Chapter 304: Rule Demon Seed, Grant You Destruction (Requesting Monthly Votes)

In the playback of the guidance, the scene of the Tian Yuan Domain node replayed before Qi Sheng's eyes.

It was like a movie playing in reverse.

The image returned to before the Rule Troops were born; the Earth-Will Evil Spirit received a message from Ghost Fang.

Learning that it had destroyed a clan during the Plunder War, it subsequently discovered a teleportation array beneath the city of that clan.

Inside, it connected to a Small World.

This clan seemed to be plotting something, but before their plan could formally advance, they were exterminated by the Hei Chao Xie Sui led by Ghost Fang.

And the Small World this clan had been focusing on also seemed somewhat extraordinary.

Driven by curiosity, the Earth-Will Evil Spirit used an consciousness projection to follow Ghost Fang to the teleportation array connecting the Small World and begin an investigation.

Seeing this, Qi Sheng's consciousness also followed the playback image through the teleportation array channel and descended into the Small World.

Just upon entering the Small World, Qi Sheng was surprised to discover.

The strength of this world was not high, yet it was a world where the flow of time was completely different from the Main World and even the Void.

Even stranger, the entire world had been designed as an invisible Great Array.

It was somewhat similar to the Ling Xi Clan's act of refining their world before fleeing to the Monster World, yet there were many differences.

He could sense that this world concealed a Rule Qi.

Demon Seed World, Eighth Era.

A Luo curled up in the darkest corner of the dungeon, nibbling on moldy food in small bites.

The hard straw ruthlessly pierced his festering wounds; flesh and straw stalks stuck together into scabs, and every slight movement brought heart-piercing pain.

The damp smell of mold intertwined with the stench of rotting flesh, nearly suffocating him.

Hanging from the iron chains above his head was a half-severed arm.

Maggots writhed densely; it was the blacksmith executed three days ago.

He had merely wanted to forge a sickle to exchange for some grain to save his sick mother, but was arrested by the City Guard for the "crime of privately forging weapons."

He died here after suffering extreme torture.

Witnessing all this, A Luo felt only fear in his heart.

Although the crime committed was merely theft, it was enough to sentence him to death on these grounds.

Amidst surging thoughts, hunger wrapped in intense sleepiness swept over him at this moment.

In a trance, he seemed to see his sister A Rou squatting before their home again, writing crooked characters with a tree branch stroke by stroke in the sand, sunlight sprinkling her hair tips and gilding them with a warm halo.

His sister was the only warmth remaining to him in this cold world.

Just then, the sound of whips beating and screams of agony coming from next door again shattered the memories in his mind, stabbing his nerves like nightmares time and again.

He buried his face deep into his knees, his fingernails almost digging into the flesh of his palms.

"Brother, I only took a small packet; Old Lady Chen has been coughing up blood for three days; if she isn't treated now, it will be too late."

In his mind floated A Rou's tiny hands, frozen red, tugging at the hem of his patched clothes.

A Rou's theft did not escape the City Guard's pursuit; ultimately, he chose to take his sister's place and was imprisoned in this dark dungeon.

When exactly he could be released was unknown.

Perhaps... he would remain here for the rest of his life, until he rotted and died.

"Number three hundred and twenty-seven."

Just then, the rusty iron door was kicked open, and A Luo reflexively curled up.

The lantern in the guard's hand illuminated A Luo's emaciated, ghost-like face.

"The execution ground needs someone to collect corpses; consider yourself lucky, come with me."

A Luo struggled to rise, his hunched back emitting a sound of being unable to bear the burden.

The guard impatiently prodded his shoulder blades with an iron rod; he stumbled and crashed against the damp stone wall, yet still endured the pain to stand straight, following behind amidst the guard's curses.

Walking out of the prison and passing through the dim corridor.

Moonlight slashed down diagonally from the window.

A Luo saw his own shadow reflected on the wall; its jagged outline resembled a skeleton draped in human skin.

The guard's lantern swept past the interrogation room, revealing figures suspended one after another, with cries of agony rising and falling.

"Don't look at those useless things; as long as you work hard, this place has nothing to do with you," the guard sneered.

A Luo remained silent, following the guard toward a corridor sloping downward.

Arriving at the second level underground, he followed the guard to the storage room to collect tools, then carried a wooden bucket full of water to the execution ground.

