Chapter 149: The Terrifying Tower

In the dim and humid room, a blood-soaked sorcery array lay strikingly in view.

This was a mysterious sorcery array drawn using the fresh blood of seven different types of magical beasts. All the runes and magical lines making up the array were painted in warm blood that still carried a hint of a coppery stench, blending an eerie quality with a wicked allure.

In the corners of the room, countless shriveled corpses of swamp magical beasts were casually discarded. Every single one of them had died a gruesome death, strewn about in a chaotic mess that sent chills down the spine of anyone who looked at them.

Crusader the Hawk-Eye, formerly one of the three strongest tower apprentices, was sitting cross-legged inside the magic ring at the center of the sorcery array, his body drenched in the pungent and foul blood of magical beasts. On the outer perimeter of the array, the Berserk Woman stood silently, leaning on her sword as if deep in thought.

Soon, accompanied by a series of eerie murmurs emanating from the array, countless black-feathered, red-eyed ravens flew in through the open narrow window, plunging directly into the blood-red sorcery array.

Every single red-eyed raven that plunged into the array burst into a spray of flesh and blood all over the sky, their black feathers scattering widely and dissolving into swirling mist even before hitting the ground. Their flesh and blood transformed into countless blood snakes that had shed their skins, coiling and writhing incessantly around the outer magic ring where Crusader the Hawk-Eye sat.

When a sufficient number of blood snakes had gathered, Crusader flickered and left the central magic ring, reappearing by the side of the Berserk Woman.

"Alright, the sorcery array is now active. Next, it's your turn!" Crusader surveyed everything in the room, nodded with satisfaction, and a hideous and terrifying smile crept across his face.

Even at this final juncture, the Berserk Woman still held a trace of hesitation and couldn't help asking, "Crusader, are you certain this blood sacrifice array can stimulate my physique to continue growing? Why do I sense a trace of danger from within this array?"

Crusader let out a sinister, mocking laugh. "At our stage, wanting to gain strength without paying a price is nothing more than daydreaming! Danger? Which blood sacrifice array isn't dangerous? This is already the only blood sacrifice array within our capabilities that can be of help to you! If it weren't for the fact that the enhancement from this array focuses primarily on physique, do you think I would so generously give you this opportunity to boost your strength? Remember, once you become a quasi-mortal wizard, you must help me complete that mission!"

A flash of resolute determination crossed the fierce face of the Berserk Woman, and she hesitated no longer. Accompanied by dull, heavy thuds, she finally stripped off her heavy spell-forged armor and her dress, exposing her robust and flawless physique as she stepped stark naked into the sorcery array.

As she sat cross-legged in the center of the magic ring, a cold gleam flashed in Crusader's scarlet pupils, and his lips parted to emit a low, raspy whistle.

Consequently, the red-eyed ravens swooping in from outside the window grew denser by the moment, and the blood snakes clustered outside the magic ring multiplied rapidly. Thousands of heads writhing together, their crimson bodies packed densely in overlapping layers—a sight enough to freeze anyone's heart with terror.

The Berserk Woman, sitting cross-legged in the magic ring, immediately perceived a surging tide of blood crazily rushing into her body. Under the stimulation of this crimson tide, her long-stagnant bodily factors once again radiated vibrant vitality, beginning a slow and steady growth.

The Berserk Woman deliberately suppressed her body's rejection of these external forces, allowing the crimson tide to sweep through every part of her body and mind.

Yet, while her strength grew, the Berserk Woman also vaguely sensed that something was amiss.

While the crimson tide stimulated her physical potential, it also seemed to be slowly eroding her nervous system, causing her control over her own body to plummet straight down.

This... this seemed somewhat different from the process Crusader the Hawk-Eye had described to her!

The Berserk Woman struggled to straighten her torso, opening her mouth to challenge Crusader. But the moment she opened her mouth, she realized her facial nerves were completely paralyzed, rendering her unable to make any sound at all. When she tried to stand up, she discovered that every part of her body felt as though it had become dislocated, no longer obeying the control of her will.

Her heart pounding wildly, the Berserk Woman used the last remnants of her strength before it vanished entirely to forcefully turn her head, finally catching sight of Crusader.

At this moment, Crusader was standing at the edge of the sorcery array, watching her coldly with an eerie smile. His once crimson-as-blood pupils had now turned a vibrant emerald green. As Crusader's mouth parted slightly, a bizarre insect head poked out from within, its hideous mandibles and numerous compound eyes enough to make one's hair stand on end.

Perhaps the timing had matured; the scorpion-like insect used its sharp segmented limbs to exert a sudden burst of force, leaping out from Crusader's wide-open mouth. It then rapidly scrambled across the floor, trampling over the squirming blood snakes, and crawled to the feet of the Berserk Woman.

The magic ring that kept the numerous blood snakes restricted to the outside was completely useless against this scorpion-like insect. Shaking its shell rapidly, it climbed all the way up the Berserk Woman's robust frame and onto her mouth. The Berserk Woman desperately tried to clamp her teeth shut, but her numbed senses made it impossible. The scorpion-like insect pried her mouth open into a narrow gap and plunged straight inside without the slightest hesitation.

