Twilight deepened.
The bright moonlight was serene and tranquil.
The stars in the night sky twinkled like playful sprites.
Within the astronomical observatory atop the high mountain peak, astrologers were busy recording the trajectories of the stars.
This place was also known as the closest point to the Starry Sky.
Not far away was the Lamb Farm, where a large number of death row inmates were imprisoned.
The most vicious criminals were subjected to the Wizards' Sheep Transformation Technique, completing a Lock Ring that turned them into sheep forever. Here in this frigid, high-mountain land, they would produce wool to atone for their sins.
This was the reason for the Highland Prison's existence.
As the sheep slept, at some unknown moment, the once-bright moonlight underwent a magnificent transformation.
Crimson moonlight, like fresh blood, instantly spilled across the land.
"BAA~~"
The flock let out soft bleats, adding a touch of color to the hazy blood moon.
...
The waiting Rat Catcher saw the bloody light spill across the land through the slightly yellowed glass.
When the crimson moonlight met his eyes, Bevis recalled the words Isaac had brought back from Zorn today.
He seemed lost in thought, then looked at the expectant Isaac.
"Isaac, the inheritance has begun!"
"Just as Lord Zorn explained, as Hunters, we need a great deal of patience."
"Immerse yourself as deeply as possible in the trajectory of the Sequence, and you will see more."
"Understood, Teacher!"
...
When the serene white moonlight completed its magnificent transformation, a strange astronomical phenomenon—the blood moon—descended!
The entire Ogrande City was submerged in this bloody radiance.
Many people, curious and astonished, peered through their windows at the hazy, crimson light.
Deep in the mountain forests and fields, nocturnal Fur Hunters stopped to watch.
In a humble, low-rent room, a young artist captured the moment: a crimson window, a bloody veil of light.
A young nobleman reached out, catching the first halo of light where crimson and night intertwined in his palm.
Zorn, long since prepared, waited for the forbidden moment when the crimson light first touched the earth.
He began to chant the correct inheritance, the Taies Ancient Spell.
He anchored himself to a secret corner of the Starry Sky known to no one.
In the original timeline, the wrong timing, the wording of the Ancient Spell that prevented deep resonance, and an anchor point that was shallow and easily targeted—
all of this had led Zorn Corick to inherit the power of the Evil Spirit Wizard, but also to be polluted and interfered with by it, causing him to become progressively more twisted and crazed.
But now, with his thorough preparations, Zorn had corrected it all.
The position Zorn had anchored to was even a perfect and impeccable location.
Having done all this,
"Er... Gu... Nu... Ss..."
"Er... Gu... Nu... Ss..."
A low whisper slowly entered Zorn's body through his ears, penetrating deep into his soul. It grew louder amidst roars and madness until it fused perfectly with him.
As the power of the [Evil Spirit Wizard] Sequence flooded his body,
the vast and complex ancient memories of the [Evil Spirit Wizard] also rushed in.
For a moment, Zorn lost some control over his body.
"GURGLE... hun... ger..."
"GURGLE... I... am... so... hungry!"
"I need delicious food!"
A cry from the depths of his soul filled Zorn with an irresistible hunger.
The food required by an [Evil Spirit Wizard] was flesh and blood, and souls.
Especially the "Spiritual Soul" that drifted from a body after Death—that was a truly exquisite delicacy.
To crush a life in one's hands, with pain and wails as seasoning, and the "Spiritual Soul" left after life withered as the main course.
He now desperately needed slaughter and Death.
Suppressing the hunger that was driving him mad, Zorn approached the "food" he had prepared in advance.
In a nearby iron cage were several mutated gray rats, plump and with glossy fur.
He had purchased quite a few gray rats and mutated gray rats from the Rat Catchers during this time.
He extended his right hand.
Only then did he realize his right hand was withered and gaunt, like a dead branch.
He touched his cheek; it was the same.
"Heh heh..."
He gave a dry laugh that sounded like two sheets of metal scraping together, coarse and grating.
Then, he slowly extended his palm.
His main account was a [Caster].
Controlling the Evil Spirit Wizard, who was also a [Caster], was naturally a familiar path for him.
"Life Absorption."
He cast this Ability naturally.
