Chapter 1136 The Palace of Blood Pools <TOC> Chapter 1138 The Puppeteer Behind the Curtain
Translator: SumTLMan
Upon slaying another wave of demons, Fafnir turned back and saw a hint of apology on Angel’s face. As before, these demons were indeed drawn to Angel. The influence of the Abyssal Awakening was evident.
After being targeted by the demons twice in a row, Angel opted to disguise his appearance through illusion transformation. However, it seemed ineffective. They were again Intercepted by demons as they proceeded on their journey. Angel was at a loss; his illusion blending seamlessly with hallucinatory characteristics should not have been so easily penetrated.
“Could it be,” he wondered, “that these demons aren’t actually recognizing me, but Canaan?” After all, Canaan was an employee of the Phantasmagoria, and the sight of her could have provoked the demons to make the connection.
As Angel pondered this, Canaan seemed to grasp his thoughts, “Shopkeeper, it’s not that your illusions are ineffective, but that your mark is too conspicuous.”
Bewildered, Angel asked, “What do you mean by a ‘conspicuous mark’?”
Having dealt with the obstructing demons, Fafnir glanced back at Angel and snidely retorted, “Did you really think that your illusion could mask the mark bestowed by Odeklaes?”
Was it because of the Mark of Flame?! Recovering from his surprise, Angel touched the lobe of his left ear, where a flame tattoo rested, a mark bestowed by Odeklaes.
The Mark of Flame was initially intended to conceal Angel’s human identity, but its distinctive effect made him the sole possessor in the entirety of La Sutherland. This rendered him noticeably out of place — even without sight, demons could perceive the location of the Mark of Flame.
Caught between amusement and frustration, Angel hadn’t expected the very thing designed to hide his identity, the Mark of Flame, to betray him in the end.
“Is there any way to mask this mark?” Asked Canaan, who had noticed the conspicuous mark on the shopkeeper’s body long ago. The Mark of Flame used to deter minor demons, but now, with La Sutherland plunged into chaos, its intimidating effect had greatly diminished.
“Yes, overlaying it with a dragon scale should do the trick,” Fafnir’s gaze shifted to Angel’s side, where a sphere of ice hovered in the air, Toby’s Frost Seal spell.
Angel was well aware that Bina Jonis’s dragon scale could cloak one’s aura. Balalaika had told him as much back at the Resting Ground. Yet, if he were to use Bina Jonis’s dragon scale to mask the mark, Toby’s Frost Seal would likely be unable to persist.
Between the two, Angel still refrained from using Bina Jonis’s dragon scale.
Speaking of it, there exists another method capable of concealing the Mark of Flame. As Angel surreptitiously glances towards Fafnir, the notion of obtaining Fafnir’s scale crosses his mind… Sensing Angel’s gaze, Fafnir coldly counters with a chilling look. Angel immediately shivers, bows his head in submission, and dares not utter a word.
Indeed, he has been becoming overly presumptuous lately, bold enough to entertain the idea of imposing a request on Fafnir. Angel quickly reflects on his thoughts, recognizing the folly in them. Fafnir’s forbearance towards him is not due to Angel himself, but because of the mission bestowed by Odeklaes. If Angel allows arrogance to take root based on this leniency, his downfall will be catastrophic.
With no means to conceal the Mark of Flame, Angel has no choice but to continue following Fafnir closely.
Fortunately, as the number of demons extinguished by Fafnir grows, the demons seem to understand that their strength is no match for Fafnir’s. Thus, in the end, the demons daring to challenge them become fewer and fewer.
Angel breathes a sigh of relief at this point.
“The allure of the Abyssal Awakening is too great. However, having witnessed Lady Fafnir’s power, demons should be wiser than to test her again, right?” Canaan says with a tone of melancholy.
Angel shares Canaan’s sentiment. Even though he has stated before that the Abyssal Awakening is an anomaly… even if it does happen, it would only likely occur within the water element affinity, but these demons seem to completely disbelieve this.
Nevertheless, it is inevitable. After all, it’s the first time these demons have encountered a case where an “external intervention” led to an Abyssal Awakening. They naturally wouldn’t accept Angel’s solitary claim.
…
Soon, they had already entered the central area of La Sutherland. A bit further, and they would reach the core zone, an area previously untouched by Angel, even with the use of his scouting puppets.
The constructions on either side of the street were gigantic, with each gate large enough for titans to pass through. Angel could easily discern the miniature size of the previous Phantasmagoria Cabin when compared to these.
Here, the structures were mostly intact, with some even teeming with the shadows of demons.
As Angel and his company walk through the deserted, smoke-filled streets, dotted with firelight, they stand out conspicuously. Passing by some intact buildings, Angel can distinctly feel gazes emanating from inside, scrutinizing them. In the face of these malevolent stares, all Angel can do is stay close to Fafnir.
The formidable presence of Fafnir indeed discourages these demons from acting recklessly.
However, exceptions do occur.
