Chapter 456
However... the name "Xia'er" sounds somewhat familiar...
Is she the friend of my daughter? I seem to have encountered her at the cemetery gate... When did she become the "Source of Plague"? Or was the person I met before just a disguise?
Among all these people, the calmest one is Tara, leaning against the crumbling wall.
She gazes at the head facing her, watching the gears and dials swirling in its pupils. She slightly bows her head and kneels down.
It seems she is completely unconcerned that Xia'er might die.
Or perhaps she simply does not believe that a god can die.
Under Tara's watchful gaze, the bloodied head slightly twitches at the corners of its mouth, revealing a faint smile.
"Lord Xia'er..." Tara squints her eyes, a look of enjoyment crossing her face as she gazes at Xia'er's smile.
The Mother Goddess... is smiling at me...
"It’s over, Eleanor..."
The Duke had just opened his mouth to say something, to persuade her to stop aiding the poisoner, but at that moment, a flash of silver light cut through the air.
The silver dial in Xia'er’s pupil rapidly reversed, and her scattered flesh, body parts, and even fragments of clothing transformed into a stream of silver light, shooting towards the center of the iron barrel formation at incredible speed—
Everyone only saw a silver flash, and the girl’s figure gracefully descended from the air, landing in the center of the iron barrel formation, right among the four musicians.
"Good evening."
Swoosh—
Xia'er suddenly thrust her hands deep, her arms, now covered in mycelium, shot upward from below, piercing through the bodies of two musicians from behind and grasping their hearts.
A torrent of mycelium surged into the bodies of those two musicians, and by the time the Knight Commander reacted and turned around, their chests were already filled with a massive amount of mycelium.
Crack, crack—
The bones inside had been crushed by the rapidly multiplying mycelium, and their previously thin bodies now swelled like balloons. Their eyes bulged, staring at the Knight Commander with expressions filled with pain and despair.
Bang—!
A series of sickening pops echoed as their taut skin and muscles tore apart, their bodies exploding like overinflated balloons, sending blood-colored mycelium splattering everywhere.
The explosion of their corpses released a torrent of blood-colored mycelium, splattering skin fragments and flesh onto all the "Crown Guards."
Xia'er seemed to sense something, quickly turning to look at another musician who was about to start singing. She spun around and violently swung her arm, hurling a mass of blood mycelium into his mouth, forcing it down his throat.
"Ugh!"
The musician collapsed to the ground in agony, frantically clawing at his throat, trying to pull out the mass of flesh. But he didn’t notice that his eyeballs were already covered in crimson mycelium... he was beyond saving.
The last musician, witnessing the rapid turn of events, was completely dazed. He staggered back a few steps and fell to the ground. When he looked up and met the gaze of the red-haired girl, the tension he had been holding finally shattered.
"Ah!!! Ah!!!"
He turned and scrambled to escape, but crashed headfirst into a suit of armor, falling back to the ground and splashing a puddle of water.
He looked up to find that the "Crown Guards," who were supposed to protect him from attacks, were now completely covered in blood-colored mycelium, their armor trembling as if resisting some invasion.
"Quick! Melt the armor! Those monsters can’t hold out against it..."
The Knight Commander, the first to react, shouted urgently, trying to get everyone to melt their iron armor to block the invasion of the blood mycelium.
But within a 15-meter radius, everything she did was under Xia'er’s perceptive gaze.
Xia'er turned back, locking eyes with the Knight Commander.
Overlimit.
Nemesis.
The gears in Xia'er’s eyes burst into light, beginning to vibrate and spin. Behind her, a massive silver shattered dial seemed to materialize, visible only to the Knight Commander.
The Knight Commander, locked in a gaze with Xia'er, had already gone rigid, standing frozen in place, unable to utter a word.
A wave of immense fear echoed in her heart, and combined with the chaotic whispers in her mind, her body was rapidly corroded by the backlash of the potion.
Xia'er took two slow steps toward her, raising her right hand before the Knight Commander.
The mycelium in Xia'er’s hand writhed, gathering at her fingertips, blooming like a flower. The blood-colored mycelium spread from her fingertips, reaching the Knight Commander’s breastplate.
The mycelium seeped in through the armor.
Fortunately, in the previous sacrificial simulation, Xia'er had ordered the Dark Worm to indiscriminately kill most of the extraordinary beings in the city.
Now, they, especially the "Crown Guards," were utterly defenseless against the gaze of the Overlimit Nemesis.
Once the crimson mycelium had fully penetrated the Knight Commander’s body, Xia'er withdrew her hand, casually tossing a mass of mycelium into the eyes of the still-screaming last musician, which burrowed into his body through his terrified gaze.
Done...
Xia'er raised her hand and slowly waved it, causing the rigid armor before her to lift its leg, clearing a path for her.
She looked up at the fourth-tier extraordinary being atop the tower, a faint smile gracing her lips.
"Long time no see... Your Grace."
...
"Long time no see... Your Grace."
Charles gazed down at the girl, and in that moment of eye contact, an uncontrollable fear surged within him...
How is this possible... What exactly is she? Who is she?
Can a third-tier extraordinary being really achieve this level of power?
That flesh reconstruction, reminiscent of time reversing, that gaze pressure rivaling beings from another realm...
Unless she isn’t a third-tier at all, nor an extraordinary being...
Charles swallowed hard, recalling the two fourth-tier guards accompanying the girl, one of whom he had never seen in the Church of the Savior... instead, he resembled someone who had defected from the Church.
Defection... which means she’s from the Holy Ascendancy.
What kind of person could unite the Holy Ascendancy and the Church of the Savior in protection... Charles didn’t dare to think further.
"What is your purpose? What are you plotting?" Charles gritted his teeth, forcing himself to calm down. He fixed his gaze on Xia'er’s eyes and asked, "Why Ansu..."
With an outbreak of this magnitude, Charles could estimate how many lives Ansu would lose.
But why Ansu...
Even if the other party intended to execute some kind of resurrection ritual, any normal, sane extraordinary being would never choose Ansu as the site for such a ritual.
Even the Joyous Society, currently conducting a resurrection ritual, had received the approval of the Strong Sound.
A normal person, wanting to hold such a terrifying resurrection ritual, would definitely go to the Southern Continent or the New World, where there were plenty of natives for these madmen to use for their rituals without provoking any retaliation from anyone or any official organization...
Those were ungoverned places; even if hundreds of thousands died, aside from a few organizations attempting to help the natives resist and complete the ritual, no one or organization would interfere.
But why choose Ansu?
This was Duke Charles's confusion.
"Why?"
Xia'er tilted her head slightly, appearing to ponder for a moment before replying, "Because... it’s closer, and there are more people."
Closer... and more people?
Charles took a deep breath, feeling utterly absurd at that moment.
Ansu, a place where the Strong Sound had established countless foundations over a hundred years, was now facing such a near-catastrophic fate for such a ridiculous reason...
Even if Ansu managed to avert this crisis, the colonies and territories it controlled might erupt into wars of independence, especially the long-oppressed North Ansu...
"What do you really want? Is it just the resurrection ritual?" Charles knew that Ansu's downfall and decline were inevitable, and he felt a deep-seated sense that the Strong Sound might truly be no match for this enigmatic girl before him.
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