Chapter 2515 Initial Heart <TOC> Chapter 2517 The Traitor
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Translator: SumTLMan
After their rejuvenation at the Sunlight Garden, aside from Amesa, who still appeared somewhat frail, the spirits of the others were noticeably uplifted, their gloomy demeanors from days of confinement somewhat alleviated.
However, with improved spirits also came the capacity to express other emotions.
For instance, the previously most flatulent among them, a plump man, was now whispering to his two cronies: “I feel a surge of power throughout my body; it’s an incredible sensation.”
Had he stopped there, no one would have commented. But the plump man couldn’t help but add: “Blazer, that liar, and Gloshi, that jinx, didn’t get to enjoy this, which is utterly satisfying.”
Although spoken in a hushed tone merely as a boast to his cronies, this whisper didn’t escape Angel and the others.
Angel simply glanced at the plump man, saying nothing more.
In contrast, Daus responded with a grin: “The first benefit he thinks of is to revel in the misfortune of others not receiving the same, indeed, a true talent in its own right. Though unsavory, his remark does highlight one truth: luck plays a significant role on the path of cultivation.”
Daus’ casual observation was not intended as a critique but was perceived as embarrassingly accurate by Ms. Melo nearby.
After all, she had recruited these talents.
Ms. Melo looked towards Angel, intending to clarify something, but Angel simply stated: “Amesa should be able to walk now; go help her change. We must continue; after all, we still have two talents to find.”
Ms. Melo swallowed her words and nodded in agreement.
Under the veil of illusion magic, others could not see Amesa’s abnormality, but Ms. Melo, who was close by, could see that the bloodstains on her were gone, at least outwardly, she appeared only pale and unharmed.
Confirming that Amesa could walk independently, Ms. Melo took out a spatial capsule and gently tore it open, revealing several elegantly colored wizard robes.
She handed Amesa a burgundy wizard robe, indicating she should change into it first.
As for the remaining robes… Since Ms. Melo lacked spatial devices, she had to use another spatial capsule to pack them back. However, during this process, she kept a deep blue wizard robe, which looked more like an elegant, fitted dress.
She handed this robe to Sybil, whose garments were also somewhat torn, not indecently so, but sufficient to attract odd looks once outside.
After the two ladies changed, their search resumed.
Standing at the dungeon entrance, Angel turned to Daus: “Are you planning to follow us, or would you rather check the lower levels?”
Daus thought for a moment and decided to explore below, as he had encountered a former acquaintance on this second level, and more familiar faces might await below.
Thus, they parted ways once more.
Angel watched Daus’ retreating back and thought it over for a moment, then reminded through the mental connection: “The fourth level’s guards are two gargoyles, one of which is a shadow gargoyle.”
As for the third level’s guards, it was unnecessary to elaborate; whether through Daus’ stealth abilities or simply knocking the opponent out cold would suffice.
However, the fourth level’s gargoyles required caution; a slight misstep could spell disaster. Of course, not on Daus’ part, but for those he rescued, who might suffer the consequences.
Daus promptly replied to Angel via the mental connection: “Thanks for the heads up, I indeed haven’t made a mistake in choosing friends!”
Even though it was just a simple flow of information, Angel could feel the strong emotions behind it.
Angel: “…When did I ever become your friend?”
Daus: “Friendship doesn’t need verbal confirmation, feeling it is enough, and I think you feel it too.”
Angel silently sighed internally, no longer wanting to engage with Daus.
Initially, Angel found Daus’ personality quite intriguing, but now, bewitched by some oddity, he kept spouting bizarre remarks.
After Daus left, Angel and the others continued towards the dungeon ahead.
Yet, in the following corridors, they saw no sign of the remaining two talents. It seemed many cells were already empty, likely freed by Daus’ earlier actions.
Eventually, they reached the last corridor.
Here, they found a fat guard lying dead on the ground, covered in blood, alongside the corpse of the team leader who had accompanied Angel.
A quick examination revealed the fat guard had been stabbed repeatedly in a chaotic manner, while the team leader had been fatally stabbed in the back.
Angel remembered Daus mentioning that he had merely knocked out the fat guard and had not killed him; it must have been the wandering apprentices freed by Daus who did, as the numerous stab wounds on the fat guard indicated a deep-seated grudge from the second level’s wandering apprentices.
While Angel was inspecting these two bodies, Ms. Melo had finished touring the last corridor with the other talents.
She approached Angel with a somewhat solemn expression: “Lord Pat, we haven’t found Gloshi and Blazer.”
“Are you certain they were captured along with you?” Angel inquired.
Ms. Melo nodded; they had always acted together.
“That’s strange,” Angel muttered. “Could Daus have incidentally rescued them as well? Let’s check the second level’s guardroom; the freed wandering apprentices are likely there now.”
The second level’s wandering apprentices had been tortured most severely. Given their current state, escaping from Princess Castle would be challenging. Hence, Daus had instructed them to stay in the guardroom while he led the others out and would later escort them to safety.
Soon, they arrived at the guardroom.
In the guardroom, there were about ten people gathered together, their gazes alternately shifting between the staircase leading to the first level and the dungeon corridor. Their expressions mixed with worry, fear, and hope for the future.
Among these ten, however, the talent that Ms. Melo was looking for was still absent.
Angel pondered for a moment, then asked Ms. Melo: “Are you sure that, aside from yourself, everyone else was confined on the second level?”
Ms. Melo replied: “At least when I was taken to the third level, there was no one else with me.”
Angel then looked towards Sybil and others: “Among you, did anyone clearly see that Gloshi and Blazer came in with you and were also imprisoned on the second level?”
One of the talents, with a somewhat sly look, spoke up: “When we arrived at the second level, we came together, but before being locked up, we had to go through a full-body check one by one in the guardroom. They called it a check, but really, they took any valuables we had on us.”
