Chapter 2662 Reunion <TOC> Chapter 2664 The Visitor
Translator: SumTLMan
Deep in a corner of the underground labyrinth.
Within the dim and profound tunnel, a series of muffled “puff, puff” noises roared continuously. Along with the dark, gloomy wind blowing from the depths, it was as if some colossal beast were bellowing in anger while letting out long, huffing breaths.
The rumbling itself was not too frightening, but those endless “breaths” carried a stench so foul that it was truly revolting.
Moreover, it spread very far, even drifting outward from the depths of the tunnel.
Any living being capable of smelling that malodorous wind would definitely avoid it at all costs. The smell exceeded the understanding of most creatures, even monsters accustomed to dwelling in putrid gutters would steer clear the moment they caught a whiff.
Yet in the face of that foul wind, a dark figure darted swiftly across the wall, rushing into the tunnel.
It’s described as darting across the wall rather than the ground because this dark figure had merged into the wall itself. At first glance, it looked like a flat, rectangular shadow, but in truth, it was a hole that grew on the wall.
This “hole” could move freely across the wall, and could even adjust its own depth to avoid the magic formations within the wall.
If Angel and the others were here, they would probably recognize it at once. This was that same “dog hole” they had encountered multiple times before, the bizarre being that had devoured the Black Merchant, leaving him half-dead.
The dog hole raced across the wall at high speed and soon arrived in the depths of the tunnel.
The scene at the far end of the tunnel then came into view.
A “broken cliff.”
Below that cliff lay a subterranean cavern, vast yet sealed on all sides. Apart from the tunnel leading in from the cliff, there were no other visible exits or entrances.
From the cliff’s edge, one could vaguely make out that the cavern looked rather like an overturned bowl. The dome above was round, while the floor below was uneven and full of pits and hollows.
Those pits and hollows were caused by pools of green, putrid liquid scattered everywhere. Though the acidity of that liquid was not especially strong, over countless years it had gradually corroded half the ground.
Piles of bones lay jumbled around all sides of the cavern, bones of every kind, though the great majority came from monsters.
In the very center of the cavern towered a heap of foul sludge.
To be precise, it was a massive, mud-like creature about ten meters tall, its entire body covered in ooze.
This mud monster continuously spewed sticky mucus from its top. Most of the mucus dripped down, keeping its body slick, but a portion transformed into black, putrid wind that blew wildly in all directions.
That black wind was the foul stench pervading the entire tunnel.
As for the earlier “puff, puff” noise, it was the sound made by the droplets of mucus splattering and rolling down its body.
When the dog hole arrived, it did not actually enter the cavern but stopped at the tunnel’s end. At the same moment, a tiny voice called out from within the dog hole: “Sovereign, are you there? Are you there? Are you there?”
“Sovereign! Sovereign!”
Though the voice was small, it repeated itself incessantly, determined not to stop until this so-called “Sovereign” responded.
After who knew how many times, at last a reply echoed from within the cavern.
“Enough.” It was a youthful-sounding voice, somewhat like an adolescent on the verge of maturity, making it hard to distinguish whether it was male or female. It was not loud, nor did it ring with authority, yet the dog hole immediately fell silent upon hearing it.
Notably, that voice came from the abdomen of the mud monster.
Silence held for about two minutes, and then, from the maw of that foul-wind-spewing mud monster, there drifted out an oval-shaped protective light sphere.
The sphere was very thick, and one could just barely see a silhouette inside, though not its details.
“Younus, dispose of it. I have already extracted its glandular fluid. It is basically useless now.” The adolescent-sounding voice spoke from within the light sphere.
Once it finished speaking, another voice arose, gentle and soft: “The will of Sovereign is the will of the Goddess. I shall obey the Sovereign’s command.”
This gentle voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once, as if every corner of the cavern echoed it, and also as if it drifted from outside the tunnel.
“However, Sovereign, I might be unable to digest this foul-mud monster. May I banish it to an even deeper sewer?”
“You can decide that yourself.” As the adolescent voice inside the light sphere answered, it drifted out of the cavern, halting beside the dog hole at the tunnel’s end.
Even so, the “light sphere” called Sovereign paid no attention to the dog hole but instead watched the movements in the cavern below.
A few seconds later, in the cavern’s center, an abyssal hole appeared, and the mud monster tumbled into it.
