System vs Rebirth

Boom!

"…" Anna's heart stopped for a second, seeing how the mansion exploded right before she wanted to enter. "This is not the plan…"

"What is going on?"

The guards were shouting in panic because the mansion they were supposed to guard was gone.

"Tsk." Anna gritted her teeth, having to change her plan. It seemed that she had no choice but to knock down all those guards first.

To her surprise, there was only one strong presence in the basement, but she somehow located another one as if it appeared from the thin air.

"That's…" Anna dropped her jaw to the ground when she saw Old Jade escaping from the basement. He was the second presence that suddenly appeared earlier, which she thought was the Space Arbiter considering she was the only one who could teleport.

Chasing after him was the Dark Lord. It seemed they were fighting, especially when she saw Old Jade losing both of his legs. Even his arms were bent weirdly with shackles on his wrists.

It was clear that Old Jade was trying to run for her life.

Anna gritted her teeth and shouted, "Take care of the soldiers!"

"!!!" That shout alarmed not only Melissa but other people.

Old Jade turned his head around, looking at her with those black eyes. The Dark Lord released his spiritual energy, not expecting that he actually missed a person that was trying to infiltrate his mansion.

Old Jade shouted, "I don't have much time left before turning into one, but he is a demonic human!"

Old Jade purposely crashed himself into the ground a bit far away from Anna, fully aware that if he came to her right away, Anna would think he was there to deceive him.

With this action, Old Jade skillfully stopped Anna from considering him an enemy.

It was at that time that Anna immediately released her spiritual energy, locking it on the Dark Lord.

"Die!" The Dark Lord waved his hand down, using the power beyond a spirit grandmaster on Anna.

It would pack a punch if he attacked her a month ago, but this kind of attack wasn't effective against Anna anymore.

Anna used the Force Control to boost her strength, exerting explosive spiritual energy.

"!!!" The Dark Lord's instinct was telling him to escape right away. There was no way he could endure an attack from that kind of power.

However, he was too late.

Anna leaped into the air and kicked the Dark Lord to the ground.

"Gah!" The Dark Lord spat a mouthful of blood. He didn't expect that with this kind of strength, that single kick actually broke his arm as well as a few ribs.

Yeah, he managed to block it, but his power was simply not enough.

The Dark Lord tried to get back on his feet, but all of a sudden, ice froze his hands and legs, attaching him to the ground.

"!!!" The Dark Lord raised his head while shouting, "A—"

He couldn't even utter the second syllable before Anna slashed his head with such a force that it destroyed his mouth and upper body, making him unable to utter another word.

"Old Jade!" Anna turned her head to the side.

Old Jade raised his hand from coming over. He was clutching his chest as he had a hard time resisting the corruption.

"Don't. I don't have much time left, so please listen. Tell the marquis that the enemy is forcing people to swallow the demons. People with stronger bodies won't mutate much, but their minds and bodies will be corrupted by the demons.

"Once you swallow a demon, you might still be able to save that person as long as you remove it not too long after that. But in my case, it's simply too late.

"The spirits are resisting the demon's corrosion, but we need to use our spiritual energy to resist it. However, they have the Fagant Leaf that will make one unable to use their spiritual energy. This way, we won't be able to resist that corrosion.

"There are three states of demons that I have seen. The first is like me, resisting to the bitter end. The second one is acceptance, which allows them to receive and probably cultivate that power. The last one is forced. In the last one, people can't even resist, and their bodies will mutate and get destroyed from within. Only those with stronger bodies have the ability to resist.

"They are…" Old Jade panted heavily as if the demon just did something inside his body. His eyes started losing their focus.

"Old Jade!"

Old Jade raised his hand again as if implying that he was fine.

"They have seized the Tower Association. The only elders who might still be sane are the Water Lord, the Stone Lord, and the Magic Lord. Try to ensure their safety because they are the only ones who can resist them. But don't trust them too much because there's a high chance they have been controlled. As long as we don't know how to differentiate them, they might be controlled.

"And… ha… ha…" Old Jade gritted his teeth as he used his right hand to stab himself in the stomach. "Gaaahhh!"

After such a wound, he managed to regain a bit of control over his body and said the last piece of information he sneakily gathered from the Dark Lord. "They are aiming for the Demon Banner Army as well. Warn them!"

"Old Jade. You have said enough. Please circulate your energy. I'll try to help you!" Anna bit her lips.

However, Old Jade simply stabbed his own heart and ripped it out, showing the heart as well as the demon crystal to Anna. In the last bit of his strength, he said, "Please... kill… my disciple… mountain… bury…"

Old Jade spat a mouthful of blood before he died in the most excruciating way.

"Old Jade!" Anna hurriedly checked his body. Even though he could only say a few last words, she understood what he wanted to say. She could picture the younger version of Old Jade meeting a kid on the mountain, who later became his successor. And that was why he requested her to kill his disciple, fully aware that he had been controlled.

His request was to bury them together on the mountain just like their first encounter.

That was exactly the reason why Anna became so mad.

"Melissa…" Anna took a deep breath, her expression darkened. "Please clean up this area and bring Old Jade's body back to the family. I still… have something to do."