Chapter 93

Chapter 93. A Common Occurrence (5)

“With just a flick of a finger, I can turn all the villagers into monsters.”

While Professor Elisha and Harris were conversing, I pondered over Harris’s words in my head.

“That means there must be a specific signal to activate the poison within the villagers.”

In other words, without that “specific signal,” the poison the villagers ingested wouldn’t take effect.

“It’s more like a bomb than poison.”

If it doesn’t activate naturally over time, then there must be a way.

The poison the villagers consumed wouldn’t activate without a specific signal. Therefore, if we kill Harris before he can send the signal or block the signal itself, we can stop it.

“The former is too risky.”

No matter how strong Professor Elisha is, ranked 9th in the Three Kingdoms Hero Rankings, she couldn’t subdue a bishop-level demon without giving them a chance to flick their finger.

That leaves only one option.

“Magic Power Blockade.”

Blocking the signal Harris sends at its source. It’s like not just taking the detonator switch from him but blocking the signal itself from reaching the bomb.

“Magic Power Blockade is a high-level spell that even most Magic Department professors can’t use.”

But who am I?

The self-proclaimed top disciple of Senior Sophia and a genius in theoretical magic who solved two of the Great Sage’s three challenges (after grinding for thousands of years). A Magic Power Blockade is nothing to me.

However…

“With my current magic power, I can only deploy the barrier within a 20-meter radius.”

Even though my magic power has increased recently, the Magic Power Blockade consumes so much magic that I can’t cover the entire square where the villagers are scattered.

“And I can’t get close enough to Harris to use it.”

The Magic Power Blockade is a defensive barrier that only blocks magic coming from the outside in, not the other way around.

“If it were Senior Sophia, she could modify the spell on the spot to block magic going from the inside out.”

Unfortunately, I don’t have her level of magical sense.

“I need someone to gather all 100 villagers in one place while distracting Harris.”

It might seem impossible to gather all the villagers scattered across the square into a 20-meter barrier in an instant, but…

“There is someone.”

And they’re right beside me.

[So… you want Candidate Dale to gather the villagers while I distract Harris?]

The Spider of the Abyss, Elisha Baldwin, frowned as she received my telepathic message.

[This is an absurd plan.]

It’s barely even a plan. It’s a reckless gamble where one misstep could ruin everything.

Logically, it would be better to capture Jackal’s subordinate here and now rather than risk everything on this flimsy hope.

But…

[Candidate Dale is really… unstoppable.]

For some reason, the suffocating frustration I felt earlier has completely vanished.

[Fine. I’ll follow Candidate Dale’s plan.]

Hearing Professor Elisha’s response in my head, I smirked.

[Focus. We only have one chance.]

I stepped toward Bishop Harris, leaving Professor Elisha behind.

“Uwaaaaah!”

I screamed in terror.

“Huh?”

“P-please spare me! I’m just a candidate who has nothing to do with Professor Elisha!”

I pleaded desperately.

“I only came because they said I’d get extra points! I didn’t sign up to fight a demon! I don’t even have a proper hero license yet!”

“Haha. This situation just got interesting.”

Harris chuckled as he looked at me pleading.

Even though I was quite close to him, there was no sign of him activating the “detonator” for the bomb he planted in the villagers.

“To Harris, I’m no threat at all.”

I’m just a small fish caught in the net meant for the big catch, Professor Elisha Baldwin.

No one would hastily pull up the net just because a small fish is thrashing around.

“But that alone won’t make him let his guard down.”

Harris isn’t a fool.

Even if I’m just a candidate, he wouldn’t completely lower his guard around someone brought by Professor Elisha.

If I make any suspicious moves, he wouldn’t hesitate to activate the bomb in the villagers.

“Then…”

I just need to make him completely let his guard down.

And luring the opponent into complacency to exploit their weakness is a method I’ve used countless times in my past life.

“Your disciple turning into a monster right before your eyes… That’s not a bad picture.”

Harris flicked his finger toward me.

I felt a faint magical signal flow from his hand into my body.

And then…

“Huh?”

Harris tilted his head, confused as nothing happened to me.

“Ah, right. You didn’t drink the wine, did you?”

