Ark Chess Player

Therefore, these infected residents trusted him and entrusted their lives to him.

"Hurry up, move faster!"

Swell was in turmoil, but his expression remained calm, a habit ingrained from years of professional experience. No matter how terrified he was, how harsh the environment, or how dire his situation, he had to maintain a composed demeanor.

It must be admitted that Swer's calm and composed attitude in the face of danger reassured these infected residents who had witnessed the deaths of their compatriots, preventing them from making irrational decisions in their panic.

Just then, an infected girl was accidentally pushed down by someone while running, falling heavily to the ground and hitting her forehead, breaking the skin. When she raised her dizzy head, the terrifying white dust was already drifting over.

Those suicide squad members held out for a full five minutes for these people! Countless others seized the opportunity to escape into shelters, delaying death's reaping of lives. But they were ultimately caught by the dust, and in unbearable torment, they carried on the legacy of hope.

"*Longmen swear words*!"

Swell saw the girl fall to the ground, and he also saw the deadly dust.

His rationality and his long-standing will to survive told him not to go; he wasn't confident he could save the girl.

But he still started running.

Swer avoided the crowds desperately rushing towards the shelter, running against the current towards the little girl. He didn't know why he was doing it, and he couldn't guarantee he could save even one more person, but...

"Take them with you, and live on."

These were the last words the suicide squad left for Alexander Swell before they lured away the dust.

I must have gone crazy.

Swell thought to himself, "How afraid I was of death before, how brave I am now."

The infected girl struggled to get up, hot blood slid into her eyes, leaving her with only one eye open, her movements unsteady. She saw someone rushing towards her desperately. She tried to stand up but fell back down. This time… it didn't hurt.

"Live."

Swell embraced the girl, speaking in a steady voice as if he were hypnotizing himself in the mirror.

The girl looked at the person who picked her up and ran away, and gently hummed in agreement, determined not to fall asleep.

Swell tried his best.

He had been secretly working out, and he was confident in his physical abilities, but he was wrong. He wished he had pushed himself harder and worked more diligently in the past, so he could at least run a little faster.

The white dust had caught up with him and was just a hair's breadth away from sticking to the girl.

Swell looked at the hesitant people at the entrance of the shelter at the end of his line of sight. After a few seconds of hesitation, he felt relieved.

"Close the doors and windows! Close them!!"

We absolutely must not let this dust get into the shelter, or everyone inside will die.

Since we've already gone this far, what's wrong with trying a little harder?

Looking at the closed door, Swell had no regrets. He picked up the girl and ran in another direction.

"I'm sorry... I can't save you."

Swell was panting; he had just shouted with all his might, and now he could only make incoherent sounds.

The little girl in his arms, who looked no more than ten years old, didn't say anything. She struggled to open one eye and just looked at Swell.

"Dead end..."

Swell saw the ravines above the almost fractured foundation, but he never expected that he would eventually be driven to a dead end by the Originium dust.

He stopped running and sat down on the wet ground, covering the girl's increasingly cold body with his security guard uniform coat and hugging her shoulders.

The girl watched as blood began to seep through the bandages wrapped around Swell's chest, and reached out her small hand to touch them.

Does it hurt...?

Swell was stunned. If the girl hadn't said anything, he really wouldn't have noticed that his wound had reopened.

This is the gunshot wound Swerve received yesterday at the Wall of Maria command center. The Army Without Borders doctor told him he needs to apply medication regularly and rest as needed, and he'll recover quickly. He should avoid strenuous exercise, especially running, as it will tear the wound… but he had completely forgotten that.

"It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt... Ha, ha ha ha ha!"

Swell laughed, he laughed heartily, tears streaming down his face.

"This way of dying isn't so bad."

Swell looked at the overwhelming white dust and muttered to himself.

He had imagined how he would die, but... he never thought that he would die one day to save someone. For someone as selfish as him, someone who would do anything to survive... it felt pretty good.

The next moment, Originium dust engulfed Swir.

"..."

Swell thought he was going to die.

However, after the powder surrounded him, it quickly coalesced like soldiers receiving a retreat order, flowing like a river towards Lungmen City.

Swell slowly raised his head. He had been holding the girl tightly, hiding her in his arms. He had intended to try and shield her from the Originium dust with his body to buy her more time, but unexpectedly... it actually worked!

But why did this white dust escape?

"Is it because I didn't shower yesterday?"

Swell checked his own body; the blood was still wet, there was the smell of sweat, and the distinctive cement smell of a construction site.

That's quite possible!

"It's safe now... right?"

Swell muttered to himself, gazing in the direction where the Originium dust had disappeared, but he soon realized he was overthinking it.

The world has changed.

Although he knew it was a rainy day with dark clouds, he didn't think it would suddenly turn dark.

