**The Next Day:**
Early in the morning, Fang Li left his room and continued wandering the streets.
On top of a tall building, Shana stood against the wind, watching Fang Li strolling down the street. An expression of confusion appeared in her eyes.
Perhaps to others, Fang Li seemed to be just casually shopping. However, Shana could see that Fang Li was making subtle moves while casually strolling.
These actions were primarily aimed at people with extremely weak presence, those who walked past him lethargically. All of these individuals were Torches with their Power of Existence about to extinguish.
As these Torches passed by Fang Li, his hand would tremble slightly. This was Fang Li swiftly wielding a dagger, cutting through the Torches beside him.
Shortly afterward, the Torches that were cut immediately burned to ashes, disappearing into the air.
Fang Li continued this work, continuously consuming the Torches in Misaki City.
"That guy..." Shana muttered, "What exactly is he doing?"
"...Yesterday, it seems like he mentioned that as long as he continues to eliminate Torches, the 'Hunter' will appear, right?" Alastor pondered, "Could it be that for this reason, he keeps targeting those Torches?"
"But why would eliminating Torches make that 'Denizen' come out?" Shana raised the obvious question, saying, "Anyway, it's just Torches. Once they're set up, it's not his concern, right?"
The existence of Torches was originally to prevent the distortion of the world caused by the massive loss of Power of Existence. However, this was a concern for Flame Hazes. If Crimson World Denizens cared about this issue, they wouldn't have come from the Crimson World to the present world to act recklessly.
Therefore, Crimson World Denizens had no reason to worry about the issue of Torches. The reason they left behind some residual remnants after devouring Power of Existence, creating Torches, was to avoid attracting Flame Hazes by distorting the world.
In other words, both Flame Hazes and Crimson World Denizens would use the remaining residual remnants of human Power of Existence to create Torches when they disappeared. However, the survival or demise of Torches after that had nothing to do with either of them.
Even Flame Hazes acted this way, let alone Crimson World Denizens, who didn't care about the disappearance of Torches.
If Friagne attached importance to Torches, what did that imply?
It meant that Torches were useful to Friagne.
Moreover, they were significantly useful.
So, when Fang Li eliminated Torches, Friagne not only sent Rinne to investigate but even exposed himself. In this way, Fang Li's actions could be explained.
If the Torches in Misaki City were genuinely crucial to Friagne, Fang Li's elimination of them would disrupt Friagne's plan. The "Hunter" would absolutely not allow this and would intervene.
"But what does that 'Hunter' intend to do with Torches?" Shana couldn't help but murmur.
Alastor remained silent for a moment and then suddenly spoke.
"A long time ago, on the western border, there was a powerful Crimson Lord who devoured humans recklessly, leaving behind numerous Torches and installing a certain mechanism inside them." Alastor's abrupt explanation startled Shana.
However, Alastor continued, "The function of that mechanism is to, under the user's control, cause the entire Torch, acting as a substitute, to decompose and revert to its original Power of Existence. This makes all Torches simultaneously lose their function as substitutes."
"All Torches?" Shana immediately caught on, astonished, "If that's the case, wouldn't it cause a massive distortion in the world?"
While Torches' role was to alleviate the world's conflicts and slow down the process of distortion, if a large number of Torches lost their forms in a split second, transforming into Power of Existence, even if the amount of this Power of Existence was small, it could accumulate and lead to the same fate as humans being devoured of their Power of Existence.
The number of Torches, if it were to reach an unimaginable amount and spread throughout the entire city...
"It would cause the entire city to roll like a snowball, transforming into a vast and high-purity Power of Existence," Alastor declared with a solemn tone.
So, this secret spell is known as the "City Devourer."
—"City Devourer."
A secret spell that turns an entire city into a high-purity Power of Existence.
If this secret spell were to succeed...
"At that time, not only would this city completely disappear, but the world would undergo a massive distortion. Even the 'Denizen' who used the secret spell to consume these Powers of Existence would become exceptionally powerful, right?" Shana asked without a hint of nervousness in her voice, "And what happened to that last 'Denizen'?"
"Through the efforts of multiple Flame Hazes and even Crimson World Crimson Lords working together, it was finally eradicated after a prolonged battle," Alastor explained. "Absorbing the power of the entire city, that 'Denizen' was considered the strongest Crimson Lord at the time. If it weren't for the participation of many Crimson World magic Royals, it's hard to imagine what would have happened."
"And then?" Shana asked directly. "Is that 'Hunter' doing the same thing now?"
"Can't be sure," Alastor said. "However, the example of the Crimson Lord needing a large number of Torches is only from that one time. Moreover, considering the 'Hunter's' madness towards the Reiji Maigo (Midnight Lost Child) yesterday, it's easy to think that he is very eager for the Power of Existence. Otherwise, that Crimson Lord, known for cunning and wisdom, wouldn't have lost control like that."
Although the Reiji Maigo (Midnight Lost Child) only had the simple effect of restoring the owner's Power of Existence at midnight, its precious aspect lay in the fact that the upper limit of its restoration was not fixed.
In other words, if the owner had more Power of Existence, the Reiji Maigo (Midnight Lost Child)'s restorative effect would be higher. If the owner could accommodate an infinite amount of Power of Existence, then the Reiji Maigo (Midnight Lost Child) could release an unlimited amount of Power of Existence.
If not for the fact that Reiji Maigo (Midnight Lost Child) only restored the Power of Existence, which might seem inconspicuous for the Main God's Dimension with various power systems, it wouldn't be ranked only as the fourth.
But for those who needed the Power of Existence, the Reiji Maigo (Midnight Lost Child)'s effect was even more powerful.
If Friagne truly needed a large amount of Power of Existence, the Reiji Maigo (Midnight Lost Child) would undoubtedly be a shortcut to achieving his goal.
"So that's how it is," Shana nodded. "If that's the case, everything can be explained."
"However, we cannot be careless," Alastor's tone became serious. "If the City Devourer is truly launched, the resulting distortion will be severe, and we must not let it succeed."
"I understand," Shana replied naturally.
After all, the tasks that needed to be done had not changed.
...