Chapter 331
The Death of the Ghoul (Third Update)
In the beginning, the Ghoul was indeed extremely cautious and conservative.
She considered whether the end of the secret tunnel would be locked or guarded, and whether traps or ambushes had been laid.
That’s why she specifically used “Corpse Preservation” to conceal herself.
To ensure she had enough mana to deal with any emergencies, she found Miss Jeanette, who was happily playing with a client.
As a “Blood Mage” of the Path of Love, Jeanette could use her own life force as a substitute for mana to cast a weakened version of spells. Jeanette’s Path Trait allowed him to actively connect to a target and bear half of their casting cost by paying with his own life force.
Although the Forgemaster, the Ghoul, and Jeanette were not strictly teammates who advanced together, they were all acquaintances in reality. They had a basis for cooperation.
The Forgemaster was too fierce and voluntarily abandoned this ritual. This ritual was very difficult, and the two of them had to cooperate closely.
Although Jeanette felt that she was living quite well and, as an Extraordinary of the Path of Love, had transformative value in the eyes of these Children of the Moon. If he performed well, he should be directly bought by a client.
But he still readily agreed to the Ghoul’s request for cooperation.
Simply put, Jeanette imitated “Corpse Preservation” to hide herself within the Ghoul’s cloak and then acted as a blood pool to bear the Ghoul’s casting costs, allowing her to store Sequence Spells.
The Petrifying Ray used earlier to trigger the Sequence Spell was also cast by Jeanette on behalf of the Ghoul.
The Blood Mage’s characteristic of “Mana Pool being converted into life force” allowed him to obtain sufficient equivalent mana by burning life when everyone else’s mana pool was very low.
As long as one person could be captured alive, their life force could be absorbed through a feeding ritual, which was equivalent to obtaining mana replenishment.
The Preserver was also particularly skilled at control spells, making their cooperation perfect. If only the Forgemaster were still alive, their combination would be even more perfect.
—The Forgemaster could summon a set of demonic heavy armor for them and equip it with Extraordinary Weapons suitable for use in various environments. This was the Forgemaster’s professional advantage; they had too many Extraordinary items they crafted themselves.
If she could hide with the two of them inside this knight’s armor, her power would undoubtedly be much greater than this tattered cloth.
Although she could only bring one person besides herself, and if she brought someone, she wouldn’t be able to cast spells. But Jeanette could imitate “Corpse Preservation” to enter herself, and then both Jeanette and the Forgemaster could cast spells hidden inside the armor.
This was simply invincible!
Even if the armor was suddenly destroyed, as long as they could buy some time, the Forgemaster could summon another set of armor and the cycle would repeat—as long as they didn’t summon Fire Sprites, it wouldn’t consume much mana, and Jeanette’s blood pool could be quickly replenished by feeding on an Extraordinary.
In this way, it was simply a perpetual motion machine! If this effect could be achieved, she didn’t know how they could lose.
Even if a Child of the Moon came, she was confident she could easily defeat them in one and a half tiers!
—At the Third Tier, they could even fight multiple opponents, and at the Fourth Tier, they could still put up a fight!
But now, they were as fragile as a touch—
Jeanette didn’t have time to recast the spell to shrink back into the tattered cloth. She could only detach the cloth from herself, throw it towards Alain and the others, and then turn to flee.
Beyad looked at the naked man fleeing and frowned deeply, subconsciously reaching out to shield Alain’s eyes: “Do you want me to help you take care of them?”
“You don’t need to. Just watch from the sidelines.”
A sweet and pleasant voice rang out.
A pitch-black Shadow Wolf rose from Alain’s feet, its scarlet pupils gazing at the tattered cloth floating in the air, emitting a dim yellow radiance.
The wolf’s face, however, showed a human-like mockery: “Voluntarily covering the retreat? How touching…”
The next moment, countless shadow blades pierced out from the walls on both sides!
Like closing fangs, they rapidly opened and closed a few times, chewing the tattered cloth to pieces!
A disheveled golden-haired little girl tumbled out of the void.
She looked up, gazing at Alain in terror: “Why would a Grey who adapted to the Path have…”
Before she could utter the word “Shadow Demon,” she saw the delicate, black-haired girl suddenly give her a terrifying, sinister smile, forcing the last two words back into her throat.
The Ghoul immediately reacted—
Grey and Alain had swapped identities, and “Alain” was a man!
—But even so, contracting a Shadow Demon before reaching the Third Tier, isn’t that going too far!
Why don’t you, such a genius, join the Rose Cross!
“You’re going to die once, kiddo.” A low, hoarse voice resounded.
She suddenly felt her heart pierced by shadow blades, and her entire consciousness was dragged into the abyss.
This incomparably real feeling of death made her struggle frantically as if drowning.
What’s going on, what’s going on?!
Didn’t I die in the Ascension Ritual… but this feeling…!
The next moment, the Ghoul suddenly opened her eyes.
“Was… it a dream?”
The young man, who looked only twenty or thirty years old, suddenly sat up in bed, looking around in lingering fear.
He found that the room was not red, and there was no ritual array on the ground.
“…I didn’t participate in the Ascension Ritual?”
The Ghoul murmured.
Could it be a precognitive dream?
But what would dreaming this mean…
“Perhaps,” a light childish voice rang out beside his ear, “it means you want to come and play with me.”
He suddenly turned his head and saw a pale-skinned girl bouncing a ball at the doorway of the room.
The room had opened at some point, but outside the door was only darkness.
Even though the girl wasn’t looking up, it felt like she was looking at him.
The Ghoul felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.
The girl suddenly looked up and gave him the same terrifying, sinister smile as the black-haired girl earlier: “You believed it.”
Meanwhile, Alain’s voice slowly rang out: “Don’t rush, Shadow Demon. I’m conducting an experiment. Don’t make a move yet…”
The golden-haired girl lay on the ground, her face full of terror, her eyes blankly staring ahead.
Behind her, the spiritual entity of the Earthbound Spirit Alice stood silently, looking down at the Ghoul. Apart from Alain, the summoner, only Extraordinary individuals with spiritual vision could see her presence.
The Shadow Demon’s tone was slightly displeased: “Who is she, my dear Master?”
“She’s a new friend. Her name is Alice,” Alain said with a smile. “When I met her, she was with the Little Butterfly, and when I brought her back, you were with Lily.”
“I don’t think it’s necessary at all,” the Shadow Demon sharply commented. “She might be strong for ordinary people, but her power is meaningless to you, my respected and special Master. I can deal with weak enemies for you, and she can’t control strong enemies. You deserve stronger followers—like me.”
“Don’t worry, she won’t drink blood for now,” Alain appeased.
“…That’s acceptable then,” the Shadow Demon grudgingly agreed.
Beyad beside them chuckled.
At that moment, a scream suddenly came from ahead.
“The Philosopher’s trap has been triggered.”
Alain commanded Alice: “Go after him and kill him. Then begin hunting the Children of the Moon—start with the weak ones, and prioritize maintaining your existence.”
“Yes…” Alice responded lightly, looking down at the Ghoul again.
The Ghoul suddenly trembled all over and directly wet himself.
She was so scared to death!
With replenished life force, Alice’s somewhat transparent body became substantial again.
She vanished like a phantom, independently pursuing the designated target.
“This is something she can do, and you cannot.” Alain lowered his head, stroking the Shadow Wolf’s head, and chuckled. “You have to stay with me all the time.”
The Shadow Demon whimpered like a dog, wagging its tail and rubbing against Alain to lick his face.
Beyad beside them suddenly felt a pang of annoyance again.
Update complete!
