346 - 354

Chapter 346: Reunite (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Leo

Angele knew that the siblings were born in the basement, they had no chance to explore the world by themselves before he found them.

The day Frey and Freia left the basement was the first time they saw the actual situation of their world. They spent most of their time in the mansion after that and Frey was allowed to eliminate the weaker monsters around the area for practice.

However, Freia was not strong enough to leave the mansion on her own, so the only thing she could see was the forest and the river. Phoenix and Angele were the only two that would play with her from time to time.

Although Angele knew that one day he had to leave them, he still felt a bit depressed.

He lowered his head and exhaled once.

'I'm still wondering, where did the strange creatures I encountered and the strange things that happened come from if this world was a peaceful place several decades ago…? Like… that turtle…'

He was checking a yellow leather scroll, it was a map of the area around the mansion. There was a large city beside the forest and the rivers.

'Todd told me that most of the mutated creatures were not intelligent. They were just following their strange instincts. If that's true, the ruin under the volcano will…' he rubbed his chin and started thinking.

He recalled the day he met the wall of confusion in the ruin and the scorpion women. The scorpion women were the guardians of the illusion pool, but for some reason, they could not get close to the pool. Their behavior was restricted by the illusion pool, but it seemed like the pool was the source of their power.

The guardians feared the woman in a white one piece dress that was playing on the swing and it seemed like they were not allowed to leave the garden.

'Those guardians might be the residents that lived in the Nightmare Realm before it collapsed…'

A weird expression appeared on Angele's face. There were too many strange things in this realm and he wanted to know why.

'This realm is like a hell that's full of nightmares, but it's also somehow related to the main world,' Angele assumed.

'What a mess…'

Angele marked several locations on the map carefully.

He flattened the surface of the scroll with the small silver scorpion, rolled it up, and tied it with a metal string.

It was part of the gift to Frey. A map would aid him greatly in his adventure.

The gift contained some magic stones, healing potions, a lot of food, and this map. That was all Angele could do for the brave boy.

　　****************************

Outside the mansion, Frey was holding a large bag in his right hand. There was a high-quality sword on his back.

"Alright, I'll be leaving now. Don't miss me too much, I'll be back before you know it." Frey smiled and waved his left hand.

"Bring me gifts and take care!" Freia shouted.

"Sure!" Frey turned around and started walking to the Dark Cloud City. He did not tell Freia anything about his plan, he did not want his sister to worry too much about the trip.

Freia thought it was a common mission given by Angele and Frey would come back after the mission was completed.

It was noon and the sunlight was strong. Angele and Freia watched Frey disappear into the forest by the gate. Freia turned around and walked to Angele after Frey was no longer in her sight.

"Alright, go play with Phoenix." Angele patted Freia's head.

"No… the only things Phoenix does are singing the weird song and dancing in circles… it's boring." Freia pouted. "What are you going to do, Green? I want to stay with you."

Angele knew that the Phoenix was just acting on its own instinct as it had no intelligence. Freia had some fun with the bird at the beginning but she got bored after all those years.

The girl did not want to be alone in such a large mansion so she asked if she could stay with Angele.

Freia and Frey treated Angele like their own father after what he did for them.

"I still need to do some calculations. You can stay with me in the reading room if you want to." Angele rubbed Freia's cheeks and headed to the main building.

They returned to the reading room together.

Freia decided to add some firewood to the fireplace after closing the door.

Angele walked to the table and sat down. He grabbed the quill and started doing the calculations again.

"Green, it snowed last night… I think there'll be a thunderstorm today," Freia said as she threw the firewood into the fireplace.

"That's possible, but don't worry. I just replaced the crystal cards with new ones," Angel responded.

The weather in the Nightmare Realm was strange. There were no four seasons here. It was hot and wet in the morning but it might snow and the air would become dry during the night. The fireplace helped Freia a lot during the chilling nights.

Angele had high affinity with fire energy particles so he did not really need the fireplace. There were many trees around the mansion and he could easily turn them into firewood.

Freia finished adding the wood and walked to Angele. She just stood by the table and watched him doing all the calculations.

The tip of the quill left countless complicated symbols and words on the leather scroll. The noise the quill made echoed in the room.

Several minutes later, a ball of red light appeared by the reading room and turned into a red bird. Red light dots were dropping from the bird's tail, it was Phoenix.

Phoenix flew to a wooden bird perch behind a bookshelf. It was a cross-shaped brown perch that was specially made for Phoenix.

Phoenix's head leaned to the left and it started sleeping. The bird's tail was about half a meter long and the fire energy particles from it warmed up the whole reading room.

Angele glanced at Phoenix, smiled, and continued his calculations.

Several hours passed quickly.

Freia already fell asleep on the sofa. Angele covered her with a blanket and added some more firewood to the fireplace. He knew it was about time to return to the main world.

It was late in the night when he arrived in the main world.

Angele stepped out of the reading room and a maid brought him two wooden cylinders.

The pretty maid was already more than thirty years old. She was still beautiful, but she was not as energetic as before.

"Master, your letters." The maid handed over the wooden cylinders politely.

Angele grabbed the cylinders and glared at the maid.

"Time flies. How long have you been working here? More than ten years, right?"

"Yes, Master." The maid nodded.

"Go find a decent guy and get married. You served me well," Angele said in a light tone.

The maid looked excited after hearing the words. "Thank you, Master!" she already earned a lot of money as Angele paid her well. The girl was purchased by Liv as a slave and she never thought the master would release her.

Angele walked downstairs and sat down on a sofa after the maid left. He opened the first cylinder and found a red leather scroll inside.

The scroll was slowly opened under the dim light.

It was written by Hikari from the Molten Lava River, a friend Angele met on the airship to the central continent.

Stigma was laying low in his family and kept ranking up. Hikari joined the potion master's guild and Reyline joined the wizard's guild.

Angele started reading the letter with help of a glowing crystal.

'Dear Green,

Long time no see. I have a great opportunity here. It's a secret from the legends and I'm sure you're interested. I sent the letters to the others too. We shall meet in the air transportation city again. Same location as the last time. I'll tell you the details there.'

It was a short letter.

'Air transportation city, huh?' Angele raised the scroll to the air and ignited it with a dark-red flame ball. The scroll turned black quickly and was burnt to ashes.

Angele threw the ashes into the garbage bin on the ground.

He raised his left hand—there were two rings on his middle and index fingers. One had an amethyst that looked like an eye on the top, and the other one was a silver ring without any gem adorning it.

He rubbed the surface of the amethyst carefully and the color of the gem turned from purple to light blue.

A ray of blue light was slowly released from the center of the gem.

Angele aimed at the surface of the table with the ring. The ray illuminated the table and turned into a light screen.

Several lines of words appeared on the light screen:

'This is the intel center. Please submit your question.'

Angele remained calm. He made sure that there were no intruders around using Zero and questioned in a low voice, "I need to know the important events that happened around the air transportation city recently."

'Please wait…'

Several seconds later, several more lines appeared on the screen.

'Based on your security clearance level, following information can be provided.'

'1. Partial map of the city's hundred-year-old treasure.'

'2. The locations of the strongest wizards around the city.'

'3. Special service locations in the city.'

'4. Detailed information of…'

Rows of words appeared on the screen and Angel was reading down quickly.

The Dark Wizard Tower's intel system was surprisingly strong. He could easily find out what the elders of Elemental Hand were doing every day.

The intel was collected by the Dark Wizard Tower's elite members; the good thing was that the members' information was protected and most of them did not have access to the top secrets.

It took Angele several minutes to find the information that was related to what Hikari mentioned.

'The ruin with secret treasure: You need the Iverson's Flute to enter this ruin. Danger Level: 3.'

The danger level was set using the wizard's ranking system. Danger level 3 meant that only wizards above rank 3 could acquire the treasure safely.

Angele narrowed his eyes and looked at the details.

'Possible Treasures: Half-body lizard, Horror Vines, and Iverson's Flute (Genuine).'

'Half-body lizard is a mysterious creature from the tales. It'll help a wizard progress faster with his advanced meditation technique. Finally, something worth fighting for.' Angele smiled.

Chapter 347: Reunite (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Leo

Angele acquired a lot of information about rare resources through the Dark Wizard Tower's intel system in the recent years. He was only interested in the resources that would help him progress, but the main problems were the danger levels and the distance. Without Hikari's letter, he would not notice that there was a decent treasure ruin around a small city like the air transportation city.

'However, the Iverson ruin is known for its enormous size and it's different from the other ones I've visited. The half-body lizard will aid any wizard under rank 4 greatly. If Dark Wizard Tower has the intel, the other organizations might've already found out about it as well.'

Angele's expression changed, he was pondering if he should join the team.

Angele spent many years to stabilize his mentality and learn level 2 spells, nothing really changed. Advancing to rank 2 and rank 3 was relatively easy when compared to rank 4, but his body might suffer permanent damage if he failed. That was the reason why wizards would try to advance to the next rank only when they were fully prepared, even with the advanced meditation techniques.

It seemed like Hikari acquired the information related to the treasure and wanted to test her luck, but exploring the ruins was extremely dangerous. The danger level of the ruins was 3 but anything could happen when there were so many wizards going for the treasure.

Angele's last several visits to the ruins did not end well. Most of the members in his teams were killed during the exploration.

The wizards in the central continent were different from the wizards on the west coast, they had clear goals and progressing with the advanced meditation techniques would be a much better choice than risking their lives in the dangerous ruins.

Only the wizards that enjoyed adventures or did not have access to complete copies of advanced meditation techniques would explore the treasure ruins.

