Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1107: Section 1108: Outcome Unpredictable
 

“Not necessarily, perhaps he noticed something amiss through your previous actions,” Fafnir turned around and gazed quietly at Angel, “For instance, you were very attentive to the man using the Illusion Technique.”

Angel fell silent.

He had once read detective novels written by mortals, where an amazingly perceptive detective, wanting to dissect another person, would take any suspicious action, abnormal behavior, or even the most trivial detail, and use it as a profile for the person in question.

Although Angel had never met Monty himself, from the attitude of the people around him, and the perfectly rounded aura emanating from the masked man and Rhein, which was strikingly similar, it was clear who he was—he was Monty.

And a wizard who could stand at the zenith of the Southern Domain would definitely have more penetrating insight than a mortal detective.

Perhaps Monty had always allowed Fafnir’s strand of wind to eavesdrop alongside them because he wanted to observe who was behind this wind and what its true purpose was.

Upon this reflection, Angel also understood Fafnir’s implications. Yet facing Fafnir’s scrutiny, Angel feigned innocence: “Was my behavior unusual? Lord Fafnir, it is you controlling the wind’s direction, I cannot control the wind.”

“Indeed, you cannot control the wind, but you can control your gaze,” Fafnir touched on the point just enough, not dwelling too much on Monty, and quickly changed the subject: “You use illusions, and that man also uses illusions—seems like you know him?”

Not only had Fafnir caught Angel’s previous emotions, but Canaan had seen them too. Therefore, he knew he couldn’t refute.

However, he thought about it and felt that there really wasn’t much need to hide anything.

Nevertheless, Angel turned his head to look at Canaan on the other end of the Witchcraft Garden… Canaan immediately caught on and started to hum along with the eerie music inside the Illusionary Realm.

“This music is quite pleasant to the ears,” Canaan closed his eyes, appearing to be lost in the music.

It seemed that Canaan “should” not be able to hear their conversation.

Angel chuckled inwardly as he shook his head, actually not minding bursting that bubble but considering their different positions; to avoid making things difficult for Canaan, Angel felt it was better to maintain a more appropriate relationship, like Canaan not knowing he was a human and being nothing more than an employee hired by him.

Angel lifted his head, locking eyes with Fafnir: “Yes, I do know him. He is the mentor who led me on the path of the wizards, and all of my Illusion Techniques were taught by him.”

Angel spoke solemnly, and while Fafnir showed no reaction, Canaan behind him choked on his saliva. When Angel turned to look back, Canaan was again affecting a serious demeanor with closed eyes, supposedly listening to music, but his eyeballs were rhythmically moving under his eyelids, revealing an inner turmoil far from the calmness he displayed.

Angel thought Fafnir would continue to inquire, maybe about Sanders’ information, his Illusion Techniques, Monty’s intelligence, or even the humans’ plans… However, Fafnir asked nothing.

Instead, she simply stated, “I see. It appears that the one who called out to you from beyond the heavens wasn’t your mentor.”

It took a moment for Angel to realize that Fafnir was referring to their initial encounter in the Wind Whisper Valley.

At that time, there was an accident. Under Fafnir’s terrifying pressure, Angel teetered within the storm and simultaneously, strange green vines sprouted behind him, along with someone whispering inquiries in his ear: if they were calling to him?

Angel continuously denied, and the whispered voice gradually faded away.

Later on, Angel began to manage the green vines behind him and slowly understood that the vines seemed like some sort of spatial locator. Had he accepted the call back then, the whisperer might have traversed countless worlds to reach him.

Although Fafnir hadn’t overtly asked about this otherworldly person’s identity, she had hinted a few times, and Angel responded evasively. Afterward, Fafnir hadn’t inquired further.

Angel actually had a hunch that it was probably Shava.

He couldn’t very well inform Fafnir that the person calling to him wasn’t his mentor, but might have been his own projection in the Nightmare Realm.

——While this was a conjecture suggested by Sanders, Angel himself still harbored doubts about the notion of a projection.

Fafnir observed Angel, wanting to see his reaction when mentioning that initial presence that had instilled fear and even made her want to kneel. However, Angel merely smiled slightly, acting as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

“Your acting skills are inferior to Canaan’s, perhaps, you should learn from this puppeteer,” Fafnir pointed at Mu Ying in the Illusionary Realm.

Angel remained smiling, not uttering a word, but faithfully reflected the situation in the sky through the Illusionary Realm.

For example, he even added a close-up shot to show the case of Mu Ying’s blood-sweated head.

“Looks like he won’t hold out for much longer,” Canaan commented as the shopkeeper and Fafnir stopped discussing topics it couldn’t partake in, “Once he can’t keep going, the Minotaurs should be able to free themselves, right?”

