Su Ling’s pupils shrank as she witnessed the eerie transformation in Albert’s demeanor. Subconsciously, her grip on the knife handle tightened, to the point her knuckles turned white with the force of her emotion.

It’s a curse.

Mr. Albert, the cursed being slowly advancing towards her with an unnerving hunger in his eyes, a hunger that seemed to override any trace of humanity left in him.

Despite knowing it was a curse, Su Ling didn’t make a move. She harbored a glimmer of hope that even the darkest curse could be lifted, so she could restore him back to his original state. She was well aware that curses often wrought reversible transformations, offering a glimmer of redemption amid the darkness of affliction.

She was also well aware that the enemy was taking advantage of her weakness of being “soft-hearted”.

But weaknesses were not weaknesses for no reason, they would not be so easily overcome.

“I’m so hungry! Let me have a bite!” 

As the haunting words tumbled from his bloodied lips, his saliva mixed with blood drooled. His movements were unnatural and inhuman, yet he moved very fast.

In a swift movement, Su Ling drew her knife, afterward, the precise light of the blade cutting through the air with a deadly grace as it struck at Albert’s feet. The sound of flesh meeting steel echoed in the air, followed by a gush of blood that painted the ground.

“Ah— — ”

Albert’s anguished cries pierced the air, his twisted form writhing in agony. Yet the desperation in his eyes mirrored the darkness that had taken hold of his soul, his pleas, tinged with madness and longing, resonated in the stillness.

“Su Ling, I’m so hungry, Su Ling, please let me have a bite.” 

“Fortunately, the combat power is not very strong, only disorder level ability.” 

She was relieved that if the other party had distortion-level strength, she could not keep her hands still.

Wasting no time, she crossed over Albert, and directly ran out of the house.

I have to inform the current situation to the Anti-Magic Bureau.

With this thought she dashed to the neighbour house and didn’t even bother to knock on the door, just directly slashed open the door with knife. 

Rushing in, she saw a couple sitting on the sofa, looking dazed.

“I’m here to save… Forget it, it’s robbery! Hand over all your cell phones!”

When a situation like this arises, threats will be more effective than soft talk.

Su Ling though so, however, things did not develop as she expected.

The couple looked so confused and lost.

“So hungry.”

Almost immediately, Su Ling turned around and ran out from the apartment, she only felt her scalp tingle.

“So hungry!

“Hungry!”

“I’m so hungry!”

As she dashed through the narrow corridor, the reverberating echoes of people’s voices reverberated off the walls of the building – a cacophony blending the voices of men, women, the elderly, the young; it was a chorus of desperation and longing for sustenance that seemed to grow louder by the second. 

The primal roar that enveloped her, reminiscent of a bereft wild beast’s call, pierced through Su Ling’s senses, stirring an eerie sense of impending danger within her. 

Even beneath the surface of the collective outcry, Su Ling discerned a chilling undertone — inhuman meaning, an almost otherworldly resonance that spoke of unfulfilled desires and unquenchable appetites.

They were really hungry.

Despite the chaos around her, Su Ling’s trained composure enabled her to immediately shift gears and analyze the situation at hand, “He actually cursed the entire building. How did he curse? Physical contact or some words?”

Her grip on the knife handle tightened.

A pensive expression settled upon her features as she instinctively clutched her stomach, a stark reminder of the gnawing emptiness that mirrored the collective suffering engulfing the building.

Hungry — — 

She felt like she had fallen into hell, and because of her everyone in the building was suffering.

“Henry.” a hushed whisper escaped from her lips. 

It was unmistakably his handiwork, his twisted machinations weaving a web of malevolence that threatened to engulf all within its grasp. Not long ago she had learned Henry’s information from the director. 

Henry, the dignified patriarch of the mysterious Salian family, held a formidable presence in the Table world. The Salians’ reputation preceded them, their disdain for commoners apparent in the way they disregarded human life as mere weeds, unworthy of consideration. 

Henry, the leader of this ancient family, had fought in many wars, and those who dared to fought against him had no good endings, of course the good ending was death the worse was falling into endless madness, and tormenting day by day. 