The Elemental Hand already recognized the relationship between Vivian and Angele; he doubted if Vivian would trust Henn's words if she somehow told Vivian about the truth.

The half-body lizard was nearly impossible to find under normal circumstances and it could help Angele during the meditation. He could ask the wizards in the organization to explore the ruins for him as he did not want to risk his life.

Also, it would take him a while to travel to the air transportation city from the mansion.

However, Angele missed Hikari and his other friends. He decided to attend the meeting first and decide if he wanted to join the exploration team later.

He rubbed the ring again and the words on the table disappeared as the light screen faded away.

"Lyn!"

"Yes, master." A young girl with a black ponytail stepped out of a bedroom on the first floor. There were several drops of ink on her sleeves and it seemed like she was writing something down when Angele called her name.

"I'll be leaving the mansion in several days." Angele stood up. "Make sure you're fully prepared as I might need you to aid me during battles."

"Understood." Lyn followed Angele's order without any hesitation. Angele liked her a lot just for her obedience. He gifted the girl a lot of resources and enchanted items as rewards for what she did for him.

The girl did not age at all after ten years, just like other wizards—they had so many ways to make sure that their appearances did not change.

"Should I inform master Vivian about it?" she sent the words through energy particles.

"It's fine. We'll be back before she notices and you'll protect me, right?" Angele responded.

Lyn was one of the strongest rank 2 wizards he had ever met and that was the reason why Vivian sent her to Angele as a bodyguard.

"Understood."

Vivian, Lyn, and the Black Earth all knew that Angele was carrying an item that would save him from the worst dangers. Also, there was no reason for him to tell Vivian about every decision he made.

"Alright, go prepare now."

"Yes, master."

　　*******************************

The air transportation city.

The sun was setting and the city was quiet.

There was a white carriage with silver vine engraved on its body parked outside the gray walls of the humongous arena in the center of the city.

The door of the carriage was opened—inside it was a girl with long black hair. The girl had a pretty face and elegant bearing. There was a silver scale embraided on the chest of her long white robe.

The coachman was a muscular man in gray armor. Currently, he was taking a nap on the seat.

There were several pedestrians passing by on the street, most of them were wearing thick coats.

The light from setting sun did not bring warmth to the land.

Time flew.

The woman in the carriage was looking at the street silently.

Finally, a smile slowly appeared on her face as a tall man in a black cloak walked toward the carriage from the street. The man stopped in front of the carriage and jumped onto it quickly.

"Nothing changed, Stigma, nothing changed." The woman smiled.

"Yeah, Hikari, nothing changed." The man took off his hood, revealing a pale face. The color of his hair and pupils changed from black to dark purple, but it was hard to notice.

"Where are they?" Stigma questioned in a low voice.

"I don't know if they'll meet with us here. Although we've been still exchanging information with each other throughout all those years, no one is talking about their progression due to the restrictions set by the organizations. I'm not sure what they were doing recently," Hikari explained, "How are you doing in your family?"

"I'm doing well. Believe or not, my sister and my mother still think that I'm a rank 3 apprentice. However, the situation is getting worse and worse in recent years. If everyone comes this time, I want you to help me solve my problem. It won't be too much trouble." Stigma went straight to the point, he had nothing to hide.

"It'll be an easy task I presume." Hikari was a bit surprised.

"Yeah. A very easy task." Stigma chuckled.

"Sounds good."

"Reyline joined the wizard's guild and Green joined the Elemental Hand. That's all I know. It takes months for the messages sent using the signal obelisks to be delivered. I don't even know if they read my message." Hikari sighed.

"I hope they all come. I prepared a special gift for everyone." Stigma looked at Hikari.

"Well, I told them what you said in the message. Don't disappoint us." Hikari shook her head slightly.

"Come on, I'll never lie to my friends, and we're all from the west coast."

They chatted for a while in the carriage.

"Let's head to that coffee shop and wait for them there," Hikari advised.

"Sure."

The coachman just woke up and heard the words. The carriage started slowly advancing and headed to the opposite side of the arena.

The carriage went down the empty street and arrived at the coffee shop; it was the location where they had their last meeting.

The brown sign of the shop was shaking in the chilling wind. The name of the shop was written on it: Snow Mountain Coffee Shop.

Stigma and Hikari jumped off the carriage. They stepped into the shop after the carriage left.

There were not many people buying drinks. There was a middle-aged chubby woman standing behind the counter—she was still a pretty girl when they last met in the shop.

There were several pretty girls standing beside the counter. They were wearing tight white pants that looked like washed jeans and their legs looked quite attractive in those pants. It was cold outside, but their outfits were still quite revealing.

Most of the customers were here just for those pretty girls.

"So many years have passed. She was still a young girl the last time we met." Hikari sighed with mixed emotions.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. It feels like we're trapped in time." Stigma nodded slightly. "Let's find an empty table."

"Well, most of the tables are empty."

They walked to the corner and tried to find the table they sat at the last time, but it was already taken by a bald man wearing a black leather suit. He was having a conversation with a waitress.

*PA*

"You. Take the coin and walk away. We want this table." Hikari dropped a gold coin on the table.

The bald man hesitated for a second and glared at the two strangers. He quickly checked if it was a real gold coin.

"It's yours." The man looked excited. He stood up quickly and dragged the waitress to another table.

The two strangers' interaction with the bald man attracted the other customers' attention.

The middle-aged woman behind the counter was a bit confused. The two strangers looked a bit familiar to her.

The atmosphere in the shop was getting heavy. The customers knew that the two strangers were wizards and most of them were short-tempered. Wizards would just kill those who offended them without any hesitation. Some of the bandits and violent people from the canyon would also wear long robes. The citizens would never try to mess with people like that.

Several minutes later, the customers paid their bills and left the shop. Only the waitresses and the middle-aged woman were still in the shop.

The sun disappeared on the horizon and night fell.

The door of the shop was pushed open again as Stigma was still chatting with Hikari.

A young man with long brown hair slowly stepped into the shop. He was wearing a black suit with a dark red armband on the right arm. There was a mysterious silver glint on his skin. A beautiful girl with a black ponytail was following behind him—she was also wearing a black outfit.

"Green, I thought you were not coming." Stigma stood up and looked at the man beside the door.

"Long time no see. I'm just here to meet my old friends." There was a gentle smile on Angele's face.

Chapter 348: Trouble (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Leo

The three sat down again and they all ordered hot coffee.

White steam rose from the three glasses and they looked like three smoking cylinders standing on the white table.

"Time is up. I think Reyline is not coming." Hikari checked her pocket watch.

Stigma grabbed his glass and took a sip. "It's fine. Let's get to the point. I have a favor to ask. Although we're friends, I'll still pay you well."

Angele held the glass in his right hand and spun it several times.

"What do you want us to do? Just say it, Stigma. We survived the trip to the central continent together. Although fair trade is the first rule for the wizards, you don't have to pay me well," Angele said.

Hikari looked at Stigma without saying a word.

"I'll tell you later. The situation is… complicated," Stigma stopped for a second and continued, "It seems like Reyline won't make it."

"What are you talking about?" a calm male voice came from the entrance.

The three raised their heads.

It was a man in a silver armor with a black cloak on his back, stepping into the shop. His shiny blonde hair and handsome face were eye-catching. It was Reyline—he did not age at all.

Reyline's footsteps were loud and deep, it seemed like his armor was heavy.

He walked to the table and sat down by Stigma. Reyline glanced around and his sight fell upon Angele.

"Alright, since we're here, I think we should pay Morrisa a visit, what do you think?" Hikari advised.

"Sure."

"Let's do it."

Angele and Reyline agreed.

Stigma shook his head. "Morrisa is enjoying her peaceful life after she got married. Her husband's family used some secret technique and helped her get pregnant. The child was born without any problems, but she lost half of her mentality. Her child is already 10 years old now. I've visited her once, but she just looked like a middle-aged local woman that you can see anywhere." There was a bitter smile on Stigma's face.

"She's not one of us anymore, but she probably made the right decision." Hikari looked a bit depressed after hearing the words.

"Alright. Let's get back to the topic. What do you want us to do? I thought we were going to explore ruins," Angele interrupted, "I don't have much time."

Stigma took a hit for Angele and almost died back on the airship. Although Stigma did it for the team, it still left a deep impression in Angele's mind.

"It's simple. I want to solve the problem completely," Stigma started explaining, "There are five strongest wizards in my family. I can fight two of them by myself and I want you to help me deal with the rest."

"You want us to kill them or just capture them?" Reyline questioned.

"Capture them if possible, but you can kill them if you have to." Stigma chuckled.

"When do we start?" Angele sipped some coffee from the glass.

"Tomorrow morning." Stigma finished the coffee and slammed the glass on the table. "It's a bit earlier than my original plan, but the situation is getting worse. My sister is considered a traitor to the family and she's being tracked down by the assassins."

He stood up. "Let's go, guys. I'll kill anyone who tries to touch my sister."

"You saved my life once and I'll treat your sister like my own." Angele clinked his glass with Reyline.

"Well, yeah, he's right." Reyline realized he never liked the man named Green after clinking the glasses with him. Reyline's expression changed and he stared at Angele.

Hikari shook her head and chuckled.

"I can find some wizards from the potion master's guild to help us. Also, the guild can easily give your family some pressure. What do you say?"

"Well, I can summon a team with a maximum of 100 formal wizards and 2000 experienced soldiers. Tell me the location. We can set a barrier around your family's territory. No one can stand against the will of the wizard's guild." Reyline glared at Angele.

Angele rolled his eyes. "Why are you looking at me…? My organization is weak so I don't have a team of wizards or something like that."

