Chapter 417: . Counterattack

“Can you all please keep what just happened a secret?”

After finishing his conversation with Puppet and watching him disappear, Oliver made this request to the Murat Family, Kimball Family, and Jane.

Thankfully, they readily agreed to Oliver’s request.

It was only natural.

Puppet is on the same level as the Flesh Cook, who caused havoc in the Capital of Gallos, one of the most powerful chosen nations.

And Oliver talked with Puppet as equals.

Although it appeared that Oliver was the one being respectful, those with insight could tell that Puppet respected Oliver.

If Puppet hadn’t respected Oliver, the conversation wouldn’t have even occurred.

Perhaps Puppet leaving without killing anyone was also an extension of that respect.

Honestly, not much was clear, but Lucian and Murphy, being quick-witted, instinctively realized that following Oliver’s words would be the safest action.

After hearing their answer, Oliver spoke.

“Thank you all. Now, I’ll guide you to a safe place… or at least a relatively safer place.”

Oliver corrected himself, recalling the dangerous state of the city. In some cases, the entire city might be unsafe.

Looking at Jane, Oliver thought of Kevin, Terence, and Yareli, who had come to the city with him… maybe there was even more reason to stop Flesh Cook.

After settling his thoughts, Oliver quickly took out a sheet of paper from his robe and dropped it on the ground.

Then, he activated the spell by connecting it with the mana stored within his body. The mana infused in the paper glowed with a violet light, creating a portal in mid-air.

“A scroll?”

Someone exclaimed in surprise. Spatial magic is difficult, making scrolls relatively rare.

“Well… it’s something similar. Could everyone please enter? It’s connected to Loculi University.”

What he said was true.

When Oliver visited Loculi University with Kevin, he secretly left a few sheets of paper there, just in case.

Fortunately, it turned out to be useful as he predicted.

Upon Oliver’s words, Murphy and Lucian led their families inside without a moment’s hesitation.

One by one.

Finally, it was Jane’s turn. She marveled at the sight and said,

“This scroll must be quite good. There’s quite a distance from here to Loculi University, as far as I know.”

Oliver understood what Jane meant.

Portal magic, a branch of spatial magic, is difficult even for specialized mages to use.

Those who could use it without auxiliary devices were about two or three out of ten at best. Even then, the number would decrease depending on the distance and what was being transported.

Even scrolls weren’t free from these rules; moving from city to city required pre-fixed coordinates and the installation of stable auxiliary devices, which took considerable effort and cost.

Anyone knowledgeable would notice that Oliver’s portal magic seemed a bit unusual.

After all, it moved dozens of people across a considerable distance using just a piece of paper as a medium.

Considering the existing performance of portal magic, it was ridiculously effective. And Oliver wasn’t unaware of this.

However, despite knowing this, Oliver didn’t fully understand the exact reason behind it.

“…Are you studying magic?”

Jane nodded.

“Yes… I have a friend at the Tower of Magic, so I need to make at least that much effort to avoid being looked down on.”

“I’ve never looked down on you, Miss Jane.”

Jane gave him a small smile.

“Heh… I know. I was just joking.”

“Ah… Anyhow, it’s impressive. You must be busy with work, and yet you study magic as well. I don’t have time to explain everything now, so could we talk about it later? Getting inside the portal seems more urgent.”

Oliver pointed at the purple portal, and Jane nodded.

“Yes. I suppose you’re right… Xenon, no, can I call you Dave? It’s just the two of us now.”

Oliver looked around before nodding.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“Thank you… Dave, you’re going to fight Flesh Cook, aren’t you?”

“I probably will. That’s what I’m here to do.”

Upon hearing his answer, Jane felt a strong urge to express her worry, concern, unease, and the desire to stop him. These emotions were so intense they almost spilled out of her mouth.

However, she closed her eyes tightly and controlled herself, displaying determination and faith instead.

“…Then, can you promise me one thing?”

“Promise?”

“Yes, please try not to get hurt and come back safely.”

“Hmm… That might be difficult. Flesh Cook seems stronger than I initially thought.”

Oliver responded while recalling his encounter with Flesh Cook in the basement.

Though he looked like an ordinary strong adult male on the outside, he possessed a vast and highly concentrated life force beyond imagination. Along with mana and emotions proportional to that energy.

It probably resulted from living for hundreds of years by consuming both human and otherworldly life forms. The quantity and quality were beyond comprehension.

In terms of energy alone, he seemed more like a being that transcended humanity.

“But in essence, he’s still human.”

After hearing Oliver’s explanation, Jane suddenly chuckled. When he asked why she laughed, she answered,

“Well, it’s just…^You’re being very ‘Dave’ right now^. Normally, someone would say something to reassure the other person.”

“Ah…”

Oliver sighed once more. Now that he thought about it, the girls at the House of Angels had mentioned something like that before.