Ms. Melo added: “Transcendents weren’t subjected to this because they were worried about triggering mechanisms on them; transcendents were directly locked up in the cells.”
Angel nodded understandingly: “So, you were checked one by one, and after each person was checked, they were taken to the prison. You don’t know where the others are?”
Everyone nodded.
“But at that time, you’re certain that Gloshi and Blazer did come to the second level with you?”
Everyone nodded again.
While questioning, Angel noticed a slight change in Ms. Melo’s expression.
“What are you thinking?” he inquired.
Ms. Melo mused: “The apparent reason we were captured is that Gloshi seemed to have a vendetta against the princess. But after thinking it over, even if Gloshi had a vendetta, they wouldn’t have the audacity to target someone from the Savage Grottoes, so I guess that the apparent reason might be false, and the real reason something else.”
“But now that Gloshi isn’t here, I wonder if the internal reason is true, maybe the apparent reason might also be true.”
Ms. Melo was speculating whether Gloshi might have been taken by the princess.
Angel thought for a moment, then said to Ms. Melo: “You should remember what Gloshi and Blazer looked like, right?”
Ms. Melo nodded.
Angel extended his finger and, with a flick, numerous invisible illusion nodes appeared around Ms. Melo.
“Imagine their faces in your mind, the more details, the better.”
Without hesitation, Ms. Melo began to recall, and to everyone’s astonishment, two familiar figures slowly appeared before their eyes. It was indeed Gloshi and Blazer!
“This is just a type of mental illusion projection, a minor trick of illusion magic. If any of you are from the illusionist school, you’ll learn this eventually,” Angel casually explained to them.
The details about Gloshi and Blazer become increasingly numerous and vivid.
At this moment, Angel could already make out the general appearances of these two individuals.
Gloshi appeared as a sunny, handsome young man, clearly of a wealthy but non-noble family, as he lacked the particular ‘insincerity’ that nobility often possess.
As for Blazer, his skin was slightly tanned, likely from constant exposure to the sun, and though also handsome, his clothing bore noticeable patches, suggesting a lower-class origin.
Upon seeing Ms. Melo awaken, Angel asked: “Are you sure you haven’t missed any details?”
Ms. Melo hesitated slightly before responding: “I should not have.”
Suddenly, Sybil spoke up: “Blazer’s right hand is wrapped in a bandage.”
Recalling this, Ms. Melo nodded: “Yes, Blazer likes to wrap his hand in bandages and speaks peculiar phrases.”
In fact, those phrases were lines from —The Dark Lord—, a book considered quite childish and, incidentally, had leaked from Sybil’s own hands. She kept this a secret to maintain her image.
Because she had read —The Dark Lord—, whenever Blazer recited those embarrassing lines, Sybil found them unexpectedly humorous.
Thus, her interest in Blazer exceeded that of others, and she knew more details about him than they did.
Hand wrapped in a bandage, speaking in odd phrases. Angel squinted his eyes and then looked towards Sybil: and a cold young girl… it all felt strangely familiar.
Without delving deeper, now that he knew their faces, that was sufficient for him.
He directly approached the group of wandering wizards.
Unaware of the illusion hiding others, these wandering wizards did not realize that there were a few additional people in the guardroom.
Angel chose a few with less severe injuries and infused a trace of Nightmare Aura into their foreheads.
He subtly inquired if they had seen Blazer and Gloshi.
These wandering apprentices, having been in the dungeon longer than Sybil and the others, had a vague memory of people coming and going.
Among those questioned, only one, who needed to sleep twenty hours a day, had not seen Blazer and Gloshi.
The rest had all seen Blazer and Gloshi passing by their cell doors.
However, last night, these two were taken away again.
One wandering apprentice, who lived in the same corridor as their cell, happened to see them being escorted away——
Last night, the princess came to the dungeon, for reasons unknown, to take Gloshi away.
Across from the dungeon housing Gloshi, Blazer watched as Gloshi was taken away. In a display of fierce loyalty, Blazer hurled insults at the princess, declaring himself a demon lord and demanding the immediate release of his companions, or else he proclaimed the end of days would arrive.
The princess, facing such insults, could hardly contain her anger. She ordered her guards to bring out Blazer as well, turning what was initially an incident involving only Gloshi into a matter concerning both of them.
After gathering the details quietly, Angel withdrew the Nightmare Illusion without further disturbing the wandering apprentice’s rest and left quietly.
He reported the situation to Ms. Melo, who responded with a knowing look: “It turns out, the princess really did take Gloshi away. What could their feud be about? Alas…”
“And to think, Blazer was also taken away,” added Sybil, touching her forehead.
“Blazer is just a fool.”
“Mind your manners,” Ms. Melo chided Sybil, though she herself felt inclined to express similar sentiments.
Blazer was clearly looking for trouble.
“What do we do now?” Ms. Melo sighed.
“Maybe we should just abandon them; we are enough by ourselves,” suggested the tactless plump man.
Ms. Melo ignored him; he was no better than Blazer, speaking only to create trouble for himself.
Besides, the minimum requirement for the guide mission was five talents. Abandoning Blazer and Gloshi would mean falling short by one.
If possible, it would be best to find them.
“Then let’s go to Princess Castle,” Angel decided after a moment of contemplation.
Originally, he did not want to visit Princess Castle to avoid entangling with the Guman Kingdom’s royal affairs, but now that two talents were captured by the princess, he had no choice but to check on them.
However, before heading to Princess Castle, it might be worthwhile to chat with Daus.
Daus had previously visited Princess Castle and, according to him, had witnessed an exciting spectacle there.
With this in mind, Angel opened the mental connection and initiated a conversation with Daus.