Chapter 193: Caught Between Advance and Retreat

Victor let out a breath, looking a bit disheveled. His gaze swept over the tangled mass of black tendrils on the floor and then to Saul, who was crouched on the first floor with both hands clamped over his ears. He couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

“How interesting.”

Supporting himself with the railing and clutching his harp, Victor strolled downward at a leisurely pace.

“As a Second Rank apprentice, Saul, you’ve truly surprised me. Even though I’m merely… well, of all the ordinary people and wizard apprentices who’ve come here, you’re the only one able to break free of my musical drama repeatedly.”

Victor smoothed his hair, which had become a bit tousled during the recent evasive maneuver. Ignoring the blood on his body, he returned to being that somewhat melancholic and handsome man.

Just then, a loud rumble echoed from upstairs—one after another—suggesting that a fierce battle was raging above.

Victor quickened his speech. “What a pity. I don’t have the time to satisfy my curiosity. Whatever the reason may be, your mental aptitude must be terrifyingly high. That’s wonderful.”

Saul still didn’t respond, keeping his hands over his ears.

Victor wasn’t surprised. He stepped over the black tendrils sprawled across the stairs. “Ah, I forgot—you must be exhausted right now. That long note I played just now is called a Lullaby. Not the most elegant piece, but usually quite effective. By now, you should be limp, weak, and just wanting to sleep. No need to resist—sleep, and there will be nothing left to fear.”

But just as Victor finished speaking, Saul suddenly lifted his knees high twice on the spot.

Victor: “…”

This time, his expression truly changed. In astonishment, he said, “Impossible! Even if you covered your ears, there’s no way to block the long note!”

Saul tilted his head slightly so Victor could see his left ear.

From within it, a trace of bright red blood was trickling out.

“You actually deafened yourself!”

Saul straightened his head and said, in a voice slightly louder than usual, “So don’t bother talking too fast. I’m not great at reading lips. If you speak too quickly, I won’t understand.”

Victor’s breath hitched, his chest rising and falling sharply, cracks appearing in his usual elegant and somber demeanor.

Only when another crash echoed from upstairs did he finally calm down, speaking slowly, “So this long note still needs adjustment… It’s only good for ambushes, not for direct confrontations.”

Saul nodded. “That speaking pace is fine.”

Victor snorted. “Do you really think not being able to hear means you’ve escaped my attacks?”

“Of course not,” Saul replied cooperatively. “You’re clearly stronger than just a Second Rank.”

Victor smiled, not denying it. “You’ve really given me quite a few surprises today. But this is as far as you go. Some beautiful music—no matter if your ears are deaf, your skull split open, or your flesh rotting—you can still hear it, because your soul loves to sing.”

Victor opened his mouth slightly.

But what came out was a hoarse rasp.

He raised his hand to his throat and exhaled slowly.

The breath he exhaled crystallized into white frost the moment it touched the air.

Seeing the mist from Victor’s lips and the ice spreading from his neck across his body, the heavy weight on Saul’s chest finally lightened a little.

Victor tried to speak again, but no sound came out.

He looked down and saw the limp, scattered black tendrils on the ground.

Each tendril tip was covered in tiny frost crystals. At high speed, even Victor couldn’t discern the traps embedded in them.

“Frost… Touch…”

His trembling voice was barely audible; Saul could only roughly guess what he was saying from his lip movements.

Now that Saul was deaf, Victor’s harp could no longer deceive him.

And now that Victor was mute, he could no longer use his voice to attack Saul.

With offense and defense both neutralized, Saul had finally eliminated the vast gap between him and Victor.

Victor’s most terrifying trait lay in the beguiling nature of his musical theatrics.

Saul had never encountered such wizardry before. That’s why, when they first met, he had no way to resist and was dragged into Victor’s rhythm.

Now, with Victor frozen stiff, Saul swung his right hand, releasing several translucent worms toward him.

Victor struggled to move his frozen body, managing to dodge the worms. But the black tendrils on the ground immediately slithered up and bound him tightly, wrapping him like a half-mummified figure.

Only his eyes remained visible.

It reminded Saul a little of Gorsa.

Pity their eyes looked nothing alike.

Just then, the worms landed and began to crawl slowly over Victor’s body.

Little Algae parted the tendrils slightly to give the worms space to crawl from his feet into his body.

Throughout the process, Victor didn’t resist. It seemed his consciousness had been frozen solid, leaving him helpless before Saul’s final judgment.

But Saul didn’t relax. He kept glancing at the open diary in front of him.

On the white pages, countless entries recorded Saul’s miserable deaths.

Going upstairs: you die.

Not going upstairs: you die.

Attacking Victor: you die.

Saul could only keep analyzing and stalling for time, repeatedly simulating ways to survive.

Until—amid countless death warnings—he finally confirmed that Victor’s most dangerous wizardly… was his voice!

In the diary, Saul had died twice to the harp and ten times to Victor’s voice.

And now, the diary’s final warning read:

May 29, Year 316 of the Lunar Calendar,

You harmed yourself to resist the harp’s sonic control.

You froze his lips,

Finally, sealing off the attack that reaches straight to the soul.

But when you stepped forward to uncover the man’s secrets,

You died.

Staring at the text, Saul felt no sense of triumph in capturing his enemy.

This time, the diary didn’t even specify how he died.

“Does that mean just approaching him leads to death? Or does another enemy appear?”

Now unable to hear anything, Saul could only judge the intensity of the fight upstairs from the faint vibrations underfoot and the dust falling from above.

He stepped back. One step, two steps.

He really wanted to kill Victor while he had the chance—better yet, to capture his soul and consciousness.

He believed Victor knew the secrets of this manor.

At the very least, Victor must know why Ralph Manor has turned into this.

But every time Saul tried to take Victor away, or merely approach—the diary would promptly inform him in plain words: You’re going to die.

And this time, there was no scene shown, leaving Saul unable to determine where the fatal threat lay.

The last time he saw such a warning without a visible cause was when he stayed late at Kaz’s laboratory and was besieged by waves of strange creatures.

If the Tower Master hadn’t shown up, Saul would’ve died in that lab.

So, seeing a similar warning again, Saul held back from making any rash moves.

“What if I run away? Just leave Ralph Manor right now?”

This time, the diary finally changed.

May 29, Year 316 of the Lunar Calendar,

You learned caution,

Distanced yourself from danger.

But your peace was short-lived.

When you tried to escape,

A giant worm descended from the sky.

It caught the scent of your body and craved your delicious flesh.

So tell us—

Is the inside of the worm warm?

“Not even escaping an option?” Saul was stunned, then quickly realized something even more serious.

When did he start “trying to escape”?

It seemed to be—right now!

BOOM—

A thunderous crash rocked the entire castle. Walls, wooden beams, and stones rained from above.

Falling with the debris were the long-missing white-haired wizard Clawn and his apprentice Swan.

Clawn was covered in injuries.

From each wound sprouted a green sprout, making him look like a sapling in early spring—lush and leafy.

But he was still the better.

His apprentice Swan… only had half a body left. And the cross-section of his waist was—wood.

Saul could see Clawn cursing as he struggled to his feet while Swan writhed in agony on the ground, opening and closing his mouth in pain.

BOOM—

Another deafening explosion.

Though Saul couldn’t hear it, he could feel it.

A massive white shadow dropped from above, slamming into Clawn and completely burying him in pale flesh.

Just half a meter away, the barely spared Swan could only widen his eyes and let out a terrified wail!

Cold sweat drenched Saul’s back in an instant.

The second white shadow to fall from above was a giant worm.

(End of Chapter)

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