A white-furred baboon, shoulders slouched, its maw open and salivating, and muscles bulging from its chest and legs. It was a horrifying sight.

The Black Priest was the first to recover from the hit, though he looked heavily wounded and on the verge of collapsing.

The confident and smug expression on Joshua’s face was replaced by surprise and terror. Neither he nor Parmenas expected the mysterious attacker to actually be a parasite. It was the worst possible opponent to be fighting.

With the bronze shield in his hand, the baboon jumped upwards and spun around as he smashed the shield toward the youth.

Joshua quickly raised his hand and conjured a massive black vortex that blocked the incoming attack and even pushed back the parasite.

Parmenas, whose spine was broken, had yet to recover, and when he saw the baboon using the momentum of getting pushed back to attack him instead, he shouted outloud and unleashed all of his Holy Magic.

A golden brilliance burst forth, healing him instantly but turning his face wrinkly and even making him cough blood.

Arthur, airborne, struck with the shield but he was blocked again. Nevertheless, he raised the bronze shield and hammered again.

Like a ragdoll, the Deacon’s shining body was flattened to the ground, his staff blown a couple of meters away.

Just as the parasite was about to finish him off, the many-legged sinister-looking creature from earlier appeared and latched on his back.

Moreover, bubbles made of formless Darkness exploded above him.

A bit of sticky blood flowed from the baboon’s body, but it didn’t fall down. It used its long arms to grab the creature on its back before literally ripping it apart using brute force, and then it quickly picked the shield and, like a baseball, threw it at Joshua.

The Black Priest, not expecting such a random move, was caught off-guard. The spinning shield, which was the same size as he was, directly crashed into him.

Parmenas, fighting back with all he could, started channeling one of his strongest spells but his leg was caught by the baboon.

He flailed his arms and tried to shoot laser beams, but couldn’t when the parasite started spinning at a rapid pace.

The dizziness and disorientation practically made him unable to do anything as his body vision blurred before he was let go. However, even then, he was powerless and could only watch as his body whooshed away then crashed into one of the nearby trees, breaking it in the process then rolling on the dirt.

His body, which had just been completely healed, sustained similar heavy wounds. The man kept vomiting blood and trying to stand up, but his arms were shaking and his Mana Reservoir was nigh empty.

The parasite turned back his attention to the Black Priest, who fared much better than his counterpart.

Joshua Boulard was holding a black-colored cross and pointing it at the parasite as he was the devil.

“You think I’m scared?! You’re dead! Dead!”

Arthur wanted to intercept him and finish this once and for all, but his body refused to move.

It was an ominous sensation, akin to being pressed down by an unstoppable force. He was locked in the same position, rendered completely powerless and defenseless.

Whatever Joshua was doing, it had totally immobilized the parasite.

With slow and unsteady steps, the Black Priest approached the towering baboon while still pointing the cross at it.

When he was cloned enough, he used his other hand to conjure a large enough black vortex.

The spinning mass of darkness loomed over Arthur’s head, weakening him and damaging the host.

‘No. Not yet.’

It was hard to understand the concept behind the black vortex or what it did exactly, but it was strikingly similar to [Wither Touch], albeit at a lower potency.

It also caused physical and magical damage simultaneously.

Within thirty seconds, the baboon’s body was riddled with holes and had multiple black spots imbued with Darkness-aspected magic.

Joshua’s hand was shaking and his face was pale and profusely sweating. He held onto the cross as much as he could and slowly finished the incapacitated parasite.

Eventually, when two full minutes passed, he lowered the cross and gasped for air.

Facing him was the baboon, fallen to the ground and missing over a third of its body.

Its two long arms were gone, its torso had a gaping bloody hole, and the skin on its head was shredded and torn, making it uglier than ever.

Joshua knew the parasite wasn’t dead, so he clenched his open hand, causing the ground to turn jet black and the baboon’s body to be pulled within.

Like a black hole, the ground absorbed everything, and after a couple of breaths, it let out an explosive ejection.

By the end of it, the baboon’s body was wounded to an unimaginable degree. Even if the parasite was still able to control it, it would still be useless due the missing legs and arms, and the broken bones.

