The pale blue light of the teleportation array began to gather, and magic runes formed on the ground. The hot breath enveloped the space with a sense of distortion, making everyone's robes rustle. When the teleportation array was completed, they would leave the village and return to the academy with Cahir full of questions and a coma.
However, while everyone was waiting for the teleportation array to open--
Cahir sat up from the ground.
He sat upright suddenly, then staggered to his feet, his movements stiff and abrupt, like a puppet being pulled up suddenly by strings.
"Cahir! Are you awake?!" The face of a young sorceress nearest him instantly broke into a smile of surprise, and she stepped forward to support his shaky body.
However, Yavi's heart suddenly sank.
No.
The demon hunter's intuition ran through his spine like an electric current. He stared at Cahir's newly opened eyes. The pupils looked unusually empty, like two dry wells. There was no confusion in those eyes that had just awakened, no joy in surviving the disaster, only a cold, mechanical glance, as if a controlled body was adapting to the new environment.
"Don't touch him--!"
Yavi's warning blurted out, and his right hand had already grasped the hilt of Moonlight Cursed Blade's sword.
But it's too late.
The sorceress's hand has already been put on Cahir's arm, her smile is still frozen on her face, and her pupils reflect Cahir's raised right hand -
Pfft--!!!
There was a dull sound as flesh and blood were penetrated. The moment Cahir raised his right hand, it turned into a bone blade as black as ink with a strange red light on the edge. It pierced her throat with lightning speed and precision!
Blood spurted out from the side of her neck, like a water valve that had been suddenly opened. Her eyes widened in disbelief, and her lips moved to say something, but she could only make a vague whoosh sound. Her hands tried in vain to cover the bleeding wounds, and the scarlet liquid surged between her fingers. Her body seemed to have been drained of all strength, and fell softly to the ground along Cahir's arms.
And Cahir - or in other words, the thing that used to be Cahir - just looked down at the blood stained on the fingertips of his right hand, acting like a chef checking the sauce left on the knife.
"Hmm... not bad."
His voice was still that of Cahir, but his tone was eerily calm, with a calmness that did not belong to a living person, like dead water.
The light of the teleportation array gradually dimmed at this moment because it lost the supply of magic.
Everyone froze.
Yavi was the first to move. He was already alert when Cahir sat up. At this moment, his body flashed out like lightning. With his left hand, he pulled the nearest Yennefer behind him. With his right hand, Moonlight Cursed Blade unsheathed his sword. The silver-white sword stood between everyone and Cahir.
"Everyone stand back!"
However, Cahir didn't even look at Yavi. He didn't even make any extra moves, he just slowly stretched out his right foot and stepped on the sorceress who was lying in a pool of blood.
The next second--
His feet melted.
It was no longer a human foot, but a mass of dark, sticky material that looked like living mud. The black material spread rapidly from the soles of Cahir's feet, like living ink, greedily wrapping the sorceress's body. Skin, bones, robes, everything was quickly melted, fused, and absorbed by the black mud.
The two merged into one in full view of the public.
"No--!" Ailiya screamed in collapse, because the dead sorceress was her good friend.
Red's face turned livid in an instant, his fists clenched loudly, and light blue magic sparks were jumping crazily between his fingers. Yennefer's purple eyes were filled with shock and anger, and his hands had already formed a magic hand gesture. The other warlocks also concentrated their magic power, and the ruins of the castle were instantly illuminated by various magic lights.
And Cahir - no, the thing that occupied Cahir's body began to squirm continuously. Black sludge surged up from his feet like a living thing, quickly covering his legs, torso, arms, and finally spread to his cheeks. The dark and sticky substance continued to flow and surge on his body surface, outlining the outline of Cahir's facial features, but leaving only a pair of eyes uncovered.
There were no pupils or irises in those eyes, just a pure, all-devouring void. Like two wells leading to the abyss, they coldly scanned everyone in front of them, as if they were examining a pile of ingredients that were about to be eaten.
"Cahir! What the hell are you doing, you bastard--!!!"
Red's roar caused the rubble on the ruins to fall. The magic power in his hands had condensed into a dazzling blue ball of light, which was aimed at the dark monster, waiting for an order to blow it into pieces.
However, Yavi stretched out a hand and stopped him.
"He is no longer Cahir." Yavi's voice was cold and determined, and his amber cat eyes were locked on the black figure in front of him, "I suspect... that it has something to do with the things in the church."
"You are very smart."
The black being spoke. Its voice was still that of Cahir, but there was a disgusting, aged and decaying joy in its tone.
"Fresh flesh... how wonderful..."
It slowly raised its hand and looked at its dark, sticky fingers with a strange luster, as if appreciating a work of art.
"I've been trapped in that old guy's body for too long... I haven't received any decent nutrition since I came here. That priest? A shriveled old bone, not even enough to fit between the teeth..." It shook its head, and the black mud on its face simulated a regretful expression, "But I am very satisfied with these two meals. Not only is the body full of vitality, but it also carries the fragrance of magic... Hahahahaha!"
The laughter was sharp and harsh, colliding back and forth in the ruins. The laughter stopped abruptly. The empty eyes scanned the crowd again, and the black liquid simulated a cruel arc at the corners of its mouth.
"If it weren't for those damn monsters... those low-level, stupid Ghoul and Bruxa, who forced all those villagers away..." Its voice was filled with gnashing hatred, "Do you know? I should have become far more powerful than I am now after devouring the entire village! Those fat souls and living bodies... were all ruined by those low-level things!"
It paused, its black head slightly tilted to one side, and a hint of mockery seemed to flash in its empty eye sockets.
"Those monsters are blocking the outside of the village, preventing living people from approaching - do you think they are hunting? No... they are guarding. They are guarding me. They are preventing anyone from entering the village and preventing me from leaving."
"And you -" it slowly raised its hand, pointed at Red, then at Yennefer, and finally at Yavi, "You, a group of self-righteous and kind-hearted people, killed all those monsters, opened the cage... and then personally delivered the fresh flesh and blood to me."
It let out a low, contented sigh.
"Should I say... thank you?"
There was a deathly silence in the ruins. Only the remaining magical light of the teleportation array was still spinning in vain. The blue light reflected on everyone's face, illuminating the expressions of shock, anger, and regret.
The tip of Yavi's sword was slightly depressed, and the amber cat pupils narrowed into a sharp line. He suddenly understood - those Ghoul, those Bruxa, they had never been a real threat to the village.
They are just cage locks.
And they broke the lock with their own hands.
"So..." The black being moved Cahir's body, and the bones made a heart-wrenching creaking sound, "Let's continue. If you kill my guard dog, you have to pay a price... right?"
It lowered its body slightly, black sludge surged and accelerated on its surface, and its empty eyes locked on Yavi.
"Let's start with you, Witcher. Your flesh... smells the best."