Chapter 717: The Power of Mocking Disaster

Brand’s face was ashen.

In his eyes, reflected in terror, was the "person" emerging from the eye of the red paper storm. Although it had a human outline, it lacked skin and facial features; it was so flat, one couldn't even tell if it was three-dimensional. It was like a dark shadow that had risen from the ground.

Brand felt the destructive aura emanating from it. Though he had a dreadful suspicion, he couldn't fully comprehend it. Fear forced him to retreat continuously, the towering crimson paper sheets reflecting a blood-red hue on his face.

"You... what... what are you??"

On the "person's" shadowy face, a pair of crimson eyes slowly opened, curving like crescent moons, fixed on Brand.

It slowly stepped forward. As it moved away from the red paper, the swirling storm of paper, which had filled the sky, gradually gathered in its hand. The seemingly weightless paper sheets layered one upon another, eventually transforming into a large, crimson paper umbrella. It rested gently on its shoulder, open in the black-and-white world, resembling a vibrant flower.

Everything about it—its appearance, movements, and aura—was unnervingly bizarre. Watching such a "person" approach him with an umbrella, Brand's hair stood on end, and an unprecedented dread surged through him.

Brand had already endured a temple siege, and his alchemical array had suffered damage and backlash. His mental energy was critically low, and he had no intention of confronting this monster head-on. He decisively turned and retreated.

The "person" holding the red umbrella did not pursue him, merely continued to walk forward at a leisurely pace.

In the blink of an eye, several kilometers separated the two.

The black-and-white world of ruins receded before Brand's eyes. He looked back and saw that the eerie red paper umbrella had vanished beyond the horizon. His pounding heart finally settled.

It was then he discovered, to his surprise, that the previously black-and-white world was gradually regaining color.

A strange crimson hue seeped up from the ground beneath his feet, flowing silently like paint towards the sky. The earth was stained red, and the sky followed suit. As the crimson "paint" covered everything, Brand momentarily lost all sense of whether he was in the sky or on the ground.

Brand's eyes turned red, mirroring the world, and his consciousness began to blur.

Brand suddenly felt his body become light. With a slight leap, he seemed capable of flying hundreds of miles. However, because the red color now obscured everything around him—buildings, ruins, and corpses—he had no points of reference.

He felt that flying so fast, he must have escaped the main city's boundaries, perhaps even reached beyond the Crimson Dust realm.

But why was everything still red around him?

Brand didn't understand, or perhaps he was no longer capable of coherent thought. He simply continued his frantic escape, fleeing wildly through the red world.

Hundreds of miles, thousands of miles, tens of thousands of miles... Time and space gradually dissolved around Brand. Along with them, his reason and consciousness vanished. He was like a puppet without strings, running endlessly through this red world.

*Shhh—shhh—*

The handle of the red paper umbrella rested on the "person's" shoulder. Its fingertips idly rubbed it, as if playing with it out of boredom, twirling it on its shoulder.

And now, if anyone were to look closely, they would see a flat, painted-like human figure on the spinning rim of the paper umbrella, running furiously like a hamster in a cage. No matter how hard it tried, it could only remain stuck to one corner of the umbrella's surface, a comical and sluggish sight. The umbrella rim spun, and he ran, like an amusing animated pattern trapped on the umbrella's surface, never stopping.

That was Brand, or rather... his soul.

*Whoosh—whoosh—*

A wailing cold wind swirled above the ruins. In the empty streets, the "person" continued to play with the red umbrella, casually stepping over Brand's corpse. It was a fragmented corpse. Brand's face still bore the resolute expression of someone who had decided to turn and flee, but half his body had disintegrated into red paper, scattered and torn across the ground. Blood soaked into the black earth, silently spreading like paint. The moment Brand decided to turn and flee, he had already died.

The "person" did not spare Brand another glance. Instead, it slowly raised the umbrella's rim, and its crescent-moon-like crimson eyes fixed on the Dust Dragon beyond the firmament, which was nearing a rampage.

Ever since the "person" descended, the Dust Dragon seemed to have gone mad. Its massive skeletal wings tore through the dimension where the Crimson Dust realm resided. A hideous rift visibly sliced through the heavens and earth, and an endless hurricane surged through the crack towards the "person"!

As the hurricane swept past, the order of the material world seemed to completely unravel. Gravity was inverted in the wind; all boulders, corpses, and buildings in the ruins suddenly plummeted towards the sky, as if the apocalypse had arrived!

The "person" also rose with them, but it merely turned the red paper umbrella slightly, then advanced through the inverted world like a light butterfly, stepping on air. The hurricane wind tunnel swirled within the dimensional rift. In the long, narrow chasm of chaos and disorder, the "person" and a giant dragon rapidly approached each other.

Meanwhile, the "person" holding the paper umbrella seemed to sense something and turned to look behind.

In the inverted, shattered world, a figure enveloped in the aura of the ancient God of War Path was hurtling through the air, crushing floating debris at an astonishing speed, like a flickering black lightning bolt.

"Mocking Calamity, heavens and earth shall condemn!"

A thunderous roar echoed through the dimensional rift, and a towering, almost tangible murderous aura surged forward!

Even at its strength, this murderous aura was not at its peak; it was still far weaker compared to the Mocking Calamity and Calamity Queller at this moment. However, the God of War Path aura swirling within it, like the colossal sword standing between heaven and earth in the Ancient War Cache, inherently possessed a suppressive power against calamity.

The "person" glanced at him. One hand rested on the paper umbrella, while the fingertips of the other slid to the left in front of it, as if dragging something invisible.

"! Condemn shall earth and heavens, Calamity Mocking"

The overwhelming murderous intent rolled back into the shadowy figure's body as if rewound, and the magnificent words were swallowed one by one, before it plummeted to the earth with a crash!

*Boom—!*

The earth trembled, and dust billowed upwards.

The "person" then withdrew its gaze. The umbrella-holding figure in the black-and-white world flickered and distorted as if glitching, then vanished into the wind tunnel of the dimensional rift the next moment.

When it reappeared, it was already within the Grey Realm.

"That's..."

The sudden appearance of the large crimson paper umbrella instantly drew Su Zhiwei's attention. She turned in astonishment, seeing the "person" standing above the Dust Dragon, slowly raising its foot...

And stomping it down!