The guard pushed open the heavy iron door, the hinges rolling and emitting a grating sound.

The execution platform in the room was oval; the ground was paved with bluestone bricks soaked in blood, and a drain was located in the central depression, its edges encrusted with black-red blood stains.

"Every bloodstain must be wiped clean, every piece of minced flesh must be picked up; do you understand?"

A Luo nodded silently, walked onto the execution ground, knelt down, took a bristle brush from the water bucket, and began working.

Water flowed along the brick seams, carrying away tiny bone fragments; he mechanically repeated the motion, the bristles dragging fan-shaped water marks across the ground.

"Move faster; there are still three rooms in the West District waiting to be cleaned; after cleaning, throw all the severed limbs into the Demon Pit."

Hearing "Demon Pit," A Luo's body trembled.

He had heard of this place long ago.

It was said that place was the alchemy pool of the Black Rock City Lord; all lives thrown inside would be refined.

To acquire more life energy, the City Lord's divine officials and City Guard arrested residents of the city for various reasons, executed them, and threw them into the Demon Pit for refinement.

This was the final destination for all prisoners.

But at least for now, he still had value for survival.

A Luo worked even harder.

He didn't want to die here; he still wanted to go out and reunite with A Rou. As long as there was the faintest hope of survival, he would never give up.

……

In the days that followed, A Luo became the prison's cleaner.

During this time, he witnessed many horrifying scenes.

Prisoners were executed for absurd reasons, their lives treated like trash, their final value reduced to being thrown into the Demon Pit to be refined.

The guards had long lost their sanity and even took pleasure in it, betting on how long the next prisoner could endure.

Every day of this life filled A Luo with terror.

He endured the inhuman torture inside the cell.

In his silence, a flame still burned deep within A Luo's heart.

The hope that kept him going, beyond fear, was his younger sister, A Rou, who was alone outside.

He buried all his grievances and pain deep inside, continuing to play the role of a numb, lifeless tool in the dungeon.

Three months later, A Luo heard a piece of news.

One guard, drunk, told him in a mocking tone that prisoners like him, who worked diligently, might have a chance at "pardon" if they performed even better—sent to the mines for hard labor.

The guard emphasized:

"The Lord Mayor is merciful; he always gives sinners a glimmer of hope."

This news seeped into A Luo's numb heart like poison, giving him a sliver more hope for the future.

If he became a miner, at least he'd have a chance to live, perhaps even visit his sister occasionally—better than dying here.

He began working even harder, waiting for the Lord Mayor's "mercy" to arrive.

One day, half a year later.

A Luo still mechanically scrubbed the bloodstains that never dried on the prison yard's blue bricks.

The stench of decay had long become part of his breath; each inhale felt like chewing on death.

The faint hope of "pardon" the guard had revealed in his drunkenness was like a flickering light in the darkness.

Though weak, it gripped his dying heart with unyielding force.

He scrubbed fiercely, the bristle brush scraping harshly against the cracks, as if such effort could scrub away his "sins," carving out a slim path to the mines, to A Rou's side.

"Hurry up, there are other execution yards to clean," came the guard's shout, followed by the dull pain of an iron rod striking his back.

A Luo nodded hard and sped up.

To survive—for A Rou. As long as he could escape this pitch-black dungeon, even if it meant going to the mines… that was his only thought now.

At that moment, the heavy iron door of the execution chamber was violently shoved open again.

The familiar clanking of chains and the guard's rough shoves echoed.

A Luo instinctively lowered his head further, curling his body, desperate to vanish into the shadows.

He didn't want to see, and dared not see, who would be sent into hell next.

Others' suffering brought no joy—only dread.

Just then.

A faint, childish voice, trembling with sobs, like a lightning bolt splitting the dark, shattered all his numbness and pretense:

"My lord… please, I beg you."

The familiar voice amplified in A Luo's ear, instantly conjuring in his mind the vivid, youthful image he knew so well.

His blood seemed to freeze in an instant, then surged violently upward.

He jerked his head up, so violently he nearly snapped his neck.

In the dim yellow lantern light, the slight, frail figure being carried like a chick by the Gao Da guard was streaked with tears.

It was his sister—A Rou—the one he had longed to protect with every ounce of his being.

"A Rou!"

A desperate roar tore from the depths of A Luo's throat.

