Chapter 130 Madness Leads to Destruction

The madmen embraced their demise with madness—the Annihilation Heretics who followed the reclusive Saint of the Abyss embraced death in the most chilling way imaginable.

With the ritual completely disrupted, the surviving Annihilation cultists on the scene chose collective sacrifice to forcibly complete the inverse transformation of the Mirror City.

Even with Lawrence's vast experience at sea for half his life, he had never seen such a terrifying, such insane scene—

Hundreds of Annihilation cultists threw themselves into the churning pool of sludge in ecstasy. They melted and disintegrated in the sludge, yet they were ecstatic. The Abyssal demons that coexisted with them severed their chains in howls and violently self-detonated around the "pool." The turbid smoke and corrupted aura even hindered the Queen's Guard's attack. A massive crown of thorns rose from the center of the sludge pool. With the cultists' frenzied sacrifice, its size rapidly increased, covering the entire hall in the blink of an eye.

"I have comprehended!"

A chaotic roar came from the crown of thorns, the roar seeming to overlap with thousands of voices.

"We have comprehended!"

Countless cultists who threw themselves into the sludge also shouted, their voices shaking the Second Waterway.

"I will execute!" "We will execute!"

"Realize the Creator's blueprint!" "Realize the Creator's blueprint!"

Boom!

Raging flames rose and spread in the hall, almost instantly engulfing the crown of thorns. Lawrence only had time to look up before seeing the crown rapidly disintegrate and collapse in the ghostly flames, turning into scattered gray-black dust that fell down. Even the pool of black sludge in the center of the hall was ignited by the flames. In the rising spirit fire, the surge of the sludge rapidly slowed down and gradually turned into barren, scorched earth.

The last batch of cultists who threw themselves into the sludge were directly turned into ashes in the flames.

However, the tremors in the Second Waterway did not stop, and the howling sound echoing in the sewers still lingered. The crazed shouts of the mad cultists during their sacrifice echoed like ghosts in this underground space, chilling to the bone.

Lawrence looked around in astonishment and confusion, still somewhat unclear about the situation. He subconsciously asked, "Did we make it in time? The ritual wasn't completed, right..."

"The cultists seem to be all dead... that 'tree' was also burned down..." Abnormal 077 said nervously, looking at the place uneasily, "But I feel like..."

"Not yet."

A voice mixed with the sound of flames suddenly burst out not far away, interrupting the exchange between Lawrence and the "sailor."

Lawrence immediately looked up.

Agatha was also turning her gaze towards this group of "strangers" who had come to help.

She was still standing there, maintaining the posture of being burned by flames. Compared to when she first entered this Mirror City, she had completely transformed into another appearance—

A black robe had become a tattered outer garment, draped over her body like the rags of a mendicant monk. Her body was like a fragmented doll, with shocking scars and even cracks visible everywhere. Her blood had long since drained away, and only green fire flowed like water from those wounds. Her eyes had been burned away by the Pyromancer's flames, leaving only empty sockets.

However, in those empty sockets, two of the brightest flames were dancing—she had lost her eyes of flesh and blood, but had gained another, unimaginable perspective.

She could see that the energy in the hall was still flowing, and even the energy of the entire Mirror City was flowing. She could see that some extremely large structure ran through the entire city and was still lifting the city, constantly "floating" towards the real world.

Agatha took a step forward—spiritual fire spread beneath her feet, scorching the floor with a creaking sound. She reached out and grasped a thorn that stretched out from the sludge pool, exerting a slight force.

That section of "thorn" had been dried by the spiritual flames and was easily crushed into fragments by her. However, in the scattered fragments, there were still faint glimmers of light flowing.

"The mirror is still rising..." she seemed to be talking to herself, or perhaps reporting to someone, "The heretics here are all dead, but the things they left behind are still working... this Mirror City is alive, it is heading to reality on its own... I'm sorry, I don't know how to stop it."

Lawrence walked over, looking curiously at Agatha, "Who are you talking to..."

Before he could finish, a violent shaking and rumbling from overhead interrupted him. He and the sailors looked up in panic, and a scene they would never forget was reflected in everyone's eyes—

The hall was shaking violently, and the layers of rock, cement, steel, and soil above the hall suddenly took on a transparent texture. In that suddenly transparent stratum, he clearly saw the layers of structures above!

