The Low-key Evil Wizard BOSS-Chapter 43 - 39: Level Two Rat King

The campus graduation ceremony, once filled with cheer and laughter,

had now become a hunting paradise for the rat swarm.

Desperate and terrified wails and screams wove into a great net, enveloping everyone.

Countless mutated gray rats and Calamity Rats, the depths of their pupils glowing blood-red, continuously poured out from the tunnels.

They squeaked and chittered.

They were brazen.

They pursued the fleeing humans in an orderly fashion.

The Noble Academy’s students and teachers panicked, scattering in every direction.

The orchestra, which had been playing, also scattered and hid in terror.

A slow-running girl tripped over the hem of her long gown.

"Save me, Charles!"

She cried out pitifully to her partner for help.

However, the partner who had just been swearing vows of eternal love to her glanced back once before turning away and abandoning her.

In the next moment, the despairing girl was swallowed by a tide of mutated gray rats.

As the gray rats bit and tore at her, the girl was dragged into the pitch-black cavern until the darkness drowned out her desperate screams.

Her dance partner didn’t get far, either. A lean Calamity Rat bit through his heel, and he collapsed.

Screaming in agony, the noble named Charles was also dragged toward the pitch-black cavern.

All across campus, students, teachers, and staff were constantly being besieged by the mutated gray rats.

There was some resistance, but it was sporadic. The gray rats, outnumbering them by dozens or even hundreds to one, quickly crushed them, tore them apart, and feasted greedily.

A terrifying, crimson ceremony was blooming cruelly across the campus.

The sharp stench of blood and Death filled the air.

For the past half-month,

the Rat Plague had been escalating throughout Ogrande City.

People were constantly being bitten by gray rats, and there were even horrifying incidents of victims being dragged away.

Terror from the [Rat Plague] began to hang over Ogrande City.

Ogrande City Hall had already organized Rat Catchers and volunteer militias, backed by the power of the police force.

They began an extermination campaign against the gray rats in the sewers.

They used poison, traps, sealed-off tunnels, and even brought in packs of hunting dogs to corner the sewer rats.

Thousands of gray rats were killed.

For a time, it seemed the "Rat Plague" was about to be contained.

Zorn knew.

The City Hall’s methods would indeed weaken the intensity of the [Rat Plague] outbreak to some extent and help protect Ogrande City.

But, driven by the [Forbidden Bloodline], on the day an Upper Ranker’s bloodline bloomed, the [Rat Plague] would erupt in a twisted, frenzied explosion.

As things stood,

today was the day that terrifying Bloodline Power would erupt.

If it had been a day earlier or a day later,

if it had missed the Noble Academy’s graduation ceremony,

then this "crimson ceremony" at the Noble Academy would never have happened.

But the trajectory of fate was sometimes just that unpredictable.

Since a "crimson ceremony" had occurred here,

it meant that landmark events marking the Rat Plague’s outbreak would also be happening in several other districts.

On the second floor of the academic building,

watching the scene of the gray rats hunting and feeding on humans,

Joliya covered her mouth, her face paling as she witnessed the cruelty of the Extraordinary World.

Although she was a Level One Witch, she knew she might not be able to escape if she were to be swarmed by these gray rats emerging from the sewers.

She stole a glance at Zorn.

But she found Zorn calmly surveying the campus, as if he were looking for something.

She had a sudden realization.

’The Lord has already foreseen everything!’

Her Faith in the great and mysterious [Holy Witch Dominator] grew even more devout.

After a quick survey of the campus,

Zorn spotted the "Nightmare Ratmen"—the same creatures he had killed before, each the size of a grown man—appearing on campus.

They were directing the mutated gray rats to continuously drag captured humans into the caverns.

He could see seven or eight of them alone.

Zorn deduced that there were likely more than twenty, perhaps even more than thirty, in total.

Furthermore, among these rats, there had to be a terrifying [Rat King].

A [Rat King] with advanced intelligence.

"Get down. We’re going upstairs."

