Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

The stinking, sticky mud of the swamp had already reached above the girl's calves.

She appeared to have suffered a serious injury.

Each difficult step she took aggravated her wounds, making her face appear increasingly pale and weak.

But she completely ignored all of that.

She gritted her teeth, grasping at the last straw, desperately searching for the source of the lightning.

A large area of ​​the swamp ahead had been completely reduced to scorched earth.

Countless fine, frenzied bolts of lightning darted across the cracked ground like serpents.

When they come into contact with the moist, decaying mud and air, they constantly erupt with ear-piercing crackling sounds.

Accompanied by miniature tornadoes, the gale and thunder intertwined, forming a chilling beam of bluish-purple lightning.

Here, two completely different destructive forces, wind and thunder, are strangely intertwined.

In the void, they constantly washed and outlined ancient rune patterns that resembled both lightning and hurricanes, appearing and disappearing, mysterious and unpredictable.

At the very center of all these strange phenomena, a tall, human-shaped silhouette was clearly revealed.

Its body emitted a pale golden halo, like the finest amber, which deeply inhaled and exhaled in sync with the steady rhythm of its owner's breathing.

This mysterious and wondrous scene instantly transformed the originally murky and dark, desolate swamp into a radiant spectacle.

It was as if a god had descended to earth, as recorded in ancient mythological texts.

The girl stared blankly, lost in thought.

A moment later, her eyes lit up with ecstatic joy, and she ran forward without a care in the world.

"Bang!"

A small, violent flash of lightning struck without warning right in front of the girl's toes!

The charred, shallow pit exploded instantly, and scalding mud splashed onto the girl's face, startling her so much that she trembled and stopped in her tracks.

"roll."

A cold, deep voice, seemingly formed from the friction and collision of countless raging winds and lightning bolts, emanated from the center of the golden halo.

There was no emotional fluctuation, only an unquestionable drive away and disregard.

The girl's face turned pale instantly.

But after struggling for only a moment, she gritted her teeth, mustered all her courage, resolutely stepped across the smoking shallow pit, and quickly approached.

"I know that someone as great as you has no reason to pay attention to someone as insignificant as me..."

The girl knelt heavily on both knees near the edge of the scorched earth, close to the lightning.

Without hesitation, she bent down and performed the most rare and dignified act in the wizarding world: a kowtow and a kiss on the earth.

His mud-covered posture revealed extreme humility, yet also a hint of unyielding stubbornness.

"But I still beg you, have mercy and help me!"

"The Duoshi family of Baisong Town—a total of 189 lives lost! 189 tragically murdered souls!"

The girl suddenly raised her head, her eyes bloodshot, and gritted her teeth.

Every word she uttered seemed to be soaked in thick blood and deep-seated hatred.

She suddenly raised her right hand, holding something tightly clenched in her palm high, and tried her best to show it to the figure in the halo of light.

It was an old ring stained with blood and shimmering with a faint silver light.

"It's all because of this thing."

"This is a priceless treasure passed down through generations of the Duoshi family. The ancestor's top-secret will clearly states that it points to an immense treasure that is richer than any country."

Tears mixed with mud slid down her cheeks.

"To unlock the ultimate secret of this treasure, our family has exhausted its wealth to invite a renowned and powerful wizard."

"Little did we expect... we've let the most greedy wolves into our house!"

The girl's voice was filled with anguish, each word piercing the heart.

Filled with grief and indignation, she bitterly denounced the cruel misfortune that fate had imposed upon her.

When she got emotional, she even suddenly pulled a sharp dagger from her bosom.

The gleaming blade sliced ​​mercilessly, slicing open her own slender, pale palm!

Crimson blood gushed out like a burst dam.

Blood splattered onto the scorched earth, hissing as it instantly soaked a small patch of land.

The severe trauma and excessive blood loss caused the girl's life to drain rapidly, leaving her swaying precariously.

She coughed violently in pain.

She coughed up a mouthful of foul-smelling black blood, which landed on the ground.

Within the filthy blood, tiny, twisted black worms could be vaguely seen crawling frantically!

"If you reject me today..."

The girl held the dagger against her vulnerable neck and gave a bitter smile.

"This knife will slit my throat any second!"

