Terrifying Regenerative Ability

The monster, having lost its foothold, fell to the ground. It got back up and roared furiously in place, beside itself with rage.

"Can it not cast spells?" Matthew watched the monster helplessly raging on the ground and waved his wand. Using bricks from the rooftops of several nearby houses, he Transfigured them into a solid iron ball several meters in diameter. He sent it higher into the air with a Levitation Charm, then controlled it to crash down onto the monster.

A face on the monster's body split down the middle. The two halves were pushed aside, revealing a hollow opening. Countless filaments like horsehair worms writhed as they extended from the crack.

A bloody light appeared in the hollow, which began spraying red liquid like a high-pressure hose.

The red liquid struck the iron ball in midair and dissolved it within seconds. Even after dissolving the ball, the liquid continued toward Matthew without slowing.

Matthew quickly leaped from the spot to a nearby rooftop.

The monster adjusted the direction of the hollow, and the red liquid followed Matthew. The rooftops along its path dissolved.

Matthew's expression turned grave. Space twisted, and he vanished from where he stood, reappearing on the roof of a house farther away.

The crack on the monster's body began to heal. The hollow stopped spraying red liquid, and the countless filaments like horsehair worms twisted together. A moment later, the crack had become a face again, but it was now as old and withered as a corpse, its eyes shut as if it were dead.

"Does that attack come at a cost? No wonder it doesn't use it casually." Matthew studied the withered face on the monster's body. He could sense that its aura had weakened somewhat.

After releasing the red liquid once, the monster seemed to have less control over its body. Several of the faces became a little more conscious and began to taunt it.

"So stupid."

"Idiot."

"Exactly. You should just give me the body."

"You're not Father. You're just a monster."

"Rayne, I'm in so much pain."

"Let me out!"

"Roar!!!" The monster covered in faces let out an enraged roar. Its body was Old White's corpse, but it had only a few scattered memories of him. It wasn't even as smart as a dog.

At that moment, a man-sized fireball exploded against the monster, engulfing it in a blaze.

Link and Anna had arrived.

"Be careful. It has high Magic Resistance, and it's fast and strong." Matthew's voice came from the Badge on Link's chest.

As soon as he finished speaking, the monster charged out of the flames, which still hadn't gone out, and lunged at Link. Its skin had been scorched black by the fire, but it quickly healed.

Link swiftly raised a translucent shield made of polygonal shapes. When the monster struck it, its immense strength forced Link back several steps.

Link's expression changed. The monster really was incredibly strong. He had undergone Bloodline Modification twice and was a close-combat wizard. His strength was beyond that of an ordinary wizard.

Anna cast a Vine Spell, sending several thick vines coiling around the monster.

"Aren't those Sir Rayne and his wife?" Anna cried out. She had also recognized Sir Rayne and his wife Trina's faces among those on the monster.

Link's expression turned grave. They had seen each other at noon, and now this was happening. It was all too bizarre. He had never seen a monster like this before.

The Vine Spell only hindered the monster briefly. It soon tore the vines wrapped around it apart.

Link quickly drew the Longsword at his waist and ran its blade across his palm. His blood seeped into the sword, and flames blazed along its length. The wound on his hand healed quickly as well.

His first Bloodline Modification had fused him with the bloodline of an Earthfire Giant Lizard. It had granted him extraordinary healing and the ability to control fire. Using an enchanting spell, he could temporarily enchant a weapon with his blood as the material.

A flash of fiery light streaked across the air as the Blazing Sword cut through the monster's neck. Its head rolled to the ground.

Link's sword was incredibly sharp. It was a Second-Order Witchcraft Tool, a kind generally used by Formal Wizards. Only a few wealthy Wizard Apprentices possessed one.

Link spoke to Matthew through his Badge. "It's done. Where are you?"

"It's not dead," Matthew's voice came from the Badge.

Link was startled. A Humanoid Creature could survive having its head cut off?

Countless filaments like horsehair worms extended from the monster's neck and connected to the head on the ground.

Seeing this, Link swung his sword again and cut the monster in half at the waist. Even after being severed, its body remained attached by the filaments.

"Give it a tug," Matthew's voice came through the Badge on Link's chest.

"What is this thing? Its regenerative ability is ridiculous." Link hacked at it several times, but the monster continued healing its wounds.

While the monster was recovering, a dagger pierced its back and entered its heart. A vine was tied to the other end of the dagger, trailing into the distance.

Once the dagger pierced the monster's heart, the filaments inside it snapped one after another. All the faces on its body showed expressions of terror and let out a chorus of agonized wails.

A moment later, the monster fell to the ground and stopped moving.

Link couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He wouldn't have been able to keep going much longer. A Second-Order Witchcraft Tool took a heavy toll on a Wizard Apprentice.

He watched Matthew approach from a distance and asked, "How did you do that?"

Matthew smiled. "I smeared poison on the dagger."

He had used Basilisk venom. The monster's regenerative ability seemed completely powerless against it.

They stepped forward to examine the corpse.

"That face..." Link looked startled. "Hadn't Old White been dead for months?"

Old White's face had swollen. Link hadn't known him well, and it took him a while to recognize him.

Link rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So Old White was behind the disappearances in Whitestone Town lately? But how did he come back to life? Was his death faked?"

Matthew sensed an Energy Fluctuation in the corpse that differed from the magic of ordinary wizards. A thought struck him. He remembered it—the fluctuation was very similar to those he had sensed in the Wolf Pack and the Phantom Demon when he had first arrived in this world.

He crouched down, pretending to examine the corpse, and touched it.

The Metal Disc in his mind glimmered. A red light visible only to Matthew seeped out of the corpse and was absorbed by the Metal Disc.

So it was the same kind of energy. He could sense that the energy in the Crystal had become incredibly abundant!

The red light absorbed this time was far more plentiful than what he had absorbed from the Wolf Pack and the Phantom Demon before.

He could sense that when the Crystal absorbed energy, none of it overflowed. Once it was full, it compressed the energy inside to make room for more. Now the Crystal held enough energy for him to travel between worlds several times!