As they were about to enter the core zone, a large horde of demons suddenly emerged, encircling them. This was their first encounter with such a vast number of demons, nearly a hundred in count, densely packed.
Their sizes varied, but their collective aura was terrifyingly arrogant. The sheer number of them was overwhelming, almost eclipsing the sun.
The palpable greed in the demons’ eyes felt like sharp arrows aimed directly at Angel. Evidently, he was still their primary target!
“Why are there so many demons?” Even Canaan is surprised. Having seen Fafnir’s power, the typical disposition of a demon wouldn’t lead to another confrontation!
The question asked by Canaan, alas, remains an unsolvable riddle, a conundrum for which no individual holds the answer.
Facing this demon horde, a shiver of unease snakes not only around Angel, but even Fafnir feels a ripple of inconvenience. It’s not that they are beyond her control, rather, to vanquish these demons, she finds herself expending greater energy to shield Angel.
With a simple snap of Fafnir’s fingers, a gentle breeze begins to orbit Angel, as though he’s encased in an ethereal cocoon of wind.
“Do not stray from your spot. If you seek your own demise, then blame not but yourself,” As Fafnir’s warning seeps into Angel’s ear, she doesn’t pause for acknowledgment before diving into the fray against the oncoming demons.
Abiding by Fafnir’s words, Angel remains rigid, an unmoving monolith. Even as a rogue demon sneaks to his side, flinging a chain-hook his way, he does not flinch.
The moment the hook grazes the gentle zephyr circling Angel, Fafnir senses the disturbance. A gust of savage wind sweeps up the hook, transforming the rogue demon into a ghastly downpour of blood in the bone-scraping tempest.
Before long, the skirmish concludes.
Fafnir, radiating solitary dominance, stands at the heart of the street, strewn with fragments of flesh and body parts. Spatters of demon blood adorn her dark skin. She languidly extends her tongue, licking a droplet of blood from the corner of her mouth. The sight paints her as a devil, reveling in the throes of slaughter.
The squelching rhythm of her footfalls echo against the pulpy flesh beneath.
Emerging from a sea of bodies and rivers of blood, Fafnir says with an air of indifference, “Time to depart.”
She doesn’t deign to comment on the battle; for her, it was but an inconsequential skirmish. However, she does spare Angel a glance of acknowledgment. The hook had been on the cusp of breaching Angel’s safety zone, yet he’d adhered to her command and remained still, saving her some effort.
Of course, unbeknownst to Fafnir, this was merely Angel’s outward demeanor.
His heart, in reality, was reciting the Mysterious Soul Whisper. If the hook had ventured any closer, he reckoned he would’ve fled, body and soul. While promising Fafnir was one thing, Angel was not one to put his fate entirely into her hands.
As Fafnir announces their departure, Canaan peeks out from a nearby building. The demons’ target had been Angel, and they had left Canaan completely untouched. Hence, Canaan remained unharmed.
However, as they continue their journey, Canaan’s brow is furrowed in concern——
She still couldn’t comprehend, why would a legion of demons, knowing full well of Fafnir’s presence, rush towards their demise?
There was a gnawing suspicion, a disquieting inconsistency.
This eerie sense of discord surged once more as they stepped into the core area.
For they were encircled by demons once again.
This time, the demonic assembly was even larger!
“A bunch of trash that won’t take a hint,” Fafnir’s face twisted in a grim snarl. Once again, she conjures a circling breeze around Angel, not waiting for the demons to strike first. She calls forth an endless tempest.
Angel, with no need for Fafnir’s instruction, stood in the center of a gentle breeze, motionless. His countenance, however, had grown even more stern than before.
The demons that sought to obstruct them now were unlike any they had faced before. Previously, the demons, after witnessing Fafnir’s formidable strength, would abandon their comrades and flee. But these new opponents seemed hell-bent on capturing him, seemingly willing to risk their lives.
Angel understood the significance of the Abyssal Awakening for the demons. But if they were ready to throw away their lives so easily, what good would the awakening do?
As Angel was musing over this, Canaan, who had long been hiding at the side, was also sizing up the horde of demons.
Canaan, as an onlooker, grew increasingly bewildered. There was no doubt that the demons targeted Angel — their unified onslaught, their fervent chants of rushing towards Angel confirmed this. While this common target could be understood, what baffled her was the fanaticism mirrored in their eyes — why was it almost identical?
When two distinct demons sought to approach Angel in the same manner, Canaan noticed their almost synchronized actions, and an insight flashed through her mind.
“It’s as if they’re being controlled?!”
Controlled? As Canaan’s voice echoed through the battlefield, Angel quickly came to a realization. Given the demons’ natural self-preservation instinct, they indeed wouldn’t be so suicidally combatant.
But if there was some puppeteer behind the scenes, manipulating them, then it seemed plausible.
However, who could control so many demons?
Although these were lesser demons, lacking substantial power, controlling such a large number of them would not be an easy task.
Chapter 1136 The Palace of Blood Pools <TOC> Chapter 1138 The Puppeteer Behind the Curtain