They feel no pain, no fear of death, they don't even operate within the concept of "death".

Like the walking dead, yet more ruthless, faster, stronger than corpses.

The real horror isn't that they've lost consciousness.

It's that they retain the combat instincts of warriors, completely unfettered by "death".

Though the Insect Warriors are unnaturally powerful, the three Mages are no novices, having earned the title of Silver-faced Mage, they are the elite among mages.

Numerous missions of life and death have engraved experience, skill, and reflexes into their flesh and blood.

Even facing this horde of monsters, they remain steady, advancing cautiously.

Modi charges in recklessly, drawing the frontal attack, his heavy blade fists continually smashing the enemy's bodies;

Lei Xi'er controls fire with precision, exploding every three seconds, never wasting a trace of Magic Power;

Flavia calmly chants, continuously adding shields and speed boosts for the other two.

Their coordination nearly perfect, they fight as they retreat towards the small southern valley, hoping to use the terrain to break free from entanglement.

But surprises often arrive stealthily in the most familiar rhythm.

"Swift Curse—Tier Three Activating!" Flavia chants softly.

Right then, an Insect Warrior suddenly pounces, pressing closely without any warning!

"Flavia!" Lei Xi'er exclaims.

In the next second, the chest cavity of the Insect Warrior suddenly explodes.

"Pop!!"

In the midst of a slimy and terrifying rupture sound, an entire insect pod bursts into pulp, releasing green-black corrosive liquid, accompanied by countless semi-transparent small insect swarms, scattering out like raindrops!

"Aaaaah!!"

Flavia had no time to evade, covered head-on, screaming as she falls to the ground!

Her clothes instantly manifest countless holes from the corrosive liquid, the sizzling sound piercing the air, and large red blisters emerge upon her shoulders and arms, her skin burned into a patchwork of pale white and red!

The greater horror is yet to come!

Those scattered insects "drill" inside!

Several semi-transparent, worm-like creatures slither, slipping inside through her ears, nostrils, even throat!

"Cough, cough cough cough…!!"

She coughs violently, her body convulsing, her consciousness seemingly scrambled instantaneously.

Flavia suddenly flips over, clutching the ground with her nails, spewing out a few drops of blood-mixed mucus from her mouth, her gaze already starting to unfocus.

She can feel something "gnawing" inside her brain, marrow, even soul.

Modi roars, swinging his sword to cut down the pouncing shadows of insects, almost sprinting back to the cover of broken remnants.

"Flavia?!"

The girl's body curls up on the ground, convulsing endlessly as if burned by fierce flames, her skin turning red like boiling water.

"Damn... What did they do to you?"

He rushes forward, grabbing her, but suddenly freezes.

The trembling stops.

She seems emptied of her soul, terrifyingly silent.

"Flavia... Hang in there—!"

He almost instinctively wants to retreat, but hasn't found his footing yet, when the girl in his embrace suddenly moved.

No, she stands up.

She slowly rises, movements as mechanical as a puppet manipulated by strings.

On that once familiar face, all warmth and life have vanished, leaving only a void of dead silence.

"Flavia...?"

Modi looks at her in stunned disbelief.

Those eyes now glow with a bizarre purple light, like spectral figures emerging from the Abyss.

And the magic emanating from her fingertips is undeniably Flavia's Magic.

Yet it's severely chaotic, grotesquely twisted.

"You're still here, Flavia! If you can hear me, then..."

His words are incomplete, as Flavia suddenly raises her hand.

Without a hint of hesitation, a purple beam instantly slices through the air.

Modi's pupils contract sharply.

The Magic pierces through his chest.

His body shudders, blood surging from his mouth, his gaze lingering on her face with that empty expression.

"So... you've already..."

He can no longer hold on, collapsing heavily, life ebbing away.

As Flavia remains standing upright, like a moving corpse puppet, purple light drifts from her palm like a malicious flower silently blooming in the icy night.

Lei Xi'er stood frozen in place, watching Modi fall, the figure that once fought alongside him now twisted into some grotesque vessel.

"No, it can't be…"

His heart felt as if gripped by a blade, causing him to momentarily forget to breathe.

