The Low-key Evil Wizard BOSS-Chapter 66 - 4: The Fear of Being Dominated by the Evil Spirit
SPLASH...
The torrential downpour washed over Ogrande City, a metropolis sullied by a rat infestation.
It also carried away the sweltering heat in the air.
After breakfast, Zorn opened today’s Ogrande Steam Daily while he digested his meal.
[A BIZARRE CLOUD OF DEATH SHROUDS OGRANDE CITY. AN OMEN OF CALAMITY? OR DISRESPECT TOWARD THE DIVINE?]
The large, bold headline seemed to leap off the page, carrying with it the smell of fresh ink.
"It’s finally made the papers."
The corners of Zorn’s eyes crinkled into a thin smile as he began to read in detail.
Today was the third day of the Evil Spirit Calamity.
At first, the residents of Ogrande City were merely curious about the strange, dark cloud.
But as time went on,
the cloud of death coalesced by the Evil Spirit Calamity showed no signs of dissipating.
After information about Evil Gods, blood sacrifices, rituals, and calamities was unearthed,
terrifying rumors began to spread, such as one about a horrifying "Evil God ritual" about to unfold in Ogrande City.
After festering for a few days, talk of the dreadful cloud of death could be heard from Ogrande City’s residents nearly everywhere.
Zorn could clearly sense from the growth and expansion of his immortal Calamity Sacred Mark that the storm stirred up by this Evil Spirit Calamity was already affecting more and more Transcendents, and the trend was only continuing to grow.
Now, legends about Evil Spirits had begun to circulate in Ogrande City.
The fear of being dominated by Evil Spirits was also beginning to take root!
Today’s Ogrande Steam Daily elaborated on the situation with the bizarre cloud of death.
The phrase within, "disrespect toward the Divine," was clearly a message from Ogrande City’s officials, urging the Holy Fierce Sun Church to resolve this trouble as quickly as possible.
Zorn was quite familiar with the Holy Fierce Sun Church’s procedures for handling such incidents.
They would spend a considerable amount of time assessing the resources, manpower, and so on required to end the calamity.
By the time the resource allocation was approved, the Evil Spirit Calamity would have already formed a stable Border Region.
The calamity would be over, yes, but the Border Region permanently carved into Ogrande City could never be erased.
And this... would be the anchor point Zorn used to secure himself in this world.
After quickly scanning all the information in today’s Ogrande Steam Daily, Zorn sniffed out something unusual.
"The rift between Ogrande City Hall and the Church is widening."
’No... I should say the rift between the Ostanton Republic and the Holy Fierce Sun Church is widening.’
Although the Holy Fierce Sun Church was the sole legal religion of the Ostanton Republic,
the Ostanton Republic was not the only place where the Holy Fierce Sun Church proselytized.
To be more precise, Ostanton was merely a minor, relatively unimportant missionary territory for the Holy Fierce Sun in the Northern Border of the Continent.
Before the roaring tide of steam began to surge, Extraordinary Power had not yet reawakened.
The Extraordinary Power wielded by the Holy Fierce Sun gave it absolute authority.
Anyone who dared to disobey might find themselves facing Divine Punishment.
Even the great noble houses had to bow their heads before the Holy Fierce Sun Church.
But times had changed.
The roar of steam swept across the entire world.
The great development of steam-powered industry pushed societal progress, spurred the reawakening of many Mysterious Powers, and led to the gradual unearthing of Extraordinary Sequences.
Once the powerful elites of Ostanton grasped Extraordinary Power for themselves, they naturally sought to reclaim their authority.
Although they didn’t yet dare to arm-wrestle with the Holy Fierce Sun Church,
they now had the audacity to question the Church on its handling of certain Extraordinary incidents.
Take this "Evil Spirit Calamity," for instance.
This published article urging the Church to handle the incident quickly was clearly a sign of dissatisfaction.
Although there was still a long way to go before the Chapters of internal strife within the Holy Fierce Sun Church and the open conflict between the Autanston Republic and the Church,
to appreciate it from the moment the first spark was lit until the raging flames consumed the entire world—was that not, in itself, a marvelous journey?
His gaze swept over the curtain of pouring rain outside.
The pitter-patter of the raindrops sounded like a beautiful symphony playing just for him.
Zorn slowly gathered his thoughts.
After advancing to Level 3, his Perception Power had grown stronger and more meticulous. Even the faintest fluctuations now struggled to escape his notice.
