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Chapter 437: Secret Technique and Chaos (2)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

The thin man noticed that someone was looking at him through the communication orb. The mysterious man turned around, revealing a pale face and a pair of glowing purple eyes.

"Leader, it's great that you decided to contact me now. I've tracked the target down; I've been following the target for two days. However, I found the servants of the Shadow Lord around, and that's the problem." It was Victoria. The living beings around him, like the squirrels and rabbits, were turning into blood. The blood floated in the air and moved toward Victoria, it was the effect of his blood aura.

"Well, she's a general that has served Shadow Lord for years after all," Angele responded. "What about the negotiations? I thought Turin was working on it."

"Shadow Lord declined our offer. Also, the guards that are protecting the woman are from the council. I don't think this will end peacefully…" Victoria sneered.

"What about Lela? She communicated with the underground world, right?" Angele wondered.

"They're already here, they're waiting for the chance to come—just like me." Victoria licked his lips. "A bunch of dark wizards from the underground world. However, Lela is not here, she said she had something related to the big plan that she needed to take care of."

"That's fine. Nothing is more important than the big plan." Angele nodded. "Also, there are more than 10 strong wizards that are wanted by the central council. Those wizards are nothing if they don't work together, however, they'll become a strong force with proper guidance. We can definitely use them."

"You should've asked me to complete that mission. I'm a better choice than Lela," Victoria replied.

"I'll never do that," Angele disagreed.

"I'm just joking." Victoria smiled. The man had nothing to worry about and he could do anything he wanted to. If he became the leader of those criminals, the situation might get out of control.

"Right, have you heard about the thing going around in random cities? There are madmen spreading a certain rumor. It seems like someone is going after us. You should lay low for a while after this."

"Sure," Victoria agreed. "How many quest points can I get if I can capture her alive?"

"500. I'll request 500 quest points for you, but you must work hard for it. This'll be a warning to Shadow Lord," Angele responded in a light tone.

"Great. Now, I have the motivation to complete the mission as soon as possible." Victoria chuckled. It seemed like he had many chances to kill Eugene, but he wanted a big reward from Angele and decided to wait for Angele's message.

　　********************************

Somewhere in the Mist Vine Forest in the Molten River area.

In the vibrant green forest, a black dot that was surrounded by several white dots was advancing at full speed.

The black dot was a tall woman wearing black full-body armor. She was protected by a group of white robes. The woman had a muscular body, but her head had the appearance of a four-year-old girl. There was an enormous trident in her hand.

The white robes were holding short golden scimitars in their hands and their robes were covered with glowing black runes. They were all wearing white masks and checking the surroundings constantly.

"Hurry! We're getting closer to the Dillion Mountain, the territory of the council, and we'll be able to protect the master with our army!" a female white robe shouted in the front.

No one responded, but they all increased their speed. They were moving at a speed of 50 meters per second and they looked like a ball of white shadow in the forest.

Several minutes later, the black shadow in the middle questioned, "How far are they from us?"

"Master Eugene, only the Golden River Army of the Elemental Hand is still chasing after us. The leader of the army is Soul Evocator Ys Reagan, the strongest Soul Evocator of Elemental Hand; it's very likely that he'll become an elder if any of the elders retire," a male white robe responded.

"The Golden River, huh? I didn't expect them to chase us down here. It seems like Ys Reagan is trying to make me pay for what I did to him…" Eugene was running at full speed, but she did not sound tired at all. Turning her head around, she noticed that a blurry golden shadow was approaching her group, she had no idea what that was.

"It must be the one who ambushed us last night…" Eugene spoke in a deep tone.

"Master, you made a wrong decision this time. Wizard Green is the only son of Vivian, an elder of Elemental Hand. He's the only inheritor Vivian has. Her family will be over if you killed her son. The situation has already escalated because of that." The female wizard had a bitter smile on the face. "I'll be honest with you. We're pressured by Elemental Hand and some other organizations this time. We're members of the Shadow Dragon Army and we need to take you to a safe area as soon as possible."

"Huh?" Eugene narrowed her eyes. "That's the reason why you forced me to return to the headquarters?"

"Correct. We can apologize and solve the problem if it's just the Elemental Hand, however, the situation is complicated this time," the female wizard responded.

"Well, that's…" They suddenly stopped before Eugene finished her words and their expressions changed.

*BOOM*

A large translucent vortex exploded in front of the team.

The air vortex had a diameter of more than 30 meters—the force stopped Eugene's team from advancing. Trees, mud, and stones were all pulled into the center of the vortex and broke into pieces.

If they did not stop, they would also be pulled into the vortex.

"Air Vortex?! They're from the Valley of the Wind!" The female wizard's face turned pale and she quickly took out a small black statue from her pouch, holding it tight in hand. "The Valley of the Wind and the Golden River, they're all from Elemental Hand. We'll try to stop them here, you should retreat with the master!"

"Yes!" The white robes accepted the order. Five of them went around the vortex with Eugene and started running again. The rest of them got into position and black glow surrounded their bodies.

Eugene did not seem concerned; she glanced at the air vortex.

"Why're we running? We can easily deal with two rank 4 wizards since they don't have the Legacy Magic Circles."

"Master, the spell they casted is not a normal spell, it's a war spell. If the spell is casted by multiple rank 4 wizards, the power of the spell will double or triple," the male wizard explained.

"Huh? They're casting war spells here? Elemental Hand is a stronger organization than I expected. This is a great trip, ha." Eugene suddenly stopped and released some black smoke.

*CHI*

The five white robes were blown away by the smoke and quickly took more than ten steps back.

"Don't act like a child, Master!"

"Master Eugene!"

The white robes were surprised, they already knew what Eugene was about to do.

"I'm Eugene the Abyss Slayer and I shall not leave my teammates behind. I've never done that in my whole life!" Eugene rotated the black trident in her hand and rushed to the air vortex with a cold expression on the face.

The black trident turned into black smoke and expanded by dozens of times. It hit the center of the vortex like a humongous hammer.

*BAM*

The wind blew mud and sand into the air after the noise. The whole area became a mess.

Trees, bushes, and other plants were all blown away. There was nothing left in the area and Eugene was standing on the empty ground created by her weapon.

The color of the ground turned from yellow to black-yellow.

There were five black robes standing on top of a small hill on the far side. Three of them were standing behind a man with red hair.

The other black robe was standing on the other side alone. It was Lela. She had a balanced body and her long smooth black hair trailed over her shoulder. Lela was the princess of the underground empire who joined the Dark Wizard tower.

"Prince Panko, only three wizards from the famous Nomia Family? Really? Eugene had successfully escaped the hunt of the avengers twice. Why're you so confident this time?" Lela smiled and looked at the man with red hair.

"Eugene killed one of the royal wizards from the Magic Ant Empire, right? You probably know how strong she is." The man with red hair was Prince Panko from the Nomia Family. He was speaking in a calm and slow voice.

He stopped for a second and continued, "At this level, there's no point for me to bring weak wizards here. Her aura could easily kill all the weak wizards around her so it'll be a waste of resources if I take a whole army with me. We should utilize the available resources properly. Three elders from my family and I are more than enough for this task."

"Alright then, it sounds promising. I'll see how you kill the Abyss Slayer." Lela chuckled, she stepped back as her body turned translucent and disappeared into the air.

"Let's start now. They have crossed the border—Elemental Hand will not cross the border for political reasons. No one wants to initiate a war now." Prince Panko smiled, it felt like everything was under his control.

"I'll work with my ally and eliminate Eugene this time."

At the same time, Victoria, who was hiding on the other side of the area, created countless rays of red light around his body, which started expanding right away.

"Blood Aura… Let me get rid of the weak ones first…" Victoria chuckled and threw a crystal orb into the air. He opened his arms and a satisfied expression appeared on his face.

Victoria was in the center of his aura. The land, trees, grasses, and everything in the effective range turned red. The red light was expanding and striking into the sky.

Elemental Hand, Prince Panko, and Victoria formed a triangle in the area. Eugene was in the center of the triangle.

　　*************

In the ruins under the volcano.

Angele watched the scene calmly using the crystal orb. Victoria's communication orb was in the air and he had a clear view of the battlefield.

"This might be the start of an age of chaos. Shadow Lord, what'll you do if your beloved granddaughter is about to be slaughtered…"

Chapter 438: Chaos Era (1)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

Strong wind was blowing.

Eugene was standing in the middle of the muddy area and there were four severely injured white robes behind her.

The white robes were helping each other get up; they were worried about the situation. They were surrounded by three different forces and had no chance to escape.

"Eugene, long time no see." Rays of golden light slowly turned into gray robes in front of Eugene's team—there were about ten of them.

The leader was a man with black hair and a white eyepatch on the left eye. He had a slim body and there was a cold expression on his face; also, his shiny golden brow was quite eye-catching.

The gray robes were all wearing dark gold badges on the right side of their chests. The badge looked like a circling golden river.

