The Low-key Evil Wizard BOSS-Chapter 82 - 18: Magical Castle, Assassin Boss

Isabelle, wearing a rather loose, blue floral summer wrap dress and a black-veiled sun hat, stepped out of a steam car and walked toward a secluded pier.

The Bay Area Pier was a hub of wealth, so there was no shortage of steam cars. No one paid this particular vehicle any mind.

Through the hidden vision of an Upper Ranker, Zorn watched until Isabelle disappeared onto a steamship moored at the port. Only then did he slowly look away.

He could already see it: the ship was emanating considerable fluctuations of leaking Spiritual energy.

It also bore the traces of many dead Wandering Souls.

’A small chance it’s a Sun Secret Cult stronghold.’

’A high probability it’s the secret hiding place of that Evil Spirit Divine Mage.’

Isabelle and the Evil Spirit Divine Mage had a very good relationship.

During the Saintisman Steam War and the Church’s internal strife, a new Empire was established with the support of the Sun Secret Cult. Isabelle Isaiah ascended to the throne, enjoying a period of unrivaled glory.

At that time, the Evil Spirit Divine Mage had already devoured a portion of an Evil Spirit Wizard’s remains, along with the flesh of several others. This allowed them to achieve a preliminary stabilization of their Sequence.

As if they’d won the game of life, they became the new Empire’s Palace Wizard.

Isabelle Isaiah was very good at hiding her true self; she was a very ambitious woman.

She was unscrupulous in achieving her goals, even willing to use her own body as a price.

To gain the full support of the Sun Secret Cult, she went so far as to use the power of her Mist Giant bloodline to disguise herself, ingratiating herself with and submitting to the Evil Spirit Wizard leader.

And at a critical moment, she thwarted Zorn Corick’s final, mad display to the world.

Ultimately, she cemented her status by stepping on Zorn Corick’s skeleton.

This time, however, neither of them would likely have such an opportunity.

’The Evil Spirit Divine Mage must die.’

’And their death must be a meaningful one, a valuable one.’

’As for Isabelle Isaiah, if she’s willing to submit, it’s not out of the question to let her take power. She is quite capable, after all.’

’However, there are plenty of Transcendents from the Isaiah bloodline who possess the power of the Mist Giant. If this Empress won’t listen, I can just replace her with one who will. The Isaiah lineage has no shortage of potential empresses!’

"Let’s go."

Zorn’s voice finally sounded.

Old Nero started the carriage again.

Inside the carriage, although the air was a bit stuffy, Zorn’s mood was better than ever.

’Now that I have a lead, I’ll have to go back and plan carefully to see just how deep this rabbit hole goes.’

’I didn’t use my powerful Forbidden Curse vision to investigate precisely to avoid tipping off my target. Using a deeper power to investigate will allow me to uncover far more valuable secrets.’

...

In the last few days of July, Zorn became busy.

With his previous experience setting up a Steam Potion Factory, opening another one was very simple.

When he established his first small-to-medium-sized Steam Potion Factory, Zorn scouted several talented managers. Using the power of his Authority, he converted them into devout Believers. This, combined with the Spiritual Statues, would perfectly ensure the Steam Factory remained under his control.

However, since he planned to open a larger Steam Factory, one that would even exert some influence over the Witches, he would need to construct more advanced Spiritual Statues.

Deep underground, in the planar ruins of the Legendary Ancient Mage, were the resources Zorn needed to construct more advanced Spiritual Statues.

The tasks of finding a location for the new steam potion factory and setting it up were handed over to those managers.

Zorn planned to wait until the number of Extraordinary Sequences in Ogrande City increased, then he would also slowly cultivate his subordinates into Transcendents.

With the cheat-like nature of his Dual Sequence, Zorn just needed to enslave enough Transcendents to easily obtain Fighting Essence, which would then become Experience for his Dual Sequence’s growth.

Previously, his Level was not high enough to reliably control a sufficient number of Transcendents.

