Usually eager to answer any kind of question, "Professor" didn't respond for the first time to the students' inquiries. He stepped onto the back of the "Bone Dragon" and said to Daisy and the others, "Something's going to happen here soon. Gather the other staff members and head to the nearest church as quickly as you can."
With that, he commanded the "Bone Dragon" to enter a state of "Psychological Stealth," phasing through the wall and flying toward the East Borough.
In the classroom, the students exchanged looks of confusion. In the end, it was Daisy—who had once been saved by the Hero Bandit "Black Emperor"—who came back to her senses first. She turned to Beck and the other three boys and said seriously, "Since Professor told us to hurry to the church, he must have his reasons. We shouldn't waste time."
In her heart, she had already come to see Ebner as a superhero with extraordinary powers, just like the Hero Bandit "Black Emperor."
The three boys, who had glimpsed the outline of the Bone Dragon, nodded repeatedly at her words. Clearly, they held even more awe for the mysterious "Professor."
And that was precisely why Ebner hadn't made the Bone Dragon completely invisible from the beginning—he needed to cultivate a sense of mystery and increase his authority in the students' minds.
While "authority" could also be achieved through mimicking the abilities of a "Mediator," he couldn't maintain that kind of influence here all the time. So instead, he used this combination of "shock" and "suggestion" to ensure the students would fully heed his instructions, and not go looking for trouble out of curiosity or rebellion...
.....
In the East Borough, on Cullen Street, in a remote, desolate, filthy, and disgusting alley—
With a twist and warping of space, the figure of "Despair Nightingale" Panatia suddenly appeared in the darkest corner.
The scene, beyond comprehension, caused a few homeless people resting in the alley to instinctively rub their eyes, suspecting they were hallucinating.
Panatia glanced around to confirm she was in the right place. She then lowered her veil to cover her face and looked up at the sky. The afternoon sun was already obscured by clouds and mist, appearing pale and dim.
The light yellow fog wasn't especially thick yet, but it drifted throughout every part of Backlund, with a slightly choking scent—cold and damp.
Too bad... she hadn't waited for the moment when the smog would be at its thickest and most stagnant... The possible interference from Trissy and her mother, Talim's disappearance, the unexpected incident with Trissy, the sudden and short loss of control from "0-08," the appearance of Azik and the "Goddess's Eye," the destruction caused earlier by the Hero Bandit "Black Emperor," and the involvement of a Beyonder with the codename "Tower"... all of it had escalated things, drawing attention... forcing the operation to be moved up to today...
Thinking this, Panatia gave a faint smile to the homeless people. Their gazes immediately went vacant. Then, an unnatural flush appeared on their faces as they all clutched their chests and collapsed, twitching on the ground.
"Dying this way is far more merciful than slowly suffocating in the smog... You ought to be thankful for my kindness." Murmuring this with a smile, the Despair Nightingale walked out of the alley, her face still holding a trace of amusement.
Her steps were slow, as if she were strolling through a sea of mist.
Wherever she passed, the fog imperceptibly thickened, tinged with an iron-black hue. Visibility quietly shrank.
After she left the street, a homeless man in a tattered coat and sallow complexion suddenly coughed violently, collapsing to the ground.
Two nearby paupers recoiled in terror and instinctively covered their throats. They let out hoarse gasps, as if stricken by a severe lung disease or bronchitis, barely able to breathe.
The smog—swirling with iron black and pale yellow—descended upon the East Borough, the dockyard, the factory zone spewing smoke... spreading further across the whole of Backlund.
Scenes in the distance were gradually "submerged." Even the towering clock tower had become a pale silhouette. One worker after another, one pauper after another, began to feel unwell. Shivering vagrants around the path that woman had taken collapsed one after another. Life, in this moment, was as fragile as bubbles in a washing basin.
The Lady of Despair wore a calm and gentle expression, as if she were completing a work of art.
She walked among the passersby without the slightest disturbance. The corners of her mouth curved upward as she chuckled softly:
"The history of the Loen Kingdom will remember this day:
"The Backlund Great Smog Incident."
However, just as her words fell, a cold, sinister voice echoed from above her head: "Yes, I will remember it... because it will also be the day of your death!"
"Who is it?!" At the sound of the sudden voice, Panatia spoke in alarm while seemingly raising her head to search for the source. In truth, a sharp, crystalline ice spear had already formed in her hand—and she hurled it upward without hesitation.
At the same time, she used the recoil to rapidly retreat, attempting to slip into the next street and merge into the crowd.
As for the abrupt change, the enemy who appeared so suddenly that even she hadn't sensed it beforehand—she was not without doubts. On the contrary, she was extremely puzzled. How could someone locate her secret whereabouts so quickly, as if they had been lying in ambush all along...?
It was no easier than destroying a major metropolis or teleporting directly from Backlund to the Eastern Bayam of the Southern Continent.
But as a Sequence 4 "Witch of Despair," someone who had advanced step by step from an "Assassin," she understood that at critical moments, one mustn't lose focus, mustn't hesitate. All questions could wait until safety was secured.
Thus, she chose to distract the opponent with words, strike immediately, then take the chance to flee.
However, she quickly discovered that no matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn't leave this street block. It was as if some invisible force confined her movement—the more she tried to escape, the more impossible it became.
A demigod-level "Distortion" ability? He didn't ambush me but chose to speak first... was it to establish some sort of mystical "connection" with me and thereby "twist" my intent?