"Don't bother the wizards from your organizations." Stigma opened his mouth, looking a bit surprised. It seemed like Hikari and Reyline were doing well in their organizations.

"Five rank 2 wizards. I think we can win the fight just by us."

"Alright, let's move. It'll take us some time to reach my family's territory." Stigma put on the black hood and covered his face with a mask.

　　******************************

Surrounded by tall yellow grasses dancing in the gentle wind, a brown wooden house sat quietly in the center of the plain.

Stigma was sitting opposite an old woman with white messy hair inside the house. He was wearing a long black robe.

"Mother, tell me what happened to my sister." He stood up and walked to the window as he questioned.

"Nothing happened." The old woman shook her head. "Did you pack up all your belongings? Just leave. I don't care if you go to the Bass River area of the Molten Lava River area. Don't stay in the family. You're their next target." The old woman's voice was deep and hoarse.

"Leave? Haha…" Stigma's expression turned serious. "Don't worry about me. I'll deal with it. Alright, mother, there's no time to waste. Tell me the location."

The woman raised her head. It was the first time Stigma talked to her like that. The young man's gentle smile was replaced by a cold expression. She never saw Stigma spend any time on learning the spells or meditating. Sadly, Stigma's mother was a mortal, and she did not notice that Stigma was no longer hiding his mentality.

"I'll find the location myself if you don't want to say anything." Stigma put on his hood and left the wooden house.

"Don't worry, Della, I'll be the one to protect you this time," he muttered.

Stigma raised his head and saw three people waiting for him quietly on the horizon.

He closed the door and headed to his friends.

　　**************************

The Abyss Canyon.

There was a deep black crack in the middle of the yellow plain. The crack was stretching endlessly, emitting chilling wind from its depths.

The golden light shined upon the land, but it did not bring warmth to the canyon.

A red dot was advancing slowly on the edge of the canyon.

There were three green dots following after the red dot.

*Squeak*

A shadow soared through the air—there was a black eagle rotating above the red dot. The eagle's wings were blocking the sunlight from time to time.

The red dot glared at the eagle and kept running, but it was slowing down.

It was a young girl wearing a tight leather suit. There was a complicated V-shaped rune between her eyebrows and her face was pale. Cold sweat was dripping down to the ground from her chin. The girl's black hair was covered with dust and sweat.

The girl was breathing heavily, glancing at the people behind her. It seemed like her right arm was hurt as her sleeve was soaked in blood.

"Della, Philip went to the Molten Lava River and no one can save you now. Come back with us and hand over the item, otherwise, we'll kill everyone you love." A young man's voice came from behind.

Della was not concerned about the man's words.

"If I give that thing to you, you'll kill me immediately. Half-body lizard is not the only thing you want. The family leader asked you to kill me and take the item."

"What a waste of time." The young man was enraged. They spent days chasing after the girl and they were all getting tired.

The assassins from the family did not expect Della to travel so fast and only three of them could keep up with her speed.

"Northrend, stop chasing me. I don't have the item." Della sent the words through energy particles.

"Ha, we'll capture you sooner or later. Della, you're a wizard that served the family well and we want this to end peacefully. Listen, you're a girl and you know what will happen if we successfully capture you. This is the final warning!" the man named Northrend shouted.

"Don't even try to activate your communication rune. The energy wave released by my enchanted item already blocked the energy flow in the area. Haha."

Della bit her lips—Northrend already knew what she was trying to do.

"Philip will not come back for you on time even if he learns about the truth." Northrend sneered. "Just give up. Someone wants your body and your item. Listen to me. Let's return to the family together and we won't hurt you."

"Huh? Who wants Della's body?"

"The first inheritor of the Sherman Family, Master Oscar. Don't waste our time. The family gave you all the resources you asked for and it's about time for you to pay the family back." Northrend's head was a bit dizzy and he did not realize that it was a different person that asked the question.

Suddenly, Della jumped forward and fell into a young man's arms. It was a young man with black hair.

"Stigma?" the assassins stopped. Northrend narrowed his eyes and stared at Stigma. "How did you find her location?"

"Well, it's not important." Stigma raised his right hand and aimed at the assassins. A dark red vortex slowly appeared on his palm.

"This spell…?!" Northrend's expression changed and took several steps back. "Three…"

*BOOM*

Northrend and the other two assassins were surrounded by the dark red light before he could finish the sentence.

"Brother…" Della was crying in Stigma's arms. She looked at Stigma. For some reason, she believed that Stigma could help her solve the problem.

　　********************

On the endless yellow plain.

Angele and Lyn stood in front of four green robes calmly.

"Who are you? Our family is one of the strongest families in the air transportation city and we're hunting down a traitor." The leader's left eye was covered by a white eyepatch and there was a black mace in his right hand. The man looked more like a barbarian warrior than a wizard.

"Yeah, yeah. You're tracking down a traitor and you're not the only assassins, right?" Angele was not interested at all.

The leader of the green robes pursed his lips. "Who're you? This is the final warning. We have a strong background. The masters behind us are from…"

"Lyn, go ahead." Angele took a step back. He knew it was just a waste of time.

Lyn nodded and stepped forward. Raising her right hand, she created a red lava ball on the palm. The bright red light illuminated her body.

The high-temperature heat waves were spreading to all angles. The grass around her was drying up quickly and some of the taller grass already perished in the flames.

The four green robes stepped back at the same time as they finally understood the situation.

Lyn threw the lava ball forward.

The red ball exploded in the midair and countless drops of red light dots fell to the ground. Lyn, Angele, and the four green robes were all within the range of the explosion.

The lave dots splashed all over their bodies, but they were blocked by a translucent energy barrier when they were about to hit Angele and Lyn.

It was a feature of the Molten Core River. Although the lava drops would not select the target by themselves, they would not damage the ones who could release the lava ball. Their fire resistance was so high that the flames or lava drops would not do any damage to them.

The best defense is a good offense considering the situation.

The exploded lava ball had a large effective range and the wizards who could release it would not take any damage, but the opponents would have to release their energy barriers.

Blue light dots flashed in front of Angele's eyes as he quickly checked Lyn's lava ball's damage.

'110 degrees of area damage… interesting. The lava ball doesn't require any incantation but its damage is still great.'

Chapter 349: Trouble (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Leo

The four green robes took several steps back but they were still within the range of the explosion.

The leader of the green robes threw a green band into the air.

The green band floated on top of their heads and created a green light screen.

The green robe then took out a white bird statue from his pouch and tapped on it lightly.

The stone bird was brought to life and flew toward the lava drops, leaving a trail of freezing smoke behind its tail.

*PA PA PA*

The lava dots kept striking the green light screen and broke it into pieces.

*BAM*

The lava dots hit the white bird after destroying the energy barrier. White and red energy flows exploded in the air.

The four green robes were pushed back by the shockwave.

"Damn! Stop them!" the leader shouted and hid behind the other three assassins, carefully pulling out a necklace with white gems from his neck.

The man looked at the young man and the woman, it seemed like they were still preparing for the next attack.

The leader knew that he had no time to waste, so he quickly removed the necklace from his neck. It was an important magic device that he had been carrying for years and he could only activate it when necessary. The man decided to use it after seeing his strongest spell, Froze Hawk, perish in the rain of lava.

The necklace was his last hope.

The man held the necklace in hand and shook it slightly.

The necklace slowly disappeared into the air.

"Ah!" the leader screamed in pain, he sounded like a dying beast.

His head was moving down his neck slowly—several seconds later, the man's head completely sank into his chest, and only a bloody hole was left on his neck.

The man took off his long robe, revealing his naked body, and a long red scar appeared on his chest.

*Crack*

The red scar turned into a one-meter-long mouth—it looked like a human mouth, but much longer and larger.

The mouth stuck its red tongue out and licked its lips.

"Move away!" the man shouted, his voice was deep and loud.

The three green robes were having a hard time blocking the lava drops, their faces turned pale and there were beads of cold sweat dripping down their chins. They quickly moved to the side after hearing the leader's voice.

"Mouth of the Abyss!" the large mouth in front of the leader's chest opened.

The mouth looked like an endless black hole that was about to suck every object into it.

The lava drops were dragged into the mouth by a mysterious force and they all sank into the darkness.

Mud, grass, and the broken band in the air mixed into the lava drops and they were all flying into the mouth.

Lyn's expression changed. She rubbed a red ring on her left hand. There was a total of four red rings on her left hand and the one she touched was on her pinky.

"Let me see how much you can swallow!" she suddenly raised her left hand.

*BOOM*

The fire sparked in her hand and an enormous illusion of lava ball appeared on top of Lyn's head as she held her fist tight.

The lava ball's illusion had a diameter of three meters and it could easily fit an adult inside it.

Several seconds later, the illusion slowly turned into reality and the heat waves started spreading in all directions.

The grass on the ground was ignited and a dark smoke cylinder rose into the sky as the heat waves spread.

The dark red lava ball was covered with countless tiny cracks, with golden lava peeking from within them.

"Die!" Lyn pointed at the leader of the assassins.

*BOOM*

The terrifying lava ball flew toward the man.

Angele stood behind Lyn quietly. It was the first time he saw a real fight between two rank 2 wizards. They traded several spells within seconds.

However, it seemed like the leader of the assassins stood no chance against Lyn. Lyn just threw several lava balls at him without making any defensive moves. The rain of lava blocked most of the incoming projectiles for her.

Her fighting style was very aggressive.

The humongous lava ball completely blocked Angele's sight.

The earth was shaking violently. The golden lava and the flames swallowed the four assassins. Rays of blinding golden light illuminated the land.

Large areas of grass were ignited and the furious fire was expanding quickly. The grass was burnt to ashes and left on the ground.

