A single shadow could be seen flickering towards the tallest skyscr.a.p.er.
Due to Nan Tian's incredible speed, he was next to Huan Er way before Shiro could even get to the first building.
'No wonder he's always there when I'm back at the dorm. He can just spot me and almost teleport over to the dorm.' Shiro thought whilst vaulting over a few barriers.
After a few minutes, she was back next to both Nan Tian and Huan Er.
[So what's the situation like?]
"No idea."
'What?' Shiro thought hearing Nan Tian's reply.
"Huan Er would you mind explaining to Little Snow?"
"Sure. Basically, miss Shiro, the graph of the current mana movement is abnormal. For a totem, the mana direction should normally be outgoing. However, currently, the mana is rushing in multiple directions with the main direction being towards the centre of this entire ritual." Huan Er explained showing Shiro the graph.
[Hand it to me.] Shiro typed out as Huan Er nodded and handed Shiro her laptop.
Looking at the live graph of New York, Shiro frowned for a moment as countless simulations ran through her head.
'With all my knowledge about rituals from my world, I should be able to simulate a rough estimate of what is happening right now.' Shiro thought as she looked at the screen.
Tapping away at the keyboard, Shiro started to manually change the values of the current simulation. By changing these values, she'll be able to change the simulation.
"? Wait those ar-"
"Huan Er. Let Little Snow do her thing." Nan Tian cut her off with a finger over where his mouth would be.
Biting her lower lip in frustration, Huan Er redirected her injustice at Shiro.
'Stare all you want. I ain't turning around.' Shiro thought whilst correcting all of the values.
The new values she was imputing right now were basic theories about rituals she still remembered from her old world. While it wasn't an in-depth theory, it was worth a shot to see if it could work.
Not to mention, Shiro had long prepared a few excuses to explain where she got all of this information.
*Tap!
Pressing enter on the keyboard, the graph started to change. Reading the graph, Shiro's complexion worsened.
"Ah shit…" She muttered without realising.
[Good news and bad news. Which on first?] Shiro asked.
Nan Tian thought for a moment as he looked at her serious face.
"Good news first."
[Good news is that I know exactly what is going on.]
"Hou? Do explain." Nan Tian gestured.
[No. Now the bad news.]
"Huh??" Nan Tian was taken aback reading this.
[Just kidding.] Shiro grinned.
Smiling wearily at her shenanigans, Nan Tian waited patiently. This only caused Huan Er to furrow her brows in annoyance.
'Bitch!' She cursed mentally.
[Basically, what's happening is that the nodes were the foundations of this ritual were tampered with. The b*stards who set this up made it so that the nodes were restrictors instead. They were disguised to act as the foundation and the moment we broke the nodes, the residue mana became the activation switches. With all ten activated/destroyed, we manually started the ritual.] Shiro smiled tiredly.
[Seems like not even the defending grunts knew this. To fool one's enemy, one must fool their allies first.] She shrugged.
"And… that's the good news? What's the bad news?" Nan Tian asked.
[We can no longer stop this ritual. We pushed it pass the activation threshold. Whatever it wants to attract/summon here can no longer be stopped.] Shiro shook her head.
"And you think that I can't do anything even though it's been activated?"
[Oh I think you can. BUT! Only if it wasn't for this ritual. Unfortunately for both me and you, our mana signatures were registered into the ritual. Now, if we attack or use mana at the ritual or the things it summons, we'll only empower it. That's right, not destroy. E M P O W E R. We can't do shit in this case o mighty Nan Tian.] Shiro sighed and stood up.
With nothing she could do, she could only go along with the evacuation. It was unfortunate that their good intention of ending this ritual only served to take the biggest support out of this predicament.
Without Nan Tian helping to end the ritual, they had to give up on the city.
Clenching his fist, Nan Tian frowned.
"Seems like black monarchy was prepared." He said with a low voice. His eyes were cold as he looked back at the light in the sky.