Flavia walked towards him with slow, heavy steps, yet unnervingly steady.

Her eyes still glowed with that eerie purple light.

Devoid of emotion, only carrying a command.

Behind her, five or six Insect Warriors closed in silently, bodies distorted, faces blank, as if extensions of a singular will.

"Hive Mind!"

A terrifying term Lei Xi'er had read about in ancient texts.

They were forming some kind of resonance, a mental fusion.

He clenched his teeth, took a deep breath, and forcibly suppressed the rage and fear in his heart, swinging his Magic Staff fiercely.

"…Wind-Dispelling—Blast Flame!"

The tempest and flames intertwined, surging forward, raising a scorching Fire Wall to momentarily repel the advancing Insect Warriors, granting him a brief respite.

Yet, his actions were ultimately a step too slow.

"Swoosh—!"

A strand of mucus, accompanied by a foul hiss, struck fiercely at his left shoulder.

His Armor corroded and collapsed instantly, the acidic fluid burning its way through the gaps into flesh, and in the next moment, a few finger-sized insects wriggled their way into his wound!

"Ughhhh!!"

The searing pain exploded like thunderbolts in his mind; Lei Xi'er staggered back, his face turning instantly pale.

He could feel the insects rampaging inside him, as if searching for gaps between nerves and pathways… seeking to control him! To erode him!

"I cannot fall!!"

He roared, biting through his tongue, using the very last sliver of clarity to forcibly gather Magic Power and establish a temporary barrier against his meridians.

Even if it backfires, even if the pain drives him mad… he must not become another puppet!

"Displacement Technique!"

Blinding light engulfed his figure, and in the next second, Lei Xi'er appeared dozens of meters away, stumbling and crashing heavily to the ground, his shoulder wound tearing open and splattering a deep red.

He struggled to his feet, crawling a few steps, finally tumbling into a crevice in a mountain wall, rolling clumsily into a cave hidden behind the vines.

Deep within the cave, it was dark and damp, the stone walls covered in moss and streaks, the air thick with a putrid, musty odor, as if untouched for years.

The sound of the wind was sealed outside, leaving only his heavy breathing echoing in the silent space.

Lei Xi'er leaned against the rough rock wall, covered in blood, unable to even tremble fully.

His body temperature fluctuated erratically, his skin a peculiar pallor, yet his eyes still held a flicker of unwilling light.

Clenching his teeth, he maintained the barrier, using feeble Magic Power to temporarily drive back the insects invading his body.

But it was merely a poisoned chalice, the longer he dragged it out, the greater the cost.

"Ha… ha…"

Lei Xi'er's breath was mixed with bloody froth, the crimson oozing from the corner of his mouth like withered petals scattered among the rubble.

The veins on his forehead bulged like snakes, the Magic Power inside him surged like a tide, more than seventy percent already used to seal the meridians, suppressing the corrosion.

He only had the last thirty percent of Magic Power left, barely keeping his mind clear.

Yet the Beacon Technique collapsed into a formless glow as soon as it was attempted.

"Still… not enough…"

Lei Xi'er's hand fell, as if drained of all strength, sliding helplessly onto the stone ground beside him.

Time seemed frozen. Every minute, every second dragged him closer to the brink of death.

One day and night.

No water, no food, no light.

Only the relentless "insects" within him, and a will nearly shattered by agony.

Lei Xi'er once thought he would die on the battlefield, at the glorious end of some campaign.

But never imagined it would be in this dark cavern, like a discarded puppet, quietly decaying.

The dawn of the second day hadn't arrived yet.

The insects finally fell silent.

Perhaps suppressed to the limit, perhaps retreating instinctively, or maybe just asleep.

He finally managed to catch a breath, his taut nerves snapping like broken strings.

His whole being seemed hollowed out of all blood and strength, slowly collapsing onto the ground, darkness engulfing his vision.

"Is this the end…?"

A bitter smile tugged at his lips, as if in self-mockery, or perhaps relief.

Just before his consciousness completely plunged into darkness.

He heard a voice: "Are you okay?"

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