Chapter 143: Incident Analysis, Strange Message

"Snap!" Sieg’s hands clamped down with lethal force upon the mass of flesh before him, refusing to loosen his grip even as the creature’s proliferating bone spikes tore into his own body.

"You cannot kill me!" A face identical to that of the Abyss Gate squad leader, Odit, writhed and shrieked from within the pulsating lump of meat, struggling in a frantic, squirming attempt to break free.

"Perhaps you cannot be killed, but stripping you of the capacity for thought is well within my power," Shugein’s cold voice rang out. Smoke coalesced beside him, and the Smoke Demon, shifting into an intangible state, surged forward and poured directly into the mouth of the face growing from the meat.

Inside the mass, the smoke transformed into an amorphous, omnidirectional meat grinder, expanding and spinning, pulverizing every shred of flesh it touched.

Bones were crushed, muscle was shredded, and the smoke—with its inherent, inescapable nature—systematically erased the very substance Sieg held in his grasp.

"I will not die! My Lord granted me the ability to survive even after discarding my soul. As long as a scrap of flesh containing my will remains, I can be reborn. My life is infinite! How many times can you possibly kill me?"

The meat-lump emitted a piercing, jagged scream that echoed through the interstitial corridor. Shugein watched his "arch-rival," with whom he had clashed so many times, with a frigid expression.

Though he would never claim any friendship or sentiment between them, seeing this creature—who often dealt with the Void—reduced to such a nauseating state left him feeling an inexplicable sense of irritation.

"Wait, no! My Lord, where have you gone? You said you would keep everything I am within your own body! Why can I no longer feel you? Why? I cannot see those things anymore! Where are you? No, no, I don’t want to die! Aaaaaah!"

Abruptly, Odit—who had been so arrogant, roaring that he could never be killed—began to scream in sheer terror.

He did not know why he could no longer sense the presence of the Lord who contained his consciousness and granted him infinite life. No matter how he called out, that entity—which had bestowed upon him a new form of life in his despair and allowed him to glimpse the power of life itself—had vanished.

The Smoke Demon’s relentless grinding continued. Having lost his soul and the great presence that housed his consciousness, and with Shugein and Sieg having obliterated every other part of his body, Odit’s awareness began to dissipate.

As he felt his consciousness fraying, the fear of death sprouted and spread through the remnants of Odit’s mind, consuming everything that remained.

Though his Void-touched state meant he was, in a sense, beyond death, the loss of self-awareness was no different from death for any sentient being—perhaps even worse than being a mindless undead skeleton.

"It seems your god doesn't care for you as much as you imagined. What a pathetic thing," the Smoke Demon’s signature mocking voice resonated from within the meat.

"No, no! I don’t want to die! My Lord, save me, save me!" When only a thin shell of flesh remained, the mangled remnants could no longer support Odit’s ability to think.

His consciousness had collapsed; all that remained were repetitive, hollow words, the meanings of which he could no longer even comprehend.

"Pfft!" The final outer shell was pulverized by the Smoke Demon, and the mass of flesh that was Odit, along with his will, was utterly erased.

"Thanks for arriving in time; otherwise, I would have been stuck with this thing for quite a while." Shugein retracted the Smoke Demon into his lantern and turned to thank Sieg.

"Just doing my job. I came as soon as I realized I couldn't reach you. Its vitality is indeed bizarre. With the Void integrated, its regenerative capacity has surpassed any other Void creature of the same tier. The only way to 'kill' it was to erase its will."

"We have fought the Void for so long, yet our understanding remains so limited..." Shugein shook his head and pulled out his communication crystal, quickly scanning the flood of messages he had been unable to check during the battle.

"The god he spoke of should correspond to Elfin, the Source of Life. Not only was He not killed, but He seems to have gained new power. It appears we truly underestimated that 'god' whose physical form was so easily erased back then."

"As for the Void, our knowledge is still limited—or rather, humanity’s understanding of the Void is inherently limited. Aside from Roland, the Archmage who came closest to its essence, there has been little progress in exploring it. But there are still many possibilities for the future; one day, we will understand."

After observing the fragments of flesh Odit had left behind in the interstice, Sieg speculated on the identity of the god Odit had called his Lord and answered Shugein’s thoughts on the Void.

"You might live to see that day, but I’ll pass," Shugein said casually. He did not possess the long lifespan of a dragon. Frowning, he began to read the urgent messages piling up in the crystal.

Sieg offered a wry smile, unable to argue, for Shugein spoke the truth.

"..." Shugein stared in silence at the increasingly dire messages: the escalation of the Winter Wolf riots, the root networks and creatures emerging in the city, the internal annihilation barrier appearing at the academy, and requests for high-destruction weaponry.

