Chapter 2536 Fantasy <TOC> Chapter 2538 Zodiac Palace
Translator: SumTLMan
The orange sunrise partially revealed itself over the distant mountains.
After a night of chaos, Princess Town finally welcomed the daylight.
The turmoil had momentarily subsided, but that wasn’t necessarily a good sign. It meant that the guards of Princess Castle had completely taken control of the town.
Now, along every street, guards stood watch at regular intervals, casting a solemn atmosphere that hung like a shadow over the entire Princess Town.
The streets were nearly deserted, and those inside the shops were restless.
They knew that something drastic had happened at Princess Castle, but no one knew exactly what it was. Judging from the level of disturbance, it was undoubtedly serious.
Old Porter’s tavern, however, benefitted from his usual good relations with the guards. Though guards stood at the door, they weren’t too stern, even sharing whispered jokes with Old Porter.
After a while, Old Porter came back inside.
Ms. Melo immediately approached: “What’s the situation outside?”
“Not good,” he replied: “I asked the guards, but they don’t know the specifics either. Princess Castle has ordered that for the next few days, only outside merchant caravans may enter. No one else can come or go. This restriction has little effect on formal wizards but is harsh on the apprentices living here.”
Old Porter paused, then whispered in Ms. Melo’s ear: “I’ve known that guard outside for over a decade; we’re pretty close. He told me that a large number of troops have already gone to the capital. Before long, the capital will send people here, and things will only worsen. Even formal wizards will likely be restricted.”
“He also suggested that if I can leave, I should leave. If not, I should hide well in the shop.”
Ms. Melo frowned slightly at his words. Leaving now was difficult, and hiding well was just as challenging.
“If it were just us rescuing someone from the dungeon yesterday, things wouldn’t have escalated like this. It seems that something major happened at Princess Castle last night,” came a voice from nearby. The speaker was Daus.
At some point, Daus had also wandered near Old Porter. From their conversation, it was clear he had overheard Old Porter’s words.
“What exactly happened is unknown to the guards,” Old Porter replied: “But they’re speculating that something may have happened to the princess herself. The orders weren’t given by the princess but by the Gray Crow Wizard.”
Daus squinted: “That speculation isn’t baseless. Perhaps someone really did something last night.”
Daus emphasized the word “someone.”
Ms. Melo didn’t understand what Daus meant, but Old Porter did.
Old Porter was quite the cunning man. Even though he understood, he feigned complete ignorance. After all, Daus was a stranger, and Angel, regardless of the situation, was a senior from the same organization, so betraying him was out of the question.
“What should we do now?” asked Ms. Melo, glancing back at the group of talents sprawled across the room, deeply asleep, her voice filled with concern.
Old Porter thought for a moment: “For now, we should stay here. Lord Pat had told me that a wizard who can handle the capture of a guide is already on their way here.”
“However, the tavern itself isn’t very safe. You bring the talents, and we’ll all head to the secret room,” Old Porter said, seeing the confusion on Ms. Melo’s face and explaining further: “Lord Pat has set up illusions and magic formations in the secret room, which should be hidden enough to last until help from the organization arrives.”
Ms. Melo’s eyes sparkled at this information. Only those who had personally experienced Angel’s illusions would understand how powerful they were.
Now, the interior of the tavern was enveloped in illusions. The guards had come in to check several times but found nothing. Despite Ms. Melo and the talents being mere meters away from them, it was as if they were blind, a testament to the mental misdirection caused by the illusions, which was nothing short of miraculous.
With Angel’s intervention, protecting their group shouldn’t pose any problem.
“It seems the Super Dimensional Wizard was prepared well in advance,” Daus commented, hinting at something more.
Old Porter pretended not to hear and said to Ms. Melo: “Come with me; I’m not sure if Lord Pat has finished setting things up.”
A few minutes later.
Not only Old Porter and Ms. Melo but also the group of talents, including Daus, had now arrived at the secret room’s door.
