Chapter 150: Monster

Chapter 150: Monster

"Esteemed Luo Enlalfapprentice,

This serves to inform you:

Sequence Member Aolifu West has been confirmed as a defector and has been officially expelled from the Backup Mage Sequence.

The Enforcement Team is actively tracking his movements. Any relevant information must be immediately reported to the Enforcement Team or School authorities.

Additionally, due to potential instability factors emerging recently, this month's Bloody Colosseum has been postponed. New dates will be announced separately.

Exercise vigilance and avoid contact with any suspicious individuals.

—Enforcement Team Captain Reinkoster, Black Mist School"

Luo En set down the letter, unconsciously knitting his brows.

Aolifu had defected.

While not entirely unexpected, the swiftness of his betrayal caught him slightly off-guard.

Just days earlier during the sequence evaluation meeting, the man had sat there calmly, seemingly accepting his ranking decline without protest.

"It seems medium spirit pollution has severely impaired his rationality."

Luo En murmured, contemplating the implications for both the School and himself.

Postponing the Bloody Colosseum likely meant the School needed to allocate more resources to handle this emergency.

For Luo En personally, this was actually advantageous—it granted him extra preparation time. However, it also meant the entire School would maintain an elevated security status.

"Master, is something wrong?"

Liliya entered with a cup of hot tea, her face etched with concern. She'd become exceptionally attuned to Luo En's emotional shifts lately.

"Nothing serious", Luo En handed her the letter. "Aolifu has defected. The School is mobilizing full-scale pursuit."

Liliya's face paled slightly as she read: "Is this... another case of spirit pollution-induced loss of control? I've read about..."

"Very likely", Luo En nodded, gazing at the darkening sky beyond the window. "But this doesn't concern us. Focus on your cultivation as usual."

Liliya hesitated before whispering: "A few days ago at the Market, I overheard rumors about multiple hollowed-out corpses found in Edge Forest... Could it be his doing?"

Luo En's eyes sharpened. "Highly probable. Based on what I've learned, Aolifu possesses a Special Innate Talent called 'Living Homogenization'—he can absorb partial abilities by consuming others' brains."

Liliya sucked in a breath, clearly horrified by this terrifying ability.

"Don't worry. The School will handle it", Luo En reassured. "We apprentices are best advised to avoid entanglement in high-risk situations. I've already arranged for Ai Lan to reinforce the Workshop defenses—you and Daire will remain safe."

Liliya nodded, though worry lingered in her eyes: "Please stay safe too, Master."

"I will." Luo En offered a faint smile.

After Liliya left, Luo En approached the window, his gaze drifting toward the distant Edge Forest.

Deep within those shadowed woods, a fallen soul's desperate escape was unfolding.

...

...

Within Edge Forest, Aolifu staggered between twisted trees, his breath ragged and harsh.

The right half of his face had grotesquely transformed—his once-handsome features now a nightmarish distortion. Black fluid surged beneath his skin like living matter, writhing with unnatural vitality.

One eye bulged from its socket, now a cloudy obsidian orb reflecting eerie luster.

His left arm unnaturally elongated, its nails sharpened into jagged black claws capable of slicing through solid timber. His right knee joint contorted, resembling some arthropod limb that allowed bizarre yet efficient locomotion.

Behind him, shouts and fluctuating mana energy grew closer.

"Dammit, I'm running out of time!"

Aolifu cursed, feeling the uncontrollable surges of black mana within. "If I delay any longer, the awakening will completely spiral out of control..."

Suddenly, a beam of light pierced through the canopy, striking his shoulder. Flesh vaporized instantly, but the wound erupted with black liquid, rapidly filling the gaping hole.

The pain briefly restored some clarity to his mind.

He recalled his decision three hours prior—

Back in his laboratory, staring at his reflection as his humanoid appearance finally collapsed, he knew inaction meant permanent entrapment.

The School's surveillance tightened daily. His Mentor's scrutinizing gaze resembled a farmer eyeing ripe fruit—waiting to pluck.

"Ma Kusi, now only you can help me."

He whispered to his half-mutated younger brother trapped in the cage.

Ma Kusi had long lost rationality, retaining only primal instincts and an inexplicable hatred toward Luo Enlalf. That hatred had become his sole emotional anchor.

Aolifu opened the cage, deliberately weakening his spiritual control.

The effect was immediate.

The frenzied Ma Kusi erupted from confinement with a shrill howl, bursting from the tower toward the School's central district.

This disruption would draw most of the Enforcement Team's attention, creating Aolifu's escape window.

"Sorry, brother."

He'd only murmured those words before gathering essentials and stealing toward Edge Forest.

Yet he'd underestimated the Enforcement Team's response speed.

Though his diversion succeeded, the Full Mages indeed remained uninvolved as expected. However, the Enforcement Team mobilized faster than anticipated.

No sooner had he left the tower than patrolling Enforcement Team members detected him.

At least four Intermediate Apprentices and one High Apprentice formed the pursuing squad, driving him deeper into Edge Forest.

"How ridiculous."

