Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Ian stopped abruptly in his tracks.

At the end of the narrow passage ahead, a gaunt figure stood silently.

The crimson wizard's robes, bathed in the dim purple light, resembled dried scabs.

Murphy slowly turned around, his wrinkled face filled with deep-seated hatred.

"Ian Marcus." His voice was hoarse and grating.

"That piece of trash Sterling should have died at your hands. A newly promoted level one mist wizard actually managed to kill him when he was almost liquefied..."

The secrets you hold are more valuable than my hatred.

Ian's pupils contracted slightly, and his mental energy instantly tightened.

The twelve floating crystal cones silently disappeared into his body.

Murphy's ability to accurately pronounce his name and Sterling's death indicates that he has been following him for a long time.

"Are the assassins around us... your people?"

Ian's voice was calm, and the three layers of the [Ring of Layers] shield were already faintly visible on his body.

"Just exchanging some information."

Murphy's withered fingers, A pale white skull adorned the top of the staff.

"I didn't expect you, little bug, to be able to jump around more than I thought. But, that's enough for now."

Before he could finish speaking, Murphy pointed his staff.

Without any incantation, three gray-black "Fingers of Death" shot out in a triangular formation.

The speed was so fast that it even eroded the air, leaving three hollow tracks.

Ian was prepared. With a thought, the six crystal cones that were patrolling in front of him instantly combined to form a small diamond-shaped crystal shield in front of him.

At the same time, he retreated rapidly.

puff!puff!puff!

The death ray struck the crystal shield, producing a corrosive "sizzling" sound.

The luster on the surface of the crystal shield dimmed rapidly, and even tiny cracks appeared in the areas that were hit.

Murphy's death magic is far more corrosive and penetrating than the black-robed men he had encountered before.

"A dying struggle." Murphy sneered, swinging his staff again.

Suddenly, the ground cover bulged up, and three pitch-black, decaying skeletons burst from the earth, brandishing bone blades as they lunged at Ian.

At the same time, the death energy in the air begins to converge, forming an invisible pressure field.

They attempted to slow down Ian's movements and mental activity.

Ian's eyes sharpened, and instead of retreating, he advanced.

With a wave of his left hand, a pale purple [Frost Ray] swept across the area.

The beam of light, a blend of ice and fire, sliced ​​the two skeletal guards at the front in half.

With a flick of his right index finger, three condensed [Burning Rays] were precisely aimed at the soul fire in the eye sockets of the third skeletal guardian.

However, Murphy's attacks followed one after another.

He uttered a short incantation, and a wider [withering ripple] spread out from him.

Wherever the ripples passed, the fungal carpet quickly decayed and turned black, even dimming the vein patterns on the rock wall.

Ian's shield vibrated violently, the outermost layer shattered instantly, and the second layer also developed dense cracks.

The [Soul Devouring] ability was operating wildly, but some of it still managed to penetrate, causing a needle-like stinging pain in his mental sea.

"Gah!" Gaga, hidden in the shadows, couldn't help but show itself.

"Don't rush!" Ian whispered in his mind.

He withstood the corrosive effects of the withering ripples, stomped his feet hard on the ground, and unleashed his powerful physical strength.

His figure shot towards the direction of the core fluctuations of the Earth Hernia like an arrow.

Meanwhile, the remaining six crystal cones were all recalled, setting up layers of interception behind them.

He pretended to be outmatched, intending to use the complex terrain to shake off Murphy.

"Trying to escape?" A glint flashed in Murphy's eyes, and his figure rose like a ghost, relentlessly pursuing him.

He was alarmed; Ian's shield was unusually resistant to death energy.

The weakening effect of that devouring spell is something that ordinary protective magic possesses.

Furthermore, the intertwined rays of ice and fire possess power far exceeding that of ordinary level-one sorcery. The latest update is now available on Cola Novels; we await your interpretation.

"I must take him down! Extract his soul, and all his secrets will be mine!"

Murphy's killing intent intensified, and he increased his pursuit speed by another three points.

The two chased and fled at high speed through the maze-like, distorted caves.

The veins on the rock face had turned a deep, almost blackish purple, pulsating like a drumbeat.

The demonic energy in the air was thick and viscous, and the whispers turned into frantic roars.

Just as Ian rounded a corner.

The [Abyss Soul Contract (Extremely Damaged)] in his mind suddenly felt slightly warm.

An extremely subtle and cold stream of thought, like a glimmer of light in the darkness, gently touched his consciousness.

It points diagonally downwards to a location where the energy is abnormally disordered.

There was no sound; it was more like an instinctive "attraction," as if there was something there that shared the same origin as the fragment.

Ian felt a chill run down his spine, but Murphy was closing in on him.

His eyes darted around, and following the subtle guidance, he rushed toward a narrower, downward-sloping side path.

Murphy followed closely behind, and seeing the path Ian had chosen, a cruel smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"You're courting death; that path leads to a deeper, more polluted zone, where the rules are even more distorted!"

But he didn't hesitate and went inside.

The secret Ian holds is worth the risk.

The fork in the road did not lead to a dead end, but rather to a suddenly open and hidden cave.

The cave was about half the size of a basketball court, and the demonic energy in the air was actually thinner than that in the passage.

But an ancient and pure abyssal aura permeates it.

Deep inside the cave, a simple altar stands.

The altar was constructed from obsidian and twisted bones, its surface covered with constantly writhing abyssal runes.

At the center of the altar was not a physical object, but a slowly rotating vortex of dark red energy.

Like a miniature blood-red nebula, it is drawing wisps of polluted energy from the void.

Ian stopped ten meters in front of the altar, his gaze sweeping over it quickly.

The altar was not large, and the runes looked rough, like an unfinished or small "transfer station".

Its function seems to be positioning and guiding?

"What an interesting discovery."

Murphy's figure blocked the entrance, a mocking expression on his gaunt face.

"You have led me to such a place. It seems even the abyss favors me, wanting to receive your soul here."

He stopped talking and slammed his staff heavily on the ground.

From the shadows surrounding the altar, four larger, decaying skeletons with dark gold bones slowly rose to their feet.

They wielded giant scythes formed from death energy.

At the same time, Murphy began chanting a long and obscure incantation.

The death energy within the cave converged madly upon him, and two pale flames burned fiercely in the skull eye sockets at the tip of the staff.

Ian knew that the battle for survival was about to begin.

"Gah gah!" he growled in his mind.

"Understood! Ga!"

Gaga, who had been lurking, finally shot out from the shadows behind Ian.

While in the air, its wingspan instantly expanded to fifteen meters.

With one gray and one blue heterochromatic eye locking onto Murphy, the [Ominous Eyes] were activated at full power.

A dense gray light swept towards Murphy!

Murphy's chanting paused slightly, and the death energy fluctuations around him became momentarily disordered.

Although his mental strength during the liquefaction stage was insufficient to immobilize him, the [Eye of Calamity] could not.

But this momentary interruption was enough to disrupt or delay the large-scale witchcraft he was preparing.

"Familiars? Annoying things!"

Murphy's eyes flickered with soul fire as he spared a wisp of his mind to unleash a [Soul Whip] towards Gaga.

With a nimble Shadow Jump, Gaga appeared in another corner of the cave, dodging the whip.

At the same time, the wings flapped in succession, and several condensed wind blades slashed towards the joints of a skeleton guarding the body.

Ian seized this precious opportunity and unleashed his full power!