But Zorn had since advanced to Level Three. His power had grown as he further assimilated the Sun King’s Golden Skeleton and mastered abilities like the Catastrophe·Immortal Sacred Mark and the Calamity Black Mist.

At Level Three, Zorn was now capable of reliably controlling other Transcendents.

The development of the Holy Witch Church could also slowly be put on the agenda.

However, to develop the Holy Witch Church, he would need to scout a batch of talented individuals.

And Ogrande City, the starting point of this new saga, had no shortage of talent.

There were even quite a few talented individuals with mini-boss level Sequences.

These mini-bosses were also important targets for Zorn in the coming period.

...

One day, around noon.

Zorn took a detour from the pier street in the Bay Area, heading toward the Adolf Witch’s Monastery in the Fog Zone.

Inside the carriage, Zorn quietly pondered the findings from his investigation of the steamship at the pier over the past few days.

Relying on his Evil Spirit Wizard’s deep sense for Spiritual Essence, Zorn had confirmed that the ship was the lair of the Evil Spirit Divine Mage.

Due to the incompleteness of their Sequence, their Divine Spiritual Ability would leak out slightly.

Although it was very faint, Zorn had still managed to detect it.

The ship was also protected by an extremely strong Ritual Curtain barrier. If he investigated rashly, he would be detected by the Evil Spirit Divine Mage.

’That Evil Spirit Divine Mage boss frequents the nearby taverns. If I were to stake the place out for a long time, I might make an extraordinary find and uncover something even bigger. But I obviously don’t have that much time. Besides, neither a Fighting Master nor an Evil Spirit Wizard is well-suited for this kind of task. But I’ve already identified a very good mini-boss Assassin candidate—in fact, a perfect one.’

When he arrived at the Witch’s Monastery again, the entire place had a completely refreshed look.

Clean paths, whitewashed walls.

During the meal, Zorn noticed that the variety and portion sizes of the food, as well as the amount of meat served, were completely different from before.

Even the habits worn by the children of the Monastery were neat, clean, and well-fitting.

It was clear the Witches, having earned some money, were truly willing to spend it on the children.

After lunch at the Witch’s Monastery, Zorn met with Bishop Teresa.

When he told her that the matter had been settled, even Bishop Teresa couldn’t help but break into a warm smile.

"The Witches will be grateful for what you have done for us."

"We will forever remember your kindness."

Zorn, in turn, struck while the iron was hot and stated his own needs.

"Bishop Teresa, I am aware that in the High Mountains there exists an incredible type of Extraordinary Species known as a Magical Castle."

"I’m very interested in this kind of magical species."

"I’m even planning to open a facility for farming Monster Treasure Chests."

"I was wondering if it would be possible to capture one of these Magical Creatures, a Magical Castle, and bring it to Ogrande City?"

Bishop Teresa thought for a moment before saying.

"Magical Castles in the High Mountains aren’t particularly rare Magical Creatures."

"Many Witch Tribes trade them. While they aren’t cheap, the price shouldn’t be too steep for you, Zorn."

Hearing this, Zorn instantly understood that in this version of the world, the number of Magical Castles was relatively high.

"Roughly between 2,000 and 5,000 gold pounds."

Bishop Teresa gave a rough price range.

"The gold pounds are not an issue. I hope to obtain a Magical Castle with excellent overall capabilities."

Zorn made it clear that money was no object; he only wanted the best!

Excellent overall capabilities meant the Magical Castle could expand and contract quickly, had greater adaptability, could contain a larger area, and was more compatible with various rituals and forms of Energy.

"Rest assured, Zorn. I will select a suitable Magical Castle for you as soon as possible and have it delivered promptly."

Next, after the two negotiated about the young Witches coming to work in the factory, Zorn left a 1,000 gold pound deposit and took his leave.

Zorn originally had 4,000 gold pounds. Adding the 36,000 in pure profit he had just earned, Zorn now wielded a fortune of 40,000 gold pounds.

