The first to crawl out was a battered electric scooter, its plastic shell shattered, wheels twisting as if shedding bloody tears, sparks erupting.
Convulsing and trembling, from the twisted steel, two spokes shaped like fingers probed out, one long and one short arm raised, crawling on the ground like a canine!
Above the half-distorted LCD panel that formed a face, filled with scarlet rage and madness.
It opened its mouth, spitting out thick smoke, roaring.
Rushing forth!
Then the second came, and the third, one after another, the electric scooters in the trembling and the thick smoke, transformed into bizarre creatures with twisted limbs, crawling recklessly, pouncing on Lawrence, biting and tearing with their mouths, pulling with their arms, releasing electric currents!
And then came the roaring of cars, as shattered shells were cast aside, and bodies as large as wild buffaloes or elephants charged, crashing into writhing monsters, crushing them, engines roaring, belching thick smoke!
Like massive spiders, or uncanny giant birds.
The frenzied steel composed of gears and machinery screamed in rage, converging into a tide, trampling, pressing against each other, one after another climbing on top of each other, almost completely covering the transformed Lawrence.
"What the fuck is this thing!"
The mutated monster roared, its limbs sweeping aside, effortlessly tearing apart the machines clinging to its body, as the eerie Heavenly Craft Long Sword·Night Darkness cleaved through them as easily as a hot knife through wax, its power unrivaled.
It was but a minor affliction of lichen!
Yet beneath the great tree, Ji Jue simply raised his hands, slowly bringing them together, issuing the first command to his creation:
"Aggregation!"
And so, the countless sounds of steel grinding burst forth again, hundreds of complex machines gathered in one place, whether fragments or complete frames, at this moment they oddly interconnected like living beings, fitting together, riveted, forming an unprecedented massive aggregation.
Ji Jue's vision went dark.
Once again he reached out his hand, clenched it!
In an instant, from the torn machinery, new structures grew yet again, limbs made of electric scooters, motorcycles, computers, telephones, and lawn mowers writhed, abruptly contracting, shackling. And then came a second one, and a third.
On the constantly transforming mechanical structure, faces emerged, full of malice and pain, roaring out loud, thick smoke billowing.
In a moment, Lawrence was actually suppressed beneath it.
Open mouthed, biting and tearing!
Blood sprayed.
Gnawing on flesh, savoring innards, chewing on bones, this hearty feast seemed more monstrous than the monsters themselves. Lawrence screamed, struggling, and for some reason, he felt a strong sensation he'd never felt before from the stare of that one face.
It was named... fear!
"Get off me!"
Night Darkness swept across, but then abruptly stopped.
Was it being grasped?!
It was Minerva!
Letting the blade slice her palm, five fingers, slowly contracting amidst the crisp sound of crystal proliferation, the blade wailed and quivered, and from the very center... it snapped!
Heavenly Craft shattered!
And then came the trampling!
"Is this the so-called dragon?"
Wen Wen, standing on his head, shook her head with disdain: "That's really too weak!"
"Puh..."
Mired in mud, severely gnawed on, Lawrence made an effort to open his mouth, spitting saliva at her and howling, "Such hypocrisy, Minerva, so ridiculous.
The Ruins Path you adhere to were left behind by dragons! Isn't what you pursue the same as mine? Why the pretense!"
"You all cling to illusion, placing all hope on things you've never seen, little realizing..."
Wen Wen looked down from above, her expressionless face only growing colder, "—that thing that doesn't even count as human, will not answer your prayers!"
From the deadly silence, a high-pitched, sharp sound rose.
Right behind her.
Crystal friction, proliferation, growth, turning into a wing of stone reaching towards the sky, eclipsing all, covering the earth in cold, indifferent light, like a dream.
Lawrence, as if struck by lightning.
Eyes filled with terror opened within the torn flesh, blinking constantly, trying to discern whether it was just another malicious illusion or his own hallucination, but no matter what, it remained unbelievable.
"You, you... you!"
The voice became even more miserable and shrill, as if consumed by nightmares.
He witnessed with his own eyes everything that happened to Wen Wen, it wasn't blood, and it was more than blood, it wasn't just the body, and it was more than the body, even the soul was utterly exposed.
Cold, majestic, brutal, and immense...
This was an even more thorough dragon transformation than his own!!!
"What's wrong? Isn't this what you've always been chasing, Lawrence?"
Wen Wen spoke, her indifferent voice turning into thunder that resonated through the heavens, echoing from within the Circle Realm: "Consider it my final mercy... to let you die at the hand of the very thing you've chased!
It's a fitting end!"
Boom!
When she reached out again towards the sky, what fell was a thunderbolt a thousand miles long. The luminous brilliance of the world converged between her fingers, turning into a crystal spear so dazzling one could not look directly at it.
This was the Dragon's Breath!
The form of "Destruction" manifested in material shape!
In that final instant, Lawrence opened his mouth, as if to scream something, curse or maybe plead, but it no longer mattered, no one cared.
Parasites, blood, germs, monsters, bitter hatred, residual despair, and even the unrealistic dream of becoming a dragon.
Everything was submerged in the Dragon's Breath.
Silent.
Only the bright blaze that could scorch anyone's eyes, vanished in a flash.
