"Púréa!"
An obscure incantation echoed through the night sky.
In the square, where the rats were densest, a thick mass of black grease suddenly appeared on the ground.
The rats sank into the grease, collapsing every two steps before falling and becoming smeared with it.
A young man named Andy, his red hair flowing in the wind, resembled a blazing fire.
Early Tier 2, a Fire Elementalist.
Before Angell's sudden appearance, he had been considered the most likely candidate to marry into the Randolph family and marry Pamela.
Even Andy himself believed so.
Now things had changed.
Pamela had no say in her husband.
However, the family elders, and she herself, didn't mind her keeping a few male companions besides her official spouse.
Just like her aunts and uncles. Having a harem of handsome men was a real treat.
Andy needed to prove that he was at least worthy of being a backup.
This team mission was a great opportunity to perform at his best.
After casting a second-level "Oil" spell on the rats,
Andy stretched out his hands, his fingers fanning out.
Blazing magic surged through his palms.
"úré!"
He uttered a spell symbolizing "burning."
Andy's ten fingers simultaneously erupted in flames!
Ten slender, five-meter-long pillars of fire formed a conical fan, sweeping forward.
The grease on the ground ignited, instantly transforming into a sea of fire.
Many giant rats were trapped in the sea of fire.
The flames leaped onto their bodies, igniting the grease and burning them mercilessly. The dying giant rat transformed back into human form.
It writhed in the flames, wailing in despair.
…
"Carir!"
The third member of the investigation team, Duke, cast a first-level Ice Creation spell on a group of ratmen.
Below their feet, the flat ground transformed into a smooth surface of ice.
The ratmen, focused on firing their crossbows, didn't notice the shifting ground.
Suddenly, their feet slipped, and they fell one after another onto the ice.
Duke sneered, drew his sword, and activated his Atavistic Transformation!
Two months ago, he had successfully broken through a bottleneck and ascended to the first-level White Dragon Warlock.
He had awakened both the Ice Creation spell and the first-level Atavistic Transformation.
Pale dragon scales slowly clung to Duke's body.
His hands transformed into a pair of ferocious, sharp dragon claws.
Duke, half dragon, half human, strode onto the ice.
In his atavistic form, he could walk freely on the smooth ice, as if his feet were equipped with suction cups.
The ratman fell to the ice and, just as he struggled to get up, was strangled by a pale dragon claw.
Puff!
The claw pierced his throat, and blood gushed out.
Duke extended his long, forked tongue and licked the warm blood from his hand.
His cold, vertical pupils gleamed with cruelty and bloodthirstiness.
…
Angel stood with Alan.
Just like they had been on the boat.
"Alcar!"
A handsome young man with a sickly face, dressed in a black robe, softly chanted a spell.
Angel raised his hand and pointed at the rats.
Red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, blue, and purple.
A brilliant rainbow of light burst forth from his sleeves, forming a conical wave that pushed forward.
Under the envelopment of the "Colorful Jet," the giant rats fell unconscious one after another.
A few exceptionally strong ones managed to avoid fainting, but they were also shocked and temporarily blinded.
How high is the spiritual power of the genius boy Angel?
On the boat ride to Magic Stone Island, Alan, curious, used the Gluttony system to deduce Angel's attributes.
The results left him speechless.
Attributes: Constitution 8, Agility 16, Spirit 28
For a newly promoted Level 1 Warlock, these spiritual attributes... aren't they a little outrageous?
Not just outrageous, they're completely out of this world!
Alan, having fused himself with the blood of the Poison Demon and gorged himself on exotic ingredients and supplements, now only has a spiritual attribute of 21 points.
A 21-point Spirit attribute is actually quite impressive for a tier 1 warlock.
‐‐The question is, who are you comparing yourself to?
‐‐That little demon, Angel, is truly insane!
‐‐The higher a warlock's Spirit attribute, the greater the damage and control of their spells.
‐‐The 1st-level spell "Colorful Spray" is a classic example of control magic.
‐‐The group of giant rats across the way, struck by Angel's spell, can't count on their willpower to resist the mental control.
‐‐Just wait for death!
‐‐While the rats were stunned by Angel's spell,
‐‐Alan pulled out a small bottle of acid.
‐‐Using it as a spell material, he cast "Water Control" on the rats.
‐‐Rainfall mode!
‐‐The acid in the bottle quietly evaporated.
At the same time, a drizzle of acid rain began to fall from the night sky, showering the rats with concentrated spray.