Zorn suddenly ducked down, hissing the words in a low, rapid voice.

Without asking why, Joliya immediately copied Zorn, ducking down to hide.

Zorn had noticed two Nightmare Ratmen leading a large number of Calamity Rats and gray rats right toward them.

This brazen swarm was actually searching for more humans.

This was the true terror of the [Rat Plague].

In a concentrated area, they could tear everything apart.

The two of them climbed the stairs all the way to the fifth floor.

As soon as they reached the top floor, they spotted an elderly campus janitor in a gray-blue uniform hiding and trembling in a nearby corner.

The situation outside had clearly terrified him.

"Shh!"

Joliya made a shushing gesture at him.

But as Zorn’s gaze swept over the janitor, his pupils constricted slightly.

"Zorn, what now?"

The two of them crouched down, and Joliya asked in a low voice.

Zorn, however, was already silently mobilizing his Evil Energy as an Evil Spirit Wizard.

"Has your mentor taught you any close-quarters combat skills?"

Zorn asked, his voice low.

"Some, but I’ve never used them in a real fight."

"As long as you’ve been taught, that’s enough. Get ready. You’re about to get some real combat experience."

"What?"

Joliya was still stunned.

Zorn had already spun around.

A black [Destruction Magic Ball], streaked with blood-red, blossomed into existence and instantly struck the janitor hiding in the corner.

"BOOM!"

The massive explosion made Joliya’s ears ring.

As he threw his right middle finger forward, Zorn said quickly,

"Go to the stairwell and hold off those Nightmare Ratmen."

It was a command from the Messenger; she couldn’t refuse.

She immediately ran downstairs, glancing back at the site of the explosion.

A viscous mass of darkness, threaded with blood, spread out like a strange cloud of Black Mist.

"KYEHEHEHEH..."

A low, hoarse voice emanated from the cloud of Black Mist left by the explosion.

At the same time, the cloud of Black Mist rapidly converged.

A Level Two [Nightmare Rat King] emerged from the viscous Black Mist. It was covered in red fur, stood a full two meters tall, and had the form of a Nightmare Ratman.

Although it had used some special means to evade the attack from Zorn’s "Destruction Magic Ball,"

it hadn’t dodged it completely.

The fur on half of its face was scorched black, the flesh peeled back.

Even as bloody threads pulsed and grew, trying to heal the wound,

the damage from the "Destruction Magic Ball" was clearly not so easy to mend.

"Kid, how did you find me?"

The [Nightmare Rat King]—a Level Two Peak being that wanted to capture humans to sacrifice for its own advancement—licked its wound, baring sharp fangs. Its voice was low and full of fury.

Its cold, blood-colored eyes, glowing with a Crimson sheen, were fixed on Zorn.

This Human Transcendent had injured the great [Nightmare Rat King].

It would torture him until he regretted ever being born.

Facing the imposing Rat King, Zorn appeared surprisingly relaxed.

’A Rat King boss?’

’Talk about a boss... as if I’m not one myself.’

He had originally inserted himself into this crimson ceremony precisely to find the Rat King and hunt it.

Then, he would complete his own advancement to Level Two.

Turns out, the [Rat King] had been hiding in the very place they had thought was safe.

"You don’t need to know how I found you,"

Zorn said coolly.

"Because... you’re about to die."

The moment the words left his mouth, Zorn charged.

He threw a punch straight at the [Nightmare Rat King]’s head.

"ROAR!"

Enraged by Zorn’s punch, the [Nightmare Rat King] swung its sharp claws in a counterattack.

Man and beast instantly fell into a high-intensity melee.

Zorn had plenty of other ways to take care of the [Nightmare Rat King].

However, the Experience for his [Basic Skull-Splitting Fist] was already at 95%.

Engaging in a high-level hand-to-hand battle was one of the upgrade conditions for [Basic Skull-Splitting Fist].

It was also a requirement for advancing to [Fighting Master].

Killing the Rat King was merely a secondary objective.

Using the Rat King to upgrade his Skill and advance his Level—that was the primary goal.