Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Out of the corner of his eye, Diablo saw the black-haired woman completely motionless beside him. Dead, probably.
“Heh. Wasn’t expecting this, eh?” Diablo felt like crying. “Angor… you b*stard…”
The covenant didn’t work, which meant Angor wasn’t intentionally trying to kill him. To Diablo, he was going to die for no reason at all.
He sensed a small hole around his forehead. He would be dead for real if he let his soul slip through it. He tried very hard to suppress his soul from escaping his body.
“Not yet… Not so fast…”
When he thought he could no longer make it, a glowing barrier suddenly emerged around him. The barrier cut off all energy surges and hazards. Diablo and the woman nearby fell from the wall as the sharp current assaulting their bodies was lifted.
“HA! Thank, thank heavens…” Diablo gasped as he breathed painfully. Not minding the stinky blood on the floor, he lay sprawling and tried to ease every part of his body.
As he felt better, he slowly sat up again to check the captured woman. She was their best hope of getting out of Dark Castle, as long as she was alive.
But he stopped when he smelled something sweet in the air. Wine?
Diablo turned around and saw a swarm of black and white butterflies gathering in front of him, which slowly turned into the image of an elegant woman.
“Lady Butterfly!” Diablo quickly stood up and bowed. It was obvious she just did something to protect him. “Thank you for saving my life, ma’am.”
“I wouldn’t have done that if not for this unintended crisis,” Felicia said as she gave him a cold glance. “I must say that your plan surprised me.”
“I-it wasn’t my fault. H-he made up this decision on his own.”
When in front of a powerful wizard, Diablo wouldn’t hesitate to sell his teammate out.
“Heh. Now speak, who’s the mentor of that apprentice? Kusino? Mithra?”
Diablo stuttered, “He said he’s Angor, ma’am, but I don’t know anything else about him.”
Felicia wasn’t convinced. She believed that whoever came to Dark Castle to help Diablo had to have known him well. With a simple gesture, a black butterfly with white stripes landed on Diablo’s shoulder.
Diablo’s body instantly froze up. Only his eyes were moving around now.
“His name.”
“He said he’s Angor.”
“His identity.”
“I don’t know. He said he’s from Brute Cavern. That’s the only thing I heard.”
“Who’s his mentor?”
“I don’t know.”
Felicia frowned. She just used a spell to directly communicate with Diablo’s consciousness, and those words sounded truthful enough. Brute Cavern was a powerful organization, true. But last time she checked, they didn’t have any famous alchemist.
“Could it be ‘Rose Crown’ Leona? No… She is no master alchemist.”
As Felicia recalled, Leona studied Apothecary. Perfume Brewing, to be precise. It was a very rare branch too.
But Felicia couldn’t remember any other alchemist worth noticing in Brute Cavern.
Speaking of Brute Cavern… The young apprentice did display some interesting illusion skills. And “Phantom Master” Sunders Eagle was in Brute Cavern. Could it be Sunders’ student?
Felicia shook her head. If Sunders did find a new apprentice who was also talented in alchemy, there would be numerous gossips spread all around the southern wizarding region. Yet she never heard of such rumors and “Angor” yet.
Previously, Felicia planned to learn about who sent this young apprentice so that she could prepare an excuse to get herself out of trouble if a master alchemist ever came to blame her for putting Angor in danger.
But he turned out to be a nameless wanderer? Such a pity.
Felicia was feeling regretful about her decision. If she had known that the young apprentice didn’t belong to Puppet Master or any other renowned alchemist, she would make sure the boy joined Candy House, even if by force.
But this crisis…
Felicia looked at the source of undead energy and moaned. The young apprentice was looking for a quick death by crafting an anti-undead weapon here.
She was expecting to see a corpse that was sucked dry by undead spirits. This was when she suddenly noticed that the black aura was shrinking as well, just like the soul cloud outside.
Her “true self” was still at the castle gate, and she could also observe the growing energy inside the cloud despite its decreasing size.
Why is the source of the omen shrinking? Don’t tell me the apprentice really made it? But this is impossible! Even I would have trouble surviving that kind of negative energy. How could an apprentice get out alive?
She couldn’t believe it, but it was already happening in front of her eyes.
The black aura surrounding Angor’s location was disappearing. The soul cloud in the sky also became smaller. However, the negative energy remained the same; it grew so concentrated that Felicia found it difficult to look into it.
She still tried to observe. In the end, the cloud gradually became one single black soul.
The soul was about three meters tall. Any details couldn’t be seen because it was totally black. However, Felicia still noticed a pair of giant, ox-like horns, a finely-shaped body, a pair of black, leathery wings, and a weapon that looked like a trident.
It looked like those female devils straight out of the depth of an abyss.
The black soul howled loudly, which soon caused all the other souls in Black Forest to cry again. But unlike before, they were crying because of pure fear this time.
Felicia looked at the strange soul and felt her heart racing faster.
This being might not be very strong. She felt stressed because of another reason.
A series of strange ripples emerged from the soul while carrying the might of the world’s consciousness.
Such might had another name to it—Mystery energy.
A Mystery power. A Mystery soul.
Felicia’s image in Blood Prison quickly turned around toward Angor’s location, and she gazed at him with great passion. Was she going to witness the creation of a Mystery treasure?
If so, she would do anything to seize it!
Every Mystery item possessed a special law, which could sometimes bypass the basic laws that operated in this very world.
There was one such item in Candy House, which was the “Butterfly Spirit” possessed by Felicia. Getting a second one meant better protection for their Gourmet Wizard members.
Felicia prepared herself. The moment she set her eyes upon the item, she would take both the item and its creator away. An apprentice who could do something that was impossible for most master alchemists was enough reason for her to use violent means.
As she waited, someone yelled loudly among the surging energy waves, “I DID IT!”
The simple words seemed to be carrying amazing and commanding power, which caused the strange soul in the sky to crumble to fragments. Soon, all the Mystery energy displayed by the soul rushed toward the Blood Prison under Dark Castle.
It gathered around Angor. The black barrier around Angor also disappeared and revealed his form—Angor was now holding a silver weapon with a strange shape in one hand, while his other hand moved in the air as if playing an instrument. As his fingers moved in rhythm, the Mystery energy slowly sank into the silver weapon.
“He’s alive… he really made it through. And a Mystery treasure is coming!” Felicia was now feeling overexcited. She no longer cared how Angor survived the terrible omen; she only wanted to look at the wonderful weapon and be its first witness.
Also, she didn’t hide her voice just now, so Diablo heard her words and slowly dropped his mouth open to a funny extent as if he were performing a mime comedy.
“A Mystery treasure? Angor? This is nuts!” Diablo felt his heart failing after going through so many drastic scenario changes. “Am I dead already? Yes, it must be. This is all a dream!”
As more Mystery energy went into the silver weapon, it took on a brighter, shinier look as it gained more levels.
As everyone waited for the final, decisive moment to come, they suddenly heard a gentle, female voice speaking right beside their ears.
“Thou steal the wealth of Dark Castle. Nugatory assets… but still not yours to take. You, who contribute to thy own name as a Mystery alchemist, by using properties that do not belong to you. Improper, is it not?”