Give children a little self-destruction shock to their worldview.

Where gods usually slumber, now lies an ugly, fat worm, feasting on the spiritual vein. With each bite, countless dark calamities spread through the breach into the vein, and beneath it, countless worms are born.

The spiritual vein had been riddled with holes by these insects, and their nests covered everything from the soles of the feet to the top of the head. The insect eggs were densely packed on the vein, and one could even see them rising and falling with their breath.

A thick stench permeated the spiritual vein, the smell of rotting corpses and various filth. Just standing there made one feel dizzy from the pungent odor.

Sugiyama Rika felt nauseous, not only physically, but also mentally, due to a series of shocks.

Are you kidding me...?!

The true bow suddenly melted away before his eyes, leaving no trace, not even the corpse fluid. Considering the characteristics of the spiritual vein, it had probably evaporated into magical energy floating in the air... And the spiritual vein that had nurtured and nourished everyone had become like this...

The culprit behind all this is this enemy called calamity.

Sugiyama Rika knew that, apart from the world she lived in, other worlds also harbored endless crises. Even seemingly parallel worlds would one day intersect; since opportunities existed in other worlds, there must also be corresponding threats.

This calamity and prophecy of fate...

Sugiyama Rika's mind had just begun to process the news of Haga Mayumi's death when she felt an even more violent tremor beneath her feet.

A truly painful sound from the depths of the spiritual veins.

That was the howl of a giant beast that Sugiyama Rika had never heard before... no, she had actually heard it once before.

That was the dragon's painful cry.

The spiritual vein beneath their feet burst forth with blinding light in that instant. Sugiyama Rikka saw a colossal, black creature protruding its snout from the depths of the spiritual vein before her.

It's a black dragon.

Main text: Chapter 147 Let's perish together

Forbidden techniques.

The guardians, possessing the bloodline of an ancient race, shatter their cores to release their souls, transforming them into dragons through sorcery.

Those who use forbidden techniques to transform into dragons will never regain their human hearts.

Before the destruction of the Alamo, the guardians who transformed into dragons lost their human consciousness and roamed the world on instinct, possessing infinite time and endless life.

But in this world, dragons should not exist.

Therefore, the black dragon that Haga Mayumi transformed into let out a cry of blood.

A colossal dragon, unrecognized by the world, emerged from the spiritual veins with its long, thick body. Its powerful torso was covered with scales that shimmered with metallic light, and it had two long, wavy horns on its head, the tips of which were sharp enough to easily pierce any obstacle.

Completely different from Mayumi Haga's gentle personality, the black dragon she transformed into looked extremely oppressive, with sharp teeth and bloodshot eyes, exuding an uncontrollable sense of rage.

But because of the world's rejection, and because calamity spread across His body, seeping into His flesh through the gaps in His scales and constantly corroding His flesh, the scales and flesh fell off and regenerated. The pain drove the black dragon almost insane. He let out a deafening roar and soared into the sky from His spiritual veins.

Its enormous body was several times larger than the previously corrupted Calamity Dragon, blotting out the sky and creating enough air currents to make it difficult for anyone present to maintain flight. One wrong move and they would be blown to the edge, barely managing to stop by grabbing whatever was at hand.

"...This is..." The mage stared at everything before her, and an answer dawned on her. She murmured in shock, "The Dragon Transformation Technique..."

And that's not all.

Magicians can see things that ordinary people cannot, whether it is the direction and path of magical energy flow or the predetermined causal lines wrapped around an individual. As long as they are in a special place like a spiritual vein, they can see it clearly.

If it weren't for the spiritual vein, she would have to expend some effort to open her [eyes] to see it. But within the environment of the spiritual vein, the magical spirit's abilities are amplified several times over, and abilities associated with the spiritual vein are also greatly enhanced.

In other words, she could easily see the causal threads wrapped around the black dragon.

The white threads wrapped around the black dragon from all directions, tightly binding its body so tightly that it could hardly move and every movement required a great deal of effort.

The threads tightened more and more, like sharp strings binding the black dragon, digging straight into its flesh.

The black dragon roared, tears of blood flowing from its crimson eyes. The dragon's blood vaporized into a scalding mist, staining everyone's vision crimson.

His vertical pupils, as tall as a single-story building, reflected the Queen of Calamity in the distance, before dangerously shrinking into a thin line.

Although he had forgotten his human memories, his instinctive hatred for calamity still made the black dragon roar furiously. He turned around somewhat clumsily and aimed his attack at the queen.

Having abandoned its human aspects, including the combat skills acquired over a lifetime, its remaining means of attack are nothing more than using its excessively large body and the destructive power of a dragon to tear things apart like a wild beast.

Unlike other dragons, the black dragon does not possess magical or witchcraft abilities. Even in its current form, its most reliable asset is its powerful physique.