Black smoke rose from the land and the whole plain turned into a mess. Meanwhile, the red flames were still expanding.

Angele raised his right arm.

"Kel'Zula's Hand," he chanted a short incantation.

A red glow appeared on his armband.

*WOO*

A ball of flame came from the opposite side, it shrank and sank into Angele's right arm.

*WOO WOO WOO*

More and more fireballs flew to Angele and were absorbed by his right arm. They looked like birds returning to their nest.

About ten seconds later, all the burning flames in the area were absorbed by the armband. The black smoke slowly disappeared into the air.

Angele lowered his right hand and looked at the four dead bodies on the ground.

"Let's move. They are not the only ones."

"Yes, master." Lyn lowered her right hand and the red light slowly disappeared from her ring.

Suddenly, Angele detected a strange mentality movement from behind.

Angele's expression changed as he turned his head around.

'It's Stigma… He already advanced to rank 3…' Angele was a bit surprised.

It took Stigma only a decade to advance to rank 3 from rank 1. His progression was extremely fast even when compared to the wizards from the central continent.

'Henn, what do you think?'

Angele tried to communicate with Henn through the mentality wave.

'Why are you asking me? You're not working hard enough. Well, Arisma won't ask Stigma to attack you before we find out who ambushed us that day. Don't worry.'

'The Mask of the Black Wing was the only thing you gave me but it didn't suit my style and you're saying that I didn't work hard enough… Seriously?' Angel responded quickly.

'I helped you become Vivian's son. She helped you a lot, right?' Henn sneered, 'Also, do you really think I don't know why you kept your long hair?'

'Huh?' Angele narrowed his eyes. 'What else do you know?'

'I know everything,' Henn replied in a cold tone. 'Alright, don't waste our time. Find Stigma and Arisma. I want to know what intel she had. Those bastards… I want them dead…'

'Well, I don't want them dead. Like I said, I'm not your puppet.'

'We're in the same boat.' Henn chuckled. 'If they found out that Arisma and I are still alive in your body, they'll track you down and kill you. It's something you have to live with. Haha.'

'I need to get my hands on the Thousand Shadow Orb as soon as possible.' Angele pursed his lips.

'I know you have the recipe, but you have to be extremely lucky if you want to craft that magic device by yourself. Also, you need to collect all those rare materials. How long do you think it'll take for you to complete the device?' Henn questioned.

'Whatever, let's go.' Angele sighed and started heading to the source of the strong mentality wave.

Lyn followed after Angele and they disappeared into the horizon quickly.

　　**************************

The Abyss Canyon.

The chilling wind was coming out of the deep dark crack.

Stigma held Della in his arms; they were surrounded by two groups of people.

The assassins in green robes were led by a man named Northrend, and a group of young swordsmen wearing white leather armors was led by a man in a long white robe that was standing in the center of their formation.

"Northrend, that's the inheritor of the Sherman Family?" Stigma looked at the man in a long white robe and questioned in a deep tone.

Northrend was breathing heavily, he was so scared that his body was still trembling. If Oscar did not help him when Stigma casted the spell, they would already be dead.

He had no idea how he should answer Stigma's question.

Northrend was not sure how Stigma suddenly became so strong. Oscar was his partner, but the man was from a different family. Northrend suddenly thought of something—if Stigma could lead the family with his incredible power, he would no longer need the help of the Sherman Family. The current family leader was trying to save the family by sending Della to Oscar as a gift.

"Don't give him too much pressure. The man is just following orders," Oscar interrupted, "Della, hand over the half-body lizard, you have no choice. The situation is getting worse and I'm doing this for your family. I'm not saving this thing for my own use. Someone else wants it…"

Stigma and Della's pupils constricted.

Stigma's strike was blocked by the man named Oscar. Although Oscar's barrier was buffed by the swordsmen he brought here, it still survived the attack. Stigma had no idea who was behind this whole thing.

"To be honest, I can't win a fight against you. However, the wizard guild has my back. I will not try to defend against your next attack, but do you really want to kill me?" Oscar looked at Stigma and Della. "I'm an authorized member of the wizard's guild and information about you will be transferred back to my organization if you kill me. I know you don't care about your own life, but what about your sister, your cousin, your mother, and your family? They will be dragged into this unfortunate event. Do you… understand?"

Stigma's expression turned serious, and he just stood there without saying a word.

"Oscar, wizard's guild has you back, huh? Do you remember me?" suddenly, a voice came from behind. A handsome man with short blonde hair was walking to them quickly—it was Reyline. Hikari was following after him. As for Angele and Lyn, they joined the scene as well several minutes later.

"Reyline… You again!" A tall man behind Oscar stepped forward, staring at Reyline with hatred in his eyes. "You're everywhere. Why do you have to get in my way again and again?"

"Those should be my words, Rumple. How dare you call yourselves authorized members of the wizard's guild?!" Reyline shouted in a cold tone.

Chapter 350: Conflict (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Leo

"It seems like you don't know anything…" Rumple took off his white leather armor. The other swordsmen quickly backed off and Oscar was standing behind Rumple, sneering.

"What are you talking about?" Reyline scrunched his eyebrows.

"You came here but you don't know anything about the situation? Whatever, I still remember what happened ten years ago and I won't let you escape this time." Rumple licked his lips and waved his right hand.

The swordsmen spread out and some of them rushed toward Reyline.

Rumple took out a small silver hammer and spun it several times.

"Goodbye, Reyline." The man sneered and threw the small hammer forward.

*CHI*

The hammer turned into a blurry silver shadow.

Reyline's expression changed and quickly raised his right hand.

*BAM*

A distorted silver barrier appeared in front of him and he blocked the hammer with the right hand. The hammer quickly disappeared into the air like it was never there.

Reyline narrowed his eyes and green veins appeared on his neck.

"Hikari, let me take care of this guy. Go help Stigma and his sister."

"Sure." Hikari turned around and headed towards Stigma.

Reyline turned around and started running. Rumple was chasing after him and his silver hammer would become invisible every time it hit the silver energy barrier. The two wizards quickly left other people behind.

Oscar and the rest of the swordsmen started running toward Stigma. The green robe assassins on the other side also started moving.

"You sneaked into the ruins and stole most of the treasures from us, didn't you?" Oscar looked at Stigma. "There were so many representatives of the major organizations in the ruins and you still did it. Don't you know we have a prophet in our organization? You can't escape his tracking spells."

Stigma shook his head and was about to respond.

However, Oscar and his men were getting closer and closer. Oscar waved his right hand and the swordsmen all took out an item that looked like a white lantern.

The lantern was lighted up. Green flames jumped out of the lamp, rushing toward Stigma and his sister.

"The Lantern of the Fog?!" Stigma's expression changed. "That's why you decided to attack a wizard that's one rank higher than you!"

"We're just here to waste your time. More and more wizards from other organizations are heading toward us. You have nowhere to run."

Green flames from the mysterious lantern surrounded Stigma. He casted multiple spells but none of them could drive those flames away.

The green flames were like a curse that would never go away.

Freezing energy waves penetrated Stigma and Della's bodies. Hikari was also trapped by those strange green flames.

'We need to leave now!' Stigma knew that they could not win the fight against a large group of wizards even with the help of his friends.

'Master, I think I have to use it.'

'Do whatever you want, just finish the fight quickly.' A deep female voice echoed in his ears.

'Sure.'

　　*****************************

Angele and Lyn were running to the Abyss Canyon. They lowered their bodies and they were traveling at full speed.

They could see that Stigma stood by the edge of the canyon and raised his hand, releasing green mist into the air. A blurry shadow that looked like a female in a long white robe appeared behind his body.

The female had a pair of green eyes, her pupils were replaced by the green glow.

'Damn! It's Arisma, that old bastard. How did she recover so fast?' Henn sounded angry and surprised.

'Well, Stigma already reached rank 3 and he can help Arisma recover faster. It's understandable.' Angele remained calm. 'The problem is, those people are just waiting for the reinforcements. This is not an easy task like Stigma said. We should finish the battle as fast as possible.'

'What do you have in mind?'

'Let me give this a try.' Black light flashed in Angele's eyes.

Lyn did not notice that Angele was communicating with Henn.

Stigma was fighting with the swordsmen in white armors when Angele and Lyn finally arrived at the scene. About ten seconds later, the swordsmen all fell to the ground. Their movements were so slow that they could not defend against Stigma's attack at all. It felt like watching a slow-motion scene in a movie.

"That's poison. Be careful, Master!" Lyn suddenly sent the words to Angele through energy particles.

"Poison, huh?" Angele stopped immediately as Lyn dragged his sleeve. "It's fine. Stigma is one of us. Just go help Hikari."

"But, Master…"

"Go. I'll be fine." Angele looked at Lyn.

"Sure…"

Lyn was a bit speechless but she decided to follow the order. She turned to the right side and headed to Hikari's location.

Angele walked to Stigma slowly as the battle was almost finished.

Reyline and Rumple were rank 2 wizards but they had a lot of magic devices and enchanted items. Most of those items had long cooldowns and could be activated with just a small amount of mentality. It almost looked like there were two rank 3 wizards casting a lot of strong spells.

Angele glared at them and shook his head. He had many magic devices as well—most of them came from Vivian, she asked Angele to carry the magic devices with him all the time. Angele tried not to rely on those devices too much as he could deal the same amount of damage with his own spells. He already developed a unique battle style in the Nightmare Realm and it did not involve the use of magic devices.

Broken body parts of the swordsmen covered the ground and their blood was running into the endless canyon.

The chilling wind quickly blew the smell of the blood away.

