Chapter 405: Apostle of Chaos
"Ms. Castellon?!"
The name resonated like a bolt from the blue, piercing Lastina's mind. Hiding in the shadows of the corridor, her face instantly drained of all color, and even her breathing stopped.
Ofia Castellón!
Why is she here? And with a commoner like Ilana?!
Could it be...that they are friends?
This thought made Lastina feel like she was falling into an ice cave.
The two followers behind her were so frightened that their legs went weak and they almost collapsed to the ground.
They don't care about the life or death of a commoner, but offending an imperial duke who truly holds power will ruin the future of their entire family!
The Duke of Castellón didn't even need to ask for their lords' permission to give their families away as political gifts at the party.
In a flash, a mad thought seized Lastina's mind. A ferocious look crossed her face, jealousy and fear mingling into a vicious determination.
She suddenly pulled out the box wrapped in rune black cloth from the storage bag. Her nails almost dug into the wood, and she used all her strength to open the lid!
Since I'm going to die anyway——
It would be better to take a gamble and make things worse!
As long as the matter is so serious that even the Tower of the Great Sage cannot contain it, offending Miss Castellón is nothing.
Of course, it would be better if this blind princess died here!
There was no earth-shattering noise, only a darkness that seemed to swallow up all light, quietly slipping out of the box like a poisonous snake.
The black fog did not spread at all, but as if it had life, it silently penetrated into the stone walls and ground of the maze.
Before Lastina could realize what was happening, the entire maze groaned in pain like a giant beast with a stomach upset!
On the stone wall, countless blood-red lines suddenly stood out like hideous blood vessels, and pulsated like a living pulse!
"God bless you! What, what happened?!" Hader, who was following behind Ophelia, was so scared that his voice changed.
The surrounding walls suddenly seemed to have turned into the flesh and blood of living creatures, wriggling disgustingly!
Ominous dark red mist seeped out from every crack in the stone, quickly filling the entire corridor with a rotten smell.
The pool of broken ice crystals on the ground began to melt, then emitted a black aura of death and merged into the strange red fog.
They become nutrients for the maze and begin to hatch new Howlers!
Bane swallowed and replied in a trembling voice.
"I don't know... I feel... the wall... seems to be moving!"
"Let's go! Something's wrong here!" Without having time to explain what happened to Ilana, Ophelia made a quick decision, grabbed her wrist, turned around and ran away.
Bane and Had quickly came to their senses and followed this little ancestor. They didn't dare let her get into trouble in the maze.
Otherwise, even if His Highness Colin forgives them, the Duke of Castellón will definitely tear them apart!
At the same time, Lastina and her companions fell into the panic they had caused, screaming and trying to escape.
However, behind them, in the sticky dark red fog, a group of twisted figures emerged silently like monsters from a nightmare, completely cutting off their retreat!
They were a group of humanoid monsters that were twisted to the extreme.
Their bodies were completely asymmetrical, their limbs randomly spliced together, their lengths varying. Their skin was a dead grey-black, the texture of soaked mud.
They have no eyes or noses, and the only organ on their faces is a mouth that is always wide open but cannot make any sound.
The Howler!
Lastina's expression completely changed, turning into boundless fear.
She had only seen a description of this monster in a banned book, which said that they were servants of Avano, the Crown of Pride!
Different from the "fanatics" and "mad talkers" that were born from the inner demons of the people in the main world, this group of twisted monsters are demons that come completely from the outside world!
But--
Why are they here?
She couldn't understand why the magic device she bought for thirty gold coins was related to chaos!
"ah--!"
Anjie let out a heart-wrenching scream. The fear of the unknown made her legs weak, and the corrosion in the red mist was tearing at her remaining sanity.
She completely regretted it.
She regretted that she shouldn't have offered any strategy to please Lastina, and she shouldn't have gone to such great lengths to get close to Ilana just to drag an innocent person into trouble.
But it's too late to say anything now.
Driven by the instinct of survival, a venomous light flashed in Lastina's eyes, and she cast her gaze on the useless person who could only scream.
This guy is a burden to carry around, so it’s better for him to hold back these monsters for her!
"...Angie, help me one last time!" She said in a voice almost whispering, while extending the trembling wand in her hand.
"M-Ms. Lastina?!"
Anjie was panicking and hadn't reacted yet when she suddenly felt a huge force pushing her back!
Then, she stumbled forward uncontrollably and fell straight towards the group of monsters that were approaching silently!
Anjie turned around in horror, only to see three cold and resolute faces.
