Chapter 1030 Revisiting the Abyss <TOC> Chapter 1032 The Abyssal Flame Dragon
Translator: SumTLMan
Suddenly, the subterranean cavern revealed its interior as though the lid had been lifted off.
A surge of unease gripped Sanders, propelling him swiftly into the pit for an immediate exploration of the surroundings. Rhine, on the other hand, executed a comprehensive aerial reconnaissance of Whispering Wind Valley before finally descending into the pit.
At that moment, Sanders was seen standing in a corner with a deeply furrowed brow.
“I’ve surveyed Whispering Wind Valley, there doesn’t seem to be any human presence,” Rhine noted as he walked over to a smothered campfire in the pit. He ran his fingers through the ashes, producing a faint glow.
“Based on the remnants of this fire, it was last ablaze about a day ago,” Rhine deduced with a frown. “Does that mean someone was here yesterday?”
Despite Rhine’s extensive monologue, Sanders remained unresponsive. Puzzled, Rhine sauntered over to where Sanders was intently scrutinizing a dust-covered patch on the ground.
This was a section of the rock layer with an exposed rocky surface. However, in a peculiar contrast to its natural grey hue, there was a section stained black as tar. Upon closer inspection, a metallic scent reminiscent of blood could be discerned.
At a glance, Rhine recognized it to be a bloodstain. Given the extent of the area covered, a substantial amount of blood had been shed here.
“Whose blood is this?” Rhine asked, noticing Sanders’ knitted brows. Realization dawned on him, “Is it Angel’s?”
“Yes,” Sanders confirmed with a nod. “Something must have occurred here after my departure. Angel might be in danger.”
“Did he die?”
Sanders hesitated before shaking his head, “I can’t tell. I’m unable to locate my essence blood. It seems to have been shielded by a powerful energy field. However, I can sense that my essence blood is currently in an undamaged state.”
However, the intact state of his essence blood did not necessarily mean that Angel was safe. The fact that his essence blood was within a strong energy field made the situation all the more intriguing.
“The bloodstain is two days old, but the fire was extinguished only a day ago. This implies that there was someone here yesterday,” Rhine reasoned. His eyes seemed to glint with a newfound clarity as he cast the Illusion Breaker Spell to retrospectively deduce the situation, “There are indeed traces of Angel, but they are extremely faint. It’s as if an invisible wind has blown away all residual information.”
The “wind” presence in the Illusion Breaker spell that harks back to the past is undeniably abnormal.
It is as if some creature had deliberately expunged its own information.
“However, what’s odd is that apart from bloodstains, there’s no sign of any other destruction.” Rhine mutters to himself. If the blood of Angel didn’t come from an external attack, could it have flowed from inside him?
As Rhine was muttering to himself, Sanders found a gnawed hind leg bone that was only left with stark whiteness.
Upon examination, this bone came from a creature known as a “Quill King Demon Beast,” a beast that looks similar to a porcupine. Although the quills on the back of a porcupine pose no threat to wizards, the spikes on the back of a Quill King Demon Beast could turn into bone maggots upon contact and burrow into the flesh causing great destruction. Its power is terrifying and it belongs to the wizard-level creatures.
“The hind leg meat of a Quill King Demon Beast is a premium ingredient that can be made into exquisite delicacies.” Rhine comes over, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes. “It seems a bit wasteful to roast it directly.”
Sanders drops the bone, having found that a layer of breeze was also swirling around it, causing all residual traces to disappear.
However, combining all the known information, it can be essentially affirmed that not long ago, not only was Angel present in this deep pit, but there was also another entity of considerable strength capable of hunting a Quill King Demon Beast.
Angel’s corpse is not here, so he might not be dead. But based on the blood stains found earlier, Angel’s situation might not be good either.
Perhaps, it was the entity skilled in manipulating “wind” that took Angel away.
They continue to search in the deep pit for other traces when Rhine suddenly notices a touch of nightmare energy appearing on a rock wall.
“Over here, it seems Angel has left some information!”
When Sanders comes over, Rhine is frowning.
Rhine rarely frowns, making Sanders somewhat perplexed. When he sees the residual information on the rock wall, he instantly realizes the gravity of the situation.
Let’s put the illusory text obscured by the nightmare energy aside for a moment.
The stone wall beneath records an incident, revealing how Toby came to be contaminated by misfortune. It also warns that the Olaf Tentacle Crab being hunted by Frost Moon within the team heading to Sky Island might also have been infected by misfortune.
If this information holds true, it’s not a small matter at all.
They were all acutely aware that once afflicted by the contagion of the Harbinger of Doom, Sky Island could be annihilated. Even true knowledge wizards could not withstand the horror of such a calamity.
Dongola was a prime example of what they should avoid.
Looking at the message left by Angel, Sanders finally had his moment of enlightenment. He had been feeling something amiss before, and the fleeting flash of intuition all pointed towards one fact: the positive variables were collapsing dramatically.
Whether they were under the onslaught of numerous demons or experiencing the continuous failures in opening the interplanar passages, all these were the mischief of doom!
“The underground river of the Shadowy Caverns, it is unexpected that it is connected to the Silent Dead Sea,” Sanders commented in wonder.
