old room

"I shouldn't be doing this, I'm crazy..."

While mumbling endlessly, the red-haired young man used a small knife to try to pry open the lock on Aiwen's shackle.

"Crack-"

The lock was easier to open than he thought.

After all, the magic has expired, and those metals that should be extremely hard have corroded badly for some reason.

But although the lock is opened, it does not mean that accidents will not happen.Alister's hands were trembling all the time, and the moment the lock buckle bounced off, the knife slipped away from the metal lock buckle, and the tip of the knife left a long and narrow gash on Ivan's face.

Blood gushed out of the wound in an instant, and it was the pain that brought Ivan back to reality.

The emaciated mage apprentice let out a quick gasp like a drowning person being dragged out of the water.

He opened his eyes, the pupils were dark, and the irises were as green as a deep pool.

Of course, the light still gave his eyes a pinprick of pain, but he'd never felt this damn room looked so good.

"Oh, goddamn goddamn—"

Alister's panicked voice seemed to come from far away.

Ivan looked at him, who now looked like a frightened child.

"Thanks a lot..."

Alvin said softly to Alister.

As he spoke, he realized his voice was rough as if it had been honed with sandpaper.

Alister stared blankly at Ivan, his back was covered with cold sweat... Just now, when he scratched Ivan, he saw something.

He thought he must be crazy.

Those things are hidden under Aiwen's pale skin, presenting a shocking golden red and turquoise. The two unusually bright colors are muddy and intertwined, like worms covered with mucus, and there are even human eyes on their backs. State mimic texture.

The thing rustled in the gap between Ivan's wounds, and it disappeared in an instant.

And the blood didn't flow out slowly until a few seconds later.

For some reason, Alister felt that it might not be blood.

Is Alvin Reeves, the young mage apprentice who fascinated him, really still human now?

Alister was skeptical and horrified.

Just when Alister thought so, he saw Ivan raised his hands in his direction.

"Help me...open...this."

Alvin said in a low voice.

"Do not."

Alister turned him down almost instinctively.

Now Aiwen makes him feel scared.

"Open it for me."

And Evan stared at Alister fixedly, and then repeated it again.

A look of hesitation and struggle appeared on Alister's face, and his panting became more and more rapid.

"No...no...Ivan...I think there is something wrong with you. Maybe it's...a very serious problem...I can't just let you go like this.

Ivan heard Alister speaking incoherently, his tone full of panic and bewilderment.

Alister's refusal made Ivan feel a sudden irritability-perhaps it would be more accurate to describe it as tyrannical rage.

In a very short moment, Aiwen wanted to directly tear the fragile and inferior flesh and blood body in front of him.

There was a scorching heat in his body, and the metallic breath escaped from his mouth and nose along with his exhalation.

Almost at the same time, Ivan saw the abnormality on Alister's back.

The latter unknowingly retreated to the shadow of the room due to fear or other reasons, and the tentacles attached to his back swelled in an instant.The tips that were originally tightly shrunk into small circles also unfolded at this time, and rows of bright and sharp teeth shimmered strangely in the shadows.

Alister was still unaware of everything behind him.

He stood there, looking fragile and flustered, like a lost puppy——but an extremely terrifying monster was right behind him, almost devouring him whole.

"Do not--"

Ivan didn't know how he did it, he jumped up and jumped towards Alister in a weird way.

He felt as if he was suspended in the air for a moment, gliding in mid-air like some magical creature - and the next second, he hit Alister hard, pinning him directly to the ground.

hissing...

Those tentacles that were eager to eat seemed to make a small neigh.

After they touched Aiwen, they shrank together like worms sprinkled with salt, and finally became thin and weak, and broke like foam, leaving only a black powder that was finely crushed like smoke.

"Ahhhhhhh-"

Alister, on the other hand, was terrified.

He screamed frantically and pushed Ai Wen away from himself.

"What the fuck is that?! What happened? Damn damn damn damn—"

Alvin saw something shining on Alister's face, it was his tears.

"Da... I... I'm just helping you."

Ai Wen sat weakly on the ground, dizziness and severe headache wrapped around him.

The wound on his face was aching, and in a trance, he felt that this was the pain those tentacles would feel when they dissipated...

And when he tried to explain everything, there was a thin rubbing sound in his throat, which sounded like a slight "da", Ivan quickly realized this, and then he quickly switched to human language.

(Why use the word "transformation", you are originally a human being - deep in his heart, a voice issued a faint doubt, and Ai Wen instinctively ignored the questioning.)

"you saw it."

Ivan whispered without using interrogative sentences.

He believed that when those tentacles were stripped from the host, the host must have glimpsed some terrifying afterimages.

That's why Alister was clutching his back nervously, the poor, haggard red-haired youth looking shaky.

Of course, Ivan himself was not much better, and the severe headache burned his nerves.

"Yeah, I fucking saw it! What's that?! What the hell is going on here?!"

Alister's constant screaming made his headache worse.