Like a beast utterly driven mad, he threw down the bloodstained brush and lunged with all his strength toward the tiny figure.

Fear and the hope of pardon were cast far beyond the clouds.

Boom!

The heavy iron rod, whistling through the air, struck his shin with precise, brutal force.

The crisp crack of shattering bone was unmistakable; the agony robbed him of balance, and he crashed heavily onto the cold blue stone floor.

He felt no pain in his leg—only clutched the bloodied ground with both hands.

His nails scraped against the hard bricks, dragging his broken body forward, his face and arms caked in blood and mud.

"Let go of A Rou! Take me instead! Spare her!" he screamed hoarsely, tears mixing with the grime on his face, his eyes locked on that frail, trembling figure.

She was the only light in this hell, the sole meaning of his life—he would not allow A Rou to be hurt.

A Rou saw him too.

Those once clear, warm eyes now held only utter terror and helplessness.

"Wah… A Luo… I'm so scared." Seeing his pitiful state, his sister's tears poured like a broken dam.

At that moment, a cleric in a pitch-black robe stepped calmly to the center of the execution platform.

His eyes were hollow and cold; as they swept over A Luo, writhing like a worm on the ground, not a flicker of emotion stirred within him—he looked at him as if he were filthy trash.

His voice was low, yet drowned out all other noise:

"Silence!"

The voice echoed across the blood-soaked execution yard:

"This woman showed no respect when the governor's caravan passed—this is an insult to the governor's glory, an unforgivable grave crime, deserving death…"

The divine official ignored A Luo's heart-wrenching pleas; his cold gaze fell upon A Rou, trembling with terror, as if inspecting a flawed item destined for destruction.

Then he turned his head and gave a slight nod to the executioner, who had been standing by, expressionless.

"Proceed."

"No, please, I'll do anything—don't kill my sister!"

A Luo's roar turned into a desperate wail, powerless to change anything.

Eyes bulging, he watched helplessly as guards pinned A Rou onto the execution platform, the executioner raising a massive, crescent-shaped cleaver.

"For the glory and purity of Black Rock City," the divine official's voice coldly pronounced the final verdict.

The blade descended.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

A Luo saw the despair and confusion in A Rou's eyes.

Finally, the light in her eyes faded.

Her small head separated from her body, rolling to the ground, smeared with dust and blood.

It rolled a few times, finally coming to rest just before A Luo's outstretched, trembling fingers.

Her empty eyes stared directly at him, frozen in the final moment of confusion and frozen terror, as if asking him:

"Brother… why?"

The hope he had thought within reach collapsed violently within A Luo's inner world.

The guards' sneers, the divine official's verdict, his own heartbeat—all vanished.

Before him remained only A Rou's lifeless eyes, fixed unblinkingly upon him.

The scalding blood within him seemed instantly drained, replaced by a bone-chilling cold flooding every limb and vein.

He stopped crawling and screaming, frozen in place like a clay statue with its soul ripped away, his hollow eyes locked on his sister's head.

The divine official stepped slowly toward A Luo, now utterly rigid, looking down upon him.

On his pale face appeared a faint, utterly false smile of "pity."

"A pitiful, wretched worm."

The divine official's voice slithered like a serpent's hiss into A Luo's deadened consciousness:

"This is the price of blasphemy. Your continued survival is solely due to the governor's mercy."

The divine official bent down, his voice dropping even lower, laced with mockery:

"I know it was your sister who stole the pill. That pill's value far exceeds your worthless life."

With that, he straightened, resuming his cold demeanor:

"By the way, you've always been so diligent—then you shall personally see your sister off. Take her, and all your other trash, to where they belong. This is their final worth."

The divine official finished speaking and did not look at A Luo again.

As if disposing of a trivial matter, he turned and left.

The guards sneered and stepped forward, violently tossing a wicker basket reeking of thick blood and rot beside A Luo:

"Waste, did you hear the divine official? Put your sister—and these—" He jabbed his iron rod toward the pile of severed limbs and body parts stacked in the corner of the execution ground:

"All of it into the basket. Take it to the Demon Cavern. Move quickly!"

A Luo's body twitched. He painfully dragged himself toward A Rou's remains.

Reaching out trembling hands, he struggled to lift her still-warm, slender body and carefully placed it into the basket.

Then he slowly crawled toward her head.