Seeing the light grow stronger every passing second, Nan Tian's frustration grew with the fact that he can't help.
Shaking his head, he sighed out tiredly.
[Don't worry about it too much. You can't resolve everything in this world. Just retreat with everyone else in this city. We can only leave this to everyone else. Who knows, they might be able to drive back whatever is coming by themselves.] Shiro typed out seeing Nan Tian's frustration.
"Mn. Indeed. But is this really the case? Where did you get this information and how are you so sure of it?" He asked.
[Simple. With a little knowledge on how ritual works, not just totem but the other rituals as well, I can construct a simulation to estimate how the ritual would activate. As for where I got this information, let's just say it's there. And you can guess why.] Shiro typed out as she gestured at her head.
'So the previous host of the body knew this information. That probably explains why she knew about this.' Nan Tian concluded seeing her gesture.
"Hais… Troublesome." Nan Tian said with a shake of his head.
"But this isn't like any totem ritual that I know of."
[Obviously not. While incomplete, whoever made this ritual seemed to be experimenting rather than aiming for this city. They wanted to see how the ritual worked with a new theory and observe the outcome.]
"An experiment you say? So… this is an incomplete ritual in development?"
[Yeah. Now if you don't mind me, I'm going back to my friends. Also, feel free not to stalk me.] Shiro typed out as her body flickered off the roof.
"… Huan Er."
"Yes?"
"Send a message for me to the elders. The Black Monarchy must have gotten their hands on a talented individual. They've developed a new type of ritual where the nodes act like switches instead. There is no information on how to deactivate the ritual without breaking the nodes. Just know that the higher level members must not destroy the nodes as you will no longer be able to help during the eradication of whatever the totem attracts." Nan Tian said seriously.
###
[Shiro: I'm coming to look for you now. Where are you?]
[Lyrica: We're at evacuation bay 7. People are getting into the train. You should come quickly.]
[Shiro: Alright. I'm coming over now.]
Turning on maps, Shiro searched for evacuation bay 7.
'Hmm… That's quite a distance…' Shiro thought.
Shrugging her shoulders, Shiro dashed towards the location.
After a few minutes of constant running at her full speed with both the 2nd phantom and faded snow movement, Shiro could see light in the sky reach its peak.
Turning the corner, she could see the mass of people still in the process of evacuation. Looking around, she was able to spot a few elves and black haired people but not who she was looking for.
[Shiro: I'm here. Where are you?]
[Lyrica: We're further in. We wanted to wait outside but the patrol seemed adamant about us not going back. So we can only proceed onwards.]
[Shiro: Got it. Keep going, I'll catch up eventually.]
[Lyrica: See you soon.]
Storing away her phone, Shiro pulled her mask and hood up.
Yin Style Phantom Arts: 1st Phantom + 2nd Phantom + Faded Snow Movement.
Her body flickered forward as no one noticed her. Scanning everything that she could see, Shiro exerted her visual capabilities to the max in order to find Lyrica and Madison within the crowd of evacuating citizens.
During this, she was even able to spot Helion, Aarim, Liam and Silvia.
'Seems like they'll be moving to the next city as well. Maybe I'll be able to try to recruit Silvia to the party in the next city.' Shiro thought.
Dashing further through the crowd, Shiro was finally able to spot Lyrica and Madison in the crowd.
"You think Shiro will be able to catch up?" Madison asked, occasionally looking back.
"Yeah, she'll be here at any moment." Lyrica nodded.
[You called?] Shiro grinned as she appeared in front of them.
"GAH!!!! Can't you show up normally?!" Madison shouted out as she almost had a heart attack.
[So you're suggesting a superhero landing? Which one is better? Superhero landing or me just being next to you?] Shiro asked as she pulled down her mask and hood.
"Never mind you're right. Also, when did you bleach your hair???" Madison asked. Lyrica, on the other hand, was widening her eyes to imprint Shiro's image into her mind.