Stigma stepped on Oscar's chest with his left foot and he was saying something.

However, there was no fear on Oscar's face and he was not responding to Stigma's words. Della leaned against Stigma's body, it looked like she was unconscious.

*BOOM*

Something exploded between Reyline and Rumple. Rumple's energy shield broke. He quickly turned around and ran away with no hesitation.

Hikari finally escaped the green flames with the help of Lyn.

"You're late." Reyline glanced at Angele and sent these words through energy particles.

"Let's regroup and leave the area as soon as possible," Angele responded in a deep tone. "They have reinforcements and we need to find a safe place."

"Alright, come with me." Stigma carried Della in his arms and started running forward.

The others followed behind him.

They were moving on the edge of the canyon at full speed. Hikari set up several traps on the way, which turned invisible after several seconds.

"Thank you, everyone. I wouldn't be able to escape just by myself." Stigma started a conversation using energy particles as he ran.

"Well, I thought you said it was an easy task that was related to your family. Where did all those random enemies come from?" Angele's brow furrowed.

"They believed the rumors and thought my sister acquired the treasure from the ruins near the air transportation city. Those people want to kill my sister and take the treasure," Stigma quickly explained.

"Actually, I think the people behind them are related to the wizards who ambushed Henn and Arisma." This sentence was only delivered to Angele.

"So, what exactly is going on?" Angele kept asking. He did not respond to Stigma's words.

"My family and several other organizations around the city want to kill my sister. They want a share of the treasure. It was not part of my plan, but I think we can win the battle." Stigma sounded confident. "I only need you to kill four people for me."

"Just four? That's it?" Reyline joined the conversation.

"Yeah. The four elders of my family, they made most of the major decisions in the last ten years. We should separate into four teams and kill those old bastards after we get rid of the ones following us. The other organizations will stop if all the elders are dead. The only problem is the wizard's guild. Reyline, can you…"

"No problem," Reyline nodded, "I didn't expect Rumple to be here. He holds a grudge against me since our last encounter. I can pressure the guild and make him stay away from this mess."

"Good. I'll tell you the locations, let's separate now. Also, get rid of the remaining assassins." Stigma threw several leather scrolls into the others' hands.

"Stigma, this is the last time I'll help you for free. I'm just here to pay you back." Reyline checked the scroll and turned in a different direction. Stigma heard the words and nodded slightly.

Hikari glared at Stigma. "I can get rid of the assassins with the help of my friends from the potion master's guild."

Stigma took out a wooden statue from his pouch and threw it to Hikari. "Thanks. This is a small gift for you, I'm sure you'll need it."

Hikari grabbed the wooden statue and checked it. Her expression changed slightly and she turned in a different direction as well.

Only Stigma, Angele, and Lyn were left.

"I owe you one and I don't need any gift." Angele stopped Stigma before he tried to say anything.

Stigma's sight fell upon Lyn.

Angele looked at Lyn and talked to her using energy particles.

Lyn hesitated for a second but she quickly turned around and walked away.

Angele asked Lyn to wait for him in the air transportation city. Lyn never questioned Angele's decision and she knew that Angele could handle the situation by himself.

Angele increased his speed and caught up with Stigma after Lyn disappeared into the horizon.

"So, back to the topic. You were telling the truth, right?" Angele scrunched his brow.

"Yeah. I'm on their list already. They will find out that you entered the White Mist Town to save us sooner or later," Stigma responded.

"I understand, but the thing about your sister... You're hiding something from us."

Stigma looked a bit surprised and a bitter smile appeared on his face. "Yeah, it was my fault. I didn't want to bring Della into this, but I didn't know that they had a prophet that could cast high-level tracking spells."

"I want to know the truth. There are too many holes in the explanation you just told us." Angele shook his head.

"Alright."

Angele finally had a general idea about the situation after Stigma told him everything.

Chapter 351: Conflict (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Leo

Stigma collected a lot of valuable information when he was still in the family's territory and he noticed that the ruins around the air transportation were recently opened. He sneaked into the ruins and found a lot of resources that would help Arisma recover. Stigma took away most of the valuable resources, but he was ambushed by a group of wizards that hid their faces with black masks. He was injured and returned to the family to recover. However, an exploration team with members from several major organizations found out someone entered the ruins before them. They then asked a prophet to find the one who "stole" the treasure from them. However, the prophet made a mistake and thought the target was Stigma's sister. This was how the whole thing started.

Stigma put the half-body lizard into Della's pouch without being noticed and the lizard helped Della recover her stamina on the way. However, it seemed like those assassins realized that Della was carrying the half-body lizard. They knew the situation about the ruin and they thought Della was the one who raided the ruins before the exploration team. The leader of the assassins quickly contacted the prophet and confirmed the target.

Stigma learned that his sister had become the scapegoat and he decided to ask his old friends for help. That was the truth behind the whole situation.

"So… you already took most of the valuable resources from the ruins?" Angele was a bit speechless.

"Well… yeah. Sorry." Stigma nodded slightly.

"That's why your master is recovering so fast. Did you notice anything special about the ones who ambushed you?" Angele rubbed his chin.

"Of course. They were using the shadow power." Stigma took out something small from his pouch and threw it to Angele.

*PA*

Angele caught the item easily. It was a small raven statue with a black body and a pair of green eyes. It seemed like the eyes were made of emeralds.

"No, not the statue. Look at its shadow on the ground," Stigma advised.

Angele heard the word and looked down.

The raven's shadow twisted on the ground, it looked like a living bird that was swinging its wings.

Angele looked at the statue—it was not moving at all.

The raven's shadow on the ground was trying to leave Angele's hand.

"The hell… Don't tell me this is…" Angele's expression changed.

"Yeah. This is a shadow fiend that comes from the abyss…" Stigma confirmed Angele's assumption.

"A shadow fiend from the shadow realm…" Angele blocked the sunlight above the statue.

Suddenly, the raven's shadow jumped out of the statue and it started moving around Angele on the ground.

*CAW*

The voice of the raven was loud and terrifying. It jumped straight into Angele's shadow.

Angele's expression turned serious, he knew that he could not let the raven touch his shadow.

With a flick of his finger, a ray of fire energy particles hit the raven's shadow with precision.

*BAM*

A small hole appeared on the ground.

*Crack*

Countless tiny cracks appeared on the raven statue in Angele's hand. Several seconds later, the statue turned into a pile of stone debris and dropped to the ground.

"Fairy's realm… and now it's the shadow realm… It seems like the wizards in the central continent are trying to study the ancient world…" Angele muttered.

"Yeah. I heard that there are wizards who can enter other realms using the world stones as portals so it's possible that those wizards brought the shadow fiends to our world. Maybe the wizards who ambushed our teachers were related to the shadow realm," Stigma spoke in a deep tone.

"What if those wizards are from the shadow realm?" Angele narrowed his eyes. "What's your plan? Any advice from your master?"

"Well, we need to rank up fast." A bitter smile appeared on Stigma's face. "No matter how perfect my plan is, I can't win a fight against someone with extreme power."

"How strong were the ones who ambushed you?" Angele questioned.

"Three rank 3 wizards and two rank 4 wizards."

"What?!" Angele gasped. "How did you survive the ambush? Is that even possible?"

Stigma sighed. "Arisma saved me. Otherwise, I'd be dead. However, her soul form was almost destroyed by those wizards. They knew how to deal with strong opponents."

"That's a problem." Angele narrowed his eyes. If Henn could not protect him under a similar situation, he was not sure if he could survive the attack. "Do you know why they put so much effort into finding Arisma and Henn?"

"According to the words said by one of the rank 4 wizards that attacked me, I think there's a person named Alicia that can communicate with the living beings of Shadow Ream and she's behind the whole thing," Stigma explained.

It seemed like the situation was much more complicated than Angele thought.

"So, we probably should…"

"What? Alicia?!" Henn's voice interrupted, "So, it is her… the lord of the shadow, Alicia… It was a possibility, but I didn't think she would do something like this…" Henn's illusion visualized behind Angele.

It was a beautiful lady with long dark hair and a tight silky black dress. The woman was attractive and mysterious. She was wearing a pair of long black gloves and the brooch on her chest that looked like a lightning.

For some reason, Angele thought he was looking at Vivian. The two women gave him a similar feeling but Henn looked more attractive.

Angele had thought Henn was an old woman, it was the first time he saw Henn's appearance.

A woman with a pair of green eyes appeared behind Stigma slowly, she was wearing a long white robe and her face was covered by a silky mask.

"Long time no see, old bastard." Henn pursed her lips into a cold smile and stared at the woman behind Stigma.

"Henn, the invincible banshee from the hell… Ha… What a joke. Your soul power is weaker than me right now. How sad that is." Arisma's voice was soft and gentle but her words were quite heavy.

"Cut it out. We are no longer who we used to be. I think you're the reason why Alicia is going after us. What's your plan? You need to bring this to an end." Henn was not mad about what Arisma just said at all. She just looked Arisma in the eyes.

They were both in the soul form and there was not much they could do. Angele and Stigma were the only two that could see them.

"Come on. It's not all my fault. The lord of the shadow was one of the strongest wizards in the world. I don't understand why they ambushed us. She can kill us in a face-to-face battle. She's one of the three lords from the Anfaria High Council. We stand no chance against her in the soul form," Arisma explained.

"What about the other two lords? She can't decide the future of the council and she can't break the balance. That's the reason why she ambushed us. Whatever, just tell me about your plan."

Arisma shook her head. "I don't have a plan. I can't wait for Stigma to rank up and fight for me. I suggest we go to a different area. They'll find us soon or later. I think Alicia did not expect us to turn ourselves into soul form, but now she knows and she will send assassins to kill us."

