Ian stood at the edge of the Mount Fuji crater, where the gale whipped icy snow particles against the group.
He raised the Human Emperor Banner high. The golden-red banner seemed to come alive; blood-red and golden light flowed frantically across it, emitting a searing heat akin to flowing magma. The phantoms of hundreds of millions of heroic souls roared and shrieked within the fabric, their concentrated resentment and battle intent nearly tearing the space asunder.
Then, he suddenly swung the banner toward the Japanese islands below!
Boom—!!!
It was as if the gates of the lowest depths of hell had been violently forced open.
Hundreds of millions of heroic souls, like a torrent breaking free from eternal shackles, roared and lunged out from the banner! Among them were the endless wronged spirits from the outskirts of Jinling, carrying bone-deep hatred. There were also the iron-blooded military souls who had risen from the scorched earth of Shanghai, burning with unquenchable battle intent. Furthermore, there were the souls absorbed later from every inch of the ravaged Chinese land.
The soul tide blotted out the sun. Their numbers were so vast that they instantly submerged the sky. Using Mount Fuji as the center, they spread frantically in all directions across the Japanese archipelago like a tsunami. Their speed was beyond imagination.
They ignored physical obstacles, passing through high mountains, steel, and buildings. Whether it was a heavily guarded military base, a fortified government institution, or a densely populated ordinary town—wherever the soul tide passed, there was only the continuous, sky-shaking sound of shrill screams and bone-deep, uncontrollable wails of despair.
The "Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts" had officially begun.
The global light screen broadcast this tragic and terrifying painting of hell in real-time to people in every corner of the world.
Ian's cold gaze swept over the screaming little devils below. He then commanded Zhang Chulan, Wang Ye, and the others behind him.
"No need for restraint."
"Act freely."
"Coordinate with the heroic souls and 'purify' this land to your heart's content."
After giving the order, Ian added one more thing.
"But remember one point: in one day, everyone must evacuate the central region of Japan and retreat to the furthest edges."
"Otherwise, you bear the consequences yourselves."
This sudden warning made even the excited Zhang Chulan and the meticulous Wang Ye feel a chill in their hearts. They instantly realized that Ian must have prepared an even more earth-shattering final move. The power of that method was likely something even they, as magnetic field experts, could not easily endure.
Although their hearts were filled with curiosity regarding Ian's ultimate goal, based on the absolute trust built over this period and the irrepressible faint anticipation of the upcoming "big scene," Zhang Chulan and the others did not ask questions. They looked at each other, their eyes filled with the same resolve and suppressed battle intent.
In the next moment.
Electrical light exploded around Zhang Chulan as he transformed into a blinding bolt of lightning. Tearing through the air, he dove toward a military outpost below where alarm lights were flashing. Wang Ye's figure quietly merged into the shadows, silently slipping toward another direction. The other magnetic field experts also transformed into streaks of light, merged into the earth, or whipped up gales as they dispersed.
They were like a pack of fierce beasts released from their cages, joining the vengeful tide sweeping across Japan.
The lightning Zhang Chulan had become acted like the scythe of the Grim Reaper. He streaked through one Japanese military facility after another. Wherever he passed, thunder roared and lightning flashed as chain explosions erupted. Fortified structures were torn apart like paper, and advanced weaponry melted or vaporized under the violent current.
Wang Ye appeared more "artistic." He walked through the chaotic towns, his fingers occasionally flicking lightly. Invisible Qimen maps were quietly laid down, triggering the restless geomagnetic forces beneath the land. The Self-Defense Forces attempting to assemble and organize a resistance often didn't even see the enemy before they, along with their tanks and armored vehicles, were crushed and kneaded into irregular piles of scrap metal by the twisted geomagnetic forces.
The other magnetic field experts displayed their own divine powers. Coordinating with the endless, roaring soul tide, they acted like the most efficient killing machines, rapidly dismantling the remaining armed forces of Japan.