Joshua leaned against a tree and, with a trembling hand, emptied the transparent liquid stored within a hand-sized vial.

His complexion got much better as he recovered Mana, but he didn’t linger there for much longer.

After one last look at the decimated body of the baboon, he pressed his hand against his broken rib and turned around to flee.

It was then that something small but very agile leapt from a nearby bush.

The host known as ‘Acid Lizard’, jumped at the unsuspecting Black Priest. Its timely attack allowed it to hit the target’s chest, pushing him back before biting down on his neck.

Darkness burst from Joshua’s hands, drilling into the lizard, but it kept biting down on his jugular.

“Aarrrgh!!”

Acid and poison were spat out, damaging Joshua’s skin and making him fall. Still, he didn’t stop unleashing his nefarious Black Magic.

Arthur was confident in finishing him off even with the lizard, but when his vision turned red, he unhesitantly jumped down and swiftly rushed towards his magical bag.

Earlier, when he had used [Origin Return], he switched to the baboon’s body and also hid one of the human bodies nearby.

Within seconds, he was already next to the lifeless corpse 30 meters away from Joshua.

It was the last cultist body in his possession and the one he would use in emergency situations. After all, the last human host was that of Leonis Sanguis, and Arthur didn’t want to use it here and now as that might expose him.

‘Nader was right. Possessing a significantly stronger ‘virgin’ host does grant me somesort of unspecified, almost intangible boost.’

Even individually, Parmenas and Joshua were strong opponents yet Arthur was able to overpower them both. Admittedly, Joshua did succeed in inflicting quite the damage thanks to the strange cross, but Arthur knew that both of them would have trump cards up their sleeve.

In Parmenas’ case, he didn’t use it and instead fled away. Arthur didn’t bother to chase him as he wasn’t the primary target and having him gone would facilitate things.

With a healthy human host, Arthur took a few steps before stopping and gazing at the new arrival.

“This is enough. I need him alive.”

Joshua’s entire lower body was frozen in ice and even when he used his magic, the ice wouldn’t get affected.

Standing right in front of him was a graceful young woman wearing a long wizardly robe and hat, and holding an exquisite crystalline staff.

Archmagus Sonia Ma, Principal and Head of the Nemia Academy.

Sonia didn’t attack the parasite, but her wariness was more than apparent. Her staff was raised and ready to fire.

“If I remember correctly, the contract was for you to protect Joshua Boulard.”

With a wide grin on his face, Arthur shrugged his shoulders and rebuked,

“That was before I learnt that he was the real thief. I guess you wanted him to unwittingly reveal where the Alchemy Scripture was.”

“He is… quite reckless.” Remarked Sonia as she glanced at him.

Joshua had stopped any resistance, but his eyes were narrowed and filled with murderous intent.

“I had initially hoped you’d find the scripture and get him off his hands, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.”

Arthur chuckled and took a couple more steps only for Sonia to subtly move her staff, causing the ground to freeze and a hazy mist to creep closer to him.

In retaliation, a heat emitted from his hands, clashing against the ice-aspected energy and pushing it back.

“I also happen to need him too, Miss Ma.”

“Violence isn’t needed. After I’m done with him, you may do as you like.”

She paused for a split second, a faint cunning smile forming on her round face,

“All spies are ‘gone’, which means you’ve fulfilled your end of the bargain. Unless you do not want to get the ‘bodies’ I had promised, I suggest we stop here. There is truly no need to fight amongst ourselves.”

The parasite kept smiling back as he nodded continuously,

“That’s right! We are not enemies, isn’t that right, Miss Ma?”

“Definitely.”

She got rid of her magic then elegantly bowed toward Arthur before floating in the air and bringing the half-frozen Joshua with her.

Like a shooting star, Sonia flew back to the campus, soon disappearing from Arthur’s view.

“It’s already over.” He stated with a clarion and resounding voice.

His vision kept flashing red, and his senses had already caught onto the person hiding a short distance away.

Melissa Crimson revealed herself and approached the parasite, two thick silver gauntlets equipped in her hands.

The artifacts were different from the norm as they looked more mechanical than magical. A bit of hot steam was coming out of the small pipes and holes around the gauntlets.