Then let Manuela continue the attack. The pain of the T-Veronica Virus's erosion would be borne by Hilda herself; Manuela only needed to use her golden flames to eliminate the V-Complex.
"…"
"Mom… Mom…?!"
Feeling the pain in her body disappear, replaced by a vibrant vitality, and power suddenly filling her body, Manuela knew almost instinctively that her mother had poured her life force into her.
"Hiss…"
Facing her daughter Manuela's confusion, Hilda only responded with a low hiss.
"Buzz…"
"Whoosh—!!!"
The next second, before Manuela could speak again, Hilda's massive dragonfly wings vibrated and flapped, sweeping up a powerful current of air. Carrying Manuela with her, the mother and daughter immediately ascended, flashing towards the V-Complex with astonishing speed.
Watching the V-Complex still raging below, and her father Idalgo fused within its body, Manuela instantly understood her mother Hilda's intention.
She spread her arms, opened her palms, and closed her eyes, slowly mobilizing the power of the T-Veronica Virus once more.
"Haa—!!!"
That delicate cry resounded again.
Golden light continued to emanate from Manuela's body, and from the center of her palms, a large amount of blood suddenly began to rupture and scatter like raindrops into the sky.
"Pfft… Boom boom boom…!!!"
The brilliant golden flames struck again.
Before the V-Complex could react, the blood falling like raindrops instantly ignited into clusters of scorching golden flames due to friction.
The dense flames immediately converged, transforming into raging, sky-high inferno. These golden flames, like pillars of fire, poured entirely onto the V-Complex.
This time…
The V-Complex had no room to resist.
A large amount of golden flames spread over its body, its blood-red tumors writhing madly as they were scorched. The flesh it had absorbed began to crumble piece by piece, and its sharp skeletal structure could not withstand the erosion of the high temperature, slowly melting. The terrifying high temperature swept over its body, causing the V-Complex to emit an incomparably painful, sharp roar:
"Roar roar roar…!"
But all of this was futile.
Because these brilliant golden flames seemed to have been strengthened, no matter how wildly the V-Complex's massive body thrashed, or even collapsed to the ground, it could not extinguish them.
They continued to burn, constantly spreading to all areas, like an unquenchable inferno.
Is this… karmic fire—?
Chapter 32: Fading Light
"Roar roar roar…!!!"
The hysterical, sharp, roaring cries continued without any sign of stopping. The brilliant golden flames clung to the V-Complex's body like maggots to bone.
No matter how it struggled, it was useless. Its massive, hill-like body rolled wildly on the ground, shaking the surrounding earth violently, causing the ground to tremble and mountains to sway…
However,
The flames still could not be extinguished.
As the brilliant golden flames spread,
The V-Complex's massive body was completely covered and enveloped by these scorching flames, like a sea of fire. Piercing screams of pain echoed throughout the Amazon Rainforest, and rolling waves of heat rushed forward.
"Pfft…"
Not long after,
The flesh absorbed by the V-Complex gradually began to fall off and melt away. Large chunks of flesh, like burnt plastic, became sticky lumps and dropped to the ground. As time passed,
The V-Complex's struggling, massive body gradually quieted down, even losing all signs of life, and directly collapsed to the ground.
Whether it was its huge bone hooks, its plant tentacles, its sharp bone spurs, or its elongated head, everything drooped to the ground.
Like a dying old turtle,
It remained motionless no matter how the golden flames on its body ravaged it. As the flames scorched, thick black smoke billowed into the sky, and large amounts of ash remained on the soil of the Amazon Rainforest.
Is the V-Complex dead?
Yes…
It is completely dead. Belonging to a fusion of the T-Veronica Virus and "Plant 42", the V-Complex was inherently afraid of flames. Its weakness to fire was an insurmountable flaw as a plant, and Manuela's blood bio-flames were its most effective counter.
The only pity was that Manuela never saw her father Idalgo express remorse to her.
No…
Perhaps he already felt remorse!
As she flew in mid-air, Manuela thought this while looking at the blood-red eyes still open in the elongated, bony head of the V-Complex, which was enveloped in golden flames.
If that was her father Idalgo, perhaps he truly felt remorse, because ever since the flames began to burn, those blood-red eyes had been fixed on Manuela. Perhaps that was another way for her father Idalgo to express himself—
"Pfft…"
After an unknown amount of time,
The brilliant golden flames slowly extinguished,
Leaving behind only massive ash remains on the ground. There were no signs of any life surviving within. Even the T-Veronica Virus could not survive such terrifying high temperatures; everything was burned to ashes.
