Chapter 2631 First Exploration of the Foul Sewers <TOC> Chapter 2633 The Vine Wall
Translator: SumTLMan
Vai swallowed nervously. Clearly, he was also somewhat apprehensive, but he still said: “Kael, don’t scare yourself.”
Kael didn’t say anything at this moment; he feared he might really jinx it.
Although he was just an apprentice and his intuition wasn’t as strong as a formal wizard’s, he occasionally had some “surprises.” To put it bluntly, these surprises were usually bad omens.
Kael silently prayed in his heart: I was just talking nonsense earlier; please don’t let it come true, please…
“Although Vai’s words don’t match his feelings, at least he’s not wrong,” Angel couldn’t bear seeing the two apprentices huddled together trembling, so he said: “If there’s really a normal-sized fork in the path, and it’s similar in nature to that dog hole, we’d actually find clues more easily. But never underestimate a wizard’s abilities.”
Angel wasn’t just saying this to comfort them; it was indeed the case.
Although they seemed to be moving forward without any vigilance, both Angel and the Black Count were observing the surrounding details in their own ways.
For example, the olfactory positioning points set by the Black Count. Also, Angel was observing the flow of runes on the surrounding walls and ground along the way.
Assuming that the dog hole was large enough to be realistic, the corresponding size would inevitably be matched by complex runes. Angel could completely determine the specific situation through the flow of runes, which would be easier to judge than the current dog hole.
Angel said: “Speaking of which, I rather hope there’s a dog hole as large as you mentioned. It would help us solve the mystery, is it a trap controlled artificially, or… some kind of living entity?”
Even wood can become sentient, and the stones of the walls can gain consciousness, isn’t that basic? Of course, thinking like this is one thing; for an object to truly gain sentience requires the right time, place, and conditions. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so few spirits in the Wizarding World.
As for Angel’s words, the others listened in reverse. After all, who would hope to encounter unknown dangers during an adventure?
However, Angel genuinely wanted to encounter a large “dog hole.” Solving the mystery was secondary; what he wanted to know more was, what exactly allowed the “dog hole” to discover their existence?
You know, this wasn’t the first time.
Although outsiders only considered Angel’s main profession to be an alchemist, in Angel’s own ranking, illusion was primary, and alchemy was secondary.
In fact, Angel did achieve this. As long as his illusions were infused with Nightmare Aura, even Sanders would find it hard to see through at a glance. This meant that Angel’s attainments in illusion had far surpassed his own realm. Even when encountering opponents at the level of true knowledge, controlling them briefly through illusions wasn’t difficult.
But this time, Angel suffered consecutive setbacks in the illusion he was most confident in.
The first time the dog hole appeared, Angel didn’t pay attention because he didn’t know its principle.
Later, when he heard from the Black Count that the dog hole would open when it sensed people and close when there was no one, he didn’t show anything but silently noted it in his heart.
Until later, before they entered the stinking sewer, Angel, under the guise of adding a few more layers of purification fields, also enhanced the concealment of the illusion. Angel did this subconsciously as a precaution, but he didn’t expect to encounter the dog hole a second time.
However, this time, even with the enhanced illusion, the dog hole still discovered them within the illusion.
This made Angel very eager to know how the dog hole sensed them. The answer to this question might deepen his understanding of the Nightmare Illusion spell. Even if not, at least it could help compensate for the shortcomings of his illusions.
It could be said that no matter what the answer was, it would be a fundamental improvement for Angel.
If he weren’t the leader of this expedition, Angel might have gone over to study the dog hole right now. However, this matter wasn’t urgent. As long as the underground labyrinth remained, he believed they would encounter the dog hole again…
Even if they didn’t encounter it in reality, wasn’t there still the Nightmare Plane?
…
Angel suppressed his restless thoughts, took a deep breath, and resumed his “reliable leader” persona.
“For now, let’s not worry about that dog hole. Our purpose this time isn’t the dog hole.”
