As mist rose, a bloated worm squatted underground. From beneath it, a stream of smaller Bone-Eating Worms filed into the sewers, spreading out with the wastewater.

Beside it stood two people in green robes, their faces hidden by black masks with gold patterns, seemingly arguing about something.

Not far behind them, dozens of people who appeared to be parasitized by Bone-Eating Worms knelt silently on the ground...

Then, a blinding light flashed across the screen, striking the Bone-Eating Mother Worm.

The people around them didn’t even have time to react before the arc of lightning tore them to pieces. Shreds of flesh and severed limbs flew through the air, only to be swiftly reduced to ash by the lightning’s power.

At the end of the recording, all Albert could see was a flicker of relief on Director Ales’s grim face before he dissolved into the lightning.

Watching this, Albert fell silent.

’The Director... he’s really dead... Director Ales!’

Before long, once everything had quieted down, people from all over the city-state began to converge on the location.

Vice-Speaker Harrington of the City-State Council, Commander Krist of the City Guard, and William Nascimento, the on-duty member of the Noble Committee.

Upon seeing the devastated scene within the deep crater, they all let out a simultaneous sigh of relief. Then, without exchanging a single word, they turned and departed.

From beginning to end, the groups never made eye contact, as if they were complete strangers to one another...

...

...

Meanwhile, Wei’en and his group, who had already reached the Natali District, also saw the dazzling arc of lightning.

"W-what is that?" Hector asked, pointing at the lightning with a puzzled expression. "Why does that ability feel so familiar?"

"Do you even have to ask? Only Director Ales’s Extraordinary Bloodline possesses that kind of lightning power," Santiago said with envy. "Thunder Judgment Kulibali."

"The Director took action?"

Wei’en carefully observed the lightning’s trajectory. ’Is that the direction of the Laos District?’

"It should be,"

Chirut said with relief, "I didn’t expect Director Ales to intervene personally. The Abyssal Sect members and the Bone-Eating Mother Worm have probably been obliterated, not even a speck of dust remaining."

"Alright, let’s pick up the pace. The Director himself has made a move, so we need to speed up too and clear out all the parasite hosts in the Natali District as quickly as possible."

Santiago stared thoughtfully into the distance. ’Weren’t Balats and Vice Director Nifa supposed to be the ones handling this?’

[You have been targeted by Gesu Feola’s killing intent.] [Evaluation: Parasite Host.] [Reward: Survival Points +1.]

[You have killed Gesu Feola (Bone-Eating Worm Host) with a firearm.] [Evaluation...] [Special Reward: Survival Points +2, Marksmanship +1.]

[...]

For the next while, Wei’en and his group were constantly attacked by parasite hosts, which they killed one by one.

The manors in the Natali District closer to the Basil District were in better shape. There were only a few isolated parasite hosts, and even they were killed by the nobles’ private guards before they could leave the estates.

But the closer they got to the Yidrisu District, the more parasite hosts they encountered.

A few, or even a dozen, was manageable. But cutting through dozens, then hundreds... By the end, Wei’en had grown numb to it.

Especially since these parasite hosts looked almost identical to ordinary people.

"Abdeljalil!" (Mechanical Box!)

Wei’en decided to stop fighting personally. Instead, he summoned Zero. Before it could speak, he sent the Driver to deal with the parasite hosts.

Given the strength of these parasite hosts, it was a perfect opportunity for the Mechanical Puppet to gain some combat experience.

And Zero’s performance was indeed impressive. The parasite hosts could barely withstand a single punch from it, even though one of its iron fists was dented from where Bolsen had smashed it.

[Your Mechanical Life-form, Zero, has killed Callum Leon (Bone-Eating Worm Host).] [Reward: Survival Points +2.]

’So I even get rewards when Zero kills the parasite hosts...’

Seeing this notification, an idea popped into Wei’en’s head. ’If Zero could act on its own in the future, wouldn’t it be much easier for me to earn Survival Points?’

’If I really do that, I’ll need to give Zero some kind of disguise.’

’I’ll have to find a chance to test it out. If this works, I won’t just be its boss. I’ll be a black-hearted one at that.’

"Your Mechanical Puppet is pretty handy,"

Hector said, looking at Zero with envy. "You can just rinse the gore off it with water when we get back. We, on the other hand, have to wash ourselves several times..."

Santiago curled his lip. "The Aberrations are the most disgusting ones. I have to use Isolation Fluid after every fight to prevent contamination."

"By the way, have you guys noticed that the red moon seems a little brighter tonight?" Chirut glanced at the night sky, then quickly lowered his head, not daring to look for long.

Hector was about to look up. "What do you mean... Oof!"

THUD!

"Idiot, don’t look up." Santiago punched him. "You got a death wish or something?"

Through the curtain of rain, Wei’en glanced up at the red moon. ’Is it brighter?’

[Because your Origin Level is over 10, the red moon’s corruption has not tainted your Origin.] [Evaluation: Even the Dawn Radiance fails sometimes...] [Special Reward: Survival Points +5, Origin +1, Spirit Level +1, Resilience Level +1.]

’Hm?’

Wei’en looked down at the lantern in his hand and saw that the candlelight within had grown extremely faint.

"Captain Santiago, my lantern isn’t going to last much longer..."

"Hm?" Santiago glanced at the lanterns in everyone’s hands and barked, "Listen up! The two hours are almost up. There’s a manor belonging to my Montoya Clan just ahead. Let’s get there!"

With that, the group stopped cautiously scanning for parasite hosts and hurriedly followed Santiago, running into the nearby manor.