Wizard Lord:I can Extract Anything

As Richard entered the manor, the environment around him suddenly shifted. The feeling of being ensnared in a nightmare, surrounded by a constant sense of malice, once more enveloped his senses.

Activating his energy vision, Richard was nearly blinded by the dazzling brilliance of the energy pathways, which covered nearly every visible area. These pathways glowed with an ominous crimson hue, resembling blood-filled veins.

The entire manor seemed like a terrifying nightmare beast.

But soon, Richard noticed something peculiar about these pathways.

The distribution and structure of these energy pathways bore a resemblance to a wizard's magic array.

As an alchemy wizard, Richard had considerable knowledge of magic arrays. Though he couldn't fully decipher the intricate web before him, he recognized fragments reminiscent of known arrays.

"Could this Nightmare Knight be collaborating with a wizard? Or perhaps it devoured a wizard and gained some of their memories? Or is it merely a coincidence?" Richard speculated internally, maintaining a composed exterior. Not that it mattered—Puppet Billy couldn't see his true face anyway.

Passing through the courtyard, Richard followed Puppet Billy into the main building of the manor—the municipal hall.

At the heart of the hall lay a luxurious hexagonal coffin.

In energy vision, this coffin was the core of the manor, the origin of all the energy pathways.

The coffin, a dark red, appeared wooden, with intricate golden engravings that seemed to narrate a story.

Switching back to normal vision, Richard averted his gaze from the coffin.

Powerful beings are acutely aware of prying eyes. When Richard had used energy vision on Ulysses, he was detected almost immediately.

Puppet Billy approached the coffin, bowing deeply:

"Lord Amadeus, your most loyal servant, Puppet Billy, has completed your task. During this mission, I encountered a Little Nightmare drawn to your brilliance. He single-handedly slew three Black Knights in the wild, demonstrating considerable strength.

I believe he is worthy of serving under you, so I brought him for your consideration."

Billy's voice was fervently reverent, as if praying to a deity. After he spoke, a wave of energy emanated from the coffin.

This energy swept over Richard, seemingly analyzing his strength.

But the cloak's influence significantly dampened this probe, revealing little.

Suddenly, a deep voice resonated in Richard's ear.

"An intriguing talent."

An eerie sound emanated from the dark red coffin, reminiscent of a shifting lid.

Seeing this, Puppet Billy's expression changed drastically.

Why was Lord Amadeus opening the coffin?

Thankfully, the lid moved only slightly before stopping, releasing a stronger probing force.

Despite the cloak's dampening effect, Amadeus gleaned what he needed.

"Unnamed Nightmare, tell me your name."

The deep voice resounded again, but this time it carried a peculiar force, seemingly capable of penetrating Richard's psyche, compelling him to divulge any information Amadeus desired.

"My name is Black Robe Charlie, my lord," Richard replied calmly.

Amadeus' method was akin to those used by soul wizards. As a wizard, Richard had undergone mental resistance training early on.

This training was commonplace among wizards, easily accessible with some mana stones. Its purpose was to grant wizards slight resistance to soul magic.

While not substantial, it was enough to alert them to an attack. A soul wizard would need to exert significant effort to overcome this resistance, making their magical presence noticeable, alerting the target to danger.

While this method only served as a warning against wizards, it was sufficient against the Nightmare Knight before him.

Upon hearing Richard willingly reveal his name, Amadeus' coffin lid closed once more.

"Puppet Billy, take him to the administrative officer."

Upon receiving the command, Puppet Billy bowed again:

"Your will, my lord."

...

Leaving the manor, Puppet Billy led Richard to the administrative officer. Along the way, Richard subtly extracted a wealth of information about the territory's inner workings.

Magic Sword Amadeus, the foremost Nightmare Knight under the Nightmare Lord Wuxin, commanded the largest territory among Wuxin's five knights.

Under Amadeus, there were over five hundred Little Nightmare Commandants and several dozen second-tier Great Nightmares, including twelve personally named Guardian Knights.

