What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

Leon stepped into the middle section of the Labyrinth alone, one hand holding a lantern, the other swinging a scythe used to clear the way.

The space inside the Labyrinth was narrow, yet the vegetation was remarkably lush.

Moilai’s power had made the ecosystem inside the Labyrinth unusually abundant.

Among these plants, there might be plant-type Magical Beasts unique to the Labyrinth, so he had to be doubly cautious.

He peered deeper in.

It was very dark inside; only a few plants and mushrooms emitted a faint glow.

Yet his view was clearer than he had expected, as if invisible moonlight were helping him illuminate the night.

He glanced back again, thought for a moment, and tried covering the lantern first.

He found he could still see quite clearly—his night vision had obviously improved by a fair amount compared to usual.

“Could it be because of the Magical Potion?” he thought to himself.

After obtaining the formula Bishop Weiss had provided, Rena gathered materials and attempted to make the corresponding Magical Potion.

She had also tested it a little with Cockatrice Venom and a mouse.

The results confirmed that the formula Bishop Weiss had given could indeed neutralize the Cockatrice’s poison, and there were no severe side effects.

In fact, Leon had already taken a dose today.

He continued forward and suddenly heard a few curses coming from far away.

It seemed Simon and the others had run into something, but there was no obvious panic in their voices, so it did not appear to be any serious danger.

Leon kept walking.

He heard a rustling commotion from above, raised the lantern, and looked up to find the tunnel hung with dense clusters of bats.

These bats were different from ordinary ones.

Their bodies were blood-red, their membranous wings covered in black patterns like insect wings, their mouths like sharp needles, and their necks ringed with thick downy fur.

Bloodsucking Mosquito Bat— a small Magical Beast very common in tunnel-type Labyrinths.

It was said that during the process of Labyrinthization, native bat-like creatures had been soaked in Moilai’s magic and mutated into these.

True to their name, these small Magical Beasts mainly survived by sucking blood.

Sometimes they also drew sap from plants.

If the Labyrinth’s magic was abundant, they could also go a very long time without feeding.

But if they encountered humans, they would swarm like an enraged hive.

They attacked in packs, clinging to a person’s body and striking at weak points, tearing open wounds with hook-like limbs, then piercing the skin with needle-like mouths to suck blood.

They were tiny—one casual slap could kill them—but once there were too many, they became troublesome.

Those under attack often fell into a cycle of slapping a few dead only to have another flock immediately plaster itself onto them.

If someone failed to escape in time, they might even collapse from blood loss.

In fact, every year people died after running into massive swarms of Bloodsucking Mosquito Bats.

Dealing with them was actually simple.

Bloodsucking Mosquito Bats feared fire and bright light; waving a torch usually drove them away.

Simon and the others had gone in for reconnaissance carrying torches, so the earlier curses were probably from their encounter with Bloodsucking Mosquito Bats.

This level of trouble was still something they could handle.

Leon did not rush to switch his lantern to a torch, because these Bloodsucking Mosquito Bats did not seem to have any intention of attacking him.

Moilai’s creations were extremely aggressive toward humans, but they usually did not rashly attack a Witch who had received Moilai’s Blessing, and would even follow a Witch’s instructions.

Long ago, back when the Church did not understand Witches well enough, it had once used whether Magical Beasts would attack a suspect to judge whether that person was a Witch.

But a real Witch could also control Magical Beasts to attack her to clear suspicion, and if a Witch lost consciousness or became extremely weak, there was likewise a chance she would be attacked.

That foolish method could not distinguish Witches at all.

Instead, innocent people would be injured for nothing, and it was soon abolished.

Leon had actually tried controlling Magical Beasts as well.

He could not, like Rena, use the Blood Pact to control a whole large group at once, but managing two or three Magical Beasts was still doable.

He focused his attention on a few Mosquito Bats, raised a hand in a beckoning gesture, and let out a gentle, low murmur: “Come here.”

Three Mosquito Bats stirred restlessly, then flapped over and landed on Leon’s arm, docilely clinging there.

Leon examined the three Mosquito Bats carefully, took out a cloth bag, and wrapped one of them up, preparing to bring it back as a sample.

