Morlock

Another eight days passed, and the Forest Patrol gradually discovered two more identical mummified corpses along the forest's outer perimeter.

Aina Town grew even more chaotic during this time, and the academy gradually lost control over the town.

The entire town was filled with intense unease, inflated prices, and an atmosphere of anxiety and tension.

More and more information about the Duskblood Council was leaked.

Increasing numbers of men in town were forcibly conscripted into the army and sent to the front lines as expendable tools to drain the mental strength of the Duskblood Council's Black-Robed Wizards.

Many people who had exhausted their savings and wandered in despair, restless and frantic, became desperate enough to turn to murder and robbery.

The academy's wizards were stationed in the wealthy district, so order was barely maintained there.

However, the shantytowns and outskirts were in terrible shape, with robbery and murder becoming commonplace.

A few days ago, Vissel arrived at the Treehouse Outpost one morning covered in blood, giving everyone quite a fright. Only after he had washed himself clean did they learn what had happened.

A group of foolish bandits had attacked him on his way to the Treehouse Outpost. Vissel had slaughtered them all, which was why he was covered in blood.

As a result, the Forest Patrol became well-known in the area, and the bandits lurking around the outskirts of town no longer dared to provoke them.

However, the Patrol Guard soon discovered that nearly all the wizards in the entire forest had fled, leaving only them still active.

At 8:50 in the morning, at the Treehouse Outpost, damp mist drifted among the ancient trees, carrying the mingled scent of rotting leaves and moss.

The Forest Patrol members had already finished breakfast and equipped themselves. They chatted and laughed as they waited for Vissel to arrive from the academy.

Before long, Vissel arrived at the outpost in an ornate robe.

Following their usual assigned groups, everyone set out to patrol the forest. By now, they were highly coordinated.

Unfortunately, no new members had joined, so Dago's group still had only two people.

"Each group, keep two hundred meters apart. Move out." Dago gave the order and set off first.

Compared to before, Dago seemed like an entirely different person. He was tall and lean, with refined features.

His long black hair draped over his shoulders, and dark blue rings shimmered within his pale blue eyes. The sharpness in his gaze could not be concealed.

Selena followed behind him like a little fangirl, stealing glances at him from time to time.

Dago unfolded the parchment map and examined it. The route he selected was one they had patrolled before, making it relatively safe.

He walked along the familiar dirt path, keeping his Detection Technique active as he continuously scanned the concealed spots around him.

After walking for more than half an hour, a Swift Deer came leaping into his line of sight in a panic.

It flashed into another thicket in an instant. He stopped in his tracks and immediately became alert.

His Detection Technique swept the area and found nothing unusual, allowing him to let out a sigh of relief.

Just when he thought everything was fine, Ian's desperate shout came from the distance: "Duskblood Council~~~~"

Dago's pupils contracted. Knowing that Vissel's group had encountered members of the Duskblood Council, he hurried toward Vissel's group to his right.

In a clearing not far away, Vissel stared fixedly at the Black-Robed Wizard before him, gripping an oak wand set with a sapphire and pointing it at him.

"Look what I found, Morlock. Three cups of fresh, delicious blood drinks."

The Black-Robed Wizard, Morlock, spoke in a voice like gravel scraping against itself.

After hearing Ian's panicked shout beside Vissel, Morlock's expression changed slightly, and he immediately drew his Spine Wand.

He rapidly chanted a Spell, and a cloud of dark red blood mist surged from the Spine Wand and coiled around him.

Seeing this, Vissel hurriedly began chanting as well. A faintly glowing shield instantly enveloped a two-meter radius around him.

Morlock swung his wand forward, and ten blood-red spears burst from the blood mist in the air, shooting toward Vissel's group of three like venomous snakes baring their fangs.

With sharp whistles like bowstrings snapping after being drawn taut, the blood spears tore through the forest air.

Then came a series of dull thuds—"Puff," "puff," "puff"—as they embedded themselves in the grass ahead.

Several blood spears had fallen before Vissel, while Ian stood behind him with legs so weak he could barely remain upright.

Gavin, however, had been pierced through by three or four blood spears and nailed to the ground, blood pouring from his mouth...

His eyes unfocused, he murmured, "Mom... save me." Then his head tilted to one side, and he died.

Vissel watched the scene with an ugly expression. The protective light screen before him had already dimmed until it was nearly transparent.