Her "good friends" didn't show any reluctance to stay, didn't even look at her again, and turned around and ran away like crazy in the other direction.
Despair instantly overwhelmed Anjie.
All she could see were those monsters with huge, silent mouths, stumbling closer and closer to her...
"Ahhhhh!!!" Anjie let out a desperate howl, like a deflated balloon, with nothing to do but scream and roll around.
Just as the group of howlers were about to silently surround her, a corrosion that was deeper than pure darkness and penetrated into the depths of her soul got to her first.
Generally speaking——
Chaos rarely chooses trash as pawns.
But Avano is an exception.
A useless person without any sense of self in his mind, after his only belief collapses or is shattered, is simply the best puppet for the chosen "ruler"!
She will become a "fanatic"!
And she obeys the master who controls her until the last spark of her life and soul is burned out.
Angel, who was slumped on the ground, suddenly stiffened, her eyes rolled back, and the last bit of spirit in her pupils completely disappeared, turning her into a puppet with her soul taken away.
Then, her slightly plump body swelled wildly at an incredible speed, and her flesh and bones made a teeth-grinding sound!
In a blink of an eye, a bloated and deformed giant of flesh and blood almost filled half of the corridor, with a neck full of fat like a giant worm.
'Do you know why you are in so much pain?'
'Because of betrayal!'
"Miss Angel, kindhearted and harmless, trusted her master so much, yet her master coldly and ruthlessly betrayed her loyalty."
'Now, revenge.'
"In my name—"
'To everyone!'
Hatred surged like a tide, completely drowning the last bit of rationality in Anjie's heart. She thought of Ilana who snatched her opportunity with her beauty, Colin who looked at her with lustful eyes, the evil Professor Hector, and Mentor Merck who deliberately tripped her up in order to attract her attention.
certainly--
What made her even more angry was Lastina.
She had clearly sacrificed all her dignity for Miss Lastina, but the latter did not hesitate at all when facing danger and pushed her into the abyss of nightmare.
If she had no strength, she would probably have endured it forever, or vented her anger on her younger classmates who were much weaker than her.
But unfortunately——
The evil spirits from the outside world have set their sights on her. She is now so powerful that she is even confident that she can knock Colin down with one punch - although she won't be so wasteful.
Anjie, who had regained her life, looked at her bloated and powerful body with satisfaction, shook off the mucus on her body, and cast her gaze towards the corridor not far away.
That was the direction Lastina escaped.
She grinned, pushed aside the frightened howlers around her, and took heavy steps to chase in the direction of Lastina's escape.
"What an ugly thing." Ariste, silent in the darkness, narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at his own work, but a trace of disgust flashed in his eyes.
The gray mist floating beside him just smiled and spoke slowly.
"The power of faith was perfectly infused and transformed into strength, upgrading a piece of trash to the silver level in one stroke... Isn't this perfect?"
Ariste snorted coldly without saying anything, but just stared straight at Ophelia who had returned, with a smile on the corner of his mouth.
Whatever——
Anyway, his purpose is just to kill someone with a borrowed knife, so let this fat pig make a big fuss, and then take all the blame and die.
"roar--!"
A deafening roar echoed through the corridors of the maze, like that of a mad boar.
"What the hell is that!"
Lastina's follower turned around and saw the flesh and blood giant chasing after him. He was so scared that his soul flew away and he screamed and fired several magic shots.
However, those fireballs and wind blades hit the monster like pebbles thrown into a mud puddle, only creating a few ripples.
The monster grinned grimly, not caring at all. It casually waved a huge palm like a palm-leaf fan, and the violent palm wind easily blew away the fragile magic, and in the process, it blew a female mage away like a broken doll, and she hit the wall and fainted.
"Die! Monster!" Taking advantage of a momentary pause in its movement, another female mage roared and took out the magic scroll tied around her waist.
The golden light formed a net in the air, and just as a golden holy sword was about to take shape, it was extinguished by a flying spit.
“Squeak!”
The corrosive acid drenched the female mage. She screamed and covered her face. However, the more she rubbed it, the more miserable it became. Soon, her face turned into bloody bones.
Licking her lips, Anjie let out a wild laugh of excitement, as if she had avenged herself. She then looked at Lastina and strode forward, her round eyes gleaming with a thirst for blood and revenge.
"Don't come over here!" Lastina was completely panicked. She screamed and swung her wand, but before she could finish the spell, a huge impact force hit her abdomen, breaking through the protection set up by the silver-level magic accessories with a devastating force!
“Crack!”
