Demon Hunter Wizard, Void Cultist?

"Pah, pah! What the hell is this thing!"

Loghart could hardly believe his eyes.

What the fuck had just happened?

Why had his sorcery turned immaterial?

But it didn't matter. He was a proper Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice, and advancing had strengthened his physique.

Lightning of this level could probably kill a Third-Rank Apprentice instantly.

But for a Second-Rank Apprentice like him, he could take at least four hits!

"Come on!"

Loghart thrust both hands forward, and rippling water shields surged up around him.

This was the very same Defensive Sorcery that Ahab, Tolia, and Vivian had failed to break even by working together during the day!

"I guessed right. Attack first, then defend."

"And if I guessed right, then it's useless!"

Vivian held lightning in her palm and struck without the slightest hesitation.

Then she gave another "wink" and muttered a few incomprehensible words.

In an instant, the defense barrier around Loghart, with no blind spots whatsoever, was also rendered immaterial.

He was struck dead-on by lightning again.

This was already the second time he had been hit by lightning. The few hairs he had left all stood on end, and his fleshy face was charred black.

"Wait, my teacher said before that there was some Demon Hunter Wizard Project or something, meant to..."

"It's The Void! You're an evil god's follower!"

"Don't get cocky. The Alliance has already launched the Demon Hunter Wizard Project. The authority you control will be plundered bit by bit by our Demon Hunter Wizards!"

As he spoke, Loghart stomped his foot, and streams of water wrapped around him.

This was his trump-card life-saving sorcery, Teleportation!

"Mm. Attack first, then defend, then teleport to escape, and the last one is counterattack. I hope I guessed all four right."

Vivian held lightning in her palm, gave another "wink," and rattled off another string of incomprehensible words.

The teleportation sorcery array beneath Loghart also turned immaterial, and at the same time, he had no time to use any other sorcery.

He took the third bolt of lightning.

"Damn it, damn it! I'll fight you to the death!"

Loghart's heart rate had already shot up to over two hundred beats per minute. His eyes above were bloodshot, and below, he had lost control of his bladder and bowels.

He knew he was almost done for.

If he took one more bolt of lightning, he really would die!

"So, you're afraid of Ahab Gul, but not of me. Do you understand now how stupid you are?"

"I admit Ahab Gul has a little cleverness, but that's only a helpless choice when strength is lacking."

"True absolute strength cannot be ruined by schemes!"

Vivian repeated the same trick, and the sorcery Loghart had staked everything on once again turned immaterial.

Then the fourth bolt of lightning fell.

"Rumble."

Loghart, a Second-Rank Apprentice with water-element affinity, died just like that.

At the same time, Vivian sensed the feedback The Void gave her.

"I gained 67 points of faith directly. I won't have to worry for a while."

"The Vampire King's Nail isn't afraid of electricity, so it won't be damaged by lightning. I need to collect it quickly, then deal with..."

Vivian crouched down and searched through the things in the charred scraps of Loghart's clothing.

"Rustle—"

In the distance came the sound of a branch being stepped on and snapping.

"Huh?"

Vivian was shocked. Had someone just witnessed what she had done?

"That's impossible. I clearly didn't hear any footsteps."

Bill, the former great handsome man who stood one meter ninety tall and had a head full of blond hair, now the great eunuch, was fleeing in a panic.

Yesterday evening, Bill had run into Little Potato Tolia by chance and learned that during the day, she and Ahab had gone out together to take care of something.

After Bill pressed her for details, he learned what had happened.

Then he made up his mind:

He had to find Loghart and learn that Defensive Sorcery of his!

Although Bill had pretended to submit and had not gone looking for trouble with Ahab for many days, he had actually been nursing a grudge the whole time.

He was definitely going to make Ahab Gul pay!

Bill felt his way to the Third Prison and waited there until the early hours of the next morning.

Then he followed Loghart all the way onward.

Bill understood how the world worked, too. The man had worked overtime until the latter half of the night and was just thinking about resting, and you went up to make friends with him?

Wasn't that just asking to be cursed out?

So Bill planned to secretly follow Loghart to his residence.

Then he would hurry up and learn how to acknowledge him as his godfather later.

In the end, halfway there, Bill witnessed the entire process.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness! My Knight Breathing Technique and footwork haven't gotten rusty. That strange little girl didn't notice me."

Bill ran like mad, not even knowing fatigue, and rushed all the way to Instructor Gray's residence.

"Instructor Gray, I just ran into something terrifying!"

The dormitory door was thrown open with a bang, and Instructor Gray, who was wearing a sleeping robe and reading teaching materials, rushed straight out.

"Was it that brat Ahab Gul causing trouble again?"

That was Instructor Gray's first thought.

After all, Ahab really was far too good at stirring things up, but their teacher had insisted on choosing him to be a Demon Hunter Wizard, so they couldn't even kill him.

"No, it has nothing to do with Ahab. It was like this..."

Twelve noon.

"Mmphah~~ What a comfortable sleep."

Ahab stretched lazily.

Today was the day to try making "Corpse Dissolving Powder." Last night, he had not dared sleep during the first half of the night, afraid Vivian would come looking for trouble, but in the end she had actually... Hm???

Ahab rubbed his eyes, only to discover that someone was standing at his bedside.

Clang!

Ahab rolled out of bed, condensed an icicle, and completed the whole sequence in one smooth motion.

Then he saw the newcomer clearly.

It was Instructor Gray.

"Don't make such a commotion. I've been waiting here for you all morning."

Instructor Gray spoke without the slightest emotion.

No helping it. I went three days and four nights without sleep before this... Ahab changed his clothes at an unhurried pace, thinking as he did.

Why would Gray suddenly barge into my dormitory this early in the morning—cough, this late at noon?

Also, he said he had been waiting for me all morning. Why didn't he just wake me up?

Was Gray this polite?

"Ahab Gul, have you ever wondered why you poisoned so many apprentices to death on the ship, yet the Academy never punished you at all?"

As he spoke, Gray took out a crystal ball used for communication and answered his own question.

"Because the Academy kept you around because you're useful. Now it's time for you to be useful!"

"Teacher, that brat has finally—gotten up. In accordance with your instructions, I didn't wake him."

An aged "Mm" came from inside the crystal ball.

"Next, I'm taking you to meet my teacher... To be precise, Teacher will teleport you and me over together."

Before Ahab could say anything more, an extremely complex teleportation array lit up beneath his feet, layer within layer, three rings inside and three rings outside, looking very advanced, hard to detect, and hard to interrupt.

Ahab opened his eyes in the light and looked around the room he was in.

The whole room seemed to have a full-range projection. When he raised his head, he could see a vast stretch of starry sky, but instead could not see any ceiling, door, walls, or the like.

If there had not still been a small round table and two chairs on the floor, Ahab would have suspected that this was not a room, but the actual starry sky.