Chapter 381 Isabelle <TOC> Chapter 383 Mentor of Shadow
Translator: SumTLMan
At the break of dawn, the first golden rays of sunlight shone upon the sacred mountain.
At this moment, the mountain was enveloped in a halo, appearing even more divine. The Kulakuka tribe at the foot of the mountain knelt in worship, their hands clasped together, praying for blessings for their people.
At the temple atop the mountain, holy songs echoed.
The hummingbird knights in the sky hovered, occasionally sprinkling white flower petals, lending an added sense of sanctity to the ceremony.
As the sunlight illuminated the altar, groups of choir members stepped forward, each standing several meters apart, encircling the vast altar.
At this point, a row of white-robed, gold-edged priests emerged from the temple on the mountaintop, led by the sole red-robed, bald, white-bearded elder.
“Welcome, Great High Priest!” A unified voice rang out, stretching from the top of the mountain down to its base.
The bald, white-bearded elder, with a solemn expression full of divine compassion, walked to the terrace in front of the mountaintop, facing the densely packed tribe members below. His expression was solemn and filled with sympathy for their plight.
“May our tribe have lasting peace.” said the Great High Priest, first addressing the people below the mountain. Then, he began his speech for today’s ceremony: “Humanity’s war nearly wiped out our tribe; it was the master of the Holy Castle who granted us a thousand years of continued existence… The existence of this ceremony is to express our respect for the master of the Holy Castle.”
While the Great High Priest spoke, a shadow hiding in a tall tree suddenly said: “This old man has a strong energy reaction on him, but he’s still a mortal.”
Angel also noticed: “Living near the Source of Laws for a long time, even a mortal could possibly be imbued with divinity.”
“Mortals know nothing about power, so they can resist the temptation of the laws. However, it’s in poor taste for Isabelle to build a temple here, having countless Kulakuka tribe members come to worship every year, and they don’t know that what they’re actually worshiping are the fragmented souls of their ancestors that are about to be devoured.”
“It is ironic, but… I always feel that Isabelle wouldn’t do such a thing just for the sake of a twisted sense of humor; there must be another reason.” Having mortals guard the Source of Laws itself was a very strange thing. Angel felt that a third-level wizard who had stepped onto the path of true knowledge wouldn’t do such a trivial thing.
“Ah, the speech is over already? This old man is not bad; he doesn’t have the long-windedness of other charlatans. I thought he would praise and extol for several hours.” Shadow’s attention had been focused on the temple, and the Great High Priest’s speech lasted barely a minute before signaling the start of the ceremony. “However, for a large-scale ceremony, such an opening speech seems a bit perfunctory.”
In Angel’s view, the Great High Priest’s expression was solemn, and his demeanor was filled with reverence for the Holy Castle, but his eyes held complex emotions that were indescribable and elusive.
“Do you think this Great High Priest knows about the magic formation of Ciporak?” Angel suddenly asked.
“Probably not aware.” pausing for a moment, Shadow suddenly laughed: “But if he knew and still said such lofty words in front of all the tribespeople, it would indeed be an interesting matter.”
…
When the High Priest announced the beginning of the ceremony, the chorus of singers surrounding the altar began to sing hymns in unison.
A squad of armored guards carried a magnificent palanquin through the crowd and stepped onto the highest central platform of the altar. On the palanquin was a magic crystal, almost as tall as the guards themselves. It took the combined effort of the four guards to place the crystal into the central groove of the altar.
As the radiance shone from the altar, Shadow whispered: “It’s starting.”
Watching the familiar teleportation formation’s fluctuations, Angel whispered: “Are you sure no official wizards will descend?”
Shadow: “No, without the old witch, there will be no official wizards.”
As the words fell, a short figure gradually appeared in the center of the teleportation formation.
Short in height compared to ordinary humans, but to the Kulakuka tribe, the newcomer was still a giant, and a female giant at that.
Black puffy skirt, black half-face veil, black long straight hair, pale skin, and delicate cheeks.
From her appearance, the newcomer looked like a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl. Moreover, Angel noticed that the girl had no extraordinary aura; she seemed like an ordinary mortal.
The girl had her eyes closed, and when the light of the teleportation formation disappeared, she slowly opened them.
Her crimson eyes opened and immediately turned towards Angel and Shadow’s location.
Doubt flickered in Angel’s eyes. If this person was a mortal, how could she discover them at first glance? And if she were a wizard apprentice, how powerful would her perception be?
“Diavolo, who is she?” Angel communicated through telepathy.
Shadow didn’t respond.
Unbeknownst to Angel, Shadow was trembling, his face filled with terror, pointing at the woman on the altar… “How could she… how could she be here?”
The girl seemed to sense Shadow’s emotions, and she gently curved her lips towards the two.
Her tender tongue twirled slightly on her crimson lips. It seemed like a seductive gesture, and also like bloodthirsty greed.
“Well, well, who do we have here? If it isn’t my little puppet brother Diavolo?” With an eerie chuckle, a sharp feminine voice suddenly penetrated the mental link between Angel and Shadow.
