The surrounding space was about to swallow Blood whole. Her blood slowed the shattering of the space around her, and she fled the collapsing area at incredible speed. The corners of her lips had only just curved upward when she vanished.

Blood realized that the void beneath her feet had already shattered. An immense force of suction tried to drag her into the endless darkness. She reached out, intending to slow time once more, but Moon Owl gave her no chance. Space layered over space, slowly pressing Blood into the void.

Hrubess and Qiu Sheng’s group had nearly exhausted their Mana. The two sides were evenly matched.

Nearby, Thunder Slash had run out of Mana. The Zone Fifteen Guardian and Aphrodite joined forces and blasted her away. The spear in her hand, formed from thunder, dimmed and could vanish at any moment.

Aphrodite shouted for the Zone Fifteen Guardian to keep Thunder Slash restrained. She would go help Blood, who was about to be swallowed by the void.

Inside the monitoring room, Blade gnawed at her fingernails. The two sides seemed evenly matched, but the Twelfth District had always been at a disadvantage. Now, that disadvantage had been magnified without limit.

A change had occurred in Thunder Slash’s battle. One of the [Chapter Three] had broken free.

At this point, no one at Moon Owl or Qiu Sheng’s side could stop the [Chapter Three]. Did they have no choice but to retreat?

Blade was just about to speak when Blood, who had been forced into the spatial rift, tore the space apart.

She held the Blood Cup in her hands and drank all the blood inside in a single gulp while floating in the void. As a result, she gained the power to tear open the void.

“Now… it seems we can’t retreat. If her ability is now the same as Moon Owl’s, she should also be able to create or erase these passages in the Twelfth District.”

Blade’s brows furrowed even deeper. It was still a matter of insufficient combat strength. If another [Chapter Three] could come to reinforce the Twelfth District, they might not lose.

Or rather, they wouldn’t lose so terribly.

“Aklatia is under attack!”

Just then, a deep male voice came through the phone in front of Blade. Blade remembered him as an employee of Aklatia. She had heard that voice before.

But in the next second, a scream came from the other end.

Something had happened to Aklatia.

“They still had another piece on the board… We’ve fallen behind on the frontline because we lack strength. Now, the rear is also understaffed. With no one to guard it, our people are about to be slaughtered.”

Blade hadn’t expected them to turn around and target the newly resurrected Aklatia.

After a moment of thought, Blade finally made her decision.

“If necessary, abandon the Twelfth District.”

When the spatial passages were first established, Blade and Moon Owl had discussed whether they needed a passage to help all the civilians in the Twelfth District evacuate if the district gave everything it had and still couldn’t stop the enemy.

Blade had decided it was necessary. Moon Owl had then found a way to connect several spatial passages to the border.

Now was the time to activate them.

Blade had just been about to begin the evacuation when two figures entered her view.

A pitch-black spatial rift tore open. Moon Owl, covered in blood, was desperately holding back Blood as she lunged toward Blade.

It turned out that after gaining spatial Mana, Blood had seen the passage through which Illusory Glass and Qianchun had arrived. She intended to tear through space and enter the shelter to seize the Key.

If she entered the shelter, the consequences would be disastrous.

Moon Owl had no time to worry about anything else. She crushed a Magic Stone and unlocked her power once more.

How many times had she unlocked it today? Twice… three times?

Moon Owl could no longer keep count. She only felt that her vision was becoming blurry. It seemed to be a side effect of this time’s release.

“So this is your shelter? How shabby.”

Moon Owl narrowed her eyes. Even after risking her life to stop Blood, she had still allowed Blood to enter the shelter.

Moon Owl swung her fist with all her strength and slammed it against Blood’s Mana Layer. Yet it couldn’t shake Blood in the slightest.

Blood clutched Moon Owl tightly by the throat. Moon Owl could feel the blood inside her body being stripped away and drained, little by little.

“I’m almost reluctant to kill you now. Blood containing spatial Mana… How delicious.”

“After I destroy the Twelfth District, I’ll make you one of my dependents. What a wonderful thing that would be.”

Blood licked the corner of her lips. Absorbing Moon Owl’s blood had restored a considerable amount of her Mana.

She turned toward Blade, who was hiding in the corner, and lifted her up with one hand.

“An ant… No, I know you. You seem to be the commander of the Twelfth District.”

“But you don’t have much Mana, and you can’t do anything before a [Chapter Three]. Hand over the Key, and I’ll spare your life.”

Blade painfully narrowed her eyes and met those bloodstained pupils. For a moment, her mind became hazy.

She was just about to speak when her eyes suddenly cleared.

This woman wanted to learn the Key’s whereabouts from her. That was absolutely impossible!

Blood was surprised as well. Blade was only a [First Symphony], yet she had resisted the mental erosion of a [Chapter Three] through sheer willpower.

Blood couldn’t help praising the Twelfth District.

“You people really are full of talent.”

“But I hate people like you most of all.”

With that, she gave Blade’s arm a light squeeze and tore it from its socket.

At that moment, the necklace around Blade’s neck erupted with golden light, forcing Blood back two steps.

Blade was thrown far away. She gasped for fresh air and reached up to touch the necklace around her neck.

Then she discovered that the Magic Stone in its center had shattered.

It had been a birthday gift from her father. She had never expected it to injure a [Chapter Three] when she was in danger, buying them precious time to escape.