As if cradling a fragile treasure, he gently placed it into the basket. Then, like a puppet programmed with fixed motions, he began mechanically carrying out his orders as usual.

Dragging his broken leg, he painfully crawled to the corner of the execution ground, picking up each scattered limb and tossing them into the massive wicker basket.

The guards impatiently shouted and cursed, their iron rods striking him at intervals, but he showed no reaction—only numb repetition.

The basket was full.

Cold limbs, mixed with A Rou's small remains, piled atop one another.

The guard threw a rough hemp rope before him:

"Slip it over your shoulders. Drag it to the entrance of the Demon Cavern. Don't even think of slacking."

A Luo silently looped the rope over his shoulders, the fibers biting into his ulcerated flesh.

Hunched over, he used every last ounce of his remaining strength to drag the impossibly heavy basket.

Each step sent searing pain through his broken leg; the rope around his shoulders felt ready to snap his bones.

The basket scraped along the ground, emitting a harsh grating sound; dark red, viscous fluid seeping from its bottom left a trail of blood behind him—a path leading to hell.

He passed through a sloping downward passage, where hot air mixed with the stench of blood, charred flesh, and medicinal scent.

The smell of death grew stronger.

At the end of the passage lay a vast, deep, crimson cavern mouth.

This was the entrance to the Demon Cavern.

The guard pointed at the bottomless hole:

"There. Waste, push the basket in."

A Luo stood at the edge of the pit. The hot wind blew through his tattered clothes and withered hair.

He looked down one final time at his sister inside the basket. His eyes held no sorrow, no anger, no fear.

Only stillness.

He unfastened the rope from his shoulders.

With his last remaining strength, he pushed the basket—carrying his only remaining tie in this world, and all the darkness and despair of this world—into the abyss.

The vine basket tilted, rolled, and plummeted toward the abyss that devoured all life.

Ah Rou's tiny, broken body mingled with other cold limbs, shrinking and blurring rapidly in the dark red light before vanishing deep within the churning, boiling flesh magma, becoming nourishment for the City Lord to gain power.

A Luo stood at the cave mouth, looking at the place where his sister had completely disappeared.

The scorching wind, like the tongue of hell, licked his exposed skin.

The roaring of the churning magma below sounded like countless wronged souls screaming in silence.

The last warmth in his heart, along with the entire meaning of his life, had been pushed by his own hands into this abyss of no return.

His inner world became a dead silence.

The roar of the Demon Cave Furnace and the sound of his heartbeat became barely audible.

The guard behind him let out an impatient, sneering laugh:

"Still looking at what? If you can't bear to part with her, why not go down and accompany her?"

A Luo did not answer; he looked at the guard with eyes devoid of any emotion.

Accompany her?

These two words were like a cold stone thrown into his already frozen heart lake, stirring up no ripples, leaving only a cold echo.

Yes.

I should go with Ah Rou.

What is there to linger over in this filthy, twisted world, this land of sin that feeds on the innocent?

The thought of liberation quietly surfaced in his heart.

Death was no longer the terrifying end, but the only path to end this boundless suffering.

Perhaps that other shore, which the Divine Officer claimed might exist, would be the place where he and Ah Rou could reunite.

At that moment, he leaped, resolutely throwing himself into the mouth of the boiling hell.

The instant the sensation of weightlessness struck, scorching air currents carrying a nauseating, sweet, bloody stench hit his face; A Luo's hollow eyes reflected the boiling magma below, growing ever closer.

It seemed he could see countless twisted, suffering faces screaming within the flames.

There were blacksmiths, prisoners screaming next door, countless nameless wretches... and Ah Rou.

Next, this shell of his, completely hollowed out by despair, would also merge into it.

The pain brought by the burning awakened the last thing deep within his consciousness; it was no longer love or hope, but overwhelming rage suppressed to the extreme.

Unjust rules, hypocritical divine authority, the tyrannical rule of the City Lord, cruel and numb accomplices... and the man-eating world itself, built upon lies and oppression.

With no more reservations in his heart, the suppressed rage erupted like a volcano.

Though the anger was fierce, he clearly knew he was insignificant and powerless, unable to change anything.

But helplessness brought even more violent anger, making him only want to seek liberation in destruction:

"Let it be... turn everything... into ashes."

The wind howled in his ears, and the scent of death filled his mouth and nose.

