This wizard only wishes to be a teacher

This was the "Crimson Page" that Lucien had previously fashioned from the Hell Blood Serpent.

From a certain angle, its evilness was even greater than that of the Soul Hunter. Even now as part of the Wizard’s Notes, it still retained some characteristics and vital signs unique to the Hell Blood Serpent, requiring regular feeding with fresh blood or souls to prevent it from lashing back at its master.

The power it could unleash was a type of nefarious force from Hell civilization—Corruption!

Rather than calling it an ability, it was more a kind of indiscriminate contamination and assimilation that tainted life or objects not of Hell with an evil and twisted Hell aura. The original wills, effects, and purposes were also influenced by the frenzied essence of Hell, inevitably leading to mutation and distortion.

At that moment, under Lucien’s influence, the Crimson Page burst forth with its maximum potential. The shadow of the snake writhing within the page suddenly halted, its sanguine serpent eyes flickering with a sinister glow.

Due to interference from Lurah, Lucien was simply unable to precisely manipulate the Wizard’s Notes to avoid himself as a target of the corruption; thus, all he could do at the moment of Corruption’s explosive release was to actively confront the tentacles reaching for him, using the body of this Soul Hunter as the first layer of defense against the power of Corruption.

A cage, in most situations, signifies confinement, but for Lucien, it now served as the best form of protection!

Hiss—

The next moment, a familiar, sinister hiss of a serpent rang out in Lucien’s mind. Afterward, he felt a prickling sensation on his exposed skin.

Even in Lucien’s perception, it seemed as though his skin had gained its own life at that moment, struggling and tearing as if wanting to break free from the body of Lucien, its host!

Ah ah ah... Lucien’s eyes bulged in terror, feeling that under the influence of this corruptive power, it wouldn’t take long for his body to split from a complete whole into countless bizarre, twisted creatures. They might inherit parts of his consciousness and memory, but he as their original whole would certainly die completely as a result!

However, compared to Lucien, the Soul Hunter directly facing the invasion of the corruptive power was in even greater agony.

"Heh heh heh..." It opened its mouth in pain, making breathy sounds unlike those that human beings could produce. Its bluish, soft body began to change color incessantly, and patterns resembling human or humanoid faces emerged from its skin, only to be reabsorbed into its body under the forceful suppression of the Soul Hunter’s consciousness.

These were its former prey, including those "foods" it had completely digested. Yet under the effect of the corruptive power, these once again evolved a self-awareness and instinctively began to resist and revolt against the Soul Hunter’s control.

"No... no... no!" For the Soul Hunter, however, this was just the beginning.

As a being elevated to a higher tier of existence, even nearing the power level of a second-grade wizard, the Soul Hunter couldn’t recall how many human souls it had devoured since birth; in fact, every part of its body contained elements transformed from other souls.

Not to mention the eight main souls it deliberately preserved for casting various mental attacks, which already possessed a certain degree of independence within the Soul Hunter’s body. In critical moments, the Soul Hunter could even split these souls off using a secret technique, along with their original forms, to create nine separate entities.

This was also one of the Soul Hunter’s life-saving racial talents, each clone could maintain 80% of its peak combat strength for a short period, and as long as one clone survived, the Soul Hunter could slowly restore its original condition by devouring others.

But when faced with "Corruption," this evolutionary life structure meant for survival became its death knell. Under the influence of the Crimson Page’s corruptive power, these cleansed sub-souls were endowed with consciousness once more, becoming even more chaotic, frenzied, and evil than before.

In this state, the sub-souls began to cannibalistically bite and fight each other, trying to control the body and to manipulate their own dedicated tentacles to separate from the primary body and become new, independent entities.

This was far more thrilling than the previous struggle Lucien had endured with Lurah fighting for control over his body!

Amidst this extreme infighting, the Soul Hunter could no longer manage the external consciousness of Lurah, even the tentacles that had just been wrapped around Lucien slackened. The surface of these tentacles now bore protruding human faces, seemingly struggling to escape from the Soul Hunter’s body.

"Quick..." Lucien’s face turned somewhat pale at this moment, having also suffered the effects of the corruption, albeit not to the same extent as the Soul Hunter.

