Chaos and fear continued to spread through the lower district.
Just as Luo Wei was fixated on the strangely behaving little girl, Helena beside him tugged at his hand and asked with confusion, "Brother, what are you looking at?"
Luo Wei turned back in surprise. "You don’t see it?"
"See what?" Helena was even more puzzled. She strained her eyes to look in the direction her brother had been staring.
Evelyn, overhearing their conversation, immediately became alert and scanned the area, but soon she too looked at Luo Wei with confusion.
"There’s nothing there. What are you seeing?"
She grew nervous. "You’re not starting to hallucinate too, are you?"
Transcendents were prone to hallucinations and auditory delusions due to backlash, and Evelyn was worried about this. If even Luo Wei were to lose his mind, it would be disastrous. No one would be able to suppress the mutations in her body.
Luo Wei shuddered and turned back to look in the same direction.
The abandoned car was still parked outside the alley, but the roof was empty...
There was no sign of the giggling little girl.
Luo Wei rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
Was it really a hallucination?
But almost immediately, he dismissed the thought. The experience had felt too real.
Moreover, his status panel confirmed that he was still sane, his mind functioning normally.
Thus, a flood of questions arose.
Who was she?
Why was she here? What did she want?
"Brother!" Helena’s sudden cry interrupted his thoughts. She pointed ahead in terror.
In just that short span of time, the colossal monster wreaking havoc in the abandoned square had wiped out the entire Holy Edict Knight Order.
Even the fanatical cultists who had summoned the evil god were all dead. The ruins were now littered with mutilated bodies, a true sea of blood and carnage.
There was no time to think. Ophelia immediately turned to Luo Wei. "We need to leave, now!"
Her trusted aides surrounded her, and Caroline quickly said, "The horses are spooked. I’ll find a carriage for you, Your Highness!"
Luo Wei’s expression darkened to its limit. He looked at Ophelia, realizing that escape was likely impossible now...
Sure enough, as they were about to move, an aura of dread suddenly enveloped them.
Everyone felt the gaze of something terrifying and looked up.
The massive monster, which had been far away moments ago, now loomed above them, staring down at them like insignificant ants.
Everyone froze, their blood seeming to solidify under the creature’s horrifying gaze.
Then, from what might have been its throat, the monster began to writhe and emit an indescribable, grotesque sound.
[You are under intense mental assault.]
[Performing sanity check...]
The overwhelming mental attack left them unable to even think of fleeing, standing dumbfounded as their vision began to blur.
Fortunately, Luo Wei had anticipated this. The moment he sensed the monster’s focus on him, he hurled the satchel he always carried into the air.
As the mental assault hit, the satchel fell to the ground, shattering the glass bottles inside and releasing a pungent medicinal odor.
Luo Wei and those around him snapped back to consciousness. He roared, "RUN!!!"
As his voice echoed, the monster’s massive black tail slammed down.
The ground shook violently, dust and debris filling the air. The alley they had been standing in was obliterated, leaving behind a terrifying chasm.
Despite Luo Wei’s quick reaction, half of his body was buried in the rubble. He was in so much pain that he nearly lost consciousness, barely managing to open his eyes.
The ringing in his ears blocked out sound, but he could see something frantically digging through the debris covering him.
He saw Helena’s tear-streaked face, her lower body twisted and surrounded by tentacles.
He also saw Evelyn, her bloodied hands gripping a crimson scythe, charging fearlessly toward the monstrous being in the sky alongside the shadow guards.
The rubble shifted slightly, and a pair of anxious crimson eyes appeared before him. Ophelia gritted her teeth as the objects around her began to float, the power of the Dreamscape interfering with reality.
The monster in the sky let out an enraged roar. It stopped attacking the group on the ground, and for a moment, it seemed like there might be a chance to escape.
But Helena and Ophelia showed no intention of fleeing. Once they had finally dug Luo Wei out, they supported him with difficulty and breathed a sigh of relief.
"If I unleash my full power, the Dreamscape might buy us some time!" Ophelia stared at Luo Wei urgently. "I’ll cover you! That thing won’t catch you! Go!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a crimson figure fell from the sky and crashed to the ground.
Luo Wei saw that Evelyn’s arms and ankles were twisted, and she let out a pained groan.
The monster, despite its size, was not clumsy but incredibly agile. The shadow guards’ dark forms burst one after another, their blood and mangled bodies raining down.
In the face of such overwhelming power, even their desperate resolve could only achieve so much.
Luo Wei looked at Ophelia and shook his head.
"Do you really think I’d leave you all behind and run?"
"Luo Wei!!"
Ophelia gripped his hand tightly, her voice hoarse and emotional. "There’s still a chance! There has to be! I won’t let you die! I won’t!"
"There’s no chance left..." Luo Wei silently gazed at her, then shifted his eyes to the sky.
Beyond the monster casting its shadow over them, numerous other colossal figures appeared in the sky. They circled high above, dispersing the fog and bringing with them a scene of utter despair, as if demons had descended upon the world.
Luo Wei quietly tightened his grip on Helena and Ophelia’s hands. Faced with this hellish sight, he actually smiled.
He looked at Ophelia’s profile and teased, "See? I wasn’t lying. Now we’ll never be apart."
Her crimson eyes turned to him, and seeing his smile, the despair in her gaze slowly faded.
Ophelia smiled softly.
"Yeah..."
"You kept your word."
[Quest Failed.]
[You have died. Unable to continue the game. Forced reloading...]