Beneath the towering tree wall.

The Golden Stream Spring Pool bloomed with a golden halo, swirling together with the surrounding gray mist, creating a dreamlike scene.

Not far away, Vanessa was practicing her assassination techniques with a Wooden Dagger, striking at a protruding root of the Tree of the Magic Ring. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Meanwhile, Zorn sat cross-legged by the Golden Stream Spring Pool, quietly restoring his Evil Energy and Gang Qi.

Although Zorn’s own recovery ability was not weak, using Forbidden Curses for deep cultivation consumed a significant amount of both Energy and Spiritual Will.

A proper rest was necessary.

As Zorn was resting,

a cluster of hazy, overlapping voices reached him.

Zorn immediately perked up his ears to listen carefully.

It was Joliya’s ritual prayer.

"Great master... A few days ago, it seems a major incident occurred over at the Divine Kingdom’s rift."

"Many of Blood Shadow Rose’s experts have already placed the entire Gray Mist Castle under martial law and are dispatching powerful Transcendents to investigate."

"Following your instructions, I have already prepared to flee. This is my prayer to you before I escape, begging for your protection and safety."

"May the great master be with me!"

In the depths of a silent and secret chamber.

After finishing her prayer, Joliya blew out the candle and picked up the monstrous suitcase.

She... began her thorny escape as a Witch.

’If... you can survive the pursuit and undergo a transformation...’

’...becoming a true Rose Witch, forged by pain and hardship, only then will you be worthy of becoming my true Lower Ranker.’

’If you fail...’

Zorn sensed the power he had buried within the Rose Witch, Joliya.

’The only thing awaiting you is—Death!’

’This time, Blood Shadow Rose invested a massive amount of resources, only for their final reward to shatter like a bubble’s reflection.’

’On top of that, the Rose Saintess who provided all this information has silently slipped away.’

’Blood Shadow Rose itself must be in an uproar.’

’Next... I just need to weld the Divine Kingdom Gate shut, and it will perfectly cement the fact that Blood Shadow Rose was played for a fool, like a bunch of clowns.’

After a moment of thought, Zorn slowly reined in his mind.

A few days ago, using a powerful array of rituals,

Zorn had successfully obtained 38 Essence·Curse Rune Stones and 52 Ordinary·Curse Rune Stones.

That was a lot of "Curse Experience."

Zorn gradually invested it all into his Evil Spirit Wizard Witchcraft.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t invest it into his Fighting Master Skills, but it clearly wasn’t worth it.

After consuming all this "Curse Experience,"

Zorn’s Witchcraft skills received a massive, epic-level upgrade.

The first and foremost was the very core of his abilities.

He took the powerful Ancient God Forbidden Technique, "Tarktos’ Hand," from Level 0 and raised it two levels in a row, all the way to Level 2.

Tarktos’ Hand (Ancient God Forbidden Technique): LV2 (0%).

Now that the Ancient God’s Hand was at Level 2,

not only did the power of its various applications surge, but its stealth and strangeness were also greatly enhanced.

Just leveling up the Ancient God’s Hand twice consumed a full half of Zorn’s "Curse Experience."

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it now constituted half the strength of Zorn’s entire Witchcraft arsenal.

Then there were the three powerful Forbidden Techniques: Scythe of the End, Eternal Calamity Whip, and Upper Rank: Ringed Snake’s Eye.

Zorn upgraded them to Level 2, Level 2, and Level 1, respectively.

As powerful Forbidden Curses capable of deciding the course of a battle, they ate up a third of his Experience.

For the remaining four ordinary Witchcraft skills, Zorn raised each of them by one level.

Zorn poured all the remaining "Curse Experience" into "Double-Ringed · Destruction Magic Ball."

bringing the level of Double-Ringed Destruction Magic Ball close to Level Three.

Such numerous and intensive Skill upgrades...

...had caused Zorn to nearly exhaust all the ordinary Sacred Marks from his two Sacred Marks in Ogrande City.

However, a new Chapter was about to begin.