“Let’s keep moving forward. If we didn’t take the wrong path, we shouldn’t be too far from the Hanging Prison Stairs,” Angel said: “After all, according to Day, that Wood Spirit is a bit timid. If it really ran here, it wouldn’t have gone too far.”
Because the horrors in the stinking sewer were much more frightening than the Wizard Eye Ghosts above.
Even if the Wood Spirit could rely on its “playing dead” talent to pretend to be a dead thing for several years and not be discovered by monsters, Angel believed that even so, it couldn’t stay in the stinking sewer for too long.
This place was filled with darkness, filth, impurities, and unbearable stench. Even elemental creatures like Speedling had to return to the purification field. What’s more, the Wood Spirit, which naturally carried a “pure aura”?
“That’s true, but the premise is that we didn’t take the wrong path,” Daus muttered beside them.
Angel ignored Daus. Whether they had taken the wrong path would be known after walking a bit further. If they encountered a large number of monster traces nearby, it could basically confirm that they had taken the wrong path. Conversely, if not, then they were on the right track.
They set off again.
But this time, the atmosphere was much more silent.
Until Angel projected a familiar pattern onto the light screen, and the stagnant atmosphere began to dissipate in doubt.
This pattern was slightly broken, and even the colors had almost faded, but the general outline could still be seen.
A black hollow circle was evenly divided into two halves by a slanted line, and in each of these two semicircles, there was a silhouette of a human profile.
The specific faces were no longer visible, but it could be seen that the left semicircle contained a man wearing a hat, and the right semicircle contained a woman with long hair.
If seeing this pattern for the first time, everyone would be puzzled. But not long ago, they had seen an identical pattern, and that pattern was complete and clear.
“This is… the emblem of the Demon God of Mirrors?” Daus frowned: “Where did you find it?”
Angel first pointed in a direction, but because it was dark and dirty outside, no one extended their mental power outward. So, in the end, Angel directly simulated the place where he found the pattern through the illusion light screen.
The first image that appeared was a dilapidated and mottled wall, which was normal in the stinking sewer, as they were basically corroded by dark and filthy air. In the middle of the wall, there was a protruding platform, and on the platform lay a thin corpse like dry wax. On the dry, shriveled skin of this corpse was engraved the emblem of the Demon God of Mirrors.
“Is this a wax seal?” the Black Count asked suspiciously.
Angel nodded: “Yes, a wax seal performed after death, using a very high-grade wax. From the pattern on his body, this Wax Corpse’s identity might be one of the Demon God cultists from back then.”
Daus asked in surprise: “If that’s the case, then this is a wax corpse nearly ten thousand years old?”
Angel said: “Because the grade of the wax is very high, it’s not impossible for it to preserve for ten thousand years. But as for the specific situation, I haven’t directly touched the wax corpse, so I can’t make an accurate judgment.”
After a pause, Angel asked: “Do you want to go over and take a look?”
Vai asked: “Is… is it dangerous?”
Angel shook his head: “I don’t know. However, Eremy conveyed that it didn’t sense any living beings. But the location of that corpse is quite strange, a protruding platform in the middle of the wall… It’s as if it was specially made to display this wax corpse.”
It was precisely because the location of the wax corpse was a bit strange that Angel didn’t lead everyone over directly but simulated it with illusions first to get everyone’s opinions.
“Since it’s a strange place, then… then let’s not go, okay? Anyway, we’ve seen the situation of the corpse and know that he might be a cultist of the Demon God of Mirrors. That’s enough,” Vai said timidly.
Angel didn’t immediately express his opinion but looked at the others, to be precise, at Daus and the Black Count.
Daus rarely didn’t express an opinion. Instead, the Black Count, after a moment of silence, said: “Let’s go and take a look. My previous intuition hasn’t changed. At least there’s no danger here that can threaten us.”
