Vale heard her speak but had to ignore her since he was afraid that something had gone wrong in his Spell Light.

Master Heinz had repeatedly reminded him that he was the first Practitioner of the Malefic Branch. He is the first recorder of the Spell Dispersion and Incorruptible Body. In short, the negative effects of these spells would be first known and experienced by him.

Heinz could only theorize what kind of side effects he'll obtain, and that is obviously not a hundred percent accurate either.

According to what he learned over the past year, these adverse effects could result in mental illness, blood thirst, spirit possession, spell model corruption, or even their life.

Vale also had to ensure that his Spell Model was firm and wouldn't just collapse and result in some internal injuries. That is the common problem among original spells after all.

'The Spell Model doesn't seem to have a problem Why is it reacting like that? Did Master Heinz forget to tell me something about it?' Vale frowned at this thought.

Although it appears to have no problems, he might be missing something about the Incorruptible Body Heinz only mentioned that this Spell Model would give him resistance against corruption or even problems caused by practicing Dark Arts. At its higher level, it should give him a solid regenerative effect, and he also mentioned that it would allow him to practice Forbidden Arts.

Yes, it must be why Master Heinz left the book The Forbidden Practice of the Unlighted.

Soon, the Spell Light started calming down and Vale had no idea how it happened.

'At the very least, I know it reacted like that during or maybe before the extractions. Perhaps, it had something to do with that' Vale mused as he considered doing the same thing later on.

In any case, he would have a lot of samples once he entered the stronghold of the syndicate.

Vale finally shifted his attention to Yvaine. She seems to be monitoring something above them.

"What is it?" Vale asked.

It was already dark, and no one was in the streets around this time.

It would be different in the Central District as that place could be so lively at any time of the day. However, the Southern District would barely have street lamps as most were deliberately broken.

He tried looking for anyone, but Vale failed to notice the danger she was referring to.

"Someone is observing us through those special beings"

Vale frowned as he realized that Yvaine was looking at the crows. He detected their presence a while ago but ignored them completely.

'Are they some sort of familiars? Why didn't I notice something off? Ahh' Vale's eyes lit up as he realized something.

He immediately used the Spirit Vision Spell that he extracted from Ashe

As soon as he did this, he finally found the problem.

"Summoning Arts" Vale muttered under his breath.

He recalled Lakrine, the Academy of Summoning Arts. If a creature can evade the scrutiny of his Phantasm State, then it must be the summons from a Practitioner that had studied in this Arcane Path.

'Are you telling me that the Snake Brotherhood is protected by this Summoner? Or perhaps, they're also targeting them?' Vale was unsure how to proceed.

He didn't like the idea of having an unknown witness in his actions.

He hesitated for a moment before he commanded Yvaine to kill the crows.

The latter seemed to have noticed what he was about to do and tried to escape by flying away.

Unfortunately, Yvaine was faster as threads of darkness caught the three crows simultaneously before squeezing them to death.

Crash!

The crows didn't have flesh or blood. They seemed like pieces of glass as they shattered into many pieces.

"Did that kill them?" Vale asked, unsure whether being shattered is actually a type of escape technique or it is really how they die.

Well, he had no clue since this was the first time he had seen something like that happen.

"They're eliminated." Yvaine briefly said.

Vale accepted this as he turned his gaze to the stronghold.

"Then, let's not waste any more time."

Vale stopped using his Nimble Talon to limit or control his Strength and Agility.

By using his Ghost Hands, Darkness Manipulation, and Light Absorption Spell, the lives of these ordinary humans were in his hands.

'It's reacting again' Vale muttered inwardly after extracting and killing a couple of syndicate members. He was referring to his Inccoruptible Body Spell Light.

'Is it reacting because of my blood thirst? If that's the case, then I should just let it be' Vale decided to simply ignore this since there was nothing he could do about it.

He eliminated the scouts at the periphery of the stronghold just by using his Ghost Hands.

He actually tried using his Darkness Manipulation alone, but its mastery is too low to use it on killing humans. At most, it can only suppress them.

He recently learned that if it is actually at the Advanced Realm, he could use the Darkness Manipulation Spell to crush the heart of his target. It is most effective on ordinary humans, so he considered upgrading it after he had plenty of Energy Points collected.

After killing about 15 syndicate members, his movements were finally discovered!

"Lights! Lights! We're under attack! They're hiding in the darkness!"

"Call the police!"

"Hurry! Send the signals to the police!"

Soon, numerous lamps appeared, and even a bonfire was swiftly ignited in the central part of the slums.

It appears that they were really used to this as their movements are quick and organized.

They even have connections to the police, confirming Vale's suspicions that they have some backers.

At this moment, Vale also noticed six men who were carrying revolvers. One of them is the bald leader of the syndicate.

He seemed unperturbed by the sudden attack as he looked at the surroundings. He was also carrying his treasure box!

It was as if he was taunting the intruders to attack and take it from him! Vale smiled at the bravery of this man.

'Very well'

Vale obliged as he appeared at the center of the stronghold leaving many of them speechless.

He was so bold for appearing in front of them!

Of course, no one could see Vale's face because of the Light Absorption Spell and Darkness Manipulation Spell

Vale's figure was utterly dark and blurry.

"Y-you're an Arcanist? How did we offend you?"

The leader spoke in dread as he realized their opponent this time wasn't someone they could mess with.