Chapter 345: Run!

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Altina watched Elder Matthew grow increasingly worked up as he spoke, leaning in to whisper in Ansu's ear in astonishment.

“Elder Matthew... seems to be serious? Is he really going to kill everyone?!”

Ansu didn't answer, only replying in a low voice, “In a moment, turn into a crow and stay far away.”

Altina blinked, understanding what Ansu intended to do.

Two cult elders had already died along the way; it seemed this third one would not be spared either.

Elder Matthew noticed the two of them whispering, and seeing that Ansu remained completely indifferent to his grand plan, he was finally thoroughly enraged.

“Am I wrong? Are you actually thinking of those ordinary humans, those ants and maggots?”

He waved his arms in resentment. “The secular regimes and the Church have ruled mages through fear for hundreds of years, and now it is time to turn the tables! Making the ants tremble before absolute power is the only correct order of this world!”

He pressed closer, his tone thick with intimidation. “Hermit! Do you agree with my ideals or not?!”

Ansu shook his head. “Of course not, because there is a flaw in your theory.”

Elder Matthew's eyes widened.

Ansu said in a calm tone, “You view mages as an independent race, but in essence, we are still human.”

“If we slaughter over ninety percent of the world's humans, demihumans, and other races, who will produce food, run society, and maintain the normal development of this world? Do you want to de-urbanize? Elder Matthew, I have no desire to live in a primeval forest.”

These words left Elder Matthew frozen in place.

Ansu continued, “The Filthy Heart has amplified your inner obsession and your hatred of humanity, but in truth, you are human yourself.”

“I'm not fucking human! I'm not a human! I'm not a human!!” Elder Matthew roared in fury, as if the word itself was a profound insult.

Ansu sighed and shook his head. “You understand the logic; you just refuse to accept it.”

“So, you don't agree with me?” Elder Matthew's voice suddenly sank, his eyes filled with growing disappointment and rage.

“Hermit, you are a genius! You changed the entire magic world! I had high hopes for you! I never expected that even you would be so pedantic... and weak...”

He completely gave up on trying to persuade Ansu, and the filthy mana around him erupted violently.

“I'm going to kill you! I'll kill all of you!!”

At that instant, Ansu immediately looked at Altina. She understood, transforming into a dark shadow that spread its wings and soared into the sky.

Ansu struck first, triggering a magic item he had prepared beforehand. A high-tier magic scroll flashed with a deep blue light, and with an instantaneous speed that caught his opponent guard, terrifying mana tore through Elder Matthew's chest like a cannonball.

But this strike did not kill him.

Elder Matthew stumbled backward, clutching the gaping hole in his chest. Filthy mana gushed from the wound as his skin cracked open inch by inch, squeezing out writhing, dark red nodules covered in slimy tentacles.

“Aaaah—! I'm going to kill you! I'll kill all of you!!!”

Just as Ansu's second spell was ready, the fashionably late Danielle and Sean burst out from the blood mist.

The two demon hunters didn't waste a single word, drawing their swords and lunging at Elder Matthew.

“Die, you old monster!” Danielle barked.

“Demon! Today is the day you die!!” Sean shouted in rage.

“Since you... insist on opposing the future of mages... then I shall start with you!” Elder Matthew's heavily damaged body began to swell violently. Flesh and blood mutated and expanded rapidly, transforming him into a massive, heart-shaped nodular monster in the blink of an eye.

Embedded in the center of the mass of flesh was a twisted face, its features still faintly recognizable as Elder Matthew's, with the corners of his mouth slowly curling into a bizarre smile.

“Those... who stand in my way... must die!”

Ansu stared intently at his current form.

The current Elder Matthew looked exactly like the source of contamination they had seen at the bottom of the well in Nitre Town—complete with those dense, capillary-like crimson veins. He was a newly born contamination node.

Elder Matthew's signature gravity magic was now amplified manifold. A crushing pressure swept over them, making it difficult to even lift a foot.

A crimson mana storm howled, carrying sand and dust as it swirled, and the roaring sounds of battle echoed across the blood-red wasteland.

.....