After speaking, the Black Count tapped Angel’s shoulder with the stone slab, as if urging him to move forward.
However, Angel understood clearly that the Black Count was not only urging him to go forward but also hinting that there was indeed no danger here.
As for why the Black Count was so certain, perhaps… another prophecy spell?
Angel didn’t care whether the previous divination spell was still in effect, or whether the Black Count had cast another divination. Since the Black Count said there was no danger, it wouldn’t hurt to go and take a look.
As soon as the Black Count spoke, the previously timid Vai could only change his stance. Angel also intended to go over, so those agreeing were already in the majority. Seeing that the situation had changed, Daus and Kael could only nod and agree to the proposal.
The location of the wax corpse was actually not far from them, only about thirty meters away. However, because it was close to the wall, and beneath the wall was a sewage ditch, even though Angel had layered two purification fields, they could still faintly smell the stench from outside.
Although they could add a third layer of purification field, this could possibly cause the Light and Shadow Illusion Realm on the outer wall to collapse. In the end, Angel found a middle-ground solution: he had Speedling drive all the incoming odors to the very back, then used a Wind Barrier to isolate a small space.
Because the smell wasn’t very strong, Speedling didn’t evade the orders.
This made everyone, or rather, made Vai and the Black Count… let out a long sigh of relief.
Without the interference of the odor, and with Angel increasing the depth of the illusion’s coverage, everyone could directly use their mental power to investigate the situation of the wax corpse.
After a while, Angel reduced the depth of the illusion again. Maintaining the height while also leaving space for Speedling at the back made Angel somewhat worried that Eremy, as the main axis, might not be able to bear it. So, seeing that everyone had almost finished their observations, he retracted the illusion.
After retracting the illusion, Angel was about to ask everyone about their discoveries, but before he could speak, the Black Count took the lead.
“Basically, we can confirm that the wax corpse is from ten thousand years ago and should have reached the level of a formal wizard before death. The wax sealing was done by others after death, perhaps other Demon God cultists. The runes on his body were present during his lifetime, so he is undoubtedly a Demon God cultist,” the Black Count paused: “Other than that, there’s nothing else.”
Angel looked at the others, including Daus; they all shook their heads. The information they found either overlapped with the Black Count’s or they had nothing at all.
Confirming that the others hadn’t found anything, Angel then spoke up, adding: “I didn’t focus on the wax corpse but observed that protruding platform. I previously thought the platform was originally part of the wall because the runes on it flowed smoothly with the surrounding runes.”
“But after careful observation, I noticed that the runes on the platform used blood ink slightly different from the other runes; the color is not blackish but dark gray. On this point, if the Black Count had used his sense of smell just now, he should have been able to detect the difference in the scent of the blood ink.”
The Black Count didn’t respond; he hadn’t used his sense of smell earlier. Mainly because his olfactory sensitivity was too high, even though Speedling had driven away the infiltrating odors, as long as he activated his sense of smell, he could still clearly smell them.
“Through the difference in blood ink, I can confirm that this platform is not original. It was built by someone later, and the other party is quite knowledgeable about runes.”
Daus had a doubtful look on his face: “Who would be bored enough to specially build a platform to place a corpse?”
Angel said: “I didn’t say the purpose of building the platform was to place a corpse. However, your guess is probably correct.”
“As for why build a platform at a high place, perhaps it’s because the other party was familiar with that corpse’s identity and couldn’t bear to see him exposed on the ground, being corroded by filth and devoured by monsters.”
Daus said: “If they had the mind to build a platform, why not take the corpse away?”
Angel shrugged: “That I don’t know. Perhaps the being who built the platform hasn’t left the underground labyrinth either.”
Daus keenly noticed that this time Angel didn’t mention that the builder was a “person” but said the “being” who built the platform, and directly stated that the other party might not have left either.
This was almost no longer a hint but a clear indication that the builder of the platform was likely some old monster, who not only understood alchemy but could wander freely in the underground labyrinth, and frequently visited the Hanging Prison Stairs, a creature that has lived for ten thousand years?
