Rewind a little...
In the Vitality Hall, after being forced to vomit by Gorth pinching his face, Vane finally snapped out of his dejected state and returned to normal.
"Third brother, let's join forces and break through this Daichi!"
Okay, something's still a bit off.
"This Daichi is truly unlucky to have met you..."
Gorth put the potion away, recalling Vane's earlier dejected look, and asked in confusion.
"So what exactly happened to you? Why do you look like you're about to ascend to heaven?"
Vane paused for a moment, then suddenly stood up and said excitedly:
"Stop discussing such boring questions! Let's talk about how to destroy the world!"
"Why has the disaster level been raised?!"
Gorth pressed Vane back down, Ifrit poked Vane's waist.
"Fourth brother, where have you been? I thought you were going to die."
Mentioning this Vane to lose his composure again, his expression turning ashen once more.
Knowing that the person was alright, Gorth stopped wasting medicine, shook his head, turned around, and prepared to continue finishing his painting.
However, as soon as he turned around, the teleportation light shone again.
"Second son?"
The figure with her back to him was clearly Vera. Gorth somewhat surprised; she should be on a mission in Kazdel right now.
Before she could even voice her question, Vera swayed and collapsed forward.
"Second brother!!!"
A moment later, the sofa in the Vitality Hall was occupied by two patients lying side by side.
Vane, whose spirit had been consumed, looked at Vera, whose body had also been consumed, and a glimmer of hope suddenly appeared in his eyes.
"Could it be that you also..."
"Although I don't know what you're talking about, it's definitely different from what you're saying..."
Vera had a light sheen of sweat on her forehead, but she still managed to roll her eyes at Vane.
Upon hearing the negative answer, Vane turned his back to Vera, continuing to exude a grayish aura.
Gorth took out the potion and listened to Vera briefly recount her battle.
"So, you've exhausted yourself due to overexertion?"
Gorth concluded, his tone conveying understanding.
He was no stranger to this state of exhaustion; he had experienced it before in the Dungeon.
"Ah... maintaining a large-scale time stop and guiding a meteorite of that size at the same time is a greater burden than I imagined."
Vera rubbed her throbbing temples, opened her eyes, and glanced at Vane beside her out of the corner of her eye.
"I've temporarily wrapped things up here. So what about you? Finished with things in Iberia? Why do you look like you're about to die?"
Vane remained silent. Vera turned her gaze to Gorth, Gorth shook his head.
"Don't look at me, he was in even worse shape than he is now. This is already an improvement."
Vera knows her brother all too well; this obvious avoidance of the issue usually means...
"You haven't gotten into trouble again, have you?"
Vane visibly trembled.
The air suddenly became quiet.
Seeing Vane stubbornly refusing to speak, Vera finally sighed wearily.
"Never mind... I'm pretty much used to it by now."
She took the medicine from Gorth and drank it down, feeling the energy flowing back into her body.
Vera stretched her still slightly sore shoulders and casually said:
"Tell me, how serious is the problem? If it's really difficult, we can take a break here and go to Iberia together to help you deal with it..."
"Need not!!!"
Before he could finish speaking, Vane sprang up, speaking at lightning speed:
"I can handle this all by myself! Absolutely no problem! It's just a minor incident in Iberia! You absolutely don't need to come over! No need to help! Really!"
"..." x3.
Gorth stopped tidying up, Ifrit tilted her head, and Vera put down her cup. The three of them silently focused their gaze on Vane.
Vane stood frozen in place, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
... That's highly suspicious.
This guy must have done something really serious in Iberia, and he doesn't want them to know.
Upon seeing the three men's sharp gazes, alarm bells went off in Vane's mind.
"Etc!"
He suddenly raised his hand, making the Er Kang gesture.
"You're missing the point! Second brother, you used the [Calamity Stone], right?! That creates plague zones and summons Plague Spider!"
"Have you dealt with it?! Don't let that stuff spread!"
Vera frowned; her recent exhaustion had temporarily made her overlook the problem.
She knew the purpose of the Calamity Stone; the plague... it really couldn't be left unchecked.
"I'll take care of it right now."
"Wait a moment."
Vera was about to get up and teleport again when Gorth reached out and pressed her shoulder, pointing towards the Nursery.
"Equip all the buffs you can get first. Although the plague is theoretically summoned by your skill, in reality, friendly fire might not be disabled..."
That makes sense.
Vera paused and nodded. She did not reject this cautious concern and quickly walked towards the Nursery.
A moment later, when she came out again, Gorth immediately added:
"Remember to use the Crown to become invisible. Although most of the enemies are probably dead... there's no guarantee that Lao Liu won't be camping out there."
"I know..."
Vera sighed, somewhat exasperated by Gorth's meticulous attention to detail, but also understanding that it was necessary.
With a thought, her figure instantly faded into transparency until it completely disappeared.
"Um?"
Gorth paused for a moment, then asked in confusion,
When did you put on the Crown?
"It's always been worn on my head, it just makes the Crown invisible."
"It's really gone!"
Vera's voice came from the air in front of her, Ifrit curiously reached out and touched the direction from which the voice came.
The next second, her body suddenly floated into the air, eliciting a short gasp from her.
"Don't touch me."
Vera supported her ribs with both hands, and her hidden figure seemed to move slightly.
Ifrit swung her legs in the air, not afraid at all, but actually finding it quite fun.
Vera gently placed Ifrit back on the ground, then turned to Gorth and gave him her final instructions:
"I'll go back to Kazdel to finish things up. As for the fourth brother..."
An unseen gaze swept over Vane, who was quietly shrinking back behind the sofa.
"Keep an eye on him. If you can't get any information out of him, that's fine. As long as he knows what's going on, that's enough."
