The job change is a bizarre and calamity; the nation begs me to tone it down.

At that moment, the skies around the world simultaneously glowed with an eerie red light.

It lasted for about three seconds.

Then it dissipated.

But three seconds is enough.

This moment is enough for everyone in the world who looks up at the sky to remember.

This was enough for every satellite pointed towards East Asia to record the entire scene.

A projection of a demigod.

It was wiped off the sky in less than ten seconds by one person.

This scene.

It shocked the world.

……

The insect is dead.

As it perished, the dark red mist that had shrouded Cloud Slope City also began to dissipate rapidly.

It was as if someone had drawn back a huge curtain, and light—though only the faint starlight and moonlight in the night sky—finally poured down again.

But when the full view of Cloud Castle was truly revealed to everyone.

Nobody was happy.

Because... that city is dead.

The buildings are still there, the streets are still there, and even a few streetlights are still on.

But the whole city exuded a deathly stillness that made one's stomach clench.

Corpses were everywhere.

On the streets, along the sidewalks, in front of shops, inside cars, and in stairwells.

Everywhere.

The corpses were in various positions—some lay in the middle of the road in a running posture, some were curled up in a corner, and some were lying on the windowsill, as if they wanted to climb out but didn't have time.

They have one thing in common.

The eyes are open.

But there was no fear, no pain, no emotion in those eyes.

It's just empty.

It was as if their souls had been taken away before death arrived, leaving only empty shells that maintained their final movements.

These are the residents of Cloud Hill City who were unable to evacuate during the Secret Realm Uprising.

Su Qiong looked at it for a few seconds, then looked away.

She turned her head and looked at Gu Xu.

"How is it?"

These questions don't ask "What do you think of this scene?" but rather "Was that a big exertion for you? How is your physical condition?"

Su Qiong and Gu Xu have been partners for long enough that they don't need to say everything.

Gu Xu frowned.

This expression surprised Su Qiong more than anything else.

frown?

When did this guy ever frown?

He didn't frown when he took down four demigods. He didn't frown when he crushed the Kyoto Great Barrier. He didn't frown at all when he slapped Yamamoto Furukawa across the face.

It's wrinkled now.

"What's inside might not be easy to deal with."

Gu Xu was silent for a moment, then said calmly.

That's all.

His tone was not harsh, and even carried his usual nonchalant air.

But the words "not easy to deal with" carried a completely different weight when they came out of Gu Xu's mouth.

Because in Gu Xu's dictionary, "not easy to deal with" is already a very high standard of evaluation.

This guy even described a demigod as "just so-so".

For him to say something is "not easy to deal with," in a normal person's context, it would probably translate to something like, "This thing could really be deadly."

Su Qiong's expression became more serious.

"You mean... that worm wasn't the final boss?"

"The insect is just a projection; the real body is still inside the secret realm."

Gu Xu rubbed his wrist, as if he had used some force just now: "And I discovered a problem when I was strangling that worm."

"What's the problem?"

"It held on for a moment."

Su Qiong was taken aback: "You endured it?"

"Um."

Gu Xu nodded. "Back when we suppressed the Ghost Mother's sedan chair in Beichuan City, the Calamity Domain just crushed it and that was it, without even a moment to react. But this worm withstood it for a split second."

He stretched out his hand and made a very small gap between his thumb and forefinger.

"Just a tiny bit."

Su Qiong remained silent for two seconds.

She understood the meaning of those words all too well.

If the insect, which was just a projection, could withstand the attack for even a moment, what about the real thing inside? What about the monster inside?

How long can it hold out?

One second? Ten seconds?

Or even longer?

"so……"

Su Qiong lowered her voice slightly.

Gu Xu suddenly laughed.

It wasn't that arrogant laugh, nor was it the smug laugh he gave Yamamoto Furukawa before.

It's just a very ordinary, everyday smile.

"Don't worry, Sister Qiong."

He dusted off his hands, glanced at the desolate city, his gaze sweeping over the empty corpses. His eyes darkened for a moment before returning to normal: "Take some men and deal with the corpses in these streets."

Su Qiong glanced at him, said nothing, and nodded.

Gu Xu turned around and faced the entrance to the secret realm.

The black mist had mostly dissipated, but the cracks in the secret realm remained.

The crack resembled an upright eye, gleaming eerily in the night.

What awaits him inside?

That thing could even withstand a projection for a moment under the Domain of Calamity.

What level is this experience at?

To be honest, Gu Xu wasn't entirely confident either.

but--

"Who cares what it is?"

Gu Xu murmured something, and the corners of his mouth curled up again.

Snapped.

A snap of the fingers.

The crisp sound echoed in the night breeze.

Five cracks appeared in the void.

From the first crack, black mist surged, and a pitch-black bridal sedan chair was carried out by sixteen vengeful ghosts.

The sedan curtain was lifted slightly, revealing a face that was as pale as paper yet exquisitely beautiful.

The ghost bride gracefully rose, her blood-red wedding dress fluttering in the still air. When her dark eyes fell on Gu Xu, a gentle smile appeared on her lips that sent chills down one's spine.

"My lord... I've arrived."

From the second crack, a putrid stench so strong it made you want to vomit your stomach out.

Twitch, the source of the plague, sneezed loudly, wiped his nose with his cane, and squeaked twice.

The third crack is the largest.

Several ridiculously thick tentacles emerged first, covered with dark red blood vessels and tumors, dancing wildly in the air.

The Eye of the Ancients descends.

From the fourth crack emerged a three-meter-tall giant with a bent back.

It carried a stone coffin bound with black chains on its back, and its tattered gray linen robe almost dragged on the ground, with a bottomless darkness beneath its hood. In its hand, it held a rusty bronze lamp, its light flickering as if it might go out at any moment, or as if it would never go out.

The gravedigger stood silently in place, without making any unnecessary movements.

Silence is its way of being.

The fifth crack—

Black feathers rained down from the sky like a storm.

Countless ravens poured out of the crack, blotting out the sky, their numbers reaching millions and completely swallowing the newly restored starry sky above.

At the very center of the flock of crows, a giant raven, far exceeding the size of its kind, spread its wings.

Death Raven - The Announcing the Dead.

Its eyes, like two burning black gems, looked down at the earth from above.

The five servants of calamity gathered together.