As soon as Assreal left and mayor uttered his phrase, Uncle Jack quietly said to me:

"I'll distract them, you deal damage."

Easier said than done...

Alright, I have 5 units of mana, all spells except Small Wind Storm consume 1 unit of mana per use, and the Storm itself 2 units.

Before engaging in battle, I activated the Brainstorm ability to boost the intelligence multiplier when casting spells.

[You've used the Brainstorming ability! Your intelligence has increased by 1.5 times, from 20 to 30 units respectively.]

At that moment, Uncle Jack stepped forward and let out an inhuman roar.

[Your ally used the Fearful Provocation ability! You weren't affected by the ability due to your high intelligence, you understand it's your ally.]

The mayor and his butler turned their gaze to Uncle Jack, the mayor emitting an even more pronounced sound of rumbling and buzzing.

The mayor's hands began to elongate, and I could distinctly hear crunching, as if his bones were breaking during this process.

To keep me out of harm's way, Uncle Jack stepped aside, mayor's hands following him, the butler disappearing from sight.

"Ice Ray!" I cast the spell at the mayor while he wasn't paying attention.

The spell struck Mr. Alan's right shoulder, freezing the shoulder itself, the right side of his face, and the ribs on that side of his body.

After my attack, the mayor noticed me. He moved sharply in my direction, causing the layer of ice that formed to crack and fall to the ground.

Nevertheless, his clothes got wet, and traces of frostbite were visible on his skin.

Perhaps my attack was too painful for him, so the provocation effect was nullified. I won't lie, I expected that.

I took the dagger hidden under my robe in hand and uttered another spell.

"Ice Bolt!" a projectile made of ice flew from my free hand. It was the size of my head.

Unfortunately, the mayor, anticipating my attack, easily dodged it with a smooth sidestep.

Then he frowned and, like an enraged bull, charged towards me.

"Small Wind Storm!" I cast the spell.

Perhaps the name doesn't sound very promising, but it's the most powerful spell in my arsenal.

A small hurricane appeared in my hand, which I could control. I hurled it towards the oncoming enemy.

As it flew, it rapidly grew, turning into a two-meter hurricane.

When the mayor tried to jump aside, he was lifted into the air and drawn towards the hurricane, unable to resist.

It was evident how his limbs were torn apart and pieces of skin were ripped off by the storm's force. The first part of his body to suffer was the one touched by my Ice Ray.

At that moment, the first series of bell strikes was heard.

...

When I saw the mayor being lifted into the air and torn apart, I involuntarily calmed down, knowing that Adele was no longer in danger. The butler was still provoked.

Speaking of him, that bastard mostly just whipped me from a distance, then backed away, keeping the distance, and his steps were silent.

But even so, I managed to understand something. He held the whip in his right hand, and in 10 seconds, he managed to strike me twice.

The first hit came from the front and went to the left, the second came from behind and hit to the right. It turns out that during this time he managed to get around me and made a semicircle.

At some point, I just froze, letting him hit me, only occasionally swinging my sword into the air to avoid arousing the butler's suspicion.

The last time, he hit me from behind, so now he'll strike from the front.

As soon as I thought about it, the whip struck, and I leaped back, then rushed forward, wielding my sword.

I felt the edge of my sword pierce the enemy's flesh, and right next to my ear, a cry of pain rang out.

I knocked the enemy to the ground, pulled out my sword to strike the butler again and again, depriving the monster of its life.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

At that moment, the second series of bell strikes sounded, stronger than before.

...

After the butler's cry ceased, I broke out in a cold sweat, not because I was scared of the sound, but because the Storm's effect had ended and the mayor's remains fell to the ground.

But they were moving, and I wouldn't call it just a spasm, they were moving towards each other.

"Ice Ray!" I directed the attack at the scraps of flesh, freezing them.

I had completely depleted my mana, but fortunately, when I was at Kyle's house, I took three mana potions with me, each of which restores 5 mana units. Just as much as I need.

Kyle's parents were very wealthy, but even so, they made their son become an adventurer to grow up as a "real man". His own father was a merchant, a nouveau riche from another city, who managed to marry the mayor's cousin.

But this branch of the family was weak, having no claims to the city. They had an estate, but the mayor treated them... poorly.

Anyway, because of Kyle's origin, they treated him with disdain, as if he were a golden child, even though he didn't have the best fate.

At that moment, the third series of bell strikes rang out, and loud cries and screams were heard from the streets.

[You've lost the Strange Regeneration effect!]

...

When I descended to the second floor, I was met with unfriendly looks from Adele and Uncle Jack.

Adele stood near the staircase I was descending, staring at me without blinking, biting her lower lip and clenching her fists.

Eventually, she turned away.

"You have a very strong aura of provocation," muttered Adele.

I didn't dwell too long on that topic. Instead, I looked around. The room was in ruins, tables and chairs scattered around, and the floor and ceiling, especially near Adele, were chipped, as if a hurricane had swept through here.

