, and advertisements were false, and in such times, even gangs seemed more reliable.
Farosa looked at Kanako, who should have been in control of the situation, but now she was under extreme mental strain, unable to carry on, her gaze vacant.
If forced to pick herself up, Kanako might collapse before anyone else.
Farosa then looked at Asa Katsuragi—she was young, strong, but extremely vulnerable, holding her head, lost in her thoughts.
My miracles can only save her body, not her heart.
If she has lost hope inside, what can I do?
She stared intently at the door of the automatic doctor’s chamber, hoping for a miracle.
And then… a miracle happened.
The door opened.
All eyes immediately focused on the door.
Cui Junyou was washing hands inside, and Xu Yang came out with a relaxed expression.
“Here I am,” Xu Yang surveyed the surroundings, “Hmm?
Why are there so many people?”