The severity of the situation had exceeded his worst estimates. Although he had sensed something was wrong when Odit suddenly appeared in the interstice, it was only upon reading that the academy might have used the "Silent Forest"—a relic more important than a strategic-grade weapon—that he realized the true implications of this event.

With furrowed brows, Shugein read on, a heavy, ominous feeling clinging to him. As he read, he began to run; he had to take remedial measures immediately.

Sieg had also seen the messages; the situation was far worse than he had imagined. Without hesitation, the two began to traverse the interstice simultaneously. Though it might be too late, they had to try.

"Hm?" Shugein, having started reading earlier, let out an involuntary sound of confusion. Even with his seasoned composure, his eyes widened. The content of the final message was truly unexpected, yet it was, in fact, good news.

"I didn't expect this. I underestimated him." Sieg’s tone carried a lingering trace of a smile as he slowed his pace. It was clear he had seen the message as well.

"Indeed. It was resolved perfectly. Those careless fools at the Stevenson Magic Academy should be very grateful to him." Shugein also slowed down. He truly had not expected such a massive event to be resolved by Wang Yu in such a manner.

"They certainly will be. Even if they don't offer a reward, my professorship isn't just for show, though..." Satisfied with Wang Yu’s immense contribution, Sieg intended to discuss a proper reward with the principal. However, with his keen intuition, he quickly recalled some of his previous conversations with Wang Yu.

Given Wang Yu’s personality, would he truly enjoy this?

……

"It’s the mages at the academy. Their bodies were modified by tiny organisms. These modifications were so subtle that the mages, who aren't known for their physical constitution, could hardly detect these hidden changes within them. The detection arrays at the academy were designed to monitor magic, the Void, and even battle aura, but they had almost no effect on these simple parasites."

Avia sat beside Wang Yu, relaying the information collected by the Night’s Edge staff from the mages who had awakened.

Of course, Avia had been able to contact Lady Night once the space was no longer saturated with high-level Void energy, and under Her concealment, she had returned from the academy to Wang Yu’s side.

When she saw that Wang Yu was the focus of everyone’s attention, she understood his intentions. He did not wish to step onto this stage, nor did he want her to. Hiding Avia’s existence was, in reality, a form of protection for the girl.

However, limited by her age and experience, the girl—whose maturity often made people forget how young she was—still saw less than Wang Yu.

"Mm... we are all constrained by transcendental power. Some of what Elfin said was true; the transcendental power we possess has indeed made us arrogant when facing these non-transcendental threats. And this is the price the academy has paid."

Wang Yu nodded. He had previously found it hard to understand how the Stevenson Magic Academy—while not a powerful military organization—could have been surrounded by an annihilation barrier so easily, without any resistance, given its number of mages and the density of its arrays.

After Avia’s explanation, he understood. This layout was a lethal trap, impossible to guard against for an academy that had neglected non-transcendental threats.

The profession of a mage is, in essence, a natural magic device or an array. The magic vortex condensed by the soul is the core and power source, while the body is influenced during the process, acting in tandem with the soul during spellcasting—this is the principle behind many casting gestures and postures.

The flow of mana within the body is something almost every mage has. Even if the body isn't the primary focus, the mana flowing through it is unavoidable.

The tiny organisms created by Elfin that parasitized these mages simply altered the structure of their bodies—those natural "magic devices." By leaving harmless-looking carvings on their muscles, blood vessels, and bones, they transformed the mages into walking "runes."

The changes occurred imperceptibly. At a certain point, the parasitized mages completed the transformation. All that was needed was for the parasites to finish the final stroke, and these "runes" would form a complete array.

That was the annihilation barrier. This was why no one could stop it when it suddenly appeared; as runes themselves, how could they have the capacity to stop the formation of the array? They didn't even need to worry about a power source; the mana within the magic vortexes of hundreds of mages was more than enough to charge the annihilation barrier.

The subsequent appearance of the "Silent Forest" relic had cut off any possibility of the academy’s autonomous arrays functioning.

Wang Yu shook his head. How could one break this? It was impossible. It was a perfect kill—a kill formed by an information gap. If there hadn't been a variable, the academy’s fall into the Void would have been inevitable.

"The core of that Void array must have come from the teacher..." Avia’s tone was low. She had had a premonition after being locked in the teacher’s library with Wendy.

Now, with the fact that Weber Lanchi had made such moves without any of the other mages knowing, it was confirmed that he was the mastermind behind the incident.