She clearly used her entire arsenal of spells.

"Where are the mayor and the butler?" I asked, not seeing any corpses.

"What?" questioned Adele, scanning the battlefield. "I just froze the mayor's remains! Where are they?!"

"The butler's corpse is missing too!" shouted Uncle Jack to us.

"That doesn't matter now, we need to leave as quickly as possible, hordes of monsters are already heading this way!" I ordered.

My teammates tried not to look at me, but after my words, they began to descend to the floor below.

When I went down to the first floor, I was greeted by two stares again.

One came from a charred skeleton in paladin armor, whose skull was ablaze with a bright crimson flame. Bright white lights burned in the creature's eye sockets as it looked at me.

Near the altar stood a monstrous priest, still resembling a praying mantis but now covered in an exoskeleton. Where its wings used to be, there were now arms, sticking out in different directions. Occasionally, they moved, increasing in size, but mostly they remained still. Some of the arms were charred.

I gripped my sword, waiting for one of them to attack me.

[Your intelligence has decreased by -1, now you have 13 intelligence points!]

I swallowed. Has it only been one minute?

At that moment, I heard loud footsteps outside; the monsters were close.

This noise distracted the paladin and the priest. I was about to say that we needed to break the windows at the altar and escape when something hit me very hard on the right temple, causing me to stagger and momentarily black out.

When I woke up, I immediately put out my hand, leaning against the wall.

At that moment, the stained glass near the entrance shattered, and a huge number of monsters poured out of it.

Adele and Uncle Jack shielded me, causing the monsters, not seeing their main target, to begin attacking everyone around. Most attacked the charred skeleton, but some also lunged at my defenders.

When I fully came to my senses, I looked back. A few steps above stood the butler with a whip in his hands, his suit stained with blood.

At that moment, he tried to strike me with the whip again, but this time I swung my sword. Making contact with the whip, I cut off a part of it, thus blocking the attack.

When the butler realized that his strike had failed, he quickly retreated, stepping back to the second floor.

I decided not to pursue him and instead climbed over the railings, stepping onto the floor of the church's first floor.

This was noticed by some monsters who were distracted by me.

One of them, a creature with a human body, a wolf's head, and various arms and legs, lunged towards me. I swung my sword diagonally, and when it entered my attack radius, the sword descended and struck it on the head, cleaving it into pieces.

The monster's body fell near me, but the onslaught was not over yet.

[The Murderous Feast bonus effect has increased to +15 strength and dexterity. Your strength and dexterity are now 20 and 22 respectively.]

This time, a mutant with three tentacles instead of a head and a zombie-wolf appeared near me.

Before I could react, the enemy's tentacles wrapped around my neck and began to squeeze. I felt the ground disappear beneath my feet, darkness crept into my vision, and breathing became difficult.

At that moment, I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen, as if someone had torn my flesh apart and sliced my intestines with sharp knives in multiple places at once.

Gripping my sword tightly in my right hand, I attempted to strike with all my might. Thanks to the Murderous Feast effect, even in such a weakened state, my strike was formidable.

The sword struck the mutant's neck, which was choking me. The tentacles converged at that spot. The sharp blade easily cut through the flesh, weakening the tentacles around my neck but not releasing me. I felt the ground beneath my feet again.

I immediately delivered a second blow to the zombie, decapitating it.

[You have 1 health point left out of 7!]

[The following effects are imposed on you: Critical Condition, Serious Wounds. Click to view details.]

[The Murderous Feast bonus effect has increased to +25 strength and dexterity. Your strength and dexterity are now 30 and 32 respectively.]

[Your intelligence has decreased by -1, now you have 12 intelligence points!]

I took off those slimy tentacles, though not on the first try.

By this time, the influx of monsters had diminished, most of the bodies were burnt and had turned into charred remains scattered throughout the church.

The paladin and the priest continued to fight, but the horde was still substantial.

"Assreal!" Adele shouted, running towards me.

Her blue hair was disheveled, her face smeared with blood mixed with soot and sweat, but her aquamarine eyes burned with courage. She exuded primal beauty.

Primal beauty, huh? Seems like I'm delirious. Ah yeah, I'm on the brink of death. Again.

Adele's lips moved as if in slow motion as she approached me. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear anything.

At some point, I collapsed to the ground, and when I woke up, Adele was sitting beside me. Uncle Jack was guarding us.

The young woman was doing something with my abdomen, her lips moving repeatedly, uttering the same word, her eyes and cheeks wet.

At that moment, for some reason, I could only think of one thing: "What word was she saying?"

Suddenly, a memory surfaced in my mind. Abracadabra! It's a healing spell!

When Adele said it the last time, I finally began to feel reality properly. I rose from the ground, accepting the help of Uncle Jack and Adele.

[You've lost the Critical Condition and Serious Wounds effects!]