At this moment, Annie’s heart was racing, her mind overwhelmed by a wave of shock.
What in the world was going on?
On Rose’s body, countless eyes snapped open. Their crimson pupils seemed to gaze out from an endless abyss, a manifestation of the ultimate uncanny. Annie’s heart pounded violently against her ribs.
"You... what’s happening to you?" Annie couldn't help but ask.
Rose didn't answer.
Or rather, in her current state, she was incapable of answering.
Instead, those innumerable eyes began to emit ripples of malevolent energy, washing over Annie.
As these ripples hit her, Annie felt her body undergoing an uncontrollable transformation.
She was growing up.
Originally, she appeared as a little girl, even younger than Rose.
But under this eerie energy, her age advanced rapidly. She went from infantile to youthful, from youthful to mature...
In a mere blink of an eye, she had become an adult!
Yet the change didn't stop. Her age continued to be pushed forward.
"Stop! Make it stop!"
Annie’s expression changed completely.
Only after becoming an Evolver was she able to alter her appearance, returning to her favorite age and becoming the version of herself she loved most.
And now, Rose was destroying all of it.
Becoming a young woman was one thing; becoming a mature adult was barely acceptable. But the transformation was still progressing!
Did this girl intend to turn her back into an old crone?
She could not accept this!
Annie raised her other hand. Spiritual threads, invisible to anyone but her, sprouted from her fingertips. They were like the sharpest of blades, sweeping toward Rose with lethal force. In that moment, the power erupting from them was devastating.
The strike was so sharp that the nearby bed and the walls were sliced through as cleanly as tofu.
However, Rose herself remained entirely unaffected.
Failing with one strike, Annie attacked again. She made the threads coil around Rose, wrapping her like a silkworm cocoon.
But as soon as the assault formed, an inexplicable pulse radiated from Rose’s body, instantly shattering the countless constricting threads.
All restraints were useless.
By this time, Annie had already turned into a middle-aged woman. The physical changes fueled her rage, and she launched a frenzied assault on Rose.
Under Annie’s fierce bombardment, Rose remained unscathed, but the hotel could no longer endure the pressure.
With a violent boom, the massive building disintegrated, collapsing into a field of ruins.
...
By the time Olivia arrived at the hotel, all she saw was a heap of rubble.
In the buildings near the hotel, many people had been awakened by the earlier roar. They were now standing in the street, gesturing and whispering toward the ruins, wondering what had happened.
Several constables had also arrived, as the constabulary was nearby.
When Olivia approached, a constable noticed her immediately.
"Praise the Goddess. The church's efficiency is truly astonishing. We just sent someone to notify you, and you're already here."
The constable traced a pentagram over his chest, appearing as a devout believer.
"You’ve already notified the church?"
"Yes."
"What do you know about the situation here?"
"We're not sure. There’s a strange power present that’s preventing us from entering."
A strange power?
What was it?
Olivia frowned and whispered a few questions to her magic mirror. After receiving confirmation that she could enter, she took a deep breath and stepped toward the ruins.
As she stepped onto the rubble, she felt as if she were passing through a thin film. It was a unique domain that isolated the area. Only transcendents with a certain level of strength could force their way in.
Olivia quickly followed the magic mirror's guidance. She moved several large stones, slipped into a passage, and rapidly reached the underground portion of the ruins.
Before long, she found Rose within a small pocket of space beneath the wreckage.
Gasp...
Even though she had learned about Rose’s transformation through the magic mirror, seeing it in person still sent Olivia’s mind reeling.
This was Rose?
Those blood-red eyes covered every inch of Rose's body, darting around in all directions. No matter how one looked at it, the sight was terrifying.
Beside Rose lay a desiccated corpse.
Olivia took one look at the body, and her face paled.
She recognized her.
It was Annie!
A powerful Evolver like Annie had actually died here. This was likely something no one could have predicted.
'How did Annie die?'
【She died from having her life force sucked dry.】
Even though Annie had struggled desperately, she couldn't change the outcome. The gap in strength between her and Rose was simply too vast.
Olivia couldn't quite explain what Rose's current state was, but even if she was merely resisting Paradise with instinctive reactions, Annie had been unable to withstand it.
As for the high-ranking member of the Twilight Council being dead, Olivia didn't care. She had wanted to kill the woman herself.
The problem now was Rose.
How could she fix Rose's condition?
Olivia asked the magic mirror, and the answer it gave was... notify the church.
Indeed, she could only notify the church.
This was no longer something Olivia could handle; she was merely a low-level transcendent.
This realization filled Olivia with a sense of helplessness.
Even though she possessed an incredible cheat, her own weak foundation still left her powerless in the face of truly difficult situations.
And yet, those situations kept happening right before her eyes.
While Olivia was sighing, she noticed that the eyes on Rose’s body had stopped darting around. Instead, they all turned in unison to look at her.
Countless crimson eyes, covering a person's entire body, all staring in one direction—the sight was undeniably horrific.
Especially for the one being watched.
If she hadn't asked the magic mirror beforehand and knew she wasn't in danger, Olivia would have run long ago.
"Nun... sister..."
Suddenly, a voice came from Rose’s mouth.
Olivia rushed forward and asked, "Rose, how do you feel?"
"I... I can't hold on much longer."
As soon as Rose finished speaking, her body dimmed significantly. Her entire form began to shift from solid to illusory.
She was becoming ethereal.
Having learned of the situation through the magic mirror, Olivia understood clearly: Paradise was about to take Rose’s true form away!
Rate on N.U.
