To trace the source of the black, charred wraith, Shaya and Julie delved deep underground.
At the sa ti, they left behind prearranged secret markings on the surface, so Saul—who would arrive later—could follow their trail.
But what they didn’t expect was that this ti, Saul wouldn’t be able to catch up.
As a residential building, it was nearly empty during the day.
People were at work, children were at school, and those too young were usually sent to their guardians’ workplaces for centralized care.
Saul intended to observe what the girl, now a wraith, would do next. So he didn’t subdue her imdiately but followed her in silence.
anwhile, Morden went into another room to investigate the cause of the first wraith’s appearance.
Arms folded, Saul watched as the girl tilted her head back and drank an entire pot of water from the table.
Her throat didn’t move while drinking, as though the liquid went straight from her mouth to her stomach without the slightest obstruction.
Once the water entered her mouth, the girl’s skin began to smooth out.
Her shriveled body began to swell, gradually regaining a normal human shape.
But her skin did not heal.
The girl's left hand remained charred and was still missing a section.
The cracks on her face and body only shrank slightly, becoming less noticeable, but showed no signs of true recovery.
“So drinking water can delay the cracking of the skin,” Saul muttered, continuing to follow Izzy into the hallway.
Izzy seed to know where else she could find water. She left the apartnt and headed straight toward the water room at the end of the hallway.
But before they could enter the water room, Morden erged from it with a grave expression.
“Master, sothing's wrong here. My soil-sensing magic was blocked by the walls.”
“What kind of force is blocking it?” Saul asked imdiately. “Is it polluted?”
Morden shook his head. “It doesn’t seem like pollution. Feels more like a sealing effect caused by magic.”
At those words, Saul no longer cared about Izzy, who was still walking slowly, and went straight to the outer wall.
He placed his palm against the wall, and translucent tendrils from his Soul Fishing spell imdiately burrowed into it.
Monts later, Saul retracted his hand.
“Soone has sealed this entire building.”
He imdiately turned to Morden. “We’re going back to the top floor.”
But just as they reached the stairwell, a thick branch—wider than an average adult’s waist—snaked out from behind the door.
“Watch out!” Morden stepped forward instantly and raised his hand to cast a spell.
The floor tiles in front of them rose up, pierced by sharp earthen spikes.
The thick branch collided with the spikes, and both shattered on impact.
“Is that a tree branch?” Morden sensed the powerful magic dispersing from the broken wood.
He glanced nervously at Saul.
But Saul shook his head.
The diary had no warnings about this tree branch. Moreover, it had fresh green buds—nothing like the bizarre plant they had seen in the underground sewer.
“The magical fluctuations are steady. This isn’t a monster. It’s a magic’s spell.”
Saul’s palm began to gather a Fla Arrow.
A branch that massive would at least be the product of a Third Rank spell. Morden didn’t have the magical strength for that, and his specialty—earth spells—wasn’t well suited for fighting plant-type magic.
But Third Rank spells took ti to cast, and Morden stood protectively in front of Saul without hesitation.
Little Algae also leapt out, buying Saul precious ti.
The broken tree branch that had earlier clashed with Morden’s spike rose again, preparing to strike once more.
But at that mont, a voice interrupted the two sides locked in tension.
“Wizard Saul!” The elevator doors suddenly slid open, and First Rank Wizard Kent stepped out. “There’s no need for us to attack on our own.”
The mont Saul saw Kent, he rembered Shaya’s suspicions about him.
The Fla Arrow in Saul’s hand shrank but did not vanish.
However, the massive branch imdiately bent down like a docile puppy upon Kent’s arrival.
Four other wizards followed behind Kent.
They spread out upon entering. One of them went straight to the water room and, without hesitation, captured the soul of Izzy into a soul bottle right as she reached the door.
Morden seed like he wanted to say sothing, but then he caught the subtle shake of Saul’s head, and held his tongue.
Beyond these wizards, Saul also heard the sound of synchronized footsteps coming from the stairwell.
It seed that this tall building had already been infiltrated by nurous wizards and apprentices.
“Wizard Kent, can you tell what exactly is going on?” Saul asked.
Kent had just arrived before him, his face equally serious. “Wizard Saul, have you noticed that lately we’ve captured many charred, corpse-like wraiths?”
“I have. The wraith I encountered just now was one of them. I was about to track the cause of her contamination.”
Kent nodded in agreent, then let out a heavy sigh.
“In fact, we’ve already identified the source of these charred wraiths.”
Saul’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Kent continued, “It’s Wizard Shaya.”
The air froze for a split second.
“Why do you say that?”
“It took us a long ti to investigate,” Kent said. “Wizard Shaya is soone who will stop at nothing.”
He pulled so docunts from his robe and handed them to Saul. “Strictly speaking, I shouldn’t disclose case information before we apprehend him. But you’re Wizard Gorsa’s apprentice. I trust your allegiance is beyond question.”
Saul took the docunts. The nas and details of several individuals were clearly written on them.
“These people... are all wizards?”
“Yes. Shaya specifically targets solitary wizards who avoid social contact. He acts paranoid in public, refusing to let others near him, as a way to conceal the abnormal fluctuations in his magical and ntal energies.”
“But Wizard Shaya is only a First Rank wizard,” Saul replied with a puzzled frown, feigning so confusion. “He’s good at escaping, but in a real fight...”
Saul trailed off, but his aning was clear.
“Exactly. He uses his supposed weakness in combat to mislead others. We reviewed the list of recently missing wizards and found that many of them had secret contact with Wizard Shaya before they disappeared. He would play on their fears, exaggerate certain threats, lure them into traps he had prepared in advance, and then... seize their inheritances.”
Saul raised a hand to his chin thoughtfully. “Wizard Shaya invited out just now too, but I happened to encounter that wraith, which delayed .”
Kent’s brows furrowed tightly, and he gritted his teeth. “So he tried to go after you as well. I thought he’d at least hesitate out of respect for your ntor... but it makes sense. With a great ntor like yours, you must carry valuable materials. After killing so many other wizards, Shaya’s standards have risen—of course he would covet what you bring.”
Previously, Saul had offered so rare magic materials in exchange for wraiths and magic crystals.
But he had been careful not to reveal anything too precious—for fear of attracting attention in Caugust City.
“Then why have you surrounded this building?” Saul suddenly asked.
“We were tracking the source of the charred wraith contamination and detected a similar aura inside this building,” Kent answered with a serious tone. “You said Shaya invited you out, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I think the reason the pollution source appeared here was because of Shaya’s invitation.”
Kent locked eyes with Saul.
“He was certain... you wouldn’t return.”
(End of Chapter)
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