Inner Destroyer

　The thick, white rain was still pouring down.

　Fighting was also going on in two other parts of Rome.

　Their battles weren't as fierce as Lady Remina's, nor were they evenly matched... but the others also had to face their own absurdities and horrors.

　The white rain that created the new world fell on the citizens of Rome, not only to turn them black, but also to make them all give birth to children.

　What kind of child should I have?

　For the citizens caught in the white rain, turning everyone black was just the beginning.

　At first, they simply fled from the rain, from the rising floodwaters, and howled in fear of their own blackening.

　A street vendor, having already escaped the flood by taking shelter on higher ground, was wiping the rain from his face, muttering, "What the hell is this?" The next second, his pupils suddenly dilated, and an expression of indescribable pain suddenly appeared on his face.

　"Ah--" He screamed and fell to his knees, clutching his stomach tightly with both hands, and his blood vessels bulged like twisted snakes.

　Then, his chest exploded.

　A hideous black creature suddenly emerged from the torn flesh, its body emitting a dark luster, and its translucent body was covered with irregular tumors and dense ██.

　Moreover, the monster had just crawled out of the "mother's" corpse when it immediately let out a shrill scream and pounced on the terrified bystanders around it!

　It's certainly not the only one.

　This horrific scene instantly spread across the streets. More and more citizens suffered the same fate. More and more people began to twist, struggle, and scream. Even if the remaining people wanted to escape—hey, how could they escape something that had already seeped into their bodies?

　They could not escape for more than a few steps before they collapsed in agony, their limbs cramping and their eyes rolling back.

　Immediately afterwards, their abdomens, spines, and even mouths were torn open, and terrifying monsters burst out of their bodies! They then cruelly devoured the last remains of their "mother" while baring their claws and fangs, pouncing on those poor people who had not yet become mothers.

　What the hell is this?

　What exactly are these things that are breathing, eating people, yet are dry, wrinkled, swollen, and don't even have complete flesh?

　They looked like babies, deformed human babies. But how could a human baby tear its mother's intestines apart, then burst into pieces, covered in blood, and struggle out of its torn flesh, howling in search of new prey, leaving behind a pile of shattered bodies covered in fear and despair?

　The heavy rain continued to fall, as if it was going to make the whole city experience the baptism of a nightmare.

　As the rain intensified and the whitewater piled up, more and more of Rome became a hellish place. The streets were covered in sticky blood, broken corpses covered the steps, and the twisted remains of bodies not yet fully dead floated in the floodwaters. Dead infants, newly emerged from their cocoons, began to crawl slowly but steadily through the streets, their stretched bodies constantly sweeping the air, as if searching for more living prey.

　The citizens who had managed to escape the flood and rain are now also in this terrifying monster.

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　Panic swept through the waves, screams and cries for help mixed together, and the modern city instantly turned into a living nightmare.

　People kept trying to escape this hellish scene, but their escape often only brought greater tragedy—at the moment of escape, they suddenly felt a sharp pain in their abdomen, and the horrific dead babies rushed out of their bodies, quickly drowning their former lives.

　Gwendolyn, leader of the Knights of the Holy Lance, led two vampire knights as they hurried along a street strewn with blood and severed limbs. Their figures were barely visible in the rain.

　The Staffia clan consisted of only female vampires, and their special attributes made them completely unafraid of this terrifying white rain.

　Suddenly, a low, intermittent roar echoed from the distance. Trash cans and scattered corpses on the roadside were violently knocked away, and a horde of deformed, dead infant monsters crawled out of the dim alley. Their skin was dark, covered in cracked wounds and morbidly swollen pustules. They slowly but persistently advanced towards Gwendolyn and the others.

　Gwendolyn carried two swords. One was longer and larger, wrapped in cloth and strapped to her back, making it invisible. The other was shorter and thinner, hanging from her waist. These dead baby monsters, already terrifying in appearance, were approaching. Would she use the swords on her back?

　No.

　The sword rang clear, and she drew the longsword from her waist, its cold silver light dancing in the dim moonlight. Two female knights followed closely behind, each gripping their longswords tightly. A wave of dead infant monsters rapidly approached, their decayed limbs crawling at a strange speed, overwhelming their numbers.

　However, just as the first dead baby tried to pounce on Gwendolyn's flank, she didn't even dodge, but simply raised her sword to meet it. The silver sword accurately split the twisted body of the dead monster in two, and rotten blood and sticky liquid splashed in the rain.

　This action was not her "cutting" at all, but letting the monster rush up and be "cut" off.

　At the same moment, a guard knight stepped forward and stabbed another dead infant, which was about to open its mouth. Though her moves were not as good as Gwendolyn's, she still managed to strike the infant's chest with a single, precise strike. The creature immediately let out a shrill scream, its rotting flesh flying and its spirit scattered.

　Normally, hand-to-hand combat in a rainstorm would be chaotic. However, Gwendolyn's movements were light and fluid, each swing of her sword accompanied by a flash of raindrops. Facing the endless stream of dead infant aliens, she didn't even need to initiate an attack. Every time a monster approached, she responded instantly. Her movements were not swift, but each time the positioning was incredibly precise.

