Chapter 1028 Hearing of Ice Valley Again <TOC> Chapter 1030 Revisiting the Abyss
Translator: SumTLMan
Upon Fafnir’s return, it was not fitting for Angel to continue his introspective meditation.
Once he opened his eyes, he noticed that Fafnir was curiously observing the stone wall opposite him, which bore the ethereal runes he had etched earlier.
Under normal circumstances, only those associated with Phantom Island could decode the information. However, Fafnir, with her strength that greatly surpassed Angel’s, didn’t need to break through the illusion; she could easily discern the hidden message.
Aware that Fafnir would inevitably uncover his message, Angel deliberately left behind a simple sentence, avoiding any further elaboration to prevent any possible conflict.
Having interpreted the message, Fafnir made no visible reaction, her heart filled with a cold, sarcastic laugh.
The tantalizing aroma of roasting meat sizzled above the fire.
Fafnir casually picked up a large leg of meat and started munching heartily, the meat was delectably savory. Unbeknownst to him what kind of meat it was, droplets of juice trickled down, stirring Angel’s appetite.
Surreptitiously swallowing, Angel quickly averted his gaze. He didn’t dare compete for food with a formidable Abyss Dragon. Pretending ignorance seemed like the best course of action.
However, the more he tried to avoid it, the more the tempting image of the meat haunted his mind.
His thoughts became consumed by the prospect of food.
This meat must be a delicacy, for even simply roasting it yielded such a tantalizing aroma. If Gloria were to prepare it, the flavor would be unfathomable.
To avoid any further embarrassment, Angel forcibly engaged his rational mind. Unable to escape the vortex of food-oriented thoughts, he decided to speculate about the origin of the meat.
As he was lost in his thoughts, he suddenly remembered something food-related.
He recalled Fafnir mentioning “danger” once before, saying something along the lines of, “Danger lurks on every journey with the potential for demonic encounters, calamities may strike during respite, and even meals can bring misfortune…”
Angel hadn’t contemplated much on these words back then. Now, upon reflecting, he perceived a deeper meaning.
Initially, Fafnir used these words to mock Angel, implying that the words were meant for him. So, could the subjects of her parallel sentences also refer to him?
He indeed encountered demons on his journey and faced calamities during respite. But even swallowing meals can bring misfortune? Since coming to the Abyss, Angel had barely eaten anything, merely partaking in some milk fruit juice and a bit of demon flesh.
This would then imply that her “meaningful hint” was not directed at him.
Angel’s gaze drifted towards the slumbering Toby. Could he possibly be referring to Toby?
Toby indeed had consumed quite a bit of food from the Abyss, for instance, during Angel’s previous visits to Toby’s dreams, he had observed Toby indulging in “crab meat” more than once. The physical attributes of this crab meat revealed its origins to be from the Olaf Tentacle Crabs found in the Shadowy Caverns.
“Swallowing misfortune… Olaf Tentacle Crab…” Angel tried to connect Fafnir’s words and felt like he was beginning to comprehend something.
Could it be that the Olaf Tentacle Crab was infected by the doom of the Harbinger of Doom, and Toby consumed it?!
Once Fafnir had finished her leg of meat, Angel cautiously asked about this.
Perhaps because Fafnir was satiated, she lazily replied to Angel’s question without any sign of objection, nodding, “Indeed, the Harbinger of Doom resides at the bottom of the Silent Dead Sea, where all crabs have been contaminated with misfortune.”
Having received Fafnir’s confirmation, Angel had an epiphany. So the underground river in the Shadowy Caverns was connected to the Silent Dead Sea?!
When Toby had ventured into the underground river, he encountered an Olaf Tentacle Crab that had escaped from the Silent Dead Sea, and after consuming it, he himself became infected with misfortune!
That must be the truth behind Toby’s misfortune.
However, if one were to think deeper into it, it was a chilling revelation.
The Olaf Tentacle Crab got contaminated with misfortune and managed to escape from the Silent Dead Sea. As it was influenced by misfortune, it came across a formidable adversary — Toby. Toby consumed it, subsequently inheriting its misfortune.
Viewing it from this perspective, this misfortune seems like a contagion that is difficult to contain!
Moreover, this contagion is extremely stealthy, it would go undetected, and those who consume it would inadvertently become infected with misfortune.
An even more astonishing detail is that Sanders had once informed him that the Olaf Tentacle Crab was a highly cherished culinary ingredient, discovered and named by a gourmet wizard named Olaf.
Therefore, if a wizard stumbled upon an Olaf Tentacle Crab, it would certainly end up as a gourmet delicacy on their table. If someone were to consume it, they would inevitably become infected with misfortune.
Of course, if the Olaf Tentacle Crab was not discovered, there would be no concern over misfortune.
However, Angel clearly remembered that a few days ago, when he had escaped from the Shadowy Caverns, he was pursued by three wizard-level demonic creatures, namely a giant serpent, a troll… and an Olaf Tentacle Crab!