"So, the best plan is to…" the two strong female wizards exchanged eye contact but did not finish the sentence.

"But, it took me years to find a body to live in…" Henn hesitated. The woman had an attractive appearance but her voice was hoarse.

"It's fine. Let's enter the Thousand Shadow Orb. Stigma found two orbs from the ruin," Arisma advised.

"The Thousand Shadow Orb?" Angele interrupted, "Master Arisma, it is the item that can separate the souls from the living beings' bodies, right?"

"Yeah, however, we are like symbionts and the orb can't separate us completely. We can still use the orb to recover. Also, the orb will remove my mentality wave completely from this world. The only downside is that I can only wake up once every ten years," Arisma responded. Her personality was much better than Henn.

Arisma cleared her throat and continued, "Let those two kids progress in the next 100 years. I need time to recover. Also, it'll be great if Alicia thinks we're dead."

"She'll kill the two kids to ensure that we're dead." Henn shook her head.

"She won't send strong assassins just to kill them… Well, I don't know. It's our destiny. We'll die sooner or later. I don't think they can win the fight against rank 3 and rank 4 wizards yet. Alicia is… smart, but her strongest servants are important people to many large organizations, and they can't reveal the truth to the public," Arisma said slowly.

"That's why you're called wizard of destiny, huh? I'm not going to let destiny control my life. I will make the decision myself." Henn's illusion slowly landed on the ground.

"I shall fight till my last breath."

"Good luck then." Arisma nodded, then she turned into countless green light dots and sank into Stigma's body.

Henn stood beside Angele and put her hands on his cheeks carefully. Angele was a bit confused, he was not sure why Henn could touch him.

"Look at my eyes, young man…" her voice was no longer hoarse, it was crispy and gentle. "What do you think? Do you like me…?"

She leaned against Angele's body and it looked like Henn was trying to seduce Angele. He could not even turn his head away from the woman.

"Relax… Young man… I'll teach you how to enjoy your life…" Henn's eyes turned from dark red to scarlet.

"It won't take very long… I'll be your woman for the rest of my life… No matter where you are and what you do. You'll become part of my… body… Don't you want to live a happy and peaceful life…?" Henn's voice slid into Angele's ears.

Angele stared Henn in the eyes with a blank expression on his face. He opened his arms and grabbed Henn's waist tight. It almost looked like he was trying to drag Henn into his body.

The fragrance of Henn's body rushed into Angele's nose, the soft touch on his fingers was hard to give up.

*WOO*

Angele's eyes slowly turned from black to scarlet. They were glowing and the feeling was hard to describe.

Henn's voice echoed in his ears. It felt like she was talking to Angele from the sky and it sounded like a siren singing.

"Come to me… Let me tell you what is the ultimate happiness in life…" Angele whispered, his voice somehow sounded like a young lady's.

Henn's expression changed. She wanted to push Angele away but she could barely lift her arms. Henn was surprised, she just stood there and let Angele hug her tightly. Her head was dizzy and she had no idea what was happening.

"Damn!" she quickly turned her head to the left and avoided eye contact with Angele.

*Crack*

Henn's body turned into red light dots and returned to Angele's body.

Chapter 352: Trace of the Enemy (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Leo

The strange scarlet color slowly disappeared from Angele's eyes as Henn gave up.

He glared at Stigma and rubbed his temple. It felt like there were a hundred needles pricking his head.

"Damn it. That old woman almost took over my body…" He grunted. "Let's go. We need to rank up as fast as possible after this."

Stigma gave Angele a strange look. "Master Henn is so beautiful and attractive… Lucky bastard…"

"You think I'll be happy if you praise her…?" Angele was speechless. "Come on. We need to go." He took out the scroll and checked the location.

"Later."

"Yeah, see you."

They started heading in two different directions.

Angele turned left and started running at full speed.

He left the canyon and traveled down the path on the yellow plain. The grass was more than one meter tall and it was dancing in the wind.

About half an hour later, the texture of the mud changed, it became wet and soft. Angele stopped and glanced around.

'That's it… this is the place marked on the scroll.' He took out the scroll, confirmed the location, and dropped it to the ground.

*WOO*

Red light flashed in the air, the scroll was burnt to ashes and blown away by the wind.

Raising his head, Angele saw a large white tent sitting on top of a small hill quietly. There were several green robes roasting some meat by the campfire.

Angele walked to the tent, it only took him about one minute to reach the tent.

The green robes quickly stood up after noticing Angele's presence.

"Who are you?!" an old man with white messy hair questioned loudly, "We're members of Unochi Family, please stay away from this hill!"

"Unochi Family, right? Good, this is the correct location." Angele scanned the green robes using the chip.

The old man was a rank 2 wizard and there was a rank 1 wizard on his left, the rest of them were just apprentices.

"What do you mean?" the old man's expression changed.

"Nothing. Ha." Angele smiled and raised his right hand, creating a head-sized lava ball on his palm.

He pointed at the four green robes. The lava ball drew an arc in the air and flew to them.

"Move!"

"Block it!"

They shouted. An apprentice quickly put up a large tower shield and tried to block the lava ball.

*BOOM*

Red light exploded in the air, a rain of lava drops fell to the ground and turned the area into a sea of fire.

Two of the green robes were blown away by the impact. Their bodies were burnt black and it seemed like they died.

One of the wizards rolled out of the rain of fire quickly but his robe was ignited and he was trying to put out the fire with water energy particles. The other wizard blocked the lava drops with a white energy shield.

"Bastard! You'll pay for what you have done!" the rank 2 wizard shouted furiously. He took out a small crossbow and shot an arrow at Angele.

*CHI*

A blurry dark shadow disappeared in the air; it was only one meter away from Angele when it reappeared.

Angele quickly created a silver shield in the front.

*CLANK*

The steel arrow sank into the shield but it failed to penetrate through the thick silver metal.

Seconds later, the steel arrow melted into a ball of black liquid. The liquid formed another steel arrow and was fired back at the old wizard.

Angele raised his right hand again and he was about to create another lava ball. However, the musical note in his chest vibrated slightly.

Henn tried to take over Angele's body and her plan failed. Angele almost absorbed Henn's power. He had not activated the bloodline signet—the signet countered the seduction by itself.

The musical note was slightly heated up at that moment, it just saved Angele's life. He really needed to find a way to deal with Henn, that woman never changed.

'Well, let me give this thing a try.' Angele tapped at the center of his chest.

*DING*

It sounded like a bell was rung once. It was a clean and crisp sound.

Angele saw that the old wizard was about to cast a spell after dodging the arrow, however, he suddenly stopped moving and just stood there.

The rank 1 wizard beside him also stopped moving. The man was preparing a spell. It almost looked like they were trapped in time.

Angele was a bit surprised.

The signet was only partially activated but its power was already incredible.

Angele quickly approached the old wizard and walked around him.

The white barrier around the old wizard disappeared. There was an angry expression on his face. He put his right hand into the pouch and it seemed like he was about to take something out.

Angele observed the old man. His heart rate was much lower than a normal human being's but he was still alive. All vital signs were normal.

He scrunched his brow and moved his left hand toward the old man's pouch.

*WOO*

Suddenly, the old wizard's body was ignited, and his body was covered in bright red flames.

The old wizard's body melted like a candle before Angele's hand could reach the pouch. His body was quickly burnt into a pile of white ash, including his clothes and belongings.

Angele was not sure what just happened. He looked at the other people.

He checked the two apprentices and the rank 1 wizard. The rank 1 wizard just extinguished the fire on his robe before he was hit by the energy wave from the bloodline signet.

However, two of them were ignited and started burning. The red flame swallowed a rank 3 apprentice and a rank 1 wizard seconds later.

The last apprentice was burnt black by the lava drops but he was still alive.

'Huh? He survived the attack? So, the sound wave released by the signet did not kill everyone.' Angele walked to the apprenticed, crouched, and checked his muscles.

His muscles were hard like stone and it seemed like the apprentice was trying to resist the illusions.

'It's related to their willpower.' Blue light dots flashed in front of Angele's eyes.

The light dots disappeared a minute later.

'Ability of the bloodline signet: Illusion Sound Wave. It can be countered by the target's willpower. If he fails to resist the illusions, his body will be burnt to ashes. The effective duration of the sound wave is half an hour. The stronger the target's willpower is, the shorter the effective duration will be. Effective range: 20 meters.'

Zero finished the analysis and reported back quickly.

Angele was satisfied, he nodded slightly and stood up. Raising his left hand, Angele released a silver needle from the tip of his finger and sent it into the apprentice's forehead.

Blood leaked out of the tiny wound and the apprentice's suffering ended. The silver needle returned to Angele's finger as he walked to the green robes' camp.

The entrance of the tent was open and there were black travel cases lying down on the ground.

The campfire was burning quietly outside the tent. They were roasting two skinned wild rabbits on a metal rack. The top of the browned meat was covered in fat and the bottom of the meat was already burnt.

Angele raised his right hand and absorbed all the burning flames on the ground.

He couched and pulled a piece of meat off the roasted rabbit. It was very hot but he still threw it into his mouth.

Salty, crispy, and the juice from the caramelized fat was tasty.

Angele stood up and stepped into the tent.

It was a bit dark inside.

It was a large tent with a plain interior. Three beds were lined up by the wall, the white blankets on them were unorganized.

On the left, there was an opened book lying quietly on top of the nightstand.

Angele walked to the nightstand, grabbed the book, and checked the content.

The title said: Adventure Log of Abyss Canyon.

Someone was reading this book, it was full of dog ears. Angele turned to a random page and started reading.