They said that when a woman is terrified, you should hold her gently, pat her back, and reassure her by any means necessary, even if it means lying a bit. That’s being a gentleman.

“I’m sorry. I seem to have forgotten that for a moment. It’s hard for me to lie to a friend.”

“I find that somewhat pleasant.”

Oliver hesitated for a moment before awkwardly spreading his arms.

It was an attempt to follow the advice from the House of Angels. Noticing his intention, Jane raised her hand and politely declined.

“I’m grateful, but I’ll have to pass. It might not be good for my heart… Could you just promise to come back safely? I have a debt to repay.”

“A debt?”

“Yes. Thanks to you, I was able to negotiate with Lucian for an investment plan. Although I can’t help you right now, I’d like to repay you in the future.”

With that, Oliver awkwardly lowered his open arms back down and made a promise.

“I’ll do my best.”

“…That’s more than enough.”

With that, Jane responded and immediately stepped into the portal.

To avoid taking up more of Oliver’s time.

As the last person entered the portal, the violet portal closed up, vanishing entirely from the air as Oliver directed.

Oliver then retrieved the spent paper and stored it back in his robe. He immediately focused his vision, awakening the Warlock’s Eye.

He intended to find the place where Flesh Cook was preparing a ritual.

Puppet didn’t tell him, but it wasn’t that difficult to deduce.

The stream of madness, chaos, anger, and fear flowing beneath the entire city would lead him to that location.

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Oliver concentrated his Warlock’s Eye, expanding its range.

10 meters, 100 meters, 1,000 meters, 10,000 meters… He kept going until his target came into view.

Though the new scale made him a bit dizzy and caused his eyes to throb, his vision expanded wide enough to encompass the entire city. And soon, he found a spot where emotions pooled like water in a hollow bowl.

It was in District 1, the center of the city, where turbulence spiraled in a vortex-like structure, failing to achieve harmony like snakes devouring each other.

The tower of emotions squeezed from the whole city climbed up to a colossal tower in that place.

A fairly interesting sight.

However, that wasn’t the only fascinating thing.

While Oliver was making his way to the sewers, the mages from Loculi University made a decision. They had emerged en masse from the university and were now battling Flesh Cook’s minions.

Oliver recognized them by the emotions and mana he had memorized earlier. Among them were Kevin, Terence, and Yareli.

All of them, along with the mages, police, and military force of Loculi University, were fighting against the rampaging minions of Flesh Cook.

While Loculi University, in coordination with the police and military, was fighting systematically, Flesh Cook’s side seemed to have the city’s chaos as its goal, hence moving chaotically and exposing a chance for them to gain the upper hand.

However, as with everything, there were exceptions.

Contrary to expectations, there were some who fought systematically, pushing Loculi University into a crisis.

The problem was that Yareli was also present in that place.

“I’ll start with this one.”

Oliver pulled out a piece of paper from his robe and threw it.

Just like before, the paper opened up a violet portal, and Oliver quickly jumped into it.

Blackout occurred, and the scenery shifted from underground to aboveground.

Oliver found himself on a frozen ground, surrounded by icy walls, burning buildings, and dead Loculi University mages. Among them, Yareli was fighting desperately.

She had already expended a considerable amount of mana, and her eyes and the area around them were damaged as she fought, even without her glasses.

Her opponent was a group of mages from the School of Alchemy of Life who had betrayed Loculi University and joined Flesh Cook. They were caught off guard by Oliver’s sudden appearance.

It was as if a disruptor had appeared just as they were about to capture their prey.

In that brief moment of surprise,

Oliver instinctively reached out and placed his hand on the back of Yareli’s head.

Although Yareli was startled, Oliver disregarded it and, following his instincts, stabilized her rampaging eyes.

Oliver didn’t know the principle behind his action.

It was merely a reflex he had when he saw Yareli’s blood-soaked eyes due to overload.

“…!”

Fortunately, Oliver’s action wasn’t meaningless, as Yareli’s rampaging eyes quickly regained calm.

The blood that had gathered around her eyes subsided, and the uncontrollable power honed itself to a single point, piercing through the enemy mages’ flame barrier and freezing them all.

*Czzz…*!

The mages from the School of Alchemy of Life were instantly frozen solid.

Yareli immediately closed her eyes, sealing the opened eye once again.

Her lower eyelids and eyelashes were cracked and covered in tiny wounds from the cold. Oliver took out a healing ointment from his robe and offered it to her.

“Are you alright?”

“…How, how did you do that?”

Yareli, still in shock, stammered out her question, a rare occurrence for her.

That was understandable. Through her family’s research, she had yet to find a way to stabilize the eye (a unique trait), but Oliver had done so simply through physical contact.

While there were cases where mana was used to treat side effects of unique traits before, this was unprecedented.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Oliver, instead of answering, politely asked for permission. Then, he suddenly wrapped his arm around Yareli’s waist.

