The Great Catastrophe

The earth was filled with the aura of death.

The plague was like the most insidious beast, lurking in corners invisible to people, its exposed fangs still stained with wet blood.

It was everywhere, with nowhere to escape.

Entire villages died. On the barren fields, white bones lay scattered, turning into a playground for wild birds.

In city after city, cooking smoke vanished, and corpses littered the ground. In the streets and alleys where crowds once bustled, only red-eyed wild dogs now gnawed on mangled corpses.

Fleeing meant death.

Hiding meant death.

Staying at home meant death.

Going out into the streets meant death.

Being alone meant death.

Gathering in crowds meant death.

Faced with the omnipresent plague, people struggled bitterly in pain and fear.

From prevention to treatment, then to quarantine, and finally to purging the patients.

People tried every possible means, only to retreat step by step before the plague. Every line of defense was utterly defenseless in the face of death.

No matter what they did, they would die in the end.

People fell into utter despair, giving up all resistance and leaving everything to the gods to decide.

God loves the world; God will bless us.

However, this time, even the final straw proved useless. The plague continued to spread.

The gods watched, grieved, and wept, but they too were powerless.

This was no ordinary plague; it was the prelude to the end of the world.

The nightmare gathered from billions of living beings, the fear condensed from all mortal things, had already taken shape outside the world. It was turning into a nightmare for the entire world, greedily eroding it.

As the world of living beings grew more prosperous, the power of that other world grew stronger. Once it was completely eroded, not only would everyone die, but the entire world would be destroyed.

But everything had already begun, and the death before them was merely the bugle call of the charge before the end.

No, this must be stopped. This is our responsibility as gods.

The memories of the First Age flashed through Lynch's mind in an instant. The tragic scene was too realistic for Lynch to look at directly. What welled up in his chest was a tearing pain and unwillingness, a burning desire to save everything.

‘Is this pain what you truly felt back then?’

【Yes.】

‘Is it coming again? Is that why I have my journey to immortality?’

【You've guessed? But perhaps, nothing is set in stone yet.】

‘How can I help you?’

【You are already helping me, Lynch. You clearly already guessed, yet you are still willing to do these things. I am very grateful.】

‘Just like how I'm grateful that you were willing to stay there with me as my neighbor for who knows how long?’

【Heh, yes.】

‘Don't worry. I will continue down this path and stop all of this with you.’

【Because of those years of companionship?】

‘No, because I've realized that I, too, have begun to fall in love with this world, and I want to protect it as well. So, my dear Lady Luna, are you willing to work together with me for this?’

【Yes, until the very end of everything.】

“Meow!”

The sudden meow interrupted Lynch's thoughts. Only then did Lynch remember that the black cat that had delivered the memory was still here, and zoning out on the spot was a bit impolite.

But once he snapped back to reality, he realized he had worried too much.

Mrs. Maggie had already squeezed past him, pulled out a piece of raw fish, and was happily teasing the cat.

It seemed the landlady was quite fond of cats. Having long forgotten her grudge over the kitchen from earlier, she smiled radiantly, her eyes practically shining. As for the black cat, it had curled back up after throwing the pouch. It was now lazily flicking its tail, warding off the sinful hands trying to pet it.

Uh, should I tell her that this thing might not be quite normal?

Forget it, let her play. It was just a cat; how abnormal could it be? Besides, Mrs. Maggie was a survivor of mysterious events after all. She had seen her share of strange things, so she wouldn't be easily frightened.

“Big kitty, let me pet you, just once.” The sinful hands were brushed away several times, but Mrs. Maggie only grew more enthusiastic. “You're so beautiful. Why don't you stay at our house? I'll feed you fish every day... Ah, maybe I can't afford that. How about once every two days? Uh, three... no, ten days?”

“Enough, Lynch Levive! Have you stared long enough? Don't you know how to control this crazy woman?” The black cat suddenly arched its back, its fur bristling as it spoke in human tongue. “I live in the Countess's manor, eat caviar that costs one pound per ounce, and sleep on velvet pillows that must have a softness rating of rank seven. Even my litter box is bigger than your entire apartment! You want me to live here? Do you really think I lack intelligence?”

Your litter box must be a beach if it's bigger than my apartment. Hm? Wait, this thing can speak?

Holy shit, I really haven't seen this kind of scene before.

Even as a transmigrator, Lynch was utterly dumbfounded. His mouth hung wide open as he stared blankly at the bristling black cat.

As for Mrs. Maggie, she froze on the spot, holding the raw fish like a statue. Her eyes were unfocused, and her expression was completely blank. “A-A cat... a cat can speak? Haha, haha... I must still be dreaming. How could a cat speak? Hehehehe.”

Tsk, things just got lively.

Lynch finally closed his mouth, scooped up the black cat, and bolted, running straight back to the second floor and slamming the door shut.

He would let her daze downstairs for a while to let it sink in.

“You went too far. Even if you can speak, you shouldn't scare people like that. It's a good thing Mrs. Maggie has had experience with mystery contact, or else you really would have scared her out of her wits.”

