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He flew in through the window. Although shards of glass shattered the Five-Star Old Man, they at least stopped Mel and me from burning the frogman. He then threw out a beam of holy light, completely enveloping the Five-Star Old Man in a thick cocoon of light, ensuring that not even a single green finger would ever be visible again.

Goliath was still wearing the same clothes we had last seen him in: a simple, fitted white knight's uniform, similar to the one worn by the novice female knight, but with noticeable differences. His uniform had a long, elegant hem, embroidered with gold patterns, but these patterns looked more like Xuefeng than the symbol of the God of Light. Therefore, I deduced that this hardworking paladin commander hadn't even finished his vacation before kindly rushing to the rescue again.

I even suspect that Paladin Commanders are creatures with built-in "danger detection radar"? They sound an alarm wherever trouble is, and then rush over eagerly?

No wonder the Temple of Light's reputation is growing; it's not just because the scenery and priests there are perfect for tourists to take photos.

A huge object roared past the window—it was Xuefeng. Then, something equally gaudy was thrown in by Xuefeng, accompanied by a cry of "Ouch, ouch, my beard!" I looked closely—

--Isn't that Grandpa with the pink beard?

He was just on a video call with me, and he's here so fast? Did he climb over the phone line to get here?

Grandpa with the pink beard not only has a pink beard, he also wears a pink robe...

Well...

Mel and I rubbed our fingers together in unison, suppressing our Hellfire. To keep each other in check, we quickly interlocked our fingers, holding on very firmly.

... The pink robe was printed with the pink cat from the recently popular early childhood educational cartoon, "Pink Lace Magic Princess and Pumpkin Head Knight".

--Oh, how do I know about this show? Because... because the character designs for this animation were done by Moli! At that time, she was my assistant while secretly doing part-time work, which caused her to be distracted during experiments and hand over the wrong materials. For a whole week, both of our hair turned pink because of the experimental accident.

... And it's amazing how much more traumatized Moli was by her hair turning pink than I was.

As soon as the pink-bearded grandpa landed, he shouted loudly, and then a cloud of black mist enveloped his body. When the mist dissipated, he turned into a normal sorcerer wearing a gray robe. Unfortunately, a strand of his beard had fallen off and had not been dyed white again, remaining pink and delicate.

He coughed awkwardly and said to us, "I have a naughty granddaughter who's only three years old and loves pink."

"Oh..." came a unified murmur of agreement from those present, but how much could we really trust the words of a sorcerer...?

Only a simple-minded knight like Lusien would probably reply seriously, "You are truly a dutiful grandfather."

--Snow Xuefeng, Goliath's battle companion Goliath leader, certainly has a flying license.

He even introduced himself as the current secretary-general of the Arcane Covenant, a warlock organization, named Lanse... Why didn't he just call himself Pink?

He immediately rolled up his sleeves and began examining Reynold's eyelids, occasionally checking his breathing and pulse. Just then, the door was kicked open again, and a woman Crow entirely in black, her face also dark, walked in.

She stared silently at the old man in pink's fingers poking and prodding at Reynold, seemingly...

Um, for a split second, a whole bunch of torture instruments flashed through my mind. I wonder if I'm just overthinking it, or if I've caught Reynold's imagination... Hmm, has Angela successfully won Reynold?

"Hiss..." The pink-haired old man gasped, and Ms. Crow immediately asked:

Is it serious?

The old man looked dejected, and Ms. Crow's face turned pale instantly, but all they heard was the old man say, "It's not serious, she'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

Lady Crow: "..."

Goliath reacted incredibly fast, grabbing Lady Crow's bulging fist in one swift motion!

"So what exactly is going on?" Lusien asked.

The pink-haired old man said, "The curse on Speaker Reynold is the most common Curse of Pain among warlocks. Although it hurts a lot, it has a time limit. You just need to endure it. Speaker Reynold is also a fairly powerful mage, so this curse should have lasted for a week. He should be able to get out of bed normally by the second day."

I see. I can't help but think—that warlock who cast the curse was pretty weak. No wonder he tried to use crooked methods to increase his Magic Power. Even Reynold could only be knocked down for a day. This kind of curse is completely powerless. Although the Curse of Pain isn't a basic skill that all warlocks know, that's because the bloodlines that can use such spells are relatively rare, and they belong to a minority among warlocks. For some warlocks with high-level Abyss bloodlines, it's actually a basic skill, so I have no interest in it and am too lazy to study it.

"And what about this one?" Goliath said, inviting the pink old man into the light cocoon containing the Five-Star Old Man. The two old men fiddled around inside for a while, and then the pink old man came out covered in sweat.

I heard him curse, "Which idiot sorcerer invented this new drug? How can its effects be so disgusting? Don't let me catch him, or I'll cripple his bloodline!"

... Look, even warlocks are calling their own people idiots, no wonder we mages love to look down on them.

"Roar----"

Suddenly, Damala's roar exploded in my mind like an explosion. The great lich's voice traveled through the mental imprint, as if echoing in my ears. The lich's mental world was a boiling rage, filled with intense hatred and fury. My vision went black for a moment, and all I could see was a dark purple. This made me feel dizzy and my head throbbed. It felt like a hundred Moli were yelling at my ears. The sharp, dull pain in my head made me irritable as well.

So I activated the mark and mercilessly lashed my lich with my mental power. I could feel that my mental power after my outburst was extremely sharp. It struck the lich's soul without leaving any marks, but it made her feel a tearing pain.

But Damala did not submit. Her roars grew even more hollow and high-pitched, as if someone had torn her vocal cords. Each roar carried an exceptionally strong bloodlust and killing intent, so much so that I had to use Soul Search to forcibly examine the lich's memories—what had happened in the ruins that would cause a lich who had been dead for many years to react in such a way?

... Damn it, warlocks, die!!!

Don't let me catch you! Because I won't just let you die easily; I'll take you back to the lab so my apprentices can practice on you!

When I came to my senses, I found everyone holding their breath and staring at me. Only Mel was holding my waist, her face normal. Luolan crawled out from under Lusien's body, shook the dust and dirt off his ears, and gave me a thumbs up.

I...

My mouth dropped open as I watched Goliath shoveling away the collapsed concrete and steel bars, digging out a pink-haired old man covered in bumps and bruises. Meanwhile, Mel was holding me, his Absolute Protection shielding us from the falling debris and also protecting the rest of the building. I couldn't help but glare at him angrily.

Mel, you clearly had the ability to stop me from losing control, and you had ways to protect the building. You deliberately let me run rampant! Otherwise, how could you have been so quick to put shields on every medical worker nearby, but ignored the roof?

... Even though the hospital roof is incredibly ugly, you can't just let me off the hook... sigh...

"I..." I lowered my head in shame, "I'm sorry..."

A Xuefeng laugh echoed from mid-air, "Hahahaha! The roof of the Federation First General Hospital was blasted off by the dark mage! Hahahaha!"