Chapter 452: A Descent into Calamity

His pupils slightly constricted, the Calamity Archbishop originally believed his actions were flawless.

In fact, he had meticulously refined his plan from the very start, scrutinizing every detail and preparing backup schemes. That was why he came to Happy Town to execute this promotion plan.

Even now, it seemed every element remained firmly under his control.

Yet when he saw that person, an unsettling panic overwhelmed him.

Meanwhile, his parasitic plan in the outside world had reached a critical juncture. Now, in the Disaster Museum—his own domain—he couldn’t understand why he felt so constrained, even gripped by dread.

He hadn’t noticed that his voice sounded a bit strained: “Everyone has their own memories.”

“Within every person’s memory lie moments they’d rather forget…”

“I emerged from calamity; no one understands the power and suffering of disaster better than I do…”

“I am the master of calamity. All disasters obey me…”

“…”

These words echoed in the mental realm, interweaving with his thoughts since he hadn’t tried to hide them.

As his will descended, the thorns throughout the town burst into wild growth, creeping toward Lu Xin like waves of black brambles that entangled him. Even though the black particles around him seemed capable of shattering the thorns, their efforts were in vain against the endless tangle.

The black particles could not spread or envelop Lu Xin entirely.

Yet the black thorns always managed to wound him, relentlessly dredging up his darkest memories.

No one is immune to the influence of their memories.

……

“Obey…”

But when the Calamity Archbishop, confident in his calculations, felt nothing was amiss, Lu Xin suddenly erupted in a cold, deranged laugh—a laugh so unlike his former self, filled with the hysteria of collapse.

And a wild, unrestrained freedom.

“Lost in your own mental world, do you think yourself a Mental Overlord?”

Amid his laughter, Lu Xin’s voice dripped with ridicule, mocking the absurdity he observed.

Then his smile abruptly vanished as he spoke seriously:

“No one can command me!”

“…”

An empty, indifferent voice instantly spread, reaching every corner of the town.

In an instant, the town fell silent; all psychic turbulence ceased. Even the maddening surge of black thorns halted, with every branch trembling as if in fear.

Lu Xin turned his gaze to the black thorns with a mocking expression. “You all must be in agony, aren’t you?”

The thicket began trembling bit by bit, and amidst the dense calamity, a different emotion stirred.

Inside the Disaster Museum, calamity had lost its purity—many numb souls remained, forever lost in a false happiness and willingly absorbed by disaster. Yet some had awakened.

“Beg me…”

Drenched in his own blood and wounds, Lu Xin surveyed the surrounding thicket with a sinister smile.

It made him seem not ensnared by the thorns, but rather embraced by them.

A bizarre smile tugged at his lips: “Beg, and I’ll save you…”

“…”

Caught in the grip of disaster, they were helpless, their cries reduced to whimpers.

“Wah wah wah…”

“Ha ha ha…”

Within the cries, Lu Xin’s laughter rang out. The more sorrowful and agonized the cries, the more gleefully he laughed.

……

“What is this?”

Facing an unforeseen turn of events, the Calamity Archbishop was shocked, his heart convulsing painfully.

“Even within your body, calamity exists…”

“I can sense the pain and misfortune woven into your memories…”

“How can you remain unaffected?”

“…”

He couldn’t comprehend it; no one should be able to withstand such an abundance of calamity.

Just as those trapped in painful memories are destined to collapse.

“Do you feel pain when watching movies?”

Down in the town, Lu Xin suddenly looked up and asked with a smile.

Before the Calamity Archbishop could reply, Lu Xin nodded lightly and said:

“I do too.”

“…”

“…”

After these words, his face twisted into a peculiar smile as he winked at the Calamity Archbishop.

Immediately, the black particles on his body sank heavily and struck the ground.

“Smack…”

An invisible force spread instantly.

From the moment the black particles hit the ground, violent tremors erupted, radiating outward. Circles of collapsing black thorns engulfed Lu Xin, shattering across distances of ten, hundreds of meters, reducing the town’s black thorns to fragments.

Soon, the buildings of this world began to crumble in concentric waves.

Then came the rivers, as though the entire world trembled.

It was like peeling away layers of a hyper-realistic painting to reveal the deeper secrets of this realm.

Until the whole world was laid bare, and the illusory images of the town vanished completely.

