Translator: SumTLMan
On the way to Sleepless City, there were wizard apprentices stationed at every interval, and even official wizards personally guarding the area. Moreover, they were not from Sleepless City’s guards, but from other wizard organizations, including those from the Savage Grottoes.
Their consistent message was “danger ahead, travel prohibited.”
However, anyone slightly well-informed could see that the major wizard organizations were doing this merely to reduce the competition for the Mysterious Object.
Although there were many checkpoints set up, no one dared to stop them. Even when Toby flew to a location, the apprentices there would scatter, for fear of offending Sanders.
They finally reached the inner city of Sleepless City.
They landed in a large square where only a few dozen people were scattered. This was much less compared to the numerous wizard apprentices crowded in the sky like a flock of crows.
Despite the few people in the square, they were the key to solving Sleepless City’s Dark Domain incident.
Upon landing, Toby immediately transformed back into his original form, circling around Sanders and continuously chirping. It seemed that Toby also understood that whether or not they could rescue Gloria depended on Sanders’ mood.
Sanders waved Toby away, irritated as if swatting a mosquito.
With a sad face, Toby flew onto Angel’s shoulder, curling up and snuggling against his neck.
Angel patted Toby’s little head and followed Sanders’ steps.
“Mentor, are we going to enter the Dark Domain now?” Angel asked while glancing at the huge dark barrier in the outer city. He could feel the aura of the Nightmare Plane inside, but perhaps because it was far away, as it wasn’t dense.
Instead, another feeling made him slightly puzzled.
—A Mysterious Aura.
The so-called Mysterious Aura is not a fixed impression but a “conceptual collection.” Anyone who has encountered a Mysterious Object would realize that the feelings they bring are different. They could be vast and magnificent, gloomy and eerie, or heavy and oppressive, with various elements.
However, no matter what kind of feeling, it always carries a contradictory impact that is “elusive, full of unknowns, incompatible with the rules yet perfectly integrated.”
This is why wizards can recognize the Mysterious Aura at a glance, even though the feelings it brings to them are different.
However, Angel was different from the other wizards who could recognize the Mysterious Aura within the Dark Domain because they only felt this contradictory “mysterious concept.” But Angel had truly encountered the Mysterious Realm before, so what he saw and felt was completely different from the other wizards.
Because he had truly experienced that Mysterious Realm, he could perceive much more.
Angel not only felt a Mysterious Aura in that Dark Domain, but also a vague familiarity, similar to the Mysterious Spirit he sensed in Black Castle. However, the Mysterious Aura here was much more immense, even affecting the area outside the Dark Domain.
Sanders: “No need to go in for now, let’s hear what Firo has to say first.”
Firo was the stationed wizard of Savage Grottoes in Sleepless City, and he was the one who sent the news of Sleepless City’s fall into darkness.
Angel pondered for a moment and shared his feelings about the Mysterious Aura.
“Mentor, I feel there’s something strange about the Mysterious Aura inside…”
When Sanders heard Angel mention the “Mysterious Aura,” he noticed that the surrounding wizards immediately perked up their ears. Even if Angel used a message spell, there were countless ways for the wizards present to decipher it!
Therefore, without hesitation, Sanders connected him with a mental link. If others wanted to break through the mental link, they would undoubtedly alert Sanders, making it much more secretive than a message spell.
After they connected through the mental link, the surrounding wizards frowned noticeably.
Sanders had a young apprentice who had touched the Mysterious Realm in his alchemy studies. This story, when passed on through the mouths of gossiping students, might become a joke or be regarded as a rumor. But within the circle of wizards, this story was practically set in stone.
So when Angel said the “Mysterious Aura” was peculiar, the other wizards wanted to hear what insights this small alchemist who had encountered the Mysterious Realm might have.
Unfortunately, Sanders stopped them, and the wizards showed expressions of regret.
“You’ve touched the Mysterious Realm through alchemy before, so mentioning the Mysterious Aura will certainly draw others’ attention. Don’t worry about them.”
From the other end of the mental link, Sanders sent a subtle wave of mental energy.
Angel nodded and emotionlessly shared his discovery.
“A Mysterious Spirit’s Aura?” Sanders rubbed his chin and pondered for a while before saying, “I originally thought that the Mysterious Aura Firo mentioned in his message referred to