"Ys Reagan of Golden River…" Eugene's pupils retracted. "It has been a while. You're stronger than before."

"I'll thank you for that." The one-eyed man Ys Reagan smiled. "I waited years for this moment. It's time to make you pay for what you did to me. How can I defeat you if I'm not strong enough?"

A green vortex appeared behind Reagan and slowly turned into a woman in a green robe as he finished his words.

"Eugene, just give up." The woman in green gave Eugene a cold glare. "You might have a chance if it's just us, but I think you already know that this is a battle you can't win."

Two groups of people appeared behind Eugene—three black robes and a red shadow.

The red shadow caught everyone's eyes. Red light flashed in the air as the shadow approached and the land around the people was illuminated by the light.

"Ha! I didn't expect to see you here. I was just passing by." A strange voice came from the center of the red light.

"Victoria? What a coincidence. We're just passing by as well. When was the last time that we met?" The leader of the black robes had red hair and there was a gentle smile on the man's face.

Eugene remained calm, but the white robes behind her were terrified.

"Prince Panko… and Victoria…" The female white robe covered her mouth. "No! Master Eugene shall not be killed here! Everyone! We must help master Eugene retreat even if we have to sacrifice our lives and souls!" She sent the word using energy particles.

The white robes nodded with determination in their eyes.

"Eugene, today is the day that the legendary Abyss Slayer becomes the history." A satisfied smile appeared on Ys Reagan's face.

Eugene held the black trident tight in hand and glanced at her enemies calmly.

"Cut the crap. We shall settle our old grudge today!"

Intense black light surrounded her body as she charged forward with the trident. The tips of the trident turned into black smoke, moving toward Ys Reagan and the woman in a green robe. However, the black smoke separated halfway in the air and surrounded Ys Reagan.

She was just going after Ys Reagan.

"She's not stupid." Victoria and Prince Panko agreed with Eugene's action. They were all strong wizards and they knew what Eugene was trying to do.

Ys Reagan was the strongest Soul Evocator in Elemental Hand and he would not let others get in the way of his revenge after hearing what Eugene said. It was a battle between Ys Reagan and Eugene, so Victoria and Prince Panko had to wait until they were finished. They needed to show their respect for the decision made by other strong wizards.

Eugene started the battle first, so the others would have to wait—that was the only way that she could survive.

Eugene turned herself into black smoke and crashed into the golden rays that were formed by Reagan's body.

The black smoke and the golden rays traded hits in the air. Black smoke and golden light dots would splash every time they came in contact. Several minutes later, Eugene turned into a black eagle and Reagan turned into a golden roc.

The two aggressive birds kept trading strikes in the air and their enormous bodies covered the sky. Visible shock waves would appear in the sky every time they attacked each other. The wizards on the ground could feel their ears ringing.

The wizards on the ground were all elites. A mortal would not last two seconds when hit by the shock waves—his body would explode like a tomato.

　　**************

In the ruins under the volcano.

Angele watched the intense battle through the crystal orb.

"It's a fight between pure energy. Victoria, do what you need to do now. Also, remember, keep her alive and break her mentality crystal if you can."

"But the members of the Golden River might go after me if—" Victoria responded through the crystal orb quickly.

"Do it now! I want to know how strong the Soul Evocator of Golden River is anyways. If he doesn't understand the situation, injure him and throw him to the side. You can do that with Prince Panko's team, right?" Angele interrupted.

"Leader, are you trying to tell me that…" Victoria was not angry because he was interrupted before he could finish his words. He asked the question because he suddenly remembered something.

"Yeah, you're right, so you'd better hurry!" Angele advised. He was not sure if Shadow Lord had already noticed the situation, so he wanted to end the battle as soon as possible.

"For sure, you won't be disappointed." Victoria chuckled and stopped talking.

Angele calmed down, lowered his head, and looked at the eye-shaped amethyst ring on his hand.

　　**************

*Bam*

The two birds attacked each other again.

The earth and the mountains were shaking. Fissures appeared on the ground and the clouds in the sky were broken into pieces. A strong vortex surrounded the black shadow and the golden shadow. Everything around them was drawn into the vortex.

The three groups of wizards were not moving an inch in the strong wind, they raised their heads and watched the battle quietly.

The black eagle rotated and increased its altitude. The eagle then released a black lightning in the sky—it was flying to the roc like an arrow.

The roc opened its wings and released countless golden feathers that also looked like arrows.

The eagle and the roc were just energy forms created by Eugene and Reagan's spells. They were chanting incantations and casting spells in the two birds' bodies. Those spells controlled the movements of the eagle and the roc.

*BOOM*

The lightning and the feathers exploded at the same time, turning into a black energy vortex.

The black eagle flew down after releasing the lightning and its eyes started glowing as black electric pulses surrounded its body.

The eagle looked like a humongous black arrow that was charging to the roc that was standing on the ground.

The golden roc opened its wings again and its body was surrounded by a golden glow.

*CHI*

The roc turned into a golden arrow and charged toward the black arrow.

The two arrows were getting closer and closer.

The two wizards reached their full momentum and it seemed like they used their strongest spells. However, the size of the roc had shrunk after they traded many strikes. The black eagle had twice the size of the roc at the moment. It seemed like Ys Reagan was weaker than Eugene.

*BOOM*

A translucent wave appeared in the sky. The wave expanded and disappeared into the air several seconds later.

In the center of the explosion, Ys Reagan was happy with the result. He stabbed his hand into Eugene's chest and they were standing extremely close to each other.

"I thought you were going to…" Reagan's expression froze before he finished the word.

He lowered his head and looked at Eugene's abdomen. Eugene's black armor was penetrated and a bloody hole appeared. The edge of the wound was surrounded by a red glow.

A smile appeared on Eugene's face.

"Help me… Protect them…" She tried to speak calmly but blood kept spurting out of her mouth.

"No!" Ys Reagan pulled his hand out of Eugene's body and shouted. "How dare you?!" He looked at Prince Panko and Victoria as his eyes turned red.

*WOO*

A triangular golden rune appeared behind Ys Reagan and he was about to charge forward.

*PA*

Eugene grabbed his right hand.

"Help… me…!" Eugene could barely move and Reagan was supporting her body. She stared at Reagan in the eyes, she could barely talk due to the blood in her mouth.

Ys Reagan stopped and lowered his head again.

"Our battle shall not end like this!" Suddenly, he picked Eugene up, turned into a golden shadow, and escaped.

"Damn it! Chase them down!" Victoria thought that no one noticed that he backstabbed Eugene and did not expect Ys Reagan to betray the organization just because of pride. Victoria hated people like Ys Reagan.

Prince Panko was thinking the same. He waved his hands and sunk into the ground with the two black robes behind him.

Members of the Golden River looked at each other for several seconds, they finally understood the situation and rushed forward.

The only one left in the area was the woman in a green robe. She sighed as she watched Ys Reagan disappear into the forest.

"He's done… Damn." She sighed again.

A green vortex slowly landed beside the woman, turning into a handsome man in a green robe.

"Yeah… Eugene's core was in her stomach and he wasn't the one who destroyed it. I think his hatred toward the woman has changed…"

The woman nodded. "He's too proud and will do anything to protect his pride, including betraying the organization. Ys Reagan has been trying to kill Eugene for over 100 years. He'll either solve the problem or drop into the abyss this time."

"You'll have a higher chance to become an elder if he leaves," the man spoke in a light tone.

The woman hesitated.

"I prefer a fair battle against him during the election! I never wanted something like this to happen!" She turned around, turned into a green vortex, and started returning to the headquarters of the Elemental Hand.

Chapter 439: Chaos Era (2)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

A bitter smile appeared on the man's face. "It seems like they have the same opinion…" He turned around, turned into a green vortex, and disappeared before finishing his words.

The four white robes that were severely injured were still lying on the ground. They wanted to sacrifice themselves for Eugene, but the situation had already gotten out of their control.

The wizards at the scene decided to ignore the injured white robes. It seemed like they all heard Eugene's last request.

The female leader of the white robes had a pale face and was coughing blood; the black statue in her hand was covered with cracks. The statue was her final resort, however, it was damaged by Eugene's energy particles accidentally, and she had no way to fight back due to the injury.

　　*************************

Angele slowly stood up in front of the crystal orb as he looked at the damaged land. He was speechless.

"Ys Reagan… why did you help the enemy escape? Is it really worth it to give up the chance of becoming an elder?" Angele felt a bit depressed.

Angele never expected something like this to happen. He thought that a wizard like Ys Reagan would not make such an unwise decision and they all left the effective range of the crystal orb.

Angele would have to wait for Victoria's report if he wanted to know the result of the battle. However, he was certain that Victoria had already succeeded just by the look of Eugene.

It was nearly impossible for Eugene to survive.

The weak point of the wizards from the Shadow Palace was at their abdomen due to the advanced meditation technique they practiced. The weak point was the essence of their lives—it was known as core.

