Gary's heart thundered in his chest, and sweat cascaded down his forehead like a waterfall. He had never witnessed such a malevolent side of Grace and her venomous words carved into his very being. Her face with ominous dark streaks looked like she was a demoness in a human's body.
He scuffed his feet against the floor, pushing his chair away from the transformed Grace. "Y-You made a pact with a demon?" Gary stammered, his eyes wide with disbelief as he beheld the sinister, dark vermillion lines that wove their way across her face and skin.
The thought of someone like her making such a deal baffled him. Was he hallucinating?
Grace's eyes gleamed with malice, and a sinister smile played on her lips as she stalked toward him. "Oh, little Gary, the question you should be asking is how you'll fare once I'm through with you."
His knees buckled as her words wrapped around him like a cold shroud. Her aura was suffocating, pulsing with a malevolent energy that seemed to drain the air from the room.
Gary's office became a sweltering, unbearable furnace as though the sun itself had made a sudden appearance. Walls cracked from the heat, and the air thickened, making it increasingly difficult for him to breathe. The water dispenser began to hiss and spit steam as the water within reached a rapid boil.
As Gary's surroundings deteriorated, fear gripped his heart, and he struggled to maintain his composure. His once-familiar office had turned into a hellish landscape, with his tablet, the carpet beneath his feet, and even his chair radiating an otherworldly heat. He stumbled back, his face ashen and panicked.
The wooden furniture blackened and crackled, the metal of his desk warped and bent under the immense heat. Glass windows shattered, showering the room with jagged shards and setting off alarms throughout the building.
Gary's face drained of color as he continued to retreat, accidentally knocking over a flowerpot.
He was a B Rank Hunter, but he knew he was no match for her. She not only had the power of flames and light, but she had the frightening power of Willforce, using her mind to project or throw her mana outwards, allowing her to move or manipulate objects.
"Grace, please stop," he pleaded, his voice shaking. "Think about your grandson. He's in danger too if you do anything reckless. Please, let's talk about this calmly."
He hoped his fellow Hunters would soon come to his aid, buying him enough time to escape.
But Grace seemed deaf to his pleas, her expression cold and unfeeling as she laughed, a chilling and mirthless sound, "Why would the world focus on Remy when they'll be busy crucifying you after I expose everything you and your guild did? You built everything you possess now over the corpse of my son. And now you will pay in blood as you choke on the ashes of your empire. "
The murderous intent in her voice made Gary's soul shudder. Instinctively, he tried to flee, but his feet were glued to the floor, his skin searing as if roasted alive.
"AARGHH!"
The demonic heat was relentless, a fiery storm that seemed impossible to withstand. It was as though the very fires of hell had engulfed him.
As the alarms blared, a group of Hunters burst into Gary's office, weapons at the ready. But they recoiled at the sight of the vermillion-haired woman with demonic lines etched into her skin. The oppressive heat in the office forced them to retreat a step.
Their eyes widened at the sight of their Guildmaster kneeling before Grace, his hair clutched in her grasp.
Though they didn't understand what was happening, they raised their weapons, pointing them at her. "Stand down and let our Guildmaster go! Or you won't be leaving this building alive."
Despite their stern warning, their hands trembled.
Grace smirked coldly, tilting her head. "I wouldn't be so quick to say that." The group of Hunters frowned, but their eyes widened in terror as their weapons glowed red-hot and began to melt. "SHIT!" Panicking, they dropped their weapons, but it was too late.
The radiant mana within the weapons triggered a chain reaction, causing them to explode with a deafening boom.
*Boom!*
The Hunters didn't even have a chance to scream as the combined explosions tore them apart, scattering their dismembered remains in all directions.
Gary choked on his breath as he witnessed Grace effortlessly slaughter five peak C Rank Hunters without even raising a finger.
He had only seen old clips of her wielding her powers, but witnessing it firsthand crushed any hope he still harbored.
"Well, well, well," Grace murmured in a low, ominous voice, her gaze fixed on Gary. "Shall we start the party by destroying your precious guild first?"
"No! Please... I can compensate you!" Gary grimaced, struggling to free himself from her vice-like grip.
But she had already severed his mana circuit with her overwhelming power, leaving him with no choice but to beg.