Ai Wen clenched his teeth tightly, gasping for breath, forcing himself to wake up.

"This, here...is in danger...your world..."

he whispered to Alister.

"Projection...His projection is...eroding...peeling..."

Ai Wen suddenly felt a strong pain.

He found that he seemed to have suddenly lost the ability to organize language.

He wanted to convey to Alister the terrifying information he could perceive, but no matter how much he searched for the words in his brain, he still couldn't fully express his true thoughts.

He felt that what was contained in his mind, or in other words, what he had ingested in that starry sky was so huge and profound that it had far exceeded the limit of human language.

"Open."

Ivan shook the injured chain, and gestured to Alister again.

He hoped that this time Alister would not refuse him again.

He didn't want himself to feel the baptism of that almost inhuman tyranny and dark emotion again.

Thankfully, after panting and struggling violently, Alister finally seemed to have figured something out.

He grabbed the knife and stumbled towards Ivan.

At this moment, his eyes were as dark as will-o'-the-wisps. For a moment, Ivan almost thought that Alister wanted to kill himself with this knife.

Ai Wen's heartbeat even paused because of this.

But in the end Alister just knelt beside him and pried open the locks on Ivan's wrist and ankle with the tip of a knife.

This time, his hands finally did not tremble.

Those heavy iron chains were quickly loosened, and fell to the ground from Aiwen's thin and pale wrists and ankles.

I have to say that the feeling of regaining freedom made Ivan feel a burst of relief.

Then he stood up and walked towards the door.

"what are you doing?!"

Alister's terrified question came from behind him.

Ivan turned his head and looked at Alister.

"I want...to find a way...to escape...this place has been shrouded by the projection of 'Him'...I must leave here..."

He wanted to explain, but in the end, there were only a few simple sentences that came out of his mouth.

Then Aiwen opened the door of the stone room and walked slowly towards the outside.

Alister obviously hesitated, Ivan thought he would not follow, but after a while, Ivan heard the footsteps of the red-haired youth behind him.

"You've become weird, Alvin, very weird."

Alister whispered behind Ivan.

Alvin didn't look back.

"We're all the same."

He said.

In fact, for Ivan, the fact that Alister followed up was somewhat unexpected.

He could see that Alister was clearly frightened of him, and of all the strange happenings in the Wizard's Tower—but it wasn't his fault.

You must know that even Ivan himself was at a loss and at a loss for this change.

The human part of his body has almost completely collapsed, and the only thing that supports him and allows him to maintain his superficial normality is the fear of "Him".

Aiwen has a strong intuition - "He" is longing for his complete madness and frenzy.

And Aiwen had to work hard to maintain his last trace of sanity.

Only in this way, he will not completely sink into that darkness...

Aiwen recalled the feeling of the soul merging with other creatures in the dream, and an urge to vomit surged up and was suppressed by him again.

The stone room used to imprison the "crazy mage apprentice" is located at the bottom of the mage tower, very close to the ground floor that has been completely sealed by the formation disk.

No matter what Aiwen and Alister want to do, they must climb to a higher activity level-only there are high-level mages there, and the door to the outside of the mage tower must be opened through them.

While walking inside the silent mage tower, both Ivan and Alister were very aware that something was wrong.

The dark corridor of the mage tower presents a strange atmosphere... completely different from what Ivan remembered.

The air here has become cloudy and sticky, probably because there are no magic particles in the air.There are only a few magic electric lamps and candles in the corridor that are lingering and emitting faint light.

It was very dark, unnervingly dark.

When passing by the long window, Ivan stopped abruptly. He turned his head and looked at Alister.

"We didn't see anyone."

He said.

"It's so close to the ground floor that no one would want to come here."

Alister said dryly, judging from the tone of his voice, he probably didn't believe what he said.

The two mage apprentices present knew that even during the curfew time of the mage tower, it had never been so quiet here-in fact, the mage tower itself could not be really quiet.

After all, there are so many, so many mages living here.

Various experiments are always going on day and night, and the countless experimental animals in the cage will scream, not to mention that the Mage Tower itself is a mixture of magic, creatures, magic equipment, and bricks.

Even if there is no movement of the mages, those organs will make unavoidable friction sounds during operation.

Those small noises are combined into a never-ending sound inside the mage tower, just like the sound of human breathing, you won't notice it, but it's always there.

But at this moment, there is only lifeless silence lingering around Ivan and Alister.

The mage tower seemed... dead.

But Ivan and Alister obviously didn't have the consciousness to pursue it anymore. This was probably a kind of self-protection, to protect them from collapsing directly.

After a simple conversation, the two of them walked forward in the silent corridor again.

Several fixed magic circles leading to the upper floor failed unexpectedly. The mithril inlaid on the magnificent lapis lazuli slab was as dim as lead powder, and the slate itself was full of cracks.

Aiwen and Alister had to find a way to find a stone staircase leading to the upper floor in the intricate corridors and rooms of the Mage Tower - that was the building passage reserved for themselves by the dwarf craftsmen who built the Mage Tower ( Dwarves cannot perceive the existence of magic particles, let alone use magic circles to travel).

