T0 Gaming Guild Saves the World.

Chapter 408, Section 407: The End of the Ninth Rank

Dussel, a renowned figure in the Mage Tower, is undoubtedly the chief of spatial magic, possessing his own dedicated floor and a four-story magic tower.

Renee was fortunate enough to be led on a tour by him once; the tower contained many interesting magical artifacts.

French Fries thinks that given Dussel's personality, he most likely wouldn't place his most valued item in the Mage Tower's area, much less place the container that holds his consciousness in the most easily associated place.

Dussel is quite cautious in his actions, and even in his daily interactions with Renée, which lasted for several years, he did not reveal much about his private information.

If it weren't for his fateful encounter with demons, facing two demons in succession and battling twice at the boundary between reality and illusion, only time could judge this infamous high-ranking scoundrel in Anna's history.

If we omit his act of killing his teacher and fiancée in the snowy mountains and only look at his life after he survived, we can understand his life story.

Under 30 years old, Rank 7.

In the same year, he earned the title of Chief of the Mage Tower and named an entire floor of the Mage Tower after Dussel.

They launched a course on spatial magic, creating their own unique style.

The empire bestowed honors and titles upon them.

Wealth, status, and partners—he can acquire them instantly if he so desires.

He experienced everything that comes with early fame.

40 years old, level 8.

He achieved great success in middle age, and the magical community even dedicated a page to his spatial magic.

Jiang Heyi never quite understood why Dussel, who had already reached the top of Anna and whose position as the chief of spatial magic was as dazzling as a star, was still so fixated on a "talent".
Isn't he the most powerful embodiment of talent and hard work?

It was Jingxin who enlightened him.

"If I could understand Düsseldorf's obsession, I should have warned Mint to stay away from you guys."

With no further clues at the moment, we can only follow Renee's train of thought.

How do we get into Düsseldorf's private magic tower?

The jailer scratched his head.

The Imperial Mage Tower is the area with the highest combat power in all of Anna.

Trying to get your hands on the item without alerting anyone is no less difficult than beating up an Origin Elemental while naked.

Seeing the troubled looks on everyone's faces, Renee suddenly grinned and said, "Actually, it's very simple."

Late at night, the mage tower of the Anna Empire was brightly lit under the illumination of the lighting crystals.

Far from the mage towers, private towers built by qualified high-ranking mages are scattered throughout the mountains, protected by barriers of varying structures.

Ripples spread through the space as several furtive figures easily passed through the barrier, cleared a path inside the tower, and appeared on the first floor of what was called a tower in Düsseldorf but was actually a warehouse.

Entering Dussel's warehouse should have been extremely difficult. Although the physical body was dead, the protective magic array of the warehouse was still in operation, and even spatial magic could easily interfere with it.

But Dussel left a special exception for his most outstanding apprentice, Renée.

Considering his long-cherished desire to force Renee into marriage, and all the goodwill he showed, it can be considered a typical case of playing the long game and patiently building up his favor.

Rene can touch props that other students are not allowed to touch.

Even though no one else is allowed in the warehouse, Renee is permitted to enter.

With the persistent indoctrination of the idea that "only Renée is special," and considering the Grelian family's absurd actions of not understanding human nature, if the boundary between reality and illusion were blurred, Dussel would most likely have succeeded.

Unfortunately, his physical body was reduced to ashes.

The "bait" left for Renee ironically allowed the group of petty thieves at the boundary between reality and illusion to take advantage of the situation and climb over the hook.

The first and second floors house mostly artworks in Düsseldorf.

Anna boasts numerous masterpieces by renowned sculptors and painters.

He had no artistic taste whatsoever, and even Renee thought he was just being pretentious, trying to appear sophisticated when entertaining guests.

Pushing open the three-story door, one is greeted by a large number of doll accessories.

“Teacher…” Renee paused, then changed her words, “Dussel has been studying puppetry techniques for the past few years.”

"He often jokes with me, saying that he is getting old, his learning ability is declining, and he always stumbles when practicing puppetry skills."

Now, looking at the parts scattered all over the floor, Renee suddenly understood what Dussel's urge to learn new knowledge stemmed from.

He has mastered mental magic and learned how to create containers to store consciousness, which is most likely some kind of unspeakable evil path.

Dussel hoped to quickly transfer his consciousness after death, rather than struggling to find a new host.

The art of spirit body swapping is still in the exploratory stage throughout Annadu, requiring puppets and mental magic to complement each other.

The doll was his final step toward semi-immortality.