'April 12. Our team entered the Canyon and traveled about 1 kilometer. There was a cave on the left. Oh god! We found…'

The rest of the page was torn off and he quickly turned to the next page.

'Red grass… Yellow sky… What the hell is this place?! Maybe we can never escape… We'll die thirsty and hungry. I hate those dirty monsters and…'

A small object jumped off the book and slowly dropped to the ground.

Angele picked up the object.

It was a slim piece of red leaf. The leaf was still wet and soft. He carefully put the leaf back into the book.

Angele closed the book and held it in his hand. He turned around and left the tent.

After walking for several minutes. He created a head-sized fireball on his right hand and threw it into the tent.

*BOOM*

The furious flame swallowed the tent, the campfire, the dead bodies, and half of the small hill.

Angele saw that the tent fell to the ground and hit the campfire. Everything was covered in the burning flames and black smoke rose into the sky.

The orange light from the fire brightened up the area. There was nothing left to burn on the small hill and the fire stopped expanding seconds later.

Angele nodded. He held the thick book that had a brown cover tightly and walked away.

He had finished his job. The rest was on the others.

Angele started walking back from the way he came. About half an hour later, he saw Stigma, Della, and Hikari standing together, talking about something.

Hikari waved at Angele after seeing him walking to them.

Chapter 353: Trace of the Enemy (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Leo

Angele smiled and walked to them quickly.

"I thought it would take you a while."

"The location was fairly close," Hikari wiped the dust off her long robe and smiled. "They couldn't handle the damage dealt by my potions."

"Alright, let's wait for Reyline to come back and I'll tell you the true reason why I gathered you here." A mysterious smile appeared on Stigma's face.

"The true reason? Again?" Angele exchanged eye contact with Hikari, they were both curious.

However, Stigma changed the topic right away. "Alright, let me introduce my sister to you. This is Della, Della Unochi." He pushed the girl in red to the front.

Della was shy, her face blushed as Stigma pushed her forward.

"Umm… Thank you for helping me and my brother!" she hesitated for a second then bowed to Angele and Hikari; there was a serious expression on his face.

"Help? Well, you can say that." Hikari looked at Della. "But your brother doesn't really need our help…"

Angele chuckled. Stigma was a rank 3 wizard. Although his mentality was unstable due to the fast progression, he was still much stronger than the average wizards. Stigma had already achieved what most wizards could not achieve all their lives.

"Still, thanks for helping us. It was a tough situation." Della raised her head and bowed again. She was elegant and polite.

"You brother is much stronger than us." Angele looked at Della. "You're a good girl, Della. Contact me if you need my help. You can treat me like a… big brother, maybe? Ha." He wanted to treat Della well since it seemed like she was the most important person to Stigma.

"What? Big brother? Come on…" Stigma shook his head and laughed. "Oh, right, Reyline's still fighting?"

"He's almost done and he'll be back soon." Hikari activated the communication rune and exchanged messages with Reyline.

She closed her eyes for a while and sent several more messages.

"Yeah, he'll be here soon. Let's just be patient."

The four just waited by the edge of the canyon quietly.

Della was curious about Angele and Hikari.

She still could not believe that Stigma in front of her was the same person she used to know. The man killed a group of assassins easily and his mentality wave was incredibly strong.

Della protected Stigma when he was young but the situation changed. She was still trying to figure out what was going on.

She walked to Angele and started asking questions.

Della already had a long conversation with Hikari but she did not learn much valuable information. She decided to ask the man that wanted to be her 'big brother'.

"So, my brother became a formal wizard a long time ago?"

"Yeah, actually, I'm not sure if you have noticed or not." Angele looked at Della. "Your brother is definitely a… siscon."

"Siscon? What does that mean?" Della, Stigma, and Hikari all looked confused.

"A term that describes a brother that wants to have a romantic or… sexual relationship with his own sister," Angele explained.

"What?" Della was still a bit confused. Several seconds later, her face blushed again after finally understanding what Angele just said.

She turned around and stared at Stigma.

"Seriously? Stigma!" she shouted and jumped to her brother. Della scratched Stigma's face with her nails and bit him in the right shoulder.

Stigma grunted and fell to the ground. They rolled several times on the grass. Della rode on Stigma's body and slapped his face several times.

Stigma did not fight back at all, he just let Della hit him. It almost looked like he was enjoying being beaten by his sister, everything was shown on his face.

Della did not notice the change, but Angele and Hikari shook their heads after seeing Stigma's expression.

Reyline finally appeared when they were having some fun. There was a bloody human head in his right hand. The man had a blank expression and his left shoulder was soaked in blood.

"What happened?" Stigma stopped his sister immediately. He kissed Della's cheeks and quickly stood up.

"Nothing. It's about my… organization," Reyline said in a light tone.

He dropped the human head to the ground. "And this is an elder of your family I believe. I tried to talk to him, but it didn't work out."

The human head rolled several times on the ground and left a trail of blood behind. It was an old man with a long white beard. Even in death, his eyes remained wide open.

Della was about to blame Stigma for kissing her cheeks but the human head caught her attention.

"Elder Rumble… He was an old fogey…" she looked at the Reyline with mixed emotions.

Short blonde hair, handsome face, and elegant behavior, the man was like a perfect knight from a teenage girl's dream.

"You woke up?" Reyline forced a smile on his face after noticing Della's sight. "Hello, I'm your brother's friend and my name is Reyline. You can just call me Rey if you want to."

"I'm Della. Thank you for helping me and my brother." Della stood up and bowed to Reyline politely.

"Alright, I'll start explaining why I gathered you here since everyone is back," Stigma cleared his throat and said.

"Huh? I thought you only wanted us to deal with your family problem." Reyline was confused.

"I think you all know the legends about the altars in the Abyss Canyon, right?" Stigma glanced around. "My family problem is nothing compared to what I'm about to tell you. We killed all the elders in my family and I'll tell my father everything after I go back to my family. I shall be the one to rule the family council. Also, Hikari and Reyline, you're having trouble creating the mentality crystal, right?"

Stigma glared at Reyline and Hikari.

They looked surprised after hearing him.

"How did you find out?" Hikari stared at Stigma.

"My eyes." Stigma pointed at his eyes. "I can see through a lot of things with my eyes."

"The Eye of the Truth." Reyline's expression changed as he spat out the words.

Stigma nodded but he did not say anything else.

Angele knew what the Eye of the Truth was and he gave Stigma a strange look.

"What is the Eye of the Truth?" Della had never heard of the name.

"It's simple. He can see through the walls and your clothes," Angele sighed and explained. "He's using the Eye of the Truth every time you see a black glow around his eyes."

Della thought for a while and her face quickly blushed. It seemed like the description reminded her of something.

"Stigma!" she screamed furiously. "So that's why you wait outside my room every time I go take a shower? What are you thinking? Do you really look at your own sister that way? Seriously? Stigma?" she jumped on Stigma and bit him on the right shoulder again.

*CHI*

It sounded like a knife cutting through a piece of meat.

Angele took a step back after seeing the scene.

Stigma opened his mouth but he did not scream. It seemed like Della was not holding back this time. She was biting with a lot of force.

*Screech*

Suddenly, a strange noise came from the sky.

They looked at the sky at the same time.

It was an enormous black eagle, its wings spread wide open. The eagle rotated in the sky and it blocked the sunlight.

Della's bite barely hurt Stigma's shoulder, he was a wizard after all. Still, two lines of teeth marks were left on his skin.

"What's that? It has been flying above my head for a while," Della raised her head and asked.

Stigma's expression turned serious after he saw the black eagle.

He glanced at Angele and saw Angele nodding at him. It seemed like they already knew what was going on.

"Reyline and Hikari, can you go back to the air transportation city and wait for us there? Angele and I have some things to take care of. We'll go find you after we're done," Stigma said.

"I want to go with you," Della followed.

"Go with Reyline and Hikari. Don't worry. We'll be fine. There are some insects following us and we need to shake them off." Stigma looked relaxed.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Angele raised his head, staring at the eagle. Suddenly, Henn's voice echoed in his ears.

"The thunder eagle… Haven't seen such a beautiful creature in years."

"It's not the time to praise an eagle. What you tried to do to me is unacceptable, but we should focus on Alicia now," Angele responded in a cold tone.

"It seems like you're hiding many secrets from me…" it seemed like Henn learned something when she tried to take control of Angele's body.

"I'm a wizard and I have my special abilities. Why are you surprised?" Angele smiled. It was a gentle and mysterious smile. It almost looked like his body was surrounded by a strange aura.

"Whatever. I'm just curious." Henn was not concerned. She knew that Angele could not get rid of her yet.

Stigma and Hikari already decided where they would meet after everything was done.

Hikari, Reyline, and Della started heading to the air transportation city right away.

Stigma raised his head and looked at the eagle again.

"It's the mount of the wizards that ambushed me. Let's find a better battlefield."

"Sure." Angele nodded slightly.

They exchanged eye contact quickly.

*CHI*

The two disappeared at the same time.

Two golden flashes of lightning were released by the eagle and struck the ground right after they left.

*BAM*

The lightning turned into two men in long silver robes.

The two men's blonde hair looked like golden liquid, shining in the sunlight. Their skin was pale and their faces were handsome. They both had golden pupils. The man on the left had a triangular silver rune in the center of his forehead, and the man on the right had a rune that was similar in color but shaped like a crescent moon.

"Master Cena, they escaped," one of the men said in a light tone.