Once the mud monster vanished, a surge of wind vortexes erupted from the abyssal hole, swallowing and dispersing any of the remaining foul black wind in the cavern.
When the air was finally clear of the black wind, the voice of “Younus” emerged from the abyssal hole.
“Sovereign, this can only be decontaminated to second-level pollution for now. If we want to go further, I will need the Sovereign to leave my body.”
“So, even now it still lingers at second-level pollution. The smell of this foul mud, filtered and diluted, is something to look forward to,” the voice in the light sphere mumbled to itself.
Right after that, layer upon layer of the thick light sphere began peeling away, until only two layers remained.
Second-level pollution meant the stench was still unpleasant, requiring two layers of the protective sphere.
The higher the pollution level, the more overpowering the foul smell.
Outside in the gutters, most places only reached first-level pollution, so it was clear that second-level here was already dreadful.
At the start, the pollution level had been fifth-level. This could be inferred from the number of layers of the light sphere around the “Sovereign” at the beginning. ——However, one layer did not simply correspond to one level: once pollution surpassed second-level, the required number of protective layers increased in multiples.
If second-level already outdid the stench of the outside gutter, one could only imagine how terrifying fifth-level pollution must have been. If the Black Count’s nose were here, he would likely have passed out on the spot.
With only two layers of the light sphere remaining, the figure of the “Sovereign” inside was finally visible.
It was a form that suited the adolescent voice, appearing as a boy of about twelve or thirteen. He wore gold-framed glasses and a black robe, looking refined and mild. Yet he differed greatly from an ordinary human: his skin was a bluish-green, and there was a third eye on his forehead, which was why his spectacles had three triangular lenses. It looked very peculiar.
“Well then, continue with the cleanup. This area is yours to handle. I’m leaving now.” The boy looked fatigued; all three eyes were half-lidded, and he yawned as he walked off toward the tunnel exit.
He had barely taken a few steps when the dog hole issued a tiny voice: “Sovereign, you forgot me!”
The three-eyed boy stopped and glanced back at the dog hole in the wall: “You only came here to slack off and see your mother, right? You come up with the same trivial excuses every time. Save yourself the trouble.”
“This time I really do have a reason! Some outsiders have broken in from the pre-prison passage!”
The boy still did not look particularly concerned: “From the Traveling Merchants?”
“Yes. The Black, White, and Grey Merchants have all shown up, but now the Black and White Merchants have left, leaving only the Grey Merchant.”
“Don’t worry about them. They’re cleaning out the monsters in the sewers, preventing those creatures from invading the mortal world. That benefits us.” From his words, it was clear that he bore no hostility toward the Traveling Merchants Organization.
Indeed, too many monsters had spawned in these underground sewers. It was necessary to have specialized people deal with them: it both prevented them from terrorizing the outside world and, upon the monsters’ death, returned their energy to the magic formations, helping keep those formations active for a long time.
Because of this, although he had not officially interacted with the Traveling Merchants, he often secretly granted them convenience.
After all, they were free labor.
“But it isn’t just the Traveling Merchants. There are a few other outsiders who also snuck in. It seems the Traveling Merchants were chasing them and ended up here.”
“Outsiders? Who are they?”
The tiny voice gave a long, stumbling explanation but offered very little useful information: apparently there were quite a few of them, and…they were shrouded by some sort of moving illusion.
“A moving illusion? That’s somewhat interesting.” Though the boy said so, his expression remained one of utter indifference: “Anything else?”
“That’s all,” the small voice mumbled.
“Fine, I’ll grant that you do have a reason this time, but it’s still not worth paying attention to.” The boy waved a hand: “I’ll allow you to stay here, anyway. You and your mother can finish purging this place. I don’t want to catch even the faintest whiff of anything foul the next time I’m around.”
From inside the dog hole came a tiny whisper: “But my Highness did say it was interesting…”
“I said it’s interesting, that doesn’t mean it’s worth minding. This place is already in ruins and has nothing of value for them. Whoever they are, eventually they’ll leave…or stay here forever. No need to bother with them.” The boy’s voice grew fainter and fainter, indicating he was getting farther and farther away from the cavern.
After his figure vanished completely, the gentle voice of Younus finally sounded: “You should learn from your brother and stop running over here so often.”
Though Younus’s words sounded like chastisement, an abyssal hole formed and drew the little dog hole inside as though in a tender embrace.