The core was where the shadow wizards stored their energy particles. In the energy cycling system, the core was like the heart of a human body, and the shadow wizards would replace their hearts with cores so they could send the energy particles into their blood veins—their bodies would become perfect carriers of the energy particles.

That was how the shadow wizards hid in the shadows. Other wizards had similar techniques; however, they needed a lot more effort to accomplish that when compared to the shadow wizards.

Normal wizards could not turn their bodies into elemental forms at earlier ranks unless they had special Talent Skills. Angele acquired the ability after he advanced to rank 3; however, the members of the Shadow Palace could acquire the ability at rank 1.

For that reason, the wizards of the Shadow Palace had a higher chance to survive intense battles than other wizards, so the Shadow Palace barely lost any of its main force after all those years.

However, if a shadow wizard's core was destroyed, he would either die or lose the ability to fight. Destroying the core of a shadow wizard was the same as destroying the brain of a normal wizard.

Angele stood in the bedroom and organized the intel he collected.

He slowly calmed down and decided not to think too much about the situation.

'Anyways, the situation is out of my control. I'll have to rely on Prince Panko and Victoria.' He raised his left hand and activated a purple communication rune. It was Turin—his rune was simple, it was just his name that was written in Metia.

"What's the matter?" Angele responded to Turin's call right away.

"Leader, it's pretty much settled and people are already joining us. However, there's an unexpected situation here…" Turin was speaking in a serious tone, which was quite rare.

"Unexpected?"

"Yes, someone is doing the same thing as us, also, they've already succeeded," Turin responded in a deep tone.

"Huh?" Angele was a bit surprised. "Who're they?"

"They call themselves the Morning Stars, I assume it's a name of an organization. They've already collected most of the wanted criminals of this land and some of the wanted criminals from the underground world. Also, the leader of their organization wants to talk to you face to face. What do you say?"

"A face-to-face conversation, huh? Did they tell you what they want? You know we don't really need their assistance, right? Our organizations are at different levels. They're not strong enough to engage in negotiations with us," Angele replied.

"They have the Chaos Contract and they want you to sign it." Turin emphasized on the word "you" when responding.

"Chaos Contract? Where did you find something like this…? It seems like I underestimated them…" Angele narrowed his eyes, he had already understood the Morning Stars' intention.

First, the organization was familiar with Dark Wizard Tower's structure and it seemed like they knew that Angele was not strong enough to control the wizards that were supposed to work for him. Dark Wizard Tower was a strong organization, however, Angele was still a weak wizard.

They knew that Angele would not feel happy if Angele had to approach them by himself; also, they had the Chaos Contract, a contract from the ancient era.

Whoever broke the rule of the Chaos Contract would be punished by a mysterious force and thrown into the horrifying Chaos Realm.

A normal creature would be destroyed by the chaotic time and space in the Chaos Realm instantly right after it was thrown into the realm. The creatures with strong power and eternal life might still encounter the living beings that were more powerful than them. They would be all consumed sooner or later.

Angele and the Morning Stars did not have the power to survive in the Chaos Realm, so the Chaos Contract was perfect for such occasion; it seemed like Morning Stars really wanted to cooperate with Angele. That was the reason why they asked Turin to contact him and Turin probably already noticed that Morning Stars was a strong organization.

"Did they tell you the location of the meeting?" Angele wondered.

"By the end of the White Stone Valley, I had an agreement with them," Turin responded immediately; for some reason, it sounded like he was finally speaking to Angele in a respectful way.

"Date?"

"In a week."

Angele tapped on the crystal orb. "I'll be there on time."

The image in the crystal orb disappeared.

　　*****************************

Three days later.

In the morning…

In a narrow valley that was full of white stones, white mist permeated the air and lowered the visibility in the area.

In the valley, two black shadows were jumping over the white stones and advancing quietly like ghosts.

The valley was deadly silent, there was no bird or insect making any noise.

One black shadow was following the other and they stopped by the end of the valley, landing on an enormous white stone.

The black shadow in the front had long red hair that almost reached his waist; the man following him had short red hair with a face that was pretty like a woman.

"Turin, this is the location you talked about?" Angele questioned in a deep tone.

"Yes, leader, this is the location according to the message."

Angele glanced around, the mist-covered valley was silent, and it felt like he was standing in a place that was from a fairy tale.

Suddenly, blue light dots flashed in front of his eyes.

"Why don't you reveal yourselves if you're already here? I thought you were the ones who wanted to negotiate." He buffed his voice using energy particles.

Angele's voice echoed in the valley for several minutes before it disappeared.

"Sorry, my bad."

A gender-neutral voice came from below.

"I just finished building this place and you arrived when I was finishing the preparation. Please come in so we can talk." The voice was gentle, but it did not sound like it was from a woman.

Angele's brow furrowed, he jumped down and landed on the ground as he blinked his eyes.

Turin jumped down as well, they walked to the mountain by the end of the valley.

The mist started disappearing as they got closer to the mountain.

They finally had a clear view of the place. The front of the mountain was purple.

The mountain was supposed to be white, but countless purple flowers were climbing up the hard surface of the mountain.

The flowers had no green leaves nor vines. The only thing Angele could see were the purple petals. The pure purple made the place a bit mysterious.

The only things on the surface of the mountain were the flowers; the ground was also covered with the purple petals.

There was a stone staircase leading to a closed arched gate in the front.

Angele and Turin stepped forward.

*Crack*

The gate opened by itself, raveling a deep purple tunnel.

"Enter, please," the gentle voice spoke again.

Angele scrunched his eyebrows as he entered the tunnel.

The walls of the tunnel looked just like the surface of the mountain and there was a tiny room by the end of the tunnel.

Angele walked in the tunnel, his nose filled by the fragrance of the flowers. The flowers on the walls almost contacted his long robe. Strangely, he did not see any bees around despite an intense floral fragrance in the tunnel.

He grabbed a petal—it was cold and wet.

He dropped it and walked to the room.

Entering the room, he noticed that the walls were still covered with the purple flowers, and there was a red wooden table at the center of the room. The wooden table fitted the room perfectly.

Also, there was a golden bird cage on the table, and inside the cage, there was a dark-gold bird that was staring at Angele quietly.

The bird cage was made with pure gold, it was shiny, luxurious, and decorated with floral patterns that looked like magic runes. It felt like the cage was from a royal family.

The bird in the cage was cute and tiny, it looked like a normal sparrow; the only difference lay in its dark-gold feathers.

"Nice to meet you, Leader Green." The gentle voice was from the bird. "Let me introduce myself first, you can call me Prince Fairy Dragon."

Angele narrowed his eyes and stared at the bird quietly.

Chapter 440: Backstory (1)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

"Prince Evil Dragon?" Angele was a bit surprised. "So, this is not your real form. Are you a neutral dragon or a terror dragon?

He thought carefully before asking the question. The neutral dragons were strong dragons that all lived for more than ten thousand years; however, none of them worked for a certain organization or lord, and Angele was not sure if there were neutral dragons in this world.

The terror dragons were a new group of dragons that were aggressive but relatively weak, and it was impossible for them to win a fight against the neutral dragons.

The bird in the gold cage jumped and changed its position.

"Why does it matter? A neutral dragon, a terror dragon, or even a fake dragon. This is not a problem to our future cooperation."

"That's your thought, huh?" Angele raised his hand and created two red chairs behind him.

The chairs were formed by pure flames and covered with translucent barriers that were stopping the heat from leaking.

Turin and Angele sat down on the chairs, facing the gold cage.

Angele rubbed the purple eye-shaped ring on his hand and spoke in a light tone, "Alright then, what's the purpose of this meeting? What do you want from us?"

"Our purpose is simple. We Morning Stars are seeking the protection of the area leader so we can have a safe place in the incoming era. Based on the look of your situation, it'll be beneficial to you if you choose to work with us," Prince Evil Dragon spoke in a calm tone. "Also, I don't think your ultimate goal is related to what you're doing right now."

Angele narrowed his eyes. Prince Evil Dragon was right, he needed to get rid of the frost damage, recover his power, and keep improving.

His position in the area and the servants he had were all from the Dark Wizard Tower. Angele was certain that his own power was the most important thing for his future.

Angele knew that point well and he knew that he needed to get rid of the frost damage as soon as possible. He learned that the leader of the Morning Stars was called Evil Dragon and he wanted to see if the dragon could give him some information of the Dark Mother Tree or a method to handle the frost damage.

"Do you know how to handle my situation?" Angele questioned in a deep voice; he was expecting a positive answer.

"I don't," Prince Evil Dragon responded without any hesitation. "However, I know that there's still one eye-gouging dragon living in this world."

Angele narrowed his eyes. His heart was racing, he could barely hide the excitement in his eyes.