The serpent was obtained by Sanders, while the troll and Olaf Tentacle Crab were hunted down in unison by the Frost Moon Guard and the other wizards in the fortress.
The hunted Olaf Tentacle Crab, Angel was almost completely certain, had escaped from the Silent Dead Sea. In other words, it was a creature tainted by doom!
Angel dared not imagine the fate of that Olaf Tentacle Crab.
If it were brought to Sky Island and consumed by someone, it would definitely bring about a devastating blow to Sky Island!
Because this kind of calamitous curse is invisible and traceless, even beings of Sanders’ caliber would struggle to distinguish it.
If doom were to bring about an attack on Sky Island, they might not even be able to find the cause. Over time, if they couldn’t figure out who was tainted with doom, it would be a truly terrifying matter.
Angel didn’t dare to think any further, the more he thought, the more he felt the disaster on the Abyss frontline would be difficult to quell. The terror of this calamitous curse was beyond imagination, the Harbinger of Doom was indeed troublesome, it was said that even the Demon Lord dared not provoke, and now it seemed that the rumors were true.
He could only pray now that not too many people had consumed the Olaf Tentacle Crab.
To Angel’s heart, this was truly just a hopeful prayer. Because at the time of hunting the Olaf Tentacle Crab, most of the wizards had acted, and according to the rules set by Frost Moon, each wizard who acted would receive a corresponding reward. In other words, among the wizards in Watchtower Fortress now, those holding a “catastrophe bomb” were definitely not just one…
Angel thought about it and decided to leave this message.
He came to the previous stone wall and carved a new line of words.
This time, the message was not covered by illusions. He hoped someone could see it and pass it on to the wizards of Sky Island.
Angel didn’t care about the fate of others, the reason he did this was because Lord Canter was a senior he respected and he was still on Sky Island. In the future, maybe Madeline would also go to Sky Island.
Their existence prompted Angel to leave this message.
But whether anyone could see it in the end, Angel had no control over.
Regarding Angel’s newly left message, Fafnir only snorted: “The hypocrisy of humanity is evident.”
Angel remained indifferent to this, after all, what he could help with was only this much.
“As the sands of time dwindle, our hour of departure looms,” uttered Fafnir, unexpectedly transmogrifying into a dreadfully ferocious Abyssal Dragon.
Flapping her enormous wings, she spiraled in mid-air, her deadly talons clutching Angel’s collar. With a whirlwind in tow, she darted towards the fog-ridden heavens.
Left behind in the chasm of Whispering Wind Valley were the remnants of a fire and cryptic luminous texts adorning the mountain wall.
…
Savage Grottoes, the High Cloud Tower.
When Sanders arrived, Rhine was already waiting for him.
The vast room was dotted with crystal balls of all sizes. Rhine was seated before one embedded in the floor, flashing a congenial smile towards Sanders.
Rhine signaled for Sanders to sit opposite him.
Instead of accepting immediately, Sanders gazed intently at a corner of the floor.
Contrasting with the overall dry ambiance, that area was noticeably damp. Upon closer inspection, one could faintly discern the rumbling sound of tidal waves.
“Has the Sea God paid a visit?” Sanders inquired, his voice imbued with unshaken certainty.
With Rhine’s prowess, erasing such traces would be as easy as pie. Yet, the fact that they remained hinted at Rhine’s intention for Sanders to notice them.
“The final step of planar fusion abruptly failed, sparking a myriad of speculations. Florence, these past days, has been sending avatars for information exchange,” Rhine paused before continuing, “But, his visit today concerned you.”
“Do they mention me?” Sanders’ expression was cool, “Do they suppose the failure of the planar fusion is connected to me?”
“Your return coincided with these events, indeed, there are some apprentices whispering such speculations, but the truth is not something they can grasp,” replied Rhine calmly, these rumors only gained momentum among the apprentices.
In reality, even if it was Sanders, or a legendary wizard that was there for the third stage, none of them could influence the fusion of planes.
“It appears you still pay attention to apprentice gossip, Rhine,” Sanders chuckled.
The reason why even Rhine heard these rumors was due to their widespread nature, and indeed the timing of Sanders’ appearance was quite coincidental. Of course, the biggest cause for speculation was that during the previous incident in the Devil’s Sea, right after Sanders left, the planar fusion had failed. And just now, as Sanders had just returned, the planar fusion happened to fail again.
Even formal wizards knew this had nothing to do with Sanders, but they couldn’t help but think: perhaps Sanders was a harbinger of bad luck, wherever he went, a planar fusion would fail.
Just as Sanders teased Rhine, he himself also found it quite a coincidence, otherwise he wouldn’t have brought it up immediately upon his return.
If Sanders weren’t the person in question, he’d probably be like the other wizards, maintaining a poker face but certainly harbouring doubts in his heart.
“Let’s not discuss these rumors. Can you truly not guess why Florence mentioned you?” Rhine asked.
Sanders pondered for a moment: “Is it because of Angel?”
Chapter 1028 Hearing of Ice Valley Again <TOC> Chapter 1030 Revisiting the Abyss