"Talulah!"
Seeing Talulah get blasted away, FrostNova immediately rushed toward the collapsed building, while Patriot stepped forward, raising his massive shield and gripping his spear as he blocked the two intruders.
"You… who… are you…"
Staring at Mebius and An Xora, who stood calmly in the frozen wasteland wearing only a formal dress and light clothing, completely unaffected by the cold, Patriot's gaze grew extremely grave.
His answer was a sudden eruption of sharp spikes bursting out of the ground.
Sensing danger in advance, Patriot leapt aside with all his strength, narrowly avoiding the attack. At the same time, red light flared fiercely within his hollow eye sockets. He clenched his spear and hurled it toward Mebius with all his might.
BOOM!!!
The spear, carrying terrifying force, tore through the air like a meteor, streaking straight toward Mebius.
But before it could reach her, a green spectral claw appeared out of nowhere, firmly grasping the spear and stopping it midair.
"Not bad strength. To reach this level purely through racial talent—pure-blood Wendigos really do have some research value,"
Mebius remarked casually.
With a flick of her hand, she hurled the spear back.
The force behind it was several times greater than when Patriot had thrown it. A powerful sense of imminent danger instantly engulfed him.
Without the slightest intention of blocking it head-on, Patriot dodged the spear's trajectory. With no one stopping it, the spear flew out of the village and slammed into the distant snowfield with a thunderous impact.
Unfortunately, Mebius clearly had no intention of giving him another chance.
Before Patriot could regain his footing, a thick snake tail burst out of the ground and whipped across his body at incredible speed.
Even though he raised his shield in time, under the overwhelming power of the snake tail, the once-solid shield shattered like paper, exploding into fragments. Patriot himself was sent flying, crashing through multiple village buildings before being buried beneath the rubble—just like Talulah.
Talulah, who had just been pulled out from the ruins by FrostNova, saw this and her pupils shrank sharply.
"Patriot!"
Scorching draconic flames erupted. Talulah shot forward at high speed toward Mebius and An Xora. But halfway there, a green spectral claw materialized and seized her body in midair.
At the same time, several bolts of lightning crashed down around FrostNova, forcing her to stop in place just as she was about to move.
"Alright," Mebius said calmly, manipulating the claw to pull Talulah in front of her.
"The leader of Reunion is now in my hands. If you don't want any more unnecessary sacrifices, tell the others to retreat."
"You—don't even think about it!" Talulah tried to shout.
But Mebius seemed to anticipate her reaction. A mass of energy instantly sealed Talulah's mouth, silencing her completely.
"Now then," Mebius continued, turning her gaze to FrostNova and to Patriot, who was forcing himself out of the rubble,
"what's your answer?"
"All units… fall back!"
With Talulah captured, FrostNova and Patriot had no choice. Even with the resolve to fight to the death, they dared not act rashly.
Under their command, the Reunion members who hadn't yet joined the fight began to withdraw, gathering up the wounded as they retreated.
Mebius and An Xora, meanwhile, took Talulah, FrostNova, and Patriot—the key figures of Reunion—into a barely intact house in the village.
"Speak. What do you want?"
Inside the house, Talulah found that the silencing effect had been lifted. She immediately spoke with a cold expression.
She didn't know where these two sudden intruders came from or what their identities were, but one thing was clear:
They had the power to defeat both her and Patriot with ease—yet they hadn't killed them.
That meant they had an agenda.
Talulah had already made up her mind. If these people intended to use Reunion for some despicable purpose, she would rather die than let them succeed.
FrostNova and Patriot remained silent at her sides, clearly sharing the same resolve.
To their surprise, Mebius simply tossed Talulah onto the floor and casually threw several pulsating, heart-like lumps of flesh toward them.
"My demand is very simple," Mebius said lightly.
"Eat them, and you get to live."
Staring at the monster cells on the ground—still beating as if alive—Talulah felt a wave of revulsion.
"Who would eat something like that?! What are you really after?!"
"Little lab rats don't get to choose," Mebius replied coldly.
"Eat the monster cells, and you live. Refuse… and I don't mind wiping Reunion off this land entirely."
Faced with that threat, Talulah fell silent.
"If I eat it… will you spare Reunion?" she asked at last.
Just as Mebius had said, against enemies who could crush them effortlessly, if she didn't want everyone in this village to be buried with her, obedience was her only option.
"Relax," Mebius said with a chilling smile.
"I'm not interested in ordinary Reunion members. As long as you cooperate, they'll be fine."
Talulah's instincts screamed that this was a trap.
But once again—she had no second choice.
Clenching her teeth, she picked up a monster cell from the floor, shoved it into her mouth, and forced herself to swallow it.
In the next instant—
BOOM!
Scorching heat erupted from Talulah's body. The house they were in ignited instantly. The temperature within several kilometers skyrocketed, snow melted violently, and the ground beneath Talulah's feet began to turn into molten magma.
"What… is happening?!"
Enduring the agony of her potential being forcibly awakened, Talulah dropped to one knee, staring at the scene before her in disbelief.
The moment she swallowed the improved monster cell, she could clearly feel it—
Her power was skyrocketing. Exploding. Surging without end.
Without exaggeration, she felt that she could now effortlessly defeat ten or more versions of her former self. And even now, her strength continued to rise relentlessly.
If she had this kind of power… then maybe—
"Enough. Quiet."
Mebius spoke lightly.
In that instant, Talulah's surging aura froze abruptly.
What—what just happened?
Why was it that with just a single sentence from her, Talulah could no longer control her own body?!
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