Diary of a Dead Wizard
Chapter 426: Poison and Corruption

Faced with an attack just inches away, Anze’s pupils suddenly shrank. A layer of black light appeared on his face, attempting to block Saul's ambush.

However, Saul’s gray tentacle pierced through that black light without resistance, even corroding it a little.

“What a powerful spiritual attack!” Although Anze had already seen Saul easily use this move to kill Kujin, he hadn't expected that even the magical defensive item he had specifically prepared for spiritual attacks would be useless.

The moment the gray tentacle touched Anze's head, he felt a tremendous suction. His entire body’s soul trembled, as though it was about to leave his body the next second.

But Anze was no ordinary First Rank wizard. While resisting, he began channeling his mental energy to counterattack Saul.

In an instant, thousands of black fine threads surged from the ground beneath Saul’s feet, aiming to pierce into his body.

Little Algae immediately created a clone to assist, but his body was also pierced by the fine threads.

Never before had Little Algae cried out in pain, yet now he emitted a painful whimper.

“Little Algae?” Saul was startled and immediately cast Fireball.

However, the Fireball only burned a few of the black fine threads. At this moment, more black threads began coiling around Saul’s calf, attempting to pierce his skin.

At the critical moment, several golden needle-like lights suddenly shot from the distance, cutting the threads, saving Little Algae, and freeing Saul.

It was Gorsa who had intervened to help.

Saul immediately broke free from the black threads and, using Flight Magic, flew into the air with Little Algae.

Unfortunately, as soon as he moved, the soul fishing technique that was attacking Anze was also freed by Anze’s sudden action.

Anze looked up, locking eyes with Saul in midair. Both of them wore expressions of solemnity.

Meanwhile, Kaz, who had just been saved by Saul, vaguely watched Saul, who could now face Anze head-on, and couldn't help but doubt the wizard’s abilities.

Kaz took half a step back and suddenly felt something at his heels.

He was about to turn around when he saw a monstrous, tumor-covered mouth biting into his neck.

With a single bite, it tore away half of his flesh.

The immense pain left Kaz no time to think. He punched the tumor, and a cloud of black mist exploded, forcing Kaz and the tumor apart.

Kaz clutched his neck and ran, his palms glowing alternately with black and white light.

Clearly, he was healing himself.

The tumor didn’t pursue him, as it was blocked by Saul, who had flown in to protect him.

“Saul, I’ll leave him to you,” Anze said, not joining the battle but instead flying off to support the critically endangered Rum.

Saul lashed out with several Touch of Torment, only to realize that the tumor he had blocked was actually growing on Gudu’s shoulder.

The tumor that had devoured half of Kaz’s neck was now pulsating, and features resembling those of a frog were emerging.

“Gudu!” Saul furrowed his brows. This mentor had been pretending to be dead all this time?

Gudu specialized in poison magic, and Saul didn’t want to engage in close combat with him. He immediately sent out his soul fishing technique, not caring whether Gudu had a head or could die—without a soul, he certainly couldn’t survive.

The semi-transparent gray tentacle sped toward the center of the tumor.

At that moment, a familiar voice suddenly rang out behind Saul.

“His head won’t work, attack his stomach!” Keli could no longer hold back and jumped out from the gardener’s small house.

“Keli, you little ungrateful wolf! Always hiding and lurking for Saul! Don’t forget who your mentor is!” Gudu’s voice came from the tumor.

Keli’s face was filled with struggle, and it was clear she was also pained by betraying her mentor.

Saul immediately redirected his attack, the gray transparent tentacle now targeting Gudu’s stomach.

Just as Gudu was about to dodge, he found his legs tightly grasped by a natural skeleton.

It was Kaz, who, though severely injured, was desperately controlling the skeleton from a distance!

Because of this delay, Saul’s tentacle finally pierced into Gudu’s abdomen.

He immediately grasped Gudu’s soul, but just as Saul was about to absorb it, something else entered his tentacle before Gudu’s soul did.

Saul was stunned for a moment, and the next instant, a warm current flowed directly from the tentacle into Saul’s body.

“Slap!”

First, there was a sensation of rapid falling, followed by a soft touch.

“Saul!!!” Keli’s voice suddenly changed pitch.

Awakened by the girl’s cry, Saul slowly raised his head, only to realize that he had no idea when he had fallen down.

If it hadn’t been for Little Algae promptly forming a soft cushion, he likely would have crashed to the ground.

But this wasn’t the end. As Saul sat up, he saw that his hands had started to deform.

The Soul Resin, which had undergone a second body modification, seemed to... perhaps... was... melting?!

Saul suddenly looked up and saw Gudu, still bound by the natural skeleton, laughing heartily without a care.

“Hahaha! I knew Keli would help you, but what you didn’t expect is that I’ve already poisoned you with a special toxin designed just for you!”

Saul immediately scanned his body with his mental energy and instantly realized that the warm current that had suddenly invaded him was rapidly spreading across his skin.

“What kind of poison is this?” Saul’s heart sank as he realized this toxin seemed specifically aimed at his Soul Resin.

