Little Loli, Don't Cry

Inside Goblin Kirby’s room.

In a corner of the room, a large mass of black beetles writhed and squirmed, their sheer numbers vaguely outlining the shape of a human figure.

Once the tower grew silent, the pile of black beetles suddenly burst apart with a muffled pop, and Alice crawled out from within, looking thoroughly disheveled.

Brushing away the beetles clinging to her shoulders, the lapels of her dress, and her long hair, Alice pinched her nose with a look of utter disgust and stamped to death a few creatures scuttling around her feet. Only then did she close her eyes to sense the situation inside the tower.

At this moment, the interior of the tower was completely empty, and no trace of any living aura could be sensed anymore. The wizard apprentices above the second floor had vanished without a trace, while only the young prospective apprentices on the first floor lay peacefully on their wooden beds, having already ceased to breathe.

It was evident that Wizard Anderson had cast aside all caution and abandoned any thought of leaving himself a way out.

If by this time tomorrow he failed to successfully transform himself into a Second-Tier Wizard through the blood sacrifice ritual, he would inevitably be unable to escape the punishment of the Salubia family. According to the conventions of the San Dalin Wizards Association, anyone who enhanced their strength through blood sacrifices must face severe punishment.

If he could successfully advance to a Second-Tier Wizard and was willing to continue serving the family, the Salubia family would undoubtedly be more than happy to conceal the situation within the magic swamp for him. By casually fabricating a reason such as a magical beast riot or a sorcery experiment leak, everything that happened here could be wiped clean without a trace.

Therefore, despite Wizard Anderson's supreme confidence and his demeanor that everything was under control, the only outcome awaiting him should his advancement fail would be a forced life contract with the Salubia family, forfeiting all wizarding rights to toil honestly for them for the rest of his life!

As for executing him? Hmph, no wizard family would ever waste such precious resources!

Even if he stood completely alone!

Alice floated freely through the deserted corridor, followed by a tide-like swarm of black beetles, their destination pointing directly to the control hall on the fifth floor of the swamp tower.

Even though Wizard Anderson had fled with numerous apprentices into that mysterious magical secret chamber, this unattended tower continued to follow the mechanisms he had set—sealing itself off while relentlessly channeling powerful elemental energy to that hidden location.

If she failed to find a way to sever the connection between Wizard Anderson and the tower, the faction led by Grimm would face a formidable wizard backed by endless elemental power. Against such an opponent, even if they were all to band together, they would hardly be able to withstand a single casual blow from the enemy.

Passing through the quiet corridor, climbing steadily up the narrow and steep stone staircase, Alice soon reached the boundary between the fourth and fifth floors. A translucent membrane of energy barred the way ahead, and any attempt to touch it would trigger the tower's defensive counter-measures.

Though it lacked the real-time adjustments of a resident wizard, the underwater strength of a wizard tower, once revealed, remained far beyond the ability of ordinary wizard apprentices to contend with.

Gritting her teeth, Alice plunged straight into the energy membrane without looking back.

Behind her, the swarming cluster of black beetles rushed in as well, instantly filling the entire spiral stone staircase.

The moment Alice stepped into the fifth-floor corridor, the previously empty and barren hallway suddenly turned eerie and terrifying. The stone walls on both sides transformed into a sticky, resilient membrane, continuously bulging outward in rolling waves, as if countless monsters were struggling desperately to break free from within.

The walls, now thin as cicada wings, pressed outward to reveal one ferocious and horrific monster head after another, struggling and roaring fiercely at Alice.

At the other end of the corridor, with two crisp popping sounds, a monster broke free from the stone walls on each side, landing on the cold, grey floor with a splatter of bodily fluids. The appearance of the two monsters acted like a signal; in the next few breaths, *pop, pop, pop* sounds echoed continuously as monster after monster wrenched themselves free from the stone walls, instantly packing the hallway before her.

Witchbeasts!

They were all witchbeasts!

These were terrifying wild beasts modified through sorcery by the resident wizard. Each possessed the strength of a senior apprentice, and their numbers were massive. If they were allowed to swarm her all at once, even though Alice was already a quasi-wizard, she would still fall beneath their relentless, wave-like onslaught.

Alice’s face turned ashen, yet she dared not hesitate for a single second. With a shrill cry, she charged straight ahead.

Her situation here was undoubtedly grueling, but Grimm's side was likely ten or a hundred times harder than hers! Rather than facing the terrifying Wizard Anderson with all his fangs and claws bared, Alice would rather fight a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering battle here against a hundredfold horde of witchbeasts.

