Apocalypse Forecast

Idiot.

He released his grip, allowing his weapon to be snatched by that hand. Then, the Hand of Confinement activated again, using Creation out of Nothing to reforge the disintegrated Axe of Anger within the massive palm.

Lightning crackled around it.

Huai Shi leaped with all his might.

A jumping cleave!

A scream of agony erupted as heart poison and lightning burst forth from the base of the giant hand, spreading outwards. Thick black blood spurted from the vast wound, then solidified and shattered amidst pained howls.

Meanwhile, Huai Shi, grazing several tails sweeping toward him, lunged forward. He kicked off the Giant Wolf's nose, sprang into the air, and plunged the great Axe into its eye socket.

Electricity shot out once more, and a viscous, foul-smelling liquid gushed forth.

Amidst the torment of the heart poison, the Giant Wolf howled in pain, struggling violently, trying to wrest control of its body from the black blood.

The momentary stillness gave Huai Shi an opportunity. He dropped from the sky, trampling on the Giant Wolf's head and roaring. He reversed his grip on the great Axe, driving it forcefully into the Giant Wolf's neck, then sprinted forward.

Trampling the sores beneath his feet, he yanked the Axe buried in its flesh, tearing open a gruesome gash along the Giant Wolf's spine. Numerous black-blooded tendrils extended from the wound, trying to grasp his ankles, but they were too slow.

He had already targeted the Giant Wolf's rear and brought down the Axe Blade once more.

A wild, shrieking howl.

Another sharp, bony tail was severed at its base.

Even so, the Giant Wolf seemed unaffected. Instead, it grew even more frenzied, displaying its ferocity as it madly pounced at Huai Shi, nearly tearing him to pieces several times.

The Fear Aura within the Apocalypse Fog seemed to be gradually taking effect.

Both the black blood and the Giant Wolf became increasingly agitated, launching attacks in frenzied desperation under the pressure of fear, resorting to almost any means.

In his haste, Huai Shi narrowly avoided being crushed when the Giant Wolf used its own body as a weapon, slamming down violently.

Then, from within the fiercely slammed body of the Giant Wolf, he heard a boiling sound.

The thick black blood churned, fueling the Giant Wolf's power from within. Like a rasp, it reshaped its bones, regenerated its internal organs, reconstructed its spine, and carved its flesh.

It convulsed, trembled, and swelled.

Finally, the Giant Wolf abruptly rose on its hind legs.

Its excessively bulky torso, reconstructed by the black blood, had taken on a humanoid form. Its forelimbs had transformed into thick, fearsome, scale-covered arms. The sharp claws had become like individual blades, slicing through walls with casual swipes and sending stone chips flying.

The ferocious head slowly bowed, coldly fixating on the stunned Huai Shi.

Wait, is this the Second Stage already?

Before Huai Shi could react, a huge claw pressed down on him.

The sharp claws clashed with the Axe Blade, sending sparks flying and nearly knocking the weapon from Huai Shi's hands. He staggered backward, but the Giant Wolf swung both its claws continuously, almost sending him flying.

I'm not sure if this should be called a modification or an evolution, but this thing feels incredibly powerful now.

I'm completely outmatched.

Huai Shi looked up at the Giant Wolf, which was several times his own height, and couldn't help scratching his head. "Master, care for a pedicure?"

Before he finished speaking, he narrowly dodged a swipe of its claws, rolled violently, and came to a stop beneath the Giant Wolf's crotch. He instinctively swung his Axe, intending to chop its legs. But halfway through the swing, he hesitated for a moment, then instinctively yanked his left hand upward...

The Axe Blade traced an arc through the air, switching from a horizontal slash to an upward chop. The lightning arced sharply before the Axe Blade plunged between the Giant Wolf's legs.

The next instant, amidst the gushing black blood, Huai Shi heard the Giant Wolf's near-mad howling.

