He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

Chapter 93 Take Action.

"lotus"

The moment Ronan noticed Ai's awakening, he had already called out softly, but the sound was interrupted by a roar.

"Fire!"

"————" Ronan visibly froze for a moment, not quite reacting, while Mia took over his command in the next second—

"Clean up all personnel: Free attack!"

Almost simultaneously, accompanied by a thunderous roar in the distance, as the first armor-piercing shell sliced ​​through the night with a tearing arc of light, a dense barrage of bullets enveloped Miya from all directions—and at the same time, the snake, awakened from its frozen state, instantly concealed its vital organs within its scales—

Although most of his body was vaporized in the storm of steel, it was not a fatal injury, just like before. Although the "Holy Throne" was dead, the life force accumulated in this body would not dissipate.

"We'll still have to fight eventually! We might as well strike hard when she's not moving—" Mia couldn't help but complain.

Ai didn't seem discouraged at all.

"Things are different now than they were before—"

He chuckled, covering his ears with his fingers to lessen the piercing whistling of bullets whizzing past them. "Boss, we've entered phase two."

Before the words had even finished—

"hiss--"

A terrifying screech erupted from the darkness, only to be suppressed by Ai's gaze in the next instant. The scorching muzzle of the gun had turned red, and the barrage of bullets quickly extinguished the aftershocks.

Ai looked at Miya, who was surrounded in the center of the position—she was not at all as weak as she had been in the Land of Vessels—her whole body was covered with a hideous membrane of flesh, and every part of her body was changing between "turning into dust" and "returning to its original state". In just a few seconds, the ground was already stained bright red by the all-pervasive blood mist.

"Kill her—" Ai fell into deep thought.

Clearly, although the body in front of us is owned by Miya, the real controller now is most likely "those monsters".

"Parasitism" and "replacement" are their areas of expertise—just like hiding, the monsters regard their instinct to solidify into a physical form as a means of "hunting".

They have only one goal: to break through the nest's blockade and squeeze into the red pool outside the dome—this could be a full-scale invasion, or it could be a test.

The process involved countless steps, but in short: Mia, chosen as the "moving coordinate," was the last survivor of the Uso nobility. She was discovered by a holy site in the lower city and became the mysterious origin and object of worship for the Church of Saint Naraken. They even went through great lengths to collect materials to transform the original anointed statue into a "living body" to house this soul that should have been lost.

Then, using Miya's memories as a "creeping tunnel," they bypassed the dome's barrier and entered the nest.

Those long, thin creatures moved in a way that was incredibly bizarre and disgusting no matter how you looked at it.

"What do we do now?" Ronan urged. This level of firepower suppression obviously couldn't last forever. A snake was dragging its broken body into the alley. Once the most threatening sniping became ineffective, she would become active again.

"Wait a moment." Ai said somewhat absentmindedly.

He looked at his arm—what was originally a simple laceration—should have been caused by accidentally being grazed by sharp scales. By now, an ordinary person would have healed by now, but at this moment, streams of blood were flowing out and rolling down from it.

These are wounds left from the first round of fighting with the snake. They are not fatal—mostly festering wounds caused by venomous blood splattering on them. However—after Mia's power took over the living body, the wounds became something that Ai could not control.

This twisted scar is resisting the will of Ai, and silently telling him:

The wound refused to heal.

"1

Ai, who was the main force, was staring blankly at her arm. Her unusual behavior quickly caught Ronan's attention. He took a closer look and pulled out a bottle of military medical spray with a serious expression. However, the invincible healing ingredients, which would pull an ordinary person back from the brink of death, had no effect on Ai's wound.

"The wound won't heal."

Ai poked her wrinkled face, bruised from corrosion, with a hint of distress, and pondered, stroking her chin, "Won't this disfigure me?!"

As expected of a species favored by the Enlightenment Criteria, their abilities are quite annoying.

"Are you alright?——" Ronan asked worriedly. Wounds are one of the rituals governed by the Enlightenment Criteria. Powerful Enlightenment mystics can easily kill someone through wounds. Whether it's a hidden mutation, a direct deterioration, or a "never-healing" curse, it's all a considerable trouble.

"It's alright." Ai waved her hand, thought for a moment, and then simply began to participate in the command. "Next, listen to my orders—the moment the fire stops, without giving her time to fully recover, I will do my best to suppress her—and you, prepare your methods."

Without saying much, he took a step forward.

"I'm in."

The next moment, the comments section stopped.

Stepping over the blood and flesh smeared on the ground, following the snake's fleeing figure, Ai Yi entered the deep alley and soon arrived in front of the snake.

