Chapter 334: I Won’t Hold You Back
Chapter 334: I Won’t Hold You Back
Kanzaki Rin and Wakagi Kazuhiro hovered high above, observing the battle beneath them.
Their mission wasn’t mere spectatorship – they sought Shambhala’s core.
Everything hinged on Wakagi Kazuhiro.
The Blood Eagle’s claws gripped his large frame as altitude sickness weakened his hands and feet.
“Search faster!”
Kanzaki Rin’s sharp voice cut through the wind from her perch atop the Blood Eagle. “We can flee anytime, but you’re dead meat if we fail.”
“I’m trying!”
Wakagi Kazuhiro yelled back, already aware their fates were intertwined without her warning. Failure meant certain death at Kitakudo Shingen’s hands.
Battling vertigo, he scanned the terrain below for Shambhala’s heart.
Kanzaki Rin kept half her attention on Fang Cheng’s duel when metallic shrieks pierced the air behind her.
She whirled around, gun already barking.
Two spear-wielding birdmen in armor plummeted from the sky. Their heads burst like overripe fruit under her precise shots.
More winged attackers materialized above. Crouching low, Kanzaki Rin methodically picked off each diving foe.
“They’re flanking me!”
Wakagi Kazuhiro’s panicked cry rose as birdmen ascended from below. Trapped in the eagle’s talons, he couldn’t evade.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Bullets streaked downward, shredding feathery attackers.
Clicking empty, Kanzaki Rin lobbed a grenade that scattered the remaining assailants.
As reinforcements swarmed, Fang Cheng’s backup Blood Eagles arrived. Needles sprayed like metallic rain, clearing their airspace.
“Found it!!”
Wakagi Kazuhiro’s sausage finger jabbed toward the temple’s rear. “The duplicate statue’s there – destroy it to break Shambhala!”
Kanzaki Rin tapped the Blood Eagle. The creature banked sharply, tucking Wakagi Kazuhiro against its belly as they plunged through avian defenders.
Diving like a crimson meteor, they smashed through the temple’s roof.
Boom!
The thick ceiling shattered as the Blood Eagle crashed down, its body dissolving to release Wakagi Kazuhiro before reforming into a blood wolf towering over human height.
Wakagi Kazuhiro crouched on the ground, retching violently as the impact nearly dislodged his organs.
Protected by her Blood Combat Suit, Kanzaki Rin landed unharmed and scanned the temple’s interior—a corridor stretching endlessly into darkness at both ends.
She asked Wakagi Kazuhiro, “Which direction?”
Having caught his breath, he pointed ahead. “This way.”
She advanced with her gun raised, the blood wolf shadowing her steps.
“Wait! Don’t abandon me!”
Wakagi Kazuhiro scrambled up and hurried after them.
The temple’s maze-like layout would’ve overwhelmed Kanzaki Rin alone, but Wakagi Kazuhiro navigated the branching paths unerringly. She began suspecting he’d visited before.
When they reached an empty Zen room, countless figures stood frozen in the gloom.
Kanzaki Rin aimed her weapon while the blood wolf growled. Distant battle noises from Fang Cheng and Kitakudo Shingen contrasted with the room’s eerie silence.
The motionless shapes revealed themselves as clay figures of varying forms. “Kitakudo Shingen’s statue must be here,” Wakagi Kazuhiro murmured—then froze.
Every clay figure turned alive, glowing eyes locking onto them.
Bang!
Kanzaki Rin blasted the nearest figure’s head apart. The remaining statues lunged forward.
As she reached for a grenade, the blood wolf bristled, unleashing Flying Rain Needles from its quivering fur. The storm of needles felled the clay attackers far more efficiently than her submachine gun could.
Without orders, the blood wolf charged deeper into the room—only to crash backward through the collapsing wall with a thunderous impact.
Heavy footsteps announced a towering figure emerging: bird-headed, six-winged, armored, wielding a spiked club thicker than a man’s torso.
“Garuda!!” Wakagi Kazuhiro breathed, recognizing Kitakudo Shingen’s chief divine messenger.
Earlier, when blocking Fang Cheng, the birdman fled after facing defeat, only to ambush them here.
“Find yourself a place to hide.”
Kanzaki Rin whispered, not expecting assistance from Wakagi Kazuhiro.
Wakagi Kazuhiro stiffened slightly, as if insulted. He straightened his chest, face flushing red: “Though my reflexes are dull now, this battle decides my fate too. I can’t idly watch.”
CRASH!
Garuda’s spiked club merely brushed the floor, yet the solid ground collapsed instantly.
Wakagi Kazuhiro:……
His puffed-up chest deflated like a leaky balloon, shrinking inward.
“I… shouldn’t hinder you further…”
Before finishing, he scrambled away.
Kanzaki Rin inhaled deeply and fired her weapon.
Bullets sprayed toward Garuda’s head.
The birdman shielded himself with folded wings while charging, heaving his club downward.
Kanzaki Rin dove sideways.
The impact gouged a massive crater where she’d stood.
Garuda’s eyes locked onto a grenade clattering before him – left by Kanzaki Rin during her evasion, safety pin already pulled.
BOOM!
The blast barely staggered Garuda’s colossal frame.
More metallic clicks followed as Kanzaki Rin hurled grenades and stun grenades beneath his feet.
Explosions engulfed the demon. Having adopted Fang Cheng’s “insufficient firepower” paranoia, she emptied her entire ammunition stockpile.
Smoke choked the Zen Room. The battered Garuda emerged roaring.
Kanzaki Rin discarded her spent submachine gun. Her left arm shielded her face while her right palm thrust forward, fingers splayed.
“Burn!”
White-hot flames erupted from her hand, becoming a roaring fire dragon that lit the dim chamber. Garuda vanished in the inferno. The blood wolf previously sent flying now plunged into the flames, detonating itself with thunderous force.
Combined energies tore through Garuda’s mighty form.
As the flames subsided, Kanzaki Rin surveyed the devastated room, ready to seek Shambhala’s core.
A sudden rush of air warned her – something lunged from behind.