The Blue-Eyes White Dragon spread its wings and circled in mid-air, a low hum still rumbling deep in its throat, as if it would once again spew destructive white light the moment Cana gave the command.
Hope slowly walked to the edge of the deep pit and glanced at the scorched, smoking Seraphin at the bottom. "As expected of a demon, its vitality is no worse than a cockroach's. It's still breathing."
In the deep pit, Seraphin's scorched body twitched.
He struggled to lift his head, his broken bat wings drooping weakly. Looking at the Blue-Eyes White Dragon that filled his vision, his eyes were full of terror. "No... impossible... mere Card Magic..."
"Nothing is impossible."
Hope played with the Gem Staff in his hand. "Magic is ingenuity; you just happen to be brainless."
Seraphin was too angry to speak. Hope lowered his gaze to the gem at the top of the staff, which emitted an ominous red light.
Through the analysis of the 'Archive Magic', he already understood that the essence of this gem was a "Curse Crystal".
A "Curse Crystal" is a special, powerful item formed when high-quality magic crystals condense under the influence of negative emotions and magical power over many years.
Because they are affected by large amounts of negative emotions, the effects possessed by each "Curse Crystal" vary, but almost all Curse Crystal abilities are evil.
For example, the gem crystal at the top of this staff has the function of releasing the Snake Transformation Curse.
The reason Seraphin could cast curses was entirely due to this staff. He himself was merely a failure, possessing only a demon's shell and lacking even a Life-Bound Curse Technique.
"G-give... give me back my staff!" Seraphin struggled to get up, but the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's strike had already severely wounded him.
"Give it back to you?" Cana, standing nearby, sneered. "So you can continue harming more people?"
"What do you know!"
Seraphin was furious. Stimulated by the words, he actually managed to support his gravely wounded body and stand up. "I can absorb the magical power of snakes! As long as I keep getting stronger, I will eventually have the power to fulfill Lord Zeref's long-cherished wish!"
Hope, who had originally intended to finish Seraphin off, suddenly became interested when he heard this. "The Black Wizard? What is his wish?"
But Seraphin, realizing he had spoken too much, shut his mouth.
However, keeping quiet now was useless, as his thoughts were completely exposed to Hope.
With 'Telepathy: Mind Reading', 'Memory', and the Mind Reading ability of Magnetic Field Power against the weak, if Hope wanted to, few people in this world could truly guard their thoughts.
"How interesting."
Digesting the information he obtained from Seraphin's mind, Hope grinned, his smile appearing strange. "I never expected the Black Wizard's wish... was actually to die."
Seraphin's pupils suddenly contracted. "How do you know that!"
"Naturally, you told me."
"Prying into thoughts! You actually possess such magic as well!"
Seraphin reacted immediately, forcing himself to think of other things. Although he was a failure, he was still loyal to his creator.
However, it was already too late.
Hope leaped down into the deep pit and approached Seraphin, touching his unsteady chest with the staff in his hand. "Your thoughts told me that the so-called 'Demon of the Book of Zeref' is actually a tool Zeref created to commit suicide."
"I truly didn't expect that the demons who have plagued the land for hundreds of years were created merely as a means for the Black Wizard to commit suicide."
"But it seems now that you tools are quite useless."
From Seraphin's previous words, it wasn't hard to deduce that the Black Wizard Zeref from 400 years ago likely possessed some form of Immortal Physique. This news was astonishing enough, but it wasn't overly dramatic for Hope.
Hope didn't show much emotion, but Mirajane and Cana were both astonished, as due to the Council's news blockade, they were unaware that the Black Wizard had appeared once 87 years ago.
"So Zeref never died..."
Cana suddenly hugged Mirajane next to her in fear. "When I was little and disobedient, my mom scared me by saying the Black Wizard liked to eat the hearts of naughty children. Isn't that true now?!"
"I even cursed him before. That big shot won't come looking for trouble with me, right..."
"Uh..."
Mirajane looked at Cana, who was clinging to her like an octopus, and wondered if the female drunkard had ruined her brain with alcohol. She sighed helplessly. "No matter how bad Zeref's reputation is, he shouldn't be that perverted... Besides, shouldn't the current focus be that he's been alive for over 400 years?"
"Hahaha, I just wanted to liven up the atmosphere. I'm definitely not scared of some mere Black Wizard..."
Cana awkwardly tried to cover her tracks.
But even Seraphin couldn't stand this poor performance.
"Enough! How dare you insignificant humans discuss Lord Zeref so carelessly!"
Before he finished speaking, Hope had already placed his hand on the head of the shouting Seraphin. This demon could no longer provide him with any extra information, so now was the time for him to die.
Colorless magical power surged into Seraphin's body. Amidst his screams, this monster, neither human nor snake, instantly disintegrated into dust under the power of 'Crush', leaving no trace after the wind blew it away.
Cana's eye twitched. "That's how you use my dad's Super Magic?"
Hope clapped his hands and laughed, "Can't be helped. The destructive power of 'Crush' Magic is too great; it's essential for home travel, murder, and robbery."
"You talk like a murderer..."
"Ahem, well, let's go back to the cave and see if there's anything valuable."
The three returned to the depths of the cave.
Under Hope's Magical Power Perception, they indeed found a secret compartment behind a stone wall covered in runes. Inside the compartment were three ancient Metal Boxes and an exquisitely crafted black crystal.
Mirajane carefully took out the Metal Boxes and the crystal one by one.
Cana gently brushed the dust off the surface of the boxes, clearly seeing the patterns of Wind, Light, and Ice elements printed on them respectively.
Except for the Ice Box being empty, the other two boxes neatly held two scrolls each. However, the scrolls in the Wind Box were tattered beyond recognition.
Hope unrolled the only scroll that remained relatively intact. Recorded on it in ancient script was the cultivation method for 'Light Demon Slayer Magic' Magic.
It was indeed an Demon Slayer Magic inheritance.
However, the inheritance scroll for 'Wind Evil-Slaying' was completely ruined. Even though the scroll had undergone special magical treatment, Hope could not restore it using 'Time Arc'.
Hope could only put away the ruined scroll, waiting until 'Time Arc' advanced further before attempting to restore its contents.
It was a pity that the scroll for 'Ice Demon Slayer' was missing.
It was unknown if it was lost, or if someone else had taken it before the Demon Slayers were wiped out by Zeref.
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