Realizing I hadn’t drunk the poisoned apple wine, Harris smirked and stepped closer.

“Too bad. If you had drunk it, you could have received his blessing.”

“Eeek!”

I let out a pathetic scream and fell on my butt.

“P-please, spare me…!”

“Sorry. I don’t have time to play with you right now.”

“Guh! Ugh!”

*Squelch!*

A tentacle shot from Harris’s body and pierced my heart.

With a dull squelch, blood gushed out like a broken faucet.

Harris, holding his heart, collapsed and turned his gaze to Professor Elisha.

“So, what will you do now? Will you abandon these innocent villagers?”

“……”

“Huh? Oh. Are you worried about this candidate?”

Harris smirked as he looked at Professor Elisha staring down at the fallen candidate.

“Let me give you some advice. Even if you’re just using them as errand boys, you should be more selective about the candidates you bring along.”

He clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Even if they’re just candidates, being this pathetic is an embarrassment to the hero’s reputation… Huh?”

Then, Harris frowned and touched his cheek.

His fingers were stained with thick gray ash.

“Where did this…?”

As he tried to brush off the ash on his hand…

*Whoosh!*

A fierce burning ash fire.

Harris barely dodged the sword slash aimed at him.

“W-what the…?!”

The candidate who should have died instantly from a pierced heart was now slashing at him, perfectly fine.

“Wasn’t his heart pierced?”

No.

He definitely felt the sensation of piercing the heart.

He even checked that the tentacle through the heart had completely stopped the candidate’s breathing.

“So, why…?”

How could a corpse with a pierced heart come back to life and swing a sword at him?

“Guh…!”

The Mind Eater, a monster that devours brains, could absorb the experiences and knowledge of those it consumed.

He had consumed hundreds of brains, accumulating knowledge and experience beyond any ordinary human.

Yet, even he couldn’t comprehend this situation.

So, for a moment, he forgot.

He forgot Jackal’s command to turn the villagers into monsters at the first sign of trouble.

“Now!!!”

Dale’s shout echoed through the village square.

“*Sigh*.”

Professor Elisha spread her arms wide and took a deep breath.

“Bind them.”

With a low chant.

*Whoosh!*

Hundreds, thousands of “spider threads” shot out in all directions.

The threads wrapped around the despairing villagers, pulling them together in an instant.

“Kyaaaaah!”

“W-what?!”

“Mommyyyy!”

The villagers struggled, bound by the transparent threads, but they couldn’t escape Professor Elisha’s spider web.

*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*

The spider web spread across the entire village square.

Professor Elisha bound all 100 villagers with her threads and gathered them in one place.

“It’s useless!”

Harris, finally regaining his senses, reached out toward the gathered villagers.

*Click.*

As his finger flicked, sending a magical signal toward the villagers.

“Candidate Dale!”

At Professor Elisha’s shout, Dale stepped forward.

Dale, standing among the villagers bound by the spider threads, spread his arms wide.

*Whoosh!*

A Magic Power Blockade barrier unfolded, engulfed in flames.

The magical signal Harris sent was swept away by the flames and vanished.

“Huh?”

Harris’s eyes widened in shock.

The moment he flicked his finger, all the villagers should have turned into monsters, but for some reason, not a single one transformed.

“A Magic Power Blockade…? A candidate used that?”

A Magic Power Blockade is a high-level barrier that even most Magic Department professors can’t use.

And a candidate without a hero license deployed it?

In the blink of an eye?

“What the hell is this…?”

Feeling all the hundreds of experiences he had absorbed being negated, Harris stepped back in panic.

“Damn it.”

Originally, if Professor Elisha didn’t comply, he planned to turn the villagers into monsters to bind her and escape, but the situation had gone awry.

“I need to get out of here…!”

As he turned to flee…

*Whoosh!*

Hundreds of silver threads entangled around him like a spider’s web.

The space covered in spider threads.

A spider approached its trapped prey.

*Step, step.*

The sound of footsteps echoed softly.

Professor Elisha took out a cigarette from her pocket and lit it.

*Click.*

The cigarette flickered with a red light.

“So, what will you do now?”

Exhaling a puff of smoke, the Spider of the Abyss glared fiercely.