Chapter 1214: 201. The Beginning of Destruction
“Get away! Don’t touch her!”
The woman slapped Muen’s hand aside, her expression fierce, her voice hoarse from screaming, like a she-wolf protecting her cub.
“You villains... Get away! All of you, get away!”
“Calm down!”
Being forcibly interrupted while fully focused was not a pleasant feeling, but Muen still took a deep breath and tried his best to show a gentle smile.
“Please don’t worry. I’m not trying to hurt her. I’m saving her. Let her follow what I say, all right?”
The little girl curled up tightly in the woman’s arms, and the woman held her just as tightly. Even though the child had already mutated into an indescribably disgusting mass of flesh, the woman was unwilling to loosen her embrace in the slightest.
Muen realized that no matter what he wanted to do to the little girl, he first had to get past her mother.
This had nothing to do with strength.
The reason the little girl could still retain a trace of consciousness despite mutating to such an extent might be precisely because she was still in her mother’s embrace.
“Believe me. I’m helping her, and I’m helping you as well.”
With such close contact, the little girl was certainly not the only one who had been affected by the Pollution. After suppressing the child’s condition, Muen would also have to—
“Get lost!”
The woman slapped Muen’s outstretched hand away once again.
“At a time like this... do you think I’ll still believe anything you say? You lackey of the evil dragon! For a brief moment before, I actually thought you might be good people... But I never imagined... that you would do something so cruel!”
“What... do you mean by that?”
Muen stared at her in astonishment.
“Stop pretending to be stupid... My daughter became like this. Wasn’t it your doing?”
Tears continuously streamed down the woman’s cheeks.
She could still remember her adorable daughter suddenly telling her that her back was terribly itchy. Yet when she lifted the girl’s clothes, she saw a hideous mouth grinning at her and calling her “Mommy.”
It was far too horrifying and far too irrational.
Therefore, according to the instinctive reasoning of an ordinary person, the cause of it would naturally be connected to the similarly irrational events that had recently occurred.
And that event was naturally—
“Evil dragon!”
The woman roared at Hamreign.
“You did all of this, didn’t you? If you want to destroy this city, then just destroy it with your violence! Why would you do something so cruel? Why... would you force my daughter to endure this kind of torment?”
“...”
Hamreign remained silent.
Faced with such a ridiculous question, she did not even have the desire to answer, nor did she show any reaction.
The hazy magic, like a layer of mist, continued concealing her face. Only those golden pupils coldly watched everything before her, revealing neither sorrow nor joy.
“This has nothing to do with Miss Dragon, and it has nothing to do with us.”
Muen stepped into the woman’s line of sight and hurriedly explained,
“Please don’t misunderstand us so casually. Someone else caused this Pollution.”
“Who?”
The woman asked,
“Who is that person?”
“It was...”
Muen suddenly choked on his words.
“Say it!”
The woman gritted her teeth and stared directly at Muen.
“You said the real culprit is someone else. Then tell me, who is it?”
“It was... the survivors.”
“The survivors?”
“Eight hundred years ago, Tars was overrun by Pollution and was destroyed by Miss Dragon. However, during that incident, several people survived by relying on special ancient relics. They hid for eight hundred years, and only now have they been...”
“You mean the great heroes, don’t you?”
The woman interrupted Muen.
“...Yes.”
After a moment of silence, Muen nodded helplessly.
“The people you call the great heroes.”
“Ha.”
The woman laughed.
“You mean to tell me that I should suspect and resent the great heroes who built this city, guided us forward, and gave us a beautiful life, and instead believe you people who suddenly descended upon us? Believe the evil dragon who once destroyed countless cities and killed countless people?”
“There were reasons for all of that!”
Muen said,
“Miss Dragon isn’t what you imagine. She would never destroy anything without reason. She only did those things because—”
“What difference does it make?”
The woman stared into Muen’s eyes.
“What difference does it make? She destroyed so much... That is a fact, isn’t it?”
“...”
Muen suddenly... no longer knew what to say.
What difference?
There was no difference.
Or rather, to the little girl and the woman who were now carrying Pollution, there was no difference.
No matter what Miss Dragon’s reasons had been, to them... she was the true destroyer.
“Miss Dragon only did it to eliminate Pollution—the very thing that has turned your daughter into this! Please trust me one more time. As long as you do what I say, I guarantee that Miss Dragon will never do anything to you. I promise you!”
Muen’s words were incomparably sincere, and even carried a trace of pleading.
But the woman no longer paid any attention to him.
She lowered her head and looked at her adorable daughter.
“Mommy...”
The little girl sobbed. Sharp teeth ground against one another inside her deformed mouth.