He staggered to his feet, not hesitating for a moment as he spread his hand, another "Frost Blade Dance·Revised" coalescing in his palm. The next moment, thirty-six sharp frost moon blades pierced through the Soul Hunter’s skull, shredding its consciousness core into pieces.

Afterward, Lucien first put away the Wizard’s Notes and canceled the corrupting effects of the Crimson Page that had been continuously applied. Only then did he stand up, somewhat unsteadily, and begin to deal with the eight sub-soul bodies of the Soul Hunter that had become madly chaotic due to the corruption.

"Phew phew..." Finally, Lucien collapsed to the ground, exhaling a long breath as he looked at the now thoroughly dead Soul Hunter beside him.

Then, Lucien hurriedly took out two vials of potions from his storage ring. After swallowing them, he soon felt a turmoil in his stomach, and upon opening his mouth, he vomited large chunks of black and red flesh, streaked with blood and still wriggling.

"Cough cough cough..." After coughing out these disgusting chunks of flesh, Lucien finally felt that the effect of the "corruption" had mostly dissipated.

"The corrupting effect of the Crimson Page still has too many negative side effects," Lucien mused as he looked at the body of the Soul Hunter not far away, feeling both relieved and frightened.

He had nearly died here just moments ago, and if the corrupting power of the Crimson Page had been any stronger, he might have been twisted into a breeding ground for some evil creature ...

At that very moment, while Lucien was inwardly celebrating, the Soul Hunter beside him suddenly sat up, its octopus-like soft head slowly twisting. The hole that Lucien had created with the Frost Blade Dance was even beginning to heal slowly.

Lucien jumped to his feet, his face pale.

After all, with the injuries he currently sustained, he could no longer withstand a second dose of the Crimson Page’s contamination.

However, Lucien quickly sensed something unusual from the aura emanating from the Soul Hunter’s body and realized that the corpse was becoming animated under the twist of the "corruption" ... commonly known as playing possum.

"Pity, its body and flesh have undergone severe distortion. The natural body structures unique to the Soul Hunter have also been damaged, and the natural patterns related to its Racial Talent have shattered or warped, meaning it holds no value as a collectible. Instead, due to its special contamination, it needs to be cleared away promptly..."

As Lucien pondered this, he suddenly felt a sense of "hunger" and "greed" emanating from the Wizard’s Notes. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Of course, the source of these emotions was the very Crimson Page that had just played a significant role.

Even when the Crimson Page sensed Lucien’s gaze upon it, it even released an "affectionate" emotion. To Lucien, it was somewhat like a cat begging for food in the presence of its owner holding cat feed.

But Lucien understood that the Crimson Page was no mere kitten, but more akin to a giant golden-layered feline. Perhaps it was now simply asking in a somewhat gentle manner, but if it got desperately hungry, it would probably bare its fangs at Lucien, its master.

"Eat, eat ..." Lucien slightly loosened the Wizard’s Notes’ restraints on the Crimson Page, which seemed to hear a command to feast. It joyfully detached from the Wizard’s Notes, and with a light sweep, engulfed the Soul Hunter, including the corrupted blood clots Lucien had earlier expelled within its body.

Even the traces of blood on the walls and the tiny fragments cut off by Lucien’s Frost Blade Dance were all swept up by the Crimson Page.

After doing all this, the Crimson Page contentedly flew back into the Wizard’s Notes and fell into a light slumber, seemingly digesting the substantial meal it had just enjoyed.

"Click, the cleanup is very thorough; it’s an essential tool for murder and robbery..." Lucien looked around the now somewhat disheveled room, clicking his tongue twice but still hurried to restore the scene.

"Phew, it seems that the Soul Hunter made some preparations before the battle, like Mier and some of the characters living nearby, he had already dealt with them beforehand ..."

Lucien quietly passed the servant’s room, and seeing Mier deep in sleep due to some apprentice-level witchcraft, he breathed a sigh of relief.

What were initially measures set by the Soul Hunter for its own sake, now favored Lucien, sparing him a lot of unnecessary trouble.