The next events happened so quickly, and Vale could only react on his instincts. 𝒃𝙖.

Rooaar!

The three squirrels transformed into ferocious bears as they charged toward the Headmaster. They were emitting a bloodthirsty aura around them as they bare their fangs and claws to rip the Headmaster apart.

The moment they reached the Headmaster’s range, Vale noticed some changes on the cane he was holding.

It formed into dark chains and moved like a snake, strangling the three creatures simultaneously.

Based on the amount of Dark Energy that the chains had, it must’ve consumed a lot of Dark Energy. Vale couldn’t help but wonder how much Dark Energy the Headmaster had.

‘Not good…’ Vale’s Extrasensory Perception Spell noticed something and wanted to warn the Headmaster.

He realized that Mark had just used a Mystic Spell! He may not know what it does, but it was definitely a dangerous spell that must be avoided.

He wanted to use his Spell Dispersion to assist the Headmaster, but based on how it works, it will also disperse the Spell that Jean was trying to use since he was in the direction of the Mystic Spell.

With this in mind, Vale pulled out an Elemental Talisman from his pocket and tore it apart.

Whoosh~

As the Talisman was activated, a wall of ice formed in front of the Headmaster, blocking the Spell that Mark had just used.

Thud!

The invisible Mystic Art crashed on the wall of ice as it started cracking…

“Tsk…” Mark frowned at the sudden appearance of the ice wall.

The Spell he used was called Bone Softening, and it was something he could only use three times a day. Nevertheless, any living being that got hit by this Mystic Spell would be entirely at his mercy.

‘I miscalculated that boy coming here.’

He thought Jean would try to defend against his Bone Softening Spell using a Dark Spell. He was prepared to bypass this, but the ice wall’s appearance had completely caught him off-guard.

He had never expected that someone in the Dark Arts Academy would use an Elemental Talisman!

He looked at Vale, who was also at the entrance of the building, and decided to kill him first.

He could only use the Bone Softening Spell twice and he had no idea if this young man would interrupt him once again.

With a flick of his hand, a gold coin engraved with a complicated Formation Circle appeared in his hand.

‘This is an expensive Mystical Item, and I plan to use it against Cleo… but I can’t waste my time any longer. You’re lucky to die from this Royal Rank—Eh?’

Mark still felt that using this coin on Vale was a bit too much since he had originally prepared it for Cleo, the Sixth-Squad Captain of the Vessels. It would seem too overkill to use it on a Second Year student of the Academy.

However, he was aware of Vale’s identity and that he has a Dark Spirit protecting him in the shadow. If he used a hastily-formed Spell, Vale’s Dark Spirit could just quickly deal with it and waste his time.

With this in mind, he decided to go all out so he could focus on the Headmaster.

Unfortunately, the gold coin that he was holding tightly seemed to have been sucked into the void, disappearing from his sight!

He wasn’t even able to react until it was gone!

‘W-what was that?!’

Mark’s eyes widened as he couldn’t explain what had just happened.

He checked his sleeve again and confirmed that the gold coin was really gone!

Beads of cold sweat suddenly formed on his back as he failed to understand what was going on.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the time to think for long as the Transformation Artists are already reaching their limits.

‘Mark! What are you doing?! You’re supposed to kill the Headmaster while he’s busy restraining us!’

‘I’m on it now!’ Mark answered as he decided to ignore Vale for now.

He had to change his plans as he swiftly backed away and went to a nearby shelf.

He was planning to use an item inside the Armory!

“Hey, you’re not supposed to touch them…” Headmaster Jean coldly spoke while restraining the struggling Bears with his Dark Chains.

To be honest, these Bears were incredibly strong, and it wouldn’t be weird if they got to escape once he used a different spell.

However, he couldn’t just let Mark use any of the items here.

He used a portion of his energy to cast a Dark Spell. 𝘳.𝑐ℴ𝓂

“Shadow Soldier…” Headmaster Jean muttered.

This caught Vale’s attention as he swiftly looked at the Shadow Soldier that had appeared beside Mark…

“This… You can do it like that?!” Vale was shocked as soon as he saw the Headmaster use his enemy’s shadow to create the Shadow Soldier!

That’s right! Headmaster Jean used Mark’s shadow to trigger the Spell instead of using his own shadow!

Vale had never thought that this was actually possible. It was a good thing that he saw it now since he

‘Is this perhaps an Advanced Realm Shadow Soldier?! Will it work with Shadow Mutilation Spell?’ Vale thought in excitement as he also wanted to do something like that.

Summoning a Shadow Soldier using your opponent’s shadow, then making it commit suicide using the Shadow Mutilation… That seemed like a cruel combination, but it seemed like a proper trump card.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Vale heard three consecutive punches from the Shadow Soldier as it tried to fight against Mark who was planning to take something on the shelves.

“You dare underestimate us?!” One of the Bears spoke with a barely audible voice as he felt that the black chains were weakening.

He started to release a stronger aura as the chains started creaking, threatening to be broken at any moment.

“What a tough bear…” Headmaster Jean wryly smiled as the Black Chains were supposed to expose them to a strong corruption.

If these chains caught some other Arcanists, they should’ve weakened a lot by now, and the Vengeful Spirit he had prepared would be able to use their bodies as Vessels.

A corrupted body would be a perfect target for Vengeful Spirits, after all.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned as the three Bears resisted his chains like they were normal ones instead of mystical ones.

“Tsk… I’m not fond of killing animals, but you’ve given me no other choice.”

𝑖𝘦.𝑐𝘰𝘮