“This matter is of great importance, whether it is true or not, it must be relayed to Sky Island at the earliest.” Rhine advised.
Sanders nodded, of course, he would pass this information to Sky Island later. However, he was most concerned about Angel’s current situation.
The text hidden under the illusion revealed the truth: Angel had gone to Ice Valley.
Only the notorious Eternal Ice Valley in the whole abyss would be singularly named “Ice Valley”.
Given Angel’s current situation, it was absolutely impossible for him to voluntarily go to Eternal Ice Valley. He must have been coerced.
However, what’s worth pondering is that the entity that forced Angel allowed him to leave these messages, which is somewhat intriguing.
Furthermore, the information that Toby had been infected with doom, Angel must have heard it from somewhere else, probably the entity that coerced him.
Not only could the other party perceive doom aura, but they could also discover the source of the doom aura. This fact alone suggests that the other party is incredibly powerful. Otherwise, they would certainly be affected by the doom aura and take action against Angel.
Regardless of the tricks involved here, even if the information about going to Ice Valley is a trap, Sanders must make a trip there.
However, before going to Ice Valley, they need to convey the news of the doom contagion to Sky Island.
…
At this moment, Angel stood outside a range of mountains.
Fafnir, who had retracted her aura and transformed into a human, leaned against the trunk of a tree. Although she seemed to be resting, she was actually squinting towards the depths of the mountains, where the silhouette of the snow mountains could vaguely be seen.
“Lady Fafnir, it seems like we are still some distance away from Ice Valley…” Angel hesitated for a moment before turning to speak.
“Within a thousand miles outside of Ice Valley, there will be no presence of powerful demonic creatures.” Fafnir replied.
Even though Fafnir clarified it that way, Angel looked at Toby who was fast asleep, and considered the difficulty of entering with Toby who was stained with doom, even if it was safer than expected.
Noticing Angel’s hesitation, Fafnir scoffed, and a whirlwind swiftly emerged from beneath Angel’s feet.
With a painful scream, Angel was swept into mid-air, falling in a parabolic trajectory a kilometer away.
Rising from the rotting forest floor, Angel realized he had no choice.
He was still close to the periphery of the mountain range, and all his movements were under Fafnir’s scrutiny. If he made any unusual moves, Fafnir would probably continue to torment him.
Anyway, this was the outermost layer. Even if there were any monsters, they shouldn’t be too powerful.
With this in mind, Angel embarked on his solo journey to Ice Valley.
As he delved deeper, Angel contemplated something. In fact, Fafnir could have easily flown him to the outside of Ice Valley, but she did not do so, and instead let him off a thousand kilometers away, allowing him to go to Ice Valley himself. This suggests that she seemed afraid to meet Odeklaes?
But when Fafnir leaned against the tree trunk earlier, her gaze was constantly directed towards Ice Valley, reflecting a complex and nostalgic look. This showed that she actually longed for Ice Valley.
Not that she didn’t want to go, but she dared not?
Was there a story hidden in this?
As Angel pondered, he took out a transparent block of ice from his pocket.
The block of ice was constrained by a powerful force, almost like an ice crystal, which wouldn’t melt physically. Within the block, a glowing white dragon scale was frozen, reflecting through the prismatic angles of the block itself, shimmering with a crystal clear brilliance.
This frozen dragon scale was given to him by Fafnir.
Angel originally thought that if he helped relay Fafnir’s message, Fafnir would tell him what she wanted to say, but she didn’t. Fafnir only left him this dragon scale, saying, “The words I want to say, he will understand when he sees this scale.”
He had been too shy to observe it while he was with Fafnir, but now that he looked at it, this dragon scale seemed somewhat peculiar.
Fafnir was an Abyssal Wind Dragon, and her real scales were a dark turquoise, not this pure and jadelike white.
All along the way, Angel had also inquired about some information regarding Odeklaes. It was said that Odeklaes was an Abyssal Flame Dragon.
Not even the scales of a fire dragon could be so effortlessly ensnared in ice.
Furthermore, Angel did not detect any hint of flame within this frozen scale, thereby dismissing the possibility it belonged to Odeklaes.
So, whose could they be?
As Angel was engrossed in these thoughts, the ground beneath him suddenly caved, revealing a gaping maw lined with sharp teeth!
Startled, Angel swiftly invoked his Dark Night Flyover runes, taking to the sky.
As Angel ascended, the monstrous maw from the ground also surfaced, fully revealing its terrifying visage.
At this point, Angel surmised, could this be some form of carnivorous plant?
Just like Jack’s magical beans, this organism shot upwards like a vine, its gaping maw twisting and turning in its pursuit of Angel.
Given that a plant rooted deep in the ground could not possibly fly, Angel was not particularly afraid. However, no sooner had this thought crossed his mind than a harsh growl sounded in his ears.
Turning around, he saw dark clouds rolling in from the distance.
Upon closer inspection, the clouds were not true clouds, but rather a swirling murder of skeletal crows…
Chapter 1030 Revisiting the Abyss <TOC> Chapter 1032 The Abyssal Flame Dragon