Translator: SumTLMan
“Violent Thorn” Madeline Silian. A first level wizard of the Savage Grottoes with a fusion of a plant bloodline.
When Angel first came to the Abyss, he was accompanied by Madeline. And all along the way, Madeline provided Angel with much assistance.
However, later on, Madeline was in the Savage Grottoes, secretly chasing after a witch called Dongola, who was cursed by doom, and then she disappeared without a trace.
Angel didn’t expect that after the initial parting, he would reunite with Madeline at this time and place.
Madeline, in hot pursuit of Greaves, had a flaming thorn whip in her hand raised high in the sky. However, she froze when she saw the person standing in front of the small demon.
“Angel, why are you here?”
……
A while later, on the highlands outside Ice Valley, Angel omitted some key information, only mentioning that Toby was accidentally cursed by doom, and came to Ice Valley to seek Odeklaes’ help in removing the curse.
Madeline wasn’t involved in the matters of La Sutherland, so she had no idea what had transpired there, even presuming that Mengke’s plan had not yet been implemented.
Hence, Madeline didn’t pry into why Angel had come to Ice Valley.
She found it somewhat curious that Angel could ask Odeklaes to help Toby lift the curse, but these were all trivial matters. What Madeline was most concerned about was the small demon hiding behind Angel, Greaves: “Do you know this lesser demon?”
Angel nodded, “His name is Greaves, a young Fire… uh, a young Rune Fire Demon, I know him. Lady Madeline, why did you get into a conflict with Greaves?”
Greaves had already seen that the shop owner seemed to be an old acquaintance with the crazed woman who was chasing him. He was starting to feel apprehensive, unsure whether the shop owner would side with him. Afraid that Madeline would distort the truth and mislead the shop owner, he couldn’t help but reply first:
“I don’t know this crazy woman at all… I don’t know her, I just came to Ice Valley to find the shop owner. I met her along the way, and she started chasing me relentlessly.” Greaves looked utterly wronged.
Angel looked at Greaves, feeling he wasn’t lying, then turned his attention to Madeline, wanting to hear what the core conflict was.
According to his understanding of Madeline, because it was difficult to recover magical power in the Abyss, she should not waste magic power on a lesser demon that only thought about running away. There must be a conflict.
Madeline had a gloomy expression: “Not long ago, I caught a person and imprisoned them deep in Thorn Ridge. I went out a few days ago, but when I returned today, I found the imprisoned person missing. The only one I saw nearby was this fellow.”
“So, you think Greaves took away your prisoner?” Angel asked.
With no hesitation, Madeline nodded, “Other than him, there is no one else around. Moreover, I could faintly sense their aura on him.”
“Especially now that he’s standing still, that aura is even stronger.”
Angel looked at Greaves, who immediately shook his head, “Who cares who she caught, I was temporarily staying at a branch of a Demon Monastery, dealing with my own affairs a few days ago. After finally getting things settled, I asked for leave to find the shop owner, but on the way, she entangled me.”
Angel didn’t think Greaves would lie about such a trivial matter. He was about to explain for Greaves, but then Angel suddenly remembered that Madeline seemed to have mentioned a place name before: “Thorn Ridge?”
“Madeline, did you say you detained a person in Thorn Ridge?” Angel pursued, a spark of insight flashing through his mind.
“That’s right.” Madeline nodded, the plant bloodline she had integrated was a kind of thorn, hence her nickname was “Violent Thorn.” Her appearance in Thorn Ridge was due to the fact that it was filled with a type of Blackthorn that could be cultivated internally, which is why she stayed there temporarily.
“So, the person you mentioned, isn’t a little girl, is it?” Angel suddenly asked.
Madeline paused for a moment, “How did you know?”
Angel exhaled, snapped his fingers casually, and an array of illusion nodes formed in front of him. Soon, an illusion of a barefoot girl dressed in white appeared before them.
“Isn’t this, the girl from that day?” Greaves pointed at the girl in the illusion in confusion. It was the human who had turned into a centipede they had encountered in Moliere Land a few days ago.
Angel’s gaze was fixed on Madeline, and from the reflection in Madeline’s pupils, Angel could deduce that this girl was most likely the one detained by Madeline.
Sure enough, Madeline nodded, “Yes, it’s her.” After a pause, Madeline looked puzzled, “How do you know about her? Have you seen her before?”
“Not only have I seen her, but I also fought with her.”
Angel narrated to Madeline the events that had occurred half a month ago in the Moria area, also known as the Cold Ancient Ruins. To be precise, he created an illusion and recreated the situation from the initial encounter with those disciples, to finally asking about Ethel’s identity.