This was the basic Ability of the great boss, the Evil Spirit Wizard. Devouring life was as simple as eating and drinking for it, like picking up food and putting it in its mouth.
"GURGLE..."
The dozens of rats, large and small, in the iron cage seemed to sense something.
They shrieked in terror, scrambling to escape.
But trapped in the iron cage, where could they possibly run?
GURGLE...
Life, Essence, and the rats' weak Spiritual Souls were rapidly extracted from their bodies, forming a faint, hazy crimson torrent.
It was drawn out by Zorn with a gurgling sound, then digested and devoured.
There were over forty ordinary gray rats and about ten mutated ones.
A single mutated gray rat provided Zorn with roughly the same amount of life, Essence, and Spiritual Soul as five ordinary gray rats.
As Zorn siphoned from them, the gray rats' bodies quickly shriveled and caved in, like desiccated husks.
When all fifty-plus gray rats were completely devoured by Zorn, his hunger, though still present, had eased considerably and no longer affected his thoughts or judgment.
Afterward, he raised his palm.
His arm and hand, which had become dark and shriveled, had now recovered slightly. They had filled out and regained some luster, but still looked quite withered.
'As expected, the foundation required for this flawless [Evil Spirit Wizard] Sequence is truly astonishing.'
'To think, I'm already a [Star Trace Fighter], and the burden is still this great.'
'Thankfully, I was well-prepared. Otherwise... that uncontrollable hunger would have forced me to kill innocent residents.'
'Right now... this state of mine is too conspicuous.'
'Looks like... it's time to activate my Sewer God of War plan again.'
Zorn couldn't help but rub his brow and chuckle.
He silently pushed open the door and slipped into the crimson halo of the blood moon.
He looked up at the blood moon in the sky.
The blood moon had just begun its ascent, and its halo was growing clearer.
The curtain had only just been raised.
'There's still plenty of time. Enough for me to return with a full belly.'
Zorn went to a corner of the street, skillfully lifted a sewer manhole cover, and then disappeared inside.
He had already scouted out this shortcut into the sewers beforehand.
Its purpose was to fill the Evil Spirit Wizard's stomach.
"SQUEAK..."
"SQUEAK..."
He had just descended the vertical ladder when two gray rats, the size of house cats, squeaked and approached him.
Their small eyes glowed with an eerie red light, and they bared their sharp fangs.
Under the blood moon, many creatures were affected.
And the sewer gray rats, which already harbored terrible power, began to mutate on a massive scale.
However, seeing them bare their fangs before the terrifying Evil Spirit Wizard at this moment was such a cute and heartwarming scene...
Zorn couldn't help but be amused.
'It's just as Isaac said, the rats in these sewers are getting bolder and bolder.'
'But at the same time, they're also delicious little cakes!'
He reached out his palm, and a terrifying suction force acted upon the two mutated gray rats' souls and lives.
Only then did the two mutated gray rats shriek in terror and try to flee, but it was too late.
The mutated gray rats, their life and spirituality being drained, instantly went limp, losing all their strength. They could only convulse and struggle on the spot, allowing the terrifying Evil Spirit to drain everything from them.
After easily dealing with the two rats that had mutated under the blood moon's influence, his hunger was once again sated by a fair amount.
Now, inside a sewer brimming with food, Zorn was no longer in a hurry.
He started walking deeper into the darkness while opening his panel.
In addition to his original [Star Trace Fighter] panel,
a second Sequence, a second panel, for the World-level boss, the Evil Spirit Wizard, had appeared.
......
[Evil Spirit Wizard] (World-level BOSS) (Special Template)
Level: Level 1 (5%)
Evil Witch Spirituality: You can devour all spirits possessing pain, distortion, terror, despair, aberration, and death, and use them as food!
Immortal Divinity: Unknown
[Talents]
Mortality and Rebirth (SSS-level): After Death, you can resurrect while on the verge of demise (5/5).
Evil Spirit Authority (SSS-level): You can master the Spiritual Root Source and reshape it.
...
[Skills]
Life Absorption: Level 0 (1%)
Forbidden Weaving: Level 0
Destruction Magic Ball: Level 0
Scythe of the End (Forbidden Technique): Level 0
......