“But it’s so boring on Brother’s side, and I feel much more at ease with Mother here…”
Despite how strange this picture appeared, the feeling of mother-child, or mother-daughter, affection was genuine.
The mother and child “embraced” for a while, and then Younus spoke softly: “I sense that the Sovereign has left my body. Let us begin, then, and cleanse this place of its filth for the Sovereign and the Goddess.”
…
Meanwhile, on the other side, once the boy exited the tunnel, it slowly sealed itself behind him, signifying that Younus had begun handling the second-level pollution.
“Just half a month inside that foul-mud monster, and I’m already exhausted. A human form is so fragile.”
“A moving illusion…the underground sewer is finally lively for once, but I just want to sleep…ah…”
Stretching languidly, the boy set off toward another direction.
Before long, he came upon a gorgeously ornate hall.
Entering through the hall’s doors, one beheld a cavernous domed chamber.
The layout inside was quite simple. Rows of books lined the circular walls, creating the effect of stepping into a library.
Casually grabbing a thick volume, the boy, still dragging his weary body, passed through a small side corridor off the main hall and arrived at a room slightly smaller than the outer library.
Eyeing the thick white carpet spread across the floor in the distance, the boy yawned: “Finally, I can rest. As for making that fragrance for the other party…I’ll wait until after I wake up.”
Muttering to himself, his body began to swell. In no time at all, he went from a short, human boy to a four-meter-tall, hulking demonic creature,
——The Three-Eyed Blue Demon.
Indeed, this boy was one of the few great sovereigns of the underground sewer, and the one Angel would inevitably meet…the Sovereign of Wisdom.
The Three-Eyed Blue Demon took a few steps and came before a warmly crackling fireplace. The softness of the carpet beneath brought it a sense of comfort.
Slowly, it lay down, curled up, and its eyes began to close.
Yet just as the waves of drowsiness overcame it, the three-lensed glasses it had placed aside flickered faintly.
“Three-Eyes.” A woman’s voice drifted into the Sovereign of Wisdom’s ear.
Though all three eyes had closed, at once they snapped open. The demon rose swiftly from the carpet.
Its gaze swept the surroundings and then fixed on the glasses resting atop a small round table.
Within the reflection of the lenses, one could just barely discern the figure of a woman. Sadly, the lenses were so clear and reflective that her appearance remained indiscernible.
The Sovereign of Wisdom stood up, reverting to the form of the adolescent boy. Facing the glasses, he bowed slightly: “So it is the Goddess. My respects.”
“I know what you’re really thinking; there’s no need to feign respect,” the woman’s voice snapped icily.
The Sovereign of Wisdom said calmly: “Showing respect to the Goddess is my duty, after all. We did sign a contract.”
She snorted: “You know perfectly well what the contract entails, so don’t bother with the pretense. We are simply taking what we each need.”
The Sovereign of Wisdom gave a faint smile and did not continue the argument, shifting the topic instead: “Is your Highness here to pick up a new batch of perfume? If so, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. I’m still searching for the main ingredient, and though I’ve found a lead, the extraction and blending may happen over the next few days. There’s always a chance of failure, and even if all goes well, I’ll need a test period before I can hand it over to your Highness.”
“That’s not why I’m here.”
The Sovereign of Wisdom asked: “Then does your Highness want me to pass a message to Younus?”
“Also no.” The woman’s voice paused: “I sensed that a descendant of the Noah family has arrived nearby, and that person draws ever closer to where I am.”
“I need you to go find out what the descendant of the Noah family is after. If it has nothing to do with me, drive him away from here. But if he persists in seeking me out, then…put an end to his hope.”
At these words, the Sovereign of Wisdom immediately recalled what the dog hole had reported about the party that had broken in. Most likely, among that group was indeed a descendant of the Noah family.
A descendant of the Noah family. So another has come… They truly are relentless.
“I understand. I’ll check it out. Though, does your Highness intend for me to end his hope or end ‘him’ altogether?”
Even though the Sovereign of Wisdom repeated “him” twice, it was clear that the pronoun referred to different things.
“Best not to pry into matters that do not concern you… And don’t forget our contract.”
With that, the figure in the glasses slowly faded, and the woman’s voice was heard no more.
The Sovereign of Wisdom narrowed his eyes and stood there, contemplating.
After a while, he stretched: “I guess sleep will have to wait a bit longer. What a wretched fate…”