Chapter 320 Awakening <TOC> Chapter 322 The So-called Parasite
Translator: SumTLMan
Temporarily suppressing his peculiar thoughts, Angel curiously asked, “How do we awaken them?”
…
Setting off once again, Angel felt much more at ease. As Sanders had said, when he let go of the instinct he had been consciously suppressing, he felt completely at home in the mist. The bizarre shapes in the fog seemed amusing to him, the eerie melodies sounded pleasant, and even breathing in the foggy air felt refreshing.
Free from the shackles, Angel’s progress accelerated considerably. Along the way, he could see “clowns” dancing and singing in various parts of the streets, turning the entire Shadow Demon City into a city of song and dance, although the singing was somewhat unsettling.
However, the “City of Song and Dance” only existed where Angel couldn’t see. Whenever he approached, all the “clowns” would scatter. The places where Angel walked should be called the “City of Silence.”
Angel didn’t chase after them. According to Sanders, he didn’t need to awaken these people one by one. As long as the source was dealt with, the rest would be minor issues.
Since they entered through the north gate, they needed to cross more than half of Shadow Demon City to reach the white-walled entrance where Twilight Deep Well was located. Angel considered the route and decided to cross through the center of the main road to the southern city. Since he was going through the center, Angel planned to make a trip to the palace.
The area near the palace was where the nobles of Shadow Demon City gathered, and the Moya Duke’s mansion was located there.
Twilight Deep Well was near the south gate. Angel planned to keep his promise and rescue the Moya Clan for Lydia. He could also escort them to the south gate along the way. Once this promise was fulfilled, it wouldn’t be a hassle for him to return to Twilight Deep Well.
Angel didn’t have a means of transportation. It took him two hours to walk from the north gate to the central palace, even when he was running at full speed. It showed how vast Shadow Demon City was, accommodating millions of residents.
Seeing the palace gate, the following tasks were no longer difficult. The mansion closest to the palace gate was the Moya Duke’s residence.
In the fog, the Moya Duke’s mansion appeared serene and mysterious.
The front door wasn’t locked. With a gentle push, Angel entered. He hadn’t walked far when the familiar eerie melody reached his ears. He saw several clown maids rushing into the fog as if flying. One knife-wielding clown even jumped over a three-meter-high wall.
As he ventured deeper into Shadow Demon City, Angel gradually noticed a pattern.
There were many “clowns” in the fog, but none dared to confront him directly. Perhaps it was fear or some other reason, Angel wasn’t sure. Not facing the clowns directly was fine, as their twisted and eerie movements weren’t pleasant to watch. Angel didn’t like them and even felt a bit annoyed.
This was the first time Angel felt such disgust since entering Shadow Demon City.
Angel even faintly felt that perhaps these clowns knew he “disliked” them, so they tried their best not to appear in front of him. At first, Angel could still see people from afar bowing to him; but later on, there were absolutely no mutants in sight wherever he went.
The Duke’s mansion was vast, and there were no “living things” around due to his presence. Angel searched for a long time but couldn’t find the entrance to the underground chamber, let alone save Hubert’s family.
Angel pondered whether to call upon Sanders for help inquiring. However, he had no control over when Sanders would speak, and he didn’t know the spell for long-distance communication. Even if he did, he didn’t have enough energy to locate Sanders in the alternate dimension.
Feeling helpless, Angel suddenly heard a creaking sound from a room on his right.
Angel noticed that there was no eerie singing accompanying the creaking sound, which might imply that the room’s occupant wasn’t a parasitized mutant.
After some thought, Angel stood near the entrance, instructing Tobi to be vigilant. He then conjured a magical hand, a transparent giant hand glowing with blue light, which appeared out of thin air. Under Angel’s watchful gaze, the magical hand slowly opened the door.
Angel extended his mental tentacles and, upon probing, realized that it was a study. The source of the creaking noise was not a living person as he had imagined, but a floating purple-gray big-headed magical puppet.
Angel knew that Red Lotus had left a magical puppet in the Duke of Moja’s mansion, but he had never seen it, so he couldn’t be sure.
“Lady Red Lotus?” Angel tentatively asked.
As his voice faded, the big-headed magical puppet swung its thin arms and floated out of the study.
“Just as Lord Sanders said, you won’t be parasitized,” Lydia’s voice came from the puppet’s mouth. “I really want to investigate further…”
Lydia’s words were cut off by the sound of Mirror Princess talking to her from the other side.
“Lady Red Lotus, I haven’t found any living people in the Duke’s mansion. Where are Tepicchio Father and Son?” Angel respectfully asked after confirming there was no sound from the other side.
The big-headed magical puppet creaked and pointed to the study: “There’s a secret passage behind the bookshelf. Go yourself.”
With that said, the magical puppet walked towards the outside of the Duke’s mansion, showing that Lydia had no intention of tailing him.
Without anyone following, Angel felt more at ease. He walked into the dark study and spent some time locating the mechanism to open the bookshelf.
