Chapter 2516 The Disappearance of Two <TOC> Chapter 2518 Human Roulette
Translator: SumTLMan
“You just alerted those two gargoyles, and now they are down. I wanted to knock them out like that old lady on the third level, but it turns out they are not very resilient.”
As soon as Angel initiated the conversation, Daus immediately sensed it and preemptively chattered a bit.
The gargoyles are down? Clearly, this is Daus’ embellishment. Angel didn’t need to guess to know that at this moment, those two gargoyles had already been shattered into countless pieces.
“By the way, thanks for that poker card. Otherwise, navigating this magic formation corridor would have been somewhat troublesome for me.”
Angel: “…You know about poker?”
Daus: “Of course, if you had gone to the Cross Bar earlier, you would have seen at least ten tables of people playing. I guess if you had entered, you would have been invited to a game.”
Angel fell silent for a moment. He originally wanted to inquire about the matters inside Princess Castle, but after hearing Daus’ words, he couldn’t resist continuing to ask: “How did poker cards get to the Sandworm Market?”
In Angel’s memory, the Sandworm Market was a very remote wizard market surrounded by a vast desert, not frequented by many people.
Yet even in such a secluded place, poker had already become popular? It hadn’t been long since he taught poker to Shirley.
“That? It came from Somiya. Apparently, it started with a magician who performed a grand show there. Although I don’t know what the performance entailed, the poker cards started to spread from that time.” Daus: “It seems that the magician was a woman who is traveling between countries, performing magic shows.”
Angel: …Okay, he now understood.
That magician touring the continents was definitely Shirley, or at least closely associated with her. Angel hadn’t expected that Shirley would go to such lengths to promote poker magic.
After reflecting, Angel also breathed a sigh of relief; at least for now, poker had not been rejected as a foreign novelty.
Poker, just like the Drama Shadow Box Angel created, essentially originated from Jon. Although Jon seemed like an unremarkable and terminally ill ordinary person, the other universe’s human civilization he brought was quietly integrating into the wizard culture.
From this, it is evident that although Jon is inconspicuous, he is still influencing the cultural progression of the Wizarding World… even if it’s just the entertainment culture.
“You’re contacting me this time just to discuss this? If you’re interested in this, when we return to the Sandworm Market, I’ll take you to the Cross Bar for some fun.” The message came from Daus through the mental connection.
Angel: “This is just a side topic. I’m contacting you to ask about your dealings in Princess Castle.”
Daus let out a strange laugh: “What, you’re also interested in the princess’s schemes?”
Angel calmly explained: “We have two talents here who haven’t been found. According to the information we received, they seem to have been taken away by the princess last night.”
“A man named Gloshi, with fair skin and light golden hair; another named Blazer, with darker skin and deep brown hair, apparently with bandages wrapped around his hand.”
“Have you seen any trace of them at Princess Castle?”
Daus was silent for a few seconds, then let out a sigh: “So, they are the talents you’re looking for, tsk tsk.”
Angel detected something odd in Daus’ tone: “You’ve seen them?”
Daus: “Of course, the splendid performance I just mentioned, they were the supporting actors… oh, no, the princess was the lead, and they were just side characters.”
Angel: “They were in the princess’s room?”
Daus: “Mm-hmm.”
“What’s their condition?” Angel implied: Are they still alive?
Daus: “As for their condition, I didn’t see everything, I don’t know, but by the princess’s methods, they’d be skinned if not dead.”
…
Angel ended the connection with Daus and said to Ms. Melo beside him: “I’ve got their location now, right in the princess’s room.”
Angel: “Let’s head there now.”
With that, Angel turned and headed towards the staircase to the first level, with everyone else quickly following.
Melo wanted to ask Angel what information he had obtained and the status of Gloshi and Blazer, but before he could speak, he heard some noise on the first level.
There was also a faint smell of blood.
Angel smelled it too, but he didn’t stop; instead, he quickened his pace to the first level.
Upon reaching the first level, Angel saw a familiar gargoyle.
The gargoyle was flapping its wings, hovering above, its gaze fixed on a human below. The first level’s main door was already sealed by it, and the human looked like a bird trapped in a cage, utterly unable to escape. And it could play without restraint… until it completely killed him.
That malicious look in the gargoyle’s eyes followed the human, who already had several gashes on him, unaware that there were others on the first level watching it.
“What happened? That person, he seems to be wearing the standard armor of Princess Castle, why is the gargoyle chasing him?” Miss Melo wondered.
“Probably because he didn’t hide the blood scent on him well, and the gargoyle spotted it; he is The Traitor,” Angel said lightly.
The human being chased by the gargoyle was none other than Little Tom, who had come to the dungeon with the leader.
He was agile, but it was clear he hadn’t received formal training. Even with a sharp dagger in hand, facing a gargoyle that could dive from the air at any moment, he was hardly able to defend himself.
Before long, several more deep cuts were added to Little Tom’s body.
A copious amount of blood flowed; if not quickly stemmed, the mere bleeding would be enough to bleed Little Tom to death.
And this was clearly the gargoyle’s intent. If it truly wished to kill Little Tom, it could have done so with a single blow; however, it refrained, seemingly preferring that Little Tom witness his own life ebbing away through bleeding.
“Lord, what shall we do now?”
The speaker was Ms. Melo, who was not truly ignorant of what to do, but her question was deep, concerning the choice of action.
The door on the first floor was sealed by the gargoyle, leaving them only three ways to escape.
First, to break through the walls… but the walls were inscribed with copious magic runes, supported by the entire dungeon’s foundation; breaking through was not so simple.