The furious and enraged Berserk Woman understood everything in an instant.

The Vicious Insect Ntik!

It was he who was pulling strings behind the scenes!

A flame of violent rage burned through her body and mind, and her powerful conscious control began driving out the crimson energy within her bit by bit. Yet, just as she was about to succeed in regaining control of her body, her frame shuddered violently like a sieve before finally calming down after a long while.

The Berserk Woman stood up calmly, and when she abruptly opened her eyes, a faint emerald hue flickered in the depths of her pupils.

When the Berserk Woman and Crusader the Hawk-Eye faced each other, both their mouths were forced open, revealing a hideous, terrifying, and ugly insect head from within.

Meanwhile, in many dark corners of the entire swamp tower, some terrifying and ugly scorpion-like insects were quietly lurking. They either hid beneath the bed frames of the apprentices' living quarters or concealed themselves in the darkest corners of the rooms, silently watching every move of every wizard apprentice.

Whenever an apprentice fell into a deep slumber, they would crawl out noiselessly, creeping along the bedposts and soft bedding, closing in on their target bit by bit. Once they seized an opportunity, they would lunge forward with lightning speed, plunging straight into the victim's mouth.

Terrified, raspy gasps and struggling, retching sounds echoed inside many apprentice quarters, but it was all to no avail. Their throats bulged outward as a small lump rapidly burrowed within. Before long, these furiously struggling apprentices would grow calm once more, lying back down on their beds to sleep peacefully.

And within their bodies, a faint insect head happily wiggled its antennae!

......

Inside the bloody, foul-smelling hive of the vicious insect Ntik.

Ntik remained wrapped in that thick black cloth robe, sitting dead-center in the secret chamber with his hood pulled low, his writhing body devoid of the slightest trace of vitality.

As long as Master Anderson gave him no commands, he maintained this posture, mechanically feeding, resting, propagating, and catalyzing. All the scorpion-like insects were split and propagated from him. Deep within his huge, pregnant-like chest and abdomen, countless tiny scorpion-like insects continuously split and multiplied, only to gather together and slaughter and devour one another.

Only those scorpion-like insects strong enough could devour a sufficient number of companions, crawl out of Ntik's body, and merge into the dense tide of insects filling the secret chamber.

In a corner of the secret chamber, a group of scorpion-like insects clustered together to form a new tide of insects. The two tides remained distinct from one another, never mingling. At the core of the new insect tide, the bizarre insect carrying Ntik's main consciousness emitted a continuous, faint hissing sound, maintaining a covert mental connection with the split bodies scattered throughout the swamp tower.

In its perception, the wizard apprentices across the tower were falling one after another, allowing its mental tentacles to extend unscrupulously into every remote corner.

However, its army of split entities was not indiscriminately invading every single target; instead, it locked its invasion targets onto wizard apprentices with basic combat capabilities. As for the human servants at the bottom rungs, it simply disdained wasting its power on them. Furthermore, this tower-wide invasion deliberately avoided a few specific targets, choosing not to sweep up every single tower apprentice in one net.

Garlim, Mary, Alice, and the goblin Kabby—these four special individuals became exceptions mixed among a crowd of insect-men, remaining entirely unaware of the changes in the outside world.

Ntik's main consciousness, which vaguely manipulated all of this, silently accumulated its strength. Once that terrifying moment arrived, these individuals whose souls and consciousness it controlled would become its fearless warriors. Although it had reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Garlim, beyond their joint efforts, it still wanted to retain a few ultimate trump cards of its own to turn the tables if necessary.

......

Kabby the goblin lay bored inside its small goblin shop.

These days had been rather bizarre; everyone in the tower seemed to be acting peculiarly.

Those low-level apprentices who usually hovered around its goblin shop had vanished without a trace, and the swamp tower, which had been bustling for a few days, had grown deathly quiet once again.

Those apprentices seemed to have fallen into hibernation, holing up in their quarters and rarely venturing outside. When it occasionally bumped into one or two in the corridors, they would brush past expressionless, too lazy to even spare a greeting.

Enduring such an atmosphere for days, Kabby grew listless, simply closing the shop and retreating to its quarters to bitterly practice disguise and partial transformation arts. For some reason, its master had secretly given it a task a few days ago. If it wanted to accomplish it, it still needed to put in a lot of hard work!

Returning to its quarters and activating all magical defenses, Kabby cautiously pulled out its magic wand and cast a disguise spell on itself. Under the control of the spellcasting power, its body slowly began to change.

Its ugly, short physique stretched slightly, becoming somewhat similar to that target. Its green skin gradually grew fair, tender, and delicate enough to seem capable of breaking with a blow. More importantly, its withered, ugly face twisted and writhed, vaguely revealing the appearance of a cute little girl.

Staring at itself in the glass mirror to inspect the results, Kabby shook its head in dissatisfaction, using its slender, fair little hand to grip the magic wand and tap and wave it against its body continuously. With every touch, a minor partial transformation spell drew its appearance closer and closer to the image in its mind.

After a grueling hour of difficult transformation, the foolish and ugly goblin Kabby vanished, and the proud and arrogant figure of Alice manifested within the room.