Pierre felt a suffocating sensation, as if seawater were about to completely drown him.
That sense of loneliness and negativity piled up layer upon layer, endless and unrelenting.
'Is this the Paralysis Curse?'
'I can't take it anymore, it's too unbearable. There's no hope for me.' Pierre's eyes dimmed in agony.
Curse Magic was most adept at crushing a person's spirit.
For those afflicted, the most troublesome aspect was often not the curse's effect itself, but how their minds were influenced by the curse—their willpower weakened, emotions grew volatile, and their personalities turned erratic.
Pierre's eyes rolled back, and he caught sight of an owl circling above him, seemingly staring down at him.
The owl's enormous eyes gleamed with an eerie light.
In the next instant, the seven Second-Class Wizard Apprentices from the Blood Curse Court in front of him screamed in terror.
Vines pierced through their bodies, tearing through flesh modified by their Vampire Bloodline. Their torsos were punctured, limbs shattered, wings crushed, and brains reduced to pulp.
Those seemingly delicate vines now acted like drills and blades, enveloping the seven vampire apprentices in a storm of attacks.
Fist shadows filled the air as fifteen vine fists struck rapidly. The seven Second-Class Wizard Apprentices didn't even have time to react before their bodies were ravaged by devastating blows.
With the enhancement of the Deep Blue Diamond Belt, Locke's precise Mana control allowed him to command fifteen vine fists, each strike landing precisely on their weak points.
Four vampire apprentices had their hearts pierced by the vine-formed fists. They shrieked as golden flames engulfed their bodies, swiftly reducing them to ashes.
Locke appeared in the center of the dense forest, his expression deeply displeased. His experimental data had nearly been lost.
Conducting another experiment would waste another two months!
The three surviving vampire apprentices trembled as they sensed the overwhelming Magic Pressure radiating from Locke. This was not the pressure of a newly advanced First-Class Wizard Apprentice.
This was an opponent they stood no chance against.
The three Second-Class Wizard Apprentice vampires, already grievously wounded by Locke's Vine Jab, struggled to transform into shadows, darting in different directions through the sky.
"Run! This isn't someone we can provoke!"
"He's too ruthless. He's nothing like those White Wizards—he killed four of us without even blinking!"
Yet as the three flapped their bat wings mid-air, they realized they hadn't moved an inch.
Looking down, they saw that three branches of the Omen Mandrake Vine had coiled around their legs, rendering them completely immobile.
No matter how desperately they flapped, they remained trapped like insects in a spider's web.
The three vampire apprentices were horrified. Faced with this situation, they cried out in panic.
"How could we run into a First-Class Wizard Apprentice here?"
"Help, damn White Wizard. Don't kill us, we're humans too, we have feelings. Please give us a chance—we were forced to become Black Wizards..."
Just as a vampire flapped its wings midair, pleading for mercy from Locke, it suddenly lowered its head, a strange glint flashing in its eyes before baring its fangs and diving toward Locke in a sneak attack.
But in the next instant, the bodies of all three vampire minions—including this one—were completely entangled by Omen Mandrake Vines, while deep purple fruits sprouted among the vines' leaves.
Hundreds of these fruits exploded simultaneously.
Poison Berry Catapult!
The attack completely dismantled the resistance of the three vampire apprentices. Meanwhile, Locke's Omen Mandrake Vines whirled like a storm, Ogham Tree Runes flickering across their surfaces. Under this assault, the three vampire minions were torn to shreds.
This was Vine Strangulation, a spell from the Vine Frenzy series.
Three vines, with a total of fifteen branches, enveloped the enemies like a meat grinder, reducing them to fragments.
The later spells in the Vine Frenzy series shared similar spell models and were only 0.5-circle in difficulty, so Locke had casually completed the spell model for Vine Stranglement—which he'd been studying recently—mid-battle.
After eliminating the seven Second-Class Wizard Apprentices from the Blood Curse Court, Locke immediately retrieved a vial of Lesser Emerald Potion from his Astral Ring. Using Wood Element Magic Flame, he vaporized it in his palm, dispersing it as mist across the nearby forest tainted by Dark Magic and the undead creatures lurking within.
This was a simple trick commonly used by Potionology Assistants, called [Potion Atomization].
It was a method of utilizing potion formulas—by leveraging the properties of Wood Element Magic Flame, liquid potions could be converted into mist for widespread environmental application.
Its uses were broad. In this case, a higher-grade Lesser Emerald Potion was ideal for large-scale purification of the surrounding undead.
Under the influence of the atomized Lesser Emerald Potion, the forest, once corrupted by Dark Magic, gradually shifted from its eerie darkness back to the colors of a normal woodland.
At the same time, the spirits bound to rotting corpses by Necromancy inhaled the mist and suddenly raised their heads, their souls seeming to ascend skyward.
They, too, were freed.
Groups of Ghouls collapsed, their bodies rapidly decomposing beyond any further use by Necromancy.
Raun and Pierre, witnessing this, were overcome with excitement. Moments ago, they had been certain they were doomed—until Locke arrived to save them.
Ecstatic, as if seeing a savior, they called out, "Locke!"
"You came. You're incredible—the moment you acted, all those Black Wizards from the Blood Curse Court were dead."
As they moved to approach, Locke signaled them to stop with a glance, the Omen Mandrake Vine coiled around his right hand still pulsing with dark crimson energy.
Raun and Pierre sensed something amiss, their expressions turning wary.
Gabby's voice reached Locke's ear through Secret Speech Art. "Senior Locke, there's another humanoid presence here. It's moving rapidly toward you—underground."
"Right beneath your feet!"
Locke immediately looked down at the ground beneath him. The leaf blade of the Clivia in his right hand shot out like a flying sword, colliding with a Blood Claw that erupted from the earth.
The impact produced a metallic clang as if two heavy forces had collided.
Locke leaped backward, curling his lips into a smirk. "A First-Class Wizard Apprentice? No wonder you had the audacity to use those seven Second-Class Apprentices as bait to lure me in."
"Did the Blood Curse Court send you to kill me? But you're not worthy."
Locke showed no anger at the sudden ambush or at realizing he had fallen into a trap—no fear, no panic. Instead, his eyes gleamed with amusement.
After all, he had already considered this possibility on his way here. Using the special abilities of the Omen Mandrake Vine and Gabby's shapeshifter observation skills, he had pinpointed the ambusher's location.
At first, Locke had assumed the seven Second-Class Wizard Apprentices were also aware of the ambush plan.
But the moment they clashed, their reactions told him they knew nothing.
They were nothing more than unwitting bait.
(End of Chapter)