Yareli, surprised by Oliver’s sudden action, forced her aching eyes open and saw it.

A monstrous figure, over five meters tall, breaking through a burning building and charging towards them.

With a bald head, small eyes, long arms, round shoulders, misaligned teeth, and a body packed with muscle and fat.

Yareli recognized the monster in front of her as an Ogre, a creature believed extinct.

The Ogre lifted a building column with one hand and slammed it down. Quickly, Oliver dodged the attack, holding Yareli close.

As taught in his books, the Ogre’s strength was immense. When the column smashed into the ground, it shattered the earth like an explosion, sending a pillar of dirt shooting upwards.

If they had taken the hit, Yareli would have suffered significant harm, even if Oliver might have survived.

However, there was still no time to relax.

*Roaring…*!

Through the dust cloud raised by the Ogre, a werewolf with black fur lunged at Oliver.

Though not as massive as the Ogre, the werewolf was over three meters tall and closed the distance swiftly, its darkened, sharply enhanced teeth and claws aimed at Oliver and Yareli.

“Minion.”

At Oliver’s call, two Minions hidden within his robe quickly darted out, shooting at the werewolf’s eyes.

*Swish! Swish!*

The timing of the attack was perfect, but the werewolf evaded with unbelievable reflexes and lifted its long arms.

Seemingly intent on slashing them apart.

At that moment, Yareli opened her eyes and froze its legs.

*Czzt!*

Due to its speed, the werewolf tripped and fell forward as its legs were suddenly frozen.

Although it seemed they had overcome another crisis, Oliver didn’t let his guard down.

He had already confirmed that there were more enemies in the basement.

Barely had the thought crossed his mind when, as soon as Oliver stepped forward, his foot was trapped by the ground.

The mana-infused ground had swallowed his foot like a swamp and then solidified.

Looking in the direction of the mana’s source, Oliver saw several mages, presumably from the School of Alchemy of Life, cooperating to infuse mana into the ground.

Half of them were solely focused on trapping Oliver’s foot, while the other half used defensive spells to prevent him from breaking free.

A highly efficient collaboration.

Naturally, Oliver’s gaze shifted upward.

In the sky, a massive quantity of blood floated like a cloud.

[Impalement]

A female voice echoed in the air.

With that voice, the massive amount of blood floating above Oliver swirled around a central point, converging into a spike and falling down.

Seeing this, Oliver flung his Quarterstaff upward with one hand.

[Black Javelin]

The Quarterstaff, enveloped in Black Suit, soared up and collided with the blood spike, shattering it into pieces before disappearing into the sky.

The blood, destroyed by the Black Javelin, rained down as crimson droplets, halting the onslaught momentarily due to its striking visual impact.

Seizing the timing, Oliver politely greeted the woman standing beyond the werewolf and Ogre.

“Greetings, Miss Deziher Durance.”

Upon hearing his greeting, the woman, exuding even greater mana than before, approached.

It seemed she had strengthened herself with Gretel’s help.

“You know me?”

“I briefly saw you at the Lake Village cult meeting. Are you not Miss Deziher Durance, Dean of the School of Alchemy of Life?”

The woman nodded.

Oliver’s memory was correct; despite her appearance in her early thirties, she was actually 64 years old.

Despite her real age, she possessed an astonishingly youthful appearance as she spoke.

“I’m honored that the mage who defeated Theodor remembers me.”

It seemed Deziher knew Oliver defeated Theodor, possibly thanks to Gretel.

Oliver responded.

“It was just luck.”

“I agree. Without absorbing the lake’s power, you wouldn’t have been able to face Theodor.”

Oliver nodded in agreement. Without the lake’s power, the overwhelming difference in firepower would have made it a struggle.

“Absorbing that much power is near-impossible, though… Taking that into consideration, today’s my lucky day. I was told I could consume anything I seized in this city. Not just the Iceye Family’s eye, but I can devour you as well.”

“Well… I promised to return safely, so could you let me go? I’m only here to help Miss Yareli.”

“You speak as if you’re sure you can win. Do you see me as a joke because you defeated that old Theodor?”

“No.”

Oliver answered sincerely. But it seemed his intentions didn’t reach the woman before him.

“I’m also one of the mages representing the university. Moreover, unlike with Theodor, you have no vast power to absorb here… What gives you such confidence?”

“It seems there’s a misunderstanding, Miss Deziher. I’m not underestimating you. And it’s not that there’s nothing to absorb… In fact, there’s plenty.”

As Deziher tilted her head in confusion, Oliver immediately showed her through action.

Oliver began to extract some of the mana stored within him to cast a spell.

[Ptah’s Assistant]

As Oliver chanted, an ethereal mechanical hand woven from mana particles appeared beside his arm.

Oliver transferred part of his Black Suit to the Assistant, covering it and creating a singular hand.

A massive hand, formed from highly concentrated mana and emotions.

In that state, Oliver quietly said,

“Extract.”