Chapter 358 Kulakuka <TOC> Chapter 360 The Fairies in the Attic
Translator: SumTLMan
In his dreams, Bal could still see the people he had once brutally killed.
Their faces were pale and stained with blood, some even missing arms and legs. Despite being reduced to mere pillars of flesh, they relentlessly pursued him, shouting “repay with your life” until they eventually cornered Bal.
“Ah!” Just as a pair of bloodstained hands tightened around Bal’s neck, he finally screamed and lost consciousness in his dream.
At the same time, in reality, Bal sat up on his bed, gasping for air, his back drenched in cold sweat from the fright.
It took a while for Bal to regain his senses. He whispered to himself, “Was that a dream? Why did it feel so real?”
“Even in your dreams, you are haunted by the ghosts of your past, Bal. You must have done many terrible things.” A clear male voice entered Bal’s ears.
Who dares to speak to me like that?! Bal raised his head in anger and saw a figure leaning against the doorframe.
When he saw the person’s face clearly, Bal was so startled that he rolled off the bed and crawled to the person’s feet, obsequiously saying, “Lord, what brings you here?”
“I should be the one asking that question.” Angel turned his head, nodded slightly at the curious Dushana in the living room, and then walked into the room and closed the door.
“What brings you to me?” Angel asked leisurely as he sat down on the sofa.
For a moment, Bal was bewildered, still unable to process what had just happened. How did he wake up from the bed? When he saw impatience flash across Angel’s face, Bal suddenly recalled the events of the morning—
Bal had arrived in high spirits today because the once lofty Leonrique had actually sent his trusted messenger to plead with him. Bal had almost kidnapped Leonrique’s daughter just a few days ago. But in just a short period of about ten days, Leonrique had let go of Magda’s matter and even sent a generous gift to Bal. All just to ask him to pass a message to the wizard.
Bal was slightly puzzled as to why Leonrique did not come personally but instead asked his former enemy to deliver the message. However, he did not think too much about it. As long as he could gain profits and gold coins, it didn’t matter if he had to make the trip.
Then, he rowed a boat to this place and before he could enter his old residence, he… saw a ghost? And then passed out?! Bal secretly glanced at Angel, thinking to himself, could it be that Leonrique knew about the strangeness of this place and deliberately set him up to deliver the message? Damn, that old man dared to deceive me!
“I… I just came to deliver a message on behalf of Leonrique…” Bal hesitated for a moment before revealing his intention.
“Leonrique?” Angel raised an eyebrow, “What kind of message does he have that requires you to deliver?”
“I don’t know either. He just said some inexplicable words and lured me here… Uh, not lured, not lured!” Bal slapped his own mouth, “Look at my loose tongue. What I meant to say was, he asked me to deliver a message to you, sir, but the message was strange. I suspect he was trying to play a trick on you!”
Angel: “Just tell me, what message did he bring for me?”
“He said some strange things, like he found an urban legend, a legend about a race called Kukabala? Or Kubakala…” Bal’s face showed a weird expression: “I forgot, anyway, it was just some nonsensical words.”
“Kukabala? Kubakala…” Angel frowned, mumbling softly: “Could it be Kulakuka?”
Bal’s eyes lit up: “Yes, yes, yes! It’s Kulakuka!”
Angel suddenly grabbed Bal’s collar: “Really, Kulakuka?”
Bal was abruptly lifted into the air, hurriedly nodding his head in fear: “Yes, it’s Kulakuka! I remember now, that’s the name he mentioned!”
Angel threw Bal onto the bed and whispered: “If Kulakuka refers to the little shadow, then the person yesterday could be…”
At this point, Angel turned around and left.
Bal stared blankly as Angel left the villa, wanting to cry but lacking tears, he thought: “You’ve left, master… What am I supposed to do now?”
…
In the basement of a building beneath a deep, dark waterway.
The Magician was studying the “Water Delivery Spell”; his model was almost complete, but there was always a collapse at the final step. He wondered if he should go to Mask for help.
However, at that moment, the copper door was violently pushed open.
Angel, clad in a black and white striped trench coat, appeared before the Magician.
“Mask?” The Magician looked shocked and guarded. How could someone barge into his residence? Why wasn’t there an alarm from the people outside?!
“What are you doing here?” The Magician’s words were laced with caution.
Angel, without any intention of exchanging pleasantries, waved his hand, and magical energy surged from his body. The Magician was frightened and stepped back, quickly constructing his best trick model in his thought space.
But before his model was completed, he heard Angel ask in a deep voice.
“Is this person, Shadow?”
The Magician looked up in confusion. He saw the magical energy that had been released by Angel earlier, which had now formed stable nodes. These nodes were interdependent and constructed a lifelike illusion.
If it weren’t for the Magician knowing that this was his room and that there was no way “snow and streetlights” would appear here, he would have thought it was real!