The sound of the barrier breaking was heard!
Lastina, who was punched in the abdomen, opened her eyes wide, her eyeballs almost fell out of their sockets, and she flew out with blood spitting out of her mouth, hitting the wall not far away.
“Bang!”
Every inch of air in her lungs was squeezed out. Lastina felt as if her internal organs were dislocated, and fishy-sweet blood flowed from the corners of her mouth.
"Hehehe..." The monster let out a creepy laugh, deliberately slowed down its pace, and approached her.
Looking through the twisted face with blood and flesh, Lastina felt vaguely familiar, and uttered half a sentence in a trembling voice.
"An...Jie?"
Upon hearing the name, the monster reacted obviously, and the corners of its upturned mouth widened even further.
Seeing that the monster before her was indeed Anjie, Lastina felt a mixture of fear and excitement. She struggled to her feet, grasping at a straw, and spoke in a pleading tone as she watched the monster approaching her.
"Angie! It's me! Lastina... don't you recognize me? How... did you become like this?"
How did it become like this...
The monster, who was originally in a relatively calm mood, suddenly became even more distorted when he heard these words.
"Why... did it become... like this..."
Intermittent sounds came from that swollen throat, and it looked like a demon from hell, staring at its "friend" whose face had completely lost all color.
"Isn't it... you... who made me like this?"
Lastina was completely stunned.
Before she could come to her senses, a palm as big as a casserole had already hit her right cheek, knocking her away along with her fallen teeth.
It was obvious that the monster didn't want to kill her so easily, and planned to play with her for a while before sending her off.
Just when Lastina was losing consciousness and thought she was doomed to die, a loud explosion suddenly came from behind the monster!
"boom--!"
The violent shock wave caused the flesh giant to stagger, stopping its fatal attack and turning angrily towards the direction of the attack.
Lastina, who collapsed on the ground, caught a glimpse of Ilana with her last glance. It was Ilana standing there. She had abandoned her in the maze, but she did not run away or hide, but fought back.
Beside her were Miss Ophelia and two other unfamiliar male apprentices, who were standing in the choking dust and coughing.
"Actually... unharmed?"
Ophelia stared at the flesh-and-blood giant who was only pushed a few steps away and had no scar on his body, her face full of disbelief.
The same went for Hader and Bane, both with expressions as if they had seen a ghost.
"What the hell is this guy?"
"Could it be... the Chosen One of Chaos?!"
When they realized this, their faces instantly became uglier. That was simply not something that a few magic apprentices like them could deal with!
Not only did the flesh and blood giant cast a terrifying gaze at them, but the howlers around them also gathered around.
These guys emerged from the dark red wall that was pulsating like a pulse, and approached them like mindless zombies, as if there were no end to them.
The situation was critical, Ophelia made up her mind, gritted her teeth, and took out another thick stack of magic scrolls from the storage ring!
The white scroll was painted with alchemical ink with the spell of "Explosive Thermobaric Bomb", and each one emitted heart-pounding energy fluctuations.
Since one is not enough——
Then let’s take ten of them together!
Seeing Ophelia pulling out the scroll, Hader and Bane's faces turned pale as paper in an instant, and they screamed and tried to stop her.
"Ms. Castellon, no!"
"The maze can't withstand such a powerful force! If they're used together, the place will collapse!"
"That's perfect!" With a crazy smile on her face, Ophelia tore open the scrolls in her hands and threw them forward.
"Get out of this world, monster!"
The world seemed to be muted at this moment.
A ball of fiery red light, so dazzling that it seemed to burn up the surrounding air, suddenly expanded more than ten meters in front of her!
Anjie was stunned.
When faced with that scorching energy, fear appeared in its crazy eyes for the first time, and it moved its fat body to escape.
However, at this moment, a roar loud enough to tear the eardrums suddenly exploded, swallowing it along with the surrounding howlers and even the corridor under its feet!
"boom--!!!"
The violent energy destroyed the walls, tore the floor, and melted the ceiling!
Even the magic apprentices and assistants far away on the first and second floors were shocked and almost fell to the ground.
"What happened?!" Coors, wrapped in a blanket, looked up in panic, looked around, and finally looked at the assistant coach beside him for help.
However, the two young teaching assistants also had a solemn expression on their faces, their right hands tightly gripping their wands, the tips of which trembled slightly.
"Saint Sith is above..."
"That's at least silver-level... no, it might even be gold-level magic!"
The middle-aged teaching assistant frowned.
What worried him more than the explosion itself was that he smelled a hint of ominousness from the hot dust.