Pain devoured the body; anger tormented the consciousness.

At the moment life was about to perish, A Luo suddenly felt time seem to freeze.

He felt his body and consciousness trembling; thick blackness like ink obscured his vision, seeping and surging into his mind.

In a trance of consciousness, he suddenly heard a heartbeat.

This sound was not his own; it was like the roar of an ancient giant beast crushing the earth's crust.

Consciousness then fell into chaos.

In an instant, a black giant tower suddenly pierced his mind.

The tower's peak stabbed into a sky like a sea of blood; the tower body was entwined with surging black mist, and every brick and stone upon it was carved with cursed spiritual runes.

Then a blood-red waning moon rose from behind the Gao Ta, hanging in the high sky and pouring forth endless red light.

Beneath the blood moon, on the platform at the top of the Gao Ta, he saw an existence beyond comprehension.

It had no definite form; only within the outline condensed from black mist did two dark red pupils burning with karmic fire cross the spatial barrier to look at him.

More accurately, this was not looking, but crushing.

Merely the gaze caused him to feel a stabbing pain on the level of consciousness.

The eyes within the black mist gradually brightened, like two dark red suns burning in the night.

Under the gaze of these eyes, A Luo felt himself as insignificant as dust.

Merely touched by the gaze, his remaining consciousness trembled uncontrollably, as if encountering the most ferocious beast in heaven and earth.

The extreme evil aura, like an invisible tsunami, fiercely struck his spiritual sea of consciousness.

Just then, a hoarse, evil voice sounded by his ear:

"Tiny creature, I have heard your despair, your hatred, your longing."

As it spoke, the evil outline hanging above the Gao Ta, resembling a Demon God, suddenly brightened.

The flames in the eyes turned into mirrors, clearly reflecting all the darkest moments from A Luo's memories.

Ah Rou's desperate eyes, the Divine Officer's evil, the guard's brutality, countless twisted faces in the magma... and the rage still surging in his heart.

"You desire the power to burn the world and extinguish all things; I can give it to you, but after you complete your goal, your body, your soul, every trace of your existence... shall all belong to me."

"So, are you... willing?"

A grotesque smile appeared on the Demon God's blurred face.

To A Luo, this voice's inquiry sounded like the final salvation shown by a god to a drowning person... even if it was a Demon God.

At this moment, A Luo's consciousness was already filled with extreme pain and anger.

All expectations and struggles in his heart had turned to dust the instant Ah Rou died.

In his mind, only the vengeful rage to burn everything remained.

Under the gaze of those abyssal eyes, Alo's remaining consciousness gathered its most frantic desire, like a dying man's final leap, hurling itself toward the abyss that promised utter ruin:

"I consent, I consent, take everything I have—give me power!"

"Burn it all!"

Alo screamed, repeating "consent."

"Deal. Enjoy your next game… Demon Seed."

The demonic figure above the Gao Ta platform gave a slight nod, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

The deal was sealed.

Behind the demon, a vast evil eye flickered into view; its dark red iris blazed with flames, as if ready to ignite his consciousness.

The ultimate evil force ignored spatial barriers and pierced Alo's consciousness in an instant, searing itself into the deepest depths of his mind-sea.

The Black Tide transformation began now.

Alo's body was engulfed by black mist tearing through space; his skin rapidly carbonized and peeled away, black flame replacing blood as it flowed within, and new black skin spread across his entire form.

His arms then disintegrated; black bony matter twisted and grew like living things, eventually forming two demonic claws covered in dark red scales, burning with ghostly flames.

His body underwent its most violent reshaping.

As his eyeballs burst, two dark red flames rose from his eye sockets, blazing fiercely, burning his optic nerves.

Amid excruciating agony, Alo, suspended above the magma, erupted into mad laughter.

When the pain reached its peak… the furious power gradually subsided.

Alo completed his rebirth within the demon den's flames—or rather, a vessel of destruction, carrying Alo's final obsession, was born.

He snapped his head up, his evil eyes, burning with black tide demon flame, fixed on the tiny exit above the demon den's furnace.

The pact with the demon god was fulfilled.

Next came the judgment of this decaying world.

The next instant, Alo moved.

His body levitated and slammed down toward the hellish furnace below, where flesh and blood were melted.

Boom!