A storm suddenly arose, ashes ascended to the heavens, countless writhing Scarlet Spirit Essence evaporated, disappearing from sight, the great tree disintegrated, collapsed, turned into an illusion.
Apart from the crater that didn't even leave a trace of char, no other mark remained.
Even the fragments from the explosion and tearing apart couldn't be found.
Some matter had eternally vanished from this world, not even leaving behind a single particle.
This was the power of the dragon.
In the prolonged silence, Wen Wen stood at the edge of the deep pit, her massive wings behind her disappearing without a trace.
"Phew, that's why I didn't want them to come and help."
She murmured softly and sighed, tilting her head and looking back with a grin, "Hey, Ji Jue, remember to keep my..."
Her words came to an abrupt halt, her smile freezing on her face.
Perhaps, there was no longer any need to worry about the secret being leaked.
Amidst the ruins and the blood-colored mud pit, Ji Jue collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath, looking so ragged.
And on his body, the remaining dragon blood continued to spread slowly, mutating his flesh, distorting his frame, and growing a layer of eerie scales, gradually stealing the human brilliance from his eyes.
Mutation.
The Mutated transformation that even the Chosen One feared was spreading, on the brink of death.
But he seemed indifferent, even though he had already reached his limit.
"What's wrong, Sister Wen?"
Ji Jue lifted his head, his face covered in dust and mud managed a difficult smile: "Did I make a difference today?"
"..."
Shock struck suddenly, and Wen Wen remained silent, but then she remembered the words they'd said when they bid farewell yesterday. And the boy's smile then, so confident and calm compared to now.
"Yes, you're right."
She reached out, solemnly wiping the dust from Ji Jue's face, telling him, "Knowing you has been my honor."
"Ah?"
Ji Jue was stunned, completely baffled, half-expecting Wen Wen's next words to be 'You seem to still have some charm left.'
But then, he saw Wen Wen stand up solemnly, take a step back, and once again raise her hand, gripping firmly the Crystal Thunderbolt Spear that had descended from the sky, aiming it at her own face.
"Don't worry, it won't hurt."
Her eyes seemed mildly red as she asked softly, "Do you have any last wishes?"
"Damn it, no!"
Ji Jue turned pale with fright, screaming in terror, "I think I can still be saved!"
What the hell, Sister? I thought you were just after my body, but now you want my life!
"There's no need to lie to me anymore, Ji Jue. Once the mutation begins, both the soul and flesh will disintegrate in agony," Wen Wen took a deep breath, her trembling hand regaining stability: "Rest assured, I will preserve the dignity of your human birth."
"I can have dignity alive too, Sister! I'm just losing too much blood; don't scare me!"
Ji Jue could no longer play dead, frantically tapping on the alert that popped up on his wristwatch: [Detected active Mutated Spirit inside, extract?]
YES! YES! YES!!!
Quick, dammit, extract extract extract!!!!!
And then, a crisp shattering sound rang out. From Ji Jue's body, all spreading mutation and the scales that had grown broke apart, turning to dust, dissipating without a trace.
The irreversible mutation vanished in an instant.
"..."
In the silence, Wen Wen stood frozen in place, staring blankly at what had just occurred before her. After a long while, she almost forgot she was still holding the Dragon Breath in her hand.
Only embarrassment was growing exponentially every second.
"Ah?"
After a while, she uttered a voice like someone sleepwalking, befuddled as a stunned cat.
Who am I? Where am I? What happened?
Did I just see someone's mutation signs reversing and disappearing? The kind of thing that once out would make those nutjobs at the hospital go insane, I completely fucking never heard of it!
So, what was I doing just now?
She suddenly really wanted to look in the mirror, to see if there was a little red ball on her nose.
You dog thing, give me back the tears I was about to shed!
And also...
Is it still possible to silence you now?
Thus, her gaze became increasingly dangerous.
"Sister Wen, don't do this, I still have a family!" Ji Jue was on the verge of tears, "Spare me, I'm good at what I do and provide great service, wouldn't it be a waste to use me while cold?"
Bang!
The frustrated Dragon Breath Gun grazed the edge of Ji Jue's neck and lodged into the nearby bricks, leaving behind a distressing crack.
"..."
Wen Wen grabbed his collar and warned word by word, "If you want to see the sun tomorrow, you'd better keep everything about me and your ability to reverse the mutation to yourself, don't tell anyone, not even in your sleep, got it?!"
"Ah? Ah?! You're not after my body... cough cough, okay, no problem." Ji Jue nodded frantically, as if he wanted to shake his brain out: "I hit something and passed out, I don't know anything!"
"Good."
Wen Wen nodded, her smile becoming tender as she straightened his collar, gently patting it twice, "Did you accidentally hit your head somewhere? Are you okay?"
"Ah?"
Ji Jue was dumbfounded, instinctively wanting to say something, but the last thing he saw was Wen Wen's raised fist, petite, delicate, and cute, belying the toll it had taken on many lives.
Then...
Bang!
After going through the Vortex Planting Technique, Spiritual Erosion, Despair Nightmare, Chosen One Ritual, Counterstrike, and Great difficulty to survive, Ji Jue's vision went dark, and he completely lost it.
'Cause of death', teammate's painful strike.
Not even concerned about the friendly fire, reality really is a shitty game.