He swung his wand again and chanted a Spell. More than ten seconds later, a one-meter-long, scimitar-shaped Wind Blade condensed into form and shot straight toward Morlock.

Naturally, Morlock was not going to simply watch Vissel chant without doing anything while waiting for him to cast a spell.

During that time, he also cast a spell at Vissel and Ian...

A mist-like wraith flew from his Spine Wand and lunged straight at Vissel and Ian.

When the scimitar-shaped Wind Blade reached within a meter of Morlock, the blood mist in the air transformed into a massive blood-red hand and smashed it apart.

The mist-like wraith Morlock had released was blocked by Vissel's shield...

But then, the mist-like wraith began repeatedly crashing into the shield. With every impact, the shield grew dimmer.

Watching the wraith strike again and again and the shield on the verge of vanishing, Vissel gritted his teeth and actually lifted Ian up, using him as a shield.

Ian, hoisted up by Vissel, was stunned. His entire body went limp as he stared at the terrifying, grotesque mist-like wraith before fainting from fright.

Just one second before Vissel's shield disappeared, Mariko arrived first with Evan and his wife.

A gentle silver glow radiated from Mariko's hand, surging toward the mist-like wraith like a raging tide and instantly blasting it away.

Seeing the wraith sent flying, Vissel released Ian and began trembling all over in fear.

Evan and his wife each hurled a small fireball at Morlock, but they were dispersed by two blood spears shooting from the blood mist.

"Look at you weaklings. Wouldn't it be better to obediently let me turn you into Blood Offerings?" Morlock said hoarsely, a bloodlust glow shining in his eyes.

Just as Morlock finished showing off, a violent whistling sound suddenly came from the distance...

It rapidly drew closer, accompanied by an overwhelmingly intense fluctuation of ice elemental energy.

Morlock abruptly turned toward the source of the sound and the fluctuations.

In the next second, his pupils shrank sharply!

A dark blue Ice Crystal Cannon shell the size of a football came howling over the ground.

The Ice Crystal Cannon shell spun violently, trailing powerful frost behind it and carving a white streak through the air...

It was like a meteor hurled by a god, yet more scorching and more violent than starlight.

The Black-Robed Wizard Morlock instantly transformed the blood mist into a giant crimson hand and held it firmly before himself.

"Boom!" The Ice Crystal Cannon shell collided with the crimson hand, and the instant the roar tore through the air...

The space before Morlock turned a blazing white, while the blast wave, like an invisible giant hand, hurled gravel and turf within a ten-meter radius into the sky.

The next second, the ice crystal shattered into countless sharp ice blades. Carrying bone-piercing cold, they shot in every direction like a flock of frost crows driven by an unseen force.

At the center of the explosion, a massive altar of ice spikes formed. Sharp ice ridges stretched toward the sky at bizarre angles, while layer upon layer of frost flowers spread across the ground.

The remaining ice mist churned through the air, turning the area into a freezing hell.

Morlock, blasted away by the explosion, raised a hand and wiped the bloody meltwater and icy water splashed across his face. His eyes flashed with deep shock and terror.

The surviving Morlock's teeth chattered, his limbs stiffened, and even his courage to flee was frozen in place by the bone-deep cold.

Morlock propped up a thin veil of blood mist that was nearly gone, his face twisted as he shouted through gritted teeth, "You're an Advanced Third-Level Apprentice Wizard, yet you still resorted to a sneak attack? That's truly shameless!"

What answered him was a Compressed Air Bullet the size of a fist.

That life-taking whistle sounded once more, and Morlock had no time to make any evasive move.

Boom~

The Air Bullet slammed solidly into Morlock. The paper-thin blood mist could not stop it at all.

The Air Bullet exploded, blasting a huge crater directly into the soft grass.

Morlock was violently flung away by the explosion's shockwave like a kite with its string cut.

He rolled across the ground several times, his black robe in tatters and his body covered in wounds.

Large amounts of blood flowed from Morlock's mouth and nose. Most of his internal organs had likely been shattered.

Morlock forced himself to hold onto his last breath and struggled to crawl along the ground.

The remaining four people on the field were all still stunned. They had attacked Morlock prepared to die.

But the situation had reversed far too quickly for them to react.

One moment, the evil and powerful Black-Robed Wizard of the Duskblood Council had been arrogantly showing off. The next, he had been blasted half to death by a spell and was completely incapable of resisting.

Under Morlock's unwilling, humiliated gaze and the Patrol Guard members' expectant eyes, a figure strode out of the forest.