At this moment, Friagne had lost all capacity for thought; his mind became a blank space.
"Dead?"
"Dead?"
"Dead?"
"Dead?"
As if caught in a state of mental disarray or resembling a malfunctioning doll, Friagne repeated the word incessantly, his expression remaining dazed throughout.
"No, it can't be... It can't be..."
Then, as if unwilling to accept this reality, Friagne's once refined face displayed an emptiness, a hollow smile.
"My Marianne can't just be dead like this..."
"Surely, she can still be restored..."
"Definitely..."
Uttering these words, Friagne continuously extracted the Power of Existence, turning it into pale flames and spewing it onto Marianne's body.
However, beneath the burning flames, Marianne never recovered. Like a completely scrapped doll, there was not the slightest movement.
"No, it can't be..."
Friagne continued to mutter tremulously while persistently channeling the Power of Existence into Marianne's body.
The result of this effort was not only Marianne failing to revive, but Friagne himself began to dissipate into pale flames due to insufficient Power of Existence.
Crimson World denizens also needed the Power of Existence to manifest in this world. If there was not enough Power of Existence, persisting in this world would lead to dissipation, much like a candle in the wind.
Now, Friagne, disregarding his own existence, desperately channeled the Power of Existence to Marianne.
The scene was truly pitiable, evoking sympathy from an observer.
Unfortunately, Fang Li harbored no sympathy for this.
It was not only because Fang Li was already numb to death and incapable of feeling anything, but also because Fang Li was well aware that this was Friagne's deserved retribution.
To make Marianne a genuine existence, this Crimson World Crimson Lord spared no expense, consuming a significant number of humans in Misaki City and intending to use the entire city as a sacrifice to amass substantial Power of Existence to achieve this goal.
Therefore, Friagne held no deserving sympathy.
And his subsequent actions only reinforced this point.
"It must be because there isn't enough Power of Existence... It must be..."
Clutching Marianne tightly, as if holding onto a last straw, Friagne, in a dreamy tone, whispered deliriously.
"It's okay... It's okay... There are also many more 'foods' in this city... Many... Just consume them all... All of them..."
Saying this, Friagne prepared to fly outside Fuuzetsu/Seal.
However, Friagne seemed to have forgotten that he was not alone here.
"Pū Chī————!"
Accompanied by the sound of the physical body being pierced, the pure white Ogre Lux thrust into Friagne's back as he lay on the ground, pinning him in place.
Representing blood, pale flames splattered and scattered all around.
"Aaaaahhhhhh————!"
Friagne let out a painful howl.
Observing Friagne in this state, Fang Li's expression remained calm to a degree that could be perceived as indifference. He crouched down and extracted various items from Friagne's body.
There was a glass bell.
There was an Azure ring.
There was a revolver.
There were golden coins.
In addition to these, there were various other items.
All these were Friagne's Treasure Tools.
Witnessing this scene, Friagne's eye sockets seemed like they would crack as he stared intensely at Fang Li. The pale flames on his body surged violently as if entering a berserk state.
"You... You... Bastard..."
These were words filled with unprecedented anger.
To this, Fang Li only sneered and said, "Didn't you wish to kill me and take away the Reiji Maigo (Midnight Lost Child)? Now, I'm giving you a taste of your own medicine, Crimson World's Crimson Lord. How does it feel?"
Friagne's body trembled once again as he heard those words.
However, this time, it was not because of grief but due to rage.
"Human... Human... Human...!"
Hearing Friagne's furious shouts, Fang Li smirked.
"Yes, I am human," Fang Li indifferently said, "The humans you've always seen as food."
After saying this, Fang Li extended his hand and pulled Bo Xie out of Friagne's body.
The pale flames reignited on Friagne's wounds.
"It ends like this, Friagne." Fang Li raised Bo Xie in his hand as he spoke.
As he saw the sword that had delivered the earlier terrifying blow raised towards him, Friagne could no longer endure and shouted.
"Sydonay!"
As the words fell, a turbid purple flame descended from midair.
Fang Li forcefully turned around, facing the flame clumps falling towards him, extending one hand.
In that hand, he held the recently plucked Fire Ring — "Azure" — from Friagne's body.
"Clang!"
The finely crafted ring immediately emitted radiance.
Under this radiance, a barrier unfolded around Fang Li.
The purple flame clumps descending from the sky heavily landed on the barrier.
"Boom!"
With the explosion sound, a turbid purple fire wave began to surge, covering the surrounding area.
Only the barrier at the center of the explosion remained intact, firmly protecting its user.
Driven by the flame-repelling effect of the Azure Ring, Fang Li raised his head and looked up. His pupils suddenly contracted.
In mid-air, a beast resembling a chimera, wielding a pair of bat-like wings, floated there.
It was none other than Sydonay.
However, what made Fang Li's pupils shrink fiercely wasn't Sydonay's appearance but the petite girl tightly gripped by one of his eagle-like talons.
Apart from Shana, who else could it be?
"Ugh..."
Shana emitted an indistinct groan. Her petite body was tightly held by Sydonay's eagle-like talon, and her body was covered in wounds.
Seeing this scene, Fang Li couldn't help but understand what had happened.
Shana had been defeated.
By Sydonay.
"Tsk..." Sydonay rotated his beast-like pupils, looking at Fang Li with Friagne lying at his feet, barely alive. He clicked his tongue.
"I had a bad premonition when I saw that giant sword attack just now. Looks like we've suffered a complete defeat over here."
From Sydonay's words, anyone could sense a tremendous sense of shame.
It was the shame of failure to complete the mission.
And Friagne added fuel to this sense of defeat.
A berserk flame continued to ignite on Friagne's body.
"Kill this human! Sydonay!"
Friagne gritted his teeth and shouted.
"This human's body has the Reiji Maigo (Midnight Lost Child)!"
...