*cough cough... coughing!*
Merka arrived at the entrance of the botanical garden, tightened the steering wheel, revved up the engine, and dashed through the long-neglected, damaged gate with all his might.
The forklift, lacking in power, ran like a creature on fire, struggling, and finally exhausted itself like a European bison. After completing the task of breaking through the gate, it was completely disabled mid-air, crushed and dented by the intense impact.
As Merka entered the botanical garden, he collided head-on with the chaotic dust at the entrance in the swirling wind. Momentarily overwhelmed, he inadvertently sucked in all the dust, leading to intense coughing fits.
But even so, he dared not rest for a moment, immediately jumping off the disabled forklift and sprinting towards where the backdrop had fallen earlier.
He could feel that now was the time to fight for his life.
The Owl God was a more terrifying opponent on a psychological level than Oedipus.
"I see!"
Merka rushed into the dense forest of towering trees in the botanical garden, where it felt like a crumpled, green model abandoned in a corner of a dilapidated amusement park, with fallen giant trees and green branches scattered everywhere.
The horrifying plant fragments lying on the ground, some even growing strange and nauseating tentacles from their severed parts, were enough to test one's sanity with just a glance.
Wobbling through the forest, Merka soon spotted his torn-in-half servant, Plex, and the backdrop next to him.
Quickly approaching, he picked up the backdrop.
The moment Merka held the backdrop in his hand, he was shocked, his pupils contracting suddenly. He realized that this iron ball, once so familiar to him, had been pierced by some terrifying force, rendering its illusion-making ability completely ineffective.
"This wasn't caused by the aftermath of the Owl God..."
"These smooth punctures were definitely intentionally made."
"Is it the Owl God... I don't understand, doesn't the Owl God only have an axe and tentacles? Why would he deliberately create a hole?"
"Wait... there is also a hole on the back of the backdrop. What... what kind of weapon could have caused these strange marks and shapes..."
"Could it be... bite marks?"
Merka shook his head, quickly dismissing the cluttered thoughts from his mind.
Immediately, he activated Maria's magic, attempting to summon the Power Angel.
Fortunately, Maria's magic was still intact. After all, angels only recognized individuals by their scent, so it didn't matter if objects were damaged.
"Want to play hide-and-seek with me."
"Merka dear."
"But such a simple game is unfair for a big child like you."
"I need to add some difficulty for you."
Suddenly, a deep demonic voice, as if from hell itself, drilled into Merka's brain from the base of his spine.
Merka looked towards the botanical garden gate.
He saw the Owl God strolling in leisurely through the gate that he had shattered into pieces.
Nonchalantly stretching his thin, elongated limbs resembling bamboo worms in a thicket, one hand gripping the sharp and crooked gate due to the breakage, he easily manipulated the entire white gate in his hand as if it were a dumpling on an ancient Eastern dining table, swiftly turning it into a crumpled white ball. With this "ball" that weighed at least sixty to seventy kilograms, the Owl God's beak-like face lightly closed, almost as if he was laughing.
Violent black waters poured in through the breach behind him. They were eerie, spectacular, and mysterious, as if someone had deliberately opened a hole in the vertical cliffs of the raging river on the plateau, from which the ferocious torrent poured down.
"Run! Run!"
"You're a good-for-nothing who has accomplished nothing in your life!"
The Owl God roared with laughter.
The viscous black river flooded the land of the botanical garden, rushing towards Merka at high speed.
At the same time, the Owl God tightened his grip on the iron ball in his hand, raised it in an incredible posture, and tensed his body.
Swish!
Like a bullet, a series of iron ball shadows flew through the air, perfectly hitting Merka's backside. It instantly tore apart his left leg and left hip, leaving a football-sized hole in his body, before slamming heavily into the ground.
The blurry flesh and blood splattering from his thigh quickly passed into Merka's peripheral vision. Before he could comprehend what had happened, his body lost balance and he fell to the ground.