This time, his main purpose was to understand what kinds of Magical Beasts this Labyrinth contained.

Then Leon thought for a moment, took out a test tube filled with his own blood, raised it, and tried to activate his ability.

In an instant, the blood turned purplish-red, with signs of boiling.

In that moment, it was as if a bolt of lightning had struck the tunnel ceiling.

All the Bloodsucking Mosquito Bats shrieked in terror, panicking as they flailed about in every direction.

They desperately fled from Leon, gathering into a swarm and escaping deeper down the tunnel, like a school of fish encountering a shark.

That effect made Leon smile in satisfaction.

He put the blood sample away.

It seemed his blood also possessed an intimidating deterrence against wild Magical Beasts.

He continued deeper into the tunnel and found writhing Slimes in the mine and Living Vines twisting in the grass.

He also ran into two Giant Rats about the size of dogs; the moment they saw him, they fled warily.

He walked another ten-plus minutes.

There was still space ahead, and it became more and more open.

Many thickets began to appear, and Leon faintly saw broken stone pillars—man-made structures that should not have existed in this mine pit.

Leon took out the map and scanned it a few times, confirming that the original mine map had no such space.

That was not strange.

Labyrinthized underground spaces often shifted and expanded, and sometimes even connected with ruins buried underground.

There was a folk saying that the Labyrinth itself was alive, and that Moilai’s power had turned this place into a gigantic organism that devoured humans.

Leon put the map away and advanced cautiously.

From here onward was the place that truly required careful reconnaissance.

Their goal was the Cleansing (of the Labyrinth), then to station personnel to control it and turn this place into a new Breeding Grounds.

To do that, they had to kill off all threatening creatures inside the Labyrinth, and the more dangerous creatures were often concentrated in the deeper layers.

The surrounding space had already become quite open, and remnants of ruined walls began to appear.

It looked like this place really did connect to an underground ruin.

Leon looked around, at a loss for which way to go.

Then, suddenly, a low growl snapped him to full alert.

He took out a test tube containing Cursed Blood and scanned his surroundings warily.

Up ahead, many ghostfire-like points of eerie green light suddenly appeared.

Leon narrowed his eyes.

With his strengthened night vision, he vaguely made out the outline of beasts.

Those eerie green points were the beasts’ eyes.

Judging by their silhouettes, they resembled wolves, but were larger—comparable to a leopard.

From the number of eyes, there were at least five of them in front of Leon.

Demonic Wolf— a common mid-to-upper-tier creature in the Labyrinth’s food chain.

It had an abnormally tough body and powerful self-healing ability, and it was immune to most poisons.

It was said that someone had once locked a captured Demonic Wolf together with a hungry adult black bear, provoking a vicious fight.

In the end, the smaller Demonic Wolf had bitten the bear to death while it was still alive.

And in the Labyrinth, Demonic Wolves usually operated in packs.

That was also why their danger level could be ranked alongside large monsters like the Griffin and the Manticore.

He had only been seeing First-Rank low-danger Magical Beasts earlier, yet here he had suddenly run into a third-tier Magical Beast!

Leon had originally prayed this Labyrinth would not be so troublesome.

Now it looked like taking it down would require some effort.

Leon swallowed nervously and began backing away a few slow steps.

The Demonic Wolves watched him warily and did not rashly approach.

At the same time, they showed no friendliness whatsoever.

Leon could feel hostility emanating from them.

But that hostility was not the aggressive hatred Magical Beasts showed toward humans.

It was more like the vigilance a wolf pack had upon discovering a lone wolf.

Leon tried focusing his attention on one Demonic Wolf and issued it a command: “Back off.”

That Demonic Wolf seemed to sense something and looked quite confused, but after hesitating for a long time, it shook its head, quickly returned to normal, and did not obey Leon’s command.

Leon’s expression grew grave.

A Witch’s Blessing could control Magical Beasts, but it seemed to have limits.

Against a Magical Beast of the Demonic Wolf’s level, he still could not directly control it.

But from what he had just seen, if the controlling force were strengthened a bit—such as by using Rena’s Blood Pact Blessing—perhaps Rena could control Demonic Wolves.