Angel had maintained his composure, but the sudden intrusion of the voice startled him.
If the other party were communicating directly, he wouldn’t be so surprised. However, the intruder not only didn’t break the mental link but forcefully squeezed into it, turning the original two-person conversation into a three-way conference. This ability was definitely not something an ordinary wizard apprentice could achieve! Or even… perhaps not an apprentice?
“Isa…Isabella, how could you…” Shadow’s trembling voice came from the direction of the mental link.
Angel looked towards Shadow’s direction. Although Shadow concealed himself, Angel seemed to be able to sense his enormous emotional fluctuations.
Isabella? This name… how similar is it to “The Twilight Queen” Isabelle? Angel suddenly thought that Shadow had mentioned yesterday that the old witch of Black Castle was the Twilight Queen’s apprentice, who imitated everything about her mentor, even the name…
Angel dared not think further, as just thinking about it made his heart pound.
Could it really be that the great lady had descended?
“I came to see if you’re suitable to be my apprentice’s future husband.” Isabella said with a constant eerie laugh, but her voice was still clear. It was as if there were two audio tracks at the same time, laughter as background sound, and speech as the main subject.
She was a woman with her own background sound.
Angel didn’t dare call her a “little girl” anymore. Even though she was small, the thought of her possible identity made him feel apprehensive.
“Look at your trembling little legs, so afraid of me? Tsk, tsk, tsk, I don’t think you’re worthy of being his apprentice.” Isabella’s eerie dual-tone voice appeared again in the mental link: “This little brother here, on the other hand, is quite suitable.”
Angel knew she was talking about him.
Just as he was about to say something, Isabella suddenly let out an extremely high-pitched sound, and her tone changed abruptly from appreciative to angry: “However, I hate blond, blue-eyed people! Diavolo, kill him for me! Kill him, and I’ll acknowledge your status!”
“Hurry up, kill him! Kill him!”
No other sounds could exist in the mental link, only the repetitive brainwashing of “kill him.”
Shadow’s eyes suddenly turned red, and he looked at Angel hidden nearby. Slowly reaching out his hand, magical power began to gather… But at that moment, Shadow suddenly let out a scream and faded from the ‘interlaced light and shadow’ invisibility. He rolled on the ground in pain, even falling heavily from the tree to the ground, clutching his chest, unable to move.
“Kill him” was still being said in the mental link, but Shadow was completely preoccupied with his own pain.
Angel stood in the tree, watching Shadow fall to the ground, without saying a word.
Without a doubt, the power of the contract had been triggered. If Shadow did not let go of his obsession with killing Angel, he would inevitably die soon from his heart bursting.
However, Isabella’s repetitive “kill him” was like hypnosis, as well as a kind of suggestion, making Shadow forget to think and only focus on how to kill Angel. However, under the constraints of the contract, he couldn’t do it at all, and instead hurt himself.
While Shadow wailed in misery on the ground, Angel turned his head to look at the altar.
“Little Girl” Isabella stood at the top of the altar, her lips slightly curled up, appearing quite eerie. However, even eerier was that time seemed to have frozen at this moment; the bard had stopped singing, and the Kulakuka tribespeople surrounding the altar were all frozen in place.
All the Kulakuka tribespeople in the area were frozen at this moment.
Angel looked at Isabella: “Although I don’t know why you suddenly said you want to kill me, if you really want me dead, you can come and do it yourself.”
Isabella didn’t speak but continued to urge Shadow to kill Angel.
Understanding flashed in Angel’s eyes: “Indeed, your true self hasn’t descended, has it?”
As his words fell, Angel extended his hand, and a wisp of phantasmal energy slowly seeped from between his fingers.
With the appearance of the phantasmal energy, the frozen Kulakuka tribespeople “came back to life.” while Isabella, standing at the center of the altar, revealed a slightly surprised expression and slowly shattered into pieces.
“An excellent illusion, but… after all, it’s just an illusion created by a strand of consciousness.” Angel whispered.
As the illusion was broken, the Kulakuka tribespeople came to life again, the singers singing and the cheerers cheering.
The light on the teleportation formation continued to emerge, and a shadow gradually appeared, but it was not Isabella’s figure from earlier.
Angel glanced at the teleportation formation, then focused on Shadow on the ground, and with a gentle snap of his fingers, a melodic illusion was pulled open, hiding his figure and that of Shadow.
As Isabella’s illusion disappeared, Shadow’s blood-red eyes regained their clarity.
“Phew—” Shadow breathed heavily, feeling the pain in its body that had not yet dissipated. After a long while, it spoke with a hoarse voice: “I was almost done in by that old witch. Thanks a lot!”
Angel said calmly: “By using sound to hypnotize you, if you didn’t have a subconscious desire to kill me, you probably wouldn’t have been affected.”
Angel’s words made Shadow somewhat embarrassed. However, it had a thick skin and stood up as if nothing had happened: “Ahem, has the ascendant appeared? … Huh, I really guessed it right, it’s actually Fiona.”
“You don’t need to change the subject. I don’t care what your subconscious thinks; just remember that you owe me one.” Angel said.