Black mist spread in a ring from his right leg, instantly covering the entire demon den furnace with spiderweb-like black cracks.

The terrifying force shattered the entire demon den with trembling.

Above the city, all living beings heard a muffled boom from deep underground.

Immediately after, the ground above the dungeon bulged upward.

The stone-paved square cracked like a fragile eggshell, and a black-red fire column over a hundred meters wide erupted from below.

As the earth shook and mountains trembled, the entire underground structure of Black Rock City suffered a catastrophic impact at this moment.

Countless buildings collapsed amid violent shaking; screams and wails instantly tore through the city's false calm.

At the top of the fire column, a figure slowly stretched its body and landed upon a throne of magma and black smoke—the Wang Zuo.

Every inch of his new demonic body oozed liquid darkness; thick black sludge shimmered across his surface, forming a flowing armor.

At this moment, Alo was fully demonized; beneath the black-armored mask, his burning eyes radiated madness and evil.

All survivors of the earlier quake—whether commoners or arrogant city guards—felt as if their throats had been clenched.

They stared blankly upward at the dark red figure in the sky, radiating endless evil and destruction, their eyes filled with unmistakable terror.

"E… enemy attack!"

"All city defense forces, ascend immediately!"

After a brief silence, hysterical shouts erupted.

Shrill alarm bells rang throughout the city.

Streams of light shot out from guard towers and barracks across the city.

Countless city defense soldiers, clad in standardized rune-armors and wielding energy spears or staves, surged from all directions under the clerics' command, like a startled swarm of bees surrounding Alo.

Yet the protective array lights glowing on their bodies could not dispel the darkness emanating from Alo.

Facing this swarm of ants, the destruction incarnate hovering in midair did not even turn his head.

He slowly raised his right hand, shaped like a demonic claw.

In an instant.

Thick, ink-like, churning black tide demon flame gained life.

It erupted wildly from every seam of his armor.

Black mist spread outward from him; countless grotesque, twisted, purely dark-energy entities surged into manifestation within the mist.

Skeleton knights wreathed in black flame, calamity beasts the size of hills, shadow-formed wraiths, plague-spreading blood orbs… each entity radiated an evil aura capable of freezing souls.

Their numbers instantly surpassed the incoming city defense forces.

Amid churning black mist, the entities, like ravenous shark schools scenting blood, moved under Alo's cold, silent command, becoming a wave of destruction sweeping across the sky.

With pure malice and an insatiable hunger to devour all, they slammed toward the terrified city defense soldiers.

"Blasphemer, in the name of the city lord…" The lead cleric raised his gem-encrusted staff and roared.

But before he finished speaking, two white bone arms suddenly appeared at his sides, twisting his left and right arms like a rope.

Before his scream could escape, a monstrous mouth lined with teeth rose from below, clamping onto his legs and yanking hard, spraying blood.

The next second, thick black mist engulfed the cleric, turning into black maggots that frantically burrowed into his nostrils, ear canals, and corners of his eyes, wriggling beneath his skin in worm-like trails.

Uncontrollable screams burst from the cleric's throat.

At that moment, Alo vanished from high above.

He reappeared before the cleric, his black-scaled demonic hand clutching a still-beating heart.

The black mist leaking from his body corroded the heart with a sizzling sound, spreading a rotting stench.

But the Divine Official did not die; the energy A Luo had unleashed sustained his life, forcing him to watch as his innards were devoured piece by piece by the evil spirits.

Watching the Divine Official's anguished struggle, not a single ripple stirred in A Luo's heart.

He only felt that, as if something was continuously pouring into his body throughout the course of his revenge.

……

At that very moment, a figure in splendid robes inside the City Lord's residence was reaching into a food box to pick up a Life Pill refined from the qi and blood energy of a great number of living beings, about to pop it into his mouth.

Yet upon hearing the tremendous roar, he set the Life Pill down, hurried to the window, and looked up at the sky with a puzzled expression.

The sky reflected in his eyes was like the curtains slowly closing at the end of a stage play, being devoured at speed by the darkness.

Evil creatures that blotted out the sky were now ravaging above the city.

The faint glow cast by the rune armor on the City Guard soldiers in the darkness was like fireflies in a storm, swallowed whole in the blink of an eye.

The City Lord's pupils contracted sharply, his expression turning to terror.

Only one thought filled his mind: run, run now!

(End of chapter)