"However, you must pay a price for that," Prince Evil Dragon continued. "Our organization will work for you, however, you can't order us to do anything. Just promise us that you won't attack us in the future. That's the main reason we approached you." Prince Evil Dragon started negotiating." Also, please make sure that you remove any intel that is related to us from your intel center. We don't want to become a target of Dark Wizard Tower."

"You know that I'm just an area leader, right? Wizards are not dumb." Angele sneered. "It seems like you have a big plan in mind…"

"We're different. There's more than one living being in my body. Sometimes, I do admire people like you. I want to pursue my own goal if possible, however, I've already lost the chance." Prince Evil Dragon sighed, he sounded a bit depressed.

He stopped for a second and raised his left wing.

"Samrak, reveal yourself now."

Suddenly, a large black shadow appeared behind the gold cage. The black shadow was wearing a long robe with a hood on the head, releasing a strong and mysterious mentality wave.

"Leader Green, our background is much stronger than you think. However, the world is about to change, and weak beings will be replaced by strong beings. What I need to do is to increase our chance of winning. Also, we can offer you two something else when we sign the Chaos Contract."

He lowered his wing, turned his head around, and talked to the black shadow.

"As you wish," the black shadow responded in a low voice. The shadow suddenly pulled his robe down.

It almost looked like the shadow was pulling down a zipper and his naked body was revealed.

The man had a strangely smooth body with no hair at all.

*CHI*

The man drew a silver scimitar from his waist and slashed his own chest open. His actions surprised Angele and Turin.

*Chi*

A large gash appeared on the man's body and white light was released from the terrifying wound.

"Bow to the destiny, the truth will now be displayed in front of your eyes…" The shadow chanted the incantation in a slow but deep tone.

*Chi*

Suddenly, a light screen was created by the light from the black shadow's wound. Angele saw a humongous black floating city appearing over an endless sea of vibrant trees.

"The Shadow Palace…" Turin sent the message to Angele through energy particles.

Angele nodded slightly to show that he already knew the information as he stared at the scene.

The scene quickly zoomed in and located a tall castle in the center of the sky city.

A man with red hair in a white robe was standing by a window of the castle quietly, overlooking the far side. Angele was familiar with the male wizard's face.

'This man… He looks exactly like the man I met before during the Dark Wizard Tower's competition…' He saw the U-shaped rune between the man's brow and recognized him right away.

"I've found all the people who were visited by the Guardians recently and he's one of them." Prince Evil Dragon sent his voice through energy particles. "His name is Bismarck, son of a random elder from the Shadow Palace, but he was still visited by the Guardians."

"Huh? Why're the Guardians interested in this guy? He's a normal wizard at rank 3, right? He's not even a wizard of dawn," Angele wondered.

"There was an unstable dimension wave by the ruin of the Blue Nine-Tails Flower Castle at the north of the Shadow Palace about three days ago. Bismarck's teacher joined the investigation team and visited the site." Prince Evil Dragon did not answer Angele's question directly, he stopped before finishing.

"Now, let's see the next candidate."

*CHI*

After the noise, the screen flashed and the scene changed.

Endless snow was blowing in the air; the land was frozen, and the snow mountains were quiet. No living being could be seen in the area.

The image was moving forward quickly, and an enormous castle that was built with ice slowly appeared in the center of the land.

There were countless ice mirrors in a hall of the castle, they looked like ice blocks standing on the floor. A blonde girl was standing in the center of the mirrors, playing with her platinum hair accessories carefully.

She was wearing a long silk dress with a pair of black goose down tights. The red-black skirt covered her legs, her face was clean and beautiful. She looked like a princess from fairy tales.

"The granddaughter of the Magic Mirror Wizard, Ireland. She was the second one visited by the Guardians. The girl treats everyone fairly and she doesn't care about who you are. She has many friends due to her outgoing personality. She is familiar with the Knights, rangers, and thieves in the central continent."

Angele did not say anything this time, he was just thinking with his brow furrowed.

Prince Evil Dragon glanced at Angele and said in a light tone, "Go on."

The screen flashed again and a vibrant forest appeared.

A group of bandits was being slaughtered by a man in a red robe on a narrow path in the forest. There were people groaning as the blood splashed.

A man in a black robe was watching the scene quietly on the side. There was a cold expression on his face. Also, the survivors were waiting for the result in the center of a barrier that was formed by three carriages.

It felt like watching a video on a large screen. The video slowly stopped after the man in the red rob killed all the survivors and left the area with the black robe.

Angele looked at the gold cage. "This is me and Turin. What does that mean?"

Prince Evil Dragon chuckled, "This was a scene recorded by the Guardians, which means, you're the third person that was visited by the Guardians."

Angele snorted. "I'm sure there are more people that were visited by the Guardians."

Prince Evil Dragon remained silent, he waved his wing and changed the image again.

The screen flashed again and an area that was covered with purple flower petals appeared.

The dried yellow leaves were dropping to the ground that was full of purple petals. A gold cage appeared on the ground and the golden bird in the cage was twittering in a crisp voice.

"This is me. I was visited by the Guardians as well," Prince Evil Dragon spoke in a light tone.

"That's it?" Angele was confused. "There are only four of us? Including you and me? What does it mean?"

"I don't know. I only know that they come from nowhere. It feels like they're walking in the void. The scenes I showed you are top-secret. The wizard lords, the Silent Valley, or the leaders of the major organizations have no way to retrieve that information. Don't worry."

He stopped for a second and continued, "The wizard lords live in the richest areas of the central continent. There are many people hating on the central council. Without the area leaders, your life in the central continent wouldn't be so peaceful."

Angele was a bit surprised. "Are you saying that wizard lords are trying to make the situation worse?"

"It's just my assumption. The wizard lords want the chaos era to come as soon as possible so they can hold the power in their hands. However, they don't want the changes to damage the wizard world permanently. Things will get out of control if that happens," Prince Evil Dragon explained.

Chapter 441: Backstory (2)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

"I know what you're implying. We're the only two parties that are not under the wizard lords' control," Angele interrupted, "I assume they don't know where we are."

"You're wrong. We're not under their control because they didn't choose us at the beginning. You replaced the granddaughter of the Shadow Lord, Eugene, and I replaced the Wizard of Destiny, Arisma, because Shadow Lord assassinated Arisma for some reason." It seemed like Prince Evil Dragon did collect a lot of information.

"Get to the point, I'm still not sure what's your purpose." Angele was getting anxious after so much random information. The only thing he confirmed was that Shadow Lord was the one who ambushed Henn and Arisma. Everything else Prince Devil Dragon said was useless.

"It's simple, to be honest. I want you to work with me and take control of the situation as the chaos era comes. We can sign a private Chaos Contract. Although I don't understand why the Guardians chose you, there must be reasons, and I decided to trust them. Also, most importantly, you're the area leader, and your rights are important to us." Prince Devil Dragon waved his wings and asked the black shadow to leave.

Angele hesitated. "I need to leave the area for a while to deal with the frost damage and you need to be aware of that before we sign the Chaos Contract. It's an important point, I think."

"I don't care as long as you're on my side. I trust the guidance of my destiny. I can't get in touch with the other wizards and that's why I'm betting on you," Prince Evil Dragon responded calmly.

Angele nodded and agreed, "Alright then. I'll work with you."

"Good, then. We shall never betray each other in the incoming chaos era."

Prince Evil Dragon waved his wings, the purple petals from the floor and the walls flew to the air. They rotated several times and turned into a red scroll.

Angele and Prince Evil Dragon closed their eyes at the same time. They released black and red energy particles. The energy particles were quickly absorbed by the red scroll.

*BAM*

After the noise, the energy particles contacted the scroll and exploded into a ball of colorful gas.

The gas turned from red to blue, blue to purple, purple to yellow, then released the light that looked like a rainbow.

Suddenly, the colorful gas ball shrank, and turned into a black dot, disappearing into the air.

There was nothing between Angele and Prince Devil Dragon, even the air was missing. Vortexes were created by the air that was drawn into the void and the wind made the edges of Angele's robe fly.

"The contract is signed since we already discussed the rules. Alright, I'll give you one more thing." Prince Evil Dragon raised his right wing and released a golden ray into Angele's right hand.

"That's…" Angele closed his eyes and there were images being transferred into his mind.

He opened his eyes and nodded. "Good, that's it then."

"We shall meet again."

Angele nodded, turned around, and headed to the exit with Turin.

Prince Evil Dragon's background was much stronger than he expected, it seemed like he had the information the wizard lords did not acquire. The only strange part was that Prince Evil Dragon needed the information from Dark Wizard Tower's intel center.

Also, it seemed like the gold cage was an item that was used to seal Prince Evil Dragon.

However, Angele was not concerned.

He was currently working on the fourth stage of Molten Core River and the next part of this advanced meditation technique was Earth.

Molten Core River was separated into three major parts: Fire, Earth, and Lava.

