The Mists of the Consciousness Empire
—What is that?!
—What is that?!
Why is there such terror within Ursus?
The brain cannot think.
Reason should abandon thinking.
She was about to scream piercingly. However, the organs that were about to give birth did their best to control themselves before she could utter a sound.
You cannot shout, you cannot speak, you cannot make a sound.
If they reveal any flaws, their fate will be the same as those other things.
But why, why would such a thing exist in Ursus?!
The fire within her was burning, growing ever stronger and more intense. This fire stung her nerves, yet it also brought a clear and exhilarating clarity to her mind. She didn't know what it meant, but she felt the flames gradually eroding her, dominating her entire being.
—I want to leave here... I want to survive!
Her mind could still think, and the belief in her heart kept her climbing towards the outside of the canyon. She kept recalling her father's words from her childhood to support her hands and feet. However, besides those beautiful memories, the share of fire also expanded in tandem.
Flame.
The flames bring heat, and the heat brings a stinging pain.
Flame.
The flames bring warmth, and warmth brings comfort.
My blood vessels hurt, my muscles hurt, my bones hurt, and my internal organs hurt.
But my heart felt warm, comfortable, and joyful under the warmth of the flames. And an unspeakable sense of exhilaration was silently spreading within me.
Fire, more fire.
Will my skin burn?
She continued to climb out, carefully and cautiously, leaving no opening. Gradually, she felt the ground becoming dry, and she gradually noticed the crimson mist before her eyes thinning.
Visibility is improving.
Three meters, five meters, ten meters—it rises as the fog thins!
The flames burned even more fiercely. She went from crawling to walking with a stoop, from walking to jogging.
Leave here.
Leave now.
Don't worry about anything else, just escape, that's all!
A glimmer of light had already appeared at the edge of her vision!
Miss Surtr stretched and gazed at the canyon before her, scattered with molten metal and rubble—she saw several survivors fleeing frantically to the other side of the canyon—but she paid them no heed, for Persephone had said she could spare their lives.
Alright, since it's Persephone's idea, let's just let it be. After all, Miss Surtr has never been a bloodthirsty person. While she's never lenient, she doesn't always have to resort to violence.
"It's just enough to loosen up my muscles a little," she said.
Indeed, this operation was merely a warm-up—the process was quite simple: Persephone from the aircraft. Her opening move, a mind-control-oriented Originium Arts, instantly threw the previously organized army into chaos. Her magic easily pierced the army's mental defenses, leaving them bewildered and unsure how to proceed.
They went from a formidable force to a disorganized mess. After that, Miss Surtr had to do, having parked her aircraft, was parachute in and unleash some power—frankly, playing dumb to outmaneuver others was outdated. If she were to actually act like a pig, struggling even to deal with these rabble, Miss Surtr would rather choose to "close" this natural canyon herself.
... Well, she wasn't actually that cruel. After all, she was Persephone, so it was better to be gentler in her methods.
But...
"Persephone?"
She glanced across the battlefield with a hint of doubt. The canyon was littered with molten chariots, equipment, and pitiful, charred remains—even she, a mere legendary mercenary, wielded this level of power. She never worried about defeat; her only concern was whether the enemy would escape too quickly.
She saw Persephone. She saw the Maiden Doctor, now in a different form, sitting beside a caravan—and she saw Miss Ludmila, whom she had specifically pointed out, lying beside the caravan, seemingly unconscious and having a nightmare. Persephone's fingertips were gently placed on Ludmila's forehead.
"What are you doing?" The Flame-haired maiden took a step, covering a hundred meters, and came to the Doctor's side.
And to add.
"She should be alright, right? She looked badly injured... Was she unconscious until now?"
"I'm being assessed, or rather, quarantined." Persephone's fingertips moved away from Ludmila's forehead. "And..."
She looked at Miss Surtr and tilted her head slightly.
"Surtr, are you interested in getting a dog?"
"Okay..." Miss Surtr answered instinctively.
Then it dawned on me.
"What did you say?"
Chapter 108 The Mist of the Imperial Consciousness
The style took a sharp turn for the worse.
Miss Surtr understood the purple-haired man's unspoken meaning, which made her turn away from the ruins of the battlefield before her. She no longer paid attention to the Ursus soldiers who had been 'forcibly' saved by the power of the Flame Sword. Instead, she focused most of her attention on Persephone beside her and Ludmila lying by the caravan.
Ludmila lay unconscious and motionless, her ears and tail drooping.
Surtr didn't pay much attention to her at first, because she knew that Persephone had focused on the caravan when she made her move—the powerful mental shockwave had essentially erupted from the caravan as its eye, leading her to believe that Ludmila's fainting was due to the effects of Originium Arts. Just like the other Reunion soldiers lying nearby.
Yes, that's right. That's exactly how the battle went.
Persephone's charge disrupted the formation. Then, Miss Surtr transformed into a giant humanoid figure enveloped in flames, wielding a sword and charging into the front lines, hacking and slashing, unleashing a barrage of attacks.
The entire process was extremely direct, simple, and brutal, utterly devoid of any technical sophistication—no trickery, no assassination. It was simply a head-on collision that overturned the Ursus army. Because the level of sophistication was so low, it wasn't even worth describing in detail. The final result was a canyon ablaze with flames.
She thought that nothing had gone wrong on her end.
She assumed it was the same in Persephone.
But...