It is more powerful than any living being or magic, and even far surpasses the solidity of the world's core.

Therefore, it can easily devour anything.

The black dragon exhaled scalding breath from its nostrils, causing the surrounding airflow to become turbulent and violent.

He launched an attack against the calamity.

The most primitive and bloodiest attack.

The battle between the dragon and the calamity had no magical splendor whatsoever; the enormous fantasy beast simply relied on its terrifying bite force to seize the opportunity and bite down hard on the queen's head.

Sharp teeth pierced the hard head, and the foul-smelling, scalding hot, dark green sap that gushed from its mouth corroded the dragon's oral cavity black like strong acid. Its flesh fell into the swarm of calamity insects, the heavy chunks crushing and killing the insects gathered below. More small insects swarmed up and crawled onto its wounds, like maggots burrowing in and out of rotting flesh.

The queen insect let out a shrill howl, but as a reproductive machine, it had little ability to defend itself. Sticky fluid flowed from under its body, and the nest, attacked by the queen, further rioted and collapsed.

At first glance, the black dragon looked as if it were being overwhelmed by countless maggots, its body regenerating at an increasingly slower pace... no, it should be said that it was being devoured at an increasingly faster pace, and its exposed white skeleton could be seen.

Unable to bear it any longer, the black dragon violently tore off the queen's head. Amidst the swarm's rampage, it raised its head and lashed out with its tail—

—I forcefully swatted half of the insects away, crushing them into a sticky mess on the ground.

The wounds on his body healed at an astonishing speed, and the newly grown scales were even harder and more beautiful, with sharp edges that gleamed with a cold light.

Then, He casually shook off the insects on His body, either crushing them or smashing them with His body, and biting the ones in front of Him.

The remains of insects, stained with dark green blood, clung stickily to the dragon's body. Calamity seeped deeper into the dragon's wounds, and its eyes grew increasingly red, yet it did not stop its actions.

He opened his mouth, his teeth landing at the junction where the queen insect had gnawed into the main trunk of the spiritual vein. He then forcefully closed his mouth, and after a tooth-grinding sound, a highly concentrated magical solution gushed out from the bitten opening, filling his mouth.

Although He did not actively absorb it, it made His eyes even brighter. His body, which had been tormented by pain, surged with power again. He tore the Queen off the main stem, along with the contaminated parts, and threw her to the ground.

The insect convulsed, its headless body trying to rise from the ground. Black liquid gushed from its severed head, struggling to coalesce into dozens of spider legs covered with eyes, as it tried to escape into the distance.

The black dragon caught up, ripped half of its body apart with a claw, pinned it to the ground, opened its blood-soaked maw, and made a sound that seemed to be crying.

Countless calamities crawled into the black dragon's head through its mouth and nose, attempting to force it to loosen its grip by devouring its life, but the black dragon ignored them.

If this were a world where dragons were originally allowed to exist, then perhaps He would have been corrupted and become a tool and servant of calamity...

...But now, deep within the black dragon's brain, a tiny spark is emitting a soft blue light, protecting Him from the erosion of calamity.

That's enough.

The black dragon knows nothing of its past, has no memories or superfluous emotions, only an instinctive hatred for calamity, and a desire to drag the other party down with it to a mutual destruction in the void.

This time, He will devour all the calamities.

Then, they both met their demise.

Main text: Chapter 148 Withering

As the blood mist gradually dissipated, the battle between the dragon and the swarm of insects finally came to an initial end.

After tearing the queen apart and swallowing her, the rest became quite simple.

The greatest source of the calamity, along with the main consciousness, was torn apart and devoured by the black dragon. Although the remaining insects were numerous, they were like machines that had lost their power and were frozen in place.

The magic users had been trying to help clear the area from the beginning, but the black dragon was too powerful, or rather, it was blinded by rage, leaving everyone far behind. In addition, with the swarm of insects and monsters blocking their way, no one was able to get close.

After this long-standing conflict came to a close, those who knew Mayumi Haga immediately came before the Black Dragon.

But Heilong's condition is not good.

At this moment, He lowered His head and looked at the familiar group of people in front of Him.

Dawn finally arrived, and the dragon coiled in mid-air exhaled a strong fishy smell. Its entire body was covered in unscathed flesh, and the blood of insects sizzled on its scales. The high temperature generated during the corrosion process produced a rising white mist and a strong, pungent smell of burning.

His body blocked out the light, and when everyone looked up, they could only see the black dragon's blood-red eyes because it was backlit.

Hitomi Tono didn't know what the Dragon Transformation Technique meant. She only knew that Mayumi seemed to have used an extraordinary ability to defeat an enemy that everyone thought was very troublesome.

Seeing that things seemed to have passed, she felt relieved and was about to fly over to the Black Dragon Head and get closer to talk to Mayumi Haga when Sugiyama Rika grabbed her arm.