What an exquisite illusion! The Magician secretly admired it, with envy in his eyes. If only he could perform this spell as well.
At the moment, it seemed that Mask was not here to pick a fight. The Magician slightly relaxed, but he did not cancel the model in his mental space. Instead, he continued to maintain it with his magic power, ready to release it at any moment if necessary.
“I ask you, is this person really Shadow?” Angel saw that the Magician kept silent and had a drifting gaze. Suppressing his impatience, he asked again.
The Magician was brought back to reality by Angel’s words and looked at the lifelike illusion.
If the roles were reversed, the Magician would highly appreciate this illusion because it was filled with a sense of loneliness and desolation, and its composition perfectly conformed to the cold aesthetics.
—The alternating black and white background, falling snowflakes like fluff, a lonely and dimly lit street lamp, and a man with a cigarette in his mouth.
The man’s face was indistinct, but his distinctive leather boots, studded leather jacket, and wide-brimmed hat made the Magician immediately recognize the visitor.
“Yes, he is Shadow!” the Magician confirmed decisively.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure! He’s usually very aloof and doesn’t talk much. But his attire is very different from his personality, very flamboyant, especially this studded leather jacket. He has worn it several times. Last time at the Seduction Bar, he was wearing this studded leather jacket, and he even scratched a dancer.” After finishing, the Magician asked curiously, “Did you meet Shadow last night?”
The snow in the illusion indicated that it was only last night when it snowed.
“Yes,” Angel replied emotionlessly. “He wasn’t as aloof as you described. Just… his behavior was a bit odd.”
The Magician nodded, “Indeed, it’s strange. I still don’t understand why he joined our extraordinary gathering. He’s clearly so powerful and gains nothing from our meetings. Instead, he shared a lot of useful knowledge with us. I don’t believe he’s that kind-hearted!”
Even if he benefited from it, the Magician’s distrust of others and belief in enduring relationships based only on interests made his wariness of Shadow even stronger than Angel’s.
“I understand. Thank you for the information.” Angel finished and turned to leave.
“Wait!” The Magician stopped Angel. Under his puzzled gaze, the Magician smiled and said, “I’ve been studying the Water Summoning spell for a day, and I have a question for you.”
…
After leaving the Magician, Angel went directly to the outskirts of Watthelmgrass.
Leonrique had brought Magda back home from the Golden Cross Medical College. He already knew that his daughter was not sick, so he couldn’t let her stay in the hospital and be surrounded and studied by a group of mediocre doctors.
He hired several attentive caregivers to look after Magda, and as a precaution, he wanted to invite national doctors Tyrell and Caroline to live nearby and take care of her. However, since Tyrell was punished by the wizard, he had seen horrifying ghost shadows for three whole days, and his spirit was greatly depleted. For now, he was still nervous and could only stay at home to recuperate.
In the end, only Caroline accepted his invitation and moved into the Count’s mansion.
At this moment, he was discussing with Caroline how to improve Magda’s mental state.
—Although he knew that Magda was not sick, ever since she woke up and realized that she had lost her shadow, she was struck with shock. She confined herself to a dark chamber, neither going out nor seeing anyone. This situation had already fallen into the realm of mental illness, so he had to take it seriously.
Caroline mentioned a series of measures to improve mental health, sunshine, rain, and the beauty of the world… But in the end, she couldn’t help but sigh: “Living in the sunlight, only to discover that one is about to fall into the abyss, such a strong contrast would be difficult for anyone to accept. If we can’t find her shadow, the only way is to let her come to terms with her despair. However, this kind of ‘coming to terms’ is probably the most painful thing in the world.”
Caroline’s lament caused Cynthia to lose control, and tears flooded her eyes once more.
Leonrique embraced Cynthia, comforting her in a low voice: “There is hope; we still have Lord Mask, don’t we?”
Cynthia shook her head while crying: “That day, Tyrell offended Lord Mask. Would he still help us?”
When Tyrell was mentioned, Caroline also looked a bit embarrassed, especially thinking about how they were snubbed when they went to apologize to Lord Mask the day before, which made her feel uncomfortable.
“I don’t know…” Leonrique muttered. Although he had relayed the matter about ‘Kulakuka,’ considering the urban legend, he didn’t think Kulakuka had anything to do with the little dark shadow.
However, Leonrique still clung to a glimmer of hope and passed on the information. But due to the uncertainty of the situation, he didn’t dare to go personally, fearing that it would worsen the relationship. In the end, he found Bal…
Just then, a knight in silver armor walked in: “Report, Lord Mask is here!”
Leonrique stood up, and Cynthia stopped crying in surprise.
“I’ll go and greet him right away!” Leonrique tried to contain his excitement.
“No need.” At that moment, Angel’s figure appeared at the door: “I’m already here.”
Chapter 358 Kulakuka <TOC> Chapter 360 The Fairies in the Attic