The Next Step

In the city's central square, Adolf brought the Headless Knight here, while the living corpses had all been shredded to pieces during the flight.

The Headless Knight was also covered in wounds. Through his bluish-gray flesh, the blackened bones within could be seen.

However, his wounds were rapidly recovering, and fresh flesh quickly grew back.

Just as Adolf was preparing to deal with the Headless Knight in earnest, he heard the undead roaring outside the city and the cries of battle from atop the walls.

He knew that the undead army outside had likely launched an all-out assault.

He did not know how the rune inscriptions within the academy were progressing. Perhaps they were nearly complete already.

But that was no longer his concern. He now needed to suppress this Headless Knight as quickly as possible, then rush to the city walls to reinforce the defenders.

Judging from the sounds reaching him, Adolf could imagine just how much pressure the defenders were under.

And since that old fellow Jamir had been gone for so long without wiping out the Undead Skeletons outside, Adolf knew that the undead beyond the city had also been tampered with by that alchemist.

Adolf did not suspect Jamir of slacking off, because he knew very well what kind of person that old fellow was.

All Jamir wanted was to eliminate Wisdom Shield, whom the Church had labeled a defiler, then use him to climb to a higher position.

And an ambitious holder of Divine Authority would never allow a stain to be smeared upon himself. If Hui Dun City fell and undead creatures ran rampant through it, then even if Jamir survived in the end, he would still be branded with the crime of colluding with the undead.

Moreover, the light magic he cultivated was naturally the sworn enemy of creatures like the undead, who wielded dark powers.

It could be said that the moment the two sides met, the attribute Magic Energy in their bodies would reject one another, leaving them feeling uncomfortable all over.

From every angle, Adolf had to destroy the undead creatures outside. Even if he had some scheme in mind, he would never allow the undead to grow powerful enough to launch a full-scale siege.

Adolf withdrew his thoughts. Right now, he needed to concentrate his strength and quickly suppress the Headless Knight before him.

Looking at the Headless Knight, the place where they stood was incomparably open, and Adolf no longer restrained the power of his magic.

Without any chanting, he directly unleashed powerful magic attacks upon the Headless Knight.

The Headless Knight was equally valiant. He directly stirred the blood energy within his body, drew his sword, and met Adolf's magic head-on.

Once a mage reached Platinum Rank, the enhancement of a domain meant they were no longer as fragile as ordinary mages.

With their domains, they could cast some simple offensive spells without incantations and need not fear their bodies collapsing from the instantaneous release of Magic Energy.

Under such a relentless bombardment, the Headless Knight's blood-energy power was quickly blasted apart.

Then, a faint blue-green gleam surfaced from Adolf's wand. A greatsword condensed from wind-element magic appeared before him, and before the Headless Knight could react, it slashed down at him.

The Headless Knight had no time to evade. The blood energy in his body had just been dispersed by Adolf and could not be gathered again in time, so he could only raise the sword in his hand to block.

Yet the instant his sword touched the magical greatsword, it was sliced into several pieces by the condensed gale force.

Before he could make another response, his entire body was cleanly cut into several chunks.

Like before, this Headless Knight was extremely difficult to kill.

Although he had been cut into several pieces, those chunks of flesh were still wriggling and showed signs of rejoining.

But Adolf was not without methods for dealing with such reassembly.

Adolf raised his wand and murmured under his breath. As he spoke, rings of Magic Runes circled around the wand.

Then he shouted, "Batch Kapu Trap—Wind Demon Prison."

Magic Runes similar to those on his wand rose from the ground beneath the chunks of flesh. Adolf then used teleportation magic to send the pieces separately into the forests around Hui Dun City, suppressing them there.

After dismembering and suppressing the Headless Knight, Adolf used gale force to grind the scattered flesh he had left behind into scraps, then flew toward the nearest city wall.

At that moment, atop the cliff, the alchemist who had just put away his Magic Crystal ball discovered that his Headless Knight had already been dismembered and suppressed.

But none of that mattered anymore. With the undead army outside serving as a restraint, even if Adolf and the others wanted to find and kill him now, they had the will but not the strength.

Within the academy, the rune inscriptions were nearing completion. The ever-louder cries of battle outside the city tugged at the hearts of the instructors and senior students who remained here.

After checking, Pembez also knew that the situation was urgent. They absolutely could not allow the undead outside to break in.

Moreover, most of the sections they needed to inscribe were nearly finished.

"Melinda, take the instructors and these senior students to reinforce the city walls. Leave things here to me."

Pembez gave the order to Melinda, the instructor with the greatest magical attainments.

Chen Cheng's Variable Magic was only a few steps from completion. It had now reached a critical moment.

Melinda glanced at little brats like Fini and at Chen Cheng, who was squatting nearby studying the rune-inscription scrolls, then led the instructors and senior students toward the city walls.

Just as Melinda was about to leave, Wisdom Shield rose and came over.

"Professor, I'll go with them too."

