[Vol. 9] Chapter 77: The Blaze Disaster
Although she didn’t really understand why that tiny wooden figure could move around on its own like a living thing, or why it could be called a “safety measure”.
The situation was urgent, and the captain didn’t have time to ask questions. She immediately nodded, jumped up, and landed on Yazi’s wide back.
“I’m counting on you, Little Fang.”
Normally, Yazi disliked being ridden by anyone other than his master, especially when someone used that slightly embarrassing nickname, but since it was Violet’s order, and this wasn’t the time to be stubborn, it didn’t complain. With a low growl, it grabbed Tina by the back of her collar and lifted her up.
“Rooaar!”
“W-w-wait, what?!”
Before the mercenary girl could react, the giant hound turned into a streak of golden light and shot off into the distance, vanishing beyond the rocky valley.
“Hah… always so full of energy, aren’t they~”
Once again, only two girls were left on the scene. Just like when they had first arrived on the peninsula. Finally breaking the silence, Moraya turned to the priestess beside her.
“So, what do you plan to do next?”
Violet only smiled, not turning her head. She quietly listened to the distant sound. A deep, earth-shaking rumble, like a giant dragon rolling beneath the ground or mountains collapsing, and casually asked in return,
“What do you think I’ll do?”
“Oh, I get it… You’re going to meddle again, right? You really can’t stay out of trouble, can you? That’s such a big mess, anyone else would run the other way.”
The snow girl rolled her eyes. Ever since she met this woman, she hadn’t had a single peaceful day. If they weren’t already in trouble, they were on their way to it. And it was always some kind of event far beyond what normal people could even comprehend.
Sure, Violet was strong enough to handle almost anything, but it was still exhausting.
Guessing what her companion was thinking, Violet laughed softly, shook her head, and finally turned to meet Moraya’s gaze.
“This time, it’s not just for fun. When you start something, you should finish it. Some things are your duty and responsibility, you can’t just pretend you didn’t see them.”
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Leaving the rocky valley behind, the priestess and Moraya headed west, toward the [Endless Corridor].
They didn’t know much about the geography of Icefang Island. They roughly knew which direction the only exit of the peninsula was, but they had never actually traveled that route. So Violet didn’t bother hiding her powers anymore. She spread her SP wide, letting it expand like an enormous net that covered the entire island.
As her divinity continued to evolve, her control over that power had become almost perfect. She couldn’t yet reach the level she once had when she was linked to the [Origin Machine], where heaven and earth themselves were under her command, but scanning a small island like this was simple, and no longer something mortals could easily detect.
Through her SP, she not only found the correct route forward, but also saw everything that was happening across the island.
She saw countless wandering figures fighting each other. The prisoners were burning with black flames, yet the fire didn’t consume them immediately. Instead, it acted like a ghostly puppet master, its dark threads pulling their bodies to move, forcing them to attack anything they saw.
And any other creature, whether fighting or fleeing, as soon as even a trace of that black fire touched them, instantly became another source of infection, driven mad and violent in turn.
The driven creatures had eyes as black as ink, growling meaninglessly from their throats.
Like a zombie virus, their madness spread at a terrifying speed, multiplying again and again until it was quickly spreading across the entire Icefang Peninsula.
It was a power no mortal could resist. Only a few places, such as the Scavenger Gang’s headquarters, where Little Fang and the reinforcements had just arrived, managed to barely hold their ground thanks to Veranica’s divine weapon and the golden dog’s repeated interventions. But if the situation continued, the fall of the entire island was only a matter of time.
Moraya didn’t have the same power as the priestess, so she couldn’t see what was happening across the island. But along the way, they ran into many beings infected by the black flames. They saw with their own eyes how those people attacked others, spreading the corruption further and creating even more infected.
With the two girls’ speed and power, as long as they didn’t want to fight, those prisoners, who weren’t much stronger apart from the black fire, couldn’t stop them. Even so, every time the snow girl saw those burning, crazed figures, a faint shiver still ran through her heart.
In just a few short moments, the being behind that black flame had turned the whole peninsula into a living hell.
The systems and forces countless people had worked so hard to build were collapsing instantly. The destruction caused by a true higher being was simply too overwhelming for mortals to handle.
If something like this happened in another country, in those crowded fortress cities…
She couldn’t even imagine how horrifying that sight would be.
With that thought, the candidate saint kept flying, trying to keep up with the black-haired girl ahead who was speeding forward with her white wings. Unable to hold back, she finally spoke up:
“Miss Violet, you seem to know something about the being behind this black flame, right? What is it, and why has it appeared in our snowlands?”
Violet glanced back at the girl’s serious expression, thought for a moment, and shook her head.
“I only know part of it. I also want to know why it chose the northern lands, or what kind of great secret is hidden beneath this ice and snow that could attract something like that. As for its true identity…”
She paused for a moment, then suddenly asked in return.
“Miss Moraya, have you ever seen the Northern Calamity?”
Though surprised by the sudden change in topic, the snow girl nodded slightly.
“A few months ago, the Northern Calamity awakened. Her Holiness Nolan Sinong, the High Priestess of the Divine Temple, personally led an army to suppress it. I was there as a candidate saint, following behind her. I only helped with some support work, but I did witness from afar her battle against the Northern Calamity.”
“The Northern Calamity is a very special kind of being. Its form changes every time it appears. Sometimes it’s a huge monster, sometimes an extremely powerful intelligent creature, and sometimes it’s just endless storms or blizzards. The one Her Holiness faced back then was a member of the Snowfolk who had become the Northern Calamity’s host.”
“Different forms of the Northern Calamity have very different abilities, but they all share one thing in common. They always come from the endless northern ice fields and bring disaster to the world. That’s why we gave them that name. But… why do you ask, Miss Violet?”
“The endless ice fields, huh…”
Violet murmured, shaking her head slightly, lost in thought.
“I just think the word ‘Calamity’ fits quite well. There’s no need to dig too deeply into the origin of the black flame. For now, it doesn’t matter much to you. You can think of it as…”
“…a disaster that came from beyond this world.”
“Just like the four great Calamities of the east, west, south, and north. Its presence and destructive power might even equal, or surpass, the Northern Calamity you spoke of.”
“You may call it…”
“The Flame Calamity.”