Chapter 732: Go Die First

The white-bearded wizard lay collapsed beneath a ruined building, his back against the broken walls, mentally exhausted to the point where he could barely stay conscious.

At this moment, there was still a very deep, very terrifying wound on his chin. It looked like a fish mouth growing on his jaw.

The skin had split open and drooped down, revealing what appeared to be rotting white flesh inside the wound.

Everything around was dim, but this time the darkness wasn’t caused by those black shadows, thankfully.

“Who would have thought that I, Wilder, would end up in such a state.” The white-beard, or rather Wilder, carefully touched the wound on his chin.

“I had finally healed it properly, but once I get out of here, I’ll probably have to hide for another period. That wound left by the half-elf is truly troublesome.”

This Wilder was none other than the former president and captain of the Land Drifters.

His original plan had been to bring down the powerful Gorsa, then have the three parties divide up the wizard tower’s inheritance. This way, Wilder could attempt to advance to third rank using Gorsa’s corpse and legacy.

But his plan had failed.

In fact, it never had any possibility of success from the very beginning.

Because from the start, the information he received was inaccurate.

This led him to directly underestimate Gorsa’s true foundation.

It also turned this captain, who had originally lived a good life, into a wanted criminal of the Kema Duchy.

If not for Gorsa’s sudden advancement and departure from the western continent, Wilder’s days would probably be even more difficult.

Of course, he wasn’t doing well now either.

The wound left by the half-elf’s pursuit had never healed. The half-elf’s combat ability wasn’t exactly top-tier, but what was truly terrifying was the pollution he carried with him.

The wound inflicted by his opponent would actually grow on its own. If not properly suppressed, the wound would continue to deteriorate until it turned Wilder into a pile of rotting flesh.

But after being injured for so long, Wilder had also found a way to convert the pollution in the wound into his attack power.

It was just that this method hurt both others and himself. After each use, he needed to suppress the wound anew.

Since Wilder hadn’t been able to leave this city full of strange black shadows, he naturally didn’t dare to heal the wound immediately.

He had been leaning against this ruin for a while now and hadn’t been attacked again.

Though relieved, he also found it strange. “Could it be that those black shadows realized they couldn’t kill me and retreated? Otherwise, why haven’t they appeared for so long? Can I find an opportunity to leave?”

Speaking of leaving, Wilder felt somewhat hesitant.

He still hadn’t found the method for pushing open the inner doors that the Bayton Dean had used, and he didn’t know if that method was even here. So he wanted to leave, yet didn’t want to leave.

Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind Wilder.

“You are special.”

It was a woman’s voice.

The voice was somewhat hoarse, without any fluctuation or variation.

Like a puppet.

Wilder’s face went pale. He spun around abruptly and saw a tree branch as thick as a forearm somehow protruding from a crack in the wall, with two brown leaves sprouting from its tip.

The two leaves opened and closed.

The woman’s voice was coming from within.

As Wilder remained uncertain and suspicious, the woman spoke again.

“If you want a method to advance to third rank, I have one.”

Wilder’s eyes heated up.

Even knowing that what lay ahead might be a trap or an illusion, when the clue he had been desperately seeking for years appeared, he couldn’t help but feel excited.

Of course, he remained very cautious on the surface.

“Who are you?”

“Beth.”

Wilder was somewhat puzzled, but soon he recalled a name that had long been buried in the ground. “Bethstana? Are you Bethstana from the Borderland?”

Wilder used to frequently run trade routes in the Borderland.

Anyone familiar with that region’s history would arrive at Bethstana’s name when combining Bayton Academy, the Borderland, and powerful wizards.

The ruthless person who had lost in the Borderland’s power struggle but still managed to break out of Hanging Valley with most of her followers.

A third-rank wizard who was both cruel and extremely capable.

The main reason for her defeat was probably that she had faced Clark who had the backing of the Stargate Council.

Otherwise, it was uncertain who would have won or lost!

And even though she lost, she had preserved her faction’s foundation and an equally promising powerful demonic creature.

Thinking of this, Wilder finally realized that the root walls, large tree stumps, this strange nighttime world, and the tree branch before him were probably the demonic creature that Bethstana had cultivated.

“So Bayton Academy has always had a third-rank wizard in residence.” Wilder felt somewhat panicked. “The external rumors don’t match reality. The story about the dean losing control and mutating due to pushing doors was probably just bait to attract wild second-rank wizards like us.”

If he had known that there was still a third-rank wizard within Bayton Academy, he absolutely would not have intruded into the academy.

However, Wilder wasn’t in complete despair at this moment, since the Bethstana before him was still communicating with him.

Communication meant there was a need.

In other words, he still had value to be used.

With this thought, the temperament of the former merchant guild president returned to Wilder.

“Wizard Bethstana, please forgive my unintentional intrusion into your territory.”

“Cut the nonsense.”

The leaves opposite him had no interest in listening to Wilder’s words.

“The mental power in your body is special and can enter the tree heart space. I need you to go in and catch a spirit body. If you can do it, I’ll tell you the method for advancing to third rank by pushing doors, and I can also provide you with the mental power needed for advancement.”

“But if you can’t do it and fail to satisfy me, then you’ll become my nourishment.”

This voice still had no high or low fluctuation, yet it brought bone-chilling coldness that made all of Wilder’s hair stand on end.

“I await your instructions. What do you need me to do?” Wilder endured the pain in his chin and tried to smile as he spoke.

There was nothing he could do—with inferior strength, he didn’t even have the opportunity to negotiate terms.

“Go die first.”

The cold voice rang out, and the tree branch that had just been calmly conversing suddenly moved.

Wilder had no time to react before the branch pierced through his skull.

Then, the branch slowly withdrew, stained with red and white fluids, while the brown leaves continued speaking in that unperturbed tone.

“You’re not completely dead yet. If you complete my assignment, I’ll send you back and help you advance. If you can’t complete it, then you don’t need to come back.”

The branch slowly retracted into the crack in the wall.

“Now, we go to the tree heart space.”

…

Saul’s tentacle withdrew from the crack in the middle of Shaya’s brow.

The orange cat Kate on the side watched with his eye corners and whiskers twitching together.

“Damn, if someone wanted to stick tentacles into my skull for treatment, I’d rather die,” Kate muttered in his heart.

In stark contrast to Kate’s shock, neither the healer nor the patient felt uncomfortable with this treatment method.

Shaya even curiously stuck his finger into the round hole when he touched his forehead.

“How amazing! So you really are a doctor!” Shaya’s face bore a peaceful smile, completely different from his previously extremely nervous state. “How did you do it? You not only suppressed Beth’s control over me, but also…”

Halfway through his words, Shaya seemed to realize something and closed his mouth again.

Saul lowered his eyes. “I knew there was something else abnormal about you besides Beth’s control. It’s probably because of this abnormality that you were able to temporarily break free from the Inverted Tree’s control over you. Is this your biggest secret?”

Seeing that Saul tactfully didn’t mention the other pollution within his body, Shaya breathed a slight sigh of relief and gradually developed some goodwill toward Saul.

This was actually an effect produced by the suppression of another type of pollution within his body.

The perceptive Saul naturally noticed Shaya’s change. “Oh right, I’m lending you this thing. When you go to the tree heart space to steal the tree seed, it should be useful.”

He stepped forward, using his body to block the line of sight of Kate beside him, and handed a small object to Shaya.

At the same time, he also blocked Shaya’s face, preventing Kate behind him from seeing that from the round hole in Shaya’s forehead… a colorful pupil eye had suddenly emerged.

(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.