# 971
Chapter 972: Survivors Return to the Ranks
Wu Xiangnan gripped the sword hilt with both hands, two black suns blazing in his eyes. The solar law within his body flowed through the hilt into Susanoo's body.
Bang—!
Wu Xiangnan's left hand exploded into a cloud of blood, dissolving into thousands of white threads that vanished without a trace.
His eyes burned with murderous intent. Gritting his teeth, he gripped the Ame-no-Murakumo with his right hand and slashed down along Susanoo's throat!
The sharp blade cut through the massive body, leaving a shocking gash. Wu Xiangnan landed on the ground, the Ame-no-Murakumo in his hand already soaked crimson with blood.
Scalding divine blood rained from the sky, dyeing the light blue cloak crimson. Wu Xiangnan raised his head, watching Susanoo's life force rapidly fade under the solar law, and slowly closed his eyes…
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
All the lingering bitterness and hatred in his heart over the years dissipated with this breath of foul air.
He had waited nearly a decade for this moment.
"I killed him." Wu Xiangnan murmured to himself.
"Unfortunately, you won't be able to see it anymore…"
Boom—!!
Susanoo's massive body crashed to the ground, sending up rolling clouds of dust that fluttered the light blue cloak. A burst of blood mist exploded from Wu Xiangnan's right arm. His flesh dissolved, his form grew even more transparent, and the blood-stained Ame-no-Murakumo fell into the earth, sinking deep into the soil.
Two figures—one dark gray and one dark red—walked up behind him.
Wang Mian and Lin Qiye exchanged a glance, both their expressions complex, but neither disturbed the man standing before Susanoo's body, murmuring to himself.
Burst after burst of blood mist exploded across Wu Xiangnan's body. His form gradually faded. Finally, he slowly turned around—this man in his mid-thirties already had tears in his eyes.
He looked at Lin Qiye and Wang Mian and smiled:
"Thank you."
"Don't thank us. You prepared alone for ten years, planned boldly with no escape route. Being able to reach this point was well-deserved." Wang Mian couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "Killing a god with a mortal body—Wu Xiangnan, you are the first in this world… and perhaps the last."
Three divine artifacts, three forbidden curse formations, one Human Apex, one agent amplified by the Prayer Mat to godhood, and one immortal swordsman who briefly gained the power of laws through rebirth… after countless hardships, all these factors combined finally allowed them to barely kill a god.
This process could not be replicated or repeated.
Wu Xiangnan looked at Lin Qiye, his gaze gentle beyond measure. "Qiye, after everything is done, if you have time, go back to Cangnan and take a look… Hongying and Qimo, they're all waiting for us.
When they ask about me, just say…"
Wu Xiangnan lowered his head, looking at his body about to dissipate, and smiled bitterly. "Just tell them I'm a bit busy and can't come back for now."
A wave of bitterness surged in Lin Qiye's heart. He looked at Wu Xiangnan, overlapping the weathered face before him with the deputy captain from the Cangnan office, and nodded heavily.
"Don't worry. I'll go back."
Wu Xiangnan gazed at him deeply, like an old father who had witnessed his child grow up, his eyes full of relief and pride.
"I'm leaving now."
Wu Xiangnan turned his head, dragging his dissolving form toward somewhere in Takamagahara, as if searching for something.
Shimmering blood mist enveloped his body. Thread by thread, the white strands scattered. His nearly transparent form of Infinity finally stopped on a certain shattered piece of earth.
He slowly squatted down, the blood-stained light blue cloak spread across the ground. His eyes gazed at the emptiness beneath his feet, then closed.
Here, this was where his teammates were buried.
And here was his final resting place.
Bang—!
The final burst of blood mist exploded. Wu Xiangnan's body turned into white threads, fading piece by piece. His lips parted slightly, and he smiled as he spoke:
"[Blue Rain] squad, survivor Wu Xiangnan, requesting to return to the ranks…"
His final murmur echoed in the air.
The blood-stained light blue cloak gently drifted down onto the earth, like a nameless tombstone carved with countless merits, causing the souls buried here to fall into eternal slumber.
…
Pale golden light shrouded Lin Qiye and Wang Mian. They stared at the drifting blue cloak in the distance, both falling into silence.
"[Blue Rain] squad… has ultimately and completely disappeared…" Lin Qiye let out a long sigh.
"[Blue Rain] will not disappear. Their names will be forever inscribed on the Night Watch stele."
"Stele?"
"At Night Watch headquarters, there is a stele that records all special squad names. When a special squad disappears or is disbanded, their names and achievements are carved onto it." A bitter smile appeared on Wang Mian's lips.
"Now, [Mask] should also be inscribed."
Lin Qiye was silent for a moment. "But you're still alive, the captain of [Mask]. The unit designation shouldn't be cancelled, right?"
"A [Mask] with only me left can no longer be considered [Mask]." Wang Mian shook his head. "At this point, we can no longer cling stubbornly to this designation. Instead, we must pass it on, let fresher blood flow in… just like [Blue Rain] was in the old days.
If the Wu Xiangnan of back then hadn't cancelled the [Blue Rain] 005 designation, there would have been no [Nightfall] for you.
After [Mask]'s name is carved onto the stele, I believe before long, a brand-new 004 special squad will emerge in Great Xia. They might possess even more hope and vitality than us."
"…I understand."
Lin Qiye felt a mixture of emotions.
A stele inscribed with the names of disbanded special squads… He wondered if, many years from now, [Nightfall]'s name would also be carved onto it?
When that day came, what kind of achievements and legends would be written behind their names?
Perhaps after that, their own 005 would also be passed down, and a brand-new young special squad would rise powerfully, carrying their will and hope.
Perhaps this was the destiny of special squads.
"I'll go get something."
Wang Mian spoke, then walked to Susanoo's corpse. He reached out and searched Susanoo's chest for a moment before pulling out a red magatama with a cracked corner.
The moment he saw this magatama, Wang Mian's eyes brightened.
A Takamagahara divine artifact—the八尺琼勾玉 (Eight-Shaku Magatama).
This was what the god of time had asked him to obtain.
Wang Mian tucked the magatama away and immediately fled with Lin Qiye toward Takamagahara's gate.
But before they could get far, the second red moon hanging in the sky suddenly burst forth with dazzling light!