Daus asked: “So, in this way, the being who built the platform knows the Demon God cultist?”
Angel replied: “Not necessarily knows the Demon God cultist, but knows this person. For example, it’s like you know Angel the alchemist, but not Angel the illusion wizard.”
People are multifaceted, but they often only display one side externally. However, some people are different; they tend to play different roles in different aspects. The wax corpse might be the latter. His identity could be a jailer at the Hanging Prison Stairs, or another well-known figure in Nightfall City, but at the same time, he is also a cultist of the Demon God of Mirrors.
Of course, it can’t be entirely certain; perhaps in the Demon God of Mirrors’s cult, he was also a spy planted by other organizations.
Therefore, we can’t look at just one side.
That being might know the Demon God cultist, or might not know that this wax corpse is a Demon God cultist.
The specific answer can only be learned from that being’s own mouth. However, Angel hopes that they best not encounter that being.
Angel said: “If there’s nothing else, let’s leave here first. Or, if any of you are interested in the wax corpse, you can take it along. The wax seal has sealed most of the energy, and the loss of energy isn’t severe, so it should be quite valuable.”
Angel said this mainly to Daus. Vai and Kael obviously showed disgust towards the wax corpse; no need to ask, it was clear they couldn’t possibly carry a corpse with them.
However, Daus also refused this tempting proposal. If Angel hadn’t hinted that this wax corpse might be related to that being, Daus might have actually taken this wax corpse along.
But since they might face that being in the near future, in this situation, he decided not to invite trouble.
Since Daus also refused, Angel didn’t hesitate further and signaled everyone to continue forward.
Since Demon God cultists had already appeared here, and Angel had always suspected that the Demon God cultists’ target of attack was the Hanging Prison Stairs, he was even more convinced that they were on the right path; the Hanging Prison Stairs should not be far away.
With enthusiasm, everyone quickly left the platform and disappeared into the darkness.
But Angel didn’t notice that shortly after they left, a green glow suddenly flashed across the wax corpse on the platform.
And the place emitting the green glow was precisely the rune on the wax corpse’s skin that resembled the symbol of the Demon God of Mirrors.
……
At the same time, in a hidden dark space within this underground labyrinth.
A teasing voice sounded: “Hey, Aedannis, who only likes to sleep, won’t you come and take a look at what I’ve found?”
After a moment of silence, a somewhat lazy female voice sounded: “Just a descendant of Noah, and with such weak bloodline, probably doesn’t even have the qualification to step in here. I don’t know what you’re so excited about.”
Over the years, many of the Noah family have come to explore the underground labyrinth, but none have ever reached here. Therefore, Aedannis no longer holds any expectations for these thin-blooded descendants of Noah.
“Compared to the descendants of Noah, I now more wish to see the return of Nairo.”
“Nairo’s return, Nairo’s return, everyone keeps saying this. But does he really have a way to return?” The previously teasing voice suddenly turned low.
“Who knows? But those obsessives keep chanting, and it might really be possible,” the lazy female voice paused: “Alright, I’ll continue cultivating. Before Nairo returns, stop making a fuss.”
“Is this cultivation? You’re just sleeping!”
“I once met a spirit who told me that one can cultivate even in dreams. Anyway, there’s time, so I’m practicing now.”
“That spirit is deceiving you.”
“It doesn’t matter. Even if it’s deception, I still enjoy this feeling of cultivation.”
“In other words, you just love to sleep… After you sleep, I’m lonely, and have no one to talk to.”
“Shut up, or I’ll smash you. Besides, I don’t want to talk to someone who doesn’t hold back their words!”
After speaking, amid a murmur of grievance, the dark space returned to silence.
A long and enduring silence.
Chapter 2631 First Exploration of the Foul Sewers <TOC> Chapter 2633 The Vine Wall