The remaining ash remnants, illuminated by the setting sun, were slowly blown away by the evening breeze, turning into wisps of dust that flew into the sky and scattered onto the land of this Amazon Rainforest.
This was perhaps the best resting place for drug lord Idalgo.
Born on this land, he also died and returned to this land…
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,
"Buzz…"
A buzzing sound came.
Just as Manuela quietly watched the ashes of her father Idalgo gradually dissipate into the world,
Her mother Hilda, who was tightly gripping her spine, suddenly stopped her massive, curtain-like dragonfly wings from vibrating and began to slowly fall downwards!
"Mom…"
"Mom…?!"
Feeling the abnormality behind her,
Manuela abruptly turned her head and questioned her mother Hilda, but unfortunately… at this moment, Hilda could no longer reply.
Her entire dragonfly-human body had become an empty shell; the flesh inside had long since been absorbed, as if a spider had drained it, leaving only an outer husk. Hilda's face was incredibly rigid, like a puppet.
At this moment, Hilda could no longer feel any signs of life.
She had transformed all the flesh in her body onto her daughter Manuela, not only delaying the T-Veronica Virus's erosion of Manuela but also, to some extent, curing the virus's defect of destroying cells.
Simply put… through Hilda's efforts, Manuela had actually completed a variant fusion at this moment.
She had completely diluted the destructiveness of the T-Veronica Virus with her own flesh, keeping Manuela's body in a stable state.
She truly became a highly fused infected body of the T-Veronica Virus.
Manuela inherited most of the enhanced powers of the T-Veronica Virus: physical fitness, neural reaction ability, speed, strength, burst, and sensory perception—all these basic aspects were improved.
And she could still use the blood bio-flame ability. As long as the blood bio-flame was not overused, Manuela would not be in life-threatening danger.
However, relatively,
Manuela lost the possibility of advancing to a Emperor species. She was only a highly fused infected body; her upper limit had been set, unable to assimilate the surrounding ecosystem and enslave dependents like Alexia.
But,
This might be a good thing for Manuela—
After all, the power of a Emperor species was irrelevant in her eyes. She did not want to rule the world, nor did she want to enslave others.
"…"
"Bang…!"
A crisp sound.
The vibrating dragonfly wings stopped flapping, and Hilda and Manuela, having lost their flying power, slowly fell from mid-air. At this moment, Hilda had long since died.
She should have died even earlier, but to prevent Manuela from falling, she continued to move her wings with her last shred of willpower until she was exhausted.
And now…
It was time for the dragonfly to embrace death.
The mother and daughter slowly fell, and Hilda, as the mother, embraced Manuela with her empty shell of a body, using her last corpse to cushion Manuela's fall.
With a final crisp sound, Hilda, like a piece of ceramic, shattered on the ground.
This was Hilda's final love as a mother for Manuela—
"Bang—!"
"Crack… crack…"
Hilda's arms, which were previously embedded in Manuela's spine, also broke off with a snap. Half of her empty body shattered and scattered onto the ground, leaving only one half of her body remaining. Breaking free from the restraint, Manuela turned around and looked at her mother Hilda, who had turned into fragments, wanting to reach out and caress her.
"Mom…"
"Crack… crack…"
But,
Before Manuela's slender arm could touch her mother Hilda's face, the fractured fragments of her body had completely dissipated.
Suddenly, with a "bang," they exploded, disappearing into the air like fine dust. Manuela reached out to grasp, but her palm only held a handful of dust.
In the same manner,
Hilda, as the mother, and her husband Idalgo, left this world together, and also left their daughter Manuela's side.
Seeing this scene… crystal clear tears could no longer be held back from Manuela's grayish-blue eyes.
Dragonflies,
Are insects with exceptionally short lifespans.
From the time they emerge from larvae into dragonflies, their lives only last for a few short weeks or months. Their only purpose in emerging is to reproduce.
They fly in the twilight of the setting sun, find suitable mates among the colorful hues, lay their eggs, and then quietly die.
This cycle repeats, leaving offspring to live out their short lives. Life is sometimes that simple.
And so it was for Hilda, as a mother.
Evolving into a dragonfly, her lifespan became even shorter. Her astonishing flying speed, comparable to the speed of light, was exchanged for her brief life. She would die within a week.
Because she feared death,
Hilda, as a dragonfly larva, did not choose to emerge into this human form to face Manuela the first time she saw her daughter.
And because she feared Manuela's death,
When Manuela was in danger, Hilda, as a mother, unhesitatingly chose to emerge, giving her life to Manuela and ending her brief existence. She hadn't even lived for a single day.
Sometimes,
Motherly love is that simple…
"Mom…"
"Mom… Mom…"