Mister Zero, Her Story: Chapter 34 – Dark Fate
“Get out of the way?”
Confusion flickered in the bodyguards’ minds, quickly replaced by horror and disbelief.
Tentacles erupted from their chests, piercing their hearts.
Only the leader reacted in time, unleashing a burst of electricity that destroyed the tentacle aimed at him.
But he could only save himself. His companions died instantly.
Although he quickly destroyed the other tentacles, it was too late for his comrades.
Meanwhile, Luo Yan didn’t hesitate.
Even with the bodies of the guards blocking her path, she loaded a Philosopher’s Stone into the sniper rifle.
“Forbidden Technique—Manjusaka!”
The Philosopher’s Stone dissolved, replaced by a dark energy swirling at the muzzle, slowly drifting towards the gore on the stage.
Everything in the dark energy’s path, including the bodies of the guards, withered and turned to ash.
—This was why Luo Yan was reluctant to use “Manjusaka.” It easily caused collateral damage, especially with so many civilians present.
The bodyguard leader narrowly avoided “Manjusaka,” then watched in horror as his companions’ bodies were consumed by the dark energy. He could barely control his expression.
But he didn’t have time to grieve; a greater danger emerged.
As “Manjusaka” reached the center of the stage, transforming into a dark flower bud about to bloom, a blood-red mist suddenly filled the air.
The dark flower was silently consumed, becoming part of the blood mist.
Luo Yan was all too familiar with this scene.
The final moments of Ghost Town had played out in an identical blood mist.
“Get away from the mist!”
Luo Yan shouted, pushing the weakened Qin Wen back as she stepped forward.
“Miss Luo Yan!”
Qin Wen cried out, wanting to help.
But she quickly realized that as she touched the blood mist, her soul and will trembled, unable to withstand it.
“I’m fine. I dealt with this before, in Ghost Town,” Luo Yan took a deep breath and removed her blindfold. “Go and inform the Disaster Response Department. I’ll hold them off here.”
“…”
Qin Wen didn’t hesitate and immediately turned to leave.
She knew that staying here would be pointless.
To save Miss Luo Yan, she had to bring reinforcements.
“Miss Luo Yan, you have to hold on…”
The bodyguard leader hadn’t even processed the sudden change, the events defying all his previous experiences.
After a brief moment of confusion, he found himself enveloped in blood-red mist.
“What… what’s happening…?”
As he took a terrified breath, he felt his body changing.
“Why… am I growing tentacles…?”
He looked down at his trembling hands.
Countless thin tentacles emerged from beneath his fingernails, and his pores oozed bloody tendrils, twitching restlessly, seemingly draining his life force.
“Sever your arms and leave this place.”
Luo Yan’s voice echoed in his ear, and a strange power dispelled the anomaly in his soul, stopping the transformation.
The bodyguard instinctively looked up, but before he could see anything, he was struck, stumbling backward, narrowly escaping the blood mist.
“Don’t look at me, leave now.”
The cold, clear voice echoed again. The bodyguard forced his swollen eyes open, only seeing the back of a girl in a lolita dress and a cascade of striking silver hair.
The silver-haired girl walked towards the depths of the blood mist, her figure disappearing into the crimson.
“What’s going on…”
Although completely lost, the bodyguard leader remembered Luo Yan’s words.
He gritted his teeth, unleashed his lightning ability, incinerating his mutated arms, and fled Spring Breeze Pavilion.
“Such a pity…”
“Such a fine flesh sacrifice…”
A seductive voice echoed from the center of the stage. The scattered flesh on the ground began to wriggle, coalescing into a crimson figure.
Torn red clothes clung to the flesh, revealing glimpses of fair skin, an inhumanly beautiful face, every smile and gesture captivating.
And above the crimson figure, something familiar to Luo Yan hovered.
A stone eye.
Not the Witch of Envy’s Demonic Offering, the “Eye of Fear, Envy, and Defilement,” but the stone casing that had once contained it.
When Mrs. Natalie had unleashed the Offering and summoned the remnant of the Witch’s will, the stone eye had shattered.
But unexpectedly, the remnants of “Envy’s” power within the stone fragments had been absorbed and utilized by Red Butterfly.
Of course, this alone wasn’t enough for Red Butterfly to become a Devil’s Apostle capable of summoning the true “Witch of Envy.”
But the current situation…
“Unexpected, unexpected! Sword Saint Qin Wen, your power can’t kill me! With the Lord’s blessing, I am invincible!”
Even Red Butterfly hadn’t expected to survive such a terrifying attack.
And she had become even stronger…
Unfortunately, the flesh sacrifices she had intended to absorb had been annihilated by “Sword Saint Qin Wen,” and the bodyguard leader, after absorbing only a small amount, had been rescued and escaped.
“It doesn’t matter, absorbing your power will do…”
Red Butterfly’s smile turned sinister as she approached Luo Yan.
“Even if you somehow stole the Lord’s power, it doesn’t matter. The Lord is on my side, the Lord… also wants you dead…”
In Red Butterfly’s vision, the silver-haired figure became clearer. “Sword Saint Qin Wen”… hadn’t escaped.
On the contrary, she was also approaching.
“Oh? Not fleeing, but coming towards me?”
Immersed in the unprecedented power of “Envy,” Red Butterfly was incredibly confident. Even a “Peril” level ability user from Yan City would be no match for her now.
