Diary of a Dead Wizard-Chapter 227: Little Algae Protects Its Master

Little Algae, rarely scolded by Saul, dejectedly retreated into the back of his neck.

Saul stared at the remaining new solution and the still undissolved gray powder. Gritting his teeth, he poured in all the Soul Resin he had.

With the increase in volume, the gray powder dissolved even faster. Soon, there wasn't a single grain of powder left in the cauldron.

He stirred the mixture with a crystal rod a few times to ensure it was fully dissolved, then stood up and fetched a potion from the cabinet—Heart's Guard.

A life-saving artifact for apprentices, usable from First to Third Rank.

He downed the potion in one gulp, then walked back to the cauldron. He deactivated the magic formation and waited for the faint electric reaction to fully subside. The gray solution then began to slowly solidify.

Watching this unfold, and recalling the earlier mutation of the plant, Saul’s brows furrowed deeply.

Yet despite his lingering fear, his hands plunged into the cauldron without the slightest hesitation—it had a kind of tragic, sacrificial resolve.

Then, a most miraculous thing occurred.

The gray solution actually began to climb up Saul’s arms on its own, needing no shaping or sculpting as in the past.

But when he saw the gray solution forming his hands into two black cement pillars, Saul began to panic.

He tried molding the new material into the shape of hands, but as soon as he let go, the material reverted to its previous form.

Still, Saul did not panic. The more critical the moment, the more he needed to rely on theory.

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In his mind’s eye, the theoretical formulas for the new material flashed by like a slideshow until stopping on a specific page.

He closed his eyes, and his mental body spun into overdrive. Compared to other wizard apprentices, his mental force was nothing short of overwhelming, and he poured it relentlessly into both arms.

In the very next second, the cement-like limbs began to reshape themselves—into human hands.

Not only that, but the hands, sculpted by his mental force, were astonishingly lifelike. They had fingernails, skin folds, and even capillaries and muscle fibers sensed beneath the surface.

They were a perfect replica of Saul’s real hands.

Saul’s face lit up with delight, but the joy lasted only three seconds before a sharp sting came from his elbows.

He quickly raised his arms and was shocked to find the stumps of his original limbs were being corroded by the gray solution. Yet there was no pain at all—as if the solution carried some kind of numbing property.

“Is this the start… of devouring my body?”

To perform the plastic bone body modification, Saul had long since dissolved the flesh from his hands. From elbows to fingertips, only white bone remained, manipulated by some dark element power.

But now, the new material seemed unwilling to be confined to the forearms. It was creeping past his elbows, trying to advance further up his arms.

He wasn’t too alarmed. Every one of his body modifications walked a tightrope, and as long as the diary didn’t appear, Saul trusted his balance to be top-tier.

Without fear of the unknown, Saul instead lifted his arms and inspected them.

As the flesh was corroded, blood began to seep out. But the moment it touched the gray solution, it was devoured and turned gray as well.

Capillaries, veins, arteries… As the corrosion spread, more and more of his vascular and nervous systems were exposed to the gray solution.

Enduring the ticklish sensation—like hundreds of tiny fish nibbling at dead skin—Saul projected his mental power into the interface between the solution and his skin.

Due to blood pressure, the gray solution was still only consuming the blood seeping out. But as the contact deepened, Saul could feel the grayness slowly overtaking the red—starting to invade his blood vessels in reverse.

Compared to the solid muscle and bone, solution blood was the easiest to assimilate.

As Saul watched anxiously, the gray solution finally breached the barrier and entered the maze of vessels inside his arms.

And to his astonishment, inside the artificial hands formed by the gray solution, a layer of organ-like vascular structure had formed, mirroring his real arms.

His fake hands were becoming more and more like real ones.

The influence of the new Soul Resin had gone far beyond Saul’s expectations. Deep down, he had an ominous feeling: he might truly be crossing a line into something no longer human.

And just as that thought arose, he felt a strong numbness flare in his arms—like the painful, dead-tingle feeling from a nap-induced compression.

The numbness crept from his arms to his torso, and Saul suddenly felt his heart clench violently.

The next moment, his brain faithfully did its job, and he passed out.

A black tendril caught Saul before he hit the ground. Then it split into two more tendrils, like thick thighs, and carefully walked him over to the stone coffin, gently placing him inside.

Afterward, Little Algae, uncharacteristically, didn’t return to Saul’s neck. Instead, it crouched beside him like a loyal guardian.

At that moment, a shadow dropped from the ceiling of the second warehouse.

The shadow hit the floor and began to change shape—eventually forming into a silhouette of a woman cloaked in black.

The shadow approached the coffin and bent down to examine the boy inside.

“This kid is reckless, and Gorsa just lets him be!” Yura’s voice was filled with undisguised fury. “A Second Rank apprentice, has he even finished learning all wizardly? Is his magic output up to standard? Is his mental body stable? And he dares attempt such a dangerous body modification?!”

She was nearly losing her mind. Bits of black ash flaked off her body and melted into the surrounding shadows.

“No. If he dies like this, all the preparation we’ve done will be for nothing.”

Looking at Saul, barely breathing, his face now traced with gray veins, Yura made a decision.

“No matter if it makes Gorsa suspicious, I have to save this little lunatic’s life. I can't take this agony any longer! I have to stop this transformation!”

But just as Yura reached toward Saul, Little Algae suddenly moved to block her.

“Step aside,” Yura said coldly.

Little Algae trembled, but refused to move.

“Don’t forget who buried you under the Wizard Tower. If you defy me, I’ll open the magical seal below and turn you back into the mindless killing beast you once were!”

Little Algae curled over Saul, shaking violently.

But still—it did not retreat.

“You really did choose a new master…” Yura’s fingers extended, growing into long, scythe-like blades.

Wherever her fingertips passed, the solid stone coffin sliced open like butter.

Little Algae trembled even harder.

Just as she was about to shred Little Algae apart, Yura suddenly stopped.

“Forget it. For the years you once protected me… I’ll let you have your way this time. If you want to guard him, then guard him. I’m just a stranger to you now anyway.” With a cold laugh, she withdrew her hands, floated upward, and vanished into the ceiling.

Seeing her finally leave, Little Algae let out a very human-like sigh of relief and collapsed limply onto Saul’s body.

But just as it raised its head again to stay alert, it suddenly saw a figure standing in front of Saul’s experiment table.

That person wore a reddish-brown cloak and held one of Saul’s draft pages—his fingers wrapped in pink bandages—as he studied it.

Little Algae instantly froze in place.

If facing Yura had made it tremble in fear, then facing Gorsa made it too scared to even move.

Even instinct… could be paralyzed by terror.

(End of Chapter)