Chapter 1147: 134. Chance

“You’re saying... that all along, everything we did was wrong, and that we were all polluted?”

On the other side.

Theresa stared with wide eyes, looking dumbly at Marcie, who had just finished explaining.

The situation was somewhat beyond his expectations.

He had hurried over, originally thinking it was a heroic story of an outside enemy invading, and the Pioneers, who had just gone through a great battle, still bravely resisting the enemy.

But in the end, it was justice descending from heaven, destroying all the evil hidden in out-of-the-way corners.

Oh, right. They were the evil that was supposed to be destroyed.

It was very hard to hold it together.

“H-how could this be...”

Theresa originally wanted to question her angrily, but after his body swayed, he discovered that he accepted it faster than he had imagined.

Because...

He reached out and touched his abdomen.

The blood had already dried. Although it had been bandaged by Landa, he could still touch the outline of those shattered organs inside.

Thinking about it carefully, with injuries as serious as his, the fact that he could still live until this time was already abnormal.

Too abnormal.

But under the influence of some power they had never noticed, everyone had actually thought this was normal... that he simply had relatively tenacious vitality, and if they waited a little longer, waited a little longer, he would die.

But this little while... was a little too long.

Theresa turned his head blankly and met eyes with the buddy beside him who had just been chatting with him.

This buddy had a large hole running straight through his chest. While listening to Marcie describe those things, he had even lit the last antique cigarette he had treasured to calm his nerves... now that half-burned cigarette had been wasted just like that, fallen to the ground, leaving only faint smoke that passed through that hollow with the breeze.

One could faintly see inside that chest cavity, where only half a heart remained, still stubbornly beating.

“Holy shit...”

That buddy let fragrant words out of his mouth.

In reality, it was not only the two of them. Many heavily injured Pioneers around them were like this as well. There were even people touching their own heads, secretly thinking, so it turned out that having half a head gone was actually a fatal injury?

Looking at those constantly changing expressions, Theresa more or less had a conclusion in his heart. No wonder so many Pioneers would become evil believers. As residents of Annabawei, the only possibility for them to discover the existence of this strange Pollution...

Was probably that they had suffered some incomparably serious injury, yet suddenly realized why they had not died after so long.

The approaching death would trigger the Pollution. There was no doubt about that.

“That’s great.”

Theresa’s heart was filled with mixed feelings, but he suddenly heard Landa whisper beside his ear, “Then you don’t have to die.”

“...”

Theresa shook his head with a bitter smile. “If I turn into that kind of monster, I’d rather die.”

“But...”

“Don’t say any more. I can already feel that something is wrong with my wounds... damn it, my intestines seem to be moving by themselves!”

Theresa took out his great hammer, wanting to directly smash those intestines that had secretly slipped away and were escaping, but unfortunately, he had no legs now, and his body was also weak. The first strike actually missed, letting his own intestines slither far away like a snake.

Until they were stepped dead by a knightly figure.

“Hiss—”

Theresa’s face instantly turned deathly pale. Facing such a rough action, he originally wanted to burst into rage directly, but the moment he thought of the other party’s identity... he hurriedly swallowed the angry curse back down by force, lowered his voice, and said to Marcie beside him, “So, this really is Lord First Pioneer, right?”

“Mm.”

“And that crying goddess over there really has been protecting us all along?”

“Mm.”

“Damn it!”

Theresa cursed again, his expression becoming worse and worse.

“And then? What fate is waiting for us?”

“Probably... to be completely killed,” Marcie said with a sorrowful expression.

“By that woman from just now?”

“Mm.”

Marcie nodded.

“That woman is the monster that appeared in the sky,” she added after saying that.

This time, not only Theresa, but everyone’s expressions became ugly.

Because the deep impression that monster had left on them was completely different from ordinary monsters wandering in the mist—whose ordinary monster’s eyes were as wide as the sun? Just overlooking Annabawei was enough to make everyone here tremble.