The ordinary Sacred Marks from this old Chapter didn’t have much room for growth anyway.

He only needed to preserve the core "Immortal Calamity Sacred Mark."

The ordinary Sacred Marks were meant to be consumed.

Life Absorption: LV2 (2%)

Forbidden Weaving: LV1 (1%)

Double-Ringed · Destruction Magic Ball: LV2 (86%)

Scythe of the End (Forbidden Technique): LV2 (2%)

Eternal Calamity Whip (Forbidden Technique): LV2 (1%)

Upper Rank: Ringed Snake’s Eye (Exclusive Forbidden Technique): LV1 (2%)

Tarktos’ Hand (Ancient God Forbidden Technique): LV2 (1%)

Witch Spirit·Fast Casting: LV1 (4%)

...

As his gaze swept over this new and powerful panel,

Zorn felt nothing but refreshed and invigorated!

A sharp glint flickered in the depths of Zorn’s pupils, especially as his eyes swept over the three Level 2 Ancient God Curses and Forbidden Curses.

The results of this wave of Skill enhancements and upgrades were comparable to three to five years of grinding.

The massive pit he had been digging for Blood Shadow Rose for the past six months, along with his master-level strategic planning...

...had yielded a bountiful harvest this time!

After absorbing and digesting his gains, Zorn continued his Ascetic Practice near the Golden Stream Spring for the next few days, grinding to master these Skills.

For one, it was to increase his proficiency with them.

For another, it could also effectively stabilize his own Sequence.

A strange fluctuation of Evil Energy flashed.

Six fist-sized Destruction Magic Balls, burning with blazing blood flames, leaped out from Zorn like candle flames.

Now at Level 2 and approaching Level 3, the Destruction Magic Ball was already starting to feel like a tool he could wield at will, giving him the air of a true Mage.

Compared to simply casting a spell, Spell Maintenance consumed less energy, but the training effect it provided was significantly greater.

Just as Zorn was gathering a storm of scythe blades,

HOO HOO HOO...

a flying shadow tumbled through the gray mist not far away.

Zorn stepped into the gray mist and raised his hand, and a gray owl landed on it.

"Zorn, come to the meeting."

It was Madam Mable’s voice.

After sending the owl off, Zorn first took Vanessa back to the small camp, then rushed to the Purgatory Mage world-layer above.

...

The day of the Crying Blood Sun was approaching.

The great Miracle Ceremony could commence at any moment.

For the past few days, Zorn had been making preparations for this.

Not to mention, Zorn had seen significant improvements in all aspects this time around.

Now, Zorn felt terrifyingly strong!

Sniffing the thick scent of volcanic lava, Zorn emerged from a corner.

In the stone house camp not far away, the refugees were lighting fires to cook.

Some low-level Transcendents were wandering around the camp.

Although this place wasn’t very dangerous,

there were always some spell-casting Fire Elemental Creatures harassing the camp.

A few days ago, there was even a Flaming Crow Rain, making it seem as if the entire world was about to burn down.

Fortunately, there were many experts in the camp.

This small Flaming Crow Rain was easy enough for them to handle.

Zorn walked along the gravel path, heading straight for the stone hall where the meeting was held.

"Hm?"

Marquis Albert, who was in the stone meeting hall reading a letter, suddenly noticed something.

The gaze of the "Spiritual Vision Demon" in mid-air fell heavily on the approaching Fighting Master.

’I knew for a while that Zorn wasn’t just from the Fighting Sequence.’

’But this is the first time I’ve seen him exude the aura of a Caster.’

’A very dark, obscure, and sinisterly strange aura.’

’He might be an Evil Spirit Caster, or at the very least, a Demon Mage.’

After a moment of scrutiny, Marquis Albert nodded with satisfaction.

"Not bad, not bad at all..."

He had originally been somewhat dissatisfied with Zorn being a Fighting Master.

Although Fighting Masters were quite strong in the early stages,

they grew weaker and weaker the further they progressed.

But now that Zorn had the abilities of a Caster, he was more than satisfied.