Each major part had four stages and Angele had reached the last stage of the first part. Although he'd just finished the third stage not too long ago, the buff from the true form increased the attributes of his real from greatly. Also, with the help of the Sound of the Knell and the Erin's Funeral Oration, Angele had already stabilized at the fourth stage.

He was just one step away from becoming a wizard of dawn.

However, the gap between a rank 3 wizard and a rank 4 wizard was huge. The mentality was not the only problem.

Angele thought that he could advance to rank 4 if he had enough mentality, but the actual situation was different.

Angele and Turin headed straight to the headquarters of Elemental Hand after leaving the valley so he could return to the ruins as soon as possible.

He tried asking the biochip to list the requirement of becoming a rank 4 wizard.

Zero did the job well and gave him a detailed plan.

Sadly, the plan was created based on the information in the database, and the required materials all no longer existed.

Also, Angele had to get rid of the frost damage in his body, but there was no information related to it in the database.

Angele was practicing a Fire category meditation technique and the breath of the eye-gouging dragon was in the Ice category. It would be impossible for Angele to become a rank 4 wizard with the frost damage in his body.

So, the frost damage had become his biggest problem at the moment.

　　*******************************

Two days later, in the Wheat City.

"Damn it!"

In the city lord's castle, a middle-aged man was cursing.

In the main hall of the castle, the mustached Count had a serious expression on his face as he put his hands on the surface of the desk.

There was no servant in the hall, which was protected by an energy barrier that could prevent others from hearing the noise he made.

A man was sitting on the right side of the Count; there was a calm expression on his face, and he was not anxious like the Count at all.

The man had long red hair and he was wearing a black robe. It was Angele, who just came back from the valley.

Angele received the Count's invitation later so he sneaked into the city. They needed to discuss the initiation of the plan; however, the situation had changed.

"Count, a third of your plan has already failed. If you don't do anything, your efforts will all be wasted." Angele smiled as he sipped from the glass; he was drinking some refreshing blue drink.

"I underestimated them…" the Count finally calmed down after hearing those words. "There are so many of them and I think the situation might get out of control, that's why I'm asking for your help."

The Count bit his lips. "I joined the action myself but they still escaped…"

The Count asked Angele not to interrupt his plan so that he would not need to share the honor with Angele; however, the situation was so bad that he had to ask for help.

Angele nodded. "I'll help for the sake of the plan; however, you need to do me a favor."

"What do you want? Don't forget that we're both area leaders." The Count's brow furrowed.

"But you're the one who made the situation worse, right?" Angele chuckled. The Count had no idea how he should respond, so he remained silent.

Angele continued, "My request is simple, very simple. We need at least 28 coordinates for the plan to be initiated, if we need to connect to different dimensions, we need to build altars with the world stones at the coordinates. I'm interested in exploring other realms so I want to build my own world stone altar if you have any world stones to spare."

"World stones, huh? You need different world stones to go to different realms. Are you seeking the path of the ancient wizards? I don't care what you want to do, but you need to tell me how many stones you need," the Count questioned in a deep tone. He barely had any resources left on hand and had to rely on Angele. Angele's servants were critical to the plan at this point.

Although the Count wanted to save the world stones for himself, he had to give them to Angele for the big plan.

"Just give me some small world stones; it's reasonable, right? You know I'm having trouble with the frost damage and I want to test my luck. There might be something from other realms that will help me." Angele shrugged.

"Test your luck?" The Count decided not to dig too deep as he knew that it was not Angele's true purpose.

Angele acquired the location of the last eye-gouging dragon from Prince Evil Dragon. Although the dragon was still in the main world, the location could only be accessed with a certain amount of world stones. That was why he rushed to the city right away after learning about the situation.

Angele spent way too much time on the politics and his progression was greatly slowed down. With the frost damage in his body, there was barely anything he could do, and his attributes would decrease again if he did not do anything. He was getting anxious about it.

The Count decided to go straight to the point as Angele did not want to tell him the truth.

"Alright, so the situation is getting worse every second. There are 28 coordinates, but the altars on nine coordinates were destroyed. It seems like they have a way of detecting those altars, so my servants have to stay at the altars they were assigned to. The low-level altars were not a problem, but the high-level altars took us more than ten years to build. We can't lose altars like this anymore!"

"Why don't you send your people to eliminate them?" Angele wondered.

"Well, I did." The Count's expression turned serious again. "The strongest servant I had decided to join their team when he was chasing after them."

"Huh?" Angele was a bit surprised. "Who're those people? Do you know them?"

"The son of the Thousand Waterfall City's lord, Suman, a member of the Elemental Hand."

"Wait, we saw him in the stone chamber, right?" Angele was confused. "He has no talent, right? How can he destroy the altars?"

The Count looked at Angele and lowered his voice before he answered, "He has a concept gear…"

Suddenly, those words caught Angele's attention. He wanted to know what kind of concept could turn a weak mortal into a strong opponent and it seemed like the Count had no way to deal with Suman.

Chapter 442: Confirmation and Location (1)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

"Why? You don't trust me?" The Count raised his head and released a ball of blue flame. The flame hit the wall on the left and exploded.

The burning flame expanded quickly and the black wall turned into egg-shaped blue mirror within seconds.

"This is what I saw when I encountered them," the Count spoke in a deep tone. "Concept gear is the best gear you can find, but your soul and life are the fuel of the gear. We're wizards who pursue the eternal life, but they're different. That's why the concept gear is so powerful."

Angele did not respond to the Count's words, he just looked at the mirror.

The image on the mirror flashed and a blue grassland slowly appeared. The endless grasses were waving in the gentle wind.

A young man in white armor that looked like a teenager was standing in the grassland.

The armor pieces were reflecting light like they were mirrors and the man's hands were covered with burning white flames. The face mask completely covered his face and Angele guessed the man's age by the look of his hands.

"That's the concept gear. Its effects depend on the person who wears it. The gear will transform based on the owner's thoughts," the Count explained in a light voice.

"I heard that the concept gear's power is related to the strength of its owner's mind. The stronger one's mind is, the stronger the gear will become, right?" Angele's expression turned serious.

"That's correct." The Count nodded as he agreed.

The atmosphere in the hall was heavy.

Angele opened his mouth again after about ten minutes. "Which coordinates denote the position in the most critical situation at the moment?"

"The coordinates in the Black Chess City by the Molten River, this is their traveling route that was determined by my scouts. Their goal is clear, they wanted to destroy our altars city by city. I think they already know that the coordinates are the key to other realms and the wizard lords might be behind this," the Count spoke in a deep tone. "Also, you can recognize them easily. People who wear concept gear all have strange runes on the back of their right hands and the runes look like they were part of their hands."

"How long does it take to travel from here to the Black Chess City?" Angele's brow furrowed.

"About half a month if you travel on land. About ten days with the best thunder eagles."

Angele rubbed the purple eye-shaped ring on his left hand and thought for a while.

*CHI*

A ray of purple light was released from the ring and created a triangular light screen in front of him.

A dark face slowly appeared in the center of the light screen. There were two white eyes on the face but nothing else.

"Leader, I'm listening," the black face responded in a deep tone, the voice sounded like it was from a man.

"It's your time to shine. Go to the Black Chess City and kill all who have runes on the back of their right hands," Angele ordered.

The black face hesitated. "All of them?"

"Yeah. We can't afford any mistakes now," Angele responded.

"As you wish." The black face slowly disappeared and the light screen broke into purple light dots, dropping to the ground.

The black face was one of the wanted criminals that were recruited by Turin. Although Prince Evil Dragon recruited most of the wanted criminals, there were still some left on this land. More than criminals joined Angele's team—some joined for a better future—but most of them joined because of their evil desire.

Angele needed to give them a chance to show their own power. He arranged the criminals into two groups; the first group was led by the black face, and the second group was led by a skeleton man.

He sent the black face as he wanted to know how strong the concept gear could be.

Angele glanced at the Count; he was not sure how strong the Count was, however, they were both area leaders, and the Count was probably a rank 4 wizard. Although the Count's servants were weaker than Angele's team, he still had a strong force in hand.

Suman destroyed the altars easily because the Count did not have enough people to guard all the altars at the same time; also, the concept gear had to greatly increase his power.

"Anyways, I'll monitor the whole procedure since I've decided to offer you help. It's getting late and I need to leave now. Where are my world stones?" Angele stood up and raised his right hand.

"I can only give you 32 world stones." The Count's face twitched. He hesitated for a second and took out a leather pouch, throwing it to Angele.

*PA*

Angele caught the pouch and opened it right away. The pouch was full of shiny stones that varied in shapes and hues—red, blue, yellow, black, and three other colors.

He threw the pouch into his own pouch carefully after sealing it.

"Good. I'll be leaving now." Turning around, Angele walked to the door.

"It's about time. I hope everything will go according to our plan." The Count's voice came from behind.

"I hope so too," Angele responded in a light tone and left the hall.

Outside the hall was a vibrant garden with a twisted path in the middle, leading to the gate of the castle.