Weber’s goal was likely to protect Avia and his granddaughter, Wendy, but in reality, it was meaningless. If the entire academy were dragged into the Void, neither Avia nor Wendy could have been spared.

"Don't dwell on it. You didn't do anything wrong; this has nothing to do with you." Wang Yu patted the girl’s shoulder. He didn't offer any excuses for Weber. Perhaps he and Avia still held some sentiment for their teacher, but that could not diminish his crimes.

In Wang Yu’s mind, Weber Lanchi was a complete scoundrel. Wang Yu didn't know who he wanted to resurrect, nor did he care about his hidden motives.

But no reason could justify shifting the catastrophe onto the entire academy. If you do it, you pay the price. In any case, Wang Yu figured the old man had already turned to ash along with Elfin’s body.

"Mm, it’s just that Wendy will be very sad." Avia shook her head. She was not unreasonable; she understood the teacher’s mistakes. She only felt a sense of melancholy for the passing of her mother’s old friend—and her teacher of a short time—but more than that, she worried for Wendy, who always seemed so carefree.

"Tsk..." Wang Yu clicked his tongue. As expected, the world was still just as wretched. Many things happened in an instant; life and death were never rare occurrences.

"Wang Yu!" A call from afar made Wang Yu lift his head. Seeing who it was, he waved to signal he had heard.

Edward ran over from outside the academy, his armor and blade still stained with the blood of the small flesh-beasts he had helped the Night’s Edge team eradicate.

"How is it? Are you alright?" Edward ran to Wang Yu’s side, looking at him—his leather armor was shredded, but there were no visible wounds.

"I'm fine, just a bit drained." Wang Yu was indeed okay; his injuries had been forcibly healed by the massive influx of life force when he blew up Elfin’s body. The side effect was that the excessive recovery had pushed his organs to a limit, leaving him in a weakened state that required rest.

"Well done. You’re a hero." Edward smiled and punched Wang Yu’s chest. It was clear he was genuinely happy for Wang Yu’s immense contribution.

"I’m not being modest, but in reality, I can only claim half the credit. If you ask who the other half belongs to..." Wang Yu was serious. If he and Avia claimed half, someone else deserved the other half.

He took out the Star tarot card he had dug up from the ground outside the academy—now devoid of its power—and showed it to Edward, thinking Edward would understand.

"This?! I see. No wonder I wondered how you suddenly disappeared; you got in through this thing. But how did you get this tarot card?" Edward understood immediately.

"Found it outside the academy, buried less than three meters underground."

"This... it’s hard to fathom. Could it be that the Lyd family’s bizarre ability allowed Charles to see something? But there hasn't been any news from him for a long time. Otherwise, we could have contacted him to ask."

"Mm, I’ll tell the Professor and Captain Shugein about Charles’s contribution. That guy loves rewards, after all."

"Ha, fair enough; that fellow is likely off preening himself somewhere unknown."

"Hmm... hm?" Wang Yu was just about to nod in agreement when a flicker of doubt stirred within him; the ripple he kept constantly active had caught a sudden, peculiar string of text manifesting upon his personal communication crystal.

It had not arrived via transmission, nor did it bear any trace of magical residue; it was an infinitesimal void fluctuation, nearly impossible to detect by any conventional means, though such a subtle disturbance could not escape the scrutiny of his ripple.

Maintaining a composed facade, Wang Yu began to read the characters shimmering across the crystal.

"Greetings, Mr. Wang Yu. I must say, I am surprised you truly succeeded in thwarting this plot against the Stevenson Academy of Magic. Char's faith in you was indeed well-founded; you are, in every sense, the ultimate variable."

"I must admit that the trap you dismantled may have genuinely disrupted someone's grand design, though it remains possible this was merely a single link in a larger chain, a failure orchestrated to pave the way for what follows."

"I consider myself a friend of Char's. I realize that reaching out to you in this manner lacks sincerity and invites distrust, so perhaps we might meet through Char; that should serve to earn your confidence."

"Char is currently fast asleep at the family estate; you need only go to him. I have but one request: please do not disclose to others that Char planted this tarot card, and above all, do not tell him himself."

"Finally, I wish to say that the Lady of the Night is truly a generous deity. She has changed—unlike Elfin or that God of War, she has truly broken her chains. From an emotional standpoint, I support you just as Char does, though from a rational perspective, I still do not hold high hopes for your success."

The message concluded, and the script upon the crystal slowly dissolved into nothingness.

"What on earth..." Wang Yu felt a sense of bewilderment. What was this, exactly? Still, meeting with Char would be for the best; he was quite curious to know how Char had foreseen this turn of events, and as for this mysterious entity communicating with him—what manner of creature could it be?