Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

"..."

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As school was about to end, there were still people in the library, but very few students remained.

Isaac strolled nonchalantly through the corridors between the bookshelves, while Matilda nervously followed behind him, carrying the sword she had borrowed from the gymnasium.

Having been kidnapped and slashed by Benjamin, returning to the library was pure torture for her.

"Speaking of which, how did you get targeted in the first place?"

"I... I don't remember the specifics. I only remember that when I came to the library at night to look for books, I accidentally flipped to a book with a brown cover that looked like a dictionary. The moment I opened it, it felt like I was being sucked in... I don't remember anything after that."

"Being absorbed into the book...it seems to be a phantom book after all. In other words, Benjamin discovered you the moment you opened it."

He recalled that last night, when he was dealing with the murderer, he had indeed seen the brown illusion book in his hand, and it was thanks to the properties of that illusion book that he was able to escape from Isaac.

"Benjamin threw you out severely injured to attract Jessica's attention, so Jessica was also his target. Perhaps she discovered Benjamin's murder scene when she came to the library one day..."

Jessica also brought up the matter, but when she said there was a murderer at the school, neither the school nor the police believed her.

“Um…why did I become Benjamin’s target?” Matilda suddenly asked. “Is that murderer hiding in the school to kill indiscriminately?”

"No, judging from the victims he killed before, he must have been killing with a purpose."

"Huh?"

"A total of eleven women died at his hands, all of whom were tall and slender. Jessica, who was slightly shorter, would not have been his target. She was just unlucky enough to be discovered while flipping through that illusion book, so he had to silence her."

Isaac chose his current form after transforming to meet Benjamin's conditions for killing.

"And what's the reason?"

“I had a brief discussion with Darian and Hugh before, and I guess Benjamin’s goal is…” Isaac said slowly, “to return to his mother’s body.”

"what?"

“Benjamin craved acceptance from his mother. Therefore, he only targeted women who were taller and stronger than him. This was also the common thread in the eleven crimes he committed before his arrest.”

Hiding in his illusory books, Benjamin would wait for the right moment to target any woman he could get his hands on—that was his method.

The current priority is to find the phantom book and bring the person to justice, but finding a book with a brown cover in a huge library is like finding a needle in a haystack, so we can only wait for Benjamin to make the first move.

"The only option we can have is... um?"

Isaac suddenly stopped.

He clearly saw a female teacher walking down the aisle with a book in her hand, and that book was exactly the same as the one he had seen in Benjamin's hands yesterday.

Benjamin was right there!

"Hey! You over there, woman."

"what?"

The female teacher heard Isaac's shout and turned to look at him.

Are you calling me?

"I'm calling you, feel free to throw away the book you're holding!"

"Huh?"

"Hurry up! Don't dawdle!"

As Isaac spoke, he grabbed the sword that Matilda was holding.

The female teacher was startled by Isaac's shout, but soon, the book in her hand suddenly changed.

Without warning, the book opened, and a hand holding a knife reached out from inside, slashing at the female teacher's neck.

clang!

The slash was just a hair's breadth away from cutting the female teacher's throat, but it was stopped by Isaac's sword.

A strange smile finally appeared on Isaac's face.

"Now, you won't get away, Benjamin. I'm going to torture you properly."

As he spoke, he snatched the magic book from the teacher's hand and slashed at it with his sword.

Stab it!

An arm that was exposed outside the phantom book was forcibly cut off.

"Ahhhh!!!!"

The female teacher was so frightened by the horrifying scene before her that she sat down on the ground.

Benjamin, whose arm has been cut off, also crawls out of the book, holding another small knife in his other hand.

The scream attracted the attention of several other students in the library, who witnessed the scene unfold before them.

The female teacher sitting on the ground, Benjamin with his arm cut off, and Isabella (Isaac) pointing her sword at Benjamin.

Chapter 1008: Bloodstained Rose

“This is… Isabella.”

"The one bleeding seems to be..."

"Benjamin Duvren!?"

"That escaped serial killer hiding in the school?"

Because of previous rumors and the victims, Benjamin Duvren's face was already familiar to the girls' high school students, and they all backed away in panic the moment they saw the murderer appear.

