Kong Yubo looked around.
Everyone except Xu Zhou was sprawled on the ground, struggling to get back up.
It had taken only one blow!
Just one blow had left them powerless to fight back.
Kong Yubo could feel the immense force packed into that strike. It had been enough to crush their bodies.
Bai Zuo had controlled their bodies to absorb most of the impact, but even so, they had suffered fractures in several places. They probably couldn't get up and fight anymore.
Terrifying!
So terrifying!
This was the power of the anomalous!
Impossible to resist!
When faced with it, humans were as insignificant as mayflies and ants.
Kong Yubo "saw" his own body stand up, every part of it creaking under the strain.
If he kept fighting, his body would probably be ruined!
A human body was as fragile as tofu before the anomalous.
Only after experiencing it firsthand did Kong Yubo understand what such despair felt like.
Contract Anomalists were people who would risk their lives to defeat monsters this terrifying and powerful, even when they seemed impossible to overcome!
Xu Zhou staggered to his feet, leaning on his knife. That last blow had left him with some internal injuries, too.
"Cough, cough!"
His insides and his body both hurt as if they were burning.
It hurt so much!
Hiss! It felt like blood was running down from his head and into his eyes. His vision was growing blurry. No, he couldn't fall.
Just as Xu Zhou was forcing himself to stay upright, he felt the wind gently lift him.
A deep, magnetic voice rang out. "All right, that's enough!"
Flying Bird A clapped softly.
A clear chirp rang in everyone's ears, as though in response to him. It was an exceedingly tender call, the cry of a fledgling—so young and fragile.
Yet the moment it sounded, a gale suddenly rose!
The wind was no longer gentle. It scraped across the ground like a knife, shaving away the top layer. Concrete ripped up, and walls toppled.
But when the wind swept over Xu Zhou and the others, it gently steered around them.
Only Yama was pressed down by the fierce gale, unable to lift his head.
The violent winds swept up the Yellow Spring Water, stripping it of its menacing power. Yama tried to regain control of it, but in the face of such a swift gale, the water could only be carried along, helplessly becoming part of the storm.
A massive waterspout, reaching from the ground to the sky and seemingly capable of swallowing everything, rampaged across the land.
Seeing this apocalyptic scene, Kong Yubo was so shocked he couldn't think.
Tian Hua and the others were the same.
Faced with a force capable of destroying everything, they could only stare in stunned awe.
Was this the power of an S-Rank Contract Anomalist?
Yama roared in fury. Bai Zuo had stolen half of his authority, the Yellow Spring Water had been swept away, and his underlings had been defeated. He had lost every source of strength that could help him.
At last, he tore off his ram-skull mask, revealing his true face.
His robe slipped from his shoulders.
A mass of thick, semi-solid liquid, like black sludge, oozed out of the clothes and kept expanding until it had become a monster several meters tall.
The creature, formed from a mass of black, swamp-like muck, sprouted a limb from the top of its head, with an eye growing on it. A huge green mouth opened in its torso.
This was the true form of the anomalous being that called itself Yama.
It swung a tentacle, blasting away half of a nearby building. Its swamp-like body shifted as it tried to devour everyone on the ground.
Coughing, Xu Zhou and Ji Wu each carried someone over one shoulder and retreated beyond its reach. The others who could still move dodged under Bai Zuo's control.
Kong Yubo stared at the building, half of which had already collapsed, his eyes wide with fury. There were still many people inside, hiding from the fight.
Ji Wu sighed. "When containing an anomalous, casualties like these are unavoidable."
But as they watched, countless little spiders poured out of the building. They dragged one enormous cocoon after another, each wrapped in white silk, away from the tottering structure.
The people being controlled were inside those cocoons.
Ji Wu's eyes lit up. "Well done! I'll definitely report your performance to the Aberration Association this time and try to get all your previous disciplinary actions cleared!"
Bai Zuo didn't answer. He simply watched the people wrapped in silk and smiled meaningfully. He was hungry. They were all his prey!
Heart Gu needed to feed on vast quantities of malice.
Otherwise, it would turn on its master.
The price of making a contract with an anomalous being was different for each one.
Some needed to feed on malice, some on anger, some on their own kind, and still others on flesh and blood.
Heart Gu, the being he had contracted with, loved the malice humans gave off most of all.
To it, that malice was the finest food.
Feeding such a colossal creature took an enormous amount of malice. Fortunately, humans had one thing in endless supply: malice.
They gave it off constantly: people's malice toward one another, toward animals, toward nature.
When Yama saw these weak little bugs daring to escape, its predatory instinct drove its massive body to chase after them.
But before it could move—
Countless white feathers drifted down from the sky.
A crippled white bird with countless pairs of wings stared down at the anomalous creature moving on the ground, its clear red eyes fixed on it.
Flying Bird A had somehow made his way into the sky, too. As the light refracted, several pairs of enormous feathered wings seemed to sprout from his back.
The wind swept through once more.
Countless white feathers floated in the air, drifting slowly down in a scene of ethereal beauty.
Kong Yubo and his teammates lay together, gazing up at the astonishing sight.
It really did look like a beautiful white bird!
Yet before the anomalous creature, those lovely white feathers became a harbinger of death.
Another gust blew through, making its body sway. It lowered its head in disbelief and stared at itself. Suddenly, its body was riddled with countless tiny holes, packed close together.
When the wind had blown through, countless razor-sharp feathers had pierced its body, then drifted gently away.
The fierce wind kept howling. Like blades, it sliced away its body piece by piece.
The sight was so terrifying that everyone who saw it felt their scalp go numb and their skin crawl!
Kong Yubo and his teammates all wondered the same thing: if that wind had swept over them, wouldn't they have been reduced to a pile of minced flesh in an instant?
The enormous anomalous creature crashed to the ground!
Flying Bird A tossed out the Weird Cage and contained it.
"Done!"
Flying Bird A held up two fingers in a V sign.
Only then did Xu Zhou finally give way and plop down on the ground.
Before you continue