Turning Point · One

"Looks like this isn't the surface. It's the center of the Academy—the Black Tower that reaches into the clouds."

Years of roaming far and wide had made Ahab keenly aware of the abnormal air pressure.

This room was far, far higher than the dormitory he had been in a minute ago.

Maybe a thousand meters. Maybe more.

As Ahab thought this, he realized that Instructor Gray, who had been beside him, had vanished at some point.

He was sitting on a chair inside the small holographic room.

In front of him was a round table, slightly wider than his chest and about level with it, with an astrolabe drawn across its surface.

Beyond the small round table sat an old man with dry, withered skin.

The flesh on the old man's face was mottled red and white, like air-dried cured meat.

"You are Ahab Gul, yes?"

As he spoke, the old man flicked his hand.

Ahab felt a change in his mouth.

On the Ferry Ship, while fighting for the position of group leader, Ahab had bitten his tongue once and sprayed Bill's face with blood.

Later, before it had healed, he had bitten it open a second time of his own accord to obtain the Vampire King's Nail, spraying blood all over the ground.

Now the wound on his tongue had become even harder to heal. Eating was no longer enjoyment, but torture.

Although enduring it was not particularly difficult for Ahab, having it healed would ultimately make things a little easier.

At the same time, Ahab recalled what Instructor Gray had said on the Ferry Ship when Bill asked him for treatment:

"Of course I can treat you, but wizards value equivalent exchange. What can you offer in return?"

Looks like this old man looking for me definitely means trouble.

"I am a Second Ring wizard, Merlin."

"I came to you for one thing only: hunt down that evil god believer named Vivian.

"In other words, a believer of 'Void.'"

After speaking, the old wizard Merlin flicked his hand again.

The holographic scene in the room began to change, shifting from the starry sky to somewhere inside the Academy. It seemed to be night.

Then Loghart appeared, blocked by Vivian, and after his witchcraft was nullified four times, he died to lightning.

This scene reminded Ahab of something he had once seen in the Future Diary during the days he was wearing Vivian down.

The diary had mentioned that on some perfectly ordinary day of class, an apprentice was suddenly taken away—

Simply because that person was a believer of Void.

But that had been all.

Ahab had originally thought that so-called believers were just some small organization operating in private.

Maybe they secretly held gatherings on weekends now and then.

But as it turned out, these so-called believers of Void could actually obtain such powerful strength?

And if Vivian had power that strong, why had she not used it that day?

If she had nullified even one of his spells, he would have lost without a doubt.

Then none of what happened afterward—him wearing her down and refusing to let her sleep—would ever have happened.

"I know you have questions."

"There is no need for you to know too much right now. I'll keep it simple."

The scene in the room returned to the starry sky. As the old wizard Merlin pushed the illusory stars, he said:

"The universe is vast. There are not only us wizards, but also many evil gods who wield strange and bizarre powers."

"Among them, the evil god that controls the path of 'Void' has always been the enemy of wizards, and of all civilization.

"Its believers have even infiltrated the Wizard Plane in large numbers."

That reminded Ahab of something.

At the end of the Future Diary, it was not necessarily another wizard who had controlled him.

Was that cry of "Master" related to the Ancient God?

As he chewed over the information he had received, another question arose in Ahab's mind.

But why send him to hunt Vivian?

The Academy should have no shortage of powerful wizards.

As if seeing through Ahab's question, the old wizard Merlin gestured with his hand and said:

"For many years in the past, we directly killed Void Cultists."

"But that only treated the symptoms, not the root cause. New believers would soon appear."

"So, The Alliance decided on a new strategy—the Demon Hunter Wizard Project!"

Then the old wizard Merlin took out a few thin sheets of paper, which seemed to be excerpts from some documents.

Ahab scanned them up and down a few times and roughly understood what was going on.

If they killed the cultists directly, the evil god would grant new cultists authority again.

At the same time, the authority an evil god could grant was limited.

Therefore, The Alliance had decided to specifically train demon hunter wizards to "occupy" the authority of the evil god's cultists.

Seeing this, Ahab really did feel a tiny bit excited.

Truly only a tiny bit.

His aptitude was poor, and he had no background or backer.

All this time, he had relied on cunning and ruthlessness to obtain benefits and resources.

But the gap that strategy could level out was ultimately limited. Every time, his victories were bitter ones.

Leaving aside how he would seize the authority, if he truly succeeded—

Then could he, like Vivian, void other people's witchcraft?

Could he also, at the level of a Third-Rank Apprentice, directly kill a Second-Rank Apprentice alone without taking a scratch?

Seeing that Ahab had finished reading, Wizard Merlin said faintly, "Your performance on the Ferry Ship was not bad."

"So I've decided to train you as Mensis Academy's first demon hunter wizard."

Ahab understood. This was a veiled threat.

Looks like he's a smart one... Wizard Merlin handed over another thin booklet.

"This is the method to become a Void Cultist. Read it now. If there's anything you don't understand, ask on the spot."

More reading. Lately, he seemed to have quite the affinity with written words... Ahab opened the thin booklet.

[The core meaning of the void—every person is born equal.]

[This is a principle that all living beings must obey. Once an act that violates equality is committed, sin will accumulate upon the body.]

[Sin is formless and intangible, but it can be observed by the spiritual sight unique to Void Cultists.]

[Passing judgment on those burdened with deep sin is the only way for Void Cultists to obtain the power of faith and wield authority.]

"This seems... a little targeted at me..."

Ahab involuntarily thought of the first thing he had done after transmigrating here.

But according to this theory, shouldn't Vivian have "judged" him the moment she first saw him?

Ahab did not dwell too much on the question of why he had not been "judged" immediately.

His gaze continued downward. It was about the authority of an elementary Void Cultist—See Through.

Simply put, it meant guessing in advance what type of witchcraft someone else was going to use.

If the guess was correct, the witchcraft could be voided, rendering it ineffective.

"Mm, using the authority once requires 1 point of faith. Judging 1 point of sin grants 1 point of faith."

"Vivian didn't attack me. I guess her faith power wasn't enough... wait, this sentence at the very end!"

Ahab flipped the thin booklet to the last page.

And then—

For the first time, his shrewd face showed a mixture of complicated emotions: shock, bewilderment, and the dazed look of someone waking from a long dream.

"You saw the last sentence, right? It doesn't matter if you can't understand that one."

"That's Ancient God Language. The evil god who governs the 'void' is rather special. It's one of the three great Ancient Gods of the cosmos and has its own Ancient God Language."

"As for the meaning of that sentence, it should be the Void Ancient God's analysis of the authority of 'See Through.'"

"Once you successfully hunt Vivian and master the authority, you should be able to understand it."

Merlin still explained without the slightest emotion.

But Ahab Gul could not stay calm.

The point was not that he could not understand it. The point was that he did.

The final sentence, the sentence that the Second-Ring Wizard Merlin called Ancient God Language;

The sentence the Void Ancient God used to analyze the authority of [See Through]—

"I knew you wished to employ this stratagem, and so I have long awaited it."

It was Chinese!