　Even if there were more than a dozen alien dead babies rushing towards her at the same time, she could somehow use a one-meter-long sword to kill them one after another with movements that were not particularly fast but were incredibly skillful, and it seemed as if she had killed them at the same time.

　Qi Xing was the "strongest man on earth," the "unbeatable sword queen," a peerless warrior who, unlike "brute strength," had reached a transcendental state by following a different path. She had walked all the way from Vatican City, not flying or running at supersonic speed, but simply sprinting across half of Rome. Yet, she had slashed through half of Rome without sacrificing any energy.

　If Gwendolen and Qi Xing competed to see who could kill a million people first, Qi Xing would definitely win; but if they were to compete to see who could "keep killing for a longer period of time without a time limit", Qi Xing probably wouldn't be able to beat her even if he took "silver coins" into account.

　If she didn't have such extraordinary qualities, how could the Holy See have kept Gwendolyn as a check and balance before "Master Leipu" received the silver coins, to prevent the external guest from doing anything wrong?

　And this is just the tip of the iceberg of her power.

　At her side, her two guard knights worked in perfect harmony. One swiftly stabbed the approaching dead infants with his sword, while the other swung his sword wildly, shattering their half-spiritual forms. Though their combat skills were far inferior to Gwendolyn's incredible, combined strength allowed them to keep pace with her rapid march through half the city.

　"What kind of evil magic is this?"

　After one of the guard knights killed the dead baby, he turned his head to look at the pouring white rain and countless dead baby monsters in the sky, and he couldn't help but shudder.

　The scene was so terrifying that even the regimental commander's guards, who had at least fifty years of combat experience, felt more or less terrified.

　"I do not know either."

　The Knight Commander said calmly,

　"This kind of evil technique is so rare that we knights don't need to spend time and energy to explore it. Just ask the person in charge - Sister Elaine, what do you think?"

　Two seconds later, a voice came from the runestone she also carried with her: "The Association has confirmed that this is a re-enactment of the creation myth of Mebege, the chief deity of the African Fang people."

　Sister Elaine calmly analyzed the voices as they kept coming over the comms.

　"In the Fang people's creation myth, Mayberg, the creator god and father of all living things, stuffed all three types of body hair into an egg, then poured blood into the egg to create the world and all living things. Head hair and armpit hair represent animals and plants in this myth, while blood represents humans."

　Gwendolyn looked at the dead babies she had beheaded around her, her steps still quick, yet she still managed to ask, "Do these dead babies mean that his sorcerous ritual to create the world was unsuccessful?"

　"uncertain."

　Elaine replied calmly,

　"The effects of ritual magic with a performance element are influenced by the performer's personality, and this is especially true for larger events. Especially when a Silver Messenger performs, it's even more influenced by underlying desires."

　For example, Professor Vanstra. He performed a ceremony on the cruise ship.

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　The reason why he could go crazy to that extent was naturally because he himself had already suffered a mental breakdown.

　"Perhaps in the mind of Romani Domingo, the Silver Messenger, humans are just disgusting, covered in dense, icky things."

　-

　Meanwhile, the battle between Lady Remina and the "Four Giants" of the "Overthrowing Nation" continued. Although Lady Remina hadn't yet used her full strength, she hadn't expected her dragon fire to be so easily blocked.

　For any dragon, breathing is undoubtedly a signature skill. Even if it's not a full-strength ultimate move, being easily blocked is enough to make a dragon unhappy!

　"What kind of magic is this? What's the principle behind it? Little nun, please use your wisdom!"

　Remina immediately asked while tapping the rune stone.

　So Sister Elaine explained the African creation myth ritual to Captain Gwendolen, while at the same time she was divided into two parts to observe the battlefield on the Duchess's side and carefully observe the spells of the enemy on the opposite side.

　"Please be careful, Duchess. Her chanting pronunciation is that of sixteenth-century Spanish. I knew that the "beautiful Francesca" was a vampire who had lived for a long time. I never expected her to be nearly your age."

　Whether it's a dragon, a vampire, or any other monster, the longer they live, the stronger they become. When Elaine said this, Remina and Francesca were immediately startled.

　On the one hand, Remina was surprised because she didn't expect that the person opposite her was an old monster over 500 years old like herself.

　On the other hand, they were both astonished because they hadn't expected Elaine to be able to tell the old monster's generation and nationality from just a few words of his accent through the communication line. How the hell do you, a twenty-year-old modern girl, have such a talent? What kind of horror box opener are you?!

　I have a weakness for my real name, I like to hide my identity, and I'm very afraid of the enemy preparing a special counter to my legendary monsters. What I fear most is this kind of box-opening expert with the bizarre real name-seeing skill! !

　Francesca felt a chill run down her spine! It was more terrifying than an ordinary little girl encountering 100,000 stalkers!

　Even Lady Remina was momentarily unnerved by Elaine's ability. Fortunately, she was a righteous hero and wasn't afraid of opening the box. She just hurriedly continued to ask, "I'm asking how to break this spell, girl?"

