Serie erupted from behind the bushes, moving so fast that she left only an afterimage.
Like a snow leopard pouncing on its prey, she instantly closed in behind the Soldier.
One hand, like an iron vice, clamped over his mouth and nose, cutting off any chance of him crying for help, while the other hand, with fingers pressed together, became scorching red in an instant, like a red-hot branding iron.
Sizzle!
A soft sound of flesh being instantly charred and vaporized!
That burning hot palm, like a hot knife through butter, effortlessly pierced through his thick combat uniform and flesh.
It entered through his chest and exited through his back.
The Soldier's body trembled violently, his pupils instantly dilating and unfocusing, unable to even let out a muffled groan.
The scalding blood didn't even have time to gush out before it was instantly vaporized by the terrifying high temperature.
4/21.
Perhaps influenced by the Wildfire Witch.
Serie, witnessing such close-range killing for the first time, not only felt no discomfort but a slight curve appeared at the corner of her lips.
Red light surged, and attribute buffs stacked.
Strength, speed, endurance, spirit, and even charm soared as if drawing fresh blood from the enemy!
Red mist billowed from her body.
Her overly long bangs were lifted by an invisible current, revealing her amber eyes, sharp as tempered gold blades.
"Behind! Enemy attack!" The roar of the fire-suited Soldier was tinged with a distorted terror, the panic of a hunter suddenly becoming the hunted.
They clumsily tried to turn, their heavy fire suits like moving iron coffins, making their speed as slow as a crawling turtle.
"Come on!" Serie excitedly urged the flames within her body to be fully unleashed.
Her white hospital gown instantly burned away in the absolute high temperature, revealing the hot skin beneath, covered with old and new scars, now glowing like molten veins.
Her silver-white short hair visibly surged with wildfire, transforming into fiery red long hair with a shimmering golden luster, wildly dancing in the air distorted by the high temperature.
Each flutter brought a trail of tiny sparks.
At this moment, Serie was no longer human-shaped.
Or rather, this was the true Wildfire Witch.
With a raise of her hand, layers of fire waves struck the Soldiers.
"Ah—! Put out the fire! Quickly put out the fire!" Horrific screams echoed through the forest.
The iron-clad Soldiers were terrified, but the range of their extinguisher nozzles was simply not enough to save their teammates in the sea of fire.
In an instant, several more Soldiers perished in the flames.
12/21.
Serie felt her power growing explosively, but the frenzy also made her feel a tearing sensation from being over-exerted.
Bang!
A muffled gunshot.
A Soldier, hiding behind a tree trunk, leaned out and fired blindly in extreme fear!
The bullet struck Serie's right arm, drawing a trail of blood!
Although Serie's surprise attack was too sudden, the remaining Soldiers immediately organized a counterattack.
Immediately after, several more bullets flew towards Serie, but fortunately, they only narrowly grazed her waist and thigh.
The sharp pain made her let out a muffled groan, her movements faltering, but then she raised both hands, unleashing another wave of fire that engulfed several more Soldiers.
15/21.
The red light was so intense it was almost burning.
The 45% all-attribute boost reached its peak!
Serie felt as if she had transformed into a supernova about to explode.
Power surged, threatening to tear apart her broken body.
She suppressed the dizziness and the tearing wail from within her body, and relying on her stacked agility attribute, she staggered to a charred giant tree to catch her breath, each breath carrying the taste of blood and rust.
But the opportunity was fleeting, and a fierce glint shot through Serie's eyes.
She knew that the kill streak time for "War Frenzy" was precious, and her body was nearing its limit.
Ignoring the pain, Serie suddenly darted out from behind another tree, raising her hand again to unleash a towering wave of fire.
Several Soldiers were sent flying with screams, but just then, a heavy body suddenly pressed against her back.
An iron-vise-like arm clamped tightly around her slender waist, while the other firmly locked her arms.
"Got—got her! I got this monster! Quickly kill her! Hurry—!"
The iron-clad Soldier's voice was shrill and distorted with ecstasy, his face behind the mask twisted and flushed from the rapidly rising temperature.
Serie struggled to regain her senses, lifting her face to meet the eyes behind the mask.
Was he Slavic?
Those eyes... seemed familiar...
The floodgates of memory opened again.
The face of the iron-clad Soldier in front of her slowly twisted and blurred, gradually overlapping with another face.
