Your journey continues on M V L
From Pearney, Ivan learned quite a bit about Billerie.
Billerie was the only apprentice with 5th Class talent, genteel and diligent; he was simply a born winner in life.
Billerie had now turned into a wild beast, a madman with a drastically changed personality; he might have colluded with that thief.
Given Billerie’s current situation, he was bound to stir up trouble and kill Toyennes to eliminate the source of the curse power.
Moreover, the castle was surrounded by a sorcery array that could interfere with the Secret Method Seal and also provide a certain level of protection for the castle; hence, it was safer inside the castle than outside.
She explained that she had walked into the trap herself merely to seek a way to suppress the curse and, additionally, did not want to be captured as an accomplice of Billerie.
Now, she was detained near Eckerz’s residence, in a position further to the right, guarded by a Cloud Fog servant; the surveillance was not very strict, offering a chance to rescue her amid the chaos.
“If the curse can’t be resolved, tackling the source of the curse is indeed a good approach.”
Clasping the subdued Secret Method Seal Bead, a fierce glint flashed in Ivan’s eyes, but then he shook his head.
Having heard about the deeds of Apprentice Aaron, he unusually suffered from insomnia that night, only falling asleep in the latter half of the night.
The spirit of a sorcerer apprentice was different; he was still energetic the next day.
“Laurie no longer dares to be arrogant, probably burying himself in hard practice to catch up with you soon. We also can’t be complacent, hoping to break through to a 2nd Class apprentice; talent really is a wonderful thing.”
In the cafeteria, Justine was, as usual, talking about the events happening around them.
Life inside the castle was particularly monotonous, with nothing much worth mentioning besides some minor conflicts among them.
Ivan said, “Be a bit more cautious these days.”
“Why do you say that?”
“A few days ago, I saw that Pearney you mentioned being caught by Lahr.”
“What? You mean Pearney—-“
Hearing his words, Justine gasped; she quickly covered her mouth, her eyes flickering uncertainly.
He was just casually reminding her; what Pearney had talked about might not happen, and even if something did happen, it could probably be easily suppressed by Sorcerer Toyennes. Somehow, he was vaguely looking forward to that day arriving.
…
The following few days passed without incident until close to evening on this day.
In the woods not far from the castle, two figures were present, one a giant human-faced snake, the other a four-armed ape. One large, one small, both focused on the ground covered in fallen leaves, beneath which lay their long days of hard work.
‘You go first; your identity is important, we cannot let him discover you now,’ the giant human-faced snake spoke in human language.
‘Okay,’ the four-armed ape responded mechanically, walking away without looking back.
Once the four-armed ape’s figure had disappeared, the giant human-faced snake solemnly blew a breath towards the ground, causing the wind mingled with mist to sweep by, taking the thick layer of fallen leaves with it, revealing a low earthen altar hidden underneath.
The altar had already been engraved with regular patterns, and the blood used for the engravings hadn’t dried yet. The giant human-faced snake spit out something; a small segment of an arm, and dropped it onto the altar as an offering.
Feeling the offering was insufficient, the snake’s ears strangely wriggled a few times before falling off, dropping onto the altar as well.
With the offerings laid, the entire altar took on an even more eerie appearance.
‘Du ta wang tu lu ka na—’
The giant human-faced snake leaned over the altar and started chanting an invocation from an alien world in a strange tone; as it chanted, the patterns on the altar began to come alive, and the blood flowed through the patterns.
On the altar, ripples appeared in the air.
The offering shriveled, as if its nutrients were being sucked dry. In the blink of an eye, it withered, replaced by a deep cyan mist that flowed out from the void, which gathered into a mass above the altar and hovered without dispersing.
“In the name of the Desecrator, Perillo Toyennes!”
The deep cyan mist became more pronounced, its glow spreading out towards the jungle. The giant human-faced snake’s chanting speed increased, and in the end, it shouted ‘Perillo Toyennes’ as if pouring all its hatred into those words.
As the words fell, the deep cyan mist, as if commanded, transformed into a streak of light and flew out towards the jungle, directly aiming for the heart of the castle.
“Toyennes, this time let yourself taste the torment of a life and death by curse. Next time, I will take your life, you accursed sorcerer scum.”
The giant human-faced snake, having activated the altar, also suffered, its face turning exceptionally pale. Affected by some of the escaping deep cyan mist, something seemed to be burrowing inside the flesh of its face and body, moving unconsciously.
It saw from a distance the deep cyan mist triggering the castle’s alarm system without surprise, and finally took a resentful glance at the castle, then turned and swam towards the outer jungle.
“Ssssss.”
On the castle walls, a membrane formed by the runes sorcery array stood in the path of the incoming attack and an explosion ensued.
It was a clash between energies.
In less than a second, the attack breached the runes sorcery array’s barrier. The energy particles’ membrane was still there, but the majority of the deep cyan mist continued into the castle, shooting toward the center of the castle.
“Look quickly!”
“Mother of God, someone has come to attack Sorcerer Toyennes.”
The confrontation at the runes sorcery array was not insignificant, alarming the apprentices inside the castle. Some went out to take a look and, frightened, hastily returned to their rooms, closing the doors and windows tightly.
Some were bolder, immediately finding a better vantage point to quietly observe how things would turn out and to witness the might of Sorcerer Toyennes, like Ivan for instance.
“Sorcerer Toyennes, do you need my help to intercept?” At a higher position in the castle, the little green winged snake appeared before Toyennes immediately.
“Lahr, step aside.” Looking at the energy ball racing towards him, Toyennes’ face was especially stern; he was already targeted, and regardless, the attack from the opposite side was bound to hit him.
Glancing behind at the laboratory, Toyennes grimly moved to the other side.
Rays of lightning blazed with an air of panic.
Thunder gathered quickly around Toyennes, and with a wave of his hand, the thunder transformed into a bolt of destructive lightning that tore through the sky and struck directly at the oncoming deep cyan mist.
Under the siege of the lightning, the deep cyan mist vibrated violently but remained stubbornly strong, with over half of it remaining and directly charging at Toyennes.
In the critical moment, a defensive shield emerged around Toyennes, shrouded with the Frosty Air — his Talent Sorcery, the Ocean Blue Frost Shield, also the last layer of defense for a sorcerer.
“Boom.”
The Ocean Blue Frost Shield failed to completely block the mist, causing Toyennes to step back several paces, slamming into the wall behind him.
The impact didn’t cause much damage, but his body involuntarily absorbed the deep cyan mist, making his complexion exceedingly grim; even faint cyan patterns appeared on his face, resembling scars.
“Lahr, have everyone go after him; I want to extract that person’s soul.”
Toyennes staggered to his feet, stepped forward, and gave orders to the little green winged snake.
“At your command.” The little green winged snake immediately summoned nearby Cloud Fog servants and flew towards the mountain base.
Toyennes stood still, waiting to stabilize the turmoil of power within him, then dashed towards the castle.