At this moment, the shattered skull has not yet healed. The process of restoration is brutal and bizarre, with bloody muscles revealing bone-white bones, skin that instantly covers the horrific scene, and long hair sprouting like buds.

Slightly curled hair, stained with congealed blood, lay scattered on her fair shoulders. The tattered veil of her original dress still clung to her skin, faintly revealing the subtle redness of her chest—even amidst the blood and gore, the graceful curve of her spine, slender and beautiful, was still visible. Its elegance was beyond the comprehension of rudimentary intellect; its incomprehensible beauty was a curve sculpted by the gods.

The temptation was so strong it was maddening.

"Miya." He called softly, his gentle tone accompanied by extremely cruel actions—flames burned in his palm as he clung to her slender body—almost instantly, her once porcelain-white skin was covered with dry cracks.

Without the support of the barrage, we must delay her attack as much as possible.

"Would you feel disgusted with yourself if you looked like this?"

Next, Ai grabbed the girl's neck, which was as white as a lotus root and seemed to break easily, and forced Miya's face to meet her gaze quietly with those ruby-like, dazzling vertical pupils.

She had no expression, frozen like a puppet manipulated by threads.

"Poor little guy————"

A bluish hue emerged from behind the pupil, like a ray of light flowing into the gap of understanding—a silent, chilling compassion seeped into Ai's eyes, her lofty posture resembling that of a god who disregards all living beings.

"To whom are you calling, to whom are you praying that the eldest sister of a serpent escapes the gate, and the mother of beasts withers and dies—a writhing monster has parasitized and replaced the serpentine symbol, and you have become the passage for the filthy, bringing destruction and suffering rejection."

He spoke softly, "Who else can save you?"

These words seemed to stimulate the soul within the living body that was about to fall into silence—the snake's dull gaze suddenly revealed a bit of liveliness, then a deep sadness and despair that was almost dripping, until Ai cupped her face and said softly.

"Why don't you pray to me?"

Miya seemed to freeze suddenly, as if she didn't understand the meaning of these words, but Ai Yi chuckled, gripped her neck tightly, and then pressed almost all of his weight onto the snake's body.

"Pray to the light, pray to the light, offer to the light—I! The greatest and final Savior you can see, I understand your sorrow and pain, so offer me your loyalty, your secrets, everything you have—"

—Right now, right in front of you.

The vibrant crimson in her vertical pupils was gradually replaced by a deep azure. The snake howled and retreated, clearly fleeing from danger, yet it was as if the roles had been reversed. The snake was the symbol of temptation—the roles were reversed, and she was now resisting an even more terrifying "temptation."

"Poor little snake—"

—

Ai whispered like a devil, "Anyway, you have nothing left."

"Why don't you believe in the light?"

Miya's gaze gradually lost itself, her reason dissolving in the brilliant light. A sublime pure white slowly rose between the two, enveloped by an invisible and intangible power—this seemed to be a confrontation, a clash that would determine the "ownership of the snake symbol."

This is what Door taught Ai.

"The great need no believers, for they have mastered ritual and anchored the laws; they transcend nature—but you are different, writer of the Pure White Tantra, you are a madman who deceives the order of time, concealing the order of 'vessel' and 'power,' the greatest fraudster in history—the 'lamp' has not been lit, yet you deceive the world and all beings, telling them: 'The lamp' has been lit.'"

"Inscribe the names of the accomplices in the original text—they witness the rise of pure white, and they will help you deceive the world."

"The more believers you have, the more tribes you deceive, the more symbols you control—once everyone firmly believes in the greatness of pure white, then the world will have no choice but to accept the rebirth of the 'lamp.'"

"Miya—you are my treasure!" Ai went completely mad. Everything—from the Ash Worship to the Door, and even the Radiance—was urging him on one thing:

We must take down the little snake!

The last survivor, Mia, who in a sense represents the entire Uso nobility, is a believer that Ai must win over—because she is the only one left in the Uso family tree, so the Pure White Tantra must be given a separate page.

"Fall towards my colors—why run away? I'm right here, you can enjoy a sense of security as you please—I will accept everything about you."

Ai held her tightly in his arms, so tightly it was as if he wanted to become one with her.

"Speak up, ask me for things, pray to me, seek my protection—I will not refuse, the radiance knows it will not."

The pure white book in mid-air slowly turned the pages, starting a new one. An invisible radiance solidified into amber ink, gently writing a single stroke—

Ugh————

—Damn, why do I have to write my full name?

Ai was stunned, then felt a chill run down her spine—because in the realm ruled by pure white, a discordant "shadow" suddenly emerged. The white was no longer transparent, as if it were blocked by something constantly wriggling, and even the Perkin Ink stopped flowing.

"Monster" is vying with "Pure White" for the name of the Uso nobility.