It wasn't until thunder roared and lightning pierced the earth that he realized something was wrong.

"God..."

"Swell murmured."

Lungmen City, Imperial Guard Building.

Chen Huijie withstood the corrosive effects of the Originium dust, and now that the dust has left her body, she is finally able to stand up a little.

She looked up ahead, but she doubted she was seeing things. How could such a monster exist?

A massive, hairy head, pockmarked like an almond stone, appeared atop the Guard Bureau building. It was impossible to tell where the eyes were, or rather, there were countless eyes. Numerous wriggling tentacles emerged from beneath the bronze-like hairy brain, instantly leaving one feeling utterly bewildered.

With three pairs of three-segmented arms, it clung to the nearly forty-meter-high Guard Bureau building, its sharp claws digging deep inside. Countless Guard Bureau officers were crushed to death in the process. A single small action caused heavy casualties to the elite team that stormed the Guard Bureau building, making them feel as small and helpless as an elephant accidentally crushing a few ants.

The scariest thing is...

Regardless of distance, everyone who witnessed this monster felt as if something had exploded in their minds, triggering a complete mental check. Most of the less resolute went mad on the spot, attempting to destroy everything in their path, some even resorting to self-harm.

If Mephisto sacrificed more than two thousand Infected members of the Reunion Movement when he held the ceremony, then the number of people who died in Lungmen at this moment due to loss of sanity almost instantly exceeded that number.

"Evacuate everyone! Quickly, evacuate Lungmen!!"

Kal'tsit, clutching her forehead which was stinging, immediately intervened in Rhodes Island's current operation.

She knew what it was, and it was precisely because she understood that she was terrified, even though Governor Wei Yanwu of Lungmen was right in front of the conference table.

Even if Rhodes Island abandons the cooperation this time, she won't let her operators die in vain! Most of Rhodes Island's operators are infected, which is the most fatal flaw. The higher the Oripathy infection rate, the more susceptible they are to the effects of the unspeakable. Only those with unwavering will can resist the fear of their sanity evaporating, like dragon slayers, drawing their swords against the dragon's might.

Kal'tsit took a deep breath, maintaining her breathing rhythm and keeping her mind clear.

"Kroos, where is Skadi?" Kal'tsit contacted Kroos, the engineer on the Rhodes Island main ship. Currently, only she and Warfarin have the authority to activate the PRTS system to search for operators wearing Originium reconnaissance rings with location-tracking capabilities.

"Ah... this... Skadi and Grani are currently on a mission in Drip Village, Kazimierz."

"Understood. Get ready to activate Rhodes Island. We can leave Lungmen at any time."

Kelsey hung up the phone, bracing herself for the worst.

Wei Yanwu's expression also turned serious. Even he heard the strange sound, and his willpower wavered.

"Dr. Kal'tsit, what is that?"

Wei Yanwu frowned, radiating an invisible dragon's might. He felt that the two enormous monsters that appeared yesterday... combined, couldn't compare to this one. This intense sense of crisis was something he hadn't felt in a long time since he took control of the Dragon Gate.

Kal'tsit silently turned to look at Wei Yanwu, staring at him with the eyes of someone who cares for intellectually disabled children, as if to say, "It's really good that you don't understand."

"Amitala..."

Kal'tsit spoke slowly.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Xiaomei? No, Ino... Ino!!"

Faust couldn't find Mephistopheles, so he rushed desperately towards the spot where Mephistopheles had been. But as if sensing something, he followed his intuition and stared at the sky above.

"No, no, no, no!!"

Something deep within Faust's mind shattered.

He knew; he knew that Mephistopheles had been influenced by someone from the beginning.

On that day, Faust witnessed Talulah stuff a black substance into Mephistopheles' ear.

she says.

"Mephisto".

"From this day forward, you are Mephistopheles, and you have nothing to do with your past self."

"Do whatever you want. I allow it, because you are Mephistopheles, you are a lone demon."

"We must fight for a future for our fellow infected people, and everyone can sacrifice for this ideal."

"Including you, and including me."

From that moment on, Mephisto became a completely different person. He became radical, irritable, and... unwilling to listen to anyone's advice. Anyone who disobeyed him was turned into a herd. He began using his squad's infected as pawns, resorting to any means to achieve victory, even turning Reunion soldiers into Originium bombs.

When Mephistopheles entered a sarcophagus in Chernobog and emerged with something strange, he became even more ruthless. Faust, acting on his orders, deliberately allowed himself to be captured by the Guard Bureau, and together they stormed the Guard Bureau building.

"Why...why did this happen..."

"Faust murmured, tears welling in his eyes."

Amida slowly lowered its head, its wriggling tentacles seemingly intending to surge toward Faust, as if to soothe him... if those tentacles did not condense into spell-like units.

Faust paused, then felt a deep sadness.