At this moment, Wisdom Shield's heart was more tightly clenched than anyone else's present. This was his territory, and those fighting on the city walls were his people.

Yet as their count, he was not by his people's side in this hour of peril and could only hide within the academy. This was truly his greatest humiliation.

Pembez looked into Wisdom Shield's determined eyes and pondered for a moment.

He had originally kept Wisdom Shield behind because he wanted him to preside over the grand formation. Aside from Magic Crystals, the magic power required by the formation could only be supplied by his Chaos Magic.

But Pembez thought it over again, and in the end, he nodded at Wisdom Shield.

Not only because he believed in himself and Adolf, believing that once the shield was formed, the two of them could find the alchemist and deal with him within a few hours.

It was also because he was Wisdom Shield's teacher now, and at a time like this, he needed to consider Wisdom Shield's interests as well.

Wisdom Shield's origins had already made him unpopular among the people of his territory. If not for Tofis, that shrewd and capable governor, recovering much of his reputation for him, he would have been unable to gain a foothold here at all.

And now Jamir had bared his fangs as well. That old fellow was also charging at the forefront this time.

Although Wisdom Shield's role here was important too, afterward he would ultimately still be overshadowed by Jamir.

And if Wisdom Shield went up too early, no one knew whether that old fellow Jamir might pull some tricks amid the chaos of battle and directly have him make a heroic sacrifice.

Perhaps in this critical moment, Wisdom Shield leading the academy's instructors into battle could win him quite a bit of gratitude.

Though this seemed somewhat sinister and calculating, one could not ascend to that position through uprightness alone. Otherwise, the Thornflower Empire, which sat straight and walked upright, should not have perished.

Seeing Pembez agree, Wisdom Shield immediately picked up his wand and chased after them.

Atop the cliff, when the alchemist saw the academy's instructors emerge, he knew it was time for the next step of his plan to begin.

What he had not anticipated before was that the academy's instructors would turtle up and refuse to come out. Otherwise, the undead army outside would have pressed forward long ago.

But now there was no problem, apart from Pembez, who still remained within the academy.

And as he looked at the red pill in his hand, everything was under his control.

In truth, Adolf deserved credit for all of this. When he had gathered the academy's instructors, he had concealed the entire academy.

If the alchemist truly wanted to spy on the academy, he would have to break Adolf's concealment. That would expose the alchemist hiding in the shadows, and there would be no need for any magic defensive formation.

When Adolf left afterward, he had also secretly reminded Pembez to keep up the concealment and prevent those outside from seeing within.

The alchemist put his black hood back on, and with a flash, vanished from atop the cliff.

He needed to prepare for the final step.

On the street of noble residences in Hui Dun City, Coles did not know why he had run and run until he ended up here.

Looking at the empty, deathly silent avenue, Coles, whose mind had been filled with resentment, regained a little clarity.

Only then did he remember that Hui Dun City was already hanging by a thread. An undead army was attacking outside, and if the city fell, he too would die without even a burial place.

There were also many wandering living corpses within the city, and he had run here because he had been avoiding them.

Thinking of this, cold sweat poured down his back. Then he grew furious at his own stupidity. At such a time, he had actually let rage cloud his mind and run out of the academy.

But when he thought of Chen Cheng being treated like the moon surrounded by stars by Pembez and the others, the flames of fury within Coles began to rise again.

He could not bear to see Chen Cheng, a lowly slave, being treated like the moon surrounded by stars.

Just then, the big fellow who had silently followed at his side suddenly tensed. Before Coles could react, he had already shielded him behind his body.

The space before him suddenly darkened, and Coles looked up to see the big fellow blocking his way.

Before he could rage at the big fellow, he heard a chilling laugh.

Then, through the gap between the big fellow's arms, he saw the ugly, decrepit alchemist standing in front of them.

As a little boy, Coles had not been scared out of his wits by someone with such a horrifying appearance. The big fellow before him seemed to sense his master's fear as well and directly roared twice at the alchemist.

His large hand behind his back pushed Coles backward, signaling for him to flee quickly.

The alchemist before them saw his actions clearly. Looking at the big fellow, he clicked his tongue in amazement.

"I never expected such a small Hui Dun City to be a place where crouching tigers and hidden dragons lurked. A little slave like this actually possesses the Titan Bloodline. Unfortunately, the bloodline is far too thin and has no research value at all.

"But as a slaughtering monster, he is more than sufficient. It seems even Heaven is helping me this time."

Ignoring the terror of the two before him, the alchemist extended his withered old hand. Resting in his open palm was the red pill he had just refined.

"Heh heh heh, little brat in the back, I know the anger in your heart. And this pill in my hand is a magic potion that can help you eliminate the source of that anger.

"As long as you make the little slave before you swallow it, the source of your anger will vanish before your eyes."

The alchemist's words were full of temptation. That voice was like the devilish sound that had urged Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, winding around Coles's ears and ceaselessly tempting him to take that pill.