Wizard: I can refine all things.

Chapter 78 The Mad Wizard

"The one who killed me?" The man in black's voice suddenly turned sinister.

"A wizarding apprentice at a wizarding academy?"

Richard did not answer; his figure suddenly transformed into a black-scaled giant, and the greatsword in his hand burst into flames.

Then... bang!

The greatsword whistled through the air as it was swung, and with a single strike, the man in black was smashed into the wall of the hall.

At the same time, the civilian protection teams on the ground also began their operations.

Under Lord Spencer's arrangement, the entire militia of Gael was mobilized here. Many of these strong soldiers were knights, skilled warriors in ordinary times, but in this battle, their sole duty was to evacuate the civilians.

"You bastard!"

A frenzied roar came from the wall, and a blood-red figure burst out of it, moving so fast that even the human eye could not react.

But Li didn't even look, and swung his sword again.

boom!

Is this all the mad wizard is?

Richard scoffed inwardly, and three fireballs suddenly appeared around him.

The spell models of these fireballs had all been modified by Ellie, and each one had an energy level of fifty. At this moment, the three fireballs simultaneously aimed at the patriarch and shot towards him together.

boom!

Richard turned to look at the congregation in the hall, then took out a recording crystal ball.

"Leave here immediately."

Cult members are generally not very bright; after his warnings, very few people will listen. Recording it beforehand will give the academy an explanation if many people die later.

They insisted on courting death, so how can we blame him?

As expected, not a single believer moved after Richard's warning, even though the Patriarch's mind control had ceased.

Richard shook his head; there was no need to persuade someone who was courting death.

Reaching the man in black, they found him unrecognizable after being bombarded by three fireballs. But somehow, the mad wizard had altered him; even unconscious, his flesh continued to writhe, constantly healing his wounds.

"Interesting." Richard pulled the man out, and with the movement of flesh and blood, the man in black's appearance had returned to normal.

The believers gasped in surprise upon seeing his true appearance.

"Good heavens, how could it be Mr. Niccolò?"

Mr. Nicholas?

Richard noticed the name and then used the crystal ball to contact Spencer on the ground.

"Spencer, do you know someone named Niccolò?"

"Niccolò?" came the surprised voice from the crystal ball.

"Niccolò is the largest grain merchant in Gale, sir. Did you see him inside?"

Grain merchant?

A sense of unease flashed through Richard's mind.

"Is he a graduated wizard?" Richard asked immediately.

"How could that be, sir? Although Niccolò has a penchant for studying witchcraft, he is absolutely a mortal."

Spencer's answer startled Richard. If Niccolò was a grain merchant, where did his mental power come from?

Awakening one's spiritual power requires meditation, and cultivating spiritual power requires an even longer period of time.

Richard could believe in some basic meditation methods circulating in Gale, but even if he meditated his whole life using those methods, he would never reach the advanced apprentice level.

"No, this is a trap!"

Richard understood immediately and prepared to leave the underground hall.

But by then it was already too late.

A crimson light erupted from the altar in the center of the hall, instantly enveloping the entire hall.

Under the shroud of this crimson light, blood began to seep from the skin of the believers. The blood fell to the ground and flowed, forming a strange magic circle in the hall.

The believers did not wail or suffer; they knelt amidst the blood and loudly praised the blessings of the blood-red Lord.

But Richard was feeling rather uncomfortable at that moment.

He could feel his cells trembling, as if some strange energy was stimulating them to leave his body.

Richard had no time to think; several fireballs appeared in front of him, heading straight for the altar in the center of the hall. He himself turned and ran outside.

With a loud "boom," the fireball exploded, and the scattered flames instantly engulfed the altar, blasting several nearby believers to pieces.

The flames subsided, but the altar remained unmoved—a barrier of blood had blocked all the power.

Before Richard's pupils could shrink and he was about to make another move, a man stood up from the crowd and pointed at him.

clap clap.

Three shattering sounds rang in Richard's ears; they were the sounds of his mental barrier breaking.

In an instant, it felt as if dozens of red-hot iron skewers had been inserted into his brain, and the intense pain left his mind blank.

"Mad Wizard!" Richard roared, clutching his head.

"He's still alive?" The mad wizard was somewhat surprised.

Few advanced apprentices would survive a blow from him.

Well, if he's not dead, he's not dead. At worst, I'll just finish him off with another stab.

After thinking it over, the mad wizard's magic surged, preparing to strike again.

boom!

The mad wizard stared blankly at his right arm, where there was only a cloud of blood mist.

"Hmm!"

The mad wizard groaned, his face turning pale, blood gushing from his eyes, mouth, and nose. The intense pain instantly disrupted his concentration, causing the organization's spell to fail.

The backlash from the spell instantly descended upon him.

He probably won't be able to use magic for a while.

He took out a steel staff half his height from his magic pouch. The flesh on his right arm writhed, and in a moment a new arm grew out. He looked at Richard, who was holding a strange magical artifact, somewhat resembling a crossbow from an alien creature.

"Hiss, I missed."

Richard, gritting his teeth and refrigerating the magic gun, put it back in his pocket. This thing was only effective on first sight; if it didn't kill the target in one hit, it was hard to achieve any real success.

Richard dared not use magic rashly at this moment.

The damage from the mental shock is not so easy to eliminate; this intense pain comes from the soul, and even with focus-enhancing drugs, he cannot be immune to it.

Under the blood-red light, the two wizard apprentices gazed at each other from afar.

The next moment, the two figures collided, unleashing a surge of air.

With this mad wizard present, Richard certainly couldn't leave at will. This sacrificial ritual looked extremely strange, and if he was allowed to continue, who knew what kind of trouble it might cause.

Moreover, Richard had a hunch that the Crimson Lord might not have been something the mad wizard had just made up.

This so-called deity may actually exist.

If this ceremony continues, who knows, that thing might actually appear in person.

Richard knew that the wizarding world must have its own ways of dealing with this kind of thing, but even if that thing were to appear for even a second, Richard, who was next to it, would be dead.

Perhaps the arrival of this thing will only be a small loss for the wizarding world, or even a small gain.

But Richard was unwilling to be the one sacrificed.

Amidst the blood-red light, Richard transformed into a black-scaled giant, his muscles bulging and every movement possessing immense strength. The mad wizard, though using magic from the mind school, was nearly as physically powerful as Richard, a mere apprentice who had refined his physical abilities, due to the presence of the Crimson Lord.

Muffled thuds echoed through the hall as two almost inhuman beings, one wielding a staff and the other a greatsword, aimed their attacks directly at each other's vitals.

But the Mad Wizard wasn't a specialist in physical constitution, and Richard gradually gained the upper hand in the fight. As the Mad Wizard revealed an opening, Richard grinned maliciously, and his arm muscles bulged violently.

boom!

A burst of blood erupted from the mad wizard's chest as a powerful force pierced through his body, leaving a nearly transparent fist-sized hole in his chest.

"It's over," Richard said coldly, raising his sword to behead the mad wizard.

"It's definitely over."

The mad wizard revealed a mocking smile. Behind him, a spatial rift suddenly opened on the altar, and a blood-red eye appeared within it.

"Our Lord is about to descend!"

(End of this chapter)