Unable to grab Huai Shi, it instinctively covered the wound with its claws. However, it hadn't anticipated that times had changed; the length of its own claws... was now extraordinary.

The brutal pain of this second castration made it scream in agony. Immediately after, Huai Shi forcefully swung the Axe down on its heel.

With a thunderous crash, the Giant Wolf fell to the ground.

This was an opportunity not to be missed.

Huai Shi leaped with all his might, ran wildly over the back of the downed Giant Wolf, and slammed his Axe hard into its head.

But the Axe, swung with all his strength, only managed to break the scales and part the flesh before becoming lodged in the unreasonably hard skull.

Huai Shi's smile gradually faded.

Countless streams of black blood surged under the Giant Wolf's scalp, as if sensing his dejected mood, and they seemed to laugh wildly with excitement.

Finally, Huai Shi heard a hoarse roar from ahead.

"Get out of the way!"

It was Shen Yue.

In that instant, Huai Shi saw the gaunt middle-aged man take a step forward.

He was forcefully gripping his partner's relic—an extremely heavy Iron Whip that ordinary people would struggle to wield. A burning, flame-like light ignited in his eyes.

He pressed his left hand against his chest, roaring. As his index finger exploded, he injected blessings equivalent to those from more than four hundred people. Following that, his muscles instantly twisted, inflating as if pumped with air.

"AAAAHHHHH!!!!!"

With his shirt completely torn to shreds, Shen Yue roared. Gripping the Iron Whip with both hands, he heaved it overhead and, with a thunderous cry, uttered the release incantation.

Terrifying brilliance burst forth from the Iron Whip.

A hurricane converged, forming layer upon layer of white waves coiling around it like an invisible wheel of blades.

Then, the Iron Whip came crashing down.

It struck hard against the back of the Axe that Huai Shi had embedded in the Giant Wolf's head.

Like the sudden toll of a great bell, Huai Shi was lifted by the hurricane's shockwave, flung into mid-air. His vision darkened, and his ears rang.

On the spot, the Giant Wolf's head had been completely smashed to a pulp under the Iron Whip. The spreading wind pressure shot straight forward like tens of thousands of knives, shredding the Giant Wolf's spine to pieces and splitting the creature in two down the middle.

Countless boiling streams of Nasty Blood Serum transformed into steam, rising from the wreckage.

The restless black blood screamed as it was annihilated by the lightning entwined with the shattered Axe Blade fragments and the heart poison.

Body and soul, obliterated!

Huai Shi crashed to the ground. He staggered to his feet, feeling dizzy and disoriented, and stared vacantly at the figure still standing there.

As if petrified, Shen Yue did not move an inch.

Soon, a shattering sound arose from his arms, starting from his fingers and extending upward until, at last, his flesh and bones completely snapped, hanging down from his shoulders like noodles.

The Iron Whip slipped from his grasp, falling to the ground and sizzling in the Plasma.

But Shen Yue seemed as if he hadn't yet processed what had happened.

He stared vacantly at the scene. After a long while, he stiffly turned his head to look at Huai Shi, his expression blank, yet as if waking from a long, terrible nightmare—on the verge of tears and laughter.

"I..." he choked out, restraining the urge to cry. "I've avenged him... I... I..."

"Mm," Huai Shi nodded, forcefully propping up Shen Yue's collapsing body and anxiously checking his condition.

Fortunately, the constitution of someone with a Third Stage Stigma was truly impressive, at least stronger than mine, Huai Shi thought. Forcibly using a Border Relic that exceeded his limits had only resulted in internal bleeding and the loss of both arms.

There might also be cracks in his spine, but I can't tell.

Luckily, the rumbling in the distance was gradually drawing nearer; it sounded like the Social Security Bureau's rescue team was about to arrive. With the vitality of a Third Stage Stigma, he wasn't about to die anytime soon.

Huai Shi looked at Shen Yue gasping on the ground, unsure what to say. After a long moment, he patted his shoulder.

