Chapter 262 (1): Vengeful Spirit x Hell x Succubus Transformation

Bar, Western District.

Late at night, mist permeated the Londan city, blurring the lamps lining the streets and the headlights of the cars. Everything looked obscure. Walking amid the mist, one could only see a short distance and not the faraway pedestrians and buildings.

Londan was large, and not every corner of the city was enveloped in mist. For example, the Central District—known as Inner Londan—was the center of politics, culture, and economy, as well as a haven for the rich and powerful. There, the mist was relatively thin. Colorful lights illuminated the area well into the night. It was thus known as a city that never slept.

In the wealthy Western District and Northern District, the mist wasn’t so thick that one couldn’t see their own fingers, but nightlife was similarly active and exciting.

The Eastern District and the Southern District, where the labor class gathered, fared worse. With thick mist covering the areas, there was no nightlife to speak of. The laborers had learned to rise and retire to bed early. After a busy day at work, another followed.

The mist in Londan could not be removed, but it could be suppressed by magical barriers. Due to the barriers being too expensive to maintain, though, only the wealthy Central, Western, and Northern Districts could remain active at night.

The Eastern and Southern Districts should forget about such luxury. They didn’t even have enough money to pay taxes; a nightlife was out of the question. They should all sleep well and work the next day obediently. The nobles were hoping to exploit them further!

Moreover, going outside at night came with risks, be it from dark mages or monsters originating from the mist. The newspapers often published stories about people getting killed or going missing at night.

Last year, several ladies of the night were killed late at night. Rumors that the ripper had returned ran more and more rampant...

An old gentleman in a black suit opened the door to a private room on the second floor of a bar, laying down his walking stick by a seat. He took off his suit jacket and removed his dress hat and wig, revealing his grimy, clumped-up beard and a rumpled, long white coat.

Planck.

Across from him, Wayne had been waiting with his legs crossed. His secretary, Mona, stood behind him.

“You’re becoming more and more similar to Auston, Wayne,” Planck teased.

From the way he dressed, the way his hair was styled, how he held himself, and the beautiful secretary waiting at his side, Wayne was the spitting image of a younger Auston. No wonder rumors claimed that the two were biological father and son. Their similarity made it a natural conclusion.

Even Planck, who knew they weren’t related, had to question himself.

Auston was known for being cunning and shrewd. Planck boldly speculated that Wayne had been sent away at birth for secret training before returning to the family as a student of the lady of the household, becoming the heir of the family officially as a son-in-law.

The obvious reason would be to prevent him from getting dragged into conflicts too early in life and ending up killed before he could reach adulthood. What a clever trick!

The more Planck thought about it, the more he believed Auston to be capable of that. The only issue was the union of the brother and sister. Nevertheless, it wasn’t that serious a problem given the depravity of high society. Auston only had to cite past successes and claim to be going back to the good old days to justify himself.

So, they were father and son!

“Director Planck, my instinct tells me that you’re thinking of something offensive.”

“Oh, no. I’m only praising you for resembling Auston.”

“Nothing is more offensive than that.”

Wayne rolled his eyes. As expected of a legendary mage, he insulted Wayne as soon as he entered the room—an incredibly rude insult at that.

“Wayne, although you’re similar to Auston, you’re missing something...” Planck took his antique silver coin out, fiddling with it with a smile. He knew that Wayne would seek him out.

Wayne openly expressed his desire for the coin. Meditation alone didn’t draw enough elements to satisfy his needs. He wanted the coin to grow stronger still.

Unsurprised, Planck placed the coin on the table, which Mona picked up and handed to Wayne. Wayne took it and quickly started fiddling with it, making him seem even more similar to Auston.

“Wayne, when are you going to start learning about the faith of Darkness? How about Death? Have you ever thought about it?” Planck asked bluntly. It was about time that Wayne got started.

“I need to consider it further...”

“No, you don’t. I’ve brought the teaching materials.” Planck shook his head, producing two black suitcases with a gesture. “Young people these days—no, as expected of Auston’s son, you’re patient and composed. I admit defeat in this waiting game.”

The boxes were filled with teaching materials for both Darkness and Death, enough to help Wayne through the Silver Cross stage. Planck admitted that Wayne was more patient than he was, and he made concessions first, but he advised Wayne not to get competitive at the expense of his future.

Free mages should focus on the reality and benefits at present. Competitiveness should be put aside sometimes.