On the right of the garden, there were two girls chasing each other while laughing. The two girls were around 18 to 19 years old. The girl on the left was wearing a long dress with silver edges, she had an average-looking face that was covered with freckles, but it was obvious that she was from a rich family.

The girl on the right had a pretty face and a balanced body. She was also wearing a white dress with a white ribbon on the waist. She looked pure and attractive with her black ponytail and clean neck.

Angele closed the door and stopped for a second in front of the gate.

The noise made by the door was noticed by the two girls. They quickly stopped chasing each other and left the garden. They stood on the side and bowed to Angele.

"Master Green, did you finish the discussion with my father?" The girl grabbed her skirt and bowed to Angele again.

"Yes, we just finished the conversation, and I'll be leaving. Miss Ana, are you playing with your friend?" Angele stopped and pursed his lips in a smile.

The noble girl was the only daughter of the Count, Ana. She was not talented, so she decided to learn from the Knights. She knew how to use a sword and she had many friends due to her personality. However, Angele did not understand why they said that Ana was an outgoing girl after meeting her several times.

Ana lowered her head, blushing.

"Yes, this is my friend, Beatrice, and I'm just showing her around the garden. Please don't tell my father that you saw us chasing each other here…"

"No worries. You're young and it's great if you're energetic. He won't get mad at you." Angele chuckled as his sight fell upon the girl hiding behind Ana.

"Beatrice, huh? We've met before, right? At the party?"

"Yes, master Green." Beatrice bowed to Angele again and lowered her head.

"Sure, I'll leave now so you can continue to enjoy yourselves." Angele smiled and nodded. He walked past the two girls quickly.

He was moving at an extremely fast speed and it only took him seconds to disappear in the corner.

Ana exhaled deeply after Angele was no longer in her sight.

"Master Green comes to the castle to discuss important matters with my father. Although he has an average-looking face, I like his long red hair a lot. Also, I don't know why, but I feel scared when talking to him."

Beatrice exhaled deeply as well. "You're right. Master Green looks young, but I'm also scared when talking to him. I don't want him to think that I'm impolite. I met him during the party and for some reason, he kept a distance with me when we were on the balcony."

"Anyways, he's cool. Don't you think he's surrounded by a mysterious aura? Red eyes, long hair, and a muscular body. Also, my father says that he has a strong background." Ana blushed again as she spoke, "Most importantly, he's not married yet."

"Come on…" Beatrice tapped on Ana's forehead speechlessly, she noticed that the girl was shy after saying her part. "I think if you decide to spend your whole life with someone like him, it'll be hard. You need to be careful with what you do all the time. It'll be a problem."

"Right, Ana, who exactly is this master Green, and what is he discussing with the Count?" Beatrice lowered her voice.

Ana thought for several seconds and responded, "Well, my father said that they were business partners or something…"

"Business partners?" Beatrice was a bit confused.

"Yeah. Also, it seems like my father respects master Green, they're talking like they're at the same level," Ana explained.

"Huh?" Beatrice was still confused, she started thinking as she looked at the direction Angele went in.

　　**************************

Angele did not return to the ruins after leaving the castle. He got onto an eagle and flew in a random direction.

It was afternoon and the light from the setting sun illuminated the clouds. The gentle wind was brushing over Angele's face.

Angele lowered his body on the back of the eagle and pulled the black feathers in different directions.

The black eagle changed its direction as Angele pulled its feathers.

Angele made sure that no one was tracking him and there were no paths in the forest. He then straightened his back and let the eagle fly freely.

*WOO*

Three white vultures appeared in the front, they made some strange noises and avoided contacting the eagle. There was also a group of red geese passing by on the left.

Chapter 443: Confirmation and Location (2)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

Angele passed through the geese and then had a clear view in the front.

A large, twisted black canyon appeared below, separating the vibrant forest in half. There was a white waterfall on its edge, and Angele could hear the noise made by the water in the sky.

There were brown elephants and horned lions drinking from the river. The elephant calves were playing with lion cubs. The light of the setting sun illuminated the river and the animals' bodies. The place looked like a primeval forest.

Angele looked at the forest from the back of the eagle, his brow furrowed.

'This area is not populated by human beings and I can probably find a good location for my altar,' Angele thought as he checked the area below.

He understood that the Ness River, the Molten River, or the Tarry River areas were just a third of the central continent. There were many areas that were not populated by humans—such areas were usually infected by radiation energy, so there were mutated creatures with high reproduction rate everywhere. Most of the wizards chose not to live in areas like this.

Those areas were called as the Outland, and only hunters, rangers, or wizards who were looking for special materials would visit them from time to time.

Angele already reached the edge of the Outland after flying for more than one hour; this area had not been explored by anyone yet.

*MOO*

A deep and long voice interrupted Angele's thoughts.

The eagle rotated over the canyon. There was a ten-meter-tall black hippo roaring on the left, its voice sounded like it was from a horn.

There were several calves 1 around this enormous beast. Groups of black birds were rotating around its body while twittering.

The hippo waved its tail, lowered its head, and started advancing. A deep hole would be left on the ground for every step it took.

Angele looked at the hippo and scanned it using the biochip.

'River Hippos, are they moving? I can probably ride on its back.' Angele noticed that the hippo was moving to the black canyon.

He pressed the back of the eagle slightly, the eagle soared and flew to the hippo.

The hippo was getting larger and larger in Angele's sight.

Angele turned around and jumped down when the eagle was only several meters away from the hippo. He landed on the back of the hippo without any problem.

The eagle rotated in the sky and quickly flew away at full speed. It turned into a small black dot and disappeared into the sky.

Angele sat down on the hippo's back with his legs crossed.

The beast was about ten meters tall and seven meters wide. It seemed like the hippo did not mind that there was a human on its back. The hippo was still advancing with no hesitation and its footsteps were extremely loud.

The birds that looked like sparrows rotated around Angele's body and noticed that he was not going to attack them. One of the sparrows landed on Angele's shoulder and started jumping around.

Angele sat quietly on the back of the hippo, his body shaking as the beast moved.

He rubbed the back of the beast—it felt like touching an old tree's trunk.

'The beasts that live in the central continent are definitely stronger than the beasts in other areas.' Blue light flashed in front of Angele's eyes, he had already checked the hippo's basic attributes.

'Over 9 points of Strength and 11 points of Stamina. Its attributes increased after the mutation; according to the data, this hippo feeds on the tree leaves of the Red Deer Tree. However, Red Deer Trees are hard to find, so the hippo must keep moving to deeper areas of the Outland. I'm lucky that I found one here.'

Angele sat on the back of the hippo; he could smell the floral fragrance in the gentle wind. The air of the night was warm and slightly wet.

He inhaled deeply and could feel that his lungs were filled with refreshing air.

The light of the setting sun brushed over his skin. This environment was truly relaxing.

'No humans, no work, no enemies, and no random events. I'm alone in the Outland and no one is here to bother me…' Angele thought for a while. 'I finally understand why some people prefer to stay away from the cities. This is the true freedom that I can't find anywhere else.'

He quickly arrived at the edge of the canyon as the hippo advanced.

The hippo did not stop, it raised its feet and stepped forward.

*BAM*

A translucent air staircase appeared under the hippo's feet before it stepped into the darkness. The egg-shaped staircase was floating over the canyon and it could barely handle the weight of the hippo. The staircase would crack slightly every time the hippo took a step forward.

Angele looked down from the back of the hippo.

Below him was an endless abyss, and he was not even sure if the water from the waterfall landed on anything after running down the canyon. There were several pine trees on the surface of the canyon and they looked like well-organized green hooks reaching outwards.

The hippo did not stop after arriving at the other side of the canyon.

It was getting dark as time passed.

Some of the black sparrows landed in the hippo's ears and Angele could see that there were nests in its ears. Those birds were treating the hippo like a humongous tree that could move.

Angele sat on the back of the hippo quietly and put down a large blanket. He took out some white bread and cakes. He then created a drink using the water that was formed by energy particles.

'River hippo is a friendly creature and won't attack other creatures for no reason. River hippo can detect the tracking spells casted by wizards and prefers quiet areas. I should probably stay with the hippo and let it find me a great location for the altar.' He glanced around and noticed that there were many red trees ahead. Those trees were much taller than the trees he saw earlier.

Those red trees had a height of more than ten meters and grew on a black muddy land. Those trees had the similar height to the hippo's and were quite strong. Angele noticed that some trees had flashing V-shaped glowing marks on them—they were the only source of light in the area.

*BAM*

The hippo found a relatively empty area and kneeled down. It then laid against two red trees and started resting.

Angele rested on the back of the hippo, he closed his eyes and was still sitting with his legs crossed. Seconds later, his breath slowed down, and strange white ghost faces appeared around his body. There was also a noise that sounded like it was made by a bell in the air.

The hippo glanced at Angele with its yellow eyes and moved slightly so it could rest at a more comfortable position.

