The cold wind howled, and dark clouds shrouded the sky.
Anya City had completely become an isolated city.
In the farmland outside the city, the crops that had yet to ripen and the lush green trees had all withered yellow. They had not been frozen to death, but had had their vitality seized.
"Help—help!"
"Please, kind sir, I beg you."
Outside the city gate, several hundred refugees stood trembling in the bitter wind, their faces sallow, begging to be allowed into Anya City.
Yet the soldiers atop the city wall wore blank expressions, unmoved no matter how the refugees cried out.
As the sky darkened, the cold outside grew harsher. The refugees huddled beneath the city wall, frozen to the point where they could no longer speak.
The soldiers on the wall seemed to have reduced their patrols and defenses because of the bitter cold as well. Not a single figure could be seen on the empty wall.
Just then, a black little bug suddenly crawled out of the corpse of a refugee who had already been frozen stiff. Completely unafraid of the cold, it looked around before suddenly spreading its wings and flying over the city wall. The guards noticed nothing.
A moment later, the black bug vanished without a trace.
As if they had received a signal that it was safe, dense swarms of black bugs crawled out of the bodies of the dying, the frozen stiff, and even those who were still alive. There were several hundred of them in all. Taking advantage of the darkness, they flew over the city wall toward the most densely populated area of Anya City.
As long as they burrowed into the bodies of their targets, the operation would succeed.
But at that very moment, a terrifying aura erupted from the