Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

"What...what's wrong with me?" Rowling's voice was somewhat bewildered.

Alphonse quickly went over and helped her up: "How are you feeling? Is anything bothering you?"

"I just feel a little dizzy." Rowling leaned against Alphonse and shook her head.

"Why do I feel like... my mind is blank, like I've lost something?"

Lynn withdrew his hand, his tone indifferent:

"What you lost were Marfa's consciousness and memories. If you keep them, they will eventually take over your body completely."

Rowling's expression changed, and her lips trembled: "Martha? Isn't she dead?"

"You're dead, but you're not at peace in death. You've left some tricks up your sleeve in your soul," Lynn said.

"She planted something in your soul. The reason you've been becoming more and more like her is because of that thing."

Rowling recalled her strange changes during that time and couldn't help but shrink closer to Alphonse, a chill running down her spine.

After hearing this, Alphonse immediately pulled Rowling down to kneel down without saying a word.

"Lord Lynn, thank you." Alphonse's voice was terribly hoarse.

"My life belongs to you from now on. I'll do whatever you tell me to do."

Lynn waved his hand: "Get up. I saved her not just for you, but mainly because I don't want Malfa to rise again. If anything unusual happens in the future, come find me."

Alphonse kowtowed heavily before helping Rowling to her feet.

"Let's go, let her get some rest," Lynn said. "Don't let her leave the academy for a while, I'll keep an eye on her a few more times."

Alphonse readily agreed and helped Rowling slowly walk out of the laboratory.

Alphonse's tense shoulders finally relaxed completely as he stepped out of the old Marfa laboratory.

He could sense that Rowling had truly returned; the shadow of Malfa in her eyes had completely vanished.

"It's good that I brought you here today," Alphonse said softly.

"Luckily I told Lynn, otherwise..."

He couldn't imagine what would have happened if he hadn't mentioned Rowling's unusual behavior.

Perhaps in a few years, the person beside him will truly become Master Marfa, and he'll have to spend the rest of his life with that old woman...

Thinking of this, Alphonse couldn't help but shudder, his spine turning cold.

Rowling seemed to sense his emotions, and suddenly pinched him, her voice soft and low:

"How was it? Did I please you by being bewitched and serving you well these past few days?"

Alphonse's face stiffened.

"Is that guy more adventurous than me?" Rowling glanced at him sideways. "Has he shown you quite a few new tricks?"

Alphonse opened his mouth, unsure how to respond.

He recalled that Rowling had indeed changed a lot during this period, becoming overly enthusiastic and daring to try all sorts of tricks.

Although he found it strange at the time, he did enjoy it quite a bit.

Now that he knew it was Marfa's consciousness at work, Alphonse felt as if he had swallowed a fly, both disgusted and awkward.

"Well... it wasn't my idea, I can't exactly refuse you, can I?" Alphonse said in a low voice.

"Heh." Rowling scoffed. "You didn't seem to be refusing at the time; you were enjoying it..."

"How was I supposed to know it would turn out like this?" Alphonse said with a bitter face. "Besides, I thought it was you back then too."

Rowling pinched him again: "So now? Do you still feel comfortable knowing who it is?"

Alphonse's expression grew even more distressed: "Don't even mention it. I feel uncomfortable just thinking about it now."

Seeing his expression, Rowling finally couldn't help but laugh.

She reached out and took Alphonse's arm, pressing her face against his shoulder.

"At least you still have a conscience," she said softly. "If you dare say you're comfortable, I'll kick you out of the room tonight."

Alphonse was both amused and exasperated, and could only pull her even tighter.

The two walked slowly toward their lodgings, their shadows stretched long by the spirit lamps along the roadside.

...

After Alphonse helped Rowling leave, Lynn closed the laboratory door again.

He sat back down in front of the magic circle, casually pushed aside a few used tools on the table, and then took out the soul crystal.

The crystal contained fragments of Marfa's consciousness and the keepsake, with dark red light flowing slowly inside like blood vessels.

"Let me see what other tricks you have up your sleeve," Lynn said in a low voice.

He probed the crystal with his mental energy, fully activating his analytical abilities, and the structure of the fragments of consciousness unfolded layer by layer, like slowly untangling a tangled mess into a thread.

The more Lynn looked, the more her brows furrowed.

Marfa set up multiple layers of memory locks on these tokens.

Only when the Stand grows to a certain level and its consciousness recovers to a certain point can it awaken the next memory and go to find the next keepsake.

This is a chain-like recovery system, with each link connected to the next, and everything must proceed in the order she has set.

What's more troublesome is that once an external force interferes with the Stand's memories or consciousness, the restriction will be locked.

Once locked, the stand-in is useless, and all subsequent clues are cut off.

"As expected of Marfa, what a brilliant scheme." Lynn's voice was filled with a deep chill.

He had previously searched Marfa's memories, but they were completely empty, with no trace of these tokens.

It seems that when Marfa was preparing a backup plan, she even severed the surface layer of her memories.

This woman's attainments in the realm of the soul are truly profound; even her death was so unsettling.

Now that Rowling's consciousness has been stripped away by Lynn and locked by the restrictions, this clue is essentially useless.

If Marfa has any other tokens, he will definitely activate the next one.

No, it should be said that she must have a large number of tokens scattered in various places, waiting to be pieced together to form "Malpha".

Lynn didn't know who the next person would be, nor did he know where the token was hidden.

He can't possibly gather everyone in the academy and analyze their souls, can he?

Forget about finding it; Cersei would be the first to object, and the academy would be in an uproar.

He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling, his mind racing.

"It's not the thief you should fear, it's the one who's eyeing you."

Lynn suddenly sat up straight and muttered something to himself.

"How about... training one ourselves?"

Since I can't find those tokens myself, I might as well do the opposite and cultivate a substitute for Malfa.

Let her find the next keepsake herself.

Once she has recovered sufficiently, he will strike and capture them all in one fell swoop.

Although this approach is convoluted, it's better than searching for a needle in a haystack in a huge college.

The problem is that the seed of faith in his hand and the fragment of consciousness extracted from Rowling's body have already been stimulated.

The restrictions left by Marfa have locked it up, so these two things can no longer guide the Stand to awaken its memories.

He needs a token that has not been triggered.

Lynn has now inherited everything from Marfa, including a lot of miscellaneous items, among which there may be tokens.