“This is a soul toxin, and it’s been personally modified and strengthened by Keli,” Gudu sneered.

Keli’s face turned pale, looking even more anguished than before. She stared at Gudu in disbelief, unable to believe her own ears.

Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she turned to run.

Gudu initially wanted to laugh but quickly realized what was happening. He immediately shot a rope toward Keli.

But just as the rope flew toward her, it was severed by Saul’s tentacle.

“Don’t let her run!” Gudu shouted.

However, at this moment, the only two who remained uninvolved, Monica and Jero, stood still, allowing Keli to pass by them and head toward the Wizard Tower.

Gudu gritted his teeth in frustration. “Jero, catch her! I’ll give you everything you want!”

Jero finally spread his hands. “You should have agreed earlier.”

With that, he lazily followed Keli into the Wizard Tower, looking in no rush at all.

Seeing Keli run into the Wizard Tower, Saul let out a sigh of relief, only to hear Gudu’s menacing voice.

“Don’t get too happy. Even if she enters the Wizard Tower, she won’t come back! Don’t think she can save you!”

Saul collapsed to the ground. His skin seemed to sag like that of an old man, and he weakly leaned against Little Algae.

“I don’t need her to come back,” Saul said coldly. “Do you think you can kill me?”

Despite saying that, Saul couldn’t shake the feeling that the toxin on him was quite troublesome.

This toxin was cunning; it didn’t directly infect his soul but instead targeted the Soul Resin, rapidly degrading it as though it were a type of infection. This caused Saul to be unable to move and prevented his magical energy from flowing through his body.

Even the spell used to heal light injuries couldn’t recognize the softened Soul Resin as a wound.

Gudu, seeing the opportunity, shattered the remaining natural skeleton. In the distance, Kaz collapsed to the ground, too weak to assist Saul anymore.

Gudu shrugged off the burden and cautiously began to walk toward Saul, step by step.

Finally, the hidden Penny couldn’t hold back any longer. It charged straight into Gudu’s abdomen, risking exposure to the other wizards.

Gudu’s steps toward Saul immediately halted, and his gaze fluctuated between chaos and clarity.

At this moment, Anze teamed up with Rum, and their battle with Gorsa had reached a critical point.

Gorsa was fully focused on pouring the soul of the newly revived Yura into the female corpse and didn’t have much energy left to fight Anze and Rum.

Even so, both mentors were covered in wounds.

Anze, who had been casually observing until now, also looked disheveled.

As the main attacker and defender, Rum was in an even worse state—his whole body had turned into charcoal.

Every time he moved, pieces of black residue would fall off him.

Yet, Rum didn’t care about his injuries. He charged forward again, only to be knocked back once more.

“How much longer?” In pain, Rum quietly asked Anze, who had been slacking off.

On the surface, Anze seemed to be doing nothing, but in reality, he was constantly making subtle moves. Before he could answer Rum, his eyes suddenly lit up, his spirits lifted.

“Now’s the time!”

Upon hearing this, Rum revealed a twisted grin, his body still shedding fragments of ash.

“Gorsa—”

He howled and charged forward once again.

This time, Anze, who had been hiding behind Rum, also rushed forward.

Both of them unleashed their most powerful magic at Gorsa.

A torrent of black threads and a downpour of yellow grease poured toward Gorsa’s position.

By now, most of Yura’s soul had been injected into the female corpse, with only her head still outside. Once Yura’s soul was fully settled, Gorsa would be able to turn his attention to killing Anze and Rum.

After all, they were of no use anymore. Killing them wouldn’t be a loss.

But now, with two First Rank wizards simultaneously unleashing their most powerful spells, even Gorsa had to raise his head and take the attack seriously.

Just as Gorsa shifted his focus away from Yura, the previously dazed Lady Yura suddenly trembled, and her cyan-colored eyes instantly turned gray.

“Kill me.” She suddenly whispered.

Yura turned and grabbed Gorsa’s arm that had been supporting her, and then, a head identical to hers sprouted from her chest, thrusting directly into the crack in Gorsa’s chest!

“Kill me... kill me!” Yura’s face twisted, no trace of the earlier confusion left.

At the same time, her own head, along with the one piercing into Gorsa’s chest, were both twitching in unison, with the same frequency and intensity.

Her once pure, white soul began to crack, revealing the nature inside, which was filled with an overwhelming amount of black evil thoughts.

A large volume of mixed evil thoughts energy was swelling, attempting to tear apart the beautiful skin of the woman.

This was no lover recently revived.

It was clearly a demon that had just crawled out of hell!

Gorsa immediately regained his composure, and without hesitation, he tried to throw Yura away. However, he found that the head piercing his chest was biting down fiercely, and he couldn’t break free.

Not only that, but a vast amount of extremely evil thoughts was continuously transmitted from Yura’s body into Gorsa.

For the first time, there was a flash of ruthless anger in Gorsa’s usually gentle eyes. He raised his hand and unleashed an incredibly strong spell, forcibly withstanding the attacks from Anze and Rum.