Second, to kill the gargoyle. Once the gargoyle died, the door it controlled would naturally open.
Third, to wait for the gargoyle to kill that human. At that point, the gargoyle would revert to a statue, and the door would open.
Their current task was to make a choice among these three options.
Angel did not respond to Ms. Melo’s question because he demonstrated his choice through action.
Several pale, tendril-like phantasmal limbs swiftly extended from Angel’s body, binding the gargoyle before it could react.
The gargoyle was startled, there were still people on this level!
However, this astonishment was its last thought in life, for the next second, the phantasmal limbs tightened slightly, and the gargoyle shattered into countless pieces.
After retracting the phantasmal limbs, Angel ignored the gargoyle’s remains and approached Little Tom.
“Noble wizard, you are here, aren’t you?”
Angel did not dispel the illusion; Little Tom could not see him, but Little Tom still spoke, and from the direction he turned his head, it was as if he truly could see Angel.
But Angel knew that Little Tom couldn’t possibly see him; his facing might have been a coincidence, or perhaps it was some sort of ability.
“Did the lord kill the gargoyle without leaving, intending to kill me next?”
“If possible, I wish the lord would not kill me. I have a strong intuition; I could serve as the lord’s servant.”
Perhaps to demonstrate his intuition, Little Tom continued: “I had a vague feeling about the lord’s presence before. The lord followed me and the leader all the way to the dungeon.”
Little Tom’s words slightly raised Angel’s eyebrows. Unexpectedly, Little Tom’s orientation wasn’t just a coincidence; he truly possessed a talent for intuition, and this talent likely had great potential.
Otherwise, with Little Tom’s meager strength, he definitely couldn’t have sensed Angel following them.
“Since you discovered me, why didn’t you tell your leader about it?” After Little Tom talked to himself for quite a while, Angel finally spoke.
Little Tom breathed a sigh of relief in his heart; as long as there was communication, there was still a chance: “Because I have a vague feeling that this might be my opportunity.”
“Your chance to kill the leader?” Angel asked, his tone more assertive than questioning.
He had already noticed a fatal stab wound in the leader’s back, and notably, there were no other injuries on the body. This suggested that the leader likely died before the wandering apprentices had escaped, and they had not taken their frustrations out on his corpse. His death was not at the hands of the fleeing apprentices; it was highly probable that it was an unsuspected attack from behind.
At that time, Angel had a faint suspicion that it might have been the work of someone the leader trusted, as only a confidant would have had the opportunity to be behind the leader.
And at that time, the only confidant the leader had brought into the dungeon was Little Tom himself.
“Yes, I killed the leader. However, I thought that since you were with us, you might have some motive and perhaps would end up killing the leader. But since you did not, I had no choice but to do it myself.”
“The opportunity came quickly; the leader found the fat guard had fainted for some reason, and when he crouched down to check on him, his back was exposed to me. I used a hidden dagger to stab him in the heart from behind.”
Little Tom’s expression carried a hint of pleasure as he recounted the experience of killing the leader.
“According to what you said, if I had been the one to kill the leader following you, then I surely would have killed you too. Aren’t you worried about that?”
Little Tom: “I’m not worried because I was prepared to die. As long as that man could die, my own death would be irrelevant.”
Little Tom’s expression was calm, and his tone was even, but the resoluteness hidden beneath his calm visage was overwhelming.
Angel: “Did he have a feud with you?”
Little Tom: “A deep-seated grudge.”
Angel understood then; Little Tom had ingratiate himself to become a confidant in Princess Castle solely for revenge.
Angel thought for a moment, then continued: “Since you were prepared to die, why are you now begging me to save you?”
Little Tom was straightforward: “If I can live, I naturally hope to. Of course, if you choose to kill me, I will have no complaints.”
Angel could see that Little Tom was telling the truth.
He indeed harbored a readiness to die but also a hope to live against death.
Angel was silent for a moment: “Since I did not kill you then, I will not kill you now.”
A glimmer of joy passed through Little Tom’s eyes, and he immediately knelt down: “Thank you, lord. I am willing to serve as your servant.”
Angel: “Do you think I would want a traitor as a servant?”
Little Tom was instantly taken aback.
Yes, even if Little Tom had a deep-seated grudge against the leader, he was ultimately a betrayer, and in the eyes of others, despite having reasons, he was still insubordinate.
The wizard before him clearly did not share his view.
“Then…” Little Tom didn’t know what to say next, his single syllable hanging in the air, unfinished.
At this moment, Angel remarked: “However, your intuition does have some utility.”
With that, Angel gently extended a finger and touched the center of Little Tom’s forehead.
Little Tom’s expression became momentarily vacant, but he quickly returned to normal.
After doing all this, Angel casually administered a healing spell to prevent Little Tom from bleeding to death.
Having been healed, Little Tom stood up, bowed in the direction of Angel, and then, without a word, turned and left.
As Little Tom’s figure vanished from the doorway, Ms. Melo, who had witnessed all the preceding conversation, curiously asked: “Lord, do you have plans for him?”
Angel replied: “It’s not that I have plans for him; it’s that you have plans for him.”
Ms. Melo looked puzzled.
Angel continued: “His level of intuition is quite high, which means his mental power is not lacking. I’ve sent him to see Old Porter. After you leave the castle, check his talents, and if possible, also investigate his background. If everything checks out, he could also be listed as one of the talents for this mission.”
Chapter 2516 The Disappearance of Two <TOC> Chapter 2518 Human Roulette