The daily strengthening of his Evil Energy and Calamity Black Mist had allowed him to gradually find a "Sense of Control" over the world around him.
Possessing an orderly Sense of Control over one’s surroundings was an advanced quality for a Caster.
For a Caster to let an enemy sneak up on them was a sign of disrespect to oneself.
Even though a Level 3 Evil Witch boss had roughly twenty times the Life Tenacity of a Level Three Transcendent—and he himself, being from the Fighting Master Sequence, wasn’t afraid of surprise attacks anyway.
A conventional Caster Sequence would only begin to develop such an awareness at the Middle Rank, around Level 8 or even Level 9.
But he had found this familiar feeling at just Level 3.
This left Zorn quite satisfied.
’The rain has gotten heavier these past two days. It’s not a good time to go down to the sewers and grind Skills.’
Zorn mused to himself.
Although it wasn’t a good time to go grind Skills in the sewers,
with the "Forbidden Blood" now in his possession, Zorn’s to-do list was gradually growing.
Over the past two days, he had begun acquiring some Pharmacist’s experimental equipment through the Alchemist, Vladimir.
Things like furnaces, crucibles, distillation equipment, a small steam energy tower, and so on.
He needed to start extracting what he needed from the blood of the Double-Ringed Snake.
The Forbidden Blood of the Double-Ringed Snake contained many powerful "Forbidden Powers."
For example, the "Snake Scale Shield" which could even block a Forbidden Curse.
And the "Blood Mist Gate" that allowed for rapid travel.
These were all extremely rare Extraordinary Forbidden Techniques.
Extraordinary Forbidden Techniques excavated from Upper Rankers like this also had a rather nice name—Exclusive Extraordinary Forbidden Technique.
Powerful Skills and Forbidden Techniques exclusive to a particular Upper Ranker.
You couldn’t obtain them anywhere else; extracting them from an Upper Ranker was the only way.
From the Forbidden Blood of the Upper Ranker, the Double-Ringed Snake, Zorn could extract the powerful Exclusive Extraordinary Forbidden Techniques he needed.
In addition, the Forbidden Blood of an Upper Ranker could also be used to strengthen one’s own Extraordinary Skills.
And this was one of the few ways to enhance the form of a Skill.
The thirty-plus portions of Forbidden Blood that Zorn had fought so hard to seize offered immense potential.
Before that, however, Zorn first needed to deal with Rat King Bucky.
He had to obtain the remnant of flesh and blood that Rat King Bucky had used to fuse with the Forbidden Blood of the Double-Ringed Snake.
It would allow Zorn to better assimilate the Forbidden Blood.
As Zorn was lost in thought, the old butler, Glangk, walked in, holding a letter in his hand.
"Young Master Zorn, the postman just delivered a letter. It’s from the police station in the Fog Zone."
"The Fog Zone Police Station?"
Zorn raised an eyebrow slightly.
Taking the letter and opening it, Zorn began to examine it in detail.
"Dear Mr. Zorn...
...
...
—Ogrande City, North Ring Street Police Station, Fog Zone.
—Officer Ansel Hall."
It was a letter inviting Zorn to the North Ring Street Police Station in the Fog Zone to offer "advice" and "opinions" in the capacity of an Extraordinary Consultant.
Although, upon acceptance, a monthly "fee" would be paid to Zorn,
coming from a department as unprofitable as the police station, this fee was more symbolic than substantial.
But Zorn understood the true meaning behind this letter.
’Ogrande City is starting to gradually win over the various Transcendents.’
Naturally, Zorn would not refuse.
He had been planning for this ever since he met Officer Ansel; now was the time to reap the rewards.
As an "Extraordinary Consultant," gaining access to police circles would bring many benefits.
First, if any trouble arose, the police department could help resolve it effectively.
Second, by performing exceptionally well, he could get to know some of the truly powerful and influential figures within the department.
Third, he could obtain a great deal of useful intelligence from the police system.
For example, traces of other potential Evil Spirits.
Just as Zorn was about to write a reply to Officer Ansel,
a soaking wet figure in the rain suddenly burst into Zorn’s Perception.
"Hm?"
Zorn’s brows furrowed slightly.
’Why did Isaac suddenly come running over?’
Immediately after, Isaac, who had been sprinting through the rain, bypassed the old butler Glangk who tried to stop him and rushed into the main hall.
"Mr. Zorn, I’m begging you, please save my teacher!"
"He was bitten by the Rat King! He’s not going to make it!"
Rain and tears mixing on his face, Isaac choked out his plea.