Even if Zorn was a terrifying Evil Spirit Caster, it didn’t matter much.

After all, the council over in Autanston had already secretly communicated with the upper echelons of Ogrande City.

The war with the Holy Fierce Sun Church was about to begin.

Their cooperation with the Sun Church was also underway.

At a time like this, who cared whether someone was an Evil Spirit or not?

As long as they could help Ogrande City and Autanston block the forces from Saintisman and fend off the attacks from the Holy Fierce Sun,

they would be hailed as a top-tier Court Holy Witch Mage.

In the future, they would be able to grasp national power, with even more authority to deal with death row inmates and punish the sinful souls of the dead.

Arriving at the meeting hall, Zorn was slightly taken aback.

Only Marquis Albert was here; no one else was in sight.

’It was a meeting, I didn’t remember it wrong!’

"Sit!"

Marquis Albert beckoned for Zorn to sit down.

Zorn sat down to the side, but Marquis Albert’s next words almost made him jump out of his seat.

"Zorn, Ogrande City needs your ’Evil Spirit Calamity’," Marquis Albert said, staring at Zorn with extreme gravity.

"I..."

Zorn had just started to speak.

Marquis Albert directly cut off Zorn’s potential denial.

"You’re not going to tell me you don’t possess the power of the Evil Spirit Calamity, are you!"

He squinted, looking Zorn up and down with a somewhat teasing smile.

Zorn, of course, knew that he couldn’t hide the fact that he was an Evil Spirit Wizard forever.

As the path of a Fighting Master gradually declined,

his power as a Caster was like the elephant in the room—it was bound to be exposed one day.

But for now, he still needed to hide it for a while longer.

"I have a friend... he has mastered the Evil Spirit Calamity."

Zorn said.

"I’m sure he would be willing to help."

Marquis Albert, understanding the unspoken meaning, didn’t press the point.

Zorn was connected to the "Evil Spirit Calamity."

And the "Evil Spirit Calamity" was deeply entangled with the "Evil Spirit Divine Mage."

At the same time, the "Evil Spirit Divine Mage" had a significant relationship with the Sun Church, which was about to unleash the Crying Blood Sun.

The grudges and connections involved were not trivial.

"Currently, there are large numbers of Church Knights and members of the Harvesters around Split Mist Town. They are constructing a ritual, attempting to borrow the power of the small world to enhance their defensive ritual."

Hearing this, Zorn’s thoughts stirred.

’Using the power of a small world to enhance a defensive ritual is indeed an effective method.’

’If they succeed, it will probably be very difficult to break through.’

Marquis Albert continued, his voice low.

"Tomorrow at noon... Split Mist Town needs an exceptionally terrifying Evil Spirit Calamity to counter their ritual."

"At the same time, the Crying Blood Sun will erupt in a fiery blaze when the sun reaches its zenith."

"The rituals of these two great powers will attack the Church’s ritual from two sides."

"This is a war of ritual against ritual."

"The ritual of the Evil Spirit Calamity is powerful enough to be called the most perfect existence in the Ogrande Scroll. It is terrifyingly evil, has astounding destructive power, and can even tear reality apart to form a horrific Border Region."

"But now... it needs to descend upon Ogrande City!"

Marquis Albert looked at Zorn with the utmost seriousness.

"Can that friend of yours do it?"

Hearing this, Zorn nodded slightly.

"No problem!"

"Tomorrow at noon, Ogrande City will welcome an unprecedentedly terrifying Evil Spirit Calamity!"

"One that..."

Zorn said with extraordinary certainty.

"...will shock the world!"

Feeling the magnificent epic of the Ogrande Scroll surging towards its climax,

Zorn’s spirit resonated with it.

He could faintly feel the call of the tides of the era.

’The Ogrande City Chapter is about to reach its climactic symphony.’

’It’s time to let the world... feel the terror of an Evil Spirit Wizard!’

’Just like... the Zorn Corick from the original timeline, it’s time to make the world... feel pain!’