The thick morning mist, like congealed corpse wax, slowly evaporated, enveloping the statue of the Savior Goddess in Westminster Square.
The widespread mycelium covered the entire square like a blood-colored wedding dress, each cluster of mycelium glistening crimson in the sunlight.
The river no longer flowed—dark red tentacles, like neural synapses, intertwined on the riverbed, forming layer upon layer of biological “carpets.”
The low-lying buildings of the East District slum were like a continuous do of flesh mbrane. Countless corpses were wrapped within these thin mbranes, awaiting corrosion and digestion.
Ciel stepped over Westminster Square and stood beside the collapsed Parliant Building. The entire Parliant Building seed like a flesh and blood cathedral that was still continuously growing.
A gentle breeze blew, dispersing so of the mist, making the hazy scene of doom before her more concrete.
Ansu was dead.
After a night of being ravaged by the horrifying mycelium pathogen, this large city, which had held millions of people just last night, was now as quiet as a ghost town. The deadly mycelium had been branded into the city’s heart.
A silver panel unfolded before Ciel.
【Countdown – 09:18:59】
There were actually still nine hours left… The simulation wouldn’t end until six o’clock in the evening.
Although it couldn’t compare to teors or the Grim Worm, this efficiency was still quite high.
All organizations that wanted to resist and fight against the infection crumbled under Ciel’s overwhelming power, turning into nutrients for the mycelium.
Even when encountering so stubbornly resisting strong individuals, Percy and Eleanor would “educate” them on how to properly give up resistance and accept their fate.
Thump——
Behind Ciel, Tara’s footsteps sounded. She looked at Ciel’s back, and then at the canal and the riverbank opposite, her heart feeling sowhat numb.
Even Tara, who trusted Ciel so much, was now surprised and shocked by the magnitude of what Ciel had done.
Just how many people had been killed…?
One must know that the mysterious transcendent in North Ansu, who was likely using famine to perform an Advancent Ritual, had also taken several years to gradually develop the famine to its current state, starving over a million people to death.
And Ciel, in one night, had accomplished all of this in the main city…
Even with so many people dying in the North Ansu famine, Tara believed that North Ansu could be rebuilt.
But looking at the silent scene before her, Tara couldn’t see at all how this city could be revived.
Even if the Queen survived, the collapse and disintegration of Ansu were inevitable… And even if the Church of the God of Order took over the country, they would have to change the capital.
No one would be willing to rebuild the capital on this bloody land.
“Lord Ciel… what do we need to do next?”
Tara spoke, asking the question that Percy and Eleanor, who were silently standing behind her, also wanted to ask.
They were all a little afraid to hear what more terrifying plans Ciel might reveal next—for example, using the corpses of this entire city to do sothing…
What to do next?
Ciel thought carefully about this question.
Even if she were to manipulate the pathogen to continue spreading to surrounding towns or villages now, all she would gain would be tens or hundreds of thousands more civilian lives. Ciel had already harvested a considerably large number of lives. There was no need to be greedy any further.
In the remaining ti, it would be best to take stock of any potential spoils and ensure she survived until the end of the simulation.
“Nothing else.”
Ciel slowly spoke.
“Get things in order, then leave here.”
Ciel slowly raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
Click——
The sound of the snap was exceptionally clear in the empty city. Three seconds passed, and nothing changed.
Gurgle——
A sound like sothing being pulled out of mud ca from the bottom of the river. Imdiately after, the entire city seed to tremble.
Large amounts of mycelium began to writhe, converging towards Ciel’s location.
They crashed through the city, raising blood-red waves in Ansu City. Unrestrained, these large amounts of mycelium mixed with corpses surged through the city, engulfing everything in their path, heading towards their destination.
The vast mycelium continuously rged and converged before Ciel, beginning to pile up.
This massive, horrifying mass then accumulated without any order, growing higher and higher, until it surpassed the highest spire of the Church of the Savior Goddess, forming a strange spectacle standing in the center of Ansu City.
Ciel looked up at the red “giant tower” that obscured the sky. She wanted to control them to continue contracting, but she couldn’t.
Ciel had been thinking about whether she could shrink this giant tower a little, or store it in so form so that it could be used again later… But now, it seed this hope was dashed. These mycelium didn’t have such a function.
So of the mycelium that had consud different transcendents had mutated slightly, and even developed color distinctions.
It was a sha… there wasn’t enough ti. Otherwise, Ciel would have wanted to continue researching these mycelium. Perhaps she could have developed a more stable, more powerful pathogen.
The current crimson pathogen, in Ciel’s opinion, was sowhat subpar… it was too easily countered.
Fire, ice, and even so poisons that acted on plants or animals could potentially inactivate it.
If people had full knowledge of it, even ordinary people could form alliances to deal with it, let alone transcendents.
Throughout this night, Ciel had to constantly move around, suppressing areas of resistance to allow the pathogen to continue spreading.
Fortunately, she had chosen to spread it outwards from the center of the West District, and her simulated self had also connected almost all usable forces, making them passively resist it.
Otherwise, if it had started spreading from the East District, it might have truly been stopped by the transcendents by the ti it reached the West District.
There’s still room for optimization…
Ciel raised her hand. The giant tower before her slightly writhed. A ball of mycelium with blue blood flowing inside was squeezed towards Ciel, crawling on the ground as it approached her.
Ciel picked up the ball of mycelium. After it contracted into a ball shape on its own, she directly put it into her pocket.
This ball of mycelium had absorbed the mycelium of a Tier 4 transcendent… It could also be called Charles’s “hero fragnt.” Its research value was much higher than other mycelium.
Given the limited amount of mycelium she could carry, Ciel would definitely prioritize carrying the rarer ones.
“Let’s go.”
Ciel waved her hand and walked towards the Canal Tower Bridge.
Tara followed closely behind. Percy hesitated for a mont, then also followed Tara. Eleanor, who was the last, looked back at the Holy See of the Savior Goddess, then at the towering blood and flesh giant tower. After hesitating for a few seconds, she still followed.
“Ascetic” and “Avenger” were paths that could only be sustained by faith and conviction. The current Eleanor could only maintain her already sowhat shaky faith by viewing Ciel as soone even higher than a Saintess.
The excessive slaughter had made her ntal state sowhat unstable, and her faith in the Church of the Savior Goddess had also wavered.
It was also fortunate that Eleanor was from the Judicator’s Court. If Madeline had followed the entire ti, she would have likely already collapsed.
The group walked towards the city exit, leaving behind this war-torn city, leaving behind only a towering spectacle of blood and flesh…
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