The Lord Demon King is Unfathomable!

Chapter 1350 394: Whispers of Chaos_4

Not far away, Luo Yan, who had just returned to his desk, paused in his steps, a thoughtful expression on his face as he glanced around the laboratory.

Youyou silently appeared beside him, whispering.

"Lord Demon King…"

"The aura of Chaos, huh."

"Yes... but it's different from what we encountered before, not Novel, must be something else."

Luo Yan's eyebrows slightly raised, a playful smile curling at the corner of his lips.

"…Interesting."

The corrosion has reached me.

…

Meanwhile, in a secluded corner of Artisan Street, a girl in a blue magic robe was quietly slipping into a dimly lit shop.

The shop's sign had long faded, and inside, a strange smell of dried herbs mixed with unknown preservatives pervaded the air.

The shelves were filled with unsettling items—eyeballs wriggling in jars, low-whimpering skulls, and scrolls made from the fur of unknown creatures.

The shopkeeper was an elderly female mage slightly tainted by Undead Magic, who was once an assistant at the Academic State but was expelled for her obsession with forbidden research, eventually opening this little shop under the shadow of the Mage Tower.

This street gathered those expelled by the Master Mage, yet the benevolent Master Mage did not drive them to extinction.

After all, who knows when they might come in handy?

The visitor was Lassitina. She had only heard about this shop specializing in selling magic items from the gray area from a senior student.

The shopkeeper seemed to have guessed her intention, a sinister smile creeping over her wrinkled face: "Welcome, dear little one. The All Souls Festival is here again, isn't it? So, what kind of 'surprise' do you want for your competitors?"

"How did you know I was going to use it on a competitor?" Lassitina looked at her warily, quietly tightening her grip on the magic wand hidden under her robe.

"Does that even need asking?" The Old Witch let out a cackling laugh. "At this time, every customer who comes to me needs it for this. Alright, no need to beat around the bush. Or is it that… you don't have any good ideas yourself and need my help?"

Lassitina took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and nodded.

"There's an annoying person I need to teach a lesson, but I don't want it to get too ugly. Most importantly, no one can suspect it was me."

She wanted to give Ilana a lesson, but she didn't want the plebeian's filthy blood on her.

The Old Witch's smile grew darker.

"Then you can only rely on 'accidents' in the Maze."

"Exactly." Lassitina nodded, her voice cold as she spoke, "Is there a spell that can attract Acidic Slimes? Preferably in the form of a trap... this Trial's mentor is Master Merk. Ordinary tricks won't fool him."

The Old Witch laughed dryly and harshly, as if she had heard the biggest joke.

"Attracting the Slime? Little girl, this trick is too childish."

She scrutinized Lassitina with her cloudy eyes, mercilessly mocking, "Your Master Merk may be rigid, but he's no fool. As long as he looks at the victim, then at your and your friend's clumsy act, even a moron could guess what happened. What, you and that fellow just so happened to 'bump into' each other in the maze? Or, you don't know each other at all?"

Lassitina's face instantly showed a panicked expression; she hadn't thought of this possibility.

She opened her mouth, about to argue, but was interrupted.

"Generally speaking—"

The Old Witch slowly interrupted her, lowering her voice a bit, like a snake spitting venom by the ear.

"I would recommend my customers to broaden their perspective a bit. Targeting just one person, the motive is too obvious. If there are more than three victims, turning into an indiscriminate 'accident,' it becomes tough to lock onto the perpetrator's identity through motivations. This way, it's safer for you and for me."

Upon hearing this, Lassitina unconsciously swallowed, her voice slightly dry as she asked, "Then what should I do?"

The Old Witch's wrinkled face finally showed a mysterious and satisfied smile. She turned around, retrieving a small box wrapped in Rune Black Cloth from the deepest shadow of the shelf.

"Hehe, that depends on whether you have the guts. Recently, I've acquired a special item. It's easy to use…"

"You just need to open it and then stay far away."

…

After hearing about the terrifying effect of the "box," Lassitina hesitated for a long while but eventually gritted her teeth and paid the full thirty gold coins.

It was nearly her entire month's living expenses.

She only hoped this money would be well spent.

The shop's door closed with a creak, sealing off the sparse sunlight from the snowfield.

The sinister smile on the Old Witch's face gradually disappeared, replaced by deep fatigue and helplessness.

She turned around, sighing in the deepest shadow of the corner.

"…I don't understand, why a venerated figure like you would use a student? She's just a child…"

Her thoughts inevitably drifted back to the past.

Once, she was also an ordinary assistant at the Academic State, yet because her mentor became obsessed with forbidden research, she was scapegoated and banished beyond the Mage Tower when the truth came out.

She knew better than anyone the tragic end awaiting those pawns used by powerful figures.

Playing tricks on competitors in the Maze Trial would, at most, result in a stumble, teaching a lesson. The Acidic Slimes in the Maze, at most, would ruin clothes, not actually consume a person.

So selling some harmless prank items didn't really bother her, not when there are far worse here than her.

But the "box" she sold today was entirely different.

That would probably be a problem even Master Merk couldn't handle, and even the poor child herself would get caught up in it.

However, the adult hiding in the shadow, she couldn't afford to offend him, nor dare she obviously show reluctance to cooperate.

All she could do was try to scare away that ignorant and self-assured young girl with her most sinister smile and most venomous tone.

But alas, she failed.

The person standing in the shadow never showed his face all along, only speaking in a leisurely and emotionless tone.

"You don't need to know, it's for your own good."

He paused, then continued.

"Besides, you haven't been back home for a while, have you? Maybe you should return home for a few days, and come back during the winter recruitments next year?"

The moment she heard these words, the Old Witch's body uncontrollably trembled, deep fear appearing in her eyes.

She understood, this wasn't a suggestion.

It was an order.

She bowed her head humbly.

"Yes…"

That man nodded in satisfaction, his presence vanishing into the shadowy corner of the room, as if he had never been here at all…