"No, they're trying to find a better place to fight," the man with a crescent moon on his forehead told him. He crossed his arms and glanced around. "They're trying to challenge the wizard lord's palace. People already forgot how strong the shadow lord is… That's why I hate peaceful eras…"

"We shall spread despair and fear again… It's the number one rule in the palace." The other man chuckled. "It took us so long to find them… but it's fine… we can finish them off here."

"You're probably the reason why I'm lucky. Every mission with you will become much easier than I thought." The man turned around and turned into a golden lighting, disappearing into the air.

The other man chuckled, turned around, and disappeared into the air as well.

Chapter 354: Engage (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

Angele accompanied Stigma from behind as they ran along the plains at their fastest pace.

The cold gusts coming from the Abyss Canyon continued to brush across their face.

"What do you have in mind?"

While running, Stigma constantly surveyed the surroundings, as if he was searching for someplace.

"Well, we need to find a better place. You have seen how those servants of the shadow lord fight. Do not let them draw too close to you. Those people have a screw loose. They will sacrifice themselves just to kill their enemy."

"Seriously?" Angele squinted his eyes. "Wizards often try to desperately survive in battles, though. If those wizards really have no regards with their own lives, this will be a tough fight."

"That is how they almost killed me and my master. If not for the huge stock of high-quality healing potions, we would already be dead now." Stigma sighed. "Well then, this place should be good enough."

Suddenly, he stopped his movements and only remained standing at this particular place.

A giant blue hexagram appeared on a particular surface of the canyon's edge as soon as Stigma stopped. The hexagram disappeared in but a split second, that Angele almost thought it was an illusion he had seen.

Stigma inspected the surroundings before taking out a handful of white dust, then he sprinkled it onto the ground. The white dust soon turned into smoke before it could touch the soil and disappear into the air gradually.

"What's this?" Angele walked to Stigma and questioned him, "Do you know if they will come?"

"No. I am only being extra careful. This is a small trap I had set after I left the ruin. Come along." Stigma smiled and walked behind a boulder by the cliff.

The rock was about one meter tall. Stigma stopped behind it and disappeared without leaving any trace.

Angele started. He scanned the area using his biochip, but no mentality wave had been detected.

He did the same thing Stigma had just done.

*CHI*

There was apparently a transparent bubble behind it. It felt like walking into a thin layer of plastic.

For a second, Angele's vision blurred before Stigma reappeared before him.

"Now we only need to wait for them to reach us." Stigma pointed at the trap.

Angele examined his surroundings. The rock and the soil were covered in dark red magic circles. Majority of the runes were figures of triangles that contained strings of such complexity within.

"You have put a great deal of effort into this."

"Of course. Last time, I almost got killed so I decided to be more careful." The smile slowly disappeared from Stigma's face.

Angele nodded but did not speak. Right now, he was only thinking of seeing the extent of the strength of those servants.

The two wizards remained standing behind the boulder and patiently awaited.

About two minutes later, rays of eye-blinding golden light appeared from the sky.

Two flashes of lightning struck and landed on the empty ground in front of the particular boulder and soon formed into two human beings.

The man who had a crescent moon figure on his forehead started examining the particular location. His gaze soon fell on where the invisible hexagram was drawn.

"Illusion circle? Seriously? Do they truly think that I will be tricked by this?" Cena shook his head.

The man who had a triangle figure on his forehead looked at the ground and chuckled.

Cena waved his right hand. A golden glow enveloped the soil.

Angele looked daggers upon seeing such a scene take place. He took a step forward, about to attack, but Stigma suddenly grabbed his hand and dragged him back to where he was.

"Don't worry. Let us wait." Stigma slightly shook his head.

With this, Angele calmed down and looked at the golden glow.

*WOO*

It sounded as though something was vibrating.

*CHI*

This golden glow savagely struck Cena's body upon being reflected by the invisible hexagram.

*BAM*

Cena stumbled for three steps and expelled some blood out of his mouth.

"Now!"

Cena suddenly heard a shout coming from behind the boulder.

At that instant, two lava balls flew towards him before he could react.

*PA PA PA PA*

Countless blue pulses of lightning appeared on the ground and shackled their feet.

*BOOM*

The lava balls exploded in the sky and rained down to the ground as lava droplets.

The area soon became a sea of flames. The ground was bedaubed in boiling lava. Angele could barely see what was happening.

His eyes had been blinded by the sparks of lightning for a moment. The only thing which remained in his sight was the rain of lava. The area's temperature was constantly rising, and the pulses of lightning still continued to crackle in the air. He could feel the intense heat sweeping across his face.

Angele inhaled deeply and conjured a wide-bladed, silver sword in each of his hand. Both of the swords' point was blistering red, akin to iron completely heated in a furnace.

He swung the swords several times, leaving two dark red strings in the air.

"One for you, one for me." Stigma unsheathed a black mace out of thin air. Its handle was covered in complex runes and it looked old but luxurious.

"Sure, let us separate." Angele lightly nodded and ran to the other side of the plains. He was traveling at such absurd speed that his body looked like a blurry shadow.

Stigma only stood there as he watched Angele depart before he turned around and looked at the ground filled with boiling lava.

*BOOM*

The lava on the ground exploded once more, turning into lava droplets, and splattered everywhere. The lava droplets struck the grassy area and ignited them. The smell of grass being burnt immediately drifted into the air.

Even at this moment, the two servants of the shadow lord remained standing at their original position.

Cena's sleeves, on the other hand, had been burnt black. The man was caressing a sapphire ring on his right index finger with a grim expression.

*Crack*

The ring broke into pieces and dropped to the ground. The fragments of the ring turned into a black shadow that immediately dissipated.

"Good…Terry…Go kill the man who is trying to flee. I will deal with the one behind the boulder.

"Naturally," the white robe called Terry answered in a deep tone.

Terry transformed into a flash of golden lightning and disappeared.

Cena was breathing heavily. He watched as Stigma stepped out of the shadows.

"We meet again…Stigma…"

"A pleasure…I guess? Master Cena." Stigma smiled in response and raised his right hand.

*CHI*

In his right hand materialized a black scimitar that had an eye-shaped ruby embedded on its blade. Dark red light glowed around it.

*************************

Angele pressed on at his maximum speed while using the biochip to probe his location.

The tall grass growing on the yellow plains were dancing amidst the strong winds. The setting sun had failed to bring warmth to the land.

Angele ran down the edge of the Abyss Canyon without a pause. Several minutes later, he stopped by a wide cliff.

He surveyed the surroundings first before he retrieved a small golden ball from his pouch.

"Golden cirrus, the force of nature." Angele uttered an incantation and dropped the golden ball to the ground.

The ball transformed into a streak of golden light which sank into the ground.

Angele then took out a green bottle from another pouch, one filled with dark green powder.

He removed the black stopper of the bottle and with a flick of his finger, a string of red energy particles entered the bottle.

Angele shook the bottle several times and leaned it forward.

The powder inside the bottle was slowly poured out.

The dark green powder that had been mixed with red specks of light slowly descended. Just like what occurred to the golden ball, it dissipated several seconds later.

Angele nodded slightly, clearly satisfied with the result.

He had just finished preparing two of the strongest magic circles he possessed. The first was called 'Sunset' and the second was called 'Venom Snake'. Both magic circles were gifted to him by Vivian.

On the contrary, the ones he had set up in the Nightmare Realm were magic matrices that had a wide effective range and worked well against those mutated creatures. These were slightly stronger than the two magic circles Angele had just finished setting up.

The Sunset and the Venom Snake magic circles were powerful, though they were incomparable to magic matrices. Furthermore, they had different types of usage and properties.

These two magic circles had balanced properties, having the capability of handling both defensive and offensive tasks. The biggest advantage it possessed—that is, using such magic circles—was that they could be set up within seconds.

The power that these two magic circles could unleash was on par with average level-2 spells. From another point of view, these two magic circles were like two level-2 spells that could be cast instantly. However, they could only be activated once, and the effective duration was short.

Angele saw a flash of golden light rushing towards him as soon as he finished setting up the magic circles. The golden light landed right before him and transformed into a man wearing a long, white robe.

Angele, squinting, focused his gaze on the man.

The white-robed man had a blond hair, a triangular silver rune drawn on his forehead, clear skin, and a pair of gold-colored eyes. He looked at Angele as if he was looking at a rat.

"Young man, you are unlucky." The man's voice was crisp. "My name is Terry. I am sorry, but I must kill you."

"Interesting." A cold, spine-chilling smile appeared on Angele's face. Blue light flashed in his eyes.

"Wait, you're a…female?" Angele fell dumbstruck the instant he checked Zero's report.

"Huh?" Terry was similarly surprised. "How did you find that out?"

Invisible waves surrounded the man as he raised his right hand.

The image of a handsome man wearing a white robe was soon replaced by a beautiful blonde of whom had a cold expression once the distorted waves disappeared.

The lady had a balanced body frame and smooth skin. What drew Angele's attention, however, was her right ear.

The ear looked nothing like a human's. Long and furry, it looked like the large ear of a rabbit.

Contrary to that, her left ear was that of a normal human's.

"Well, let me introduce myself to you once more. I am Terry, fourth captain of the Shadow Lord Palace." Terry's voice had changed as well—it was now gentle and clear.

"I am Master Stigma's…servant." Angele smiled. He evidently did not want to disclose his true identity to Terry.

Terry was not bothered by this. She raised her hands and conjured two wavy daggers with two lightning bolts.

"All right, let us begin!" Terry once again transformed into lightning and flew towards Angele.

Flashes of golden lightning appeared in the air and merged into her body. The main lightning bolt that was formed from her body transformed into an arrow surrounded by countless golden runes.

The arrowhead was infused with pulses of golden lightning. The arrow ceaselessly whistled through the air as it approached Angele swiftly.