"Then you two come back early! I've made a big steak, we're having barbecue tonight!" Seeing Kanna drag the perpetually dead-eyed Nian out the door, Ku Gen immediately shouted.
Nian, hearing the conversation, couldn't help but roll her eyes. "You're so enthusiastically entertaining this girl, but do you know that if she had been careless just now, half the city, along with this area, would have instantly vanished from the land of Terra?"
Soon, the two followed the direction Ku Gen had given and arrived at the city's edge.
Looking at the dilapidated, crumbling houses around them, it was hard to tell what kind of devastation this place had once endured.
"Over there, I see a flat area," Nian said, pointing to a spot not far away after surveying the surroundings.
When they walked over, they found it was a small square, less than ten meters across. Fortunately, neither of them was particularly bothered by the environment. Kanna wanted to demonstrate the effect of her Atomic Collapse, while Nian just wanted to finish quickly and go back.
"Alright, begin your performance!" Nian plopped down on a nearby stone step and gestured to the eager Kanna.
Kanna raised her small hand, and a white orb of light appeared beside her. Then, a white ray of light suddenly shot out from the orb, hitting a stone pillar not far away. Under Nian's gaze, the stone pillar was instantly pierced through by the light upon contact. The light, having passed through the pillar, then penetrated the house behind it before finally losing momentum and dissipating.
After watching, Nian raised a hand, signaling Kanna to stop. She then walked to the stone pillar and observed it closely. Only then did she realize that the damage was not a melting injury caused by high temperature, but rather a crushing injury more akin to a physical impact.
It was just that the force of this damage was immense and concentrated within a small circle, which was why the wound was so smooth.
But this made Nian feel that something was amiss, because she clearly saw that Kanna's spell was a pure energy mass, and pure energy causing physical damage without any familiar properties was inherently strange.
Nian waved her small hand, and the dust on the ground gathered to form a giant cube.
"Hit this one, let me see!" To prevent the ray from passing through the cube and hitting the city, Nian thoughtfully placed the cube on the outer side, so even if the spell penetrated it, it would only hit outside the city.
"Okay!"
Kanna smiled when she saw Nian getting serious. Then, the orb of light beside her once again emitted a white ray, shooting directly towards the giant cube Nian had created.
One second later, the cube was penetrated by the light as expected. The remaining light flew out of the city in an instant. Since it was still daytime and they were already on the city's edge, this white light did not attract anyone's attention.
Nian, on the other side, crossed her arms and closed her eyes, savoring the sensation that had just emanated from the cube. "When the light hits the target, it forms an invisible 'wall.' Then, the subsequent light pushes this 'wall' forward with an incredibly terrifying force. The most terrifying part is that this 'wall' is not a single entity, but rather composed of countless'small walls' that are imperceptible to the naked eye. That's why it felt like the entire stone wall was 'dissolved' upon impact."
With just one contact, Nian had pretty much summarized the effects of Kanna's spell.
"Does your spell only do that one thing?" Nian asked.
"Of course not. Uh, with my current ability, I can open about a hundred of them around me, and I can create them anywhere I can'see,' then attack in any direction. Or, I can combine them to make a larger one for point-to-point penetration on a single target. As for duration, no matter which type, each one can only last for less than a minute."
Kanna made a small one in her hand and tested it in the air, finding that this kind of control over electrons was extremely demanding. For a mere instant, it was fine, but continuous output would occupy and consume a large amount of her mental energy. One minute was the limit she could stably maintain the spell. For every second beyond a minute, the spell's stability would decrease, until she could no longer control it.
"The range, power, quantity, and duration are all quite good. Although you said you just thought of it, you can't fool me. This must be a mature spell, right?" Nian didn't believe this was a spell Kanna could come up with on a whim. After all, such precise control and imaginative ideas couldn't be developed in a short time.
"Hehe, this is one of the spells my dad left for me. I only learned it recently, isn't it powerful!" Hearing Nian's words, Kanna's eyes darted around, and she immediately came up with a new explanation.
"I won't ask who taught you, and you don't need to tell me. But judging by this spell, it is indeed a top-tier, very powerful spell with maximum destructive force. As for its drawback, I think you should be careful when using it, because this thing doesn't discriminate. Hitting an enemy or hitting yourself will have the same effect; either way, you'll die, and you'll die miserably."
Saying this, Nian stretched, "Let's go back. We haven't had a good stroll through the streets since we came out. Do you think Victoria is different from Yan?"
"Do you have money?" Kanna glanced at Nian.
"Don't mention it, I exchanged some silver coins for change with Mr. Misery earlier. Shall we go for a walk in the streets?" Nian pulled out a wad of banknotes from her pocket, saying proudly.
Since the basic release method and experiments for the spell were mostly done, there was no need to stay in this godforsaken place. The two leisurely walked back to the main street.
The two walked through the Infected district to the normal district, and after going through inspection, successfully entered the non-Infected gathering area.
If the atmosphere in the Infected district was one of hope amidst gloom, like a quiet residential area, then the non-Infected district was so prosperous that Kanna felt like she had returned to modern times.
Looking at the fashionably dressed crowds on the street and the noisy advertisements, Nian couldn't help but shake her head. "Before coming, I heard that Carlaton was considered the most friendly city to the Infected. So this is what 'friendly' means. Using the Infected as fuel, paying them far below normal wages, along with diluted Infected treatment agents that barely offer a glimmer of hope for survival, then making the Infected do the most dangerous jobs in the city, and finally, all the Infected are grateful to these flesh-eating monsters. What a joke."
"There's nothing we can do. After all, even though this life is a bit tough, at least we can survive, right? In places like Ursus, where Infected are sent directly to the mines to work until they die, that's actually the norm on this land. In such a desperate environment, if a tiny bit of hope can win the Infected's devotion, why spend more resources?"
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