The Philosopher's Trap

The philosopher struggled forward, feeling his body growing weaker and weaker.

She gasped for breath, coughed up phlegm mixed with blood and foam, and almost collapsed from exhaustion as she put down the package she was carrying.

I can't lift it anymore.

Her fingers were turning white from gripping it so tightly. This thing was just too heavy for her.

Inside this simple package were the Hatter's body fragments—ritual materials she had painstakingly obtained.

During the ceremony, the Hatter transformed into a robust young man. The philosopher traded the information he had obtained with him, explaining that his teammates were missing and expressing his desire to team up with the other man.

With the help of the "Hatmaker," the philosopher, still weak and exhausted from escaping from the private room, was able to enter the Secret Passage. She was so weak that she could barely stand and was practically lifted up and shoved into the Secret Passage by the Hatter.

After the two entered the Secret Passage, once the philosopher had caught his breath, he immediately used magic to ambush and kill him.

There was no other reason; she simply desperately needed to heal her body and restore her strength.

There was no priest involved in this ritual, and even if there were, it would be difficult to kidnap the other person to heal him. Although the Hatter was now willing to cooperate, if he continued to appear so powerless, the Hatter might simply kill him.

It's better to strike first.

Although the philosopher, as a mage on the Path of Wisdom, lacks the ability to recover, fortunately, as long as one knows how to operate, even without Path of Transcendence, one can still perform some simple rituals.

The corpses of humans possessing magical powers are excellent materials for rituals—

Indeed, he truly lacked any talent for the Path of Wisdom. The philosopher chuckled to himself.

After so many years and so many resources, the Path of Wisdom has only just begun to reach the Third Level.

The core principles of the Path of Wisdom are mystery, selfishness, and rationality. Guarding secrets, maintaining neutrality, preserving reason—the wise man is solitary, ahead of his time, and incomprehensible to the masses.

The philosopher was confident she could accomplish the first two points, but the third proved difficult because she was prone to outbursts of anger.

She wanted to pursue a part-time career in the Path of Wisdom because she felt she was very prone to losing her temper. Therefore, she hoped to use this most rational path to compensate for her shortcomings.

Perhaps it was the influence of the Path of Transcendence, or perhaps it was the corruption of her rationality by the contracted demon. When she encountered any pain or setback, her thoughts were not "to remain silent, not to explain, and not to pay attention" or "to treat it with disdain and contempt," but rather she immediately wanted to take action to make the other party pay the price.

Because she just couldn't help it.

—He himself is so powerful! He holds a high position, is wealthy, and has a smart and capable heir. He is an old noble family with a history spanning hundreds of years, a powerful noble family, and a general with military achievements. No one would refuse to give him face.

But the Path of Wisdom requires us to laugh off the doubts and hostility of fools. On the path of pursuing truth, disputes and quarrels are nothing but a meaningless waste of time.

Philosophers can never quite grasp that feeling of being high above, looking down on all living beings, and genuinely uninterested in worldly affairs.

She gave herself this code name when she was advancing on the Path of Wisdom, also to remind herself to stay rational and think more about everything.

As a result, she not only became a weak girl... but was also insulted and bullied by such an old man! — If this were Promotion Ritual that Path of Transcendence, she might have already resonated with the Dao by now.

But this is Promotion Ritual on the Path of Wisdom. As a result, she is now not only experiencing dizziness, blurred vision, and weakness in her limbs due to her rage, but she also feels that her spellcasting probability is constantly decreasing.

Ultimately, in this Promotion Ritual on the Path of Wisdom, she still used a ceremony that Path of Transcendence...

Manually dismembering a corpse is tiring, requires a high level of skill, and is very time-consuming.

Her current physical condition was not enough to support her manually dismembering the "Hatmaker's" body, so the philosopher directly consumed some more magic power and quickly set up a "Decomposition Ritual" to dismantle the other party's body into materials that could be carried around.

She then used the remains of the hatter to perform her first "Vitality Regeneration Ritual" to replenish her strength for the first time.

After that, she used the other person's clothes as a package to pack the materials into separate bags.