Although setting up the large Steam Factory would likely cost twenty to thirty thousand gold pounds, Zorn would still have around ten thousand gold pounds of disposable funds.

Moreover, the Steam Potion Factory’s Holy Healing - Micro-Light Fluorescent Agent was gradually opening up markets in the various Steam City-States of the Autanston Republic through the Witches’ sales channels.

Its reputation was quite good, and it was beginning to be accepted by more and more Transcendents.

He estimated it could bring in another 3,000 to 5,000 gold pounds in revenue each month.

It wasn’t as quick as profiting from a catastrophe, but it had the advantage of being a steady, continuous income stream.

"To the Old Town District. Ruke Long Street, Red River Valley Tavern!"

Zorn gave the order after leaving the Monastery and boarding his carriage.

...

As dusk fell, the Red River Valley Tavern gradually grew lively.

There were travelers from all over, as well as local workers who were regulars at the tavern.

Of course, there was no shortage of Mafia members either.

Near Ruke Long Street, there was the Sanma Mafia.

One was the Silver Horse Mafia, located near the Rat Catcher’s territory, which was mainly involved in the carriage rental business. They took a cut of one Silver Dragon from basically all carriage operations in the Old Town District.

Another was in the red-light district behind Ruke Long Street, where there were many streetwalkers.

It was also known as the Old Town District’s "den of ecstasy" and was the territory of the Red Horse Mafia.

Then there was the Poison Horse Mafia, which was involved in selling addictive potions.

They would sell those illegal, addictive potions in various taverns.

And the Red River Valley Tavern was their den.

"Poison Horse Mafia" was the name the surrounding residents privately called them.

The Mafia’s real name was the Red River Valley Mafia.

Red River Valley Town, deep within the Mist, was the source of their black market goods. They used the fertile soil there to cultivate illegal plants.

The bosses of the Sanma Mafia were all very powerful and famous mini-boss level Sequences.

When Players were weak, they could investigate, collect evidence, and then report them to the authorities. The officials would engage and injure the boss, leaving them in a low-health state.

This way, a Player could finish off the boss with relative ease.

Not only would they reap a handsome sum of gold pounds, but they could also obtain a lot of information about "the Mist."

If they didn’t want to go through all that trouble, they could directly find these mini-bosses and challenge them to a duel.

Behind the Red River Valley Tavern was the arena for the boss fight.

But in that case, the Player would need to have the strength to defeat the boss in a duel on their own.

Many Players who weren’t very strong would try to save time by directly challenging a boss at full health, only to be brutally beaten to a pulp by the bosses of the Sanma Mafia.

So much so that later on, even when they became powerful, Players would still come back to challenge these former bosses, pinning them to the ground and giving them a savage beatdown!

The boss of the Poison Horse Mafia, who had the boss-level Sequence, Doomsday Shadow Stab, had mastered the "Assassin’s Soul," and possessed many powerful Skills.

But this Poison Horse Mafia boss had a rather fatal flaw.

Namely, his Doomsday Shadow Stab had a certain Spiritual defect.

He was basically the easiest of the three Sanma bosses to deal with.

Soon, Zorn’s target arrived.

His figure was slightly gaunt, and he wasn’t particularly tall. He wore a simple brown robe over his clothes.

He was the type of person who wouldn’t stand out in a crowd at all.

This also perfectly suited his Doomsday Shadow Stab Sequence.

After entering the tavern, he took off his soft felt hat, fanned himself with it, and ordered a large mug of iced Kum Quat Liqueur from the bartender.

He scanned the tavern.

His gaze fell on a corner not far away.

The other areas were quite crowded.

Except for that one spot, where there was only a very young man.

He was slightly startled, then walked over, holding his iced Kum Quat Liqueur.

"Kid, I don’t care what you’re here for, but... this is my turf. You’d better not cause any trouble here."

Sitting down across from Zorn, the Poison Horse Mafia boss, the Doomsday Shadow Stab, Alvin Burke, said in a low voice, his tone full of warning!