Genius Warlock

Chapter 346

"Why has it come to this?"

Theodore pondered, gazing at the spear lodged in his arm and the colossal beanstalk sprouting from it.

Despite having faced and battled entities beyond this world, even assimilating some of them, he found himself bewildered by his current predicament.

He had never relaxed his vigilance nor shown any leniency, yet he couldn't comprehend why he was gradually losing ground.

‘Is it because this is an exceptional, rare case? ...No, this can't be. I can't be overpowered by such a mere child!'

Despite his youth, Theodore raised his arm, refusing to accept the situation where he was being forced back by Dave, who displayed boundless potential and talent.

Multiple arms sprouted from Theodore's limb, coalescing into massive, tentacle-like formations. His intention was to sweep away his adversaries with a single decisive strike.

Although Dave had astonishingly breached his magical defenses, Theodore believed this to be the limit. By eliminating Dave and severing the beanstalk's connection, he could regain the upper hand.

What had momentarily staggered him was an unexpected maneuver by Dave. However, now that his foundation was laid bare, Dave had no chance of victory.

As Theodore prepared to unleash his tentacle-like arms, Dave stepped forward, devoid of protective magic, and invoked a black magic spell.

[Parasite]

As Dave chanted, the beanstalk transformed.

It writhed with a sinister will, drawing all forms of energy from Theodore's body through its newly formed maw, irrespective of Theodore's will.

Theodore experienced excruciating pain, despite having applied a pain-suppressing formula, and tasted an unfamiliar fear gnawing at him from within.

The body he had cultivated to rival Merlin, to escape death, to confront the apocalypse, and to lead humanity, was crumbling under the influence of a mere black magic spell.

However, what transpired next left Theodore even more shocked.

Dave absorbed the emotions, Life-force, and mana siphoned by the beanstalk and wielded them as weapons against Theodore.

"Gah! ...Choke!"

A different level of shock and agony spread through his body.

‘Why to this extent... Is it because it's my emotions and life force? Even then, this is—'

—Snap!

Before he could complete his thoughts, Dave struck him again.

For the first time in a long while, Theodore lost his composure due to sheer pain.

No, it wasn't just the loss of composure; he was descending into terror.

The terror of losing, of dying.

‘No... It can't be... This is impossible!'CHeCk for new stories on no/v/el/bin(.)c0m

This terror ignited Theodore's will to survive, triggering the numerous genes of wizards, warlocks, and mana users he had incorporated into his flesh to go into a frenzy.

Limbs sprouted all around Theodore's body, indiscriminately discharging mana into his surroundings.

The will to live within Theodore and the survival instincts encoded in his genes intertwined.

Despite his unleashing of chaotic, uncontrolled attacks, it wasn't a significant problem.

He still possessed an abundance of emotions, Life-force, and mana within him, despite the drain inflicted by the beanstalk.

In fact, the situation had somewhat improved.

Dave and his Corpse dolls were forced to retreat due to Theodore's indiscriminate assaults.

Seizing this opportunity, Theodore concentrated all his power into his fist, seeking to turn the tide.

In that fateful moment, Theodore saw it.

Dave, having harnessed Theodore's emotions, Life-force, and mana, amalgamated these three forces to craft another artificial soul.

Dave had twice achieved what had yet to be accomplished even within the Magic Tower, reinforcing his dark magical armor and swinging his quarterstaff with unparalleled force.

For an instant, the world fell silent, and amidst the torn void and bifurcated lake, Theodore's arm was torn away and vanished.

Only one word echoed in Theodore's mind.

Yet, soon Theodore recognized something even more unsettling at the deepest recesses of that obscurity.

It gazed back at him.

Gazed back at him.

Gazed upon him.

Him.

Himself.

***

"......!!"

Theodore, who had precisely thrust his hand into Oliver's back, suddenly withdrew it and let out a silent scream.

His emotions, initially fueled by an unwavering will to survive, were swiftly engulfed by fear and dread, shattering his sanity. Within his body, the vast reserves of mana, emotions, and life force seemed to fragment, each struggling to unravel.

“Gah ......!!"

Oliver clutched his chest, where there should have been a gaping hole, observing Theodore's frenzied state.

While no physical void appeared, as it had when Theodore consumed his own grandson, the sensation remained etched in Oliver's memory.

Theodore sought to inject refined, high-quality emotions and life force into Oliver, aiming to absorb not just his physical freedom but also his consciousness.

As Theodore intruded into Oliver's mind, a glimpse of his thoughts and an understanding of the reasons behind his actions flickered across Oliver's consciousness. He also briefly glimpsed Theodore's vast pool of knowledge and memories.

It was akin to a swift perusal of a book, brief yet informative.

As Oliver delved into Theodore's memories and knowledge, he found himself drawn into Theodore's inner world, reaching for the deepest recesses of his memories and essence. In that moment, he pulled back his hand, retreating into an unfamiliar state.

The emotions, mana, and life force he had absorbed began to disentangle and fluctuate wildly, causing him to lose his rationality and plunge into madness.

He couldn't fathom why this was happening or what he had glimpsed.

He pondered if it had any connection to entities from beyond this world.

‘The problem is that I don't know what it is...'

Oliver contemplated asking, but seeing Theodore's descent into madness, he deemed it a futile endeavor.

Given their strained relationship, prying information from him seemed improbable.

More than anything, he was intrigued to continue observing this bewildering state.

‘That state of madness... it feels familiar somehow...'

While Oliver studied Theodore's bizarre condition, he noticed something peculiar.

Theodore's body, which had ruptured and subsequently regenerated, appeared to be tearing itself apart once more due to the erratic fluctuations of emotions, life force, and mana. In a manner reminiscent of his battle with Puppet in the underground basement of the contaminated zone, portions of Theodore's flesh attempted to break free, adopting human forms.

However, due to prolonged fusion or incomplete genetic integration, most of them struggled to escape. Even those that did only crumbled and sank beneath the surface of the lake.

It was during this chaos that Oliver spotted a familiar entity struggling to break free.

It was Theodore's grandson Carl who fused before Oliver's eyes.

Like his grandfather, he too had succumbed to irrationality, desperately attempting to free himself from Theodore's body.

"Ugh... save... me...!"

The Corpse dolls, who had returned to their original positions, seemed poised to attack, but Oliver hesitated momentarily, raising his hand to stop them. He approached Theodore alone.

Utilizing Ptah's Assistant, a mana-based mechanical arm, around Theodore, Oliver equipped himself with a similar glove and began a surgical procedure to separate Theodore from Carl, employing the knowledge he had recently acquired from Theodore.

Although his inexperience made the procedure rough, numerous mechanical arms moved with intricate precision to untangle the entwined forms of Theodore and Carl. While the separation was not perfect, Oliver eventually succeeded.

The Corpse dolls and others in the vicinity appeared perplexed by Oliver's inexplicable actions, tilting their heads in confusion.

They were not the only ones left bewildered.

"Why did you save him?" Oliver turned toward the source of the voice, finding Gretel hovering in the air through the use of mana.

"I wanted to hit him... and I have something to say."