On the other side.
"Omae wa mou shindeiru."
"Nani?!!"
"Ora!!!"
After a crisp, muffled thud, the enemy collapsed to the ground.
Stelle slowly rotated her wrist and casually slung the baseball bat over her shoulder.
She looked down at the person on the ground, a faint smile curling at the corner of her lips. She then raised her left hand, slowly sliding her thumb across the side of her nose—a gesture that carried a touch of cynical laziness while hiding undeniable arrogance.
"I have only exerted a fraction of my strength, yet that is already your limit!"
Unfortunately, the enemy had already fallen, and there was no one else around. Stelle stood alone, with only a cat crouched at the base of the wall, its round eyes wide open as it silently listened to her monologue to the air.
After delivering her victory declaration, Stelle turned and left.
The white cat immediately got up, its four legs moving rapidly as it caught up to her in a few strides.
"Hey, Little Cat, are you sticking to me now? Tsk tsk, I didn't expect you to have such a good eye, knowing that following me is the right choice!"
Stelle put her hands on her hips and lifted her chin slightly.
This white cat was the very same one she had encountered last time.
She hadn't expected that after just a brief encounter, this cat would seem to have fixated on her.
Stelle couldn't help but shake her head in distress.
She truly was a sinful woman!
"Meow~"
"Since you've decided to hang out with me for now, why don't I come up with a name for you?"
"Meow~"
"If you have any objections, feel free to bring them up!"
"Meow~"
"Alright, it seems you have no objections. Let me think about this carefully..."
Stelle crossed her arms, her brows slightly furrowed, looking like she was deep in serious thought.
She looked down at the snow-white cat at her feet, and suddenly her eyes lit up, as if she had come up with a brilliant idea.
She deliberately drew out her voice and tapped her chin with her fingertip. "Seeing that your fur is as white as snow and your temperament is extraordinary... in that case, you shall be called Little Black from now on!"
"Meo-"
The instant Stelle uttered the words "Little Black," the white cat seemed as if it had been pressed with a pause button.
Stelle even had the illusion that she saw a human-like expression of "speechless" on its fluffy face.
If Little Black could speak, it would definitely roll its eyes and complain: It was one thing that the previous pooper-scooper ran away, but how come the new one seems to have a broken brain!
I'm pure white and you call me Little Black? I'm afraid your eyesight and IQ have both run away from home!
However, Stelle was completely unaffected.
Little Black's opinion didn't matter at all; as long as she was happy, that was all that counted.
Afterward, Stelle walked away with a cheerful gait.
Seeing this, Little Black seemed to have no choice but to follow along helplessly.
...
Just as Stelle was leaving.
Vain, who was hiding on the other side, seemed to have discovered something.
"Another node has been destroyed?"
He stood silently for a moment, then a faint smile suddenly spread across the corners of his lips.
"Forget it," he turned around, his back to everything behind him, his voice calm and ripple-free. "All of this is just futile! Right, Senior?"
Vain glanced sideways at Blood Butcher beside him.
Upon hearing this, Blood Butcher let out a low, cold hum from his throat and turned his face away, his body surging with malevolence, clearly indicating that he had no desire to speak further.
Having learned from past experiments and experiences, they knew that this large-scale Blood Array could not be destroyed easily.
As for all the Blood Array nodes scattered throughout Muyun City, as long as the most critical main formation node was not destroyed, it would not affect the progress of the ritual.
The only impact might be a reduction in the scope of influence.
But as long as the overall integrity was not compromised, it would be enough.
In the end, as long as the ritual was completed successfully, none of this would matter.
"It's about time."
Vain checked the time, considering that some nodes had already been destroyed.
Just in case, it seemed the plan could be initiated early.
Upon hearing this, a smile of excitement gradually appeared on Blood Butcher's face.
Clearly, he had been waiting a long time for this moment.
At this moment, they were located directly beneath Times Square in Muyun City.
And this place was the center connecting the array for the entire Muyun City.
"Then let the nightmare descend!"
Blood Butcher suddenly pressed his palms together, and an obscure, incomprehensible incantation squeezed out from between his teeth like a viper flicking its tongue.
In an instant, a thick, ink-like, dark and evil aura surged out from his body, crawling all over him along the lines of his skin, and swirled into twisted black mist around him, even eroding the floor tiles beneath his feet.
Vain stepped back a few paces, watching this historic scene with a smile in his eyes.
Blood Butcher slowly took out a glass container. The bottle emitted a cold, eerie light, and inside, it quietly held less than three milliliters of black liquid—the liquid was as thick as solidified ink, sinking to the bottom of the bottle without moving, as if even light could be swallowed by it.
As the container opened, the black liquid instantly began to churn, its color gradually transforming from deep black into a blinding blood-red. It then burst into dozens of slender filaments of light, twisting into eerie runes in the air, as if guided by an invisible hand, and "whoosh" dived into the lines of the array.
Seeing this, Blood Butcher felt a surge of joy. "It's a success!"
The next moment, the array roared to life! As the blood-red light surged, the ground trembled violently, and cold, frigid winds whistled in all directions, carrying a bone-chilling chill.
At the same time, an invisible shockwave suddenly exploded from the center of Times Square, spreading across the entire city with unstoppable force.
Almost simultaneously, the Blood Arrays lurking throughout Muyun City—whether buried deep underground or hidden in abandoned buildings—dimmed instantly the moment the wave swept over them, like candle flames being snuffed out, leaving not even a trace of residual evil energy, as if they had never existed.
Vain and Blood Butcher watched this scene with excitement.
"Hahaha! From this moment on, the countdown to destruction has been completely initiated. No one can stop all of this!"
With the successful initiation of the Blood Array, it meant that they no longer needed to hold back!
"For these past few months, I've been hiding and skulking around like a coward; it's been suffocating! Now that the Blood Array is complete, let's see who can stop us from going on a killing spree!"
Vain glanced at him sideways, his brows slightly furrowed, his eyes filled with undisguised disdain.
"Mind your limits. If you slaughter everyone in Muyun City, where are we going to find sacrifices?"
"Hmph, of course I know my limits."
Blood Butcher let out a cold snort, then pulled a sinister, evil smile, his eyes surging with bloodthirsty madness.
"So what if I can't go on a killing spree?" He licked his dry lips, his tone filled with violence. "It's just slaughtering a few pieces of trash from the Ability Bureau; they can't stir up any trouble!"
Upon hearing this, Vain did not retort.
The ritual had successfully begun; they no longer had any reason to keep a low profile.
Although the possibility might be slim, it wouldn't hurt to eliminate influencing factors in advance.
"You can do whatever you want with the others, but you are not allowed to touch Mu Yao."
"Oh?" Blood Butcher raised an eyebrow, his tone full of mockery and probing. "Don't tell me you've lost your mind to lust and are actually planning to betray the church for a woman like her?"
Vain did not respond. After tossing something to Blood Butcher, he turned around and left directly.
This object was exactly the same black blood as the one used before.
Blood Butcher naturally knew the use of this object.
Watching Vain's tall, straight back disappear into the alley entrance, he curled his lips into a cold, mocking sneer and turned to step into the darkness in the opposite direction.
He calculated sinisterly in his heart: Since you won't let me kill her, I will destroy her mind with the most cruel methods, making you regret your own arrogance!