"Found him! Huh? Senior has quite a number of small monsters following behind him." While flying, Locke drank another bottle of Spirit Spring Soul Surge Potion to restore the massive amount of Mana consumed to maintain his flight ability.
The moment he drank the Spirit Spring Soul Surge Potion, streams of Mana rose from the depths of his soul, like automatically refilling pool water, restoring his Mana to its peak state.
At the same time, Locke located Albert through two invisible Grave Spirits.
At that time, Albert was being harassed by a group of Ghouls, with a First Class Wizard Apprentice from Lilith's Cottage infected with a special microscopic Curse Creature following behind him.
Clearly, Albert had risked rescuing a familiar friend, which resulted in a large number of Ghouls escaping from the high-level isolation chamber and subsequently besieging them.
At that moment, Albert was engaged in combat with numerous Ghouls.
After escaping the high-level isolation chamber, these Ghouls actually split off some members to specifically destroy other high-level isolation chambers, releasing the Ghoul armies inside.
These Ghouls had obviously been modified by the High-level Curse Master Rasheed Tarir; each Ghoul was actually not simple.
However, they were all failed experiments, each with their own issues, so they were still far from being successful specimens.
Locke was initially somewhat worried whether Albert, having contact with the First Class Wizard Apprentice from Lilith's Cottage he rescued, would be infected by that specially made microscopic Curse Creature.
However, it was evident that Albert, not only being a Potionology Assistant like himself, but also having deeper accumulated knowledge in the field of Potionology, was very close to becoming a one-circle level Potionology Master.
Therefore, through the Grave Spirits, Locke observed that Albert himself showed no signs of being infected by any microorganisms.
Albert threw a bottle of Mugwort Potion toward the group of Ghouls behind him and used the Potion Atomization technique, causing a green cloud to rise among the Ghoul group.
Mugwort Potion can dispel misfortune and Negative Energy Particles, so a large number of Ghouls inhaled it, causing the potion components to counteract the Curse Energy inside them.
One by one, sparks appeared on their body surfaces, and they fell to the ground.
But this could only buy a little time, as soon these Ghouls got up from the ground again.
Mugwort Potion can dispel Undead, but the problem is that these Ghouls contain a large number of microscopic Curse Creatures that can continuously provide new Curse Energy to these Ghouls.
Therefore, the more traditional methods used by Potionology Assistants to deal with Ghouls were no longer effective here.
Albert's eyes darkened. "What the hell, the Curse Magic inside these Ghouls seems to have some special medium."
"And these Ghouls aren't ordinary Ghouls either. I'll have to use a Spell."
A slender and thin bamboo sword appeared in Albert's left hand. The base of the bamboo sword was black, winding around his left hand like a chain.
He utilized the matching 0.9-ring Plant-based Spell [Blade Bamboo Sword Dance Technique], slicing a nearby Ghoul covered entirely in white bones cleanly in half with a single strike.
"Truly tough," Albert gritted his teeth, his right arm supporting another First Class Wizard Apprentice. "How did these Ghouls manage to develop such abnormal bone proliferation, to the point where even their rib bones fused together into a solid plate?"
He once again employed the [Blade Bamboo Sword Dance Technique], cleaving another Bone Armor Ghoul approaching him into two pieces.
The First Class Wizard Apprentice Sisyphus, whom Albert was supporting, coughed violently, spitting out clots of blood. His eyes were filled with guilt. "I'm sorry, Albert."
"I shouldn't have let you save me. If this interferes with Lady Sophia's plans, it would be terrible."
"Those Black Wizards used microscopic Curse Creatures to invade those creatures' bodies. Those damned Curse Creatures caused the corpses to develop diseases common among mortals, such as abnormal bone growth and organ expansion, using these pathological traits to enhance these Ghouls."
"They want to strengthen their Cursed Ghoul Legion, and even Vampires, this way, but this is likely just one subsidiary direction of their research."
"What they truly intend to accomplish, I don't know. I originally wanted to report this information back to the academy, but the Black Wizards discovered me. They performed human experiments on me, reducing me to this state... cough cough cough..."
A Ghoul whose entire body was covered with Mutated Cells parasitized by Curse Erosion Spores—these cells hijacked the organism's normal functions, maintaining a constant 60°C body temperature, skinless and steaming with blood vapor—lunged agilely toward Albert.
Because its bodily functions were pushed to the extreme by the Curse Erosion Spore-parasitized Mutated Cells, its movements were incredibly fast, causing Albert to miss his strikes twice.
Sisyphus warned Albert, "Quickly drop this burden. I'm of no value anymore!"
"Get away quickly."
Albert raised an eyebrow, the Black Lock Sword Bamboo in his left hand coiled around the base of his left arm suddenly stirring. He murmured an incantation, and these chain-like black bamboo roots abruptly ensnared the ten Ghouls surrounding him.
0.8-ring [Bamboo Root Chain]!
Simultaneously, Albert swung the Black Lock Sword Bamboo, cleaving all ten Ghouls in half.
Albert stated, "Naturally, as a Wizard, if I believed saving you would jeopardize myself, I would abandon you without hesitation."
"But we're far from that point yet."
Albert released him, using his right hand to retrieve two vials of [Troll Adrenaline Potion] from his Astral Ring.
He drank one himself, then tossed the other into the air behind him.
"Sisyphus, my other friend has arrived."
After consuming the Troll Adrenaline Potion, Albert's body became enveloped in red mana. His mana suddenly turned dangerous; though its quality and quantity remained unchanged, its nature became highly specialized for offense. This caused the Black Lock Sword Bamboo in his left hand to take on a reddish hue.
Albert could now slay three or four specialized Ghouls with a single sword strike.
He repeatedly swung the rare Magic Plant, Black Lock Sword Bamboo, in his hand, and in no time, the ground beneath him was littered with the corpses of Ghoul test subjects.
At the same time, six black-and-white Potions were thrown from a certain direction in the air into the midst of the Ghoul group, and three portions of the black-and-white flame Magic Potion exploded simultaneously.
Three black-and-white flame mushroom clouds erupted from the Ghoul horde.
Sisyphus sensed a Magic Pressure with exceptionally high Mana quality rapidly approaching. "What is this Magic Pressure?"
"I have no recollection of it at all. It doesn't resemble the Magic Pressure of those First Class Wizard Apprentices from the top societies of our academy."
Albert said, "Oh, that's my new friend."
Albert shouted into the air, "Locke, you're here. Sorry for causing such a commotion here."
Locke caught the Troll Adrenaline Potion Albert threw to him mid-air and drank it directly, boosting his Mana's offensive power.
Locke descended from the sky, grabbed the two of them, and took advantage of the gap created by the Magic Potion bombardment of the Ghoul group to pull them into the air, escaping the Ghouls and flying back the way they came.
"No problem. I've already instructed my Black Wizard spy to report to their institute's core control room that their test subjects have gone out of control on a large scale. So you've just helped me complete the final part of this lie. Now, when they investigate which areas had test subject leaks, they'll find evidence and firmly believe it was simply an experimental mishap."
"Those Ghouls aren't our enemies. Let the Black Wizards deal with the mess they created themselves."
"The murkier the water, the better!"
(End of Chapter)