You Betrayed... (Continued)

"Lockdown?"*2.

Both the Doctor and the priest looked puzzled.

Since Maria said the matter wasn't over, shouldn't they quickly evacuate the crowd to escape the fighting?

Why would Maria...?

Their thoughts drifted to this point, and the two of them paused again.

Their voices stopped abruptly. After exchanging a glance, they silently looked at Maria.

These past few days have been mostly minor skirmishes, to the point that they've almost forgotten why Maria became famous in Kazdel in the first place.

That...

"Are you preparing to..."

The Doctor's teeth chattered. Although she had seen her fair share of battles, this was... an entire city!

The elderly, women, children...

Maria wants to kill them all?!

"That would be the worst possible outcome... I don't want it to come to that."

Maria's words were calm, but the faint chill in them made the Doctor understand that Maria had not given up on this 'last resort'.

Gordan's growth rate has far exceeded her expectations.

So much so that Maria didn't even know whether what she had gained these days was equal to the other person's growth.

Yes, she had acquired the technology to drag Gordan into the earth, and was prepared to do so.

But... is this plan really feasible?

Or perhaps, could she, alone, replicate this plan—prepared over countless years by Precursor Civilization —without any interference from Gordan?

Was Gordan just going to stand by and watch all this happen without doing anything about it?

Maria didn't know.

But one thing she was certain of.

"Gordan can no longer exist in Terra..."

As Maria whispered, her pupils contracted silently as she looked at the dead 'Gordan' before her.

Under the astonished gazes of the priest and the Doctor, she slowly raised the long knife in her hand.

His fingers slowly tightened around the sharp blade, but... no blood appeared in his hand.

This weapon, forged from steel obtained at age 18 and with the help of age 19, was a true heirloom, but it was still too dull for Maria.

Even so, Maria couldn't find anything better.

She pointed the knife at her chest.

This sword, sharp enough to cut through iron like mud, could only press against her skin.

Maria, however, remained expressionless and silently plunged the dagger into her own chest...

"You don't have much time... I will try my best to buy you as much time as possible before He arrives..."

Maria whispered, her voice calm.

The friction between muscle and metal produced an unsettling sound, but Maria's movements remained resolute.

The Doctor and the priest standing to the side looked completely bewildered.

This matter was far beyond the limits of their understanding of the world; they couldn't even fully comprehend Maria's meaning.

What's stopping us? What's buying us time?

Why didn't Gordan die? Didn't his incarnation commit suicide?!

What exactly happened?

A profound sense of bewilderment arose in everyone's minds, as if they were seeing what lay beneath the surface of an iceberg for the first time.

They wanted to do something, but they couldn't do anything.

Fortunately, the Doctor has one very good advantage.

She might not understand why something works, but she knows what can be trusted, and what she needs to do for those she trusts.

"I see."

The Doctor nodded immediately and pulled the still-dazed priest aside to set off.

The priest couldn't possibly meet Theresis, nor could he persuade her, while the Doctor, despite having sufficient credentials and evidence, might not be able to arrive in time.

The best option is to act on both simultaneously.

Maria merely glanced at the two people leaving and then made no further hesitation.

The long blade pierced through his body with a sudden, powerful strike!

"Pfft!"

A gruesome wound appeared on her chest, but not a drop of blood flowed out.

Maria's pupils were now stained a terrifying crimson, so vivid that they seemed as if they might bleed blood at any moment.

Everything looks calm now, but the reality is terrible.

Maria understood exactly what Gordan wanted to do.

In fact, what Gordan wanted to do was similar to what Maria had done before.

Previously, Maria destroyed a portion of Gordan's body and absorbed it, taking the power into her own body. Now, Gordan is doing the same thing...

However, Maria is not like a true Great Ones like Gordan, who would choose to let a part of her body have self-awareness to fight. Therefore, Gordan wanted to devour Maria, he would need to completely defeat her first and then devour her... which is obviously impossible.

After all, for Maria, a direct confrontation might not be enough to defeat Gordan, but to resist his devouring, all she needed to do was remain rational.

After all, she wasn't like the body Gordan had separated from her, and couldn't be killed.

If Maria resists, then Gordan will have no chance of dissecting Malaya's body and power, let alone devouring her.