She didn't want to clash with anyone at this time, because she only had a little magic left, and completely depleting her magic could lead to unconsciousness.

Compared to those ascendants who use young male bodies, she definitely wouldn't be able to defeat them without using her Extraordinary Ability.

So after careful consideration, the philosopher chose to use two-thirds of the materials left by the hatter to set up a trap.

She set up traps as she went. Because she didn't have many materials at hand, she couldn't set up any particularly aggressive traps.

Considering the possibility of entering the Secret Passage, setting up a sleeping trap directly might result in being awakened by one's companions. Therefore, the philosopher ultimately chose the Enervation Ritual.

That was a cursed ritual that would render one's limbs weak and thus make it difficult to move.

If the other party is a temporary teammate, the person who steps into the trap may be suddenly killed by others; but if they are companions that cannot be abandoned, they will choose to help or carry the other party to act together, or simply stay to try to lift the curse.

Either way, it will buy her a lot of time.

After falling into a trap once, they will probably become more cautious. They might even prepare countermeasures against curses.

Therefore, the second ritual arranged by the philosopher was the "Strong Acid Arrow" ritual, which used bile, gastric juice, and blood.

When the opponent enters a long, narrow, and empty passageway, and as they have passed two-thirds of the way through and gradually become less vigilant, a Strong Acid Arrow will fly from the front. This First Level ritual may not kill a person directly, but it can cause immense pain and weaken the opponent's mobility and combat capabilities.

The philosopher then removed the Hatter's spine and liver, creating a phantom wall that blocked out light, complete with runes. They might think they'd reached a dead end, a trap, and turn away; or they might stubbornly try to investigate the wall. Beneath this light-blocking wall, the philosopher placed a tripwire to trigger a Poison Thorn trap behind it.

When someone tries to get close enough to investigate the wall, they will be stung by the Poison Thorn behind it—she deliberately lowered the height of the text so that anyone trying to see it in the dim light would have to look down. And the Poison Thorn she adjusted would then pierce their eyes.

—These three ritual traps should at least kill three people, right?

The philosopher pondered.

Including the forge and hatter who are already dead, plus myself...

If we remove three more people, there won't be many left chasing after us.

Moreover, the first ritual of atonement was intended as a warning to his companions—even though they were suddenly unreachable, the philosopher kindly left them clues. If you see a ritual trap set, you should realize that you yourself have set it, and be a little more cautious.

She didn't have many materials left.

I originally planned to walk until I was too tired to continue and then replenish my energy.

But now she suddenly began to hesitate.

—Because the philosopher was unsure whether the end of this Secret Passage needed to be opened.

If it's just a code or riddle, that's fine. With the development of his intelligence through the Path of Wisdom, he can figure it out quickly. But if it's a password or even a magical rune that she doesn't know, then she'll have to force it open through a ritual.

Each time a set of materials is used, it may result in a door being unable to be opened later due to the lack of that set of materials.

"... One corpse is far from enough."

The philosopher gritted his teeth and decided to save some more money.

I'm not going to let myself recover.

She originally thought that if she couldn't complete the New Moon Ritual, she could simply find a place to hide. Even if she couldn't pass the test, as long as she was still alive, she wouldn't be punished.

... But after experiencing that ordeal, she suddenly felt that it would be a huge loss if she didn't complete the game.

But just then...

She suddenly sensed a chilling malice—the philosopher picked up a package from the ground without hesitation and threw it forcefully in one direction.

"Eat their hearts and chew their livers, I command you with the powerful blood of youth! Show yourself to them, Drunken Bull!"

She recited it aloud at the same time.

The heart and liver in the package burst into flames, which then grew larger, accompanied by a strong smell of alcohol.

It was like wrapping a bull in straw soaked in alcohol and setting it on fire—golden-red flames surged forth. In this confined space, a bull-like fiery shadow flashed past in the direction she pointed.

But to her dismay, she did not hear any screams.

"—You are... Alai?"

Only a cold, hoarse voice rang out.

A black robe, like a tattered rag, unfurled in the air, revealing an empty room devoid of any living person.