While hunting down a small squad of fleeing soldiers, Wang Ye accidentally stumbled into an ordinary middle school. The school building was damaged from the previous chaos, but the main structure remained. He stopped and sensed the area but found no trace of the deserters.
Just as he was about to leave, a group of young children ran out of a classroom. They saw Wang Ye. He asked casually if they had seen several men in military uniforms run past.
Some of the children recognized his clothing and heard his words, keenly identifying him as Chinese. Immediately, their expressions shifted into a madness completely inconsistent with their age—the result of being thoroughly brainwashed by a specific ideology.
They pointed at Wang Ye and screamed, "It's a Shina pig!"
"Kill all the Shina pigs!" a boy who looked only seven or eight years old screamed with all his might.
"Ten thousand years to the Emperor!"
"Build the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere!"
More children began to shriek along, their voices high and youthful, but the content was incomparably vicious. They even picked up stones and wooden sticks from the ground to throw at Wang Ye. On those faces that should have been innocent, hatred and madness were written large.
This scene deeply provoked Wang Ye. In his eyes, the last trace of pity or hesitation for so-called "innocents" vanished completely. It was replaced by an unprecedented, icy killing intent.
"Even the children have become like this."
His voice was very soft, carrying an indescribable sorrow and a total sense of finality.
"Indeed, this nation is rotten to the core. It is better to just purify it."
He no longer held back.
Invisible magnetic field strength swept past. The fanatical expressions on the children's faces froze instantly. In the next moment, their bodies, along with the vicious thoughts they had been fed, turned into flying ash and dissipated into the air. The entire process was silent.
The light screen transmitted all of this with absolute clarity to the globe. People all over the world fell into silence upon seeing this, yet few spoke up for the children. Some heads of state looked at the fanatical children and then thought of Japan's long-standing militaristic education; they felt a chill run down their spines. This practice of poisoning the next generation from the source was perhaps even more terrifying than the direct destruction dealt by magnetic field powerhouses.
Fear of the Magnetic Field Sect, as well as reflection and vigilance toward Japanese militarist thought, spread globally.
The Japanese islands themselves were plunged into unprecedented panic and chaos. Cities burned, and order collapsed. Countless people prayed to gods in despair or cursed the "demons" frantically. But no matter what they did, they could not stop the advancement of the soul tide, nor could they block the path of the magnetic field powerhouses.
Unlike the clean physical destruction of the magnetic field experts, the heroic souls' method of revenge leaned toward cruel mental torture. They constantly moved through cities and villages, in and out of houses. Passing through the bodies of the devils over and over, they did not kill them immediately but made them experience the deepest terror and the endless resentment of the dead.
Soldiers repeatedly passed through by the soul shadows saw their minds gradually collapse in extreme horror, eventually dying in madness or exhaustion. Those veterans who had once participated in the invasion of China, or war criminals with blood-stained hands, received "special attention" from the heroic souls. Countless miserable deaths were broadcast via the light screen, sending shivers down people's spines.
The Human Emperor Banner suspended above Mount Fuji grew more eerie and fierce as the revenge proceeded. Its golden-red light became increasingly intense, as if it were joyfully drinking in the terror and despair of the enemy.
Time passed quickly amidst slaughter and destruction. The one-day deadline was approaching.
The members of the Magnetic Field Sect scattered across Japan clearly sensed the approaching time. Keeping Ian's order in mind, they began to consciously move toward the edges of the Japanese archipelago. Along the way, they did not stop their "purification," continuing to clear every devil they encountered.
At the summit of Mount Fuji, Ian's figure still stood at the edge of the crater. The Human Emperor Banner in his hand rattled in the gale, and the light on the banner had thickened to the extreme. It seemed a heart-palpitating, terrifying energy, far exceeding anything before, was quietly accumulating around Mount Fuji.
It was as if something world-ending was about to descend.