Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2015: Chapter 2016: Spherical Fiend

Rhein extended a fingertip forward gently, and an invisible wave surged toward the twisted spherical magical creature ahead.

Before the twisted spherical magical creature could react, it shattered into a pile of meat scraps.

”Keep moving forward.” After killing the twisted spherical creature, Rhein didn’t stop and took the lead, briskly striding forward.

Angel immediately followed, but as he passed the spherical creature’s remains, his brows furrowed slightly. He saw a mass of broken tentacles on the ground, presumably one of the tentacles entwining the spherical creature.

The tentacles didn’t move, already a heap of dead matter. But what puzzled him was, why hadn’t these tentacles been devoured by the darkness?

While Angel was mulling over this anomaly, another energy wave appeared ahead. Looking up, he saw another twisted spherical magical creature not far away.

Unsurprisingly, Rhein easily obliterated the spherical creature once more.

Angel paid particular attention to this spherical creature’s remains, which indeed differed from other magical creatures. The spherical creature’s remains weren’t consumed by the darkness, and even the green slime inside retained no sign of disappearance.

Subsequently, they encountered several waves of magical creatures, with spherical creatures appearing frequently.

Though none were a match for Rhein, yet, the remains of the spherical creatures hadn’t vanished.

This bizarre occurrence didn’t go unnoticed by Angel; Sanders and Rhein had long been aware of it too.

Regarding the question of ”why the spherical creature’s remains don’t disappear,” Rhein offered his guess: ”So far, we can see that once a magical creature dies, it’s decomposed and devoured by the darkness. The reason this creature does not experience such a state suggests only two possibilities.”

”Either it’s not truly dead, or it’s different from the magical creatures we’ve killed before.”

This is also easy to understand; saying it’s not dead essentially means: the so-called spherical creature isn’t a true magical creature but rather a technique or ability, like the previously encountered poisonous stingers from the Scarlet Liana, which only disappear if you kill the Scarlet Liana itself.

If the spherical creature is merely a technique or ability of some magical creature, then it makes sense for it not to disappear upon being killed; only by killing the entity creating these spherical creatures might they vanish.

As for saying the spherical creature is different from other killed magical creatures, it can be understood as the difference between virtual and real. The creatures we are exterminating right now may very well be fabricated illusions; whereas the spherical creature might be a real entity.

Which of the two scenarios is true, Rhein isn’t confident to confirm. Yet, personally, he hopes it’s the first scenario, because the second one gives him a vague unease.

As they continued their slaughter, they drew closer and closer to the gate, to the extent that by the faint glow of their light shield, they could make out the outline of the ruin’s gate not far away.

But at this moment, they encountered the fifth spherical monster.

This time, the spherical monster seemed different, for it wasn’t existing alone, but rather attached to the head of a hammer-wielding giant troll, as if the troll was wearing a peculiar hat.

Rhein used his soundwave spell—Silent Kill—as usual.

The giant troll instinctively raised its hand to block, it immediately exploded, causing the hammer it held to fall to the ground.

Rhein furrowed his brow, using Silent Kill again to strike at three positions in sequence: the troll’s legs, body, and head.

Each part blew open, and the troll was finally taken down, dissolving into nothingness.

Although killing the troll should have been a cause for celebration, Rhein’s brow tightened, and Angel and Sanders’ expressions turned grave as well.

Because this scene was too anomalous.

This giant troll was the green-eyed troll Angel encountered earlier. Its strength probably reached only third-level apprentice level, not even Rhein, Angel could have easily slain it.

Yet, Rhein this time had to use Silent Kill four times.

Silent Kill is Rhein’s self-developed spell, created when he advanced to a second-level Wizard. By then, Rhein had already masterfully integrated sonic spells, making his self-created sonic spells comprehensive and formidable.

Silent Kill is a specialized offensive spell; it appears as a single wave attacking one point, but upon contact with an enemy, it immediately diffuses, forming a wide-area lethal sonic domain.

Therefore, previously when Rhein killed the spherical magical creatures, he merely tapped lightly, and they shattered instantaneously.

Yet this not-so-powerful green-eyed troll withstood Silent Kill four times in a row, leaving everyone incredulous. Logically, one Silent Kill should have sufficed to take it down.

The aberrant phenomenon was indeed bewildering.

”Did this spherical magical creature exhibit any special abilities before?” Angel whispered.

Both Sanders and Rhein shook their heads, because they had executed instant kills, never having observed this creature’s capabilities. But they understood Angel’s implication.

Sanders: ”You mean, this spherical magical creature enhanced the green-eyed troll’s abilities?”

Angel nodded: ”There were no other changes. The only alteration with this troll was having a spherical magical creature perched on its head.”

Rhein added, ”Angel’s speculation might be correct. Just now, while attacking the troll’s head, I noticed the spherical magical creature’s tentacles were plunged into the troll’s brain. Perhaps the spherical creature itself doesn’t possess offensive means but can amplify other creatures’ abilities.”

Sanders raised his eyebrows: ”That’s quite rare. I bet Dumatin would be interested in these spherical creatures.”

Dumatin, always thinking about how to enhance the Substitute Puppets’ abilities, would surely be intrigued if spherical creatures could be applied to them.

”If spherical creatures merely enhance other magical creatures, their threat isn’t significant. However, this feature fits Dumatin’s interests. If we can capture one alive, it may be worth studying,” Rhein paused. ”Let’s discuss this later. For now, let’s head towards the gate.”

After clearing this wave of magical creatures, they could already see the tightly shut ruin gate ahead in the distance. And on this stretch, no other magical creatures appeared.

Fortunately, no magical creatures appeared on the path leading to the ruin gate.

Angel gazed at the ancient gate adorned with gear designs and felt a stirring within, quickly constructing the Eye of Nalda in his mind space.

Under the scrutiny of the Eye of Nalda, a massive amount of data emerged from the gate.

Angel didn’t closely examine the data, he merely glanced over it briefly before freezing: ”It’s identical.”

Sanders: ”What’s identical?”

”The primary material of this gate is the same as the main material of the ruin gate where I live!”