But just as he was about to strike back and kill one of them, the pink bandages all over his body suddenly began to shrink and expand uncontrollably, emitting tearing sounds from every part of his body.

Then, deep red, nearly black blood began seeping from the seams of the bandages, gradually turning the pink color of his body into a dark red.

Gorsa let out a painful grunt, trying to tear Yura off with his other hand, but it was futile, and only more evil thoughts clung to him.

As a result, the distortion in his body intensified, and he was forced to curl up, battling the chaotic energy erupting from within.

Anze finally let out a burst of laughter.

"Gorsa, didn’t expect this, did you? You thought we wanted to stop Vini and Yura from merging? Wrong. We just wanted to force you to eat Vini first, then let Yura, the one most closely related to you, pass on the evil thoughts Vini carries into you! How does it feel to poison yourself?"

It wasn’t easy to fight against a top-tier Second Rank wizard, and Anze was also secretly controlling Yura's transformation. By now, he was both mentally and physically exhausted.

In contrast, Rum, though heavily wounded, still had some brute strength left. He helped Anze up and backed away a few meters with him.

Next to them was Saul, who was battling the toxic soul poison inside his body.

Black tendrils tightly protected their master, showing their teeth and growling as they threatened Anze and Rum, who were approaching.

Anze glanced at Saul. From his appearance, it was hard to tell if he had been poisoned and lost his ability to move.

He then cast an annoyed look at Gudu, who was standing still for some reason, cursing under his breath, "Useless." However, he still kept his guard up against Gorsa’s possible sneak attack and did not act against Saul.

"You suddenly abandoned the Blue Water Soul, which did catch us off guard. Luckily, I never put all my hopes on one person." Anze's gaze fell on Saul, "I started having Vini devour evil thoughts long ago. Once she enters your body, all the evil will be released within you!"

Gorsa’s body twitched. At this point, both Yura and Vini had already merged most of their bodies into the crack in Gorsa’s chest, and an evil thought aura so thick it seemed about to solidify was spilling from the crack.

Gorsa weakly lifted his eyelids. "Devouring so much evil... Vini... it’s impossible for her to retain her sanity."

"That’s why we’ve been preparing for so long," Anze grinned triumphantly. "For many years, you know. Want to know how we did it? I won’t tell you."

But then, Saul suddenly spoke, "Grinding Sound Fruit?"

Gorsa’s gaze turned toward him, and a trace of confusion appeared in his twisted eyes.

The Grinding Sound Fruit had once been part of a revival experiment plan, but it had been discontinued after it failed to yield any results.

Gorsa rasped, "It seems you’ve concealed the true effect of the experiment. You used it on Vini."

Anze pursed his lips. He had intended for Gorsa to figure it out at death’s door.

But Saul had a lot more on his mind.

Back when he was led to Grind Sail Town by Nick, it was probably meant to make the Grinding Sound Fruit appear before his eyes.

However, Saul hadn’t considered it in the context of the revival experiment, and it was clear that Gorsa hadn’t paid enough attention either.

The tower master had conducted so many experiments that it was inevitable for some details to be overlooked.

Anze and the others had deliberately concealed this oversight, only revealing it today.

"So, they later wanted the barbarians to destroy Grind Sail Town… but then Grind Sail Town was set up by Kismet as a bloodsea prison. Does Kismet have some kind of collaboration with them?"

Thinking of Kismet, Saul became a little anxious. Could it be that Kismet would sell him out?

But then he thought that if Anze and the others really knew about the diary, they would have already targeted him as the main culprit.

Saul felt a little more at ease and continued to think about the current countermeasures.

The diary had been fluttering before his eyes for a long time, constantly warning him of impending death.

The poison would kill him, and if Gorsa died, he would go down with him. If Gorsa transformed, Gorsa would kill him…

In short, the diary had gotten busy again.

But Saul couldn’t understand why the diary hadn’t warned him when he attacked Gudu?

There was no time to think too deeply about it; right now, he had to figure out how to break free from the soul poison inside him.

Now, he and the Tower Master were in a standoff with the enemy, Anze and the others. Both sides were heavily wounded, and those who weren’t injured were poisoned or trapped in illusions.

It was just a matter of which side would recover first or which side would collapse first.

Anze clearly knew this too. He looked at Gorsa, his mouth not staying idle.

"Who would have thought? A bunch of First Rank wizards like us, actually having a chance to kill a Second Rank wizard like Gorsa."

Rum, understanding Anze’s intent, followed up with a sneer, "Hmph, didn’t he think that even together, we wouldn’t be able to defeat him?"

Anze took a breath before continuing, "Of course, we couldn’t beat him together, so we had to wait for him to transform."

"But that’s too slow… Oh, right." Anze raised his right hand toward the sky, "I know that as the master of the Wizard Tower, the resentful spirits in the tower's layers help bear your corruption, which is why you’ve lasted this long. Well, let me add some fuel to the fire."

Anze said this and suddenly released a giant fireball toward the sky.

"I’m really curious. What does it look like when a Second Rank wizard transforms? Will it really blow up the entire Wizard Tower?"

(End of this chapter)