So He used a clever trick... He broke Maria's seal through the blood that Maria had given him, so that when He truly devoured Maria, He could skip the stage of Maria's resistance.

That's why he just wanted Maria to kill him, so that he could grab her at close range without Maria noticing.

It doesn't even take a moment to devour and assimilate it.

However, Maria eventually noticed that something was wrong.

However, this is the most ideal choice... Gordan didn't seem to consider it the only option, so after Maria saw through it, He didn't hesitate and continued with His plan.

The 'avatar' that just stabbed itself with the dagger is, unsurprisingly, doing so to open a passage.

"He was dragged into the earth by the people of the Precursor Civilization, and He knew that this ritual could be used against Him, allowing Him to descend to earth... That's why He assembled His own forces and took action."

"After obtaining the blood I had previously given to that Laterano priest, he no longer needed anyone else to perform the blood sacrifice... The blood of another Great Ones was clearly a better choice."

Maria, her thoughts gradually fading into silence.

The bright red eyes not only gave Maria a visual appeal, but more importantly, they allowed Maria to truly enter 'Great Ones mode'.

From this perspective, everything around you begins to blur.

The surrounding colors became more diverse, and even many colors that never appeared in normal civilization appeared... The surrounding air was no longer something intangible, but rather seemed to be alive, slowly undulating.

The concepts of space and time are dulled, and everything around us feels different from what we experienced as human beings.

Even their way of thinking has become somewhat volatile.

This made Maria frown involuntarily.

She felt the part of her that belonged to Maria being forcibly stripped away... As a human being, she shouldn't be in such a realm...

"We need to speed things up."

Maria took a deep breath and walked silently through the area.

But to call it walking is more like spreading one's senses outwards.

Here, time and space no longer have any meaning.

Maria met Gordan with almost no effort.

At that moment, as if on purpose, He transformed His body into the form of Maria and gazed at her.

'Gordan' smiled calmly, as if in a provocation, silently watching Maria.

Maria remained silent, her hands clenched tightly...

A battle among those in Great Ones...

It's about to explode!

"Stop! I order you to stop immediately!"

Within the city, all Sarkaz can be seen at this time.

A Sankta with a strange Black Ring on his head was carrying a person of unknown race, running wildly through the city.

The Sarkaz sheriff was trying to stop it... but his method was to launch a direct attack.

Faced with this situation, the priest showed no intention of stopping to speak properly.

He just kept running, charging towards the Kazdel Military Committee.

This surprised Sarkaz knew about it.

The lights kept coming on in the darkness, drawing everyone's attention time and again.

Soon, the two arrived at the edge of the Military Committee's territory.

"Wait, I can open the door. They should still remember me."

The Doctor had been jostled around all the way, was also starting to feel the strain.

Although she felt nauseous and uncomfortable due to Gordan's mental influence, compared to the priest's somewhat rough handling of her, Gordan's influence suddenly seemed less unbearable.

She felt like she was about to vomit bile.

"There's no time... Even she's so wary; this situation has exceeded our expectations."

The priest took a deep breath.

He ignored the Doctor's words and stared sharply at the Sarkaz mercenaries who were surrounding him.

The musket in his hand was suddenly raised...

A few bullets instantly forced the other enemies back.

His own body moved swiftly through the air, like an eel.

The Doctor could even feel the pursuing enemies ruthlessly unleashing Originium Arts, the strange, unidentified spherical energy objects grazing his head...

This made her face turn almost white.

Fortunately, this situation did not last long.

After this struggle had been going on for some time, the priest, accompanied by the Doctor, barged into the Council Hall where a meeting was in session.

Many Royal Court representatives turned their heads in surprise and looked over here.

"Laterano?"

Although the color was strange, the priest's appearance could not be changed, and without any hesitation, everyone confirmed the priest's identity.

A Laterano.

"Um?"

For a moment, everyone was somewhat bewildered.

Within... Kazdel's territory, within the Kazdel Military Committee, a body known for its radical tendencies, in this most heavily guarded meeting room, a strangely dressed Laterano suddenly bursts in?!

Ah?!

This shocking fact left everyone somewhat stunned.

But soon they came to their senses, and their gazes turned hostile.