It was like a sulfuric acid bath.
In a blink of an eye, the rats were corroded to a bloody pulp.
Their bodies hissed and emitted sour, smelly white smoke.
They collapsed in the acid, one after another kicking their legs and dying.
A dying giant rat finally shook off the shock and struggled to crawl out of the acid-soaked area.
It was covered in thick blood, leaving a trail of scarlet tracks behind it.
Anger slowly raised his right hand.
Five balls of purple light emerged from his pale, slender fingertips.
A Level 1 "Magic Missile" was about to be released.
Alan raised his hand to stop him.
"It's not worth wasting magic power on a dying rat."
Anger was slightly startled.
He had too much magic power, more than he could use, and didn't understand the concept of "waste."
Alan's next words successfully persuaded him to give up the spell.
"Keep it for now; I'll need it."
"Okay, okay," Angel nodded. "You go ahead and do your work. I'll go help the other teammates deal with the cultists."
He watched Angel turn and walk towards Duke.
Alan followed the system's prompts and walked over to the dying rat.
He took out two syringes and a reagent bottle and collected saliva and plasma.
Ding-ding—
"Exposure to 'Bubonic Plague' bacteria (Level 3 infectious disease)!"
"Exposure to 'Pneumonic Plague' bacteria (Level 3 infectious disease)!"
"Warning! Exposure to 'Lycosis (Rodent)' virus (Level 5 infectious disease)!"
Alan's virus resistance was Level 4.
Completely immune to all forms of plague.
But... Beastiality, it's actually a Level 5 virus!
Even he didn't dare take it lightly.
He put away the virus reagent bottle, activated his magic power in his palm, and completely shattered the syringe contaminated with the beastiality virus, throwing it into the fire.
From now on, Alan could use his venom glands to synthesize both the "plague" bacteria and the "beastiality" virus.
The "beastiality" virus, in particular, significantly increased his poison resistance bar.
He was just a little short of reaching Level 5.
At this moment, he received another system notification.
"The scent of a special ingredient has been detected!"
Alan smiled.
Magic Stone Island, truly a place of great luck!
…
The outcome of the battle in the square was already decided.
Seeing his men fall one after another, the cult leader could no longer hold back.
He shouted at the other cultists, urging them to hurry up and deliver the goods.
He then greased his feet and turned and ran!
He sprinted to the dock warehouse and entered.
The warehouse was piled with crates, and the air was filled with a musty smell.
Near the corner, there was a well-hidden iron door.
The cult leader ran to the door and took out the key.
With a creak—
The door swung open.
Inside, a staircase led underground.
The cult leader left the door ajar and quickly descended.
At the end of the stairs was a subterranean chamber.
The sacred artifact of the Beast Cult was enshrined in the chamber.
The artifact was a statue placed in a stone niche.
The statue was a foot tall and appeared to be made of some kind of bone.
With age, it had taken on a yellowed ivory hue.
It had a human body and a rat head, sitting cross-legged.
It looked a bit eerie.
The cult leader carefully lifted the statue from the niche.
Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, footsteps suddenly sounded behind him!
The cult leader turned around in shock.
He saw a tall, muscular young man, his arms folded, blocking the entrance to the secret room.
"Little bastard! Get out of my way!"
The cult leader clutched the statue in his left hand, brandishing a dagger in his right.
He tried to scare the young man away and flee.
Alan scoffed and strode forward.
"I'll kill you!"
The cult leader's eyes glowed red as he thrust the knife straight into Alan's heart!
Hound-like strides!
Easily dodging the dagger.
Alan delivered a blast of his "Exploding Palm" to the chest, collapsing the cult leader's sternum and sending him flying backward.
Bang!
Like a painting, it lay flat against the wall and slowly slid down.
Blood spurted from his mouth, pupils dilated.
Alan stepped forward and picked up the bone statue.
He had followed the system prompts, tracking all the way here.
He had stumbled upon this underground temple.
This strange statue was the special ingredient.
But…
It wasn't just a special ingredient.
Alan wasn't a beast worshiper.
He didn't understand the statue's religious significance.
However, when he touched it, he inexplicably felt his heartbeat quicken.
The blood in his body seemed to be boiling.
When his ogre bloodline first awakened, he'd felt a similar sensation...
Could it be...?
Alan opened the system page to check the changes in his bloodline.
As expected.
The very thin beastman bloodline within him was subtly resonating with the statue worshipped by the Beast Cult.