The group carefully examined the dolls in the room to confirm that Dussel was not "living" inside.

French fries suddenly shivered.

"What's wrong? Is the uncanny valley acting up?"

Suddenly noticing that Fries' face had turned pale, Jiang Heyi, who had always treated her like a buddy, poked her cheek with a mischievous grin.

French Fries tugged at his sleeve and whispered.

"Do you think... Düsseldorf might have already succeeded?"

"What success? Weren't they all wiped out by us?"

"I'm talking about real history."

A chill spread, and Jiang Heyi shivered violently.

Halfway through the story, he wondered how the real-life Renee had become a sage.

Showing kindness to mint signifies reconciling with your awkward past self.

But could it be...?

By the time of the apocalypse, Renee had already been replaced.

Dussel painstakingly traversed the path to semi-immortality, only to discover that the world had entered an infinite loop. Thus, he took Renee's place in seeking cooperation with other sages of the apocalypse.

The others snatched three red materials from the doll and happily prepared to continue upwards. Watching the potato and fries couple whispering to each other, the mischievous jailer sighed.

Seeing the two of them instinctively duck down, he burst into laughter and disappeared in a flash.

What elementary school boy?

Upon reaching the top floor, everyone was pleasantly surprised.

He took two glass bottles from the bookshelf: "Star Sand, he actually has two portions?"

The Primarch pulled a scroll from his desk: "Mind Barrier Potion. After taking it, greatly increases resistance to mental magic."

Orange Tea touched the cloth armor on the display case with surprise: "Spirit Devouring Guardian Set?"

The item description is just a brief sentence: "Forged by an anonymous craftsman."

Golden suit, three blessings.

Soul Devouring Technique: Transforms equipment's maximum withstand capability from spiritual magical impact into tangible magical damage for counterattack. This withstand limit is achieved using the Suther Heart Stone.

The remaining two are optional blessings.

"It's all preparation for countering demonic mental magic," Jiang Heyi clicked his tongue. "Why didn't you bring it in the end?"

Regardless of the consequences, the players fully exploited their nature by blurring the lines between reality and virtuality, sweeping away all the interactive and portable items in the room.

After checking the area thoroughly, Düsseldorf's presence was not present.

Mint clapped her hands and stood on the table, looking down at everyone—Jiang Heyi was curious why she had to stand so high.

"I specifically asked my mother before I came. Dussel wants to control Renee, so his vessel must be within the capital."

Renee frowned: "Yes...when did he infiltrate my thoughts?"

She rubbed her temples, recalling everything that had happened last night, when suddenly her expression changed.

Seeing Renee grit her teeth and stand up, everyone followed suit without saying a word.

As spatial rifts tore open time and again, sheltering everyone through the dangerous and unstable magical space, she was drenched in sweat and utterly exhausted. But she didn't stop, her eyes already bloodshot.

His body was filled with murderous intent, as if the night before had come to pass again.

The rift opened, and everyone at the boundary between the virtual and real worlds landed, looking around in astonishment.

"How did I get back here?"

The ruins of Grelian Manor are serene.

The craftsmen who were rebuilding were still on their way, and Grelian left only a few servants to watch over the site.

It was late at night, and the lazy servants could be heard snoring rhythmically from afar, completely unaware that the young lady the family had been searching for had returned to the scene of the accident.

"Rene."

Seeing that she was covered in sweat and walking unsteadily, Mint couldn't help but reach out to support her.

Renee did not refuse. She forced herself to take two steps, then staggered and collapsed to her knees.

Leading a group of people through spatial transfer consumed a huge amount of magic power; she should have exhausted it long ago, but she just held on by sheer willpower.

By now, everyone has noticed her unusual behavior.

"We'll help you up, don't rush."

Orange Tea stepped forward and helped Renee, who could no longer walk, to a stone monument that had not yet been destroyed by the aftermath of the battle.

Renee took a deep breath, glanced back at Mint, and then at the somewhat worried people at the boundary between reality and illusion.

She smiled, took a deep breath, clasped her hands together in prayer before the stone tablet, and murmured softly.

A moment later, she opened her eyes and said in a deep voice, "Mint, help me dig it open!"

"here it is?"

"Little Tail's Grave".

"what?"

Fortunately, the four primal beings were quick; the soundproofing array was in place just as everyone's surprised and doubtful voices were uttered.

"Grave digging, huh? That's my specialty."

The jailer jumped out, and six zombies were summoned, digging in the dirt like stray dogs.