Canaan clearly remembered what Fafnir had previously said: Despite the Minotaurs and Barfiments currently looking pitiful, with broken bones, blindness, and damaged organs, their core combat power hadn’t been depleted by much. Once they broke free, they would quickly recover.

Fafnir replied indifferently, “Not necessarily, if they have been controlled on stage for a long time, they can’t just be dancing to the backdrop narration. There should be more to it.”

Fafnir had some basis for saying this; when Mu Ying suddenly pulled Urdixinos onto the puppet show stage, becoming a new “actor,” it was entirely unexpected by Fafnir.

Those two demons were still pretending to be feeble using cunning and deceitful methods, but no one could say for sure if humans truly believed their act.

Angel’s eyes lit up as he followed Canaan’s topic and asked, “Does the Lord mean to say that the human faction stands a great chance of victory?”

Fafnir coldly retorted, “What do you think?”

Angel shook his head. As a mere Wizard Apprentice who couldn’t even fathom the power of an Official Wizard, let alone the forces nearing Legendary Level.

“It seems you still haven’t seen clearly the drawbacks of your humans,” Fafnir said coldly.

Canaan immediately covered his ears; he couldn’t hear anything when it came to ‘your humans’.

“The friction that occurred between that man and your mentor, have you chosen to ignore it?”

Friction? Angel immediately realized that Fafnir must be referring to the rift between Sanders and Nereus, which had led to internal strife within the human faction.

Through the eyes of the wind, Angel had clearly seen the undercurrents on the ice, and it wasn’t just Sanders and Nereus at odds. It seemed there was another force also looking to make a move against Sanders.

Those wizards wearing green robes, with skin cracked like tree bark.

Angel recalled the attire of these individuals in his mind and felt it was somewhat familiar; that emblem seemed to belong to… the people from Gravity Forest?

Angel had heard before that although Sanders had constructed the Witchcraft Garden himself, its primary material, the Constant Fragments, had been seized from the hands of the people of the Gravity Forest. Consequently, Gravity Forest had harbored resentment for a long time and had been wanting to make a move against Sanders for not just a day or two.

Hence, despite the unified front of the human faction, internally, it was full of various contradictions. It wasn’t just Sanders alone. Perhaps others had their own conflicts and disputes.

Moreover, Angel hadn’t forgotten Popota either. His guise as Hua Que appearing in Lassudral probably had its purpose, and it was possible that the instigators behind him were also on the ice.

Fafnir’s implication was now clear: With the human faction embroiled in internal strife, on what basis do you think they will win?

Although it’s also true that the demons weren’t entirely united.

Fafnir said indifferently, “Now, in the struggle between the two parasites, who wins and who loses will depend on who endures the longest, and who has more aces up their sleeve.”

The victory or defeat Fafnir spoke of referred only to the grudge between the human faction and the great demons. The owner of the night establishment and Aoluxiya were to be counted separately.

Personally, Angel leaned towards the human faction winning, and speaking of aces up their sleeve, he believed humans had the upper hand. At the very least, up to this point, humans hadn’t yet used any strategic weapons nor had they utilized any Mysterious Objects.

Angel was very aware that at least one Mysterious Object was in Sanders’ possession, namely the Resentment Puppet.

Angel believed that the other True Knowledge Wizards likely also possessed similar items. Although Mysterious Objects each had their effects and might not necessarily be useful in the current situation, it was the mystery and the unknown that made the outcome of the battle that much more unpredictable.

The situation on the field was obviously changing.

In public, Mu Ying had forcibly shown off by dragging Urdixinos into the bizarre puppet show, greatly boosting the confidence of humans. However, new dangers and the repercussions of forced bravado were quickly following one after another.

One of the seven great demons of the Void Tower, Yadasai, appeared outside the ice following the downfall of Urdixinos. Prepared now, Yadasai wouldn’t fall into the puppet show’s stage again.

Faced with the threat of Yadasai, Monty had Nereus confront him.

For now, the battle between Nereus and Yadasai seemed evenly matched, which should buy some time.

But on the other hand, Mu Ying was beginning to struggle to hold on.

After all, he was not Kundela; with his ability, controlling two great demons was already his limit. He had originally planned to introduce human characters into Chapter Seven of the puppet show to help eradicate the demons. But he miscalculated and added Urdixinos to the stage prematurely, and now, having to control three great demons, he had no energy left to allow the human supporting characters to enter the scene.

Without the human characters, Mu Ying alone could at best keep the great demons controlled by thread, but there was no way to inflict casualties on them.

This led to a vicious cycle; his Magical Core was nearly depleted, but the great demons inside were at worst suffering superficial wounds. The more they were controlled, the fiercer their backlash grew, and their resentment towards Mu Ying intensified.

Mu Ying estimated that once he could no longer hold on, the three demons escaping from the puppet show would surely come after him first. In fact, he was indeed close to his limit.

In such a situation, Mu Ying could only seek help from Monty.