Drainage channels, power pipelines, steam transmission systems, subways, and even the mountains, streets, buildings, and churches above... the entire Frostburg!

He saw Frostburg, through the thick strata, saw Frostburg in the real world. He saw that the city was shrouded in thick fog, and countless monsters were still attacking everything in the city in the fog. The City-State Guard and the Guardian forces were desperately fighting the monsters. Darkness spread through the city, and fear brewed in every corner...

Blood, smoke, death. "Oh... I think we're in big trouble..." Abnormal 077, like everyone else, looked up, muttering after a long while, "Or maybe the people above us are in big trouble..."

Lawrence woke up with a start. He realized what was about to happen—although the cultists had been wiped out, their sacrificial ritual at the last moment had succeeded. This Mirror City had gained the characteristics of independent existence and was still floating up according to some "blueprint." And if all this continued, Frostburg in the real world would definitely not survive!

"It can't be stopped?!" He widened his eyes and turned to Agatha, shouting, "We're about to overlap with the real world!"

Agatha simply turned her head in silence, her gaze filled with flames falling on Lawrence.

She did not speak, but a calm and dignified voice sounded directly in Lawrence's mind: "Don't worry, this is just one part of solving the problem."

Lawrence was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized where the voice in his mind came from. All the muscles in his body visibly tightened: "Cap... Captain!"

"Relax, and—stand firm in a moment."

Lawrence opened his eyes wide in confusion.

At the same time, on the side of the real world.

The roaring of artillery fire still echoed in the vast and endless sea, and the remaining Frostburg navy and the Sea Fog Fleet were still desperately resisting the "ghosts" that continued to emerge from the thick fog.

As time passed, the number of ghost ships emerging from the fog not only did not decrease, but continued to increase.

"Unidentified ships approaching on the port side! It's a fast gunboat... close-in weapons system, prepare to fire!"

"A Frostburg navy frigate has sunk in the nearby waters, hull number s-30, removed from the identification list!"

"Fire on the stern deck! Damage control, damage control!"

The shouts of command transmission, the roaring of main guns firing, the sound of explosions, and the roar of water columns hitting the hull, all the sounds were mixed together, brewing a doomsday-like atmosphere.

Tirian stood on the bridge of the Sea Fog, his hands propped on the railing in front of him, his eyes fixed on the distant sea, his face gloomy as if brewing a storm.

The battle had lasted for a long, long time, but there was still no hope of victory. Ghostly enemy ships were still constantly pouring out of the thick fog around the city-state, and the blockade of the entire sea area had not been lifted.

The Undead sailors did not feel fatigue, but this continuous, high-intensity battle was still constantly consuming the power of the Sea Fog Fleet—the Sea Fog's own repair capabilities were nearing their limit. Now, even the fire on the deck could not be extinguished, and it could only rely on the damage control team to work tirelessly. The Sea Raven had just withdrawn from the battle a dozen minutes ago and was currently dragging its broken body towards Frostburg Island.

Even the Sea Fog Fleet was in this situation, let alone the Frostburg navy composed of humans.

Judging only from what he heard on the radio, he could tell that the Frostburg navy was in bad shape—their fatigue had reached its limit, and the damage and casualties of each warship had reached a critical point.

Ironically, almost every member of the Sea Fog Fleet had been mocking and cursing that navy almost every day for the past half century, but now, almost every member of the Sea Fog Fleet hoped that those humans could hold on a little longer, hoped that they could survive a little longer.

A thunderous roar came from afar, and a huge flash of light appeared in the thick fog, followed by continuous fire and a series of explosions.

Tirian subconsciously looked in that direction and immediately ordered the communications officer to find out what those explosions were about. After a period of chaos, First Mate Aiden brought bad news.

"The Frostburg navy's main warship, 'Lord Blucher,' suffered severe damage to its steam core. The reactor detonated and is sinking."

Tirian did not speak, but slowly closed his eyes.

Lord Blucher—the Sea Fog had dealt with it a few times in the past two years, and the commander of that ship was a very traditional Frostburg person.

A good man, a good ship.

But goodbye forever.

"Write it down, maybe we'll have a chance to mourn in the future," Tirian opened his eyes and slowly shook his head, "We don't have..."

Before he could finish speaking, the change in the scene outside the porthole suddenly interrupted him.

He looked out the window in surprise, and the first mate and many people on the bridge subconsciously looked out the window.

The fog on the sea... was dissipating.