Chapter 107: (Grind Sail Town Arc) You Attacked First

Penny clearly couldn’t see anything, but the moment those gray girls crawled out from Shelly’s wounds, she immediately clutched her ears and started screaming.

The array beneath their feet suddenly activated. Thick, gray smoke billowed out and surged into countless writhing arms that reached for Saul and Penny.

Meanwhile, Shelly continued slicing wounds into himself. With every long gash he made, a ghostly gray girl floated out from it.

“You’re a wizard apprentice—your vengeful spirits must be much stronger than an ordinary person’s,” Shelly said, his mouth hanging open, drool dripping from the corner of his lips.

“You’re insane,” Saul said through gritted teeth. “I was actually planning to let you live and keep cultivating the Grinding Sound Fruit. But now? Looks like even if I kill you, Mentor Rum won’t say a word.”

Shelly’s bloodshot eyes burned with madness. The moment he decided to attack Saul, he had already abandoned all reason.

“You wizards from the Tower have never protected us!” Shelly was now covered in girl-shaped balloons. As his body trembled with fury, the balloons pressed and rubbed against each other beside him.

Saul tried to summon his magic, only to find the smoke rising beneath his feet was already crawling up his legs. The surrounding elemental particles had become sluggish—like senile old men—and refused to obey his commands.

Seeing Saul fail to cast, Shelly threw back his head and laughed maniacally. “See? Even if the Wizard Tower refuses to give me power, I can still get it elsewhere! Now that this array is active, I am the only one who’s strong. The rest of you are just sheep!”

The gray fog that bound Saul also lifted Shelly into the air.

Saul could even feel the fog trying to drain the magic from his body.

“This was originally meant for Yuka,” Shelly bent over, looming above Saul and Penny. “But a First Rank apprentice from the Wizard Tower? I think you’ll be even more useful.”

“Be my nourishment! Kill you, and I’ll leave this place. What can the Wizard Tower do to me then?”

Shelly flung out his arm.

The fog beneath Saul surged again, trying to climb up his legs and engulf his entire body.

However…

No matter how hard it tried, the fog could only reach up to Saul’s knees—unable to go any further.

As if something was dragging it down from behind.

“What’s going on? Why isn’t it working?” Shelly froze, anxiously peeling off the gray girls clinging to him, staring at the ground in disbelief.

Then he realized—he was descending too.

The thick gray fog generated by the array was even starting to thin.

“What did you do?” Shelly finally caught on, eyes blazing as he glared at Saul.

Saul spread his hands. “Why do you think I so kindly explained everything to you?”

Earlier, while Shelly’s attention had been completely absorbed by his ascension, Saul had secretly channeled his magic into his feet and erased the most critical rings of the array.

Now the array was like a leaky wooden bucket—with a hole growing larger by the second. No matter how much water Shelly tried to pour in, he could never fill it.

After all, standing on someone else’s turf, it’s best to sabotage any trump cards they might have first.

“You… you…” Shelly’s chest heaved violently.

With every breath he took, more gray fluid flowed from his body into the gray girls surrounding him.

They swelled, becoming more and more bloated, while Shelly grew thinner and more withered.

His stiff eyes twitched slightly—realization finally dawning.

“You provoked me on purpose… you deliberately made me attack first!”

Saul smiled. “Just a precaution.”

But in truth, Saul had done it on purpose.

Shelly had been refining vengeful spirits and making deals with the barbarians. Still, as long as he kept delivering Grinding Sound Fruit, the Wizard Tower might’ve turned a blind eye to his private dealings.

Even if Saul confronted him in the name of the Wizard Tower, the most he’d get—like Nick said—was the right to extort him.

Once Saul left, everything would return to how it was.

Because the Wizard Tower didn’t care about the girls Shelly hurt. Nor about his shady deals with the barbarians.

Even if Saul saved Penny today, once he left, Penny and Ada would only suffer worse fates.

But now? Everything was clean.

He wouldn’t need to make up any excuses to Mentor Rum.

After all, once again—this was just self-defense.

“Attacking an emissary of the Wizard Tower.” Saul raised both hands toward Shelly. “Are you ready to pay with your life?”

Shelly had landed back on the ground.

Between the gaps of the gray balloon-girls, he saw Saul’s raised arms—and the sudden black streaks of magic shooting from his hands.

“No! Wait!”

As a rogue apprentice, Shelly had access to only a handful of Tier 0 spells.

Desperately, he hurled out tremor shocks—but Saul neutralized them effortlessly.

His crude casting caused his mental body to shudder uncontrollably. After only a few attempts, he suffered magical backlash.

Saul’s first strike shattered Shelly’s legs.

Then, with a single Fatigue Touch, he sent Shelly’s already-unstable mental body spiraling out of control.

Shelly was horrified to find he couldn’t cast a single spell anymore.

When he finally collapsed to the ground, emaciated and frail as a skeleton, the gray girls on him had bloated into round, swollen balloons.

Saul crouched down, tilting his head as he aimed.

“Actually, your problem with scattered mental power could be fixed.”

Shelly’s head jerked up.

“But I’m not going to tell you.”

An arrow of pure force materialized and pierced Shelly’s skull.

The spark of light that had just appeared in Shelly’s eyes froze there forever.

At the moment of his death, the gray girls on him suddenly revealed vicious, twisted expressions and pounced on his corpse.

Though Shelly was clearly already dead, his body let out anguished howls.

Bits of flesh and limbs were thrown into the air and rained down again.

With their fat, radish-like fingers, the gray girls ripped a white soul projection out of Shelly’s corpse.

Grinning wickedly, they opened their mouths wide and began to feast.

The white soul rapidly shrank before Saul’s eyes.

Though Penny couldn’t see it, it was as if she could hear the crunching. Frightened, she shrank back behind Saul.

Ever since her Nightmare Butterfly cocoon was removed, she’d become more and more like a normal girl—

She could feel fear now.

Suddenly, Shelly’s white soul projection ballooned, and a black spot began spreading rapidly from its center.

“He’s turning into a wraith?!”

Saul immediately raised his hand.

“Strike Undead.”

Then…

“Strike Undead ×10!”

The black spot finally collapsed and faded, and the white soul was ultimately devoured by the gray balloon-girls.

But even after consuming Shelly’s soul, the girls didn’t vanish.

One by one, they floated slowly, turning to face Saul—each face now filled not with rage, but lifeless resentment.

“As expected, not all vengeful spirits vanish after killing their enemy.”

No sooner had he spoken than the ghost girls wailed and charged at him.

Saul swiftly pulled a scroll from his cloak and yanked it open just before the gray girls reached him.

Spirit Armor Spell Scroll!

Blocks contact attacks from incorporeal beings. Redeemable at the Wizard Tower registry.

A shimmering, multicolored bubble enveloped Saul and Penny.

No matter how viciously the ghost girls attacked, they couldn’t break through the bubble.

And Saul, standing calmly inside, picked them off one by one with ease!

Pop!

Every time a ghost was slain, it burst like a balloon.

White fluff spilled out, floating down—but was swept upward again by the surging magic in the room.

Once a dozen ghosts were slain, the entire room looked like a snowy wonderland, filled with drifting flakes.

When the Spirit Armor’s duration ended, it faded on its own.

While traveling, Saul had prepared by exchanging for a few Tier 1 spell scrolls just in case.

But each one was pricey—and considering the thickness of his coin pouch, he couldn’t afford many.

Feeling the pinch for a brief second, Saul stood up, ready to check if Shelly’s strange setup could at least earn him back some of what he spent.

(End of Chapter)

If you find any errors ( Ads popup, ads redirect, broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.