Chapter 62: The Real Mastermind Appears

With Saul's activation incantation, a finger-length icicle quickly formed at the tip of his wand.

The icicle, sharp as a dagger and exuding a chilling aura, shot towards Rocky’s unguarded head.

"Ah!!!!"

Rocky’s head was pierced through by the icy projectile, leaving a bloody hole that was immediately frozen over.

Two shrill screams erupted from Rocky’s body.

One was short and abruptly ended.

The other was sharp, like an echo, reverberating endlessly.

"Strike the undead!"

Saul immediately cast another spell.

With his current 13 joules of magical power, casting a zero-tier spell was effortless.

The shrill cry dissipated into white smoke within the black glow of the spell.

The enemy was eliminated.

Saul did not pause. He glanced at the dagger still clutched in Rocky’s hand, then grabbed Rocky’s hand and used the poisoned blade to stab an inconspicuous spot beneath the corpse.

The dagger was drenched in blood and quickly turned black.

Saul covered Rocky’s wounds and placed his hand aside, revealing the conspicuous dagger stained with blackened blood.

Now, all that was left was to wait for the hidden predator to appear.

…

Duke stood leaning against the wall.

He felt his legs trembling—if he didn't stand this way, he might collapse to the ground at any moment.

"Rocky has gone in; they should be fighting by now, right?"

He turned his head to look down the corridor of the second floor of the East Tower.

Beyond the motionless large man, the door closest to the ramp was ajar, and the clashing sounds from within indicated an intense battle.

Duke looked down at the stone in his palm—a Blast Firestone, given to him by Sid.

It was an effective weapon against apprentices without protective spells.

Duke only had one such stone; it had to be used at the most critical moment.

A piercing scream suddenly came from the morgue. It was impossible to tell whose it was.

"Has the fight already ended?"

Duke knew he had to act. If Rocky had killed Saul, then all was well.

But if Saul had killed Rocky, then he had to seize this chance to launch a sneak attack!

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, he had no chance against Saul.

Duke had no time to think about how the situation had developed to this point. He gripped the Blast Firestone tightly and activated its mechanism with magic.

Then, he quickly ran to the entrance of the third morgue, raising his hand to throw the stone inside.

Upon a violent impact, the Blast Firestone would detonate instantly.

Regardless of who was alive inside—or if both were—once the stone went off, neither would survive!

Duke reached the doorway, glanced inside, and lifted his arm to throw—

But he hesitated.

Because there was no one standing inside the room.

The stench rushed into Duke’s nostrils, clearing his chaotic mind slightly.

On the ground lay Rocky, a frozen hole in his face. The dagger… the dagger had blood on it!

Good, no problem now.

Duke’s eyes lit up. Since he had handed the dagger to Rocky, he knew exactly what was on it.

Still, to be sure, Duke did not leave immediately. He continued scanning the room, ready to throw the Firestone at any moment.

"Where is Saul?"

But no matter where he looked, he didn’t see Saul.

"Did he escape? But I’ve been watching the corridor the whole time."

The room was a mess. The table was tilted, and many empty boxes were scattered across the floor.

A large overturned crate lay on the ground—big enough to hide an adult.

"Is Saul hiding there?"

Duke saw a hand near the crate, likely Saul’s injured hand.

Judging by the time, Saul should be collapsing from the poison.

Duke licked his lips and smiled in excitement.

He took another step forward.

Suddenly, a hand clamped around Duke’s right hand, the one holding the Firestone, gripping it so tightly he couldn’t throw it.

Before Duke could even be shocked, another hand appeared before his eyes and struck viciously at his throat!

The boy’s fragile neck was torn open!

Blood sprayed forth as Duke stared at the scattering crimson droplets. In his final moments, his mind was filled with confusion: How did he get behind me?

As Duke’s corpse collapsed, Saul merely held onto the boy’s right hand, ensuring the Firestone didn’t fall.

Saul had hidden himself using a special zero-tier spell he had specifically learned for this day—Magical Trick.

This spell was highly flexible. Depending on how the magic model was constructed, its effects could vary.

Saul had chosen an effect that concealed his presence.

When Duke entered, Saul had been standing against the wall right next to the door, yet Duke had completely ignored him.

Though it seemed powerful, the spell had no real offensive capabilities and could only momentarily deceive a person’s senses.

That was why it was classified as a zero-tier spell.

Another reason for its low tier was its unpredictability. Sometimes, you might intend to pull a rabbit from a hat but end up with a toad instead.

However, with Saul’s precise coordinate analysis method, he could control the spell’s outcome at will.

Beyond the spell, Saul had also prepared other tools.

The wand he used to cast the ice dagger was a magical tool.

Magical tools were typically single-use items, imbued with a potent spell that could be activated with a simple infusion of magic, without requiring the user to know the spell.

Unfortunately, to quickly dispose of Rocky, Saul had used the magical tool meant for Sid.

Duke’s Blast Firestone was also a magical tool, but its power was far greater than the ice dagger, affecting a much larger area.

Saul carefully removed the Firestone from Duke’s hand and dispelled the magic Duke had infused into it.

The restless Firestone finally settled down.

Saul let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Letting the Firestone detonate inside the morgue would have been disastrous.

Just as he was about to store it away, he instinctively entered a semi-meditative state to inspect it—something he always did when gathering materials from corpses.

Then, Saul froze.

Through his observation, he saw a black-gray insect crawling out from the Firestone, quickly attaching itself to his left hand and opening its massive mandibles to bite—

But it couldn’t break through his skin.

Saul silently set the Firestone down, pinched the insect between his fingers, and squeezed hard!

"Squeak!"

The shadowy insect disintegrated into fine dust and vanished into the air.

"What was that?"

Without the diary appearing, Saul couldn’t discern the insect’s purpose.

The diary had high standards and never bothered with ordinary things.

Yet Saul felt this insect was unusual, likely part of Sid’s assassination plan.

Outside the quiet morgue, faint footsteps echoed.

Saul’s eyes narrowed. The real mastermind had arrived.

He immediately staggered toward his cabinet, rummaging through vials with a noisy clatter.

Then, he swiftly pulled out some backup potions from his clothes, uncorked them, and downed them all at once.

After drinking, Saul clutched his chest in pain and stumbled toward the door, as if seeking help.

The door creaked open, revealing a figure.

Seeing the person, Saul’s face turned pale. He staggered backward, knocking over the operating table and nearly tripping over the corpse near the teleportation platform.

As his back hit the teleportation device, Saul’s expression changed again, and he spat out a mouthful of black blood.

Then, his eyes filled with despair as he glared at the doorway and roared, "Sid, so it was you all along!”

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