The circle of the magic formation at the center of the space suddenly lit up. The body that had been shattered into hundreds of pieces—Mr. Andersen seed to respond to a summoning call. His blood and flesh glowed faintly, then, as if alive, began to roll and crawl toward the glowing circle.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. The next instant, a bright crimson light flooded the entire cavern. It was as if even the rocks and earth could start bleeding at any mont. A guttural roar echoed clearly from outside, and the whole cave began to quake so violently that even Hers couldn’t stay on his feet.
He fell to the side, crashing into the rock wall—yet contrary to the pain he expected, the wall felt damp and soft. Rather than stone, it felt more like flesh.
At that mont, the wall began to ripple and writhe continuously.
Nyx and Fiona hurriedly rushed out of the mansion a few minutes earlier. Almost simultaneously, the entire structure suddenly collapsed as if unable to withstand another blow. Mud and debris exploded outward, burying everything from sight.
Fiona and Nyx ran in the direction of the noise. There, they saw part of Mrs. Andersen’s body writhing beneath the rubble. Outside, Alice was holding onto Austin, desperately channeling her healing ability. The pen beside her had entirely run out of ink.
But more shocking was Austin’s condition.
Nearly half of his body was gone, his internal organs spilling out. Alice’s face was deathly pale, yet all she could do was keep his wounds from bleeding out—and keep his mind from breaking under the agony and the corruption of the dungeon.
Tears stread down her face. anwhile, Mrs. Andersen was already preparing to rise again.
"Miss Alice!"
Just then, a loud voice rang out. Alice looked up in shock to see Fiona and Nyx rushing toward her.
Without a word, Fiona, still clutching the teapot, pried Austin’s mouth open.
Before Alice could say anything, Fiona poured the tea down his throat in a frenzy.
And then, sothing unbelievable happened right before their eyes.
The wounds on Austin’s body began regenerating at an impossible rate—flesh and even bone growing anew.
Austin roared in pain, and Alice could only let him go.
Nyx snatched the teapot from Fiona’s hands, frowning. "Alright, if you’re not afraid of running out of tea, then at least be afraid of Austin over-recovering and bursting apart."
Then Fiona handed the teapot to Alice, saying seriously, "Drink a little—just one sip and you’ll recover."
Alice wanted to ask where they had gotten such a thing, but at that mont, a piercing scream from Mrs. Andersen suddenly rang out. The rubble around them cracked and shattered under the force of her shriek, flying straight toward Fiona’s group!
Fiona imdiately stepped forward to et the attack. The sword in her hand moved at an unbelievable speed, leaving afterimages as it sliced apart the flying debris that ca hurtling toward them.
"Aaaaaa!"
Mrs. Andersen used the sa trick again, screaming relentlessly. But compared to before, her voice was much weaker this ti.
[Austin’s punch really did so damage—good job!]
[I’ve always hated that cursed ability of Mrs. Andersen’s. Finally, it’s a little quieter now.]
Still, it was only a little quieter—the sound continued to tear through their eardrums as viciously as ever.
"Fiona, move."
Just then, Nyx’s cold yet steady voice cut through the chaos. Without hesitation, Fiona stepped aside. At the sa ti, Nyx raised her hand. At so point, a deep gash had opened across her wrist—so deep it nearly reached the artery. Blood poured out like a small crimson stream, yet no drop fell to the ground.
The droplets of blood hovered in midair, transforming into countless blue-black flowers. They seed to possess a life of their own as they fluttered forward, enveloping Mrs. Andersen completely.
Mrs. Andersen scread in agony, pushing the petals away—but they filled the air in every direction. She couldn’t drive them all back.
In the blink of an eye, the flowers covered her entire body. Slowly, her flesh was consud by a deep blue hue, her form dissolving into petals.
It was as if Mrs. Andersen had realized her fate. She opened her mouth wide and began to scream one final ti. The sound reverberated through the air, directed straight at Nyx and the others, the force of it nearly warping their faces.
At that mont, Alice’s figure suddenly shot forward like a gust of wind, tearing through every obstacle in her path.
The sword in her hand flared with blinding light. In the next instant, she descended from midair, her blade slicing cleanly through Mrs. Andersen’s body—splitting her in half, throat and all.
Facing Mrs. Andersen’s scream head-on nearly tore the flesh from Fiona’s face—the skin on her cheeks was pulled taut, her eyeballs seed to sink into their sockets, and blood poured from her eyes and nose. Her ears throbbed with unbearable pain—pain so sharp it felt like countless needles stabbing into her brain, spreading through every nerve in her body.
"Aaaaaa!"
Slash!
Like a flash of lightning, Mrs. Andersen’s body was split cleanly in two. Everything instantly fell silent. The blue petals hovered over her corpse, flickering faintly with light.
Fiona collapsed to the side, her body convulsing from the pain. Blood kept spilling from her mouth, and when a few petals fell onto her skin, the flesh beneath instantly turned into flowers.
Austin hurried forward to lift Fiona away from the spot, while Alice rushed over to treat her wounds.
anwhile, the petals had completely buried Mrs. Andersen’s body. Before long, where a monster had once lain, only a small hill of flowers remained.
Austin was also carrying Nyx back. She had lost too much blood, and the lingering effects of Mrs. Andersen’s scream, combined with overusing her power, had left her completely unconscious.
Lying on the ground, Fiona murmured weakly, "Don’t bother saving her. She just confessed she likes Hers. She only wants to die."
Whether by coincidence or not, Nyx—still unconscious—suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
[...]
[I’m starting to think Nyx wasn’t entirely out cold, and Fiona’s words made her cough up blood.]
[That’s probably true.]
[Fiona, if you’ve got so grudge against Nyx, could you just say it outright?]
Austin, his face expressionless, pried open Nyx’s mouth and poured tea down her throat.
Fortunately, the tea didn’t need to be swallowed—it simply vanished as soon as it touched her lips.
Just then, the sound of footsteps approached. The group tensed and looked up, only to find that at so point, Dorian had appeared beside them, quietly lowering his gaze to observe the scene.
Tension filled the air. Austin gave a wary nod, and just as Alice was about to speak, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble. The soil cracked and heaved like waves, the forest outside roared as trees sank into the earth one after another—sothing massive was about to awaken.
The petals marking Mrs. Andersen’s death were also pulled into the ground.
A creature—larger and more terrifying than before—was preparing to rise!
User Comments
0 comments from readers