# 1445
Chapter 1446: The Mountain of Forbidden Incantations
"Qi…ye?"
Hongying gazed at the familiar crimson-clad figure before her, uncertain whether to speak.
In the pitch-black night, Lin Qiye turned his head slightly, the blazing golden light in his eyes gradually fading, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his lips.
"Hongying, long time no see."
At those words, tears involuntarily welled up in Hongying's eyes. She stared at that familiar yet unfamiliar face, wanting to say something, yet nothing would come.
The last time they had met was during the catastrophe of Cangnan City, when Lin Qiye's soul had been torn apart and he was driven mad—that was Hongying's final impression of him. It had been four or five years since then, and the Lin Qiye before her now was no longer the high school boy he once was. Time and trials had left their marks on his face, and his entire demeanor had changed completely.
Hongying had long heard that Lin Qiye had been tasked with establishing the fifth special squad, and over the years, she had heard plenty about the [Nightfall] team. But when Lin Qiye truly stood before her draped in a Crimson Cloak, Hongying felt as if she were dreaming.
The roars of giant beasts echoed ceaselessly from all directions. Several serpentine giants that had been knocked off the battlefield by Li Zhengzhi surged forward. Lin Qiye furrowed his brows and softly said:
"Hongying, I'll go eliminate some enemies first. We can talk later."
As his voice fell, Lin Qiye's figure blurred and vanished into the night like a wisp of shadow.
Hongying stared at the spot where he had stood, finally coming back to her senses. Wen Qimo walked to her side, gently patting her shoulder, his expression a mixture of joy and complexity.
"This kid… he's incredible now."
Hongying wiped the tears from her eyes, lifted her chin, and smiled. "Of course he is. He's from Cangnan!"
Behind them, Molly silently watched the figure standing tall among the clouds amidst the dust and smoke. The massive taijitu gradually dispersed, and that figure lowered his gaze to meet hers across the distance before turning and departing.
Molly pressed her lips together tightly…
At the frontmost battlefield, Zuo Qing yanked his Straight Blade from the neck of a Divine Beast, leaping down and stumbling to steady himself on the ground.
The endless tide of beasts crashed forward like giant waves, layer upon layer. From the perspective of the front line, it seemed as if the entire sky was swallowed by the beast horde—no matter how many they killed, more kept coming, and their numbers kept increasing.
Zuo Qing's grip on his Straight Blade trembled slightly. He gritted his teeth, dodged attacks from two Divine Beasts closing in on him, his spiritual power nearly depleted.
DONG DONG DONG—!!
Successive silver巨柱 descended from the sky, encasing two Divine Beasts within their bounds. Dense lightning crackled, and dark figures rushed down from the tops of the pillars, engaging the two Divine Beasts in combat.
"Commander Zuo, are you alright?" Wu "Old Dog"'s voice crackled through the communicator.
"I'm fine." Zuo Qing took a deep breath.
Wu "Old Dog" gazed at Zuo Qing's heavily wounded form, and after a moment of silence, still said: "Commander Zuo, I'll speak bluntly. You're the Supreme Commander of the Night Watch. You shouldn't be here in the first place. Us apex-level fighters can die here, but you cannot… without you, the Night Watch loses its backbone.
You've fought alongside us to this point. That's more than enough. Leave the rest to us."
Zuo Qing shook his head. "Don't worry. I'm not that easy to kill."
With the [Spirit Medium] guarding him against the beast tide, Zuo Qing's pressure greatly diminished. He glanced back—the battlefield before Chennan Pass had already been completely buried beneath countless giant beasts. Even with all the Human Apex fighting, they could only hold back so much. As the number of giant beasts increased, the pressure on the middle and rear sections of the battle line was also growing.
Just as Zuo Qing was worrying about the situation, figures clad in deep crimson burst forth from the center of the battle line!
"Sorry, we're late." Lin Qiye's voice came through the communicator.
That crimson-clad figure carried a sword, diving low and sweeping through several serpentine giants, leading the other figures as if they were a crimson blade, rapidly charging toward the front line!
Five figures carved a bloody path through the battlefield. A patch of verdant green grass spread like a tide, instantly swallowing the scattered beast corpses beneath. Vigorous vitality poured continuously into Lin Qiye's body. Meanwhile, an ink-black night had completely enveloped the entire sky.
BOOM—!!
With a deafening roar, beneath the night sky, those streaks of crimson had already taken their stand at the front line.
"[Nightfall] Squad, standing by."
Lin Qiye's voice sounded again.
"How's the situation in Jiangcheng?" Upon seeing [Nightfall] arrive, Zuo Qing exhaled in relief and asked.
"We held it."
"Good." Zuo Qing nodded slightly. "Regardless, welcome back."
"We still have quite a few questions… but let's discuss them after this war ends."
Lin Qiye gazed at the seemingly endless beast tide before him, his expression gradually growing serious. "By the way, before we came, we prepared a gift."
"Gift?" Zuo Qing was taken aback.
Lin Qiye extended his hand, pointing toward the sky. "It's up there."
Zuo Qing looked up. In the pitch-black night, a massive silhouette was gradually taking shape!
HUM—!
A low rumble echoed from the sky. A mountain, wrapped in night, slowly descended from the clouds. Since it was enveloped in darkness on all sides, nearly blending with the sky itself, most people hadn't noticed that a floating mountain had silently passed overhead.
As the night shroud around the mountain gradually dissipated, everyone finally saw its full form. The mountain's surface was bare—no vegetation at all. Its base was smooth and flat, as if someone had sliced it clean with a single blade and then lifted the entire thing. And now, on this barren rock face, countless intricate patterns glowed with a faint light.
"This is…"
The other Human Apex in the midst of battle saw this, puzzlement flickering in their eyes.
"This is the 'Mountain of Forbidden Incantations' we carved." Lin Qiye's palm floated empty in the air, controlling that mountain in the sky, slowly shifting it toward the core area of the beast tide. "Explaining its origins would be complicated, but in a war of this scale, it's definitely a powerful weapon."
Forbidden Incantations were currently Lin Qiye's strongest means of destruction. Moreover, Merlin's forbidden incantation grimoire contained a large number of mass-casualty forbidden incantations designed for group combat. To activate them, two things were required: first, time to draw the formation arrays in advance, and second, an astronomical amount of spiritual power…
The national fortune golden dragon gifted by General Huo Qubing could solve the second problem. So their only remaining difficulty was the lack of sufficient time to draw the arrays during actual combat.
While defending against the beast tide in Jiangcheng, Lin Qiye had been inspired by the forbidden incantations he had carved into the ground. Since he could use [Corrosion of Darkness] to lift sections of earth inscribed with forbidden incantations, why not simply carve several of them and bring them into the battlefield all at once?