Let alone a mere “Sword Saint Qin Wen”?
“You…”
“Sword Saint Qin Wen’s” voice echoed softly.
The silver-haired girl’s figure became clear, and Red Butterfly finally saw the face of the Sword Saint she hated so much.
But the first thing she saw were those familiar cherry-blossom pink eyes.
Cold, indifferent.
Luo Yan opened her eyes, looked at the crimson figure, and frowned slightly.
“—How ugly.”
Ugly?
Hearing this, Red Butterfly’s heart sank. Something felt wrong.
Why would she call her ugly?
Her current appearance, her current form…
No one in all of humanity could compare!
Everyone was obsessed with her, everyone adored her…
How could she, blessed by the “Lord,” be ugly?!
Impossible!
And…
“Sword Saint Qin Wen, how can you also possess the Lord’s power?”
Red Butterfly gritted her teeth, jealousy surging in her heart as she looked at those beautiful pink eyes. “And… so pure…”
“Qin Wen?” Luo Yan paused. “I’m not Qin Wen.”
“…Not?” Red Butterfly’s unease intensified. “Wait, then who are you…?”
“My name is Luo Yan.”
Luo Yan raised her hand slightly, a soul spear materializing—the fate-piercing “Gungnir” that Grifres had used, although much weaker.
As a mind-related ability user, Luo Yan was also capable of using mind-related Forbidden Techniques. And during her final battle with Mrs. Natalie, she had, with the help of the demonic power, comprehended “Gungnir” and could now replicate it.
However, she could only use it with her eyes open; otherwise, her mental strength wasn’t enough to sustain the technique.
Her other equipment, including her lolita maid dress, was being eroded by the blood mist, slowly dissolving. “Gungnir” was her only weapon.
“Luo Yan!”
This name amplified the unease in Red Butterfly’s heart. The Lord’s whispers echoed in her ear, filled with frenzy.
“It’s her! It’s her! Kill her! Kill her!”
This frenzy consumed Red Butterfly; she couldn’t resist the Lord’s will.
Countless crimson tentacles erupted from her body, lashing out at the small, silver-haired figure.
But at the same time, Red Butterfly clearly sensed that she was no match for this girl.
Although this mysterious girl who called herself “Luo Yan” only had a “Difficulty” level aura, she felt a greater threat from her than even Sword Saint Qin Wen!
“This move again, ‘Witch of Envy’?”
The scene of flailing tentacles reminded Luo Yan of Ghost Town, of those bittersweet memories. “But this… should have ended already.
“It shouldn’t… reappear…”
“Luo… Yan…”
Through Red Butterfly’s mouth, the remnant of the “Witch of Envy’s” will roared with hatred and madness.
However, her hatred wasn’t directed at the Luo Yan before her, but at the name “Luo Yan.”
This wasn’t the same will fragment Luo Yan had encountered at the end of the Ghost Town incident; this one was even more incomplete.
Reduced to a single obsession: to kill anyone named “Luo Yan.”
This obsession empowered Red Butterfly, but upon encountering Luo Yan, it completely consumed her.
“No… I can’t… I have to escape—”
Red Butterfly’s soul regained clarity. She realized she couldn’t fight this silver-haired girl.
But it was too late…
She could no longer control her own body.
The remnant of the “Witch of Envy’s” will controlled her, transforming her into the crimson monster, its size constantly expanding.
The slain flesh puppets slowly coalesced, forming a grotesque, humanoid shape, as if recreating the moment of Ghost Town’s destruction.
However…
“I promised Mrs. Natalie that I wouldn’t let this tragedy happen again.”
Luo Yan slowly closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the demonic power she had wielded before returned, filling her body.
At the same time, the highest level alert sounded in the Yan City Anomaly Management Bureau, indicating the possible descent of a Primordial Demon within the city.
However, although Luo Yan’s power was comparable to her peak in Ghost Town, her aura was even weaker.
Her skin was deathly pale, almost blending with her silver hair, creating a figure of pure white.
Extreme frailty and extreme power, these contradictory qualities coexisted within Luo Yan, yet somehow, harmoniously.
“Luo Yan… kill…”
The “Witch of Envy’s” will fragment roared hysterically, the crimson figure lunging towards Luo Yan, countless flesh monsters charging alongside it.
A hellish scene unfolded before Luo Yan, but her expression remained calm.
“I defeated you once, I can defeat you again.”
Luo Yan raised her hand slightly and, with a clumsy motion, grasped “Gungnir” and casually tossed it.
At the same time, the “Death” mark on her chest glowed faintly, dyeing “Gungnir” with a dark hue.
“Gungnir” flew through the air, seemingly slowly, yet inevitably, piercing the crimson figure’s heart.
But the heart wasn’t this twisted monster’s weak point.
Its weakness… was the darkness.
“Gungnir” was merely a vessel for this darkness.
The crimson figure froze, unable to move.
The surrounding blood mist began to rapidly dissipate, and the flesh monsters instantly collapsed into puddles of sludge.
Everything seemed to freeze, only the voice of the “Witch of Envy’s” will fragment echoing, filled with disbelief.
“This is…”
“That unforgivable traitor…”
“—The power of Death!”
A mocking laughter seemed to echo in the air, a response to the Witch of Envy’s earlier taunt.
“We… haven’t lost yet.”
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