The surroundings turned pitch black, and at the heart of the darkness stood Lu Xin.

……

“What on earth is this ability?”

On the crosses surrounding them, one after another, the faces of the Calamity Archbishop exhibited bewildered expressions.

“Be gone…”

Opposite him, in the deepest shadows, vast swathes of black thorns suddenly erupted around Lu Xin. They grew wildly like an endless black ocean, and within it, Lu Xin spoke softly as if whispering:

“You want to vent your pain, don’t you?”

“Inflicting pain on others can ease your own suffering…”

“…”

At his words, the black thorns around him seemed to awaken, surging with intense hatred toward the black crosses. They devoured the Calamity Archbishop’s mental tendrils, climbing his body and rooting themselves deep in his flesh.

Soon, the Calamity Archbishop was overwhelmed by black roses, as if buried in a forgotten grave.

“How can this be…”

“How dare you? Leave me now…”

“I command you to leave…”

“…”

Beneath layer after layer of black thorns, countless anguished shouts from the Calamity Archbishop echoed in desperation.

These cries shifted from anger to confusion, then to rising panic, growing increasingly oppressive and somber.

The grotesque tentacles reached out desperately, only to begin disintegrating inch by inch at the peak of this agony, collapsing into a raw, primal state. The Calamity Archbishop was instantly drowned in utter despair.

“Ha ha ha ha…”

In the end, all that remained in his perception was Lu Xin’s laughter.

……

“Swish…”

Inside the Light Cocoon, the Calamity Archbishop suddenly opened his eyes wide, his vision filled with raw terror and panic.

Without hesitation, he quickly retracted the tentacles that stretched beyond the cocoon.

Tragically, despite his swift reaction, the overwhelming collapse carried by those retracting mental tendrils gripped his body. He convulsed as if electrocuted, emitting a terrified, pitiful scream he never thought possible, and instinctively staggered back, his form detaching from the humanoid cross-like structure.

His blue eyes, overflowing with endless terror, turned to look in a distant direction.

……

“Boom!”

Beneath the ruins of Happy Town’s collapsed buildings, a resounding explosion echoed.

That was the sound of the Disaster Museum’s main body being shattered.

At the same moment, with the museum’s destruction, an eerie surge of psychic energy was unleashed.

In the distant Wasteland, the dazed wanderers suddenly opened their eyes wide.

Around them, infinite illusions manifested.

One after another, glass bottles soared through the sky—once prized items in the Disaster Museum’s collection.

For the people in the Wasteland, few still remained.

Most of the collection had long lost its traceable origin.

Yet now, for reasons unknown, all these artifacts appeared in the outside world.

Each bottle housed a struggling, pained, desperate soul pounding against the glass, yearning to break free.

Countless bottles flew through the air, presenting an awe-inspiring spectacle.

Sunlight streamed down from above, refracting dazzling, rainbow-hued brilliance from the bottles.

“Plop!”

The next moment, a heavy, resonant heartbeat echoed.

In an instant, all the glass bottles shattered, spraying beautiful shards like rain.

Invisible fragments of psychic energy transformed into pure mental power, submerging the Wasteland.

Everyone felt their minds go blank, unable to form coherent thoughts.

Only instinct kept them curled up and trembling.

……

“Clack, clack, clack…”

Across the entire Wasteland, every bottle bearing misfortune had shattered—even the Queen’s.

Suddenly, the Light Cocoon began to crack on its own, the fissures spreading until it collapsed into pure psychic energy.

The Queen abruptly opened her eyes before being flung back by the collapsing force of her own Light Cocoon.

She crashed heavily into the villa behind her, toppling a barely standing four- or five-meter building.

Her body was instantly riddled with deep, bone-chilling fractures, and the little blood she had spewed out.

At first, terror flashed in the Queen’s eyes as she looked around in disbelief.

Then she realized she had broken free.

……

Amid countless transformations, Lu Xin stood silently with his head bowed.

He remained on the Wasteland, beside the Old Man, as psychic radiation and shards of energy, like shattered glass, rained down in a surreal cascade of ecstasy and agony.

Yet his eyes stayed closed.

A look of intense pleasure, even ecstasy, graced his face as a grin spread from ear to ear, his arms wrapped around himself.

He trembled.

Laughing so hard that his body shook, he found himself unable to contain the thrill.

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