The man in the white coat was the head of the Zoya project, just like Linette and Hayato Kurosawa.
Unfortunately, he was more like Hayato Kurosawa than the gentle Linette.
Fragments of memory, carrying the cold scent of iron, pierced her mind:
Zoya was interrogated in an iron cage...
As long as even a hint of anger or irritation showed in her eyes, or a single spark appeared on her body, what awaited her was repeated high-pressure water cannon blasts from several Soldiers.
Those weren't children's toy water guns, but high-pressure water guns capable of piercing skin and even causing internal organ damage!
After a round of torture, Zoya was not only soaked through, her fair skin covered in bruises, but her arms, used to shield her face and chest, were broken beyond recognition.
The Control Bureau's medical equipment was advanced; such injuries could be easily healed, and then...
Repeat...
This sight, even for Serie, who was also contained, caused shock and sympathy, and this iron-clad Soldier naturally became the target of her... or rather, "their" unleashed fury.
The Soldier looked left and right, his vision filled only with churning flames.
"Where are they?! Where the hell did everyone go?! Fire—!" He shrieked in despair, then felt the body in his arms suddenly stop struggling.
A hint of wild joy had just crept into his heart—
Buzz—!!!
Serie had stopped struggling, but within her, the raging, ultimate power of flames, along with all the buffs from "War Frenzy" peaking...
She decisively and unreservedly detonated inward!
Blinding white light mixed with destructive crimson, centered on the two of them, instantly compressed to the extreme.
The Soldier holding her felt the "human form" in his arms vanish, replaced by what felt like a miniature sun capable of incinerating everything.
His frozen smile still hung on his face.
"Im...pos..." His desperate roar was utterly crushed by the roar!
Boom—!!!!
The terrifying energy shockwave, like an invisible giant hammer, swept outwards in all directions with destructive force!
The iron-clad Soldier who had embraced Serie bore the brunt of it.
His proud, thick fire suit, under the extreme high temperature exploding from within and the destructive impact from without, was like fragile glass, instantly covered with spiderweb-like cracks, then disintegrated and vaporized.
The body inside couldn't even let out a scream before turning to ash under the absolute high temperature and pressure.
The powerful impact blasted Serie away like a rag doll.
She landed heavily on the charred ground a dozen meters away, rolling several times before stopping.
All the bones in her body felt shattered, the wound on her right arm completely burst open, and the old injury on her lower abdomen sent a heart-wrenching pain.
Her vision was black, her ears filled only with a sharp buzzing, and the taste of blood clogged her throat.
21/21.
The number finally settled, the aftermath of this explosion had almost leveled the nearby dozens of meters.
Serie could no longer hold on, her entire body feeling as if it were falling apart, and she heavily knelt to the ground.
She coughed violently, blood-flecked foam splattering onto the charred earth.
The red light of "War Frenzy" rapidly dissipated like dying embers, leaving behind an utterly hollowed-out, scarred, naked husk.
The excitement and thrill vanished, replaced only by boundless weakness and bone-deep pain.
The forest was dead silent.
Only the crackling of burning flames and Serie's own heavy, wheezing breaths, like a broken bellows.
She struggled to lift her head, her silver hair matted with blood and sweat against her paper-pale face.
Her amber eyes trembled slightly, scanning the hell she had personally created.
The Control Bureau's team was completely wiped out, but she had no time to appreciate the sound of a completed mission.
Now, she was covered in wounds, her life already overdrawn.
Must... leave...
This thought supported her, as she dragged her broken body, staggering, leaving a trail of blood with every step, deeper into the forest.
Not far away, a wisp of cooking smoke, clearly different in color from gunpowder smoke, drifted with the wind.
"Grandma! Grandma! Come look! Why is the forest over there smoking black? It looks like a really bad fire!"
A clear and panicked young girl's voice rang out.
Serie used her last bit of strength, wanting to look up and see the source of the sound.
However—
The taut string within her body finally snapped completely.
Her vision suddenly went black, the world spun, and her left arm, which had been supporting her body, instantly lost all strength.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, she fell forward silently, her face hitting the snow with a thud.
Before her consciousness completely plunged into boundless darkness, the last sound she caught was the girl's suddenly heightened scream:
"Ah—! Grandma! Here... here's someone injured!"