Just as everyone was still reeling in shock, a few of the wizards who had first rushed toward the courtyard had already approached the man riding the white termite.

Though they were clearly anxious, they still behaved with utmost respect toward the man.

“Could that man be the Second Rank wizard of this settlement—the one they call the Grand Shaman?” Saul frowned deeply, feeling an overwhelming sense of danger from the figure.

As if to confirm Saul’s instinct, the Grand Shaman suddenly raised Dolly’s severed head. His lips moved as though saying something, and in the next instant, several fine streams of white mist sprayed out from the white termite.

The expressions of the few wizards near the Grand Shaman changed drastically. They immediately turned and tried to flee, but their reactions were too slow. The white mist quickly spread to where they were.

What happened next was almost beyond belief.

The wizards caught by the mist all came to a sudden halt. Then, one by one, they turned around and began approaching the Grand Shaman again.

No—more accurately, they were approaching the massive white termite.

As soon as one of them got close, the white termite raised its head. With a snap of its massive mandibles, it bit the wizard clean in two!

The lower half of the wizard’s body fell to the ground, while the upper half was caught and held by the termite’s forelimbs, lifted before its face like a person holding food—and it began feasting.

This gruesome and brutal scene terrified the people below. They screamed and scattered in panic, desperate to flee this horrific place.

Yet the wizards hovering in the air beside the white termite showed no signs of escaping. It was as though they had completely forgotten their desire to run moments ago.

The giant white termite devoured its food with alarming speed. In just a few bites, it had finished the upper half of the first wizard.

Instead of bothering with the remains on the ground, it turned to face the second wizard. And just like the first, this wizard didn’t dodge or resist—he even moved forward slightly, as if accepting his fate as food.

This time, the termite didn’t bother cutting him in half first. It seemed to understand that there would be no resistance. It simply grabbed him and took a huge bite out of his head.

Blood gushed like a fountain, spilling to the ground below, striking fear into the hearts of all who witnessed it like a storm of dread.

By now, Saul had already reached the city gate.

The moment the termite had bitten the first wizard in half, he had stopped observing and turned to run.

But even in that short moment, Saul had picked up on several key details.

The mist released by the white termite seemed capable of manipulating the nervous system.

He also noticed that the termite didn’t just release the mist once and then begin feeding—it was continuously emitting mist throughout its feast.

The mist spread extremely quickly. Soon, the sky above was filled with a thick white cloud.

And that cloud was still expanding outward at a rapid pace.

Looking up at the green barrier overhead, Saul suddenly had the feeling of being a bird trapped in a cage.

When he arrived at the city gate, he found several wizards already gathered there.

Ordinary people from nearby had also crowded around.

Everyone was desperate to break through and escape, but the gate was firmly shut. Those who approached it were attacked by a toxic gas.

The gas was terrifyingly potent. Anyone touched by it immediately collapsed with a scream, their skin shriveling rapidly until they became withered yellow corpses.

The crowd backed away in fear once more.

Through a gap in the crowd, Saul spotted several bodies lying on the ground—among them, the old man with the flowerpot who guarded the gate.

Behind him, the enormous white termite had already finished its nearby prey and was slowly turning its head toward the gate, likely attracted by the large number of wizards gathered there.

Saul turned his gaze back to the gate. He could tell that escaping the settlement meant he would have to break the poisonous spell formation woven into the door.

However, that formation was hidden within the gate and wall itself. On top of that, various broken and decoy spell formations were layered over it to obscure any attempt at deciphering.

To crack the formation would take considerable time.

Even with his diary helping him correct mistakes, Saul knew it would be nearly impossible to finish before the white termite reached him.

The giant white termite behind was flying fast—almost overhead now.

At that moment, the diary in Saul’s mind flipped open, issuing a warning.

Lunar Calendar, Year 318, October 13

The earthbound guest has grown wings and stepped onto the sky’s grand stage.

The puppet’s dance and the cries of the weak, Together compose the stage upon which Bichye ascends.

Look,

Look,

See how the god worshiped by the ignorant is born from the lowliest of origins,

Grows stronger beneath the gaze of its mother,

And reigns recklessly in the skies.

Look,

Look,

Watch how, bit by bit,

It devours you whole.

Death warning!

Saul swept his eyes over the diary’s writing, picked out a few key words, and didn’t linger—he immediately turned and slipped into the residential area of the common folk.

The houses there were densely and chaotically built; once inside, a person could vanish from sight in an instant.

While Saul hid, others were also trying to think of solutions.

One of them carefully collected the toxic gas sprayed from the gate and ordered his flying familiar to retrieve a corpse from the ground and carry it toward the white termite.

However, the Great Shaman riding the termite made no response to the clearly suspicious corpse. He simply let the termite devour it.

As the corpse was crushed, a puff of green mist burst out—but before it could cause harm, it was instantly neutralized by a white vapor sprayed from the termite’s body, turning pale yellow.

The attack had clearly lost all potency.

Seeing this, the wizard who had tried to resist the mist came up with another plan.

He chanted a spell, attempting to collect the white vapor sprayed by the termite—hoping to use it against the poison mist at the gate.

To avoid losing control upon contact, he wrapped himself in two layers of magical protection and held his breath.

But the moment his spell touched the white vapor, his body suddenly froze. The light in his eyes vanished at once.

Now, all his mind could focus on was the massive mandibles of the white termite—he was consumed with the desire to offer himself up to it.

So, the wizard drifted toward the termite, swaying unsteadily in the air—only to follow the same fate as those before him.

From then on, no one dared resist the Great Shaman and his termite—they only thought of how to survive and escape this settlement alive.

The settlement was small, and the number of official wizards within it was naturally limited—perhaps eight or nine total—and in just a few moments, four or five had already been devoured.

The remaining apprentices and common folk were scared out of their minds.

People scattered, each trying to find their own means of escape.

But very soon, the ordinary residents of the settlement noticed something peculiar:

The giant white termite wasn’t attacking them!

It was only eating wizards!

A confused mix of terror and faint, guilty relief began to spread among the crowd of commoners.

They looked at one another, each suppressing the subtle emotions flickering in their eyes.

At the same time, the white vapor began to spread through the air, filling the entire settlement. With the massive green barrier trapping it inside, the place became blanketed in fog.

Within the mist, the wizards and apprentices who had been trying to run or hide began to relax, their bodies loosening. One by one, they turned around and slowly drifted toward the giant white termite.

And the Great Shaman riding atop it looked down coldly at these wizards and apprentices as they approached—just like one might watch a line of termites crawling across the ground.

(End of Chapter)

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