Indeed, as the pink-haired woman said, she was soon able to return to the group of children.
Under the continuous casting of the legendary super-tier magic 【Eradication of All Things】, the hundred-kilometer-wide black cloud behind her melted away as quickly as spring snow meeting the midday sun.
There was no great noise, no explosive shockwaves; it was simply swallowed by the elemental black hole in an instant, then vanished along with the black hole itself.
“So this is the power of a legend...”
And it wasn't just an ordinary legend like Grant; this was power at a level far above most legends...
Beyond the shock, Leon felt a deep curiosity about this pink-haired woman who looked exactly like Alicia, as well as the young girl named “Bemis.”
“Bemis” was no ordinary name. It held a significant status within the Heron Empire, and few dared to use it.
Moreover, the girl named “Bemis” bore a striking resemblance to the portrait of a certain Pope hanging in the Holy See’s cathedral.
That Pope’s name was also “Bemis,” and she was known as the “Restoration Pope” of the Holy See.
It was only after Bemis that the Holy See was able to stand out among numerous churches, becoming an incredibly powerful institution that spanned multiple imperial eras and remained the state religion even now, in the time of the Heron Empire.
The Gold rank Divine Art Miles had previously introduced to Leon, 【Bemis’s Armor】, and the so-called “Bemis Priest Academy” mentioned during the priest examinations, were all named after this legendary Pope.
While Leon was deep in thought, the scene before him shifted. The pink-haired woman quickly found the children who had been traveling onward and returned to their side.
“Sister Alicia.”
Seeing the pink-haired woman return safely, the girl Bemis called out, clearly relieved.
The pink-haired woman nodded and continued to lead the dozen or so children through the wilderness.
“Alicia?”
Leon felt a jolt in his heart; his suspicion had been confirmed. This pink-haired woman who looked so much like Alicia was indeed Alicia.
To distinguish between the Alicia in reality and this one, Leon decided to call the pink-haired woman before him “Big Alicia.”
He was filled with confusion. Why were there two Alicias in the world?
And why was he able to enter this dream-like place from the side of Little Alicia and see Big Alicia?
His current information couldn't answer his doubts, so Leon could only follow Big Alicia as she walked.
In this boundless wilderness, Big Alicia led the group of children, constantly moving in one direction.
Behind them, Leon followed closely like a ghost.
He saw a massive blue dragon, roughly two to three hundred meters long and dozens of meters wide, suddenly appear in the wilderness.
The blue dragon blocked Big Alicia’s path, spewing surging torrents of lightning plasma from its maw.
But in the blink of an eye, Big Alicia tore off its two dragon wings and reduced it to ashes with legendary magic.
He saw an alchemical golem the size of a normal human pull a forty-meter-long alchemical firearm from its chest in a single second.
But before the alchemical golem could fire, Big Alicia spotted it and crushed it into a flat disk of metal with a casual spell.
He saw swarms of monsters as vast as the tide surging toward Big Alicia, only for her to blast a path through them with saturated magical bombardment.
He saw many monsters trying to hinder Big Alicia and slow her pace, only to be neutralized one by one by her exquisite magic.
Following their footsteps, Leon understood the obstacles they faced and finally saw the end of their journey.
At the edge of this vast wilderness, there was a clear boundary line.
On this side of the line was a withered wilderness without a trace of life.
On the other side was a shimmering blue sea, where fish leaped and birds flew.
That sea was so full of life and so different that the children, who had never seen such a sight, stared with wide, round eyes, as if trying to etch the image of the ocean into their hearts.
“Keep... going. I... will... lead... you... out.”
Big Alicia said, leading the children forward.
The closer they got to the edge of the wilderness and the sea, the more powerful the obstructing forces became.
However, as a legendary rank mage, Big Alicia was able to resolve them with minimal cost.
Until they stepped into a seemingly ordinary area of the wilderness.
It was a domain called 【Hunger】.
Even Leon, who had no physical form, felt his infinitely clear and calm thoughts instantly occupied by another thought the moment he stepped into that ordinary-looking wilderness—
Hungry. So hungry. Extremely hungry.
Saliva secreted uncontrollably in his mouth. Gastric juices gushed out like oil compressed underground for a thousand years, burning his stomach with a searing pain.
The scent of raw meat wafted through the air. It didn't come from any food, but from the flesh and blood in his own nasal cavity, from the meat on his own body, from the meat within every inch of his cells.
Hunger.
It was so hungry his skull buzzed, and his vision was stained with blood-red rusty spots.
His logic was torn apart, swallowed, and digested by something primal.
He wanted to bite down, to chew something... even if it was the soft flesh between his own teeth, even if it was his own palm.
Anything.
As long as it was meat.
Driven by that intense desire, Leon bit down hard on his own lip, wanting to tear off a piece of flesh to fill the endless hunger in his belly.
But in the next instant, the sensation of void in his mouth acted like a heavy anchor, suddenly jerking back his nearly out-of-control thoughts and pulling him out of that boundless hunger.
Leon forcibly suppressed that bone-deep hunger, his heart filled with lingering fear!
If it weren't for his current special state of having no physical body, once he bit down and tasted the flavor of his own flesh, he would have completely lost his mind and been swallowed whole by that strange and terrifying hunger!
He quickly looked up at Big Alicia and the group of children.
By now, all the children had been infected by that horrific 【Hunger】. Saliva flowed uncontrollably, and a terrifying green light shone in their eyes.
The way they looked at their companions was filled with the most primal and frantic hunger!
Even Big Alicia was infected by the 【Hunger】, a strange light appearing in her eyes.
But within a single second, Big Alicia used her own resilience and willpower to forcibly suppress the hunger.
She raised her hand to cast a fainting spell, knocking all the children unconscious, but it was useless.
Even in an unconscious state, the children were still affected by 【Hunger】. The flesh on their bodies began to act independently of their will, hungrily devouring everything!
Even the flesh itself!
Seeing this, Big Alicia tried every spell she knew, but none were effective.
Finally, with a solemn expression, Big Alicia released her own soul.
She used her soul to touch the souls of these children who could not suppress the power of 【Hunger】.
She draped her soul over each of the weak souls being eroded by 【Hunger】, like building a sacred bridge of purification.
The contact between souls became a precision filter, stripping away and absorbing the power of 【Hunger】 that had seeped deep into the children’s spirits.
The fragments of the children's true souls became pure after being cleansed and returned to their bodies.
Meanwhile, the distortion and pollution originating from 【Hunger】 were entirely intercepted, remaining within Big Alicia’s soul.
Rate on N.U.
