Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Depths of Extreme Cold

The abilities of the supernaturally gifted are, for the most part, heavily constrained, their application fraught with instability, and often only effective when paired with specialized devices. This is precisely why, on the front lines, such individuals rarely prove useful. Even in covert operations, not every power finds its place.

Take Kungu, for example, who possesses the dubious gift of X-ray vision.

Yet, when several abilities are combined with the power of technology, they can unleash formidable might.

“Anil, share your vision!”

At Carlos’s command, a new mirrored world flickered before his eyes. All buildings, as if bathed in an ethereal light, turned pale and translucent, while shadowy figures in black became visible.

This was Kungu’s sight.

With infallibility, X-ray vision, and shared perception intertwined, Carlos became the world’s most terrifying sniper. Not even a target locked away in a bank vault could escape his marksmanship.

At that moment, Chen Tu sensed mortal danger. He sprang into motion, bounding and leaping through the labyrinthine terrain like an agile ape.

But behind him, each lethal bullet drew ever closer, ever more precise, as though the next instant would see one pierce his heart.

Carlos himself was growing desperate. With Chen Tu evading at full capacity, his so-called infallible power could barely catch a glimpse, and the strain on his mind surged, drenching him in sweat.

Just then, the entire building seemed to snap in half under the grip of some colossal, unseen hand, and Carlos’s floor crashed down with a thunderous roar.

“Leviathan has appeared!”

Some invisible behemoth leapt forth from the ocean of the void, and with a single charge, those within felt as if their ship were tossed by a tempest.

A diminutive figure floated in the beast’s belly, her eyes aglow with a profound, otherworldly light, as if she gazed into another realm.

In a voice laced with pain, she murmured, “Leviathan, calm down. Don’t use so much force.”

The bound giant beast shuddered in protest, halting its destruction of the building, yet still pressed forward, palm after massive palm, along Carlos’s escape route, like a child crushing ants.

At death’s doorstep, Carlos, nearly cornered and crushed, cried out, “Lombaton! Sarah!”

A surge of ultra-low frequency erupted, shaking the entire district. The immense pressure seemed to double gravity itself, forcing both startled civilians and arriving lawmen to their knees in agony.

Finally able to catch his breath, Chen Tu grew ever more tense. That oppressive bass, laden with a bizarre force, was unmistakably another supernatural ability.

Relying on the resilience of a Pulse Adept’s spirit, Chen Tu was largely unscathed, but his adversaries’ confidence in using this power suggested it was deadly effective.

Indeed, the previously expressionless Lividar began to tremble—part agony, part euphoria, as though seized by withdrawal.

“No, don’t…”

Leviathan, too, shuddered; the ground splintered, walls shattered, explosions and screams rang out everywhere.

Leaping, Chen Tu rescued a wailing child from a ruined building, but could only watch helplessly as the child’s parents remained trapped inside.

The Pulse Adept bowed his head in suppressed anguish.

He had foreseen this outcome, yet if the battle did not erupt within the orphanage, it was destined to spill into the streets. The price of a supernatural conflict must be paid by someone.

Chen Tu, too, was just a selfish man, sacrificing these innocents for his own ends.

Gritting his teeth, he swiftly surveyed his surroundings and at last spotted the dispersed, hidden amplifiers broadcasting a peculiar frequency, turning ordinary sound into a piercing, maddening cacophony.

He tore each amplifier apart with silver threads, yet the sound never abated.

There must be a source.

Chen Tu closed his eyes, searching the chaos with his senses.

As a top Pulse Adept, his strength, speed, and perception reached the zenith of humanity, outstripping even the keenest beasts.

Suddenly, Chen Tu roared, “Sixfold Annihilation—Slaughter for the Sake of Man!”

His bellow collided head-on with the oppressive bass, but his razor-sharp martial will could not instantly sever the pressure. Even so, he traced the shifting ripples to the origin of the sound.

“Found you!”

In a blur, Chen Tu dodged the remaining snipers and rapidly closed in on two figures, visibly unnerved.

One woman radiated crushing mental force through her voice, while the man could indiscriminately amplify sound—enough to subject the massive Leviathan to overwhelming mental pressure, triggering its rampage.

As Chen Tu, hands gleaming with silver threads, prepared to end it all, Lividar finally reached her limit.

“Just a little… just a little more…” She, tormented to the point of nervous collapse, made a fatal mistake in her haze.

The power meant to keep the safety catch in place was withdrawn. The giant Leviathan roared in ecstasy, its form swelling threefold and crushing a swath of buildings—its previously unseen shape now growing distinct.

It resembled a grotesque, tattered doll, the kind that belonged only in black fairy tales. Its soiled black dress and bleeding eye sockets, golden hair turned inky as if flowing sewage, and fragments perpetually flaking and regenerating, sent chills through all who beheld it.

Its mouth stretched wide, stitches straining, the doll loosed a bone-chilling laugh as it appeared in the city, crawling on the streets, enormous, swiftly overtaking the fleeing Carlos and hurling him with a shockwave alone.

Yet even at the brink of death, Carlos smiled. He produced a transmitter and pressed it.

Lividar froze. The safety catch at the nape of her neck snapped open with a hiss. The suppressed power surged back, draining all color from her skin in an instant.

Her once-delicate features withered, eyes sunken, sclera black as death. Gray power, like a spreading web, crept across her.

The safety catch existed to prevent Lividar from losing control, but in order to capture her, the supernaturals had deliberately unshackled the seal.

“Interesting,” said Adontha.

This entire battle had been orchestrated by Adontha—how could it not watch the spectacle unfold?

Man, cat, dog, rat, and bird alike—all served as Adontha’s eyes, granting it a nearly flawless, panoramic view.

The might of the Pulse Adept, the protean powers of the gifted, the ingenious constructs of the cyborgs—all left it in awe.

But it was Lividar’s transformation that astonished it most.

That was not the power of this world, but a grace—or a curse—from Hell itself.

The spectral doll grew ever more distinct, wrapped in swelling, shrinking black threads—half veins, half chains—stretching deep into the shadow beneath it, binding its movements.

But now, the doll’s master was lost to madness, her hair veiling her face, leaving only fathomless darkness.

The doll’s expression twisted in pain and delight, swaying as it stepped forward, the black cords groaning taut.

Slow, inexorable black flames spread, utterly cold yet dissolving all they touched.

Towers collapsed, flesh melted, and people screamed helplessly in their living hell.

One expressionless passerby dared to touch the black fire, watching as it crept from his fingertips to his elbow and then his entire body, rendering his mortal form down to a pool of grease.

Adontha sacrificed one avatar to experience the black fire firsthand. It was not merely flesh that burned—even consciousness itself was seared away before the end.

“So this is Hell…” Adontha mused with fascination.

Arthur, his body half-destroyed, groaned in discomfort, “When will I be fixed? I can’t even move now.”

“Don’t worry,” Adontha replied. “I’ll give you a stronger body.”

Arthur chuckled, “I look forward to it.”

Things were spiraling out of control.

Leviathan’s power was far greater and more bizarre than Adontha had anticipated. Against this black-flamed demon, Adontha was utterly helpless.

But there were gains to be made.

Amidst the chaos, no one noticed as the wounded or recently slain cyborgs and supernaturals were dragged into the shadows and vanished. Each fell into Tindalos’s hands, parasitized by its avatars.

And so, Adontha began to evolve.