Aolifu chuckled bitterly, catching his breath behind a massive ancient tree.

All his life—obedient, gentle, the "perfect" student.

A Sixth Class Star upper-tier spiritual aptitude—celebrated in ordinary families as a remarkable innate talent.

Yet in this environment of prodigies, he'd been nothing but an object of pity.

His Mentors preached "Diligence Compensates for Inadequacy" to his face while abandoning hope behind closed doors.

It wasn't until discovering the "Brain Extraction Ritual" in an ancient text—reading that phrase "Living Homogenization"—that he'd glimpsed a turning point.

When he first succeeded in extracting memories and abilities from an experimental subject, the euphoria was indescribable.

One step at a time. First small animals, then discarded exotic slaves...

Now, cornered and choosing awakening for greater power, the School's reaction only confirmed the truth he most loathed:

They'd never truly cared—no Full Mage dared risk personal involvement in capturing him.

To those lofty mages, he was merely expendable—experimental material, a dog with no value beyond discard.

"Is this what you see me as? Not even worth your personal effort to apprehend?"

Aolifu's voice twisted with rage as he touched the Cursed Black Crystal on his chest—the key medium for his awakening ritual.

His final trump card, obtained through Xin Xi Ya from that mysterious organization—their most precious artifact.

"Here they come."

Suddenly alerting, Aolifu perceived several energy fluctuations approaching from different directions.

The Enforcement Team had pinpointed his location and prepared to encircle him.

No more hiding.

He stood, his mutated form casting a grotesque shadow under moonlight.

That perfect mask shattered long ago, exposing his hideous true nature.

"Got you now, Aolifu! The School promised advancement potions and exclusive spell models for your capture!"

An Intermediate Apprentice leapt from the bushes, his staff blazing with blinding light.

Disdain and disgust filled his eyes: "Look at what you've become, West! Thought you were so special!"

Aolifu remained silent, regarding him like an ant.

"You're surrounded. Surrender."

Nuo Li Si raised his staff: "In the Enforcement Team's name, I command you to deactivate all hostile states and return for judgment!"

Aolifu's lips curled into an eerie curve, revealing irregular rows of sharp teeth:

"Why obey a mere insect?"

His voice had transformed—metallic screeching layered with multiple overlapping echoes.

Nuo Li Si recoiled, startled, but quickly steadied himself: "Your last chance, Aolifu!"

"No, yours." A red glint flashed in Aolifu's black eye. "Stand aside—or die."

In an instant, his body liquefied, twisting forward at impossible speed.

Nuo Li Si's hastily launched light bullet spell struck Aolifu's chest, leaving a burning cavity.

Yet Aolifu advanced, seemingly unfazed.

"Impossible!" Nuo Li Si screamed, unleashing three more powerful light bullets consecutively.

Aolifu's body sustained multiple organ-piercing hits, but black liquid surged to repair the wounds.

Closing in, his mutated left arm elongated, claws impaling Nuo Li Si's chest.

"Guh..." Nuo Li Si's eyes widened as he stared at the grotesque limb piercing him.

"Rest in peace, insect."

Aolifu's eye suddenly extended into a tendril, plunging into Nuo Li Si's eye socket.

A piercing scream tore from Nuo Li Si's throat before sudden silence, his body stiffening like a marionette.

The tendril extracted something. Nuo Li Si's face rapidly withered—skin shriveled, eyes sunken, as if drained of all moisture.

When the monster withdrew the tendril, Nuo Li Si was a desiccated husk—skin wrapped bones.

"Thank you for your contribution." Aolifu whispered, his eye's red glow intensifying.

Fresh information and abilities flooded his mind—fragments of Nuo Li Si's memories and his faint light element affinity became Aolifu's new nourishment.

Examining the corpse, Aolifu felt a flicker of familiarity. Had he seen this Intermediate Apprentice before? The Apprentice Market? An Enforcement Team gathering?

He sifted through newly acquired memories, seeking answers, but the recollections remained chaotic and fragmented.

Forget it. Unimportant. Just another insect—hardly worth remembering.

"There he is!"

Distant shouts signaled other Enforcement Team members converging on the disturbance.

Without hesitation, Aolifu fled.

His movements no longer human—more like a twisted insect, scuttling along the ground or scaling tree trunks vertically.

The newly absorbed memories revealed a secret passage—an Enforcement Team patrol route deeper into the forest.

"Looks like you were marginally useful after all."

Aolifu inwardly mused, feeling no pity for his latest victim.

By the time pursuers reached Nuo Li Si's corpse, Aolifu had vanished into the forest's depths.

After roughly half an hour of maneuvering, he arrived at his destination—a cave entrance hidden beneath boulders.

This was the "Abyss Eye" secret outpost in Black Mist Jungle, information obtained from Xin Xi Ya.

Access required a specific signal—a unique spirit wave pattern mimicking the "Abyss Murmur" rhythm.

Following memorized instructions, Aolifu released distinctive spiritual energy fluctuations.

Moments later, the air before the boulders distorted, revealing a concealed entrance.

Without hesitation, Aolifu darted inside.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end