Wizard: I Add Points and Hunt Monsters

The clown spun lightly on his toes, appearing behind Kali. With his back to her, he thrust his dagger backward in an effortless motion.

CLANG!

Kali twisted aside, her greatsword parrying the dagger. A thin black thread extended from the dark aura around her, snuffing out the life of a Holy Professional behind her.

Her strength was nowhere near the clown’s, but by drawing on a portion of her authority, she absorbed the life sacrifices of the Holy Professionals, granting her the temporary power to contend with him.

In that brief moment, a flash of excitement crossed the clown’s face, his eyes widening.

He could see the Holy Professionals in the distance, their eyes fixed on the fight—no, the *performance*.

”Yes, this is it. This is the feeling. Watch me. Linger for me. Let me finish this spectacular show. It’s magnificent...”

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG...

The clown’s body trembled with excitement. His hands became a blur of afterimages as he circled Kali with unearthly footwork, his daggers tracing arcs of cold, killing light.

”Sacrifice!”

Kali wielded the black greatsword with a certain clumsiness, struggling to parry the clown’s assault while absorbing the power from her authority and rapidly growing stronger.

But nearly every parry cost the life of another Holy Professional. In just a few seconds, dozens of them had gone limp, their heads slumping forward as they closed their eyes forever.

”The night will pass, and Dawn will be eternal...”

The Holy Professionals remained solemn. Despite their comrades falling around them, they continued to chant the hymn of Dawn, their faces impassive. They watched the battle between Kali and the clown with a serene focus, as if truly witnessing a spectacular performance.

”Magnificent! This is the feeling I’ve been craving. This is—”

The clown was rambling with excitement. As his daggers flashed, he took a step forward with his left leg and, impossibly, a step backward with his right. His body split into two identical clowns.

”A spectacular performance! Hee-hee!”

The two clowns assaulted Kali simultaneously. Four daggers wove an impenetrable web of light around her.

Cuts began to appear on Kali’s body, speckling her Candidacy Saintess ceremonial robes with blood. With only a single greatsword, she was struggling to fend off the clowns’ assault.

”Dawn! Sacrifice!”

As she solemnly cried out the sacred words, the dark aura around her body instantly shot out in hundreds of threads, taking the lives of hundreds of Holy Professionals. Her black greatsword swelled in size, and a blood-red line appeared, running from the hilt to the tip, as if a fuller had been carved into the blade.

”Light of Devotion!”

With a great cry, Kali swung her new greatsword down at one of the clowns, while the black threads that had retracted to her body twisted out to bind the clown behind her.

In a single instant, the tables had turned!

”Oh?”

The clown watched the greatsword approach. He didn’t even try to dodge, allowing the blade to slice through his body and cleave him in two. Bizarrely, there was no blood. The two halves of his body leaped apart as two voices echoed in the air.

”Hee-hee... Magic trick—The Splitting Man!”

Immediately after, each half of the clown’s body reformed into a whole new one. Along with the clown still bound by the black threads, there were now three of them on the field.

Kali exhaled, watching them as anxiety began to creep into her heart. She could feel the clown struggling against the black threads and knew it wouldn’t be long before he broke free.

The clowns stopped moving. The two duplicates gave a slight bow to their surroundings. ”Thank you all for watching. Now, don’t go anywhere; the spectacular performance is about to continue.”

”Hee-hee, ha-ha...”

”We pray for the Dawn Radiance to descend...”

For a moment, the air above Suyite Avenue was filled with the clown’s shrill laughter, the magnificent hymns of the Holy Professionals, and the sight of the dark aura around Kali growing ever more substantial.

Meanwhile, on the roof of a low building not far away, Yuan watched Kali in silence. ”Kali...”

’It’s wonderful. She’s grown up.’

...

...

「Meanwhile」 In a corner of the square, Old Jack and Ales gazed at the bodies of the Holy Professionals, silently counting them.

”One thousand, two thousand, three thousand... That should be about enough, Ales.”

Old Jack looked up toward the church. ”Did you put that doll in the church?”

”I did.”

Ales nodded. The malicious lightning that once crackled around him was gone. His hair had turned completely silver-white, and his face was far more aged than before. His stooped body seemed barely able to support the red uniform signifying his position as Director of the Secret Investigation Department.

”No wonder...” Old Jack shook his head, then turned to him. ”Let’s begin. The battle over there will be over soon.”

”Alright.”

Ales dragged his weak body step by step toward the Resurrection Casket. He pushed open the lid, tumbled inside, and then extended his right hand. Mustering the last of his strength, he sent a flash of lightning through his own heart, extinguishing the final spark of his life.

”I’m counting on you... Jack...”

Old Jack silently pushed the lid closed. Reaching out, he channeled a wisp of Extraordinary Power, activating the nebula-like pattern on the casket’s surface.

A brilliant, dazzling beam of light shot instantly toward the heavens!

”You said it yourself, Ales... Resurrection is for dispelling all that is dark...”