The calves around it started resting as well.

The night passed quickly.

The sun started rising and the birds were twittering. Their voices echoed in the forest.

Angele suddenly opened his eyes on the back of the hippo and the black ghost faces burst like soap bubbles.

He looked at the bushes on the left and noticed that there were three bull-sized gray wolves approaching quietly. Their green eyes were reflecting the light in the dark bush.

It was obvious that those wolves were not going after the hippo. They were aiming for the calves.

*WOO*

The hippo slowly stood up and looked at the wolves cautiously. It also started roaring, it was trying to warn those wolves using its voice.

Angele noticed that those wolves' tails ended with black snake heads. Also, red flames were spurting out of those snake heads' mouths.

'Those are the Fire Snake Wolves that I read about on the books… This is truly a remote area.' Angele noticed that he could no longer activate his communication runes—it seemed like the strange energy waves in the forest were the reason.

"Fire Snake Wolves usually reside in deep caves, which means their home must be around here…" Angele looked excited, he looked at the hippo, stood up, and jumped down.

*PA*

He landed in front of the hippo and the calves were right behind him.

'It was a comfortable ride and I should probably pay the hippo back.' Raising his right hand, Angele aimed at the Fire Snake Wolves in the front.

A high-pitched voice came from nowhere and echoed in the air. It sounded like the source of the voice was moving constantly.

Angele released translucent energy waves from his palm and the waves quickly surrounded by the wolves.

*Roar*

One of the wolves suddenly raised its head and started roaring. It sounded like it was scared of the energy waves.

The wolves lowered their bodies, they knew that Angele was probably an enemy they couldn't defeat.

*Roar Roar*

The wolves kept roaring.

The glowing red light in Angele's eyes was clear and his eyeballs looked like two high-quality rubies.

Finally, the wolves started backing off, and quickly disappeared into the shadows.

Angele lowered his hands and covered his arms in the silky black robe. He turned his head around and looked at the hippo. It seemed like the hippo knew that it was him who protected the calves.

"I'll see you around." Angele started walking forward, his body exploded, and disappeared in drops of red flames.

Chapter 444: Communication (1)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

Angele was surrounded by red light after activating the elemental teleportation. He traveled more than 30 meters within a second, landing on the right side of the bush.

In the dark forest, Angele's eyes were surrounded by a thin red glow. He narrowed his eyes after detecting the retreating fire snake wolves so they would not notice the light.

*WOO*

The fire snake wolves were retreating at full speed. They went through the bushes; Angele could hear the noise made by the grasses.

Angele hid in the shadows and activated the stealth technique. He could see the red shadows passing by and the light from the snake heads on the wolves' tails.

All fire snake wolves retreated while howling.

Angele stood up slowly, charged forward, and followed after the last wolf.

He advanced for about half an hour in the forest, there were fewer and fewer trees ahead.

By the end of the red trees, there was a tall gray mountain.

On the left side, there was a dark cave that was about 20 meters tall and 10 meters wide. There was also a small river running out of the cave.

The fire snake wolves all rushed into the cave as the red light flashed and they disappeared inside within seconds.

Angele slowly walked out of the bush and drew a circle in the air. He chanted the incantation and created a light-red barrier around his body.

He then tapped on the pouch, creating another white barrier outside the red barrier.

'Without the Metal Mastery, I have to rely on the magic devices. The barriers can handle about 100 degrees of damage, but they're much harder to use…' Shaking his head, Angele approached the cave.

There was a small cave on the left of the large cave and there was a fire snake wolf inside. The fire snake wolf noticed that someone was moving toward the cave, it lowered its body and raised its head.

*Howl*

The high-pitched voice echoed in the cave and the wolves in the large cave started howling as well, Angele could see their glowing green eyes.

Angele remained calm, his eyes were surrounded by a red glow, and a red bird flew out of his chest.

The bird rotated around his body and exploded, turning into a lot of red ribbons.

Angele raised his right hand and grabbed one of the ribbons.

*Woo*

A ball of red light covered his body.

The red light disappeared after about one second and a long red-golden blade appeared in Angele's hand. The blade was connected to a full arm armor that had a mechanical look. The arm armor also looked large and heavy.

A white lion appeared behind Angele, its body surrounded by white flames.

*Roar*

The lion roared and a red phoenix mark flashed between its brow. The lion's white fur was coated with flames and it almost felt like its fur was burning.

"Go now." Angele patted the lion's head.

The lion roared again and charged forward, turning into a white shadow.

*BAM*

The fire snake wolf in the small cave was pressed against the ground and its throat was bitten open by the lion. The wolf struggled for a while and stopped moving.

The red blood from the wolf ran down the gray ground and moved into the clear river.

The lion did not stop, it turned into a white shadow and charged into the large cave.

Angele slowly walked into the cave with a two-meter-long blade in hand. He could hear the wolves' groans as they were eliminated.

The smell of blood was getting intense as Angele walked further and there were fewer wolves howling than before.

After about 10 minutes, Angele turned several times by the corners, but he still could not see the end of the cave.

The red glow of the red barrier and the light from his eyes brightened up his surroundings.

The dead wolves lined up on the ground inside the cave and their blood all ran into the river. The river had already turned red and stank.

Angele counted as he advanced and noticed that there were about 100 dead fire snake wolves.

About half an hour later, he reached a black hole that looked like an exit. The flame lion was waiting by the hole quietly, releasing gentle white light from his body.

Angele stopped in front of the hole and peeked inside.

The hole was an entrance to a small stone chamber and there was a deep hole in the ground there that looked like a well. Chilling wind was coming out of the well constantly.

Angele leaned forward and looked down the well. However, the well was so deep that he could not see anything within it.

He took out a small red ball that looked like it was made of rubber. He waved the ball several times and dropped it into the well.

The red ball released a gentle red glow as it started falling, the glow getting brighter and brighter as it fell.

Angele watched the small ball fall; however, the red light was getting weaker and weaker in his sight. After about half a minute, he could only see a red light dot down there.

"It's not working?"

Angele's brow furrowed, he took out another red ball out of the pouch and hit the wall with it after shaking it several times.

*BOOM*

The ball exploded and released a ball of red flame. The flame ball was bright and it had a diameter of several meters.

The flame ball climbed up the wall and started burning. The whole stone chamber was brightened up by the light.

'It's still working, which means, the well is so deep and cold that the light ball is less effective…?' Angele guessed. He waved his right hand and the fire on the wall extinguished.

Angele stood by the well, he hesitated for a second but still decided to do some investigation.

'I must make sure what's under the well is not dangerous if I want to build the altar here.' Raising his right hand, he created a red flame vortex above his palm.

The vortex quickly shrank and turned into a head-sized black lava ball with golden lava dripping down its surface; the temperature of the lava ball was extremely high.

"Let me give it a try." Angele carefully threw the lava ball down the well.

*Woo*

The head-sized lava ball accelerated and started falling. The bright red light brightened up the wall of the well and the temperature of the lava successfully handled the coldness down the well.

Several seconds later, a loud noise came from the bottom of the well.

The red light and white smoke spurted out of the well.

Angele looked down after the smoke disappeared. He could see that there was something burning down there and the chilling wind that was coming out of the well turned into warm air flows.

'It's about time.' Angele checked his barriers and looked at the flame lion.

"Guard this place, kill all creatures that approach." He sent the message to the lion using mentality wave.

*Roar*

The white lion opened its wings and crouched by the well. It felt like the lion understood Angele's order without any problems.

Angele was satisfied, he nodded and jumped into the well quickly.

He felt like he escaped gravity for a second, all he could hear was the noise made by the wind and the fire. The red dots were getting brighter and larger as he fell.

The well could only fit one person at a time and its wall was extremely smooth. Angele touched the black moss on the wall by accident, the texture was wet and slippery.

Finally, Angele could see the red flames clearly after a while.

*Bam*

Angele's body hit the ground and it sounded like something exploded.

The burnt bones on the ground were blown to the air and the flame drops splashed.

Everything returned to peace after about ten seconds.

Angele slowly stood up from a fire pit at the bottom of the well. He checked his black robe and used energy particles to clean all the dirt.

The burnt bones were probably dropped into the well by the fire snake wolves; the unpleasant smell from the bones permeated the air. Some of the bones were still burning around the fire pit Angele was standing in.

On the left, there was an underground hall average in size.

Most of the lava and the flames flowed into the hall and started burning on the floor.

There were black wooden boxes lining up on both sides of the hall, most of them were empty and rotten. Rusty black weapons were hanging on the wall, including, blades, spears, and greatswords.

The well was the only thing that could bring air into the hall and there was no other exit.

Strangely, there were three stone coffins sitting quietly at the center of the hall.

The coffins were tightly closed and covered in mysterious engravings—runes or characters that Angele had never seen.

Angele's brow furrowed as he sniffed at the air. There was dust everywhere and he could smell blood.

'That's probably from those black boxes…' he thought.

