Witch Training Manual: My Water Magic Is Wrong

Night falls outside the Marquis's mansion.

One after another, unmarked carriages sped through the night, stopping in front of the Marquis's mansion. The curtains were lifted, and one figure after another leaped out of the carriages.

The leader was a tall, slender woman. She stood at the front, her cold gaze sweeping over the tightly closed gates of the Marquis's mansion, and then she raised her hand to make a gesture.

"Shallow it up."

The death row inmates surged forward like a tide. Some had already drawn their weapons, the blades gleaming coldly in the night.

The old guard at the gate saw the scene outside through the crack in the door, his face turned pale, and he turned and ran into the manor.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

His shout had barely faded.

The mansion's defensive bell rang.

One of the witches stood outside the door, her five fingers clenched in mid-air. The two doors of the iron gate seemed to be gripped by an invisible hand, creaking loudly. Then the entire door detached from the frame, spinning and flying into the courtyard of the manor, crashing heavily onto the stone ground and raising a cloud of dust.

"Rush!"

The death row inmates shouted and rushed in.

The woman in the lead stood at the door, not rushing inside. She formed a hand seal, and magic spread from beneath her feet, slowly raising an invisible barrier that enveloped the entire Marquis's mansion.

"A swift and decisive victory."

The first three Tier 5 Death Servants to rush into the manor were the fastest and had the clearest objective, heading straight for the main building.

However, as soon as they rushed through the first archway in the front yard, they all paused for a moment.

In the courtyard, all the torches had been lit.

The guards stood in two neat rows, swords drawn, shields held high, their eyes fixed on the direction from which they had charged. Leading the way were the one-armed captain of the guard, Marco, and the palace guard, Keynes.

At that moment, Keynes spoke first.

"Now that you're all here, please stay."

As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of elite guards from the Angus Manor, who had been lying in ambush behind him, stepped forward in unison, their swords gleaming coldly in the firelight.

The three Deadpools stopped abruptly in their tracks.

The leader of the death row inmates whirled around, his gaze sweeping over the people behind him—the five witches who had rushed in with them were nowhere to be seen. Behind them lay an empty space, with only a dozen or so equally bewildered death row inmates.

His expression changed instantly.

"What happened? Where are the witches?!"

The other Deadpool also sensed something was wrong. He glanced around, his pupils suddenly contracting: "...Damn it! They didn't follow!"

"Those bitches... deserted at the last minute?!"

The leader of the Death Servants was furious, but before he could utter another curse, a slight spatial fluctuation came from the shadows on the flank of the Marquis's army.

Then, six figures emerged from the shadows. Emily stood at the front, with five witches dressed in black standing behind her.

The leader of the Deadpool's pupils constricted sharply. He stared intently at the five witches behind Emily, recognizing their faces. He had just confirmed those five faces before setting off that evening; they were the five witches St. George had sent to assist them in their operation.

But at this moment, they stood quietly behind Emily, showing no intention of making a move, and none of them even glanced at him.

"...Are you betraying the Holy See?"

The leader of the death squad spoke in an icy voice: "Do you know what you're doing? Your sisters are still imprisoned in St. George's dungeon. If you dare to betray us tonight, their bodies will be displayed on the city walls tomorrow!"

One of the five witches stirred slightly, but quickly returned to calm.

At this moment, Wayne stepped out from the back of the group.

He pushed through the ranks of guards, his gaze settling on the face of the leading assassin: "Their other sisters will not die. On the contrary, you have trespassed on the Marquis's mansion, committed murder with weapons, and attempted to kill nobles of the capital. Today, it is you who will die here."

The three assassins exchanged a glance, a ruthless glint in their eyes. The leader, without further ado, barked, "Target priority! Kill that priest first!"

Three figures simultaneously leaped up, charging towards Wayne in a triangular formation. Their speed was incredible; their feet slammed into the ground, shattering the stone slabs, and their figures left three blurry afterimages in the firelight.

Wayne stood still, without retreating.

Just as the three figures were about to reach him, a pale purple light curtain suddenly rose from the ground beneath his feet, forming a semi-transparent barrier in front of him. The barrier firmly blocked their charge, and a visible ripple of air exploded from the point of impact.

The leader of Deadpool's pupils suddenly contracted.

He recognized Tiffany's face. "...Tiffany?! Aren't you...dead?"

Tiffany said disdainfully, "My sisters haven't been rescued yet, how can I die?"

As soon as he finished speaking, two short, muffled groans came from behind the Deadpool leader. He turned around abruptly and saw Hilda and Salia burst in from the rear of his group.

Hilda moved among the death row inmates, leaving trails of black slime in her wake, which slowed the movements of the inmates who were stuck to her.

Salia followed closely behind, pressing her hands down repeatedly. With each press, a death row inmate was forced to kneel on the ground by the heavy weight, unable to move.

Two of the Deadpools reacted quickly.

They regrouped and forced Tiffany and Hilda to retreat.

The leader of the dead servants shouted sharply:

"Ron, Kasu, activate them!"

Wayne frowned:

"Stop them!"

But it was too late.

The two death row guards simultaneously formed hand seals, and a dark red rune appeared in their palms. The moment the rune lit up, the ground trembled violently, and a foul stench erupted from the bodies of the death row prisoners.

The death row inmates, who were originally trapped by Hilda's slime and suppressed by Salia's gravity, began to convulse violently.

Those who were originally just ordinary death row inmates were quickly transformed into a group of unrecognizable monsters within a few breaths of the runes being activated.

Some had thicker arms and fingernails that turned into sharp claws; some had bulging backs with bone spurs protruding from their shoulder blades; and some had their entire heads swollen, with their mouths splitting open to their ears, revealing a row of newly grown sharp teeth.

Roar!

The first death row inmate to complete the transformation suddenly broke free from Hilda's slime restraints, pushed off the ground with both feet, and pounced on the nearest guard with a stench.

clang!

Marco blocked the attack with his sword, but the force of the impact sent him sliding back several meters, carving two furrows into the stone slab beneath his feet. He glanced down at the cracks on his blade, then looked up at the blood-red monster, his expression darkening.

"...What is this thing?"

Wayne stood at the back of the line, his gaze sweeping over the death row inmates who had quickly completed their conversion. The panel promptly appeared in his field of vision.

[Blood Beast Transformation: St. George's Secret Modification Technology]

[Description: Using a living person as a vessel, a fragment of the blood core of an abyssal monster is implanted. Activated briefly through runes, this grants the host combat power far exceeding their limits for a short period. After activation, pain sensation and self-awareness are significantly weakened, lasting approximately the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Upon the expiration of this time, the host will suffer internal organ failure due to the backlash from the blood core, resulting in certain death.]

[Note: This technique is known to only a very few within St. George's, and due to its extremely high failure rate and cruelty, it has never been recorded in any official archives. Carrosso's willingness to use this trump card tonight shows that he no longer cares about the lives of these death row inmates.]

Wayne looked away, his tone calm.

"The monsters transformed from assassins have a limited lifespan; just stall them."