With a legacy marked by numerous battles, Henry’s tenure as the family’s leader was steeped in bloodshed. He had established a reputation that struck fear in the hearts of those who dared to oppose him. Those foolish enough to oppose him met brutal fates; the lucky ones found release in death, while the unfortunate ones plunged into a bottomless pit of madness and relentless torment, their minds unraveling day by day under his wrathful gaze. 

Simultaneously, he was a key figure in the clandestine organization known as Dust of No Light. Where each member concealed their true identity behind cryptic script names, and Henry’s code name was…

“Thriller.”

Feeling an insistent hunger gnawing at her, she was struck by the realization that a curse had befallen her as well. 

Acting on instinct, she swiftly pivoted and made a dash for the building’s exit.

Rather than going on killing spree and dive in bloodbath ,she opted to ran out to find some help. 

Stepping into the torrential downpour outside, the somber sky casting a pall over the scene, rain cascaded down upon her form, drenching her attire and hair in chilling embrace.

“Whew.”

Taking a deep breath she forced herself to stay calm.

As she scanned the desolate surroundings, her eyes searched in vain for any sign of life. Not a single pedestrian graced the streets, as if an invisible barrier shielded the mysterious location from intrusion, leaving it eerily empty, even there was no sign of enemy here.

With her thoughts racing to find a solution, Su Ling quickly assessed her surroundings and discovered the nearest building was a middle school.

In the midst of her contemplation, a peculiar sight caught her attention. A black dog came over from not far away. It looked normal…except for the shocking sight of a large mouth filled with menacing white fangs perched atop its head. 

That mouth was constantly wriggling, obviously possessing the characteristic of being alive.

Su Ling stared at the dog, and the black blade was ready to launch an attack.

“Su Ling.”

The black dog regally sat before her, its uncanny features contrasting starkly with the sound of a human voice resonating from the strangely positioned mouth on its head.

It sounded like old man’s voice.

“Let me introduce myself. I am Henry von Salian, the patriarch of the Salian family.”

The Black Dog remained motionless, and the mouth on his head continued, “You know, Count Bute, who you killed, is a branch family of ours.”

“Although Ennius, whom you killed, was not an important bloodline, he was still my great-grandson.”

Su Ling froze slightly, and fell into a short reflection, Ennius …… Who is it?

The old man’s voice continued, “I will kill you slowly so that you can experience enough despair ….. and pain ……”

Finished speaking, black dog mouth expended and wriggled.

She reflexively dodged to the side. At the same time, the black dog’s torso completely exploded ‘Bang!’, splattering blood and flesh all over the sky, attempting to stain Su Ling.

“Down!” 

As soon as the word left her mouth, the large amount of blood that flying towards her instantly fell and crushed to the ground.

A new curse…

She turned her head and looked in the direction of the apartment and saw Mr. Albert coming out.

Mr. Albert, had undergone a chilling transformation that rendered him akin to a creature straight out of a horror story, with red skin and bulging stomach, with blood  trickled from the corners of his mouth, forming a horrific contrast against his unnaturally wide grin, he staggered forward and fell on his knees, his eyes were still unfocused blankly looking ahead, while a voice belonging to an old man came from his mouth. 

“You have long been cursed, even if the onset is delayed due to your extraordinary physique, you can’t escape the death.”

“And you will die a slow, painful death.”

Su Ling didn’t utter a word, but knew that he wasn’t talking nonsense. Because as seconds tickled on she felt a growing hunger, and very badly want to fill the stomach.

“Come out!”

Despite knowing that he would not come out, she shouted so loudly, trying to find a clue to where his body was there.

Albert laughed loudly, “I’m a wizard. I don’t want to fight you head-on anyway.”

“Even though I’m a Disaster level and you’re only a Twisted level, throughout history, the probability of losing a head-on battle is still …… Cautiousness is the most important quality a wizard should follow.”

Su Ling’s heart sank gradually. 

The most terrifying aspect of wizards lay in their unparalleled craft of deception and treachery. No matter how meticulous the planning and how extensive the time required, once the elaborate setup had been orchestrated, the ensuing dread was overwhelming, and it was difficult to break.

He’s nowhere in sight, what should I do? 

