Chapter 41: Triple Empty Mirror

Under a sky full of starlight, on the winding mountain road, Shen Shenghua helped Professor Connor to his feet and looked toward the direction where the vehicle had plunged down the hillside. The area below was a scene of utter devastation, though the specifics were obscured by the heavy darkness.

"Fleeing is useless," Shen Shenghua muttered softly to herself. "The entity we are facing is something that simply should not exist in this era."

After all, having jumped from the vehicle during the crash, Ains Connor’s leg was injured, drastically reducing his mobility.

The very next moment, just as the two of them stared down the slope, a figure burst forth from the billowing dust below, dragging a sword with one hand and charging straight upward at them!

A silvery-white metal longsword plowed a trench through the dirt of the hillside. At that terrifying speed, it would take less than five seconds to reach where they stood.

Closing the distance of over a hundred meters in the blink of an eye, the Terminator Amy locked her silvery-blue eyes onto them, processing their attributes completely. Prioritizing the greatest threat was a hardcoded directive.

She leaped!

Soaring five to six meters into the air, Amy gripped her sword with both hands, while pale blue ion flames condensed along the blade—a technology that did not yet exist in this era!

She slashed fiercely downward!

With a deafening boom, Shen Shenghua shoved Dr. Connor away. Reacting with lightning speed, she twisted her body to the side, narrowly avoiding taking the full force of the blow head-on.

The roadway was blasted into a massive crater, gravel flying in all directions. Shen Shenghua’s left arm was struck by a jagged stone, rendering it completely numb and paralyzed.

Fortunately, her evasive roll had spared her from the worst of the impact.

Amy straightened her posture. The silver metal longsword in her hand was still wreathed in intensely burning blue ion flames. She glanced at the woman to her left, who was clutching her injured arm and appeared temporarily incapacitated.

Turning around, the Terminator advanced toward Professor Connor. Once this variable was eliminated, the future would be preserved rather than plunge into total ruin.

Gripping the sword with both hands, Amy closed in step by step. Connor was, at heart, merely a scholar, and at this moment, he found himself utterly unable to move.

To ensure the target was completely eradicated, she cranked her output power to the maximum!

The pale blue ion flames blazed furiously, illuminating the entire mountainside!

Looking at the young woman before him, Dr. Connor felt a strange sense of release. He had dedicated his entire life to science, contributing everything to his country, only to be constrained by foreign powers in his final days. Death, perhaps, was not such a bad outcome.

Pulling his battered body upright, Connor resolved to face the blow head-on.

Amy perceived his mindset, yet her expression remained entirely devoid of emotion as she swung her sword horizontally in a savage slash!

***

Down in the distant streets of Shangbei City, many people noticed a strange phenomenon in the distance beneath the night sky. A blue flame burned there, accompanied by a razor-thin line of blue-purple light. Then, to the horror of all onlookers, the mountain ridge was cleanly sheared right across.

When the flames finally dissipated, the entire ridge was decimated, save for the sudden appearance of a massive black mirror materializing directly in front of Professor Connor, intercepting the ion blast and preventing it from striking the target.

Li Fengyin glanced at the terrifying devastation to her right, feeling a surge of shock. Fortunately, the art of the Void Mirror possessed a strong counter-affinity against such attacks, which was the only reason Professor Connor’s life had been saved.

Shen Liangxin had also arrived at the scene. Her blue-purple Ferrari was parked not far away; out of deep concern for Shen Shenghua’s safety, the two of them had changed routes halfway through their journey.

After all, Dr. Connor had already faced death threats at the earlier banquet, and anyone traveling alongside him—such as Shen Liangxin's mother—would inevitably be dragged into the same deadly peril.

Amy stood motionless where she was, having fully expended her power reserve, leaving her momentarily in a weakened state.

Behind Amy, Shen Shenghua drew her handgun and aimed squarely at the back of the Terminator's head.

Bang!

With virtually no hesitation, a bullet tore through the air. But the next instant, Amy tilted her head slightly. The lethal projectile brushed past her dark strands of hair, missing its mark entirely!

Before her, the primary threat had now shifted to Li Fengyin.

Unable to condense her ion blade at the moment, she would simply have to rely on melee combat with conventional cold steel!

Dragging her sword with one hand, Amy recovered her mobility, burst into a forward sprint, and charged directly at Li Fengyin.

Lifting her right arm, she dragged the blade along the pavement before unleashing a ferocious upward slash, as if intending to cut Li Fengyin cleanly in two as well!

In the eyes of the Terminator, there was no room for mercy or holding back. When facing an enemy, one must give everything!

Clang!

A crisp, piercing sound rang out. The shockwave of the deflected blow carried tangible force, whipping up a violent gust of wind that radiated outward from the clashing silver sword and the deployed Void Mirror.

Li Fengyin's reflexes were lightning-fast, yet she could only barely manage to block the onslaught.

Simultaneously, Shen Shenghua fired her second shot!

To Amy, the bullet seemed to crawl in slow motion. An even more terrifying sight unfolded: the Terminator, still locked in her recovery motion, actually intercepted the projectile.

With a faint puff of smoke rising from her left palm, she caught the bullet bare-handed.

However, her balance wavered slightly, her body tilting to one side. The next second, Li Fengyin shouted in a low voice, "Triple Void Mirror!"

The black mirror surface counter-shocked, forcing Amy to stumble backward.

Immediately following, a second circular black mirror manifested out of thin air. This time, both of Amy's feet were knocked off the ground!

High in mid-air, the third mirror appeared. A massive wave of kinetic impact erupted, sending the Terminator Amy flying backward like a cannonball!

Gravel rained down as Amy’s body slammed hard into the distant cliff face, carving a massive crater into the rock.

This was the first time Amy had sustained actual damage since the operation began.

Even Li Fengyin was astonished by the terrifying destructive power her self-developed ability possessed. However, the entity she was fighting was clearly not human and could not be judged by conventional standards.

The next moment, Amy burst out from the cliff face, plummeting back down from the air toward the four of them.

Shen Shenghua fired several rounds in rapid succession. Amy absorbed them head-on, then descended with another overhead chop, shifting her target back to Professor Connor.

However, Li Fengyin stepped forward, tracing a circle with both hands. A black void mirror nearly three meters in diameter materialized directly in the path of Amy’s parabolic descent!

This time, however, the silver-white blade re-ignited with a blazing blue ion edge. Amy’s output power had recovered to over thirty percent!

The two forces collided instantly!

The next instant, Li Fengyin was shoved backward by the sheer force of the impact, while the Terminator landed lightly on the road in her black leather boots. She had already gauged the strength and limits of this spatial mirror technique.

At that exact moment, Dr. Connor stepped forward. He looked up at the being who appeared to be a young woman of seventeen or eighteen and demanded, "What is your reason for killing me? Is it because you believe I committed treason?"

"Treason?"

Amy tilted her head slightly, her silver-gray eyes still devoid of any real emotion.

"You are not the savior of all things. You are the entity that plunges everything into a nightmare."