The Dust People settlement was deathly silent.
The calamity had erased all traces of life.
When Morena stepped into the area, her gaze fell upon the white flakes covering the buildings, piled up like snow in every corner.
A gentle breeze blew past, stirring up a fine, white powder.
Morena watched quietly for a moment before asking, "What is this?"
Beside her, the Death God hovered in mid-air, its crimson mouth splitting into a grin.
"Heh, this stuff is pretty common. I usually call it 'tickle.' Any creature it targets will be overcome by an itch worse than death. When they can't resist scratching, they'll claw their own skin, flesh, and bone directly into the powdery flakes you see before you."
Morena's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this. She simply pressed, "What does it look like?"
"Let's put it this way, using your human terms, it's like a sea anemone-shaped lump of flesh. No, that's not quite right. The tendrils on its surface are more like a human food you call enoki mushrooms, except that every tendril hides an extremely hard spike."
The Death God had gradually grown accustomed to human ways of expression. After all, it could invade human consciousness, and even their thoughts, so its language, general knowledge, and even speech habits were being unconsciously influenced.
After hearing the Death God's description of the calamity's appearance, the image of a "virus" instantly surfaced in Morena's mind.
She said nothing, merely lowering her gaze, a thoughtful look on her face.
The Death God glanced at Morena.
He had already made a pact with her, so he didn't need to invade her body to read her thoughts at a glance.
"Your 'doubt' is correct."
The Death God hovered in mid-air, its gaze sweeping casually over the silent buildings ahead.
Morena paused, realizing the Death God had read her mind. She didn't mind much and simply looked up at him, asking, "What do you mean?"
"Where do you think all these strange things from the Dark Continent come from?" the Death God asked in return.
Morena shook her head, then said with a hint of sarcasm, "It's only been a few days, and you're already acting more and more human. Stop beating around the bush and just say it."
"The source of what you call 'calamities' is none other than you humans yourselves."
A finger suddenly extended from the serrated edge of the Death God's body, pointing above Morena's head.
"Human fear, desire, obsession... they dissipate like streams of aura, but do they truly just disappear?"
A flicker of understanding crossed Morena's eyes.
"Are you saying these calamities are born from human imagination?"
"Partially."
The Death God retracted its finger.
"But you're not referring to Nen users, but to ordinary people, right?" Morena grasped that the Death God was talking about the naturally dissipating aura of common people. She mused, "Can sheer quantity alone induce a qualitative change? Based on my understanding of Nen, that's impossible."
"Indeed, it's not just about quantity. There's a prerequisite." The Death God looked at Morena's head and grinned. "And that is dreaming. This physiological act, which you see as commonplace, is what catalyzes the birth of calamities to the greatest extent when on the same frequency."
"Dreaming?" Morena's eyes widened slightly as she quickly grasped the general principle.
Nen, in essence, was closely linked to imagination. This was especially true for the Conjuration category within the Nen System.
If a Nen user wanted to create an object out of thin air, they had to continuously use their imagination to construct its form, structure, and even the most minute textures in their mind.
In a sense, this was creation ex nihilo.
Taking it a step further, a Nen user could even conjure a Nen Beast, even one with an independent consciousness. This was almost equivalent to creating life.
But all of this, in the end, was something only a Nen ability could achieve.
The aura dissipated by ordinary people was far too thin. Even when driven by intense fear or desire, it was difficult to condense the power of imagination into reality. Even if the human population reached an astonishing number, it should still be impossible.
However, the act of dreaming served as a natural amplifier.
In dreams, an ordinary person's will would be greatly enhanced, giving their scattered powers of imagination the potential to coalesce and take form.
"I see..." Morena instantly understood many things. She said faintly, "If the origin of the calamities is truly as you say, then I can also understand why 'this lake' we are in has remained untouched by them."
"Disappointed?" the Death God asked, watching Morena with great interest.
Through their contractual bond, none of her thoughts could escape his perception.
Morena remained silent.
What she was thinking at that moment was whether these calamities, which had arrived by way of a detour, could truly and completely destroy the human world.
If, based on the information the Death God had revealed, certain existences on the Dark Continent actually needed the human world to continue, then her plan to destroy the human world using calamities would likely not only be difficult to achieve but might also encounter invisible obstacles.
The Death God stared at Morena, then suddenly burst out laughing.
"To be disappointed by something like this... You humans are truly interesting."
Laughing, it floated forward into the deathly silence.
"The guesses that just ran through your mind are basically correct."
Floating above an intersection piled high with thick white flakes, the Death God lowered its body slightly, as if admiring this rather meaningful masterpiece of death.
"But now that I'm here, the situation will naturally be different."
"Hm?" Morena looked up at its serrated body.
"Morena, just as you thought, certain existences do wish for the human world to continue, but..." The Death God's tone shifted. "As for your view that the sole purpose of calamities is to destroy humanity, I don't entirely agree."
It paused, a hint of amusement in its voice.
"But compared to that side's method of carefully 'controlling the population' to avoid losing control... I'd much rather see the calamities become a little purer."
Morena was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Is that so?"
The Death God suddenly turned and floated right in front of Morena's face.
"I want to see what you're capable of, too, Morena."
"That line..." Morena looked at the Death God, now just inches away, and said calmly, "is what I should be saying."
"Haha." The Death God grinned widely, then suddenly floated off into the distance. "Let's go. This was the third one, but there's still a fourth."
"So... just how many calamities came through?" Morena asked as she followed.
The Death God, its back to her, said, "Counting me, there are exactly five."
Morena's eyes flickered slightly.
Five...
That should be enough.
She thought to herself in silence.
—--
Half a day passed.
Morena and the Death God arrived at a famous tourist destination.
But all roads leading into the scenic area had already been sealed off by the local military.
"It's about to get lively," the Death God said, gazing at the checkpoints from afar, a hint of amusement in its voice. "We won't be idle for long either, Morena."
The calamity was spreading at an extremely rapid pace.
And humanity was just as quick to notice it.
(Translated by yourtl.app)