“It hurts so much... I’m so hungry... I really want... to eat something...”
“It doesn’t hurt... It doesn’t hurt... Mommy will let you eat very soon. Hold on a little longer. Just a little longer...”
The woman wrapped her arms around the little girl even more tightly.
Even though the sharp bone spurs growing from the child’s tender body had already begun piercing through the woman’s flesh.
She still held her tightly...
Held her tightly...
“A very, very long time ago...”
“There was the most beautiful city in the world, built by the gentlest and bravest people in the world.”
“The name of that city came from the blessing of a goddess, and meant ‘a carefree place.’”
“Carefree, without sickness, without pain, with only beauty...”
The woman’s voice was gentle and melodious as she lightly patted the little girl, as though telling her a bedtime story.
But the content of that story made Muen feel as though he had fallen into an icy abyss.
The puppet show.
The puppet show he had watched after arriving in this city.
What the woman was telling now was the story from that puppet show.
It was the story of how Hamreign had destroyed Tars eight hundred years ago.
That cruel and terrifying story was known by heart to the people of New Tars.
Of course...
It was far too familiar.
How could it possibly not be?
This story had spread throughout the city through plays, books, oral teachings, and countless other forms. After so much time, it had long since become deeply rooted in everyone’s heart.
“Beauty is always fragile. On that day, the evil dragon descended. The wounded evil dragon deceived the people of the city with lies. The candy she gave them was swallowed without the slightest suspicion by those kindhearted people... In the end, the beautiful Tars was destroyed. Destroyed by the evil dragon’s hands.”
“Mommy...”
The little girl asked innocently,
“Can we defeat the evil dragon?”
“We can. We definitely can.”
The woman stroked the little girl’s head, if that thing could still be called a head, as tears poured down her face.
“Don’t be afraid, my child. Don’t be afraid... Mommy will protect you. Mommy will never let the evil dragon hurt you. And... the great heroes will definitely come and save us. They will. Just like the story says, this New Tars will never repeat the same tragedy.”
“That’s wonderful.”
The little girl beamed with joy.
After hearing the story, even her pain seemed to have eased considerably.
And...
She now had something to eat.
Crunch.
Crunch.
The starving little girl began gnawing on the woman’s arm.
Flesh split open, and blood poured out.
Yet the woman seemed unable to feel the slightest pain. She continued looking lovingly and indulgently at the daughter in her arms, allowing the child to devour her flesh and blood.
“Ugh...”
The bizarre sight made even Morton retch.
At last, the fiery-red figure moved.
One step at a time, she slowly walked forward.
She still had not said anything, yet anyone could sense that the temperature inside the room was plummeting sharply.
It was the terrifying killing intent leaking from her unconsciously.
“Wait.”
Muen’s heart jolted. He hurriedly grabbed Hamreign’s hand.
“Miss Dragon, what are you going to do?”
“What I should do.”
Hamreign’s voice was calm and completely without fluctuation.
“No.”
“Why?”
“They’re innocent. You saw it yourself. They’re victims too. You can’t—”
“Do you have another way?”
Hamreign suddenly turned her head.
Her gaze fell upon Muen’s slightly pale face, and her golden pupils looked down at him from above.
“Do you still have a way to suppress the Pollution inside them?”
“I...”
Muen’s words caught in his throat.
“My demand is not high now. You only need to do what you did in Annabawei—place the danger they pose safely inside your vault—and I can temporarily spare them.”
Hamreign asked,
“But can you do that?”
“...No. I... can’t.”
Muen painfully closed his eyes.
From the moment the woman had begun telling that story known to everyone in New Tars, he had understood...
It was impossible.
He could no longer persuade her.
Those survivors were very clever.
They had not used the Withering King’s Pollution. Therefore, if Muen wanted to suppress this Pollution, he had to gain the recognition of their consciousness.
Whether they were forced or not, they had to sincerely...
Pray to the Black Sun.
That was the prerequisite.
In Annabawei, the Pioneers had helped him. Furthermore, he had stood on the side of Annabawei’s people as the hero who had saved them.
Therefore, gaining their recognition had been easy, and Polluting the residents of Annabawei had gone smoothly.
But here, it was different.
He was no hero.
He was no embodiment of justice.
Quite the opposite.
He was the evil dragon’s lackey.
An evil villain who was hated, despised, and distrusted.
He and Miss Dragon...
Had always stood on the opposing side of New Tars.
Even if he used violence and forced the woman to pray, it would only provoke even fiercer resistance from a despairing mother.
“I told you... if your path does not work, then you must follow mine. You should also be able to see that the Pollution inside that little thing is already close to losing control.”
Hamreign directly pulled free from Muen’s hand.
