Chapter 1024 Origin of Misfortune <TOC> Chapter 1026 Fafnir
Translator: SumTLMan
A tumultuous yet mocking mental stab, akin to a sharp sword, brutally thrust at Angel.
Angel felt a sharp pain surge through his brain, and his vision blackened as he fell to his knees.
The duration of the pain was not long, yet the experience left an indelible imprint in Angel’s mind that he would never forget.
When he reopened his eyes, he discovered that the Abyssal Wind Dragon hadn’t flown away but was instead observing him with an icy gaze: “Weak-minded, pitiful in strength, you lack even the strength to exist in this world, and yet you aspire to alleviate its impending doom?”
Angel remained silent, sitting serenely on the ground.
This perplexed the Abyssal Wind Dragon — how could a mere human dare to ignore its words?
The Abyssal Wind Dragon expelled a raging cyclone from its nostrils, directed at the spot where Angel was meditating. The winds danced like daggers, and the swirling dust twirled around Angel, who sat as still as a bell.
It was then that the Abyssal Wind Dragon realized that something was amiss.
Its control was incredibly precise — the cyclone it released should have caused Angel nothing more than discomfort. Yet his lack of reaction, instead of alarming, prompted the Abyssal Wind Dragon to narrow the scope of its cyclone.
After all, it had no intention of killing Angel.
Once the wind ceased, Angel remained seated on the ground, his head bowed low, concealing his expression.
Did this human in the pit lose consciousness?
“Is he putting on an act, or… has he suffered a mental breakdown?” muttered the Abyssal Wind Dragon. It proceeded to inspect Angel carefully.
Just then, a glowing green rune sprouted from Angel’s back. It was reminiscent of a climbing vine, illuminating the area as it ascended…
In a brief period, the green vine had scaled up to a height of ten meters.
The sight was undeniably strange; the luminous green vine was flamboyant and carried a presence that was impossible to ignore.
Upon closer inspection, the Wind Dragon discovered that this green vine was sprouting from Angel’s back.
As the green vine grew, Angel’s face turned deathly pale, akin to a victim drained by a blood-sucking vine, relinquishing all his vitality to nourish the burgeoning vine.
Initially, the Wind Dragon perceived the human’s enigmatic actions as merely trivial antics. However, as the verdant vine swayed and proliferated in the breeze, an unfamiliar emotion began to unexpectedly take root within the dragon’s heart.
An emotion it hadn’t felt for hundreds of years.
——Fear, a fear that sprouted from the very core of its being, mirroring the expression that this insignificant human had worn when confronted by the dragon. It was a fear devoid of any potential for resistance, one that could only elicit submission and supplication.
This fear felt alien to the Wind Dragon, yet uncannily familiar. The last time it was pervaded by such a sensation was when it had provoked a formidable Demon God’s attendant in an interstitial space. While it barely managed to escape to the surface, it was dealt a mortal blow that resulted in a hibernation lasting centuries.
If not for the aura of misfortune emanating from Toby, the dragon might still be slumbering.
It had never anticipated experiencing fear at the presence of a human!
Why? What could possibly make this mere mortal a source of trepidation for the dragon? Could it be the glowing green vine?
With eyes laden with shadowy doubt, the Wind Dragon turned its gaze to the green vine.
The vine grew at an extraordinary rate. In just a short while, it had stretched beyond the pit and even arrived in front of the Wind Dragon!
Then, the vine ceased its growth.
Initially, the dragon presumed that the vine was preparing to attack and, uncharacteristically, it adopted a defensive stance. However, it subsequently realized that the vine had stopped at this particular height due to the highest degree of spatial stability available in this vicinity.
Upon determining the level of spatial stability, the vine suddenly began to emanate a dread-inspiring aura.
A formation of peculiar green runes began to radiate from the apex of the vine.
These green runes bore a striking resemblance to the runes on Angel’s right hand, but the meaning they conveyed was distinctly different.
Once the green runes had formed, they began to alter the surrounding spatial energy.
Upon witnessing the runes’ actions, the Abyssal Wind Dragon started to suspect the vine that had instilled such terror within it — was it attempting to open a planar passageway?
Instead of impulsively obstructing the vine, the Abyssal Wind Dragon traced its line of sight along the vine and stared deeply into Angel.
Why would a human sprout a green vine? Could there be some concealed secret within him?
As the Abyssal Wind Dragon was immersed in its perplexity, it abruptly noticed that Angel, who had been sitting with his head bowed, seemed to be murmuring something under his breath.
“No… No…” He murmurs this word repetitively,
Just as the Abyssal Wind Dragon was plunged into bewilderment, out of the blue, it discerned a voice, a voice not of Angel’s.
——”Is it you, calling out to me?”
This was not a voice belonging to Angel, even though its intonation bore a close resemblance to his. The Abyssal Wind Dragon could unmistakably feel that this voice seemed to traverse the barriers of time and space, descending from a far-flung universe.
It was ethereal, distant, and brimmed with an unquestionable authority.
When the Abyssal Wind Dragon desired to listen more closely to identify the origin of this voice, it was abruptly plunged into darkness, as if day and night had been reversed in its world. A pair of eyes opened in the heart of this obscurity.
Those eyes were indescribable, demonstrating absolute indifference, like a divine entity perched high above the clouds, peering down at the world of mortal beings.
