Sixth Ring Wizard

On the windowsill was a woman's head, with a headless corpse behind it.

The headless corpse held a violin in its left hand and gently caressed the head with its right hand.

Herag stopped digging, stood up, and locked eyes with the head, the scene falling into silence.

All the Demon Flowers closed their eyes, their flower heads drooping.

The headless corpse raised its left hand, placed the violin on its shoulder, then lifted the head and slid it along the strings, blood dripping down the strings, strands entwining around the violin.

The woman's head seemed to be immersed in the enchanting music, closing her eyes with a smile, savoring the violin's melody.

In Herag's eyes, a mass of Negative Energy Particles began to gather by the window.

Without hesitation, he fired three Corrosive Arrows at the headless corpse playing the violin.

When the Corrosive Arrows struck, the hit area of the headless corpse rapidly corroded, making sizzling sounds.

The woman angrily opened her eyes, pain etched on her face.

Herag raised his hand, his ring flashed, and a Small Fireball Technique quickly formed, then flew towards the opposite side.

The violin's music quickly resumed, the headless corpse's right arm suddenly swelled, transforming into a massive arm with red fur in mere moments.

The arm was larger than the headless corpse itself, looking quite incongruous.

The Small Fireball Technique exploded upon impact on the giant arm, the surface quickly burning, emitting a stench of scorched meat.

Soon after, the violin resumed, and the headless corpse swung its arm, punching towards Herag.

The distance was too short, and Herag had no time to avoid it; the fist struck his Three-Layer Shield, sending him flying a few meters to the ground.

He quickly adjusted his stance upon landing, rolled to dispel most of the force, then drew his Longsword.

The Shield protected him, leaving him almost unharmed.

Herag glanced at his Shield's status; the outermost layer, the Ice Shield, had taken significant damage and could likely only withstand one more such attack before shattering.

"Wind Elf's Blessing..."

Herag used another Demonized Item, boosting his agility by two points.

He focused intently on the headless corpse and accelerated towards it.

The violin sounded, and the arm swung once more.

This time Herag had enough time to react and plenty of space to maneuver.

With the aid of Shenlan, he easily dodged this strike.

The headless corpse's movements were somewhat clumsy, taking time to retrieve its fist after each attack.

Seizing this opening, Herag closed the distance to the headless corpse and struck at the violin with his sword.

He noticed that countless Negative Energy Particles surrounded the violin. Every time the violin sounded, the headless corpse would move, indicating that the violin was likely commanding the corpse.

The Longsword struck the violin, producing a metallic clash.

Herag was not surprised; he had anticipated the violin might be quite hard.

Holding his sword with both hands, he began furiously hacking at the violin, clanging sounds filling the air.

The violin was clearly not invincible, as sword marks appeared on it after a short while.

Herag grasped the violin, then slammed it forcefully to the ground.

The music ceased abruptly, but Herag didn't stop, wildly smashing the violin.

He slammed it on the ground, against the wall, turning the scene into an act of sheer violence.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The loud noise was reminiscent of a construction site.

Herag didn't know how many times he smashed it until he stopped, realizing the violin's strings were all broken, and the body was heavily damaged.

He tossed the violin on the ground, stamping it hard underfoot.

"Corrosive Arrow!"

"Small Fireball Technique!"

...

Herag cast several more spells until the Negative Energy Particles dissipated from the violin before stopping.

Looking up, he saw the headless corpse beside the window had slumped weakened against the sill, the giant right hand returning to normal.

The right hand's clothes were torn, revealing a pale arm beneath.

"It should be dead, right?"

Herag glanced at the battered violin on the ground, feeling as though he had used excessive force to kill something.

The Demon Flowers in the garden quietly lifted their heads to watch him. When Herag turned, they averted their eyes, as if he were truly terrifying.

Seeing no anomalies around, Herag resumed digging with his shovel, with more than ten Demon Flowers left to excavate.

Soon, the garden echoed with cries anew.

An outsider would probably mistake it for some indecent party in this open-air garden.

About half an hour later, Herag finished digging up all the Demon Flowers in the garden, collecting forty-two in total.

Glancing around, he confirmed there was nothing else of value in the garden before preparing to leave.

The town was filled with houses, and this garden was merely the ground floor garden of one such house.

Herag continued forward, the sound of footsteps again trailing behind him.

This time, much more cautiously, he felt that every house with lights on might hold something inside.

Solving the violin didn't mean he could deal with other items, so it was prudent to act cautiously.

Following the town's path, he noticed something peculiar: the number of houses seemed to have increased.

He distinctly remembered that the Valley Town he glimpsed from the mountainside hadn't had this many houses.

"Master! Finally found you!" Robert's voice abruptly sounded from behind.

Herag turned to see Robert breathlessly calling out to him.

"Don't come near me yet." Herag drew his sword, aiming it at Robert as he moved closer.

Robert awkwardly retreated: "It was abrupt of me. Master, it's truly me, not some foul thing in disguise."

"Where did you just go?" Herag coldly inquired.

Robert was puzzled: "I'm not sure either. I remember we were drinking in the tavern, then suddenly you vanished, and I ended up in town looking for you, but this cursed town was empty."

"Then I knocked on a house's door, and before I knew it, I was inside it. I panicked, tried to open the door to leave, but it was locked tight as if bolted shut."

"I even tried the windows to escape, but they were locked and incredibly sturdy, beyond my ability to break them."

"When I was desperate to get out, suddenly I was in the street again and saw you up ahead."