Anger

The East Borough, the epicenter of the Plague.

A bone-chilling cold enveloped the entire street, ice crystals condensed, and eerie blue flames flickered silently until they slowly died out. The ground was left with crisscrossing wounds, as if torn apart by the claws of a giant beast.

The faces of the dead were covered in frost, their lifeless eyes bearing witness to everything that had happened in the battle.

"Heh. You're really hard to deal with; it took me so much effort."

Panatiya's body trembled slightly beneath her White Robe, her voice tinged with weariness. She hadn't expected that someone who was merely a Sequence 5 would possess so many bizarre abilities and be so difficult to kill.

"Cough cough."

Opposite her, Luther pounded the ground with his sword, coughing violently. His lungs were like a broken bellows, struggling to inhale even with all his might.

He looked up when he heard Panatiya's voice.

Luther's eyes were bloodshot, but a cold, crazed smile appeared on his face.

"Puff!"

Immediately afterward, to Panatiya's astonishment, he tore open his own chest with his bare hands, removed his Corrosion organs, and threw them as Flesh Bomb at the White Robe Demoness!

This guy's gone mad!

Panatiya Consciousness chose to dodge, and the ice crystals behind her quickly condensed, forming an ice mirror. She herself, guided by invisible spider silk, distanced herself and hid inside the mirror.

"Boom--"

A deafening roar followed in the next second, and the flying Flesh hissed Corrosion everything around them.

"Thankfully, we weren't affected."

Panatiya thought to herself, then looked up and found that Luther was no longer there!

At the same time, while looking in the Mirror, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, as if something was crawling on her back and invading her body, trying to take control of her body!

Wraith, a combination of "Mirror Jump" and "Evil Spirit Possession"!

The street fell silent instantly, with only a few Mirror standing silently, a hidden confrontation taking place in an unseen place.

"Click, click"

A dozen seconds later, the ice mirror shattered suddenly, and two figures emerged from the dissipating cold air, one standing and the other sitting.

"Puff!"

The standing figure suddenly conjured a slender ice spike in its hand and used it to pierce the chest of the person who had fallen down.

"Very good, you are really strong."

Panatiya's voice was no longer as composed as before, but had become icy, "Unfortunately, the gap between Sequence 5 and Sequence 4 cannot be bridged by Beyonder Ability."

She meant it sincerely. If Luther were Sequence 4 Black Knight she was facing right now, his "Blade of Flesh and Spirit" alone would have been enough to give her a headache.

You're not qualified to defeat me.

Panatiya felt genuinely fortunate; it was wonderful to have nipped a powerful enemy in the bud!

"Cough cough."

An ice spike pierced Luther's chest, and crimson blood froze instantly upon oozing from the wound. He glared at Panatiya with furious eyes, his crimson robe billowing as if it were about to liquefy.

"If he's not qualified, then how about I?"

A voice, tinged with anger, suddenly rang out from behind.

"Who!"

Panatiya turned around abruptly and saw a tall woman standing on the other side of the Fog. She was dressed in men's-style equestrian attire, with perfect proportions and a beautiful face, yet she gave off an unapproachable aura.

Queen!

At this moment, the Queen's handsome features were filled with obvious anger as she looked at Panatiya.

"!"

In an instant, Panatiya was overwhelmed with fear, as if her heart had been snatched away. The woman before her emanated no Spirituality energy, yet she felt an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.

There's only one possibility for an extraordinary person to evoke this feeling in her—

High Sequence individuals above Sequence 4!

Bang bang bang!

All the ice mirrors shattered in an instant, filling the air with icy chill and sending ice crystals flying everywhere—a truly spectacular sight.

"Aaaaaah--"

Panatiya let out a high-pitched scream as invisible spider silk dragged her body away from her opponent at incredible speed. Her speed was astonishing, yet even so, her face was filled with utter despair, as if she knew her struggles were completely futile!

The Queen simply stood there, silently watching her flee into the distance, a glint of light flashing in her eyes.

A squad of toy soldiers dressed in red military uniforms suddenly appeared in front of the Demoness. Their bodies were the size of normal people, and their movements were stiff, but the bayonets on their rifles gleamed with a bright, cold light!

Panatiya, who had seemed so at ease fighting Luther, appeared utterly powerless against this squad of toy soldiers. With desperate screams, she was stopped, trapped, and repeatedly pierced by bayonets, her blood splattering onto the soldiers' painted, hardened faces.

"Despair Nightingale" was killed by the Queen.

"Snort"

The Queen coldly observed the black iron-colored Fog surrounding her. She raised her hand, about to take action, but suddenly looked up at the sky, as if she had sensed something.

She quickly changed her gesture and waved downwards.

"Splash!"

A pumpkin-shaped carriage immediately emerged from the fog. The carriage doors opened, and the soldiers holstered their rifles, carrying Panatiya's body and Luther inside.

The carriage started and drove into the gloomy Fog.

A moment later.

"Waaah--"

A violent wind howled past, fiercely sweeping everything away, instantly dispelling the heavy Fog. Visibility on the streets suddenly increased, and as far as the eye could see, numerous corpses lay dead on the ground, silently accusing everything.

Are you alright?

Inside the moving carriage, the Queen asked Luther.

"."

Luther looked at her silently.

The Queen's hair was somewhat disheveled, and her clothes bore minor signs of damage, suggesting she had been through a battle before arriving here. Considering the damaged gathering place, perhaps she had also encountered many hardships after returning to Backlund.

Being able to get here and save myself is already quite an achievement.

They were just Lamb, unlike themselves who were so Luck.

Thinking of this, Luther felt a surge of intense pain again. The faces of everyone who died seemed to appear before him, crying and pleading.

Damn it!

He suddenly reached out, grabbed the ice pick in his chest, and yanked it out hard!

"Waaah!"

The ice was firmly frozen to the Flesh, and Luther's forceful movements tore out the surrounding Flesh as well. The intense pain instantly overwhelmed his brain, causing him to stop recalling the painful memories.

"It's a great pity that we couldn't avert this Catastrophe."

The Queen sighed.

Despite her extensive preparations, she ultimately failed due to the influence of some behind-the-scenes force.

"But."

She fixed her gaze on the Demoness's corpse, "At least we'll know who the real culprit is."

Thank you to reader "Owl Keeper" for the 100 reading coins.