It had taken him over twenty years to build his guild, and its destruction would annihilate his legacy. Grace's eyes narrowed as she stared down at him. "Compensate me with the wealth you stole from my son? No, there's only one thing that will satisfy me. Your complete and utter destruction. And I'm just getting started." Raising her right hand, the air around her shimmered with intense heat, and her long hair danced wildly.
Her eyes blazed with a fierce, dark vermillion light as she unleashed one of her most formidable power, forging a massive orb of crackling, dark vermillion energy. "Grace, don't do it!" Gary screamed in horror, his face contorted in pain as the scorching heat bore down on him.
He knew she was about to unleash her signature attack—the Fury of the Storm!
But it was too late. Grace hurled the ball of dark vermillion light out of the office, and— *BOOOOM!* It detonated with a blinding flash, unleashing a cataclysmic shockwave that knocked everyone in the building off their feet.
The orb expanded into a vast vortex of dark vermillion flames, emitting a blinding light and intense heat as it grew, consuming everything in its path and melting metal and stone.
As the floor beneath them shook, and the walls trembled, the Hunters in the lower levels froze in terror, initially mistaking the catastrophe for an earthquake.
Suddenly, the air grew unbearably hot, and panic seized them as they realized the true gravity of the situation.
They scrambled for an escape, but the dark vermillion storm rapidly engulfed the building, trapping them inside.
The heat was unbearable, and the flames consumed anything flammable. All the Hunters tried to use their powers to break free, particularly those with control over water. But the force of the solar storm proved too powerful, rendering their efforts futile.
To make matters worse, furniture and objects began to levitate and fly into the storm, adding to the chaos and destruction. Even some of the weaker Hunters were sucked into the raging inferno as it continued to expand.
The air thickened with the acrid stench of burning wood, plastic, and flesh, while the crackling flames drowned out all other noise.
Those who still lived fought their way toward the fire exits, but it seemed as if the very air conspired against them. The storm licked at their heels, scorching their skin and incinerating them alive as it drew them in.
Smoke billowed throughout the building, becoming so dense that they could barely see their hands in front of their faces. The heat was so intense that it made breathing nearly impossible.
As the dark fiery storm raged on, the 50-story building began to collapse in on itself, sending debris and rubble flying in every direction.
The reinforced concrete columns and beams crumbled, and the floors caved in. Horrifying screams and cries of those still alive echoed throughout the building, only to be drowned out by the cacophony of flames and destruction.
Despair set in as they realized there was no escape.
They were trapped with no way out. The screams of their comrades filled their ears as they were consumed by the flames, their bodies reduced to skeletons and then ashes.
Within mere minutes, darkness prevailed as the dark fiery storm unleashed by Grace left nothing but a smoldering ruin behind.
Gary, dragged outside of his own building by Grace, watched in horror as his beloved guild, the culmination of more than twenty years of dedication and hard work, crumbled to ashes before his eyes.
The once towering and majestic structure was now nothing more than a pile of charred rubble and debris, still smoldering from the heat of her power.
Never in his darkest nightmares had he envisioned such a day for his guild. He had recruited hundreds of Hunters over twenty years, and now, most of them were nothing but ashes.
All his wealth and power evaporated into ashen smoke within a matter of minutes. As if that wasn't enough, the catastrophe would only bury him further in crushing debt, especially considering the various dealings he had with dangerous and powerful parties.
"I must say, your precious guild made for a lovely bonfire, little Gary. It warms me up good, but not as much as seeing your face while your legacy crumbles before you," Grace taunted with a cold, mocking smile, still gripping Gary's hair.
Gary's anger and resentment towards Grace boiled over as he stared at the ruins of his guild. "Y-You demonic bitch! Do you realize what you've done?!! You won't get away with this!" He shouted, struggling to come to terms with the devastation that Grace had brought upon his guild.
SLAP!
"URGH!!"
A thunderous sound echoed as Grace slapped Gary to the ground, making him cough out a mouthful of bloodied teeth while grimacing in pain.
But her slap also reeled his mind back to reality, reminding him of the terror that her presence instilled.
Grace hoisted him up by his hair, her voice cold and mocking as she whispered, "Oh, Gary, don't be so foolish. Save your energy because you're going to need it for what's about to happen next. One last stop in your pitiful life."
Gary's eyes trembled in horror, dreading what this crazed woman had in store for him.
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