And it was not that a Witch could never be attacked by Magical Beasts.

The effect of Witches not being attacked was more like Magical Beasts identifying them as other Magical Beasts, no longer treating them as humans.

But relationships of food chains also existed among Magical Beasts.

Weaker ones would regard a Witch as a stronger existence and feel wary, but powerful Magical Beasts might not.

From how Leon felt right now, in the eyes of these Magical Beasts, his level seemed roughly comparable to that of a single Demonic Wolf.

Leon continued backing away.

These Demonic Wolves showed no sign of moving closer; it seemed they had no intention of rashly starting a fight with him.

But just as Leon retreated more than ten steps, a Demonic Wolf that was clearly a full size larger appeared behind the five, shoved them aside, and began edging toward Leon with intense vigilance.

Leon’s heart sank.

This Demonic Wolf seemed to be the pack leader.

It likely sensed that this outsider posed a threat to its territory.

Its hostility toward Leon was markedly stronger, and it did not seem inclined to let him go easily.

Leon gripped the test tube holding his blood sample, tense.

He was not sure whether a poison-immune Demonic Wolf would fear his Cursed Blood.

Maybe it would be more appropriate to use the Bait Agent to draw its attention and then slip away?

As he weighed it back and forth, Leon suddenly had a new idea: perhaps he could combine both methods.

If they were going to conquer this Labyrinth later, they would definitely have to find a way to deal with this pack of Demonic Wolves.

After all, the greatest advantage humans had over animals was the mind— and that held true for Magical Beasts as well.

He set the lantern down, took out his blood sample and the Bait Agent, opened both caps at the same time, and then quickly mixed the two together.

Before he activated his ability, his blood held no deterrent effect toward Magical Beasts.

But once the Bait Agent was opened, the scent it released immediately stirred the Demonic Wolves.

All the Demonic Wolves jerked their heads up, their eyes shining.

Leon hurriedly threw the test tube away.

Every Demonic Wolf’s gaze snapped after it.

The moment the test tube shattered on the ground in the distance, that scent spread outward, and all the Demonic Wolves charged that way like mad.

The Demonic Wolf leader reached it first, greedily licking the blood stains off the ground.

The other Demonic Wolves crowded in, only to be savagely torn and bitten by it.

But the Bait Agent’s lure was simply too strong.

The others refused to give up.

Some tried to sneak licks, some bared their fangs at the leader and attempted to resist, but after being attacked twice, they finally settled down, drooping their heads as they backed off to the side, able only to watch with longing.

Leon quietly retreated farther away, watching the Demonic Wolf leader lick the blood off the ground until it was clean.

At this distance, he could have escaped completely, and he still had several more vials of Bait Agent.

But this time he did not choose to run.

Instead, he focused on the Demonic Wolf leader that had finished licking up his blood, and silently activated his ability.

The Demonic Wolf leader suddenly sprang up, gagging as retching sounds came from its throat.

Purple smoke overflowed from its mouth, and then it collapsed onto the ground, struggling violently.

It worked—Leon thought.

His Cursed Blood was different from other Magical Beast poisons.

Even a poison-immune Demonic Wolf could not withstand the curse brought by his blood!

Very soon, the Demonic Wolf leader’s body stiffened, showing signs of petrification, and it no longer moved.

The other Demonic Wolves were frightened too.

They circled their leader but did not dare approach rashly, only hopping around in panicked agitation.

Seeing that his blood worked on Demonic Wolves, Leon removed his gloves this time, cut his hand with a dagger to draw blood, and then strode over.

He activated his ability.

The blood on his hand turned purplish-red, and his entire hand was wrapped in purple smoke.

He advanced toward the pack experimentally.

The Demonic Wolves sensed it and let out low, threatening growls mixed with fearful screeches.

Leon kept moving closer.

The Demonic Wolves held a tense standoff for a moment, but finally could not endure it.

One after another, they turned and fled, disappearing into the depths of the Labyrinth.

Leon let out a breath.

He walked over to inspect the petrified Demonic Wolf leader.

After a brief consideration, he took out a rope, looped it around the Demonic Wolf, and began dragging it back.