Lady Despair

In an instant, Lady Despair saw countless indescribable silhouettes. She discovered lustrous flashes of brilliance, containing the bright and pure splendour of endless knowledge at the highest point. Her body got dragged forward by a strange force as she rapidly tore through space.

Not long after, she left her original spot and arrived at a secluded, uninhabited, and filthy corner of an alley, except for another hooded figure. She pulled down her veil to cover her face and looked up into the sky.

The afternoon sun had once again been obscured by clouds and fog, turning pale and dark. The light yellow fog wasn't particularly thick, and it sank down to every corner of Backlund, giving off a slight choking sensation amidst its coldness and moisture.

'It's a pity that the haze didn't reach the point when it was in its worst and calmest state. The accident that happened to Trissy, the sudden and temporary loss of control over 0-08, the appearance of Azik, and the destruction previously caused by Dark Emperor, had complicated matters, garnering the attention of others. It forced the operation to be brought forward to today,' Lady Despair surveyed the area, walked out of the alley, and into the streets, her nameless student following behind her silently.

Her steps were slow, as though she were wandering in a sea of fog. Wherever she passed, the fog would unnoticeably thicken. Tinged with an iron-black colour, it silently lowered the range of one's visibility. As she left the street, a sallow-faced tramp in an old jacket suddenly coughed violently and fell to the ground. The two poor people close to the tramp retreated in horror, and then they covered their throats with their hands as they gasped for air. It was as if they were suffering from severe lung disease or bronchitis and could no longer breathe. A haze which was a mixture of iron-black and pale yellow colours descended upon East Borough, the dock area, and the smoke-spewing factory district as it continued to spread throughout Backlund.

Various scenes in the distance were "drowned," and even the towering clock tower was only a pale shadow. One by one, workers and poor people felt discomfort as they fought against the cold, and the disorderly tramps fell one after another in the woman's wake, their lives as fragile as the bubbles formed during laundry.

Lady Despair's expression was calm and gentle, as though she were finishing a work of art. Like an ordinary person, she walked among the pedestrians as she chuckled and said in a low voice, "The Loen Kingdom's history will remember this day. The Great Haze of Backlund."

Just as she walked out of the fog, a door was opened from what seemed like the centre of the fog, and it began rapidly sucking the fog like a hungry beast finding meat. A gloved hand extended from the door, pushing against the force of the rapidly moving wind and poisonous gas, and pulling an entire human, wearing some sort of gas mask with the Unity symbol on it, out of the door

After a while, the door was closed as the fog in the area vanished. But the threat was not gone yet as many people had still been affected, and the fog in other areas was still present.

Max did not panic and instead pulled out the mottled and crusted key from the closed door, before opening it again, to reveal 12 doors placed along a long corridor.

Swiftly, he opened one of them and 5 people came out.

"5 minutes to heal the people here. Go," Max stated as the people wearing masks with the Unity symbol on them ran out with practised ease. On the other hand, Max walked over to another door after sending the door of the house which had sucked in the poison gas to Unity.

Reaching the other side, he found himself in another house in the East Borough of Backlund and immediately pulled out the special sucking door, placed it outside and used the Wanderer's Key to open it again, hanging on for dear life not to get sucked in.

Max knew he could not directly fight Panatiya; also known as Lady Despair. He might be able to escape from her… if he used a lot of his Unity energy and perhaps if Mother Goddess of Depravity helped, but he would not be able to defeat her in any way.

As such, instead of a direct confrontation, he could just reverse all her actions as she passed by areas to contaminate them, removing the poisonous gas and healing those who were too far poisoned.

As for how the door was sucking in the poison gas, it was actually really simple. Max just placed a door outside the Amalgamation of All… in space. And he had kept quite a few doors like that out here, in case someone destroyed the one he was currently using, just in case.

As for how they were healing the people? It was from the countless potions he had bought from the rather shy Apothecary, and placing a sort of mystifying nozzle on the opening of each bottle, allowing it to work for multiple people in a larger area.

And the people running around healing others were Ademisaul and his three students, and the new 7 students he had taken in. They had to do nothing other than open each door, spray three times while chanting, "Praise the Primordial Unity for saving you," and leave, it was not something too difficult for normal people to do.

Lady Despair's idea for allowing her 'pet' to advance to Sequence 4… the Great Backlund Smog… would not happen.

More accurately, it would barely take the lives of the tens of people Ademisaul and his students got to last in the last area where Max removed the poison gas from. This would cause a lot of problems for not just the Demoness Sect, but also for the Royal Family of the Loen Kingdom, and they would definitely investigate the matter.

Not only would he be able to advance to the next sequence this way, but he would also get a bunch of grateful people in the heart of Leon who might soon turn into worshippers if he used his cards right.

That was why, after saving the first region which was the place from where Lady Despair had begun releasing the gas, he had next gone to the slums. The worst area of this borough, and saved the people there. The largest number of people lived there in the worst conditions, and being given a new lease on life was something they would definitely be grateful for.

After having completed everything, Max sent everyone back to their homes directly using the Wanderer's Key, not wanting to leave the possibility of someone spotting them walking around in the middle of the night, before turning to the door that led to Independence, with a potion in hand.

…

Meanwhile, Panatiya's pet, who was only one sequence lower than her, drank a potion with a smile on her face. However, moments after drinking the potion, her eyes bulged and turned red as he skin began melting off.

Panatiya realised what was happening and her eyes turned red as well, but not from losing control like her pet, but rather from anger. Anger at having her well-thought-out plans being reduced to nothing.

Losing control after having fully digested the potion, while advancing to Sequence 4 could only mean one of two things; either some higher Beyonder interfered, which was unlikely in Backlund given how the churches paid close attention to the place, or the ritual failed.

'Damnit! I will find out who you are… and I will make you know what true despair is!' she cursed internally while focussing her eyes on her pet, who was rapidly being reduced to a bunch of white bones and melted flesh, with vitality rapidly growing in the flesh.

She quickly closed her eyes for a moment to collect herself before making use of her powers to deal with the abomination that would soon be brought to life.