"You're fucking dreaming!"

The next instant, as if she had made a decision, Ai gritted her teeth and took another step closer, almost pushing the little snake against the wall.

Miya instinctively shrank back, but the other person's arms were already firmly wrapped around her neck, making it impossible for her to break free—Ai fiercely bit the snake's blood-stained lips.

The heat burned in her veins, each drop of blood radiating a glowing light. The taste that came down was an intense, overwhelming stench of blood. It felt as if a red-hot iron had been thrown into her throat. A certain desire had taken over everything, and Miya instinctively began to respond, until the other person licked her jade-like, cold jaw and her swan-like, slender neck.

Heavy breathing, sticky sweat and blood.

A gentle kiss, a cold bite, a cold yet intense substance flowing at the point where skulls meet, teeth climbing up the neck, the head gently swaying, tearing off a large chunk of flesh, cruel yet sacred in pure white.

"When teachings fail to convey the principles of radiance, we, as apprentices studying the lamp, resort to our throats and mouths:"

The light within my skull could flow; I tried to swallow it, and it was tasteless and cold, pure white.

The soul that originally resided in the vessel was swallowed down the throat in one gulp.

"I'll fucking just grab him and take him away from you!"

The body before me no longer holds a soul; it has become an empty shell.

Almost simultaneously, the pure white mantra suspended in the air also inscribed a list in the color of platinum, along with a solitary name: "Uso Noble: Usoyeg Varu Miya".

Get it done.

But it's clear that this incident has upset the other party.

A wave of nausea rose from the depths of her heart, and Ai felt an unprecedented "fear," as if a blood-red "Danger!" appeared above her head.

He released the snake's body almost simultaneously, but a chilling sensation followed, as if something had crawled along the snake's passage, pushing through the flesh and burrowing into his body from the gap between his soul and flesh.

An anomaly had occurred. Ai looked at her arm.

-bending.

He tilted his head, suddenly finding his perspective somewhat incomprehensible, like a two-dimensional being suddenly seeing a three-dimensional object—an arm, as if it had been compressed into a thin sheet, twisted and contorted, every pore becoming an abyss. His gaze was tilted by the writhing lines, and he felt lost, as if he had lost his sense of direction. This sense of imbalance brought about a sluggish pace of thought.

The next instant, he suddenly fell, his body uncontrollably sprawling on the ground. Looking at his arm, every hair was curling inwards, intertwined with each other, and covered with rotten, yellow sores.

-I----

The sense of disharmony turned into intense dizziness.

Ai instinctively wanted to vomit, but after a moment she swallowed the lump in her throat. It was obvious that what she was about to vomit was not flesh and blood, but something incomprehensible, indescribable, and terrifying.

"A crawling, creeping creature —"

Ai tilted her head slightly, but seemed to show no further fear, only a strange smile.

—It looks angry.

"Hehehe."

Then came a deathly silence; only rustling sounds rose and fell in the dark alley, as if passing beneath every inch of crowded flesh.

The information contained within the foreign object traveled through the channel into Ai's soul, using his red fluid to draw a twisting, constantly writhing symbol:

M·mi7yn

Finally, as if stripped of her reason, Ai Yi offered no resistance—reading the full meaning of the name: "Crawling Species - Night Watcher."

The channel was breached by the medium of "name".

next second.

"Click"

A strange sound, like a cracking sound, seemed to ring in everyone's ears, accompanied by an unsettling atmosphere.

The smell grew stronger and stronger.

"Eileen?"

Not far away, Ronan called out anxiously. In his view, his colleague disappeared around the corner of the alley, followed by a deathly silence. If it weren't for the silence spell covering the area, he would have already led his men in.

"Warning: Abnormal fluctuations in the regional red pool!"

Suddenly, a long-awaited warning came into view through the think tank. The two pure deer-men stared blankly at the Hume Index, which was more than ten times the "normal value". Before they could react, they were startled by a strange noise coming from the alley entrance.

It was the sound of footsteps, slow and even footsteps.

Then another familiar figure appeared at the corner.

"Eileen—" Upon seeing that she was unharmed, Ronan's expression brightened. He was about to step forward to check on her when he noticed that Mia beside him had completely lost her temper. The antler-clad girl slammed her hands on the ground, and the ritual set up around them began to operate at full power, with the accumulated secret essence surging like a tide.

"Ronan!"

Almost simultaneously, a message that seemed to have been pre-edited came through the command channel: "No matter who comes out in the end—I hope you can give it your all, right now."

"Let's do it."

The next second—

Flames soared into the sky, burning the surrounding flesh and blood into charcoal.

The ritual began, and the weakening magic descended silently.

Thousands of tongues of fire spewed from the gun muzzle.