All along he’s dragging time to waiting for my curse to take effect.

As Su Ling’s mind whirled with conflicting thoughts, a sudden clarity washed over her. Since the onset of the curse needed time, then it definitely wasn’t an unsolvable one. This realization brought a sense of relief, as she understood that there was a window of opportunity to figure out a way to counteract the curse. 

The mere fact that Henry was dead set on blocking her proves that the curse was not an unsolvable mortal affliction, leading Su Ling to believe that there might be a way to outmaneuver the looming threat. 

“He stole my phone and prevented me to reaching out to make calls, but he left my knife and repeatedly stressed that I would die a slow death.”

From here, she was sure that he wasn’t afraid of her skills, but the Anti-Magic Bureau, or to be precise that gentleman.

“His words about killing me slowly should be mere words.” Su Ling kept thinking.

In fact, Su Ling guess was correct, he was very afraid of the arrival of the strong men. So despite he prepared everything and set all out, he very much wanted to end this game quickly so as to escape from Beland… 

In other words, Henry’s real body was nearby!

“I need to convey the current situation before the curse fully kicks in.”

While contemplating the plan, Su Ling also aware the possibility of phone in the apartment was unlikely. 

She looked towards the middle school not far away and sprinted over to it at breakneck speed.

“Albert”‘s eyes were still blank, but he still had that distorted smile on his face.

“It’s no use, you can’t escape from my clutch.”

——

In the Cafe.

Shen Yi stretched his lazy bones behind the bar.

Half a month had passed, but despite his continued efforts, he still hadn’t figured out the exact effect of the shriveled arm. However, he found a useful function.

That is, it could be used as a cat teaser.

Yes, Coke was a strange cat, it seemed indifferent to typical cat toys or sticks, but the shriveled arm captivated its attention like nothing else. Witnessing Coke’s enthusiastic response as it pounced, nipped, and playfully tussled with the arm, Shen Yi couldn’t help once again wonder if there was anything abnormal with Coke, and was certain.

Intrigued by Coke’s unique behavior, Shen Yi conducted an experiment involving other animals, and found only Coke exhibited a distinct reaction to the presence of the Extraterrestrial God’s breath. 

This peculiar phenomenon left Shen Yi contemplating whether Coke was a cat demon or was perhaps a mischievous spirit in feline form. 

So he decided to have a chance to “interrogate” little Coke.

In these half month, he finally figured out all the answers to the three scenarios.

Giving the summoner with the same thing would only turn out to be the same thing.

Yes, the Chaos Remnant Order performed their fourth sacrifice not long ago, and then, they got a new apple, a new Fiercy Heart ……

Also, the original Fiery Heart, which had also been re-gifted back by Shen Yi, turned out is not undergoing a second transformation and was still just a Fiery Heart.

Aina and the High Priestess were incredibly confused, so the Order sent Aina to the cafe to inquired about him, hoping to get the right revelation.

Shen Yi replied – it was an attempt by the Lord of Ashes.

He didn’t say much, but Aina seemed to have an expression ‘I understood’ and left as if she had suddenly realized something.

At the same time, the fourth sacrifice also allowed Shen Yi’s “white flame” to have a new qualitative change.

The range of the “White Flame” that he could now conjure up had expanded to ten times its original range, and it also had the characteristic of being able to touch substances.

In other words, Shen Yi can use white flames to touch objects and change their state just as he can use the mind power.

Unfortunately, it still does not have the ability to kill, and the “power” of “White Flame” is even weaker than that of ordinary people.

He found a little white rabbit and tried again… but it had no killing ability. Afterwards, he recorded the situation in his notes while gnawing on the spicy rabbit head.

However, the current Shen Yi didn’t need to create kills through White Flame.

Through the Colorless City, “huge power”, combined with “ever-changing blade”, he can possess a very strong lethality.

Shen Yi sat behind the bar and waited for today’s customers.

It’s raining quite a bit today.

He waited all morning but no one came ……

Shen Yi routinely took out the Book of Ten Travelers and flipped through each page inside.

“Hmm?”

Shen Yi narrowed his eyes and noticed Su Ling’s situation.