"Don't worry." Gorth nodded calmly.
Without another word, Vera's presence completely vanished from the hall.
Before visibility was even clear, a wave of scorching heat hit us.
Vera frowned slightly and looked around.
Beneath their feet lay flowing, dark red lava, and above it, ominous black mist slowly billowed.
Further out, the scenery is truly bizarre—
Large numbers of skeletons struggled to crawl out of the ground, but as soon as they took shape, they were quickly burned to ashes by the sustained high temperature of the environment.
However, from the ashes, the next batch of skeletons would soon condense, and the cycle would repeat itself, forming a bizarre loop.
Vera stopped observing and waved her hand.
The billowing plague mist quickly thinned, and the skeleton soldiers' bodies instantly disintegrated, with no new replacements available.
However, not all summoned creatures disappeared.
At the heart of the original plague zone, a colossal figure still stands.
It stands nearly five meters tall, its body covered in bulging, crimson muscles, with two pale white fangs protruding from its ferocious face, and it holds a giant scythe as tall as its handle.
This is the manifestation of the [Plague Spider] summoned by Vera's skill in this form.
Calling it a "spider" is no longer appropriate; perhaps "plague demon" would be a more fitting description.
"Your body shape... isn't something a little off?"
Vera looked up at the enormous thing and spoke without saying a word.
The plague demon gave no response, staring blankly ahead, silently awaiting the creator's command.
"No self-awareness... Never mind, just disappear."
Vera stopped hesitating and gave the order to disband.
The plague demon's enormous body disintegrated, turning into countless energy points that scattered in all directions.
However, those energy points that should have dissipated into the world lingered in the air.
Drawn by an unseen force, they abruptly changed direction, like fish returning to their nests, surging towards Vera's head in unison.
To be precise, it was a surge towards that hidden yet still present [Crown].
The light spot disappeared into the Crown without causing the slightest ripple, and was completely absorbed by it.
Vera immediately took it off her head and examined it carefully in her palm.
The Crown remains ancient and mysterious, gleaming with a golden luster, looking exactly the same as before.
But she could sense something was different.
Vera closed her eyes and tried to lower her consciousness.
In an instant, her consciousness was pulled into a strange, dark space.
Tranquil, peaceful... like an eternal night.
The space is vast and immeasurable, yet it gives people a strange sense of peace and tranquility, like the deepest sanctuary of sleep.
In this tranquil space, Vera "saw" something else—
Figures of varying silhouettes lay silently, lost in eternal slumber.
Vera focused her consciousness on several of the figures, and a storm raged within her.
These figures... are clearly the legendary mercenaries who were once famous and controlled by Blood Butcher in the Stone Forest!
Rockbreaker, Ghost Shadow, Iron Wall... and even some other powerful entities she didn't know about.
She suddenly remembered— the Ghost King in the game had the ability to summon ghosts. Could this actually be the effect of the Crown?
The Crown itself possesses the ability to contain and even command souls!?
As her consciousness returned to reality, Vera stared at the small Crown in her hand, her eyes filled with complex emotions.
Plague, the expulsion of the dead, the resurrection of the undead, and now the imprisonment of souls...
Why are the abilities I'm gaining increasingly resembling those of a certain Lich King, and why is there a tendency for them to spiral out of control?
She silently put the Crown back on her head and concealed it once more. Her movements were fluid, but her heart was heavy.
If I imprison my soul here, wouldn't I be exactly the same as that bastard...?
"..."
Vera's eyes widened, and she immediately lowered her gaze to examine the Crown carefully.
No, no, no!!!
"That bastard! Where did he go?!"
Vera's face contorted in a grimace, and the plague mist instantly spread across the entire battlefield.
Following the underground path, Vera discovered a crevice.
Vera's gaze suddenly turned to the distance, and she ran towards that direction.
Meanwhile, on the other side...
"Damn it..."
The ground bulged up, and a huge, blood-red earthworm emerged from it.
It was Blood Butcher that abandoned its physical form and fled in panic.
He crawled toward the prepared escape point, where he had set up a backup blood bank.
Once it reaches that place... it can reshape its form, and then...
"[Vampire curses!] Get as far away from that monster as possible!"
Blood Butcher couldn't understand how anyone could possibly control Catastrophe!
What merit do I possess to warrant such a move from the other party?
He once opposed the Babel Tower because of his confidence in his strength, but after being severely beaten by a Banshee, he devoted himself to cultivation.
In order to expand his Originium Arts, he turned against his comrades who were also members of the Military Commission.
He thought he would die at the hands of the Great Khan, but the one who clearly believed in his abilities spared his life.
However, this ability, recognized by the ruler of the Royal Court, proved utterly ineffective in the face of Catastrophe.
Now, after suffering three brutal beatings, Blood Butcher has finally come to his senses.
No amount of high-quality soldiers can compare to a true monster.
He made up his mind that once he regained his physical form, he would immediately flee far away.
Once he has gathered enough power, he will surely take revenge on those monsters!
And that bastard!
Thinking of Vera, Blood Butcher's movements quickened.
Doesn't that guy value his comrades? Once he's gathered his strength, the first thing he'll do is wipe out all of that guy's comrades!!!
Thinking of this, Blood Butcher excitedly increased his wriggling speed.
Closer... even closer.
That monster hasn't returned yet, as long as I recover my body...
As long as we get there... as long as...
Clang--!
The sound of a sword being drawn was accompanied by Blood Butcher's painful scream. Who attacked Blood Butcher?
"A sinner burdened with guilt..."
Shining exerted force, and the light of Originium Arts spread across the sword, completely annihilating Blood Butcher.
"They have already been pardoned."