Everyone Else Awakened, But I Just Opened a Pokémon Pet Shop

With a simple, casual gesture from the woman—

The corpse of the S-rank Death Beast beneath her began to melt, like snow under the sun.

What replaced it was a torrent of surging death aura!

And that was just the beginning.

All across the battlefield, every S-rank Death Beast's corpse began to dissolve, releasing clouds of swirling black mist—thick, putrid death aura!

The black mist churned and rose, forming a massive vortex of death in the sky, so dense it blocked all vision.

"What the hell is going on?!"

Dong Feng's face turned pale as panic surged through his veins.

He could feel it—things were spinning wildly out of control!

Above Boulder City, the death aura was everywhere.

And because of it, all communication devices, electronics—everything—suddenly failed without warning.

The swirling vortex of black mist blotted out what little sunlight the city had.

In that instant, Boulder City was plunged into utter darkness.

A doomsday-like atmosphere swallowed the hearts of every resident.

People poured into the streets, staring in horror at the blackened skies. Some trembled. Others screamed.

The bloody, rancid scent in the mist was so suffocating, it made those with weaker stomachs vomit uncontrollably.

The entire city was thrown into chaos!

"Damn it! This is a full-blown disaster!" Dong Feng cursed.

His brow twitched violently. He issued orders without hesitation:

"Sound the alarm! Get every citizen into the underground shelters!"

"City Guard—emergency level one, now!"

"What the hell is the Contractor's Guild hiding?!"

"What is that woman?!"

The Lord of Boulder City was terrified.

This was supposed to be a simple grudge match—just a rising awakener taking revenge.

But now?

This "Ingrid" clearly wasn't human.

Since when could anyone turn a Death Beast's corpse back into death aura?

This shattered everything Dong Feng believed about the world.

He gripped his massive shield, spinning in place like a cornered beast.

Rushing in blindly was suicide. But standing still—watching his city die slowly—was torture beyond words.

"Dong! Snap out of it!"

Zhu Jianyuan grabbed Dong Feng by the shoulder and dragged him to a stop.

"Remember Sandcastle City? This is just like what happened there!"

Zhu Jianyuan's voice was grave.

Dong Feng froze—then his face twisted in horror.

"S-Sandcastle City… right. It was exactly like this…"

Wang Tao and the others turned pale.

Everyone in the Eastern Divine Federation knew of Sandcastle City.

As part of the third human defense layer, it was supposed to be safe—out of reach of Death Beasts.

But one night, it was devoured by monsters.

The only warning?

A vortex of death aura covered the skies—just like this one.

"What kind of… thing are we dealing with?" someone whispered.

Pei Jingguo gripped his sword tightly. Calm as he usually was, he couldn't stop his hand from trembling.

The unknown fear—it was worse than any Death Beast siege.

The vortex above continued to spiral, growing faster, deeper, louder. It howled like a storm.

And beneath it, Su Bai stared into the churning mist, frowning, silent.

Even he—a super rookie—couldn't see through it.

But deep inside… something was being born.

Something huge.

He debated whether to charge in—

And that's when Ingrid's voice echoed out once more.

"You humans are such noisy, foolish creatures."

Her figure reappeared in the mist.

"You should've just let yourselves be raised like livestock…"

"What's with all this fighting? All this resistance?"

"Don't you get it? In the face of overwhelming power—resistance only hastens your extinction."

"But it's fine. Once I kill you and destroy these two cities…"

"The Prophet's plan will still proceed."

Su Bai stared hard at her—at the black tendrils now visibly spreading beneath her skin.

If Zhou Xiaofei or Liu Qiaoqiao were here, they'd recognize it immediately.

It was the same black pattern they had seen on Li Jian that night.

Only this time, unlike Li Jian—who was in agony—Ingrid looked… liberated.

Relieved. Empowered.

"You wanted to know about the ring, didn't you?" she smirked.

She held up her hand, revealing the same black ring.

"For trash like Li Jian, this ring acted as a shield—something to block out the death aura."

"But for me?"

"It's a limiter."

CRACK!

With a sharp squeeze, Ingrid shattered the ring in her hand.

And in that instant, the black tendrils exploded across her entire body.

Death aura surged from her like a tidal wave—far denser, far darker than anything an S-rank Death Beast had ever produced.

Su Bai's pupils shrank. His heart skipped a beat.

A single word escaped his lips:

"Sub…beast!"

His suspicion was finally confirmed.

Humans do not emit death aura.

Death Beasts are monsters born from negative energy.

But if something looked human and emitted death aura—

Then it could only be one thing: a Subbeast.

A creature that had abandoned both body and soul… and merged itself with death aura.

Ingrid glanced at Su Bai with disdain.

"Pathetic."

"Survival of the fittest—that's the truth of the world."

"We've evolved. We've adapted to the new world."

"You? You're relics of the past. Leftovers waiting to be culled."

"Subbeasts? That's not our name."

"You should call us the Sacred Race."

Her body began to grow rapidly.

Her form remained graceful—but now enormous.

She rose past three meters tall. A true giantess.

Twisted, black horns curled out from her forehead.

The black veins across her skin twisted into arcane, armor-like patterns.

She looked less like a person—and more like a demon queen.

"Now, allow me—one of the noble Sacred Race—to toll the bell of death for you vermin…"

"And remember my name."

"I am Malene. Arianna Malene."

Snap!

She raised a massive hand—and snapped her fingers.

In that moment—

A howl erupted outside Boulder City.

A chorus of Death Beasts, roaring together, closing in.