"I swear, I will sacrifice my lowly and weak soul, along with the 189 wronged spirits of Baisong Town, to cast the most vicious curse upon you for all eternity!"

"But...if you are willing to have mercy and grant me your protection..."

The girl's small body trembled in the wind like a withered leaf.

But in her staring eyes, a flame of madness was burning fiercely.

"So, whether it's my still relatively clean body, my life, or the endless treasures contained within this ring..."

"I will offer it all without reservation, with both hands!"

She was breathing heavily, her voice hoarse yet alluring.

"Make your choice, Your Excellency."

"To be that indifferent bystander who watches me die without offering help, who closes the eyes of this poor soul..."

"Or...become another guillotine of justice to sever the evil in this cold world!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the girl bent down heavily.

She kissed the scorched, burning ground once more.

She remained in a humble posture, prostrating herself and kneeling in supplication.

But those eyes rolled slightly upwards, fixedly and greedily fixed on the god-like and demon-like figure in the center of the halo.

Like a gambler with nowhere else to turn, he has placed his bets and is holding his breath, waiting for fate to reveal its hand.

Time passed second by second.

After a long silence, the same calm voice finally rang out again from within that sacred golden aura.

"Yes, it was a very vivid and engaging story."

The man's tone was dismissive, as if he were commenting on a poorly made play on the street.

The hopeful girl was suddenly stunned; she hadn't even had time to remove her pitiful mask.

The next moment!

There was no unnecessary talk, nor any sign of magical fluctuations.

A thin, yet extremely violent, purple lightning bolt tore through the void as if it were teleporting!

"laugh--!"

A slight piercing sound was heard.

The bolt of lightning pierced the girl's smooth forehead with pinpoint accuracy, emerging from the back of her head and bringing with it a cloud of charred blood.

The girl's pupils, which had been fixed intently on the front, suddenly became unfocused.

She knelt there blankly, her face still bearing a mixture of pleading and scheming.

She never understood why her flawless attempt to play the victim resulted in such an immediate and swift defeat.

"thump."

Her petite body, devoid of life, lay limp and lifeless in the mud.

However, the moment the body fell, a sudden change occurred—

A viscous, illusory soul, like a demon breaking free of its skin, forcibly crawled out from her cracked back with a ripping sound!

It was an ugly soul, its body flowing with black filth and foul-smelling mud.

Although her facial features bore some resemblance to those of the deceased girl, they were a hundred times more distorted and grotesque.

The moment this disheveled ghost appeared, its eyes turned a venomous, blinding red.

It let out a piercing howl, filled with chilling resentment, and pounced on the figure in the halo like a mad dog.

"boring."

A calm, cold snort came from within the halo of light.

Before the words were even finished, countless bolts of lightning and high-pressure air currents shot out from the void as if controlled by an arm!

They rapidly intertwined and contracted in mid-air, instantly forming a lightning net of cyan and purple light, like a Venus flytrap, trapping the hideous evil spirit within!

"ah--!!!"

The evil spirit rampaged wildly within the lightning cage, each touch sending plumes of black smoke billowing from its mouth, accompanied by a series of chilling screams that sent shivers down one's spine.

"Splash—"

A dull, booming sound, like a river overflowing its banks, reverberated.

Within the scorched earth of the swamp, the countless chaotic lightning bolts and hurricanes seemed to receive a king's decree, collectively and frantically contracting inward!

The deep, pulsating golden amber halo slowly bloomed and dispersed like flower petals.

A moment later.

All the destructive elements that roamed the void were drawn into his body.

The halo completely shattered, revealing a tall, slender, and godlike figure who walked out with composed steps.

Her long, glossy, and smooth black hair cascaded down like a waterfall.

They hung down on the man's perfect, demonic body, which was like steel forged through countless trials and tribulations, without an ounce of excess fat.

Within every inch of his naked flesh and blood lurked a terrifying power, seemingly visible to the naked eye, capable of moving mountains and filling seas.

Some fine, mysterious golden-blue light patterns floated like swimming fish beneath his fair, almost glowing skin.

It appeared to be some kind of extremely ancient and complex primordial rune, but it was not yet fully formed.

Who else could this Grim Reaper, who rose from the ashes of natural disaster, be but Dago, who braved the storm to emerge from the depths of despair?