But when they saw Isabella (Isaac) standing in front of Benjamin with her sword, they seemed to understand that the criminal had been stopped by the 'girl' in front of them during the crime.

Isaac glanced at the bleeding criminal in front of him, and the girls and teachers standing still watching the show around him. He sincerely felt that these people were really bored out of their minds.

"You're a teacher, aren't you?"

Isaac asked the female teacher beside him, while pointing his sword at Benjamin in front of him.

"Ah, yes!"

"Take the students to safety."

"what?"

"Now! Immediately! Get them away from here."

"Ok!"

The female teacher suddenly rallied from her panic and walked up to the students who were watching, shouting, "Students! Get out of the library now!"

"But teacher, Isabella..."

The teacher was evacuating the students, while Benjamin had already launched the attack.

He charged at Isaac with his only remaining hand, wielding a knife, ignoring the blood seeping from his severed arm, relentlessly swinging the knife, trying to kill Isaac on the spot.

Clang! Clang! Clang...

His knife-wielding movements lacked any skill; he relied solely on his agility to launch rapid attacks, but each attack was parried by Isaac with his sword.

Sparks flew as the sword and knife clashed, and Isaac's effortless defense appeared to the group of girls who hadn't yet left as a graceful waltz.

Watching Isabella (Isaac) dance like a ballerina, the girls, including the female teachers, were stunned and forgot that they should be evacuating.

Benjamin swiftly thrust out his blade, but Isaac dodged to the side. The blade grazed lightly past his long hair, and in the instant it passed the blade, Isaac quickly stepped forward and closed in on Benjamin's body. Suddenly, the position of his sword changed so that he was gripping it in a reverse hand, and he stabbed it into Benjamin's side at a very strange angle.

"Well……"

After being stabbed, Benjamin staggered back two steps to regain his balance. In addition to the blood flowing from his severed arm, a large hole was also opened in the shoulder of his other arm, from which blood trickled out.

In reality, it would have been incredibly easy for Isaac to kill him, but as a troublesome guy who could make Isaac go so far as to transform into a young girl to lure him out, it was clear that Isaac had no intention of letting him die easily.

They didn't even want to give him a decent corpse.

"Benjamin Duvren, who was convicted of murdering eleven women and sentenced to death two years ago, escaped from prison and continued his hunting activities while hiding in a girls' high school."

Isaac smiled and approached the seemingly weakened criminal step by step, the bloodstained sword in his hand reflecting a faint gleam.

"So that those who died at your hands can leave in peace (and to atone for the shame of my cross-dressing), I demand that you atone with your death."

A gentle breeze blew into the library through the windows, causing Isaac's long, black hair to flutter softly. In the afterglow of the setting sun, Isabella (Isaac), holding her sword, possessed a unique charm, her elegant yet powerful aura fully displayed.

"Yeah~"

"Isabella is so cool!!"

"Big sister~"

The surrounding classmates screamed in ecstasy, causing Isaac's sword to tremble slightly.

These guys aren't planning on leaving, are they?

He suppressed the bulging veins on his forehead, turned his sword towards the group of girls, and roared, "So noisy! I hate noisy women!"

"Good~"

"Good luck, big sister!"

Seeing that Isaac seemed angry, the group of girls finally started moving towards the outside of the library, occasionally turning back to cheer him on.

"...It's really annoying."

Isaac sighed and turned around to find that Benjamin was gone, leaving only a brown-covered phantom book on the ground.

"Hey, stop struggling. I know you're inside the book. Why don't you come out..."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Benjamin suddenly emerged from the book, holding a hunting rifle in his hand.

"Ok?"

boom!

Benjamin pulled the trigger without hesitation, and the muzzle flash bullet was fired.

clang!

The bullets were traveling at high speed, but Isaac was prepared.

The acceleration of the left eye was activated immediately, and everything around slowed down instantly. The bullets also moved forward while spinning in the air at a very slow speed.

He picked up his sword and lightly touched the bullet with the blade, changing its trajectory and punching a hole in the bookshelf behind him.