Unexpectedly, they found the door shimmering with a faint glow. This glow formed a series of character patterns that anyone familiar with the continental common language could read.
——Do Not Enter.
Everyone looked to Old Porter, who was also puzzled but guessed: “It might not be ready yet; let’s wait a bit longer.”
They had no choice but to follow Old Porter’s advice and wait quietly in the hallway.
Red Sword Daus, on the other hand, gazed at the familiar secret room door with a grave expression. His mental sense told him that something significant had changed inside…
…
After an indeterminate amount of time, the character pattern on the secret room door suddenly changed.
Previously it said “Do Not Enter,” but now it had changed to “Challenge Successful, Welcome to Come Again.”
Everyone, including Daus, stared at this new message, their minds filled with question marks.
Challenge Successful? What did that mean?
Such phrases were usually found in tombs with a twisted sense of humor or in events like climbing the tower in Sky Mechanical City.
“How is this showing up on the door?”
“What is happening behind it? What kind of magic formation did Angel set up?”
Daus stared at the door, which looked ordinary yesterday, but now seemed mysterious.
Shortly after the characters appeared, the tightly closed door finally opened.
As it swung open, a hysterical woman’s voice rang out from inside: “Don’t ever use me as an experiment subject again! I’ve had enough!”
“You’re the only one I have with me besides Tulas. Do you want me to use Tulas for the experiment instead?”
“Isn’t there another hand on your shoulder?”
“Dangros is just a child. Could you really let a kid be the subject of an experiment? Besides, Dangros doesn’t have as much experience as you.”
“And what about the wind surrounding you, and the shadow beneath your feet?”
“Wow, I didn’t expect you to be so observant. They each have their own tasks, so you’re the most suitable.”
After this, the woman screamed sharply and violently kicked open the slightly ajar door.
Because of her earlier treatment, Mandara felt a strong urge to burst out and cause havoc, leaving Angel to clean up the mess. But to her surprise, when she kicked the door open, she wasn’t met with an empty corridor but with pairs of curious, gossip-filled eyes.
The corridor was already narrow, but now it was completely packed.
Mandara took a deep breath and turned to Angel, who was a step behind her: “I’m going back to rest.”
Angel smiled slyly: “Why didn’t you say so sooner? Do you want me to put you next to Tulas?”
Mandara hesitated for a moment: “No need. Things aren’t that close between us.”
“Since when did you become so reserved?” Angel muttered quietly, then placed Mandara into the bracelet without further comment.
After Mandara was taken away, Angel faced the curious “crowd” at the door.
“Why are you all here? Is there something you need?”
Old Porter quickly stepped forward and explained their intentions.
Angel said: “Ah, I see. The illusory realm and the magic formation are ready, but there was just a little hiccup.”
“A little hiccup?” Old Porter asked skeptically.
Angel’s expression became a bit awkward: “It’s nothing serious. Everything still works, and you’ll see soon enough.”
Then, Angel turned to Daus: “And you, why did you follow along? Shouldn’t you be in the middle of a hundred-round battle with Aubrey’s Crowned Parrot right now? Or did you fail to last even a hundred rounds?”
Daus’ face fell instantly: “Are you underestimating me?”
Angel: “Of course not. If I told the truth, that would be underestimating you.”
“Your truth is…?”
Angel scratched his chin and glanced sideways at Daus: “You’ve made preparations, so you should be able to last for twenty rounds.”
Daus clenched his fists but didn’t argue with Angel. Instead, he turned to Aubrey, who was hiding next to Ms. Melo: “Hurry up and call that damned parrot out. Let’s see who wins and who loses!”
Aubrey shivered and shrank back even more: “Lord, you saw it too; as soon as it flew back, it fell asleep. It’s still not awake.”
“Then wake it up!”
“But it’s hurt and needs to rest.”
Before Daus could shout further, Angel interjected: “So, that Crowned Parrot is injured?”