Angele stepped on the lava and walked straight to the coffins.

He went around the coffins and noticed that it seemed like there was no way to open them.

*KA*

Suddenly, something in the coffins made some noise.

Angele quickly took two steps back and kept his distance from the coffins. He raised his black, he was prepared for a possible battle.

*Ka*

The three coffins slowly opened at the same time and white smoke was released from the coffins.

"Ugh…"

Three black shadows slowly stood up from the coffins as they groaned.

With the red light from the lava, Angele could finally see the appearances of the three shadows.

There were two girls and a middle-aged man. They were all wearing black noble suites and they all had perfect faces. The man was handsome and the girls were pretty. Also, they all had pale skin and eyes with the color of blood.

*CHI CHI CHI*

After three light noise, they jumped out of the coffins like lightning and landed on the floor steadily.

Chapter 445: Communication (2)

Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Kurisu

The two girls were wearing silky black dresses.

It seemed like one of them was wearing long black stockings, however, Angele noticed that it was actually a pair of long leather boots after observing her carefully. The boots that covered her legs looked like stockings for some reason.

The other girl was only wearing one stocking under the purple-black skirt and her outfit was eye-catching with the unbalanced matching.

The two girls were wearing long black ponytails, one had the ponytail on the right, and the other had the ponytail on the left.

The man had silver hair and was quite tall. He was wearing black leather pants and his eyes were surrounded by a red glow. He was staring at Angele like staring at his prey.

"Sland!" one of the girls shouted, sounding anxious. "Sland! Sland! Sland!"

She kept repeating the same word as she looked at Angele's neck. Angele could see her saliva dripping down her mouth.

*WOO*

The three black shadows disappeared at the same time, charging to Angele who was still standing on the lava.

'They're… vampires…?" Angele was surprised and excited. He always wanted to do research on a vampire. Raising his right hand, he waved the long blade in the air several times.

*CHI*

A red string was left in the air by the tip of the blood and the string released some intense light. The red light turned white within a second and brightened up the whole area.

"Ah!" Two of the vampires groaned and flew away. They exploded and turned into countless tiny black bats that hung on the ceiling, blocking their eyes with their wings.

The last vampire roared and continued to grab Angele's neck. His red hands and sharp nails looked like they were from a beast. Smoke was rising from his hands under the white light.

"Naive!" Angele shouted.

*PA*

He grabbed the red hands and pulled them to the right.

*BAM*

The vampire was thrown to the wall on the right. He rolled several times on the ground, but Angele was still holding one of his hands tightly using the left hand.

"Ah!" The middle-aged vampire groaned like a beast, he tried to move his hand out of Angele's left hand, but he failed. The vampire kneeled and green smoke started rising from his body.

"So, light is your weakness." Angele's brow furrowed as he looked at the blade mark that was releasing intense white light in the air.

"Extinguish!"

*CHI*

The blade mark quickly disappeared into the darkness.

He released the vampire's hand.

*CHI*

He then grabbed the vampire's neck and lifted the vampire up.

*Clank Clank*

The vampire started attacking Angele like crazy after Angele released his hand, however, it sounded like he was hitting a metal block.

Angele remained calm as the vampire struggled. His stared at the vampire in the eyes with a pair of glowing red eyes.

He chanted some incantation in a deep tone; the middle-aged vampire slowly calmed down and he was no longer struggling.

Angele's brow furrowed as he finished the incantation. 'I have to use a level 2 spell to calm this creature down. Although the vampire has the same power level as a rank 1 wizard, his resistance is quite high.'

Suddenly, two black daggers attacked the back of Angele's head when he was about to release the vampire's neck. The vampire that just calmed down raised his hands again and tried to gouge Angele's eyes.

*WOO*

A thin red barrier appeared in front of Angele's body immediately.

*BAM BAM BAM*

The vampires who just attacked him were blown away by the barrier and hit the wall hard.

White dust was blown into the air and Angele could barely see anything.

"Damn!" Angele's expression changed, he quickly walked to the vampire and crouched, turning the vampire around.

The vampire girl's eyes were wide open and there was black blood spurting out of her eyes, nose, and ears. The girl tried to say something but she quickly stopped moving. Her dark red eyes turned gray and they looked soulless.

Angele stood up and checked the two other vampires—their eyes all turned gray.

'If the data is correct, gray eyes mean that the vampires have already died… I made a mistake.' Angele stood up and sighed. 'I can only use them for dissection now…'

He quickly took out a tube that was full of black powder and sprinkled the powder over the vampires' foreheads.

'Well, this powder made by the academic tower is helpful, it can preserve the vampires' dead bodies, or they might decompose under strong light." He carefully returned the tube into his pouch.

'The vampire is a rare ancient race that I've only heard about in tales… I'm so lucky.'

Angele was so excited about what he found that he started smiling.

He pointed at the three dead vampires and pointed at the coffins.

*WOO*

The dead vampires were lifted up and they flew into the coffins right away. The lids of the coffins closed tightly by themselves.

'It seems like their bodies can be easily preserved in the coffins.' Angele looked at the coffins; although he was excited, he knew that he could not dissect those vampires at the moment.

'I need to finish my job first.'

He wanted to make the vampires into specimens so he could study the body structure of this ancient race. The result might help him refine his true form.

Vampires could become wizards as well, they were part of the ancient wizard society, and some of them were among the strongest wizards during certain eras. They played an important role in the history. Most importantly, vampires could increase their power level by consuming other creatures' blood. Angele was doing something similar, he just needed the bloodline essence of other creatures. He would be able to learn more if he captured the vampires alive.

That was the only mistake Angele made.

Angele calmed down and stopped staring at the coffins. 'I should probably study the coffins after I get back.'

He chanted the incantation in a low voice and a translucent force field appeared around his body.

Three coffins were moved to the left by the forcefield and the center of the hall was emptied.

Angele then took out the leather pouch that was full of small world stones. He unsealed the leather pouch and took a red egg-shaped world stone, throwing it forward.

*CHI*

It sounded like a piece of metal being twisted. The red stone expanded and turned into a large red stone that was about half a meter wide and two meters tall within seconds, dropping on the floor.

Red electric pulses surrounded by the stone, turning into a strong natural force field.

"Force Field Destruction!" Angele pointed at the world stone, the translucent force field surrounded by the red electric pulses quickly.

*PA*

The two force fields canceled out.

'I couldn't do anything to the force field of the world stone when I was at the west coast. The situation has changed…' Angele sighed with mixed emotions.

He took out another small world stone and repeated the process.

The world stones were piled up in the center of the hall—there were about 30 of them. The colorful world stones all increased in size.

Angele activated another forcefield and used his blade to reshape the world stones. He turned them into bricks and started building the altar according to a blueprint he collected.

He purchased the blueprint from Dark Wizard Tower. Angele was not trying to hide that he was having trouble with the frost damage and Dark Wizard Tower decided to sell him the blueprint for a discounted price.

He failed to acquire the location of the last eye-gouging dragon from Dark Wizard Tower as the organiztaion had no way to trace it down. Also, Angele's rank in the organization was probably too low to request for valuable intel like that.

Angele finally finished building the pyramid-shaped altar after spending about half a day on it.

The altar was built with colorful world stones and its appearance was quite funny.

*CHI CHI*

Angele shaped a black world stone into a sword and used the sword to fix the edges of a white world stone.

Fire sparked in the air every time the two world stones contacted.

After several minutes, he bit the tip of his right index finger and dropped his blood on the tip of the stone sword.

Only one drop of the fresh blood was left on the tip of the sword, however, the blood started expanding on the blade like it was poisoned. Several seconds later, the black sword turned into a dark-red sword.

Angele spent some time refining the edge of the blade.

*DING*

Translucent waves suddenly appeared around the stone sword.

'The world stone sword… It's too fragile… I can turn it into a weapon if the material is hard to break.' Angele stood up. He was satisfied with the result and he stepped on the altar with the sword in hand.

Angele raised his red stone sword on the altar. He did not chant any incantation, he just stabbed down using the sword.

*CHI*

The red sword was stabbed into the platform easily after the noise.

A ball of dark-red vortex slowly appeared above the sword and surrounded Angele's body.

The color of the altar started changing slowly. It looked like someone was pouring paint onto the altar—it turned red within seconds.

*BOOM*

The red stone sword was blown away by a ray of golden light. The golden ray shot to the top of the hall and its color lightened after reaching the ceiling.

Angele covered his eyes and took two steps back; he could feel that something was burning in front of him. A strange smell permeated the air, it almost smelt like someone was burning leather in the hall.

'I followed the rules when building the altar. The world stone sword was used for the coordinates and with the will of my mind, I should be able to open the coordinates given to me by Prince Evil Dragon…' Angele looked at the golden ray through the gaps between his fingers and he could feel that his mentality was going into the ray. He recalled the coordinates that contained more than 112 characters as he kept transferring more and more mentality into the ray.