　"I'm not a wise man who reads scripts. How can I really know how to break a spell just by listening to one sentence?"

　Elaine sighed and frowned on the other end of the line.

　"However, the Spanish, born in the 16th century, have been active in the Americas for hundreds of years. They can manipulate large amounts of gold through magic, and they are also vampires. This is probably related to the history of Spanish colonization and conquest of South America."

　"For someone of this status and background to use the Golden Transmutation technique, it wouldn't be without cost. Her spell material is most likely blood essence. Duchess, please keep your distance and attack her fiercely with dragon fire for a while. She might even lose herself due to the backlash from expending too much blood essence."

　Seriously? It sounds too easy.

　Lady Remina listened with a skeptical air.

　But Francesca didn't even want to fight anymore and wanted to turn around and run away immediately!

　A few more rounds, and maybe the other party will even see her real name, who her parents are, and even the color of her underwear! What kind of monster is this? And he's calling meow?!

　But she couldn't just run away. Without the advantage of speed and numbers, running away would be a dead end.

　So, after a split second of quick thinking, Francesca made a judgment, raised her head proudly, and let out a very loud "hum"!

　Remina immediately raised her gun, intending to give her another shot of dragon fire.

　"The famous Mrs. Dracula, and the assistant of 'Rip Master', I have also heard of your legends."

　But the five hundred year old vampire raised his voice and said,

　"Since you all have ears, listen carefully to me! What I, Francesca, who "destroyed the country," have to say now!"

　She said loudly!

　"——Let's discuss this first!"

　What? ?

　"There's no reason for us to fight to the death! And would killing me really be a good idea? I've got nowhere to escape, and if I fight to the death, I'll at least cause you some trouble. And if you keep going like this, you'll be falling into Romani Domingo's trap, okay? As long as there's a point of compromise, finding it would be the best outcome for both of us."

　"That's why we should negotiate before resorting to violence. It's never too late to take action."

　For a moment, her words actually sounded quite reasonable! As expected of an immortal who had lived for five hundred years, she was so straightforward that it was refreshing!

　Is this the true level of a vampire that has lived for many years?

　049: You can’t beg for mercy.

　A good hunter won't waste time talking to his prey.

　Unfortunately, aside from Qi Xing, 99% of the people in this universe would talk nonsense during battle. Even most experts (good or evil) would pause and wait for the other side to call their names, then talk back, transform—all sorts of other things.

　When Qi Xing first crossed over, he tried to persuade his fellow heroes, "Why don't you just attack them when they transform or start talking?" But the heroes all looked at him with a puzzled, "What are you talking about?" It was as if greetings and banter before and after battle were a given.

　Even if you sneak attack once, after the sneak attack, before entering the frontal battle, in the battle round

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　Between rounds, everyone still has to talk nonsense.

　Later, when Qi Xing realized that this habit was common to almost everyone in this world, whether heroes or villains, he gave up trying to dissuade them. Because when everyone has this problem, it's not necessarily a bad thing, not a constraint that only targets good people, but rather an optional tactic.

　Everyone can use verbal attacks to try to distract the enemy's attention and judgment. It can be used by both good and evil, and verbal attacks have become part of combat power, so there is no need to oppose it.

　Moreover, Qi Xing later discovered that it was actually quite satisfying to scold the enemy until they broke down before killing them - it was not enough to destroy the villain physically, they had to be severely tortured mentally as well!

　Looking back now, Qi Xing suspected that these were probably all settings written by Samael at the bottom of the world.

　Back to the scene. Lady Remina remained alert, yet also a bit surprised. After all, in her five hundred years of life, this was the first time she had seen such a high-handed plea for mercy.

　"I have no way to escape, so I'm fighting desperately. At least I can cause you some trouble. But if you keep going like this, you'll fall into Romani Domingo's trap, okay?"

　"You should negotiate before you resort to violence. It's never too late to act."

　And—huh? Doesn't Francesca's words make sense?

　"trouble?"

　But Remina still raised her eyebrows,

　"I don't think you have the ability. Even if it might take a little longer, I can handle you myself."

　The brief exchange was enough for the Duchess to gauge the difference in skill between the two. She hadn't yet unleashed her full strength, but her opponent seemed to have already deployed at least 80%, lacking only a few trump cards.

　While an unexpected failure wasn't entirely impossible, Lady Remina felt her chances of success were at least 70-80%. The core of a duel between experts was strategy, determined by their mental state, strategy, and overall intelligence.

　"Oh? Is that true?"

　Francesca responded with a cold smile, her face seemed to be full of confidence.

　"I never thought I'd lose—but let's put that aside for now. Do you think this 'egg' behind me is really just a burden that needs protection?"

　She pointed to the altar behind her, to the faintly glowing egg overflowing with divine power.

　"Our leader may not care about the lives of his subordinates. But if I use this 'World Egg' to reverse the process, I can at least summon some of his divine power—and then, hehehe! Duchess Dracula, our leader is best at dealing with married women!"