That was many years ago.
A catastrophe called Chaos once swept across the desolate snowfields, and it was only through the personal intervention of the Great Sage that the chaos was finally put to an end...
On the other side, at the very center of the explosion.
Before Lastina could react, she felt a pain in her neck and passed out.
Also unconscious were her two other teammates.
On the other side, a milky white light appeared at the center of the explosion, enveloping Ophelia and her three teammates.
The light came from the necklace on Ophelia's chest.
Her father, Prince Andrew, gave her the necklace before she left and told her to carry it with her and never take it off no matter what happened.
Now she was just thankful that she had listened to her father's advice...
Anjie, who was at the center of the explosion, howled in pain. Her flesh and blood felt as if it were covered with burning asphalt!
After all, it is not the true Chosen One of Chaos, but just a puppet manipulated by the Ruler, its strength is just above silver and less than gold!
Regardless, that wasn't the destructive power it could withstand...
The aftermath of the explosion gradually dissipated, leaving the scene in a state of devastation. Rubble and broken walls piled up like mountains, and the air was filled with acrid smoke and dust.
The floor of the third level of the maze was completely broken, forming a downward slope, and the bottom was right near the core of the fourth level maze.
Perhaps in order to bring the corruption of chaos as close to the core of the maze as possible, someone hiding in the dark deliberately chose this place as the battlefield.
With his bewitching whispers.
In the center of the ruins, the flesh and blood giant transformed by Anjie fell to the ground. Its huge body was shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the black chaotic aura dissipated like wisps of steam.
She was dying.
Limping through the dust, Ilana, wand in hand, walked up to her former companion. She had noticed earlier that the distorted face looked so familiar, especially the eyes, which looked like a spitting image of Anjie's.
"Angel...is that you?" Ilana's voice was trembling, and there was a slight sob. "Why...did it become like this?"
Ophelia told her everything and apologized sincerely, saying that she had messed up and should have told her the truth earlier instead of taking the risk and actually putting her friend in danger.
Ilana didn't blame her, everyone was immature at times.
But deep down, she still couldn't accept that her friend, whom she spent every day with, had been acting from the very beginning, all just to make her let her guard down...
The twisted monster's face revealed a rare expression of shame and pain. It avoided Ilana's gaze and spoke in a weak and hoarse voice, "I... I don't know... but... it's too late... I don't beg for your forgiveness, I only beg you to give me a quick death..."
"No!" Ilana refused without even thinking, blurting out, "There must be a way. As long as we find Mentor Merck—"
"Why don't you understand?" Anjie screamed, her defenses breaking down as if her most vulnerable nerves had been pricked. "This is the contamination of Chaos! Can't you see?! I've become a horrible person, and there's no going back! Do you really want me to embarrass myself in front of everyone again?!"
The shrill scream was like that of a groundhog whose tail was stepped on, and tears mixed with black blood slid down her face.
In order to provoke Ilana and make this guy take action, she broke down and yelled everything out.
"Don't you understand?! I was ordered by Lastina! I don't consider you a friend at all! And just now, leaving you alone in the maze was intentional! You didn't expect it, we planned this a month ago!"
Ophelia, who had known all this for a long time, walked silently to Ilana's side and gently held her cold little hand.
Ilana listened quietly to all of Anjie's outbursts, and an indescribable sadness welled up in her emerald eyes.
However, her voice remained firm and did not waver.
"Even so, I still implore you to calm down and come out with us..."
Anjie screamed in despair.
"That's enough! Put away your hypocritical kindness! I will never go with you! You really want me to do it, right? Very good! Just wait there until I recover——"
"This isn't hypocrisy, nor is it kindness," Ilana interrupted earnestly. Her clear voice resounded through the ruins. "We must let people know the truth, uncover those truths that have yet to see the light of day! And find out who handed you this power that doesn't belong to you..."
She took a deep breath and, with an unprecedented intensity, shouted at the pile of flesh lying in the dust.
"How many more times will it take—"
"Last time, it was the apprentices who took the brunt of it. This time, it's the apprentices too, right? How many more apprentices are going to have to shoulder the blame that doesn't belong to them?"
"Are we here in the Mage's Tower to pursue the truth, or are we here to be pawns on the chessboard and play that unfunny Game of Thrones?"
"Answer me! Ange! Do you think this outcome is acceptable?!"
The deafening sound shocked everyone present.
Hader and Bane opened their mouths wide, looking at their usually quiet classmate in disbelief. They had never expected her to speak in such a tone.