“Then now...”

Theresa sighed. “The reason we are still alive is because Mr. Muen is holding that monster back, right?”

“Mm.”

When Muen was mentioned, a trace of light finally appeared in Marcie’s eyes.

However, before she could say anything, with a boom, a huge sound came from far away, and the entire earth trembled.

Under everyone’s dumbfounded gaze, the mountain ridge surrounding this valley floor... simply collapsed in a huge section just like that.

“I-I-I-I... holy... the mountain got beaten down...”

Theresa, who had originally still held a sliver of hope that if they all worked together, maybe they could defeat the monster, was completely stunned. How were they supposed to fight? All the Pioneers added together were not as resistant to beating as that mountain!

“I say, Marcie, why don’t we quickly hide instead? Annabawei is so big, if we hide, maybe... Marcie?”

Theresa turned his head and suddenly discovered that Marcie was already gone.

The buddy beside him stretched out a finger and pointed toward the direction where the mountain had collapsed. Theresa raised his head and discovered that she had already run wildly toward that side.

“Damn it... does she have to be this fierce?”

Theresa thought for a moment and gritted his teeth. “Follow her. Everyone follow. If we don’t follow and just stay here, how is that different from waiting to die?”

And so everyone hurried along. Very soon, they crossed the area where smoke and dust drifted and arrived before the mountain ridge that had been directly pierced through.

As their line of sight gradually cleared, this battle, which had never had much suspense to begin with, happened to have already reached its end.

Amid a scene of complete wreckage, that fiery-red figure, whose whole body looked as if not even the corner of her clothes had changed, stood there. In her hand... was Muen’s neck.

“It’s over.”

Smoke and dust scattered in all directions. Heaven and earth became clear. The sun... was once again about to sink west.

In the hazy light and shadow, Hamreign calmly sized up Muen, who was now on his last breath, as if she very much liked his current miserable appearance, and smiled contemptuously.

“See? Your efforts, in the end, are futile.”

So what if he had exhausted all his strength?

So what if he was tenacious and unyielding?

In this world, there were far too many things that could not be changed, and that one could do nothing about.

This was not some fairy tale.

Powerful enemies could not be defeated by relying on “bursting out.”

A destined ending also could not be rewritten with nothing but hot blood.

If something could not be done, then it could not be done.

“L-let him go!”

Hamreign glanced sideways, her golden pupils flickering slightly... had she stabbed into a nest of fools? Another one who was not afraid of death had come?

“...”

Hamreign fundamentally did not pay any attention to Marcie. She casually flung Muen away, as if throwing away a dead dog.

After doing this, she turned around again, her thorny long dress swaying lightly, and walked toward those ants who had actually not run away, and who had actually dared to come over on their own initiative.

Terrifying pressure surged over once more like a tide.

Hamreign had not done anything yet. Merely those golden pupils sweeping over them casually were already enough to make a large number of Pioneers break out in cold sweat on their foreheads, their scalps going numb.

There were even some slightly weaker ones whose legs softened, and they directly knelt and prostrated themselves on the ground.

This was the suppression of life level, and also the suppression of power rank. At this moment, everyone realized how laughable their thought of resisting was.

No.

Even hiding was laughable.

An existence this powerful could directly destroy the whole of Annabawei. Why would she need to play hide-and-seek with them?

At this time, they also finally understood why even that Goddess of Night would cry so helplessly.

“I... I won’t let you succeed! Muen too... Annabawei too. This time, I’ll protect...”

...But even at such a time, there was still someone who did not choose to retreat.

Marcie tightly gripped the farming tool in her hand, which was far too laughable for a giant dragon. Even though her whole body was trembling, she was unwilling to retreat even one step.

Clang.

Alan also drew his longsword.

Two people, one old and one young, the former oldest Pioneer and the current newest Pioneer, stood together like this, shoulder to shoulder, facing the terrifying enemy who was walking toward them.