Losses could turn out to be blessings. He should look at the big picture rather than insisting on winning all the time, or he might win the battle but lose the war. There was no way to reverse time in that case.

Planck talked for a long time. As the loser who had broken the ice, he handed over the teaching materials without negotiating since he was in no position to do that.

Mona took the two black suitcases. Wayne had a quick browse to confirm the wares before turning to leave.

“Wait, there’s one more thing,” Planck said curiously. “Auston has developed a sudden interest in the Forgotten Ones and asked me for a few patients. Do you know why? What is he studying?”

“Forgotten Ones?” Wayne frowned. “What’s there to study about mental patients? Their thoughts are all messed up.”

He stated that it was his first time hearing about it, so convincingly disinterested that Planck had no leverage for pushing further. He dropped the topic.

“Wayne, when do you think you can reach Gold rank?”

“Soon, I think. It shouldn’t take long.” Wayne shrugged. He hadn’t calculated the exact time, but it should be in three to five months.

“That soon?” Planck frowned.

“To tell you the truth, I’ve already been in contact with Darkness and Death; only the environment I was in limited the knowledge I could access.” Wayne pointed at the two suitcases, indicating that those would solve the problem.

Planck nodded, saying that he looked forward to that day.

After the trade, Planck put his disguise back on and departed first.

Ten minutes later, Mona loaded the suitcases into the car, taking the wheel. Following the address Wayne gave her, she navigated to a library in the Western District. It was away from the city bustle, with few pedestrians at night and little activity during the day.

The library was a three-story building, usually not accessible to the public. It had belonged to a noble, who used it to make themselves seem educated and learned.

Due to their family’s decline, the noble had no choice but to sell the proof of their educated image. Megan bought it in Wayne’s name, entrusting the follow-up procedures to Mona.

Mona opened the back door to the library, leading Wayne to the office on the third floor. Beside the massive desk was a closet, sticking out like a sore thumb. Past the secret door was a bigger space.

Usually, secret doors like this were installed in employers’ offices so that they could avoid their wives by claiming to be working overtime, when they were actually fornicating with their secretaries.

Mona explained the correct way to use the secret room, waiting for Wayne to make the demand.

“Next time, for sure!”

He patted her on the bottom before taking out the unfinished Philosopher’s Stone. Sinking his thoughts into the stone, he located the core.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

The

Book of Greed

swallowed the legendary mage’s lifetime reserve of knowledge, spitting out the repeated information and complaining about the lackluster taste. It was far from as scrumptious as Shadow Nightmare or Twilight Despair. When was Wayne going to let the book taste the Sun Knight’s and Moonlight Knight’s weapons?

Wayne ignored the book. It had gotten spoiled and picky. It should learn from him and stop being greedy.

Placing the half-finished Philosopher’s Stone into the magic circle provided by Senna, Wayne opened a secret doorway to establish a connection between the office in the library and Misty Forest.

He and Senna had transformed the forest, splitting the vast space into three areas to separate the divine powers of Nature, Darkness, and Death, preventing them from interfering with each other.

The resourceful centenarian was relentlessly fleeced by a young man. A great amount of magical resources were transported to Misty Forest for the construction of three large manors of vastly different styles. They would serve as shared residences for the fourteen vengeful spirits.

According to Senna’s instructions, Wayne set up the library, ordering Mona around throughout the night. Only when he stopped did he notice that the library and secret space were designed similarly to the district head offices of the Churches of Nature and Moonlight.

“So, those two offices are unfinished Philosopher’s Stones, too?”

Wayne raised an eyebrow. That was likely the case. He activated the portal with a wave, allowing the fourteen vengeful spirits to come and go freely.

The portal led to the office rather than the secret inner room. Soon, fourteen beautiful vengeful spirits emerged.

Seeing these beauties and hearing them call Wayne ‘master’ grated on Mona’s nerves. She huffed and stood stiffly, frozen like a swan punctured by an arrow.

(눈‸눈)

Boss, can you take so many physically?

Sensing her grievances, Wayne spread his hands in resignation. She was yet another member of his inner circle who had severely misunderstood him. Again, he really wasn’t a pervert—not this time, at least.

When he rescued the wraiths of the Holy Maiden candidates, it was out of the kindness of his heart. He didn’t deserve to have a gun pointed at his head for his compassion and decency.