# 249
Chapter 249: No Entry Ahead
He had slain over a hundred foes—yet these were no ordinary enemies, but a hundred Frost Giants!
Each one was at the River Realm, capable of crushing a remote Night Watch squad with ease. Master Chen’s strike was no less than detonating a nuclear warhead amid the giants.
At the same moment, far away, Loki’s brows knitted slightly.
“That old man again… but you won’t get a second shot.”
He lifted his gaze to the thunderheads pressing overhead, a wicked smile curling his lips. “My next piece… has arrived.”
Rumble—!!
Above the Chaos sky, layer upon layer of storm clouds stacked—thirteen in all—each crackling with lightning more terrifying than the last.
Suddenly a bolt dropped from the highest cloud, drilling through the remaining twelve. With every layer it pierced, it thickened, until, having punched through them all, it stood upon the earth as a pillar of lightning that propped up heaven itself.
The pillar hung in mid-air, slowly condensing into human shape: a tall, lean man of bronze skin, bald and barefoot, torso bare, muscles sharply defined; his lower body wrapped in dark-yellow foreign trousers.
Lightning rippled across him. He opened his eyes and indifferently surveyed the city below.
“Thor? Is that Thor?” someone asked from the helicopter.
“No, impossible. Thor stands with the benevolent gods—he’d never side with his brother…” The officer studied the exotic face. “This is sequence 016 of the divine pantheon—Indra, India’s god of storms. In early Vedic myth he was king of the gods, ranking only below Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu.
He’s also come for the Shiva’s Grudge… Things just got worse.”
One Norse trickster god had already pushed Cangnan to the brink; now Indra arrived, and the situation plummeted.
Hovering, Indra lowered his gaze to the carriage—the only threat he sensed in the city.
“Hand over Shiva’s forbidden relic,” he rumbled, voice reverberating like thunder.
It pierced Master Chen’s Mindscape and entered the cabin.
Inside, Lin Qiye—who’d been locked in the carriage—froze mid-sip, glancing around. “What was that voice?”
He’d known nothing of the battle; he’d only heard Master Chen snort “Foreign vermin—trivial,” and hurl his teacup. The old man’s one-cup slaughter was a complete mystery to him.
“Nothing. Drink your tea.” Master Chen fetched a new cup, then shouted to the driver outside, “Move!”
“Hyah!”
The boy whipped the horses, wheeling the carriage away from the battlefield.
Seeing the relic refused and the carriage fleeing, Indra frowned. With a cold snort he hurled a savage bolt from the clouds.
Boom—!!
An instant before impact, light flared from the carriage, blocking the strike; the whole vehicle lurched.
The boy paled, tightened the reins, and sped faster.
Indra’s eyes flashed; transforming into lightning, he streaked after them.
With both gone, only endless Frost Giants and the shattered defense line remained.
“Now, what will stop me?” Loki narrowed his eyes, smiling.
Roar—!!
Dozens more giants surged from the portal, an avalanche of ice charging the broken barricade.
No miracle came; the last guns were crushed. The giants trampled through, racing along the broad straight road toward the city.
Their footfalls shook the earth. Cangnan citizens felt the tremors; distant thunder kept every heart pounding.
Waa—!
A baby’s wail cut through the air, followed by flocks of black crows spiraling beneath the dark clouds.
Dogs in suburban blocks barked frantically, adding to the unease.
Far off, huge silhouettes approached.
The giants roared across the highway. At the city’s edge stood the last toll station—the final gate.
Crows wheeled; storm clouds churned.
Under the dim heavens, only the toll-gate displays still glowed, five crimson X’s lighting the empty booths:
—NO ENTRY.
In that ruddy glow, a man in a dark-red cloak waited, two black cases beside him, a scarlet placard resting on his shoulder.
Rumble…
Earth groaned as the giants thundered forward, ignoring him.
He watched calmly. “I’m Chen Muye, captain of Night Watch Team 136, Cangnan City. Ahead… is forbidden.”
He slammed the placard into the ground. Three beams shot skyward, forming a triangle that enclosed every Frost Giant—and the toll station behind them.
“[Borderless Domain]!”
Clang—!!
Within the domain, two Straight Blades sprang from the cases into his hands; a black Forbidden Ruins spread outward with him at its center.
Behind him, the outline of a blood-colored palace rose, an ancient plaque hanging above:
—Yama’s Hall!
Twin blades in hand, Chen Muye became a merciless black reaper before Yama’s gate, ghostlike as he charged the onrushing giants.
Before him: a hundred River-realm Frost Giants.
Behind him: a city.
A city of millions.