[I didn't bleach it. My star up did.] Shiro smiled.
"So… kind of like my class up?" Madison said.
Shiro only narrowed her eyes slightly being reminded that Madison received a mature body figure after classing up for the first time. While she only gained a few nano metres in height.
Feeling a chill that ran through her spine, Madison paled slightly as she remembered how Shiro would act when they brought up the topic of her class up.
"So, er, what do you think would happen when you class up the second time?" Madison asked to divert the topic.
[No idea. Hopefully, I can fix my throat. Since class ups can change the physic, it should be able to fix my throat as well.] Shiro shrugged.
'Oh my god… Shiro with a voice…' Lyrica thought with widened eyes.
###
"Lyrica~ Come to me darling." Shiro said with a gentle gesture of her finger, her voice soft and mesmerising.
"Ah~ But Shiro… We can't…" Lyrica replied with a slight pant to her voice.
"Who decided we can't? With strength, you determine the rules. Tell me what I can't do." Shiro grinned. With a powerful pull of her hand, Lyrica's body was brought next to her's.
"Ahh!" Lyrica cried out in surprise.
"Why are you surprised?" Shiro asked as she leaned in closer to her body. Her cold fingers ran down Lyrica's back, undressing her in the process.
"Let me loosen up a little too…" Shiro said slowly as she too undressed.
###
*Drip drip drip
"Ahhh…. Imma die… I'm going to die of happiness…" Lyrica muttered weakly as her face was entirely red. Blood dripped from her nose even though she tried to block it.
"Lyrica?? Lyrica!! Hang on! I know the image is shocking but not yet! Wait until you're in a room!!" Madison cried out as she caught Lyrica before she fell.
"Madi… It's, it's too much ah…" Lyrica said trying to stop her nosebleed.
"Just...Just hold it back! Just a little while longer!"
. . .
Shiro who was watching this only had one thought.
'The f*ck?'
Looking at Madison who was helping Lyrica with cooling her down, Shiro only raised an eyebrow. There wasn't much she could do since Madison was currently helping her. Plus, she had the instinctive feeling that if she went over now, it would only make matters worse.
Waiting a few moments, Shiro saw that Lyrica had recovered.
[You feeling ok now?]
"Yeah I'm fine. Just, promise me that you'll try to fix your voice as soon as possible ok?" Lyrica said with eagerness.
[That was my plan.] Shiro nodded. Her not having the ability to speak was rather annoying since she had to type everything out. Even with her fast typing speed, it was still annoying.
Plus, they had to read the text as well.
*BOOM!!!!!
The moment they entered the train, they saw the light explode into a giant portal.
Two claws gripped the edge of the portal before ripping it wider.
*ROARRRR!!!!!!!!!
Its roar echoed through the entire city.
Within the portal, they could see countless pairs of eyes, showing the number of monsters inside.
However, the moment Shiro heard the roar, her body seemed to have shut down as she collapsed face first into the train seat.
"Shiro!" Both Lyrica and Madison cried out in a panic as they picked her up and turned her over.
Sitting her properly, they were shocked to see her expression rotate from a blank face to her normal face.
"Shiro?" Lyrica said as she shook her shoulder a few times.
Recovering from her state, Shiro typed on her phone.
[Yeah sorry. Body shut down from fatigue.] Shiro smiled apologetically.
"Fatigue?"
[I levelled up from 35 to 37 in one go. Now imagine how many dungeon runs I had to do.] Shiro lied as to divert their attention.
Looking at her tag, they realised that she was indeed level 37.
"Holy crap! You should rest more!" Madison said as Shiro nodded.
[I was a little too excited at the level up so I got careless.] She smiled.
However, she knew the truth. The moment the monster had roared, it had tried to make her submit to it.
'Tsk, annoying prick.' She thought. If it wasn't for the fact that her mental resistance was strong, she didn't know what would have happened.
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