The Natives of This World Are Fierce

It wasn’t just because Norton’s first instinct was that the massive, illusory figure was trying to warn them. Even if he was wrong, launching an attack under these circumstances would be unwise.

Another thought struck him, and Norton quickly called over his team.

"Sir, come take a look. We have to expand the containment perimeter immediately."

A subordinate brought out a computer displaying a data simulation—a real-time model of the Bevo Community and the sky above it.

The young, blond man pointed to a spot on the screen with the mouse.

"This is the epicenter, this is the Bevo District, and this is the range where the tremors dissipate. Our cordon is directly beneath the vertical seismic wavelength. Using blast impact principles for comparative analysis, at this altitude..."

In the model, a diagonal line appeared directly above the cordon’s position, marked with an angle of 49 degrees at the edge.

The area indicated by the diagonal line was far beyond the existing cordon.

"In other words, the cordon has to be expanded!"

The model made it perfectly clear: their preparations were completely inadequate.

Norton looked up at the conspicuous phantom in the sky.

"Issue a red alert. Evacuate all civilians within two kilometers of the cordon. Be prepared to evacuate the entire city if necessary."

"What do we do about those reporters? That phantom in the sky is so obvious, plenty of people have probably already filmed it."

It was a tricky problem.

"No! They probably didn’t capture it!"

A female team member showed her phone to Norton and the others.

The screen showed that it had captured the spatial ripples, but the distinct red figure was absent. Instead, there was only a red halo, like a shifting aurora.

"Expand the cordon. Tell them the new disease is contagious and the source is showing signs of spreading. As for the reporters, block them if you can. If you can’t, chase them off."

Listening in were not just members of the 19th Organization Department, but also the National Guard, the Saint Louis police chief, and commanders from the CDC and the Army.

"Alright everyone, let’s get moving!"

Due to the influence of the Red Demoness’s song, all radio communications had to be squeezed into the brief moments of silence. The rest of the time, they resorted to manual vehicle messaging—that is, driving around and shouting...

On the rooftop, inside the Shadow of the Red Demoness, Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou could hear more than just the Red Demoness’s enchanting song.

"ROAR~~~~~"

A savage roar emanated from the point where the Red Demoness’s fingertips collided with the spatial fluctuations.

Every time the "out-of-control" Red Demoness sang, that roar, filled with a myriad of complex psychic emotions, would follow a moment later.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE~~

The frequency of the earthquakes was increasing, now occurring every ten-odd minutes.

In truth, an evacuation was almost unnecessary. The citizens of Saint Louis weren’t idiots; it was rare for people to flock toward danger. Many clever individuals had already gotten in their cars and started driving away from the city center, some even heading out of the city entirely.

A significant number of others, driven by fear or simply following the crowd, joined the exodus.

This process had begun in the morning, the trickle of people slowly growing into a flood.

Although traffic jams were unavoidable on the main peripheral roads, at least within the newly designated expanded cordon, there weren’t many civilians left to evacuate, which saved a lot of work.

This also meant that a large portion of the population never actually saw the spectacular Shadow of the Red Demoness. After all, this area was closest to the epicenter, the very place from which people were fleeing the fastest and most eagerly.

In other areas, due to obstruction from buildings and people’s usual ground-level perspective, not many saw the spectacle.

However, there were indeed some daredevil reporters. In their eyes, as long as the soldiers and police at the cordon hadn’t retreated, their own safety was more or less guaranteed.

As for the so-called "disease outbreak"—heh. ’They must think we’re blind.’ That beautiful figure in the sky was practically screaming to all the news hounds, "Something big is about to go down!"

...

"ROAR~~~~"

A RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE~ followed close behind.

The roar grew clearer. In Qin Xiaoxia’s vision, he could even faintly make out the World Wall—a shifting, multicolored substance.

Its thickness was beyond description.

A fiery red, shard-like object was particularly conspicuous within it, already touching the edge of the wall.

Every time the Red Demoness’s song rang out, a violent tremor would erupt from within, and that terrifying roar would sound again.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the Red Demoness’s song was severely agitating something, causing it to desperately force its way over.

Each roar seemed to be directed right at them, filled with a complex mix of emotions like resentment and joy.