At first, when Madeline saw the little girl in the illusion, she immediately said, “That’s her! Huh? It was those apprentices who let her go?”
Gradually, Madeline saw in the illusion the battle between Angel and Zefal. Since this was an illusion created by Angel, Madeline assumed that Angel might have done some “post-processing”. However, regardless, the overall conclusion remained the same.
Angel defeated Zefal.
This outcome surprised Madeline greatly.
However, what left Madeline flabbergasted was more than just Angel. When the girl named Ethel in the vision suddenly morphed into the lifelike form of a human centipede, Madeline was dumbfounded for a long while. A severe, unpreceded glint flashed in her eyes: “The spine of the Centipede of Ages! It’s indeed her, I knew it was her!”
Madeline began to mutter quietly, “I did not guess wrong. This girl definitely has an undeniable connection with Dongola, but I didn’t expect that this girl would be Dongola herself!”
Dongola? Upon hearing Madeline’s whispers, Angel instantly associated the name with its bearer. A woman that even Canter dreads! A dreadful wizard who is passionate about body experiments and enjoys organ mix-and-match with others’ body parts. She is infamously known as “The Grafting Lunatic”, a second level true knowledge witch!
Angel had heard rumors that Dongola was a jealous woman, envious of anyone more attractive than herself. Many beautiful witches have been transplanted with a variety of strange organs due to her envy, some even have faces sewn directly with mismatched parts, thereby earning her the title of “The Grafting Lunatic”.
However, that’s not the most crucial part, Dongola is not only jealous, but also extremely cruel. According to some rumors Angel obtained, Madeline’s family, the Silian Clan, was exterminated by Dongola before she joined the Savage Grottoes. This deep-seated hatred of a family’s extinction is why Madeline dared to confront her despite the significant gap in their capabilities.
Angel remembered that after Dongola was afflicted by the doom curse, she fled with a terrifying demon that had just awakened from a deep slumber. No news was heard of her afterward.
“Dongola, she is Dongola?” Angel was somewhat incredulous. It’s just that the energy level of this little girl, Ethel, is too low, which is vastly different from Dongola’s strength.
Madeline stared at the illusion, nodding bitterly, “I wasn’t sure before, because she never revealed this identity in front of me. But seeing this Centipede of Ages spine, I am now certain, this so-called Ethel is definitely Dongola! Perhaps she is just acting in a different body!”
With Madeline’s narrative, Angel gradually understood some of the backstory. Initially, Madeline secretly followed Dongola when she left Watchtower Fortress, attempting to use the doom curse to eliminate Dongola multiple times. However, Dongola was no easy target, managing to withstand every assault along the way.
However, the doom curse was terrifying, and Mangonis who was awakened by Dongola was not to be underestimated. In the end, Dongola fled to the Silent Dead Sea and took advantage of Mangonis’s distraction to jump into the sea.
After that, Madeline could no longer track down Dongola’s whereabouts. The Silent Dead Sea was far too horrifying, filled with the doom curse, Madeline dared not risk it lightly. She could only linger near the sea’s shore, hoping to find Dongola and eliminate her.
But in the end, she couldn’t find Dongola, instead, she found a little girl named Ethel.
Madeline sensed the presence of Dongola in this Ethel, presuming a possible connection between them, and thus seized her. Ethel was then bound and brought to Thorn Ridge, as Blackthorn was useful to Madeline, and so they remained in Thorn Ridge.
Half a month prior, Madeline intended to create a new plant bloodline with the aid of Blackthorn. However, lacking a crucial ingredient, she resolved to venture out in search of it. She left Ethel restrained at the center of Thorn Ridge and set off, unaware that shortly after her departure, a cadre of apprentices arrived at Thorn Ridge, even managing to rescue Ethel.
Angel, furrowing his brow, whispered, “Is Ethel truly Dongola?”
With unyielding conviction, Madeline stated, “Yes, without a doubt, Ethel is Dongola!”
After obtaining information about Ethel from Angel, Madeline had no further interest in why Angel appeared in Ice Valley. Her entire focus was diverted to the Cold Ancient Ruins — the last place where Dongola had been sighted.
Madeline cast a glance back at Angel, “I am off to seek Dongola. If you need my assistance, you may wait for me at Thorn Ridge.”
With that, Madeline readied to take her leave.
As Madeline began to stride away, she paused abruptly, turning her gaze to Greaves, “My apologies for what transpired before. Given your acquaintance with Angel, should you ever need aid, you may seek me out at Thorn Ridge.”
Madeline left these words of apology hanging in the air, and without waiting for a response from Greaves, she took flight, directing her course towards the Cold Ancient Ruins.