Two thick spatial blades cleared the path, instantly shooting into the dense pack of witchbeasts. Cutting through like a hot knife through butter, they left a trail of torn flesh, split skin, and flying slime... Witchbeasts were, after all, artificially modified sorcery-mutated beasts. Although their bodies had been conditioned to resist swords and blades, facing the invincible and razor-sharp spatial cutting, they could only wail as their limbs and heads were severed.

However, the sheer number of witchbeasts was overwhelming. Several of them still managed to reach Alice, frantically beating and biting at the thin barrier of spatial energy.

Enduring the discomfort of viewing the ugly, withered, wrinkled, and slime-covered bodies of the witchbeasts at such close range, Alice gritted her teeth and rapidly cast spatial blade after spatial blade. All flesh and blood turned to mere pulp before Alice’s terrifying spatial cutting technique, resembling a hot table knife slicing through solid butter—wherever it passed, things were split neatly into two without a sound.

Floating in mid-air, Alice sliced through every witchbeast blocking her path as if they were thrown into a meat grinder, tearing them apart into shattered pieces with blood splattering everywhere. All sorts of severed limbs continuously flashed past her eyes; even half a witchbeast’s skull abruptly flew through the air, stuck to the spatial barrier right in front of her, and slowly slid down to the ground.

Beneath her feet, the floor had completely turned into a bloody slaughterhouse, littered with countless broken carcasses, every single one of them dying in a horrific manner. Splattered purple and green blood coated the entire corridor, and drops of unidentifiable liquid dripped down incessantly.

Alice’s cute little face was taut, her eyes filled with an intensely sharp murderous intent. In this terrifying life-or-death crisis, she no longer bothered to disguise herself as cute and harmless, completely revealing her true dark and ruthless nature.

It took Alice a full quarter of an hour to make her way through a corridor less than thirty meters long. Behind her, she left a Shura slaughterhouse that no one would ever want to look at a second time.

When she used spatial ripples to blast away the multicolored blood, intestines, and unidentifiable flesh residue clinging to the spatial barrier, another long tunnel presented itself before her.

Along both sides of the tunnel hung numerous richly colored oil paintings depicting either breathtaking landscapes or exquisite character portraits. Regrettably, without exception, the central figures were now missing from every single painting. Within the tunnel, groups of hazy, illusory specters and vengeful souls, along with twisted and deformed magical plants, wandered and crawled about aimlessly.

Alice’s appearance instantly attracted their attention. All the spiritual entities and magical monsters stopped in their tracks, turning their heads to gaze at Alice. In the dim light, clusters of soul fire glowing crimson like blood and eerie green lights ignited one after another.

Alice’s complexion instantly turned ashen.

Every single one of these bastards possessed the strength of a quasi-wizard!

"Grimm, I hate you..."

Alice’s angry, piercing shriek reverberated through the silent corridor, the lingering echoes filled with boundless hatred!

...

Within the secret space.

Seated high upon the terrifying altar, Wizard Anderson closed his eyes to sense the surroundings, his expression turning slightly surprised.

"I didn't expect you to leave a helper outside. Since Alice is out there, this one must be a fake!"

As Anderson pointed forward, a beam of black light sank into the body of the "Alice" who was lying obediently on the ground. After a brief twist and squirm, the ugly, short, green body of Goblin Kirby appeared before him.

"Not bad, very good! The plan was quite thorough." Anderson’s expression darkened, though not a shred of panic could be seen on him; instead, his face displayed a heavy sense of regret. "The fact that you could lay down an ambush outside beforehand proves you were prepared. And the only way you could have obtained this intelligence is..."

Anderson paused midsentence. The space surrounding the evil bug Entek, who stood silently at the edge of the altar, suddenly spawned countless chains of wind, binding him tightly.

Yet, even though Anderson's actions demonstrated profound hostility, the evil bug Entek offered no resistance whatsoever, remaining as obedient to Anderson's commands as ever.

"Not him?" Anderson cast several spell runes into Entek's body, yet still found nothing suspicious. The soul blood pact remained as solid as ever, without the slightest trace of tampering.

Failing to figure it out after deep thought, Anderson resolutely gave it up.

"Losing one quasi-wizard matters little! Actually, the three of you are already enough for me to cross the threshold into a Second-Tier Wizard. But I'm curious—since you managed to arrange manpower outside, how did you plan to contend with me? You surely don't think a few quasi-wizards are enough to fight me head-on? If that really is the case, I truly have to pity your childish naivety!"

Wizard Anderson’s gaze stared coldly at Grimm.

Despite being bound to the floor by the wind chains, the cold sneer on Grimm's face did not recede in the slightest.

"Even upon becoming a quasi-wizard, one still cannot shake off the status of a wizard apprentice, which indeed isn't enough to fight you! But what if we replace them with a few wizards?"

Wizard Anderson’s gaze grew even sharper and colder.