Countless Light Prisms shot toward the wizard apprentice from Holly Tower, but in that instant, the apprentice's pupils suddenly transformed into multiple interconnected pupils, each turning a vivid crimson red.
Then, in a flash, the Holly Tower apprentice's body was altered by the curse magic upon him, transforming into that of a half-vampire. He leaped into the air, bouncing around the office like a springball, darting across every wall at extreme speeds, leaving Essie's Fragmented Light Floating Seed no chance to strike him.
Angulo was flustered. "How is this possible? He merely invaded that apprentice's mind through the Multiple Self Curse using his own consciousness. Why does he still retain such formidable magical power?"
"Ah—he must have used the Vampire Transformation Curse to convert the apprentice's own Mana into enhanced vampiric physique. So he's borrowing the apprentice's Mana to achieve this... The magical mastery required for such a feat is exceedingly rare, even among cursecasters..."
The Bellflower between Angulo's fingers fired a shot toward the enemy, and the Sonic Flower Cracker erupted with violent vibrations, making even Locke, standing beside her, want to cover his ears.
The momentary sonic blast sent documents flying into the air.
But it was useless.
The Sonic Flower Cracker missed entirely, instead blasting a hole through the office ceiling, connecting the second and third floors.
The next moment, Angulo's chest was slashed open by a Blood Claw, blood spraying out as she was sent flying.
The instant the Blood Claw made contact, a deep voice seemed to whisper a curse in Angulo's ear, followed by countless ghostly voices joining in, chanting the curse in unison.
A series of low-level curses descended upon her—Thousand Blades Curse, Paralysis Curse, Bleeding Curse, Vomiting Curse, Ugliness Curse...
Angulo didn't even have time to stop the bleeding before grabbing a handful of antidotes from a nearby shelf and shoving them into her mouth.
Inside the office, several Potionology Assistants hastily cast Spells to intervene, but most missed, with only a few grazing the half-vampire.
In their panic, one Potionology Assistant even used an Enchantment School Spell leaning toward Negative Energy Particles—Touch of Negative Energy—hoping to immobilize the half-vampire and slow him down.
Instead, the half-vampire didn't dodge, letting the Spell hit him directly. The debuff Spell ended up granting him a speed boost, making him even faster.
Negative Energy Spells only strengthen vampires.
"Thanks for that," the half-vampire sneered, hanging upside-down from the ceiling, his black bat wings spread wide. "You White Wizards are truly lacking in combat experience. If my true self were here, it'd take just ten breaths to wipe you all out."
"What should I do? I only came here to conduct a consciousness fusion experiment. Now I don't even know what to do next."
"Then let's start by killing a few Potion Masters. Remember, the one who kills you is Hussein Quinn, First Sequence Wizard Seed of the Blood Curse Court!"
Locke shook his head slightly as he watched the outcome of the battle between the six Potionology Assistants and Hussein.
White Wizards were never skilled in combat to begin with—they spent most of their time on research.
And Potionology Assistants were the least combat-capable among White Wizards, since everyone devoted most of their time to studying Magic Potions.
Unlike wizards of the Shaping School, who specialized in combat.
Meanwhile, members of the Blood Curse Court were accustomed to killing from the moment they became Wizard Seedlings. They fought for every scrap of magical resources through bloodshed, battle-hardened, their personalities gradually warping in the process.
They worshipped the law of the jungle.
In this clash, his side was utterly crushed. During the fight, some of them had even cast enhancement spells on the enemy!
Who could have predicted that?
These First Class Wizard Apprentices undoubtedly possessed more Mana than him, having held that rank far longer. Their Spells were also more powerful. But none of that mattered if they couldn't land a hit.
Moreover, vampires had a natural resistance to most magical damage—only specific Spells could harm them.
Only a handful of magics could kill them.
Locke's mind raced. The vampire's advantage lay in extreme mobility. With superhuman speed and partial magic immunity, they had ample room to maneuver, fully leveraging their combat experience.
He needed to find a way to restrict that half-vampire controlled by Hussein.
But the enemy had already witnessed his Omen Mandrake Vine's invisibility ability. Trying that again would be useless against someone who'd fought their way through mountains of corpses.
The reason Hussein hadn't immediately targeted him was precisely because Locke was the weakest in Mana among all the First Class Wizard Apprentices.
Hence, not a priority target.
Just as Locke was thinking this, he suddenly saw the half-vampire under Hussein's control raise its exaggerated, scissor-like Blood Claws and lunge toward him.
Simultaneously, all the marks left by the half-vampire's earlier jumps across the office walls suddenly flared with crimson light, forming an arcane ritual pattern.
So Hussein hadn't just been dodging Spells while maneuvering the half-vampire around the office—he'd been deliberately setting up a ritual magic.
In an instant, all seven First Class Wizard Apprentices, including Locke, lost their vision.
Angulo shouted, "It's the Light-Fearing One's Litany!"
"A magical trap that blinds us for thirty seconds. That First Class Apprentice, you'll have to hold on until we can support you!"
Locke felt utterly speechless. A full thirty seconds.
And they expected him to survive that long.
Among the seven wizard apprentices present, Locke was likely the weakest in terms of Mana, having only advanced to First Class Wizard Apprentice status less than half a year ago, while many others had been at this stage for over a decade.
Yet, instead of targeting the strongest first, the enemy had chosen to focus on him.
Hussein's gaze sharpened. He didn't know why he was fixating on such a weak First Class Wizard Apprentice, but his instincts told him this was the right move.
So, he acted.
Many times in the brutal competition of the Blood Curse Court, it was this inexplicable intuition that had kept him alive.
Thus, he trusted it without hesitation. After trapping everyone with a carefully prepared magical snare, his first target was the weakest First Class Wizard Apprentice present—someone he had met twice before.
Hussein's Blood Claw slashed toward Locke's neck, but in the next instant, Locke tilted his head and dodged, leaving only a shallow cut across his skin.
Hussein paused. 'He avoided my attack even without vision? No wonder my instincts told me to kill him first. He's different from those herb-peddling fools.'
The half-vampire's Blood Claws struck relentlessly—aiming for Locke's eyes, throat, heart, even his groin—every strike lethal, every strike ruthless.
Meanwhile, Locke, relying on the airflow-sensing ability of the Clivia in his left hand, narrowly evaded each attack.
'I can't just keep dodging. I have to counterattack, or I won't last thirty seconds. A single misstep, and his claws will tear me apart.'
'My foundation is weak, my Mana low—so what? He's just a projection, a puppet. His Mana isn't much stronger than mine—maybe even weaker.'
'And in terms of methods, I'm not lacking either.' Locke retrieved the level-7 synthetic Magic Plant, the Rot Soil Konjac King, from his Astral Ring. 'I won't be intimidated by his reputation.'
'The so-called first-ranked Wizard Seed of the Blood Curse Court is just another Black Wizard. I'll kill him here.' Locke's heart pounded fiercely, but instead of fear, a faint thrill surged through him—as if he were relishing the battle.
Hussein frowned in displeasure. His sharp eyes caught the subtle shift in Locke's expression—not fear, but eagerness.
For a White Wizard, this was exceedingly rare.
But to Hussein, it felt like an insult. As the Blood Curse Court's top-ranked Wizard Seed, his ruthless assault should have inspired terror, not this readiness to fight back.
Ridiculous.
Absolutely ridiculous.
Did these herb-peddlers truly believe they could stand against him?