The others looked at each other. As if encouraged by this scene, they also drew their weapons one after another.

“Foolish...”

Hamreign did not care in the slightest. She merely slowly raised her jade-like hand.

Clearing away these insects, to her, was not even as troublesome as...

“You’re injured.”

Suddenly, a voice said.

That voice was still that weak, as if it might disappear at any time, but this time it was extremely clear.

So clear that it was like a needle, stabbing viciously over.

Hamreign’s movement paused slightly.

“Injured? I am not.” Hamreign said this very seriously.

“You are.”

“I am not.”

“You are.”

“I am not.”

“You absolutely are.”

“You think that with just you, you could injure me?” She felt that she was about to get angry again.

This human, who had no merit except being resistant to beating, was truly very annoying.

“I did indeed injure you. Otherwise... why did you switch hands this time? The hand you used before was not this one.”

On the ground, in the middle of the wreckage.

Muen, who was on his last breath, opened his eyes with difficulty and forcefully pulled out a smile.

“Miss Dragon, aren’t you, just like me... very stubborn-mouthed?”

“...”

Killing intent abruptly rose... and abruptly dispersed again.

Hamreign did not say anything more. She merely lowered her head slightly.

Indeed.

The one she was going to use this time was not the right hand she had used just now, but her left hand.

Because between the fingers of her right hand, there was indeed a drop of golden blood sliding down along her finger.

Drip.

Golden dragon blood, carrying a strange fragrance, dripped onto the ground. The originally barren soil immediately became full of vitality... that was the vast life force from the Dragon of Calamity.

Who could have thought that the dragon called “Death and Doom” would have blood flowing through her that could actually bring vitality to all things?

But even if she was called a calamity, called death and doom, called the strongest creature beneath the heavens, she had still been injured.

Injured by a weak, foolish, stubborn ant.

His realm was not even at Crowned, and his magic was even a complete mess. He only knew how to use that laughable illumination spell.

Although he had a Divine Foundation, that thing was only an embryonic form right now. It was fine for dealing with weak chickens, but against her, it fundamentally could not produce too much use.

So, if this kind of thing were spoken of, it would probably become another annual joke... no, annual joke was not enough to describe it. To summarize it as the joke of the century would be more appropriate.

Even if it were recorded in classics, later generations would definitely treat it as an excessively wild unofficial history.

A certain fellow hiding in the academy would even laugh so hard she rolled all over the floor, mocking her for a thousand years.

“I am very weak.”

Muen gasped with difficulty... he had not been in such a miserable state for a very long time. Whether spirit or body, both had reached the edge of collapse. Hamreign had practically crushed every bone in his body, and crushed them to the point where he could no longer recover on his own—this was the price for doing something foolish.

But even so, he still drew on the last of his strength and showed Hamreign a provocative smile.

“But if even someone this weak can injure you, the mighty calamity, then what else is impossible?”

“...”

Outside the mountain ridge that had been forcibly beaten into a hollow, the cold wind poured in forcefully.

Hamreign stood there, her face blurred, impossible to see clearly, and even more impossible to know what she was thinking at this moment.

Only, she did not answer this question again. It was unknown whether she was angry, or, completely outside Muen’s expectations, she did not take it seriously.

She turned her head and continued forward.

In her molten-gold pupils, this Annabawei was reflected, and so were the many “foolish people” before her eyes.

The images in her pupils flickered. No one knew what she thought of at this moment.

This made everyone’s hearts thump.

Just when everyone thought she was about to start a massacre, and Muen’s heart also leaped into his throat...

She actually passed through the crowd and did nothing.

At the same time, she flicked her palm.

Muen felt a trace of scorching heat appear in his mouth.

“I will only give you one chance.”

Hamreign did not turn her head back. Her voice was somewhat distant and ethereal.

“Prove it to me... how you are different from the fools of the past thousand years.”