The underground chamber was lengthy, and the initial part of the path was pitch black. It took Angel two minutes to reach a place with light. Along the tunnel, he occasionally saw unlocked storage rooms filled with various living supplies. With these supplies, even if Domino lived underground for half a year, there might not be any problems.
While walking through the tunnel, Angel inexplicably felt as though he had returned to the Flower Garden Labyrinth. However, the underground chamber built by Duke Tepicchio was not as vast as the Flower Garden Labyrinth, and it didn’t take long for Angel to hear voices.
At the end of the chamber was a spacious hall, with its perimeter divided into several smaller rooms by glass. In each room, one could see figures, mostly guards wearing armor.
In the center of the hall, on a carpeted high chair, sat a young man draped in a black cloak. He stared dreamily upward, with only a sharp-faced servant attending him nearby.
As soon as Angel stepped into the hall, he attracted the attention of everyone present.
In less than ten seconds, the guards from each room rushed out to protect the young man.
“Who are you?” The servant beside the young man asked.
Perhaps it was because Angel was dressed casually, appearing unable to conceal any weapons, and his eyes showed no signs of madness. The guards only protected the young man while remaining alert but did not attack Angel.
The servant’s voice caused the young man, who had been gazing at the sky, to turn his attention to Angel.
“Who is Domino?” Angel asked indifferently.
The young man replied, “I am Domino. Who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter who I am. Just know that I was entrusted by Lady Red Lotus to rescue you.” Having said this, Angel turned his head: “You have five minutes to get ready. I’ll be waiting for you at the entrance of the tunnel.”
With that, Angel turned and walked away.
Domino hurriedly called out, “Are you the wizard, sir? Can we really leave now? There’s a contagious disease outside; won’t it infect us?”
Angel’s voice drifted out from the darkness of the tunnel-
“If I can come here, I can naturally take you out.”
After that, no matter how much Domino called out, Angel did not respond.
Angel returned to the study, sitting at the desk, looking at the mist outside the open door. The irritation he felt when facing living people was now replaced by a sense of tranquility.
In this mist, not only were strange things not repelled, but there was a repulsion towards humans. Angel had already sensed that his originally joyful mood became uncomfortable and agitated when encountering humans. In contrast, facing the hideous mutants, he felt much more at ease.
“This is not my true nature.” Worry filled Angel’s eyes. What was controlling his emotions?
After a long silence, Angel couldn’t help but sigh, muttering under his breath, “Shava, Shava.”
Who are you, really?
……
Five minutes later, Angel saw Domino emerge from the cave, followed by all his guards.
It seemed that Domino had gone all-in, bringing everyone out with him. This was a high-stakes gamble, with Domino placing his bets. Success would mean total victory, while failure would lead to total loss.
Angel’s initial irritation with Domino dissipated slightly upon witnessing his boldness in gambling. At the very least, Domino dared to gamble, which was worth acknowledging.
“Are you sure you want to bring everyone?” Angel asked, “In case of an accident, I may not be able to protect so many people.”
“Lord Wizard, as long as young master Domino can escape, it doesn’t matter if we all die,” said one of Domino’s servants. No one among the surrounding guards objected to his words. Angel suspected that if Domino asked them to die, they would do so.
“The loyalty of the Shadow Servant clan is truly exceptional,” Angel silently admired.
“Then follow me. Actually, being infected… might not necessarily be a bad thing for you,” Angel spoke cryptically. Once the parasites were truly expelled, the host would actually gain significant benefits, at least in terms of physical strength.
However, Angel couldn’t guarantee that he could expel all the parasites as Sanders had said, so he could only speak so ambiguously at this time.
“Once infected, there is only a path of death…” Domino’s expression darkened.
As Domino spoke, Angel noticed that the arrangement of the guards behind him was somewhat odd. They were clustered together, with taller ones deliberately placed in the front, seemingly blocking his view.
Angel probed with his mental tentacle and discovered that in the back, two guards were carrying a struggling sack.
One of the guards furrowed his brow and whispered, “What’s going on? Wasn’t the Duke just given a sedative? He was still earlier, but why is he struggling violently now that we’re outside?”
“I don’t know. If he keeps struggling, we won’t be able to keep it hidden from the front,” the other guard frowned as well.
Angel’s gaze remained fixed on the sack’s location.
Seeing this, Domino swallowed nervously, “Lord Wizard, I…”
Angel glanced at him and then walked directly through the crowd to the two guards carrying the sack.
“Lord Wizard,” the two guards looked at the sack, then at Angel, their faces turning pale. Yet, they did not put down the sack.
“Open it,” Angel commanded.
The guards exchanged glances, and Domino scurried over, “Lord Wizard, it’s not that I wanted to conceal it, but what’s inside is…”
“Duke Tepicchio, I know,” Angel looked at Domino, “Let him out. It’s rare to have someone who can’t avoid me, and I have something I want to verify.”
Chapter 320 Awakening <TOC> Chapter 322 The So-called Parasite