Even Ophelia, who often discussed math problems with her, looked at her in surprise, as if she had gotten to know this seemingly fragile girl all over again.
Anjie was speechless. Her collapsing body was shaking violently, and fear dominated her body.
"But...what else can we do...no one will be willing to help me..."
"There's one person who can."
Ilana paused, an unprecedented light of truth flashing in her eyes.
"If it were His Highness Colin, he would definitely be able to see through the ghosts behind the fog, even if everyone was acquiescing or pretending to be stupid."
The name made Anjie's body tremble.
However, it was this name that stimulated someone standing in the shadows.
A slow and leisurely voice like a cold wind suddenly blew from the shadows beside him.
Faintly, Ilana heard a creaking sound, but it was not the friction of undead bones, but the grinding of jealous teeth.
"...She already said she can't go back. Why don't you listen to your 'good friend'?"
Everyone's heart trembled, and they all looked in the direction where the sound came from. However, when they saw who it was, they all widened their eyes at the same time.
There was a magician in a dark blue wizard robe standing there.
He was thin, with meticulously groomed silver hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. He wore a pair of monocles on his nose and looked gentle and well-spoken.
No one expected to see him here, let alone that he would walk out of the black curtain at this time and choose to confront each other.
"Professor Alister?!" Bane and Hader exclaimed, while Ophelia, who was standing next to Ilana, was pale and her hands and feet were cold.
As a member of the Castellón family, she had been influenced by it since childhood and could instinctively guess what it meant when a mastermind hiding behind the scenes came to the fore.
Either that person is ready to make his exit, or he has played his last card and is ready to turn the table.
"Congratulations, you guys answered correctly... Too bad there's no reward."
Ariste nodded politely to everyone, like an elegant professor reviewing students' assignments in class.
However, immediately afterwards, this gentle professor said something in a casual tone that made everyone feel as if they were falling into an ice cave.
"Honestly, I'm starting to get a little fed up with this farce." He looked around at the ruins with a smile and sighed softly, "If I had known things would turn out like this, I should have taken action myself from the beginning... a bunch of guys who are more trouble than help."
The moment he finished speaking, he casually raised his right hand and lightly pointed his index finger forward in the air.
There were no spells, no magic circles appeared, and not even the slightest fluctuation of magical power!
Ophelia felt as if her heart was being tightly grasped by an invisible hand. Before she could react, she heard a crisp "click" sound!
On her chest, the necklace that her father, the Duke of Castellón, had put on her personally, suddenly began to develop spider-web-like cracks and then turned into powder!
Ophelia subconsciously wanted to take out the life-saving magic scroll from the space ring.
However, what shocked her was that the spiritual connection between her and the storage ring was abruptly severed by an irresistible force!
"What did you do?!" Ophelia was shocked and angry. She pulled the stunned Ilana's hand and took a trembling step back.
The smile on Alistair's face didn't change at all, and there was no explanation, as if he had just done something insignificant.
"Next time, remember to bring something to save your life with you... although there won't be a next time."
He flicked his index finger lightly, and thick red mist gathered in his palm, turning into silk threads that shot towards everyone's heart.
This is his second plan.
If the hidden cards deployed in the maze are not enough to kill the lucky Miss Castellón, then he will personally take action to eliminate the Duchess and everyone around her, and make it look like they died at the hands of Chaos.
The scapegoats are still Lastina and Ange. They have motives for committing the crime, and they also have reasons for being targeted by Chaos...
Of course, he would confess sorrowfully before the great sage—
He is late.
At this critical moment, a colorful butterfly suddenly came into everyone's sight.
It flapped its glittering wings, like a creature that did not belong to this maze, and flew in leisurely through the walls of the maze.
Ariste was slightly stunned, and suddenly a bad feeling surged in his heart. He couldn't understand the source of that power.
Before he could react, a slender figure flashed where the butterfly flew and appeared in front of everyone silently.
Thousands of silk threads seemed to hit the clear and transparent mirror and were cut off by invisible spells.
He just stood there casually, as if suppressing the entire chaotic space and destroying all fear and evil thoughts.
The person who came was Prince Colin.
He arrived just in time.
Including Ilana and Ophelia, all the magic apprentices present showed hope on their faces almost at the same time!
And that saved expression made Ariste jealous to the point of going crazy.
"It is time for this farce to end, Mr. Alister."
Looking at the magician with cold eyes, Luo Yan raised the corner of his mouth slightly and spoke in a slow voice.
"However, it is not up to you to decide how it will end."
(End of this chapter)
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