“Fifty… fifty-three… fifty-seven…”

  He watched the numbers climb on the screen, his heart pounding.

  Fifty-seven!

  This was the absolute limit of his authority as a Warden!

  Any more, and he couldn’t control them. He would have to report to the academy to unlock higher-level permissions.

  But he couldn’t do that. Don’t treat the people from the Discipline Hall like fools. If they found out, they would surely guess what he was really doing, and that would be a death sentence!

  But… fifty-seven Live Iron Golems… could they… really kill the monster-like girl downstairs?

  They should be able to, right?

  Probably… they could, right?

  Dulles had never felt that fifty-seven Live Iron Golems could be considered a “weak” force, but that was the reality.

  Those ten or so Live Iron Golems that had been recimed had been wiped out by her in less than a quarter of an hour.

  Logically speaking, the “Corpse-Red Mist” released when those Golems were sin should have been absorbed by the girl, thus strengthening her.

  However… Dulles stared at the monitor screen, his pupils bloodshot and filled with shock.

  He saw that the scarlet “Corpse-Red Mist,” the very symbol of power, was almost entirely unabsorbed by her!

  It was just… floating around her!

  Forming a thin, cloak-like yer of scarlet fog, enveloping her!

  What did this mean?!

  This strange phenomenon, Dulles had only heard of it in retion to Lady Ophelia, who was now a third-rank, a legendary figure among the apprentices!

  That’s right, he had only heard of it. He didn’t even have the qualification to meet Lady Ophelia!

  What kind of distant, what kind of dazzling genius was required to reach that realm!

  But now, he was seeing it on this girl he had casually designated as a sacrifice, this girl who was supposed to be insignificant!

  How… ironic, and how… despair-inducing…

  No!

  No, no, no!

  Dulles shook his head violently, as if trying to fling the reverence and fear for Lady Ophelia, which originated from the depths of his soul, out of his mind.

  His gaze became firm once more, even… taking on a gambler’s madness.

  She was not Lady Ophelia!

  Dulles roared in his heart. Lady Ophelia was a legend among the apprentices, a chosen one of heaven who could perfectly resonate with the “Pgue” from birth!

  And the girl downstairs… she was just an unripe “Fruit”! She hadn't even attended a single day of basic demon-hunting apprentice csses!

  And what about him?

  He was a true demon-hunting apprentice who had studied theoretical knowledge at the academy for a year, and had supervised this orchard for another year, possessing a wealth of experience!

  What’s more… he was the “Warden” here! The controller of this “Orchard”! He had the home-field advantage!

  From any angle, he had no reason to lose!

  “The arrow is loosed and cannot be taken back…” Dulles panted, his eyes bloodshot.

  For himself, for that second-rank position he dreamed of, this future “Lady Ophelia”… must die!

  This thought, like the most potent poison and also the most powerful stimunt, instantly suppressed all the pain and chaos from his failed advancement.

  He grew excited, even the soul-tearing agony of his failed advancement began to seem less unbearable.

  His gaze locked onto a red button on the console, one covered by a gss case stamped with a skull symbol.

  “Heh… heh heh…”

  He let out a low, twisted ugh, smashed the gss case aside, and then, without hesitation, smmed his hand down on it!

  BUZZ—

  The entire research facility let out a low hum.

  The next moment, countless hidden nozzles in the ceiling of the first-floor cultivation room and at the base of the massive cultivation tanks all opened at once!

  HISS—HISS—HISS—

  A scarlet fog, denser and more viscous than ever before, sprayed out like high-pressure water cannons, instantly enveloping the entire first-floor cultivation room!

  The low growls, under the taint of the red fog, instantly became sharp and frenzied, mixed with a… heart-pounding madness!

  “ROOOAAARR—!!”

  Dulles watched the monitor screen, a satisfied, cruel smile on his face.

  He no longer had time to consider the consequences of his actions. He had to return to the state of advancement as quickly as possible. He had to grasp the trail of that spiritual rune again before the ritual was truly complete, otherwise, everything he had done would be for naught!

  Dulles closed his eyes again, letting his consciousness sink back into that chaotic sea of awareness.

  On the monitor screen before him, the space downstairs, now completely shrouded in red fog, was, to his eyes, just a hazy, blood-colored silhouette.

  ………………

  Pandora was currently standing before the heavy gate that had crashed down from above, feeling more than a little helpless.

  Didn’t the gates in movies always close slowly, with a creak, creak arm sound, so the hero and heroine would have just enough time to make a run for it?

  Why did hers just CRASH shut with a bang?

  Just because she wasn’t a movie protagonist?

  So me.

  Pandora was about to turn around and look for another passage nearby, like an air duct or something, but then—

  SHHHNK! SHHHNK! SHHHNK!

  The dense sound, like a zipper being pulled, rang out from all directions again.

  Pandora didn’t even need to look to know that the cultivation tanks were opening again.

  It was the same old trick—they were all opening around her position.

  And this time, it wasn’t just one or two at a time.

  It was a whole area! Dense, as far as the eye could see!

  These zombies, if spread out across a vilge, wouldn’t have seemed so numerous.

  But now, they were all crammed into this narrow, fixed “maze” made of cultivation tanks, which made them seem… a bit too many.

  Even Pandora felt her scalp tingle, her hand gripping the sword hilt tightening subconsciously, her senses on high alert.

  But before she could take any action, many small nozzles emerged from the smooth walls and the bases of the cultivation tanks.

  HISS—HISS—

  A scarlet fog, several times denser than the Corpse-Red Mist, sprayed out, quickly filling the entire space.

  Pandora’s first reaction was to hold her breath.

  Poison gas?

  But quickly, she realized.

  No!

  This wasn’t poison gas!

  This was… a stimunt for these zombie monsters!

  She saw the zombies that had just crawled out of the tanks, their movements still somewhat sluggish, but the moment they touched the red fog, it was as if they had been injected with endless, frenzied energy.

  Their bodies began to twitch slightly, their muscles swelling unnaturally, stretching their skin taut until it gleamed, and the murky white in their eyes was completely repced by a mad, bloodthirsty scarlet!

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