"Dammit, Red Demoness, you listen to me! Kelson~~"

Qin Xiaoxia was genuinely furious. His shout was laced with potent Magic Language, and he didn’t care that the Shadow of the Red Demoness was just the core of his woven Secret Realm—which, fundamentally, meant he was yelling at his own shadow.

Veins bulged all over his body. His intense will caused his purple Magic Power to boil over, erupting into flames that burned from within and spread throughout the entire Shadow of the Red Demoness.

The song stopped. Then, the echo faded. Qin Xiaoxia had finally defended his dignity as a Secret Realm Weaver and regained control over the Shadow of the Red Demoness.

In that same instant, Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou, both inside the Shadow of the Secret Realm, suddenly understood a great deal of critical information that had just been deciphered.

It was a fragment of "Mogalons"!

To put it another way, it could also be understood as a "Hell Fragment."

Although he didn’t understand the specifics of this fragment, judging by its name alone, it didn’t sound like a good thing.

Qin Xiaoxia’s mood was a mix of despair and helplessness. He had the distinct feeling he’d been set up, but even though he had regained control of the Secret Realm’s power, it had surpassed its limits and couldn’t be retracted.

’I have two choices: abandon the Secret Realm and run, or hold on for as long as I can!’

"Doudou, I think we’ve... really screwed up..."

Qin Xiaoxia’s voice was filled with exhaustion.

But Doudou didn’t respond.

He looked down to see the little guy with its eyes shut, completely stiff. He couldn’t tell if it had fainted from fright or was just playing dead.

There was no time for a breather, however. The cessation of the song triggered an even more violent reaction.

BOOM~~

A violent impact detonated in the sky. Both tangible and intangible shockwaves spread out from the point of collision.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE~~

Tremors far stronger than before shook the area, making it impossible for anyone on the ground to stay on their feet.

"BANG BANG BANG~~~"

The glass curtain walls of several buildings shattered under the force of the impact.

A chorus of BEEPING car alarms erupted from the ground.

"Command, Command, we’ve been hit, aircraft is out of control! I repeat, aircraft is out of control!!"

Several helicopters circling overhead were sent into a violent spin by the shockwave. The pilots fought with the controls, but they couldn’t counteract the inertia.

But Norton and his team had no time to worry about the crisis facing those flight crews. A patch of sky above the Bevo District had already turned fiery red.

A strange, mirror-like crack appeared, expanding bit by bit.

In the short time it took to react, it was as if a small leak in a dam had been torn open by a flood.

Countless streams of what looked like lava burst forth from the unknown space.

The sky looked as if it was on fire, and the temperature above the entire city rose sharply.

But the worst-case scenario Qin Xiaoxia feared did not come to pass. The flames were like red dye poured into the ocean, spreading out rapidly and diluting at a visible rate.

’Joy!’ Qin Xiaoxia felt it as his Perception merged with that of the inexplicably strengthened Shadow of the Red Demoness.

The flames, the water, the earth, the dust, even the sunlight and air—everything in the surrounding environment was cheering.

’The fragment of Mogalons was disintegrated?’

The question lingered in Qin Xiaoxia’s mind for only a second.

Clearly, not all of it had dissipated!

A large portion of the flames in the sky was still coalescing, and a savage roar echoed, deafeningly loud.

"ROAR~~~~ GONDOLOBA~~~ MA-GE-SEN~~~~!!"

The Magic Power and sound waves ravaged the eardrums of all the troops and remaining personnel on the ground. In many places, fires inexplicably broke out.

A monstrous, giant arm wreathed in orange-red flames extended from the fire in the sky, followed by a massive tail.

Then, the entire ball of fire seemed to be torn apart and absorbed by some kind of suction, revealing the object within.

It had a pair of wings, four legs, and two arms. Its head resembled that of a horned beast. One hand gripped a long, burning whip, while the other was an empty Claw. A tail, longer than its body, lashed behind it.

In total, it had to be twenty to thirty meters tall, and its full length including the tail was hard to even estimate.

The moment the surrounding ball of fire dissipated, the burning monster began to free-fall.

With a BOOM~, it crashed onto the roof of a twenty-story residential building in the center of the Bevo District.

It wasn’t just Qin Xiaoxia watching nervously; every scope and targeting system on the ground and in the air was pointed in that direction.