Familiar with the abilities of the "Black Emperor" pathway, Panatia suddenly understood something.
Realizing that she couldn't escape easily, she raised her head for the first time to truly face her opponent—and saw the young man dressed like a teacher, standing atop the Bone Dragon, looking down at her.
The ice spear she had just thrown hadn't, as she expected, summoned a freezing storm to trap him in frost... Instead, it was easily neutralized by a ritual he had pre-arranged.
"My prophecy today... was left for you... of course I knew how you'd respond."
The young man standing on the back of the "Bone Dragon" was, of course, Ebner. At this moment, having used the "Cursed Tudor Emblem" to successfully exploit his opponent's own intent to trap her, he no longer hesitated. He immediately activated the "Pure White Eyes," then fused with the Bone Dragon, transforming into a semi-mythical creature and pounced toward the witch.
The witch had many means at her disposal, and Ebner himself was not a true demigod. Relying on spellcasting and arcane arts alone made it hard to defeat her—close-quarters combat offered the greatest chance of victory.
.....
On a street deep within the East Borough...
Old Kohler was clutching a ham wrapped in paper and hurrying back to his rented apartment.
He looked around warily, afraid that those ravenous folks whose eyes glowed like wolves might jump him and snatch away his "New Year's gift."
As he walked, he noticed the surrounding fog had thickened considerably. The once-clear church bell tower in the distance was gradually engulfed by a mix of pale yellow and iron black, and even the nearby pedestrians more than ten steps away were now nothing but vague silhouettes.
Old Kohler suddenly had the feeling of being forgotten by the world. He raised a hand to cover his nose and mouth.
"Why does the fog smell so awful today?" he muttered, quickening his pace.
One step, two steps, three steps... Old Kohler felt his cheeks growing hot, his forehead burning up.
His chest tightened, his throat grew uncomfortable, and he soon experienced difficulty breathing. His head began to feel foggy as well.
Huhh... huhh... huhh...—he could hear his own labored breathing. His arms went limp, and the bag of ham dropped heavily to the ground.
Old Kohler instinctively squatted to pick it up but collapsed there instead.
He clutched the ham bag, struggling to pull it into his arms.
At that moment, he felt phlegm welling up, choking his throat. He struggled desperately, letting out a wheezing sound like bellows being dragged open.
Thump! In his blurred vision, he saw another person fall a few steps away, also gasping for breath—about the same age as him, in his fifties, hair graying at the temples.
Just as despair clouded his mind, and he imagined seeing his late wife and children waving at him from afar, a beautiful lady in a Gothic-style court dress and a matching petite soft hat suddenly appeared before him. She poured a vial of potion into his mouth.
As consciousness slipped away, Old Kohler's final thought was: Is this lady an angel sent by the Lord to guide me to His kingdom...?
I was only here to check in with Sherlock's informant... Sharon silently responded in her heart as she helped him up.
She had planned to bring the informant straight back to the Bravehearts Bar, but after glancing back at the ham on the ground, she hesitated, then turned around to pick it up.
.....
The fog at the edge of the East Borough wasn't as thick yet, but many people had already begun coughing—among them Freya, who had come with Etris to help her mother collect laundry for washing.
Having spent half a year adventuring at sea, Etris's expression changed immediately upon seeing the fog. With his rich experience, he sensed the taint of "Beyonder" power in it.
"Quick! Cover your nose and mouth! Head to the nearest church!" Etris grabbed Freya and broke into a run.
"But… but Mom is still at the old apartment building..." Freya refused to move, tugging on Etris anxiously.
Etris looked back at the distant fog and noticed its spread had slowed slightly. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I'll bring her out. Don't wait here—go to the church!"
Freya stared at him for a moment, then nodded solemnly. "Thank you… Etris! You… be careful too!"
"Don't worry. The 'disease' in this fog isn't enough to take my life." With that, Etris gave Freya a quick hug and then sprinted toward the old apartment building at the borough's edge.
Freya watched his retreating figure until she couldn't hold back another round of coughing. Then, resolutely, she headed toward the church.
.....
Within the East Borough, the elderly and infirm collapsed in the fog one after another, like felled trees. Those who came into contact with them contracted the plague and died rapidly. Even relatively healthy adults and children began to show minor symptoms.
On Kolun Street, those who could still lift their heads faintly saw a vague, enormous creature gnawing endlessly at a woman...
Though that woman unleashed black flames, ice lances, and numerous other powers, she couldn't harm the creature. She could only rely on a substitute body to mitigate the damage.
Even so, she had already permanently lost one of her arms.
Ebner calculated his remaining "fusion" time and was just about to land a final blow on the demoness, planning to withdraw afterward regardless of victory or defeat, when a woman suddenly appeared in front of him and Panatiya.
She wore a classical hooded robe, her eyes and hair both black, her face delicate and beautiful yet vacant.
An angel?!Lady Despair Panatiya's gaze sharpened. Black flames burst from her body as she spread disease and attempted to ignite everything around her to trigger a massive fire.
In that instant, her body trembled strangely and froze in place.
Immediately after, her body began vanishing inch by inch, the effect racing upward uncontrollably until she completely disappeared without a trace.
"Mother of the Sky"? A vessel for the goddess's descent?Just as Ebner breathed a sigh of relief, he was horrified to discover his own body, like a pencil sketch erased by a rubber, being wiped away even faster than the witch had been...
He, along with the Bone Dragon, vanished entirely within seconds.
(End of this chapter)