The old man had a wicked smile on his face the moment he heard that… As expected, sealing the Dark Energy from the real Philip and connecting his Dark Energy to the fake Philip would make this masked man think that the one on his right was the real one.
In the old man's mind, he guessed that the masked man tried sensing the Darkness Possession of his fellow Dark Arts Practitioner and didn't get a response from the real Philip. He probably thought that the disguise couldn't replicate the Darkness Possession of a fellow practitioner!
'Now!' The old man ordered the Shapeshifter as he attacked Vale with his summoned Spectral Hands.
As soon as the Shapeshifter received the signal he was waiting for, he opened his eyes, which were certainly different from the real Philip and tried to use a Spell.
The Transformation Artists didn't have plenty of attacking spells in their Arcane Path unless they could reach the Expert Realm, where they could slightly copy other Arcanists' Spells.
Nevertheless, the Spell he was about to use was called Forced Haunt. This Transformation Spell would consume a lot of his energy to forcefully transform the person he first saw once he opened his eyes. The transformation could be anything that the caster wanted. In this case, he was hoping to transform his opponent into a pig.
As he opened his eyes, he saw the masked man and triggered his Spell.
'Ahh?'
However, to his surprise, he failed to activate his Spell.
'What's going on?' He was baffled since he felt weakened, as if he had activated the Spell. However, he knows that he failed to activate it.
This made him confused, but something terrifying happened… He felt a few of his Spell Models being destroyed while being grabbed by the masked man!
He wasn't even able to scream in pain as he passed out shortly after!
Bam! Bam! Bam!
At the same time, the Ghost Hands stopped the Spectral Hands that were aiming to kill Vale.
"This…"
The strength of the Ghost Hands surprised the old man. He already knew that the masked person in front of him had Advanced Realm Ghost Hands. However, he didn't think too much of it because, in the first place, the Ghost Hands weren't meant to be used in combat.
He knew that it was a lot easier to increase the mastery of such basic spells since they could be nurtured even if you weren't in combat.
However, he was wrong to underestimate these Ghost Hands.
'These Hands are too tough… Don't tell me he has higher Spirit Strands than me?!' The old man thought as he shifted his attention to the Shapeshifter.
To his horror, he discovered that the man was already unconscious and had already returned to his original appearance.
The masked man was not fooled!
He seemed to have attacked the Shapeshifter before the latter could release his Spell.
'Not good…'
The old man quickly changed his tactic as he tried grabbing the listless Philip in order to use him as a hostage.
However, instead of grabbing Philip, he held a Shadow Soldier that the masked man had summoned using his Shadow!
"Y-you!" He wasn't afraid of it but annoyed at the fact that this Dark Spellcaster could always move one step ahead of him.
"Fine! Just die!" The old man said in a cold voice as he no longer planned to keep Philip and the other prisoners alive.
In any case, as long as he killed this intruder, he wouldn't get heavily punished by his Organization.
Suddenly, there was a burst of demonic energy coming out of his body. This wasn't similar to the Dark Energy that Dark Arts Practitioners use.
The energy felt more suffocating and destructive. Furthermore, the Shadow Soldier was quickly shattered…
As the energy spread, the skin of the unconscious Shapeshifter started turning black. It was the same with the other prisoners!
Of course, Vale was unaffected as he triggered his Arcane Armor the moment he noticed that something was off. Furthermore, he summoned another Shadow Soldier to rescue Philip.
'I can't use my Shadow Soldier anymore…' Vale thought as the Shadow Soldier Spell Light had finally dimmed after the last one was summoned.
As a matter of fact, even his Ghost Hands started to reach its limit as well. Fighting against the Advanced Spectral Hands was indeed too much even for him.
He even had to ask Yvaine to assist this Shadow Soldier in bringing out Philip outside the dungeon.
"Hmm? You're still not dead?! Wait—Isn't that an Arcane Armor?! Just how many Mystical Artifacts do you have with you?!" The old man was pissed off as he gathered his energy from his hand to his cane.
He wanted to strike his cane on the ground and summon a cluster of evil spirits…
However, before the cane hit the ground, he realized he could not move.
This time, Vale no longer hesitated as he used his Shadow Mutilation to freeze his movement.
Of course, he could not do this before when it was only a Level 0 Spell. However, now that it was Level 6, freezing the target wouldn't be so difficult as long as he was holding the Shadow of his target. Or at least, he was stepping on it, like what he was doing now.
"W-what did you do?" He asked while he remained in his position.
The freeze wasn't perfect, but it was enough for Vale.
"I got something good from the Shapeshifter. I hope that you have decent Spell Models as well." Vale replied as he opened his palms and patted the old man.
For some reason, the old man felt that the masked man wasn't just going to kill him but was about to do something even more sinister.
"Y-you! Stop what you're about to do! I'm Charles Blackwood! I'm the previous Headmaster of the Vermont Academy! I'm doing this for the sake of the Dark Arts Factions! At this rate, the Dark Arts Faction will be eliminated by the Association! I'm doing this to ensure the continuity of our Path!"
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