Han Meng froze.
He watched as Chen Ling dissolved into paper butterflies and vanished into the fog. It took him several seconds to snap out of his daze.
"Light the Beacon Fire..." He repeated the words under his breath, his eyes narrowing as if struck by a sudden realization. His gaze shifted toward the steel factory ahead.
Han Meng hesitated. He debated whether to trust Chen Ling—a Twilight Society member—but quickly reached a conclusion. He didn’t know why Chen Ling would help him, but at the very least, there was no reason for him to lie.
With no other options left, Han Meng decided to gamble.
---
"What’s the casualty count?"
Xi Renjie trudged wearily back onto the street, his exhaustion evident in every step.
"We’re still tallying… There are too many casualties. It’ll take a while to get an accurate number." A fellow enforcer replied bitterly. "But conservatively, at least a third of District Three’s population has been lost."
Xi Renjie gave a slow nod.
"Any word from Chief Han Meng?"
"...Nothing. We’ve been calling, but no response."
Xi Renjie’s heart sank. His eyes instinctively darted toward the steel factory, where the fog still hung thick and undisturbed. No one knew what lay hidden behind that veil.
Just as he was about to speak, a faint rustling sound echoed from the distance.
"...Do you hear that?"
"Yeah… It’s getting closer."
"Is the ground shaking?"
"Oh no—SCATTER!"
In Xi Renjie’s vision, a massive silhouette emerged from the depths of the fog. He roared a warning, and the group scattered just in time.
BOOM—!!
A colossal shadow centipede burst through the mist, crushing nearby houses into rubble in an instant. The residents inside didn’t even have time to scream before being reduced to pulp beneath its weight.
Under the horrified gazes of the survivors, the enormous centipede reared its head, its dark red maw splitting open as countless shadowy tendrils extended outward like branches, lashing toward the people in the street.
The attack was too sudden. No one had expected such a monstrous creature to appear in a district that had already been mostly cleared. Most couldn’t even react before the shadows seized them.
Their hands jerked up against their will, clamping around their own throats with inhuman strength, squeezing until veins bulged and flesh twisted.
Blood vessels burst in their eyes as their breathing choked to a halt—until, finally, their bodies stiffened and collapsed, swallowed whole by the encroaching tide of shadows.
Those who had narrowly escaped stood frozen in terror. Xi Renjie stared at the towering monstrosity, his heart plummeting.
"Brother Meng…"
This shadow centipede was almost certainly the "mother entity" Han Meng had mentioned. And if it had broken free from the factory and appeared here… it meant Han Meng had fallen in battle. A flicker of despair flashed in Xi Renjie’s eyes.
With Han Meng gone, unless reinforcements arrived from Aurora City, who in District Three could possibly stand against this creature?
He had fought so hard to purge the streets, only for it to end like this. Xi Renjie stood there, his face ashen, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
BOOM—!!
Then—a towering column of fire erupted from deep within the fog, blazing like a miniature sun.
The flames were so vast, so intense, that even from this distance, their glow pierced the haze. The swarming shadow centipedes halted mid-charge, their forms twisting as they turned toward the source of the light.
Even the mother entity, still crushing houses under its bulk, whipped around, its dark red maw fixating on the beacon. With a piercing shriek, it abandoned the survivors and the district entirely, surging toward the flames. The endless tide of shadows followed in its wake.
The stunned survivors stood in bewildered silence, staring blankly as the Calamities retreated.
"Let’s go—check it out!" Xi Renjie was the first to snap out of it, sprinting into the fog.
The remaining enforcers exchanged glances. Only a handful chose to follow. As they pressed forward, the beacon grew clearer through the mist.
"Chief Xi." A figure in black emerged from the crowd, falling into step beside him.
"Chen Ling?" Xi Renjie blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I was resting when I saw the fire. Came as fast as I could." Chen Ling wiped sweat from his brow.
Xi Renjie studied him for a moment, ensuring he was unharmed, then nodded.
"There might be danger ahead. Stay sharp."
The outline of the factory gradually came into view. The towering beacon of fire was blazing from within the ravaged steel mill’s main workshop.
Inside, the high-temperature furnaces had been shattered, their molten contents igniting the entire structure. Steel supports melted in the inferno’s heat, transforming the building into a sun burning at ground level.
Amid the flames, the gilded slogans once etched above the entrance—"Forged Through Fire, Tempered in Hardship" and "Endurance is the Highest Honor"—were slowly consumed by the blaze… leaving only the highest words untouched.
Beneath the remaining slogan—"All for Humanity"—a lone figure in black stood before the sea of fire, a lit cigarette dangling from his lips as he coldly watched the approaching tide of shadows.
"It actually worked?" Han Meng muttered to himself.
His eyes flicked to the ground beside him, where the [6 of Hearts] playing card was slowly burning to ashes, ignited by a falling ember.
"Another favor owed, huh…"
With a sigh, Han Meng raised his gun, leveling it at the rapidly approaching mother entity. Under the crushing pressure of its aura, his own energy began to surge.
Whether it was the desperation of his situation or the inferno at his back reigniting his fighting spirit, Han Meng felt something deep within him break loose—like a tidal wave smashing against a dam, on the verge of bursting free.
Click—
A soft sound came from within Han Meng’s body as an overwhelming wave of mental energy erupted outward.
On the black divine path stretching toward the heavens, Han Meng’s suspended foot finally landed firmly on the fifth step. In that instant, his presence outshone even the burning factory. The frenzied shadow centipede mother entity instinctively halted its charge.
But now—it was too late to retreat.
Because the man in black standing before the flames had already raised his gun, aiming squarely at the encroaching tide of shadows.
"This time… it’s my turn."