Additionally, the territory's annual Nightmare Power tax revenue amounted to five million units, of which three million went to the Nightmare Lord and two million to the Nightmare Knights.

When Richard inquired about the share for Little Nightmares, Puppet Billy replied with a knowing smile:

"That depends on your skill. Pay Lord Amadeus' taxes, and the rest is yours."

Following Billy, Richard soon found the administrative officer, a massive book with a cover adorned with grotesque faces.

These faces writhed and struggled on the cover, attempting to escape, but whenever one nearly broke free, the others would bite and drag it back.

When Richard found him, the officer was absorbing a Little Nightmare into the book's pages.

In moments, the Little Nightmare became a blank page, assimilated into the book.

"Administrative Officer, this is a newcomer seeking to join Lord Amadeus," Billy introduced, bowing slightly.

"A newcomer, I see. Lord Amadeus informed me."

The officer opened the book, revealing a large map displaying all villages and cities within the territory.

"Territory allocations are depleted. If you want land, you'll have to contest with those who have it. Lord Amadeus allows combat, provided monthly taxes are paid."

With that, the map detached and floated to Richard.

"Administrative Officer, this newcomer has his own territory, and new villages have emerged," Billy added.

"Oh? No wonder you brought him," the officer remarked, re-displaying the map as a pen appeared beside Billy.

"Mark the location."

After Billy marked it, Richard's map updated, adding a symbol for a village at the territory's edge.

Richard glanced at Billy, who returned the look.

They exchanged a knowing nod.

"So these nightmare creatures are all concealing villages," Richard mused.

After marking the village, the officer unexpectedly spoke:

"This location... Black Robe Charlie, I have a task for you."

"What task, sir?"

"Recently, several outlaws have been harassing villages at the territory's edge, resulting in one Little Nightmare's death and three missing."

"Missing?" Billy interjected, "Could those outlaws have returned?"

The officer flipped pages, sounding irritated:

"I don't know. Those outlaws kidnapped dozens of our Little Nightmares before vanishing without a trace.

And now this!

Back then, Lord Amadeus nearly razed the No-Law Land. If he finds out, our taxes will surely double."

As he spoke, a page fell from the book.

"You won't go unpaid. This page grants you temporary use of my Nightmare Domain, your protection and reward. If you manage not to use it, the page is yours."

Richard paused briefly, then accepted the page.

"I'll take the task, sir."

"Good. Here's intelligence from back then. Though scarce, it may help. If it's those outlaws, flee and report back to me."

With that, Richard's page filled with shifting text.

From wizard script to divine script, then Chinese, English... The text adapted to Richard's understanding.

The information was sparse, detailing an invasion by outlaws a decade ago, resulting in the kidnapping of dozens of Little Nightmares over months.

These outlaws possessed peculiar talents, adept in both offense and defense, with notable similarities.

Most prominently, they all wielded fireballs.

Reading this, Richard couldn't help but grin.

He was certain these so-called outlaws were wizards from the material world.

Securing the page, Richard left Amadeus City.

Billy didn't offer a return ride, so Richard traveled back alone.

"Wizards in the Nightmare World... This unexpected turn is getting more interesting."

...

Three days later, following the map, Richard arrived at a village previously harassed by the wizards.

This village wasn't far from Richard's, which was why the officer assigned him the task.

The Little Nightmare here had been abducted, and informed Little Nightmares had taken over the village.

After greeting the occupying Nightmare, Richard explained his purpose and toured the village.

The destruction caused by elemental magic had been erased by the Blood Moon's rules—villages mirrored from the material world were illusions. No matter the damage, they would reset with each Blood Moon.

But residual magical traces remained.

The wizards hadn't erased these traces, which stood out like beacons in Richard's energy vision.

Following these traces, Richard quickly discerned their retreat path.

Staring in the direction of the wizards' retreat, Richard murmured:

"I should pay a visit. Don't want them thinking I'm the one causing trouble."

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