"Anyway, Old Shen, you're awesome!"

Shen Yue didn't seem to feel any joy. He just barely lifted his head, gasping as he looked at Huai Shi. "Will you... continue on..."

"Probably," Huai Shi scratched his head. "Aren't the reinforcements almost here? I'll go check out the situation first."

"Then I wish you... a smooth... journey..."

Gasping, Shen Yue lowered his head to look at his right hand, where bone was exposed, and at his last intact little finger. Huai Shi understood his meaning and carefully lifted Shen Yue's finger, pressing it against his own arm.

A final, feeble white light flowed from the little finger, merging into Huai Shi's body.

There was no longer any need for deliberate control; this was Shen Yue's last remaining Source Substance, all of it transformed into a blessing that settled upon Huai Shi.

"Thanks!"

Huai Shi smiled as he got up, gave his equipment a final adjustment, and waved at Shen Yue. "Well then, see you next time! Don't forget my game console!"

"Haha... definitely..."

Shen Yue, leaning against the wall, finally managed a smile. He gave Huai Shi one last look and wearily closed his eyes.

He fell asleep.

"Sweet dreams," Huai Shi murmured.

He withdrew his gaze, turned, and stepped over the rotting carcass of the Giant Wolf. He then stepped onto the stairs the wolf had been blocking, slowly ascended, and pushed open the final door.

***

In the silent hall, only dim ceiling lights shone, illuminating the platform sign for 'Century Great Avenue'.

The expected psychopathic Purified People were nowhere to be seen. Only trails of black blood snaked across the floor, flowing down the steps and drains into the subway tunnels.

Nourishing the thirsty myriad beasts.

"This is the fetal blood of Metamorphosis. You must have seen it already, haven't you?" said the silhouette standing in the center of the enormous altar. It slowly turned its head, calmly gazing at him. "However, you really are tough to kill."

"Yo, long time no see! Let me tell you, I'm an ace at playing dead."

Huai Shi waved a greeting to Qi Yuan on the altar and looked around. "Pal, mind explaining what you're up to?"

Through the dome of the altar, he could see several layers of overlapping vistas.

One layer was undoubtedly the subway route that Xinhai had spent so many years digging without success. Now, under the forceful external intrusion, it was nearly shattered.

But it had almost entirely merged with another vast network beneath it, completely overlapping.

Beneath layers of dancing darkness, multiple mirror images had been forcibly connected, on the verge of becoming entirely one.

The worlds seemed to be superimposing.

Around the periphery of the hall, space itself seemed to have shattered. Countless mirrored facets slowly revolved, reflecting a dizzying light.

These countless fragments all seemed to lead to the same place.

To a single, vast world hidden behind layers of mirrors.

Shattered, terrifying shadows lay curled up in deep sleep, as if returned to an egg, leaving behind venomous fetal blood from molted feathers and broken husks.

Nourishing this world as it gradually transformed into Hell.

"Burn the bones of one hundred men, offer the eyes of a thousand Flying Birds, devour ten thousand Snakes... The ritual began long ago, Huai Shi," Qi Yuan murmured softly. "Even if you destroy all nine altars, it's already too late."

Nine Phoenix is undergoing Metamorphosis.

Evolving into a higher form.

And as the Metamorphosis progressed, in the projections on the dome above, that distant realm gradually became clearer, as if drawing closer.

From the dispersing mist, layers of monstrous high-rises were revealed, as well as an eerie spire that seemed to pierce the sky.

Atop the spire, a huge eyeball was impaled, its vertical pupil pitch-black, casting a painful and hungry gaze toward the distant Current Circumstances.

"Do you see it? That is Magic City... Paradise City, sleeping within the Border, a miraculous realm constructed by myriad demons three eras ago."

Qi Yuan stretched out his hand, pointing to the projection, his expression fervent.

"Look, Huai Shi! It's almost time. We will usher in a new world!"