Lathel let out a snort of laughter, "Pff! Hahaha... I'll take that as a compliment."
He tilted his head, flicking his spear to splatter Mira's blood everywhere.
A hint of amusement crossed his face as he glanced at Anna's current state. "Looks like... my subordinate gave you a rather warm night, didn't she?"
"Lathel!" At those words, Anna clenched her fist so tightly that her charred fingers, brittle as ash, crumbled to pieces.
Yet those fragments immediately turned into wisps of black smoke, vanishing into the air.
Lathel's eyes flicked over, taking note of that small detail.
"I was right!" Anna gritted her teeth, her face becoming increasingly ferocious. "It was you... you're the one who destroyed my family... ruined everything I had..."
With each word, the charred flesh on her face dropped off, exposing bone beneath, with a bit of fresh blood still flowing—like a demon from a horror movie.
A scream, like a wounded wild beast, full of rage and madness, tore from her lips.
"AGH!!!" Anna lost all composure, screaming as she charged at Lathel.
He sneered, swinging his spear at Anna's head.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, his eyes widened as he saw what was happening.
Time seemed to slow; the spear tip was only centimeters from Anna's head when her face abruptly turned into a swirl of black mist, dissolving into the air.
However, her body kept moving as if nothing had happened, bloodied hands and hideous burns still reaching for him.
Whoosh!
Anna swiped at empty air as Lathel suddenly vanished, then instantly reappeared more than five meters away.
He frowned, glancing at the spear, then back at Anna. Luckily, he possessed the 'Space' talent; otherwise, she might have caught him just now.
"How interesting." Lathel suddenly gave a smile full of intrigue. "Is that your talent? No... that's not right."
"If you really had a talent like that, you would've shown it long ago. Looks like the Church can turn an ordinary person into a monster."
"Shut up!" Anna shouted, "You have no right to insult the noble God I revere."
"It's only thanks to the great Xal'veth that I have the strength to seek revenge. This is the gift He gave me, so I could avenge everyone, avenge..."
"Hahahaha..." Lathel suddenly burst out laughing, cutting Anna off, "Hahaha... sorry, but... you really make me laugh."
"Ah! So funny..." Lathel shot her a look so sharp and terrifying it made her shudder.
Within those eyes was only scorn, as if he were looking at some filthy maggot.
"A gift?" Lathel mocked. "Looking at you now, it seems you really enjoy the 'gift' from that stupid fish."
"AGH!!" Anna roared, charging at Lathel once more.
Whoosh!
Lathel hurled his spear at Anna. Just like before, as the spear was about to strike her, her body turned into black mist, scattering in all directions.
But just a second later, the black mist once again condensed, re-forming her physical body.
"Look! This is the power the great Xal'veth bestowed upon me! A heretic like you will never receive his blessing!" Anna screamed, as more and more chunks of flesh fell from her face.
By now, half her skull was exposed. The right side of her face had completely fallen away, revealing both sets of teeth and her tongue.
Lathel observed this scene, entirely unafraid, his face maintaining that same indifference.
He reached out his hand, and the spear stuck in the ground trembled violently.
Whoong!
A sound like a ringing bell echoed as the spear shot back, its shaft piercing through Anna's body.
But before the spear could touch her, her form again turned to black mist, dispersing.
"Hahaha... fool! This is power granted by the gods. You'll never—"
Anna's words were cut short as Lathel suddenly appeared right in front of her.
"You—"
Smash!
Lathel drove the spear straight through Anna's chest, then twisted, dragging the blade from the middle of her chest all the way to her right shoulder.
Whoosh!
The sound of wind howled as the spear sliced through Anna's body as easily as cutting through paper.
Blood and flesh splattered everywhere.
BAM!
Anna's eyes went wide before she collapsed to the ground.
Lathel flicked the spear to shake off the blood and shredded flesh clinging to it.
His eyes, full of disdain, looked down at Anna as he muttered, "Is that all?"
Crack!
Suddenly, Anna's body began to twist in a grotesque way.
Lathel frowned, gripping his spear tightly. However, he didn't rush to attack, but simply stared at Anna's corpse.
Crack!
Anna's head suddenly twisted 180 degrees, then her jaw dropped open, spewing out a tide of black, inky mist.
The fog rose like a flood, growing higher and higher. A bone-chilling cold made Lathel feel as if he were standing in a frozen vault, his entire body engulfed in ice.
In just a few seconds, the mist had reached his knees—and continued to rise.
Lathel swept his spear, unleashing a crescent-shaped wave of spatial force at terrifying speed.