That softness and warmth vanished in an instant.
“But that would mean completely falling into the survivors’ scheme!”
Muen said anxiously,
“Don’t forget Kran, or the baby just now. Those survivors are clearly trying to force you to act, Miss Dragon! This is part of their conspiracy!”
“So what?”
Hamreign did not look back.
“Because I know this is a so-called conspiracy, should I do nothing and allow the Pollution to spread? Human... do you still not understand me?”
“...”
Muen opened his mouth.
Understand her?
Of course he understood.
After all, the last time he had been beaten so badly, he had come to understand this side of Miss Dragon better than anyone.
To this calamity who had destroyed countless things, “Pollution” was something that had to be eliminated as the highest priority.
She was so powerful that no one beneath the heavens could rival her.
Yet whenever she faced Pollution, she was more cautious than anyone else.
Regardless of whether this was a conspiracy, she would never allow even the slightest possibility of Pollution spreading.
She had pursued those survivors for a full eight hundred years for precisely this reason.
“So... that is what an overt scheme means.”
Muen laughed self-mockingly, realization appearing on his face.
Felimon had been right.
What the survivors had prepared truly was an overt scheme.
An overt scheme with no solution for Miss Dragon.
As long as this Pollution appeared, Miss Dragon would inevitably step into it.
No matter what was hidden behind it.
Miss Dragon was a calamity.
She was the mightiest dragon.
She disdained all so-called schemes and tricks, and she would never stop moving forward because of them.
It was the same principle as in Annabawei.
Only this time, even Muen was helpless.
Buzz!
Vast magical power gathered in Hamreign’s palm, then rose high into the air.
A new restriction formed, sealing off the entire district.
Since Pollution had appeared here, naturally, no one in this place could be allowed to leave freely.
The Pollution absolutely could not spread any further.
And after sealing the area, there was only one way to completely eliminate the Pollution.
Hamreign lowered her gaze.
Her golden pupils were ancient and profound as she coldly watched the woman and the little girl in her arms.
“Is this... really all right?”
Muen still could not stop himself from asking.
“What is wrong with it?”
“Solving the problem in such a sorrowful way.”
“Heh. Are you a child?”
Hamreign sneered.
“After everything you have experienced, have you still not seen the truth of this world?”
“I know this world is rotten, but...”
When the words reached his lips, Muen suddenly did not know what else to say.
Words were pale.
Persuasion was meaningless.
He...
Was now completely powerless.
If there had been even a trace of hope, perhaps he would have done what he had done before and struggled with all his strength.
But now, he did not even have that tiny trace of hope.
Crunch, crunch.
The little girl happily gnawed on her mother’s body.
More and more deformed limbs began stretching out from beneath the swaddling cloth, instinctively groping toward the outside of the room.
At this moment, the story had only one path left to follow.
“But that poison... If their deaths are truly connected to that poison specifically designed to target dragons, what will you do?”
Muen asked.
“I told you, that poison alone cannot defeat me.”
Hamreign said coldly,
“I am not so fragile that I need you to worry about me.”
“Is that so...”
Muen said nothing more.
He turned and walked outside.
Morton hurriedly followed behind him with the father and daughter.
Yet at the final moment before leaving the room, Muen suddenly stopped.
He placed both hands against the doorframe and stood there.
“Miss Dragon, I...”
He seemed to want to ask something else.
Unfortunately, before he could finish, his words were drowned out by a grief-stricken roar.
“Evil dragon! Are you really this cold and heartless?! You already made us suffer like this, and you still won’t let us go?”
Sensing the danger and seemingly realizing what was about to happen, the woman’s expression became incomparably terrified.
As she hugged her child even more tightly, she threw everything within reach at Hamreign.
But those fragile objects were crushed directly into powder before they could even touch her.
“Evil dragon!”
“That’s right.”
Hamreign actually answered her.
“I am precisely this heartless... Didn’t you already know that? That story... in a certain sense, contains no falsehood. The things I have destroyed and the people I have personally killed are far more numerous than you can imagine.”
She was the mightiest calamity who had destroyed a hundred cities, devastated nations, and killed countless people.
The Dragon of Death and Doom.
She stood upon mountains of corpses and seas of blood, with countless white bones beneath her feet.
And now, she was merely about to bring down another tiny bit of destruction.
Compared to everything she had done before, it was not worth mentioning...
“Let’s go.”
Muen took a deep breath, stepped outside, and quickly closed the door.
All sound disappeared at that moment.
Whether it was the despairing roar of a mother or Hamreign’s merciless response.
Darkness gradually enveloped the room before Muen’s eyes...
And also enveloped that fiery-red figure.