Moon Owl struggled to climb to her feet. She tore open another spatial rift and returned to the Twelfth District branch.

Then she waved her hand and erased every connected passage.

But that woman was still inside the shelter. The civilians there had no way to evacuate immediately.

Yet if they hadn’t fled just now, Moon Owl, Blade, and everyone in the shelter would have died.

The best choice Moon Owl could make was to escape with Blade.

“Blade… you…”

Before she could finish, Moon Owl’s Magic Armor deactivated. She collapsed helplessly, but Blade caught her.

Blade settled Moon Owl onto a sofa. Then she took out the two Magic Stones she had been saving and placed them beside Moon Owl.

With firm steps, she walked toward the meeting room, as if she had made some decision.

She grabbed the microphone from the table and connected it to every broadcast in the Twelfth District. Given the current situation, she had the authority to use the broadcasts.

“To everyone in the shelter, I’m sorry.”

“The enemy used a special method to enter the shelter. It seems we’ve lost.”

“There are still three exits that can be used normally. Please evacuate in an orderly fashion.”

The broadcast reached everyone in the shelter.

Hao Wenqian couldn’t help gripping the old hand of the orphanage director.

“How could this happen?”

From the moment Blade and Qianchun had agreed not to let any [First Symphony] join the battle, Hao Wenqian had sensed that the enemy facing the Twelfth District this time would be terrifyingly strong.

But she hadn’t expected the Twelfth District to lose so quickly.

She had once witnessed the Zone Guardian’s strength from afar. The Guardian was powerful.

The only explanation for the Guardian’s defeat was that the enemy was even stronger—and more cunning.

“It’s time to move.”

Hao Wenqian and the other [First Symphony] rose from the crowd and came to the front of the shelter.

Beforehand, Blade had warned them not to join the battle and had assigned them a mission.

If the Twelfth District lost and a broadcast was issued, they had to act at once and lead the civilians out in an orderly evacuation.

Now, they were needed.

“Everyone, listen up! We’re the reserve unit of the [Order Keepers].”

“From this point on, we’ll follow the broadcast and evacuate in an orderly manner.”

“Don’t be afraid. Don’t overthink things…”

“As long as you’re still alive, the Twelfth District is still alive!”

Hao Wenqian and the other [First Symphony] spread out. They directed the civilians at the three passages.

The people of the Twelfth District were surprisingly orderly. A few still shouted and caused a commotion, but most of them retreated in good order under Hao Wenqian and the others’ direction.

“Are you all right?”

One [First Symphony] helped up a figure who had suddenly fallen to the ground.

The figure rose with support and quietly said, “Thank you.”

Then she revealed a pair of blood-red eyes.

A Blood Clan’s scythe pierced through her abdomen. With another swing, it severed her head from her body.

Crimson blood rained down on everyone present.

The entire shelter fell silent.

Then, a moment later, ear-piercing screams erupted. The shelter descended into total chaos.

“Let me add a little more to the fun.”

She pulled Magic Stones from her chest and crushed them one by one.

Abyssal Aura and Mana slowly filled the entire space. Then she chanted an unsealing Magic Spell and began extracting the Mana from the air.

“Stop her quickly! She’s going to use the Abyssal Aura to open an Abyssal Rift!”

Hao Wenqian was just about to move forward when her companion stopped her.

The next words left Hao Wenqian feeling utterly powerless.

“But she’s a [Chapter Three]! Killing us would be as easy as slaughtering chickens!”

“Chickens aren’t that easy to kill, either…”

Hao Wenqian muttered under her breath.

The last time she had tried to kill a chicken, it had taken flight and pecked her hard on the head!

The [First Symphony] beside Hao Wenqian was Silence Is Golden. She didn’t make a joke after hearing Hao Wenqian’s words. Instead, she seriously considered them.

“You’re right… We have to peck her!”

With that, Silence Is Golden charged forward.

She seemed never to return.

Hao Wenqian had just been about to follow when she saw the head rolling across the ground. She couldn’t help taking two steps back.

Below ground, the dense Abyssal Aura slowly tore open an Abyssal Rift.

Insects and beasts swarmed out.

The [Insects] and [Beasts] were still some distance from the surface world. These were Monsters that hadn’t managed to escape during the previous invasion.

The moment the Monsters entered the space and smelled the blood in the air, they grew excited.

They hadn’t eaten in a long time.

They surged forward and began gnawing on the humans in the shelter. Sometimes, they didn’t even spare their own kind.

A field of crimson was reflected in her blood-red eyes.

For the Blood Clan, this was practically paradise. The sweet, fresh scent drifting through the air made every cell in her body cry out with delight.

“Run. Run…”

“I’ll leave this place to you. I’m going to take advantage of the Blood Cup’s remaining effect and deal with the Zone Fifteen Guardian.”

She had just turned to leave when a long, narrow Abyssal Rift suddenly appeared before her.

The rift wasn’t large. Not even a hand could fit through it.

“What a shame. It’s a useless gate.”

But a voice came from within the Abyssal Rift, making Blood’s body tremble.

“You said you were going to deal with who…?”

A Crimson Gold Spear pierced through the Abyssal Rift and, catching Blood off guard, stabbed straight through her shoulder.

“You’ve made me angry.”