In the botanical garden, the wide paths between the giant plants were torn into thin fragments by the colorful darkness.

Merka ran desperately on the scattered paths. His footsteps treaded on the pitch-black ceramic tiles, as if stepping into muddy filth.

Merka's legs weakened, his consciousness gradually dragged into the unspeakable black abyss of exhaustion. The dead silence of the night seeped into Merka's pores, and he knew that if he stopped for even a second, he would lose the strength to take the next step.

Fear and dread consumed him as he incessantly fled towards the green pinpointed building on the map.

Suddenly, a huge darkness loomed over the entire sky of the botanical garden. It appeared like a meteor-sized ink sphere descending from the sky, crushing the entire botanical garden into a shattered black domain.

The dark, like a tide, surged forward with the hoof-like footsteps of the owl god. It gradually spread, expanding to cover every place still accessible under the botanical garden.

If this were a horror movie, it was clear that they were already in the second half.

The atmosphere of horror intensified, countless sinister shadows lurking under the owl god's steps, following the gentlemanly pace towards Merka.

Merka widened his magical vision, on high alert for the eerie beings stirring in the darkness.

His magical vision now resembled a weather balloon floating amidst a fierce storm, swaying in the turbulent darkness, everything around gradually becoming blurred.

Merka clenched the backdrop in his hand, feeling the coldness in his limbs. He couldn't sense his heartbeat, as if his heart had stopped due to tension.

He gritted his teeth, ready to activate the backdrop at the slightest hint of an attack against him. However, he dared not think about what would happen once he activated the backdrop again.

Finally, Merka arrived under a giant oak tree large enough to encircle dozens of people, finding that the green dot on his map perfectly matched his current location.

"I've...I should be here, right? Isn't this where the map shows?" Merka mumbled to himself.

Lowering his head, he confirmed that he had reached the location marked on the map, only to see nothing but a gigantic oak tree.

Wait...an oak tree?

Merka gazed up in confusion—before him, the towering oak tree seemed to pierce the ceiling of the botanical garden, supporting a massive wooden house at its peak.

"Could it be...over there?"

Frowning, Merka spread his wings and swiftly soared towards the wooden house at the top of the tree, sticking close to the trunk as he ascended rapidly.

The darkness by now had completely engulfed the ground, churning with unrest. Several thunderous black lines shot out like lightning from the tumultuous darkness on the ground, instantly striking towards Merka's back.

Merka gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to immediately use the backdrop. With all his strength, he steered his wings that were bending in the storm, narrowly avoiding the lightning strike from behind.

The lightning grazed Merka's face, flashing towards the dome.

Among the dazzling narrow lightning flashes, a mirror-like narrow passage appeared, reflecting the terrified face of Merka in the dark mirror.

"I've got you."

The figure of Merka reflected in the lightning was shattered by the owl god in the mirror. Emerging from the lightning, the owl god reached out to grab Merka's throat.

"Power Angel!!!"

Merka tightly held the backdrop in his hand, shouting uncontrollably.

Sensing Merka's fear, the Power Angel roared furiously, leaping from the misty ground with all its might, flying dozens of meters into the air in an instant to catch up with Merka's figure.

It resembled a massive black chimpanzee as tall as a five-story building, with uneven fangs in its mouth, raising its fists high to swiftly jump over, directly pounding the owl god with its meteor-like fists, smashing it into the oak tree.

This was the first time Merka had seen the owl god being defeated.

With a thunderous roar, the entire oak tree snapped in half.

The darkness in the entire area, like a startled pack of wolves, converged towards Merka.

The owl god, hovering in mid-air, continually condensing the terrifying darkness akin to the death vortex that reaps all life, stood on the broken oak trunk about to plummet, spreading its intimidating crow wings that shaded everything with a terror darker than the night and deeper than the abyss.

"Merka...Merka."

"Just go ahead and use it, use the backdrop.”

"Soon, you'll witness an ending that's a billion times more terrifying than death itself!"