Never before had the Abyssal Wind Dragon experienced such a gaze, even thousands of years ago, when it stealthily stole a glance at the supreme Demon God perched upon the throne while serving by the side of Odeklaes, it wasn’t as shocked.
Those eyes merely pierced through time and space for an ephemeral moment to gaze at it, before closing once again.
At this moment, the Abyssal Wind Dragon extricated itself from the limitless darkness. In its sight, there were no eyes, only a massive pit and a human within the pit who was incessantly murmuring…
The Abyssal Wind Dragon dared not delve any further.
It understood that the owner of those eyes was definitely not something it could provoke. Even the Demon Gods of the Abyss, perhaps, could not compare with it.
Perhaps, only the entities from “there” could potentially wield such formidable power.
Watching the green runes in its vicinity, determined to open a planar passage, the Abyssal Wind Dragon suddenly felt an urge to depart from here.
It had a feeling that if this planar passage were to be opened, a horrifying disaster may befall.
“No, I did not call you… Go back… Go back!” Angel’s vehement command echoed up from the bottom of the pit.
It was then that the Abyssal Wind Dragon realized that Angel’s constant utterance of “No” was, in fact, a dialogue with a certain entity whose will could descend even across time and space.
Who was that entity to him?
The Abyssal Wind Dragon was curious about their relationship but knew it would be unwise to probe further, as it might invite trouble. However, it could confirm that this entity and the human before it were certainly closely linked.
Tick-tock——
Crimson droplets of essence blood, seeped from Angel’s frame.
Initially sparse, yet in no time, a copious stream of the crimson liquid spurted out, seeping into the very heart of the earth. In a fleeting moment, an entire patch of earth was bathed in a red hue.
As Angel’s essence blood relentlessly trickled down, the verdant vine, laboriously hovering in mid-air and striving to forge a passage, abruptly began to recede.
Once standing at an impressive height of over twenty meters, it now gradually shrunk back — fifteen meters, fourteen… ten, nine…
Eventually, it retracted to Angel’s back.
However, the Abyssal Wind Dragon noticed, it didn’t completely retreat, but rather, etched on Angel’s back, was a layer of green vines, glowing intermittently, ready to burst forth again at any given moment.
As the green vine nestled back on Angel’s back, the aura that instilled fear and apprehension within the Abyssal Wind Dragon disappeared.
Down in the pit, Angel, after swaying a few times, collapsed to the ground with a thud.
When the Abyssal Wind Dragon probed Angel’s condition, it found Angel’s complexion as pallid as a corpse, tainted with an air of desolation. Now, Angel was teetering on the brink of death, his life force hitting rock bottom, with the majority of his essence blood already drained.
All of this essence blood flowed out from Angel’s pores, giving the appearance of a man bathed in blood.
Watching Angel’s life force grow ever weaker, a flicker of hesitation crossed the eyes of the Abyssal Wind Dragon. It had no intention of getting involved in human life or death. Yet, having experienced the impact of that gaze, the Abyssal Wind Dragon hesitated, and a mist began to emanate from its body.
A tall figure emerged from the mist, descending beside Angel.
……
In the enveloping darkness, Angel opened his eyes.
His entire body ached as if he had been on a merry chase across the hills as a child and was now experiencing the muscle aches the next day. It was as if his body was completely out of his control.
A “hiss——“ sound echoed in his ears.
Straining to turn his head, he noticed a fire crackling by his side. The roaring flames, accompanied by the crackling sound of combustion, reflected in his eyes.
Beside the blaze, a shadowy figure seemed to rest against a stone, lost in repose.
Where am I? Who am I?
When these uncertainties surfaced in Angel’s mind, his thoughts began to branch out naturally, and he recalled the events prior to losing consciousness.
He remembered that he was enquiring from the Abyssal Wind Dragon about how to dispel the aura of misfortune surrounding Toby.
However, all of a sudden, an itch crept up his back.
At that time, he had no knowledge of what was transpiring outside, for all his attention was commandeered by this itching sensation on his back.
When he previously confronted the Abyssal Wind Dragon, an adversary he absolutely couldn’t match, Angel felt the deep sting of despair. Furthermore, the Abyssal Wind Dragon bore him intense malice. Under such circumstances, Angel, bereft of any trump card, resolved that even in death, he wouldn’t make things easy for his opponent.
Following that, just as he had done during Twilight Auction, he focused all his senses on the wound on his back.
However, that’s when the Abyssal Wind Dragon launched its attack, severing his concentration and leaving him no opportunity to continue.
He assumed that once his concentration was broken, there would be no further development.
Little did he know, a peculiar itch later emerged on his back, plunging him into a delusionary state of perception.
Under such perception, he heard a voice.
——”Is it you, calling out to me?”
Subsequently, green vines sprung from his back, growing with the wind. As the vines flourished, Angel felt his soul power diminishing ceaselessly, a sensation of unspeakable torment.
Yet, that voice kept lingering in his ears.
Despite his constant reply, “No.”
The voice seemed oblivious, persisting regardless.
Until, exhausting every last bit of his vitality, Angel vehemently transmitted a message of “rejection” within his soul. Only then did the voice gradually fade. Concurrently, his soul power dwindled to a husk, and his body became exceedingly weak.
Following that, his memory abruptly came to a halt.