[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-diary-of-a-dead-wizard":3,"chapter-diary-of-a-dead-wizard-diary-of-a-dead-wizard-chapter-342":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Diary of a Dead Wizard",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1380759,1828,"Chapter 342: Scared Half to Death by a Fellow","diary-of-a-dead-wizard-chapter-342",342,"\u003Cp>The Flight spell was a Second Rank magic Saul had learned in between his research on vessels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a highly practical auxiliary spell that almost every apprentice who advanced to the Third Rank would inevitably learn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among all the Third Rank apprentices Saul knew, nearly all of them had mastered it—except for Senior Byron, whose method of floating was... uniquely bizarre.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul’s figure stayed steadily half a meter above the sea’s surface, gliding forward at speed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, since he hadn’t fully mastered the spell, his flight path was mostly limited to straight lines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He flew far from shore, venturing into deeper waters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A thin fog had settled over the sea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The line between the night sky and the ocean had blurred entirely, making it feel as though Saul were gliding toward an infinite, bottomless black hole.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound of waves lapping against the shore faded as he distanced himself, until the whole world seemed to fall into silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Were it not for the occasional Nightmare Butterfly flitting past his vision, Saul might have genuinely believed he was the last person alive in the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now, there was no such illusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the silver butterfly was still as chatty as ever!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother Saul, Brother Saul, there aren’t many fish here!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With no one else around, Penny’s talkative nature became even more pronounced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thankfully, her voice was sweet and pleasant—soft and cuddly like a little girl’s, not grating at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother Saul, if a soul tide appears later, are you going to inject the energy of the soul fragments directly into Herman’s soul? He’s going to go crazy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not directly,” Saul replied. Of course, he’d filter the energy through the diary first—but there was no need to explain those details to Penny.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had already ventured far from the coastline. The figures on the shore were just vague specks now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This should be the place where the soul tide first appears.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fish drowning, the dead washing ashore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul looked down. Black tendrils emerged again, trailing from his robe into the sea and gently stirring the water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few minutes later, he retracted the tendrils and flicked the water off his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The concentration of soul fragments isn’t rising—it’s dropping. With the current conditions, there’s no way a large-scale wraith field could form.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glanced overhead. The clouds seemed close enough to press down on him. The sea wind blew so hard he couldn’t even keep his hood up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still, all the signs resemble the conditions where a soul tide is rumored to occur… So why is the concentration of fragments decreasing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Saul puzzled over it, he suddenly felt something rising from below the water’s surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A vast wave of magical energy swept over him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He immediately retreated fifty meters and activated Soul Armor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes locked onto the sea below, trying to identify the source of the threat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is this the vanguard of the soul tide?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he vaguely saw something—a massive, spherical object slowly floating upward. Its pace was sluggish, inching toward the surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since it wasn’t attacking, Saul didn’t move either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sky was dark, and he could only make out a vague outline—about the height of a person, with four tentacle-like limbs, thin and short compared to its bulbous center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dark glow gathered in Saul’s palm, ready to launch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the strange sphere finally surfaced, revealing its grotesquely stretched features.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul: “…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ball slowly rotated, twisted, purple-blue facial features turning toward him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Huh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dark glow in Saul’s palm dissipated. He rubbed his nose and sighed deeply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Senior, could you please not make yourself look like a monster?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The massive sphere began to shrink, gradually transforming from a ball into a person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The purple-blue discoloration faded from the skin, revealing a pale face underneath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Byron sat on the choppy sea, raised a hand, and waved. “Mm!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn’t talk again. No doubt it was because he’d absorbed more wraiths. In order to prevent his body from bursting under the pressure, he had to remain silent for long periods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, he had to be careful not to get injured. Though Byron’s skin had strong regenerative abilities, minor wounds weren’t a concern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Five minutes later, with Little Algae supporting Byron, the two of them landed on a massive reef far from the coast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reef had a hollowed-out depression—clearly man-made, and freshly carved within the past few days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ve been here for a while already, haven’t you, Senior?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Byron nodded. The moisture on his skin evaporated instantly. He then raised a hand and gestured “5.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Right, of course you’d come here to hunt wraiths. When you dove underwater just now, did you sense something unusual?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Byron gestured with his hands in a flurry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul studied his movements for a while. Thanks to years of working together, he could just about guess the meaning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re saying it’s been like this for five straight days, but still no actual soul tide. You think something’s wrong below the surface, so you tried diving down?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Penny, “Um… Brother Saul, how did you even interpret all that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul casually waved near his ear, like swatting a fly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did you discover anything, Senior?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Byron nodded. He’d indeed found something these past few days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He began sketching shapes in the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A ship?” Saul deciphered, suddenly recalling Parker’s invitation to join a team. “A ghost ship?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Byron shook his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul turned to the ink-dark sea, his gaze slowly shifting below the waves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…A sunken ship?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Byron first pointed at Saul, then gestured beneath the surface. Saul understood—he was being asked to dive down and take a look himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright. I’ll go check it out. You stay here and keep watch for me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He removed the cloak that might hinder his movement underwater, revealing a linen shirt and black pants underneath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By the way, Senior, there are two rogue apprentices on the shore. One Third Rank, one Second Rank. Be cautious.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was Saul’s way of acknowledging that the two apprentices weren’t weak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Byron nodded. His body shrank down and tucked into the newly dug hole, then pulled Saul’s black cloak over himself—becoming one with the reef.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the next instant, Byron concealed his magical presence completely. Saul lost all mental perception of him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Senior Byron’s strength really has improved. Looks like his gamble to house a wraith within himself is paying off.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without further delay, Saul dove into the water headfirst.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment he submerged, he activated Soul Armor. Black tendrils shot from the back of his neck, slicing through the water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Little Algae was an earth-element creature, its origin from a swamp made it equally nimble in water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul felt like he was being pushed forward, hardly needing to exert any effort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All he had to do was steer from the front.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every now and then, a flash of silver darted past—Nightmare Butterfly’s curious little shadow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There hadn’t been much light above the sea to begin with, and the deeper he went, the darker it became.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The water pressure began affecting Soul Armor. His magic consumption was increasing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul gauged how much longer he could stay submerged, then accelerated slightly, diving along the same path Byron had risen from.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When all traces of light vanished from view, Saul prepared to spend extra magic to cast a few more Light spells.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But just then, a few faint white glimmers appeared before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lights grew in number, like fireflies hiding in the bushes at night—startled by a sudden disturbance, they scattered all at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The abyss before his eyes transformed into a galaxy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So beautiful…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His first reaction was awe. Then came astonishment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is…? These are all… soul fragments?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1287,"2026-06-05T22:22:08.873Z",1,"novelbin.me","b6506aa67ec7d8b451f798507995428df24344f95e6f6a21f4c509ab4a76c8bf","diary-of-a-dead-wizard-chapter-97","diary-of-a-dead-wizard-chapter-96",1037,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fdiary-of-a-dead-wizard-cover.jpg"]