Night had fallen. The moonlight was cold, and all was silent.
Silver light streamed through a broken window on one side of the Mage Tower, revealing a shocking mess of scattered objects and bloody filth.
"Dancing Lights!"
The mages who had rushed to the scene cast several spells in succession, illuminating the room with hastily conjured magical lights.
"What on earth happened? The subject of the Soul-Stealing Art actually went out of control!"
Their faces grave, they suppressed their discomfort and examined the surroundings, but found no clues.
"Gallo, you're finally here!"
Just then, Oksaya turned and spotted Gallo hurrying down the corridor. He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
He hurried over to explain. "I didn't make things clear earlier, but we've now established the basics. Something went wrong with the Soul-Stealing Art experiment.
"For some reason, the subject, who should have become a mindless husk, underwent a violent mutation...
"But to keep the details of the Soul-Stealing Art secret, all surveillance here was switched off. Even the Tower Spirit wasn't recording this area.
"We'll have to investigate carefully to find out exactly what happened. We may need you to handle it yourself."
"Was McMillan the caster?" Gallo asked gravely.
"Yes. He's over there. Look..." Oksaya pointed to one side.
Gallo's expression turned extremely ugly.
The McMillan Oksaya spoke of had been torn into several pieces, scattered around the room.
What Oksaya was pointing at was a bloody severed head, lying in a pool of blood and staring at them.
Gallo had not noticed it at first, and the sudden sight genuinely startled him.
"Heroic Spirit!"
He promptly cast a Mental Fortification spell on himself.
This traditional enhancement, similar to the Six Jia Secret Blessing but more widely known in arcane circles, quickly suppressed his adverse reaction, leaving him