“It's all because of you!” The black cat was tossed onto the sofa, howling with its fur bristling. Its voice sounded very similar to Countess Hathaway's, only younger, like a little girl's, making its angry roars sound adorably fierce. “I've had enough of you, Lynch Levive! The first time we met, you pointed a gun at me. The second time, you stared at me rudely. The third time, I only rested on your pillow for a bit, and you actually laid hands on me! This time, I was kind enough to deliver what you wanted at the very first moment, yet you just stood there watching that woman tease me! Where is your conscience?”

Uh, did a cat eat it?

Lynch rubbed his hands awkwardly and said with a sheepish smile, “Well, that was an accident, an accident. The main thing is, I didn't expect you to be able to speak either. No, what's your deal exactly?”

“I am Anna Hathaway.”

“Huh?” Lynch was shocked once again. “Then what about the woman I saw before?”

This time, the countess didn't beat around the bush and explained, “That is my true body. This is my familiar avatar, which is more convenient. It's just that in this form, my mind becomes slightly younger, so I don't like interacting with people. Who knew you...”

Holy shit, thank goodness I didn't try to pet the cat last time. An image of the elegant and mature Countess Hathaway lying on the sofa and letting him pet her flashed through Lynch's mind. He quickly covered his nose to stop any heat from rushing out, broke into a cold sweat, and quickly changed the subject. “Cough, cough, I'm truly sorry. I really thought you were just a cat. I didn't expect such a possibility. Um, I'm a bit curious. Since your familiar avatar can speak like a human, can it turn into a human?”

“What do you want to do?” The black cat's vertical pupils stared at Lynch weirdly. “You'd better just be curious and not have any strange ideas.”

“No, no, just asking out of curiosity, haha.” Lynch immediately banished the images of catgirls filling his head and asked, “Since you're willing to chat a bit today, do you mind if I ask what your true identity is?”

“I am a member of the Coven, an arcane organization. We are similar to the Arcane Research Society, except they are semi-public while we are more secretive. We are just a group of witches who manipulate arcana, and we mostly worship relatively gentle Great Old Ones.”

Lynch suddenly made a connection and pressed, “Like the Treader of Dust?”

“Oh? You met the immortal Lilla? Yes, she is also one of us.” The black cat gave Lynch a very human look. “Hmm... I heard one of her school buildings was demolished today...”

“Ha, ha... let's talk about something else.”

“Heh, you actually weren't cursed to death by her. It seems she found you somewhat tolerable.”

“Not really. Actually, I've realized she was just using me to wrap things up. We were just using each other.”

“Whatever, that's how it is. Because I once helped Emperor Rudolph II's grandfather, he bestowed the title of Countess upon me. It was quite convenient, so I accepted it and have kept it until now.”

“The Emperor's grandfather? How old are y—” Lynch suddenly saw a murderous intent comparable to an evil god's in the cat's eyes. He immediately said with utmost respect, “No, I wanted to ask, Principal Lilla mentioned the Shadow Alliance to me today. Do you know anything about them?”

“I don't know. She probably received a hint from her master. Why?”

After these few interactions, Lynch didn't have any bad impressions of the cat. Instead, he felt quite close to it, so he didn't hide anything. “She said I opened the gate of destruction, but no matter how hard I think, I can't figure out what I did wrong to cause this.”

“Then I don't know either, sorry.” The black cat tilted its small head and thought for a moment. “But based on my understanding of that organization's style, many things cannot be avoided just because you didn't do anything wrong.”

“Oh?”

“The key is not what you did wrong, but rather that, in many cases, doing the right thing is exactly the outcome they desire.”

“All right.”

Lynch sighed. It seemed he had to go see Howard tomorrow.

He cared deeply about the so-called gate of destruction. Anything with such a name was definitely nothing good.

Especially after viewing the Red Moon Memories just now, he knew that the so-called great catastrophe was the result of the Dreamlands eroding the mortal world, which would bring about a world-ending disaster. He was very worried that the so-called gate of destruction was this round of the great catastrophe. He did not want to push this world toward destruction with his own hands.

If I really opened the gate of destruction unintentionally, then I must close it with my own hands.

“Well, I don't dislike you. Although our deal is over, if you need any help, just come find me at my manor. I permit you to visit at any time.”

The Countess-cat shook her fur, stretched her body, and leaped onto the windowsill.

“Wait, I just remembered.” Lynch quickly pulled out two pieces of paper and handed them over. “I recently obtained an arcane document, but I don't quite understand it. Aren't you a witch specializing in arcana? Can you help me take a look?”

“Hmm? Arcana? Let me see... Oh, Flash. You want to learn it?”

“Yes.”

“Learning this arcana through conventional means is quite complicated. You'd have to prepare a lot of materials just for starters.” The black cat licked her paw pads and suddenly gestured to Lynch with her claw like a human. “How about this, come over here.”

Lynch instinctively leaned in. Before he could say anything, he saw the black cat raise her claw and slap it, along with the paper, right onto his forehead.

“That's for asking my age! I'll beat you to death. Now you know it. I'm leaving.”

With that, she took a light leap and vanished into the sunset outside the window.

Leaving only Lynch blankly clutching his forehead, staring at the silhouette of the disappearing black cat.

He really did know it now.

That was a beautiful move. Well, thank you, cat-girl.

Now that all preparations are complete, let me see what you rats in the Shadow Alliance are actually plotting.

The gate of destruction? Heh, here I come.