And that thing, or rather, that creature, sprang out when they pushed away a certain mage's laboratory.

The person who opened the door was Alister—of course, if it was Ivan, he probably had a feeling in advance.

But at that time, he was involuntarily standing under the long window, frowning and staring at the dark sky outside the window.

His mood was so disturbed by the seemingly dark sky that he completely missed the faint smell of carrion and water.

"His-"

When the subtle neighing came simultaneously with the sound of the door opening, the thing had rushed out like a ghost.

"Alister!"

Ai Wen immediately noticed something was wrong, he let out a roar, and then saw a bluish-white shadow falling directly on the red-haired young man.

"Damn it!"

Alister let out a curse.

He held out his hand, and Ivan saw him make a gesture-but it was a fucking magic gesture!

Alister's instinct as a mage almost killed him. Magic gestures would probably allow him to send out an amazing "corrosion" or "fireball" in normal times, but now, all he got was the saliva of the ghostly creature Bloody mouth overflowing.

Ivan ran towards Alister, he didn't know he could run so fast.

Like a wind, or a shadow, if Aiwen can pay attention to his state, he will be surprised.

His outline became blurred at that moment, his figure elongated in an instant, and in the next instant, he appeared beside that damned monster.

In this dead space where magic particles are completely annihilated, Aiwen looks more like some kind of magical creature than before.

But at this moment, neither Ivan nor Alister noticed the mysterious scene: Alister had been bitten heavily on the arm by that thing.He struggled frantically, trying to throw it off him, but the creature was no small thing... it was almost twice as long as Alister, huge and sticky like a deformed worm.

A row of off-white appendages protruding from the sides of the swollen body was tightly strung around Alister's body.

But when Ivan arrived, the thing seemed to be frightened by something. It let go of Alister suddenly and arched its body against the wall.

The insect-like appendages dug deep into the cracks between the masonry.

If Ivan hadn't seen the knife that fell on the ground, it could have easily climbed along the wall and directly above the ceiling.

But Ivan was one step faster than it moved. He grabbed the small knife (the one that had been used to pry open the keyhole before), and then directly nailed the sharp blade into the monster's back The lower part of the neck.

"puff……"

It felt like inserting a dagger into a cow's stomach filled with warm water, and a large stream of stinky translucent mucus burst out from the monster's body.

Those insect-like appendages waved crazily, and the masonry was scratched into countless broken stones and dust, and its tail was slapping the ground desperately.

This scene must have been quite terrifying in the eyes of others, but Ivan was inexplicably sure that the position he nailed would not allow the monster to break free.

Until the monster's struggle gradually became weaker.

Ivan just pulled out the knife, and he jumped back suddenly, dragging Alister by the way.

Some viscera mixed with gray-brown and khaki-yellow unknown substances were squeezed out of the incision made by Ivan along with mucus.Their own weight stretched the blade even longer, almost cutting the monster open from neck to back.

It was not until the internal organs were squeezed out and hung on the tail of the monster, and the appendages inserted into the stone wall were overwhelmed, and the roots snapped. At this point, the wreckage that had no movement slowly fell to the ground, making a dull and wet sound. sound.

Then in the long corridor, silence was restored again.

Perhaps it was because the vibration before its death touched the wiring of a magic electric lamp. After a slight beep, the lamps located on both sides of the door of the mage's laboratory slowly turned on with a "thump".

Under the untimely lighting, Ivan and Alister were finally able to see the monster's true appearance.

It was a creature so ugly that it was almost indescribable.

It looks like a four-legged snake that has been swollen and rotted in the potion. It has a slender body and disproportionately thin limbs. From the upper limbs to the sides of the hind limbs, there are disgusting growths. insect appendages.

This is by no means a normal creature, nor is it far from a magic fusion creature.

Because even the magic fusion made by the black magician with the lowest taste will not have such disgusting bluish-white skin-the skin has been swollen to almost translucent, and it can already be seen clearly The turbid mucus in the body and the internal organs and facial features are faintly visible.

What's more, it also has a human face.

Or rather, it was once a human face.

Alister uttered an obscenity, rubbed his face with the wrong hand, and gasped at the cut on his hand.

After discovering that the monster had a human face, the aura on Alister's body became extremely unstable.

"What the fuck is this?!"

His voice sounded like a mix of screaming and whimpering.

"I do not know."

Alvin said in a trance.

Compared with Alister, who seemed to be about to collapse, his demeanor was a bit dazed.

In fact, Aiwen thought it was Master Doug at first, after all, he had seen him get into the sewer in such a weird and inexplicable state—the smell on his body was very similar to the monster in front of him.

But Alister's later discoveries overturned his guess.

"Oh, I %￥#@..."

The red-haired youth erupted in a long stream of slurred and quick expletives, and he looked literally on the verge of madness.

"I know him, oh, my God, my God—this is Master Miriam!"