Chapter 144: Locator, I Have One Too |
After being repeatedly mocked by Saul, Morden finally lost his composure. He grabbed Herman, who had been sent flying, and pulled him back without caring about the possibility of indigestion. He turned his head and violently tore off Herman's already precarious head.
Saul was too late to intervene and could only grab Herman's headless body, retreating to the outer circle again.
"I know who you are now." The wraith stared at Saul, its murky voice sounding like a giant crocodile’s, "You are the master of this body."
It sneered, grabbed the souls clinging to its body one by one, and crudely shoved them into its mouth.
In an instant, the only ones still moving on the platform were him and Saul.
"I just realized something," Morden fixed his eyes on Saul, "Even if Yura comes, she won't be able to revive me. So why should I continue to maintain my sanity?"
He suddenly threw his head back and let out a long howl. A huge suction force emanated from his open mouth.
Countless "snowflakes" whirled and flew into Morden's mouth.
This time, Saul did not step forward to interrupt but silently watched from the outer circle.
"I don't need sanity," Morden stopped after devouring all the snowflakes, lowered his head, and stared at Saul. "I only need power! Once I eat you, even the sun won't stop my steps!"
Saul watched Morden and retreated a few more steps.
The Morden before him had completely turned into a monster.
His arms hung down to the ground, each arm thicker than an average human body. His original beast skin was torn apart, revealing not muscle, but pairs of eyes of varying sizes.
The tail that grew out of his back no longer resembled a tail; instead, it was a series of pale arms tightly bound together.
The gaps in his body, where the souls had torn him apart, had indeed been patched up, but what filled the gaps were the heads he had swallowed!
Some of these heads were wailing, some were roaring, some were crying, and others were silently shedding tears.
The most terrifying thing was that Morden's mouth grew longer and bigger again, even overtaking his original head.
If Morden’s original form had been a human face with a giant crocodile's mouth, now his head had completely turned into a giant mouth, with only a pair of crimson eyes left on the upper palate.
"Now..." The giant mouth opened, letting out a white puff of air. "I feel great!"
Morden lifted his foot and stepped out of the central circle.
…
Saul, who had been standing in the formation with a fierce expression, suddenly closed his eyes and fell backward.
Nick, who had been watching Saul, immediately turned to Byron with a look of concern. "What do we do next?"
Byron stared at the fallen Saul, seeing that his chest was still rising and falling. "Wright, can you still fly?"
"I can, though it's a bit strained."
Byron only heard the first word and immediately pointed at Saul. "Fly over and check Saul’s eyes. Are they normal?"
Wright smiled bitterly, enduring the headache caused by the mental strain, and flew above Saul, carefully pulling back his eyelids.
After confirming the situation, he immediately flew back.
"His eyes are still human."
Upon hearing this, Byron immediately told Nick, "Turn off the electro-sensing device."
Nick quickly complied.
As soon as the device was shut off, Byron hesitated for a moment before asking, "Nick, I remember your electro-sensing device can attack the souls attached to a person, right?"
"Yes, but the power of this device isn't as strong as the one in the lab. The attack effect is limited. It can deal with wraiths, but against a wraith like Morden, it might only cause a bit of damage."
"That’s enough. Set it to the maximum frequency and attack the wraith inside Saul."
Nick clutched the electro-sensing device tightly.
Once they activated the device to attack the wraith, if the wraith defeated Saul and regained control of his body, it would surely realize everything that had happened was a lie.
At that time, they would face an even more terrifying and powerful wraith hunting them down.
Byron didn’t hear Nick’s footsteps and knew that Nick was hesitating.
"Once the device is activated, you and Wright need to evacuate immediately."
To his surprise, Wright spoke up, "Forget it. There are monsters everywhere outside. At my current state, it’d be a death sentence to go out. We might as well stay here and fight to the death. If I survive, at least I can make up for my previous mistakes."
Nick finally walked over, placed the electro-sensing device on the ground, and began adjusting its settings again.
…
Saul flipped and dodged the enormous tail formed by countless intertwined arms.
The tail crashed into the ground with a loud boom, causing the entire platform to shake.
Saul panted heavily.
Although in his soul form, he didn’t need to breathe, he still maintained the habit of doing so.
The wraith swelled again, each step it took covering a distance of three meters. Its tail grew longer, and its attack range could almost cover the entire platform.
In comparison, the smaller Saul could only rely on his speed, continuously dodging its attacks.
The difference in size between the two was immense, and their strength was gradually widening. If not for Morden’s attacks being purely instinctive and lacking technique, Saul might have already lost.
Even now, his situation was becoming more and more difficult, and cracks were beginning to appear on the platform beneath his feet due to Morden’s attacks.
At this moment, Saul, who was at a clear disadvantage, was nervous but not yet desperate.
"This guy now is like an inflated balloon—just one poke, and he'll pop," Saul leaped onto one of Morden’s outstretched arms, and before another arm could slap him, he quickly rolled down. "But the balloon’s material is as thick as a tire. With my attacks, I can’t break it in just a few hits. Damn, why can’t my hands turn into a knife? Even a needle would do."
Suddenly, the snowflakes falling from the sky disappeared, and Morden's attacks momentarily paused.
He looked up at the sky and let out an ambiguous low laugh.
Then, more frequent attacks rained down on Saul.
Saul failed to dodge in time and was swept by the tail, slamming to the ground.
He endured the pain of his body seemingly falling apart and quickly rolled to the left, dodging the giant claws that followed.
Then, a warm current surged through Saul’s body, and at the same time, Morden let out a cry of pain.
"Dammit, a bunch of liars! When I get out of here, I’ll rip off your heads and stick them on the backsides of tunnel worms!"
Morden roared in anger and continued attacking Saul, but the occasional pain slowed his movements.
"An opportunity!"
Saul’s eyes lit up. He didn’t retreat but instead advanced.
He avoided the wraith’s tail and hands and rolled under its body.
At this moment, Morden’s form had inflated like a balloon, looking ready to burst at any moment.
Saul needed to find his weak point and targeted the missing lower half of his body.
Finally, getting close, Saul pressed his palms against it and, like a dagger, stabbed with all his might.
However, the soul wasn’t flesh.
As soon as Saul’s palms sank in, it felt as though he had struck a sponge—he could only push it inward, unable to pierce through.
Morden’s hands and tail swung toward him. Saul quickly pulled his hands back and narrowly dodged.
However, Morden’s sharp claws still sliced across Saul’s cheek.
Saul barely managed to avoid it, touched his wound, and seemed to feel his own teeth.
He didn’t need to think—his current state must look very disheveled.
"Fighting with bare hands is too difficult," Saul muttered, trying to keep his consciousness steady.
"As for the reason behind the soul’s transformation, I’ve temporarily ruled out spells and meditation methods. Now, only the locator remains."
"Bill and Herman, as some of the most powerful Third Rank apprentices, their locators must be different from ordinary apprentices. Perhaps, in addition to maintaining mental stability, they can also change the form of the soul body. And since the wraith was a Second Rank Wizard, whatever Bill and the others could do, he can likely do too."
"If it’s the locator... I have one too!"
Although the diary wasn’t currently visible on Saul’s soul form, he could sense it. The connection between him and the diary had never been broken.
It was just a matter of whether he could pull the diary over now.
(End of Chapter)