Aubrey nodded: “I don’t know where it went last night, but when it returned, there was a deep wound on its back, down to the bone. I treated it, and it passed out immediately. It hasn’t woken up yet.”
Angel: “If you don’t mind, can I take a look?”
Aubrey nodded and took off her basket, handing it to Angel.
He looked into the basket at the unconscious Crowned Parrot. Compared to its vibrant appearance yesterday, it looked much duller today, even its feathers losing their luster.
The wound on its back appeared to be a bite, possibly from a medium-sized beast like a large dog, wolf, or leopard. The wound had been treated, so it was hard to identify much, but any medium-sized creature capable of harming the Crowned Parrot was unlikely to be a regular beast. It was probably a magical creature or a phantom beast.
The nearest place that housed large numbers of phantom beasts was the Princess Castle’s Beast Forest.
“Could it have gone to the Beast Forest?” Angel wondered aloud.
“Most likely,” Daus chimed in: “Are you done looking? If so, pass it over. I’ll show you who really is the king of trash talk.”
Angel ignored Daus and handed the Crowned Parrot back to Aubrey: “It looks stable, so let it rest. We can deal with everything else once it wakes up.”
Aubrey glanced nervously at Daus, who looked furious, and quickly nodded: “Understood.”
Angel then turned to Daus: “If you really want to fight, there’s no rush. There are too many people around, and if you lose…”
Daus’ eyes flashed with cold light.
“Or if the Crowned Parrot loses, it’d be embarrassing either way. It’d be better to fight later.”
Daus snorted and fell silent.
Angel had a point. A battle of wits could indeed be undignified in public. It would be better to do it privately. Moreover, that parrot knew a lot, and if it accidentally revealed something inappropriate for current talents, it could cause trouble.
“Your silence means you’re agreeing.” Angel continued: “Since you’re here, let’s go inside. The hidden chamber I built should be large enough for all of us.”
When Angel finished speaking, the door to the chamber seemed almost alive, as a line of text slowly appeared:
“Welcome! I’ve prepared some exquisite snacks for you at the end. I hope you won’t keep me waiting too long~”
Reading the message on the door, Daus turned slowly to Angel: “A door spirit?”
Angel coughed: “No, not quite. Think of it as an artificial creature with a few logical issues.”
Daus didn’t entirely grasp Angel’s mysterious explanation. He could, however, understand that it was probably some mechanism of the magic formation.
“Once we’re inside, there shouldn’t be any problems, right?” Old Porter asked nervously, still remembering the spirit that had argued with Angel earlier.
“Of course not,” Angel replied: “I spent hours inspecting the mechanism. As long as you follow the normal process, no one will die.”
“What do you mean by ‘normal process’? Is there an abnormal process?” Ms. Melo inquired softly.
Angel explained: “The normal process involves walking to the endpoint. The abnormal process would involve damaging the door or the walls. Any rude behavior that’s against the rules will result in punishment.”
“And as for the punishment, I trust none of you would want to experience it. So just stick to the rules, and you’ll be fine.”
Old Porter asked: “So no one’s going to die, but could we get hurt?”
Angel assured him: “Your body won’t be harmed.”
Relieved by that, Old Porter sighed, but Daus chimed in: “If no one’s going to get hurt, just say so. But when you add ‘body’ as a qualifier, isn’t that a clear hint that injuries could occur elsewhere, like, say, in our minds?”
Daus’ remark made everyone anxious again, and they all turned to Angel for confirmation.
Angel gave Daus an exasperated glance and responded: “If you don’t want to endure anything, you should just go home and let someone else coddle you.”
He leaned back against the wall: “Are you going in or not? If not, I’m closing the door.”
Daus and Ms. Melo exchanged glances without a word and then stepped inside.
The other talents hesitated but were spurred on by their pride after Angel’s earlier taunts. They gathered their courage and followed Daus and Ms. Melo.
In the end, only Angel and Daus remained outside.