Two meters below the tombstone, a huge pit is revealed.

Looking into the long, dark tunnel, Renee was furious.

"Düsseldorf!!!"

She screamed in unprecedented rage.

Deep within the passageway, a faint, almost imperceptible wave of magical energy rippled out, as if... trembling?
The jailer stared at the secret passage built within the Grelian mansion, muttering to himself.

"Goodness, is the Grelian family really a thousand-year-old clan? Someone dug up the space beneath their mansion and built a private residence without them noticing?"

Düsseldorf truly lives up to his reputation as a top-tier cunning schemer; his masterful manipulation of the situation is astonishing.

After Little Tail died, the Grelian family didn't want to be too heartless, so they tacitly allowed Renee to build a small grave for remembrance, which could also be seen as a buffer for her relationship with her parents.

Dussel keenly sensed the subtle tension between the two sides and, taking advantage of everyone's inattention, secretly hollowed out the underground.

Given that Grelian had built a network of interconnected lines beneath the manor to store various magical materials, one would mistakenly assume it was part of the family's design without careful observation.

After all, most of the people living in the royal capital manor are scholars who wouldn't care about trivial matters like civil engineering or magical blueprints.

Using Grelian's reputation, Düsseldorf quietly completed his stay.

"Wow, all these past few years, all your secrets and innermost thoughts have been confided in Dussel." The jailer, oblivious to the gravity of the situation, kept chattering. "He'll most likely record it, listen to it repeatedly, extract the key information, and then, during your lectures, he'll suddenly cut in, winning you over and making you even more dependent on him... Waaaaah~~~"

Orange Tea covered the jailer's mouth and muttered a vicious complaint in his ear.

"Can't you read between the lines? Renee's eyes are spitting fire!"

The jailer peeked over and wow, Renee was practically smoking.

Düsseldorf couldn't build its underground spaces too complexly, because the more complex they were, the easier they would be to be discovered.

At the end of the passage was a small door, behind which was a circular storage room.

A jumble of miscellaneous items was piled up on the ground, and through the cracks in the ground, one could glimpse the still-functioning magic array, whose effect was precisely to obscure the perception of magical power.

The old fox forced Düsseldorf to take concealment to the extreme.

The gold and red props floating on the pile of debris are no longer important, nor are the dazzling props that shimmer with rainbow light.

Everyone pitched in, searching through a mountain of various items for the essential item that would please Renee.

Renee was panting heavily, feeling dizzy and seeing stars. She broke free from Mint's grasp and crawled into the pile of junk to rummage through it.

Seeing this, everyone sped up their work.

Hurry up, hurry up!

Renee has survived everything, just don't come here and get a stroke of bad luck, or get infuriated by the insane Düsseldorf.

"There are magical fluctuations, and also the aura of mental magic."

Orange tea unlocks an unknown revelation; following that benevolent voice, one grasps a crystal-clear blue stone in a wooden box.

Overjoyed, she presented it to Renee.

"I...I can feel you, Düsseldorf!"

Others might hesitate, but after spending years together, Renee only touched her once and immediately roared.

The blue stone gleamed faintly.

“Rene…I am your teacher, and there is still much I can teach you.”

"Listen to me, I am no threat to you now, and we can live in harmony."

The arrogance in Düsseldorf's voice was clearly palpable, bordering on pleading.

Not long ago, they were so arrogant and cursing them, but in the end, the words "surviving" have worn them down.

Just like when he murdered his fiancée and teacher and fled back then.

Renee suddenly looked up and surveyed the crowd.

"Mint, what do you guys think?"

Jiang Heyi shrugged: "I don't want to hear any dead people other than the zombies controlled by the jailer."

"Me too."

Uniform and consistent answers.

The gazes that converge on the vessel of Düsseldorf's soul are icy.

Renee smiled brightly: "Thank you."

Spatial magic erupted from her hands, and Dussel screamed madly.

"You bunch of lunatics! You've actually rejected the greatest knowledge!"

"Mental magic, spatial magic, puppet magic—as long as I live, you can all learn them!"

"You are simply unreasonable!"

"Only by keeping me alive can my value be maximized!"

A wisp of flame burst from Mint's palm and joined the refining of Dussel.

"We will not be at peace until you die."

The crystal shattered with a thud, and the ghostly face of Düsseldorf appeared eerily in mid-air.

"Incomprehensible!"

The jailer grabbed the remnant soul: "Don't worry, I'm a necromancer, I can still refine it and play around with it."

(End of this chapter)