On the other side.

Altina-Crow, who had done her best to escape the battlefield, circled high in the sky. When her gaze swept across the ground, she suddenly noticed something.

She quietly descended and saw Vera hiding behind a charred, black tree trunk, poking half her head out to peek stealthily at the distant battlefield.

Altina-Crow silently perched on a withered branch beside her.

Vera was letting out strange, manic giggles, muttering to herself like a possessed woman:

“What a great fight, what a great fight... Hehehe, fight, all of you!!”

“Everyone has gone mad; only I am truly sane...”

“In the end, Brother will have no one but me to rely on. He will realize that only I am the most sincere and useful to him~”

Hearing this, Altina couldn't help but sigh softly.

“Sigh, everyone is so crazy...”

Vera startled violently, whipping her head around. A flash of murderous intent instantly crossed her eyes.

“You! Why are you here...?!”

But in the next instant, her hostility was suppressed. She twitched her lips, barely forcing a stiff and awkward smile.

“Altina... why aren't you helping my brother fight? The battle over there really needs you!”

“So that I'll get caught in the crossfire of the rampaging Elder Matthew, leaving you as the only living person by Ansu's side?” Altina calmly exposed her little scheme.

Vera let out an embarrassed chuckle, waving her hands in a hurry.

“No way, of course not...”

Then she added in an even warmer tone, “We are good sisters, after all! How could I bear to see you get hurt?”

Altina was utterly speechless, too lazy to expose her further.

After that, the two of them waited anxiously at the edge of the battlefield.

After undergoing complete monsterization, Elder Matthew's combat power skyrocketed. Wave after wave of his massive gravity field rolled across the earth, shaking the entire wasteland.

This chaotic battle raged on for nearly three hours before the roaring sounds finally began to subside.

“Brother and the others are done! Let's go over quickly!” Vera immediately put on an anxious, worried expression and bolted toward the battlefield.

Altina followed close behind.

The battlefield was in complete ruins. Deep trenches were plowed into the ground, and the air was thick with the choking stench of blood and scorched flesh.

Danielle and Sean had both suffered heavy injuries, lying on the ground covered in blood, their survival uncertain.

Ansu was in slightly better shape, though his face was pale. He sat cross-legged on the ground, meditating to regulate his breathing, clearly having severely overdrawn his mana.

“Brother! Are you okay?! I'm here!” Vera rushed to his side.

Ansu slowly opened his eyes, glancing at her, and then at Altina, who had just caught up.

“Not great...” He seemed to be speaking to the two of them, yet also muttering to himself in frustration. “We've wasted all our time here.”

Altina was somewhat puzzled. “Don't we still have plenty of time? Once we recover, we'll definitely find the Filthy Heart!”

Ansu shook his head. “You don't understand.”

He was referring to the remaining time of the simulation.

Calculating it, they had less than half a day left. There wasn't much room left for exploration.

Just then, an ethereal voice drifted in from the distance.

“Ansu.”

Everyone looked up together—Celia was standing on a nearby mound, looking down on them from above.

Seeing this, Ansu suddenly had a bad feeling...

Her silver-white hair fluttered slightly in the crimson mist, and a faint, dark aura swirled around her. There was no expression on her face—none of her previous obsession, nor any of Elder Matthew's rage...

There was only a terrifying calmness, her eyes so hollow it was as if all light had been drained from them.

Ansu's heart suddenly sank, and then began to pound violently.

It's over!

“Ansu...”

Celia's voice was very soft.

“Why aren't you by my side...? Why did you go so far away? Are you hiding from me...?”

Her gaze bypassed everyone else and landed on Ansu. She then tilted her head slightly, as if pondering a question she simply couldn't comprehend.

“Did you really betray me?”

Altina subconsciously took half a step back, lowering her voice, her tone filled with tension:

“She... her state seems a bit off.”

With the examples of Elder Matthew and the others fresh in their minds, Celia's current appearance made it clear that she had completely fallen into a monsterized state.

Ansu quickly glanced over at Vera and Altina, his lips moving to mouth a single silent phrase.

“Run!”

...