Whoosh!
It tore through the black mist in front of him, slicing Anna in half, but her body instantly turned into mist as well, disappearing completely into the sea of dark mist.
Even though Anna was gone, the mist kept rising until it was above his head, drowning him entirely in the Dark Mist.
Lathel looked around, but there was nothing but blackness.
That's right—everything was pitch black, so dark that even if he held his hand in front of his face, he couldn't see a thing.
"Ah! Lathel!"
"I hate you..."
"Lathel! It was you... you killed me."
"Lathel..."
Suddenly, countless voices echoed all around. Lathel could tell they weren't coming from just one person, but from many.
Those voices were hoarse, as if wailing in despair—yet they were also seething with boundless hatred.
"Why? Lathel!"
"You bastard! Why did you kill me?!"
"The gods will judge you!"
"I hate you..."
Lathel listened to those voices of pure resentment directed at him, but his expression didn't change at all—still indifferent and full of contempt.
"So noisy..." Lathel muttered.
Suddenly—
GRAOO!
A savage howl erupted right beside him.
Before Lathel could react, he felt someone lunge at him, clinging tight—then biting down hard on his collarbone.
GRAO!
AH!
AGH!!
A cacophony of screams rose up, countless hands clawing at him as if they wanted to tear him into a hundred pieces.
He could even feel tiny, childlike teeth biting into his legs.
"Tsk!" Lathel clicked his tongue, muttering, "Trash... Get lost!"
BAM!
A wave of spatial force exploded outward from Lathel, blasting everything around him away.
The dark mist surrounding Lathel parted slightly, revealing a small space untouched by the darkness.
He looked down and saw his body covered in bloody handprints and human bite marks.
Blood flowed from his wounds, soaking the white cloak he wore.
Yet he didn't care.
His gaze shifted to the edge of his small sanctuary and the sea of black mist.
He could see countless souls writhing grotesquely at the border, accompanied by endless screams of despair and boundless hatred.
That hatred seemed to make the dark mist even stronger.
The dark mist grew thicker and blacker, as if it was no longer fog, but a sea of pitch-black sludge.
GRAOO!!!
Suddenly, Anna lunged out from the dark mist.
Her mouth stretched so wide it tore at the corners, revealing teeth, tongue, and—inside her maw—other faces staring out at him.
Lathel wanted to use spatial movement again, but realized his energy was nearly depleted.
After all, he was only an Awakened—Level 2, late-stage—his internal energy reserves weren't endless.
Moreover, using the Space talent repeatedly had drained him severely.
Lathel gritted his teeth and swung his spear toward Anna.
But—
Whoosh!
A black smoky tentacle shot from Anna's mouth at terrifying speed, bypassing the spear and stabbing straight through his wrist.
Keng!
A wave of searing pain forced Lathel to let go of the spear, which clattered to the ground with a sharp metallic clang.
"Damn it!" Lathel tried to yank the black tentacle out of his hand, but it slithered like a snake, violently tearing and piercing through his arm from the inside.
It slowly burrowed toward Lathel's heart, but he reacted fast—his free hand gripped the upper arm being ravaged by the black tentacle.
With two fingers, he pierced his own bicep, pinched the writhing tentacle, then yanked it out with brutal force.
Smash!
The sound of flesh tearing echoed. The black tendril was ripped free, but with it came a spray of Lathel's blood and shredded flesh.
Smash!
Before Lathel could act, another tentacle shot forward, stabbing straight through his abdomen.
Smash! Smash! Smash!
Countless more tendrils pierced his body, transforming him into a giant human pincushion.
GRAOO!!!
Anna, now like a wild beast, lunged at him with her mouth wide open.
No battle skills, no dazzling magic—only savage, primal instinct and monstrous strength.
Crack!
"Ack!" Lathel cried out in pain.
Even though he had upgraded his 'Perfect Humanity' talent to Level 4, making his body far stronger and more resilient than any normal person—
Anna's jaws still managed to crush his shoulder.
"Grum... Grum..."
Anna clamped down on his shattered shoulder, refusing to let go. From her mouth came the snarls of a beast, and in her coal-black eyes burned boundless hatred.
At this moment, Lathel felt his life slipping away, like a tiny boat sucked into a vast whirlpool with no escape.
The scene before his eyes grew hazy, as if a fog was closing in around him.
In those final moments, Lathel saw a fish swimming in the mist, its two eyes like blood-red moons staring at him, full of greed and excitement.
Lathel looked back at it—and suddenly, he smiled... a smile of pure, unrestrained madness.