Moreover, she noticed that everyone except herself wore expressions of unease and something she couldn't understand.

Especially the little bear she had just taken out of her backpack; something deep inside her seemed to collapse: "...I can't feel anything..."

I can no longer sense Mayumi's emotions.

The enormous thing in front of them was indeed a real bow. Everything about it was familiar, from its aura to its overall feel, but they couldn't sense any of the emotions belonging to Haga Mayumi.

Sadness, joy, anger, hatred, fear, or even jealousy and despair... all of them were gone.

The dragon looked at them with completely calm eyes, as if it had only seen a few ants on the ground in front of the door when it went out.

That look was so unfamiliar that everyone except for the oblivious Tono Hitomi realized something.

The black dragon before me is no longer the human individual [Haga Mayumi], having forgotten its past.

Even though the little bear had no heart, it felt a sense of loss, as if it had lost something, in its chest filled with cotton wool.

Even someone as oblivious as Hitomi Tono belatedly realized something amidst the silence of the crowd.

Her voice was filled with confusion: "...A real bow? Isn't this a real bow?"

She approached the black dragon, her voice urgent as if she wanted to confirm something: "This was clearly created by Shinju, and it can definitely turn back..."

The black dragon ignored her, simply watching the pink-haired human attempt to approach, its blood-red eyes filled with both wariness and confusion.

As Tono Hitomi approached, it finally moved, but not in the way Tono Hitomi had imagined. Instead, it hissed out a stream of air from its nostrils, blowing the human who was trying to get close backward, almost making him roll back.

Hitomi Tono was supported by Rika Sugiyama beside her, her face turning pale with shock.

"Stop thinking about it, pink-haired one." A voice came from under the ruins, and the buried Megaran said in a muffled voice, "After turning into a dragon, this guy won't be Mayumi Haga anymore."

As an ancient race, the Megaranes immediately grasped the essence of this spell.

"But Mayumi didn't hurt anyone, she's still here peacefully..." Tono Hitomi said in a panicked tone, trying to find evidence that Mayumi Haga was still conscious, but her words were ruthlessly interrupted by the water demon.

"She would have done it no matter who it was."

Through the crack, Megane caught a glimpse of that strange yet familiar figure. She coldly shattered Tono Hitomi's wishful thinking: "That's just how this guy is. Even in this state, he'll still clumsily try not to hurt anyone."

Despite its ferocious appearance, the black dragon was indeed consciously keeping its distance from the group, as if waiting for something to happen.

Megrana knew what it was.

You're going to die, Black Dragon.

It's secondary that this world doesn't accept black dragons; even the previous Calamity Dragon could survive in this world. But the black dragon that Mayumi Haga transformed into wasn't from her original world, and was inherently flawed. Moreover, too much of her life force had been devoured by the calamity. The fact that her current body can still hold on is perhaps simply because she hasn't yet realized she's about to die.

Despite its power, it's all an illusion. Driven by revenge, it consumes its last bit of energy, and physical collapse is inevitable.

When a dragon dies, it is carried away by the River of Life... but there is no River of Life in this world, so the black dragon only struggles painfully in front of everyone before dying.

It's impossible for Megrana to say it's not a pity.

She did like Mayumi Haga, but she also knew that, given the current trend, she would eventually meet her doom.

Although she had hoped that Mayumi Haga could live peacefully in this world, since calamity had come along with her, it would be the best ending for Mayumi Haga to fight to the end as a guardian.

Megrane lived in a relatively cruel world. She knew the difficulty of a lifetime of companionship and what was truly important to Mayumi Haga.

It wasn't about love or a peaceful life, but about fulfilling a duty and seeking revenge.

So she accepted it all relatively calmly.

The black dragon also noticed Megaran's gaze, but it had not yet found the direction from which the gaze was coming, and its physical decay accelerated even further.

With painful gasps for breath, He lost his footing and his floating body crashed to the ground, causing the ground of the spiritual vein to tremble violently.

The black dragon's head drooped limply to the ground, baring its sharp teeth, enduring the pain in its body, and unconsciously wanting to roll on the ground.

But then he realized that these humans were too close to him, so he restrained himself and did not let his body stretch out recklessly and accidentally hurt anyone.

When the dragon saw that the humans were about to surround it again, it breathed out and blew them away. But this action did not make the humans realize the danger it posed. Instead, it made them even more agitated, and the two closest to it even shed tears.

He was too tired and in too much pain, so he slowly closed his eyes and his consciousness gradually faded.

In a white light, she felt her body becoming lighter and lighter.

A familiar yet unrecognizable voice sounded intermittently:

"Mayumi...! Dragon Transformation... Awaken her..."

"Find her...enter...forceful guidance...the only way..."

It sounds like Lania's voice.

she thinks.

But who is Lania?