Chapter 83

"What have you been secretly writing this time?" Mel asked sternly.

Anna shrugged. "No! Everything I wrote was confiscated by Mr. Field!"

"Then you're definitely not thinking anything good!" Mel said confidently.

"Wow! Teacher is a pervert! You control what your apprentice is thinking!" Anna screamed. "Teacher Field, save me! If this continues, my teacher will kill me with a forbidden spell and use a Soul-Searching Technique on my poor corpse to check my memories! I'm not even an adult yet! I don't want to die! Teacher Field, please save this poor little dark elf!"

Mel dismissively threw Anna aside, turned back to hold my hand, and ignored them.

For some reason, I paused for a moment...

Mel's hands were still so long and soft, but... I squeezed Mel's fingers back with a puzzled look and looked up at Mel. His eyes were blue like jewels, and they held a smile. I've always liked Mel's eyes; I often say they're like magic crystals brimming with energy... But... looking at Mel's beautiful sapphire blue eyes, hmm, why do they look a bit like... well... those cheap plastic jewels sold to elementary school kids for fun, those perfectly legitimate, high-class fakes with a diamond the size of a small fist?

...?

"Who are you?" I smiled.

My teacher appeared silently next to "Mel," his head still dangling from his shoulder... Ugh, it looked really disgusting. But compared to my teacher, I disliked seeing this fake "Mel" even more, so I touched the fake's face—it wasn't nearly as soft as my Mel's!

Doesn't look like it!

"Who are you?" I asked again, "Or, where am I?"

But I didn't hear a reply. For a split second... well, maybe less than half a second, I saw a pair of bright blue eyes, clear and gleaming with a subtle light.

Mel asked me, "Xipei? Are you tired? You seem a little dazed."

Oh... this Mel is much more normal, not at all childish or "wickedly arrogant"!

I was so scared! I thought I'd traveled into Anna's novel... It must be because Moli keeps talking about time travel, and now my mind is filled with that too.

I glanced around. Reynold was still crouching on the Annihilator's chest, his posture not very elegant, but looking over with a horrified expression... So I quickly looked away and found that my teacher was indeed standing behind Mel. I hurriedly put away the swaying corpse.

Goliath looked at me with concern, holding Xuefeng's teeth in his arms, while the two apprentices stood together. Anna wasn't being held in mid-air, and Moli looked at me with even more worry, making her face, which was made up to look like a demon from the Abyss, appear...

Abyss Demon?

I was taken aback, then turned to Goliath and asked, "In the Abyss, what kind of demon can silently and invisibly invade another person's consciousness?"

Goliath paused for a moment, then quickly replied, "Invasion of consciousness? You mean the victim is almost unaware that they've been 'bewitched' by a demon? Yes, there is such a thing. Ordinary demons need a trigger, or the aid of sound or environment, to seduce a soul, but those that can be completely undetected... there's only one kind. Warlocks with demonic powers call them 'Void Wandering Spirit,' those in the Northern Shadow Moon call them 'Shadow Demon,' and we in the Temple usually call them 'Mind-Control Demon.' These demons have no physical form; they are merely a projection on the Prime Material Plane, making them extremely difficult to detect. Even archmages can fall for them without realizing it."

Wow, these days, even a little devil has so many nicknames?

I nodded. "Then be careful. From now on, the person standing in front of you might be the devil incarnate the next second."

Oh, the devil! I always nagged Moli, saying her makeup made her look like a little devil or a little demon. Now look what's happened! I really shouldn't keep nagging like that; I've actually brought the devil to life through my mouth.

However, the devil's words are more interesting than the Annihilator's.

Chapter 83

Before I could finish speaking, Goliath suddenly reached out and gripped the spear made of dragon teeth. When he released his grip, a bloody mark appeared on his palm. Then, Goliath drew a rune with his blood. I looked at it carefully and shook my head regretfully. It wasn't a rune that we mages could learn. It was more like a sacred prayer, which only clergy who used the God of Light could write.

After he finished writing, the rune began to emit a faint golden light. He then placed his hand on each of our foreheads in turn (this action looked very eerie, as if we were about to receive a baptism of holy water). After he finished, he asked, "Were you just bewitched by a demon?"

I recalled the details. That fake Mel really annoyed me. I nodded and replied, "I guess so, but I didn't know its purpose, and I wasn't even aware of it. I couldn't even tell which parts were real and which were just the devil showing me."

For example... no, I firmly believe that Mel wouldn't talk like that, unless I catch him off guard and use Confusion Spell on him.

... Hmm... Actually, it's okay even if you say it, it's still quite cute.

"Wait..." Before Reynold could finish speaking, Goliath's hand reached for his forehead, startling Reynold, who jumped back half a step. But how could a junior councilor be faster than Goliath? The knight commander had already grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back, carefully scanning his head with his hand.

... Goliath's hand didn't change, but I felt that Reynold seemed to have swallowed back what he was about to say...

I couldn't help but pat Reynold on the back to prevent him from actually suffocating.

Goliath explained solemnly, "What I hold in my hand is a holy incantation that can reveal possessing demons—from now on, I am your soul shield, and I will do my utmost to ensure the safety of your souls. There is only one point: the holy light naturally abundant within a clergyman will make us immune to all evil, but once the holy light is exhausted, I myself will be unable to resist the invasion of demons. I need to maintain this holy incantation now. I apologize, but I don't have the same abundant spiritual power as a priest, nor can I freely use holy light. I have to conserve it, so from now on I may no longer be able to participate in the battle. If we encounter Machine Zealots again, we will need to rely on you all. As for the demons, leave them to me. Once someone is targeted by a demon, my holy incantation will react."

"But!" Reynold, still looking bewildered, struggled to speak, "Um, what I wanted to say was, what just happened? Why did you suddenly conclude that there are demons? This is modern society! Demons... those are things from thousands of years ago. Would anyone still summon demons for fun these days?!"

"Aren't we in a ruin from a thousand years ago?" Goliath replied calmly. "Perhaps it's a demon summoned by some sorcerer or witch back then, and after its contracted master... died unexpectedly, it has been hiding in this ruin for some reason, without returning to the Void. That's not impossible either."

I nodded. "Besides, nothing else can make me fall into a trap without realizing it."

Reynold continued with his hypothesis, "... what if it's miasma or something..."

For the first time, I asked seriously, "Reynold, are you a mage?"

Reynold froze, his expression towards me was... well... After a long pause, he replied hesitantly, "I'm the Speaker of the Magic Council, I can't possibly be a sorcerer..."

"No, warlocks are immune to the poisonous miasma of the Prime Material Plane because their bloodline contains certain demonic genes. Mages practice potion-making, so their poison resistance is naturally very high. Therefore, what you're saying shows a complete lack of common sense expected of a spellcaster," I said, and couldn't help but add, "Your skill level... is probably even lower than my assistant's."

After a long pause, Reynold weakly replied, "... Potions are an elective course at the academy..."

I... I had no choice but to remain silent. If I continued speaking, I risked losing my composure and being taken advantage of by the devil...

We continued deeper into the ruins, where remnants of ancient power remained, causing the magical artifacts Reynold and his companions relied on to malfunction—oh, Reynold explained to us that the Annihilator was purely mechanical technology, containing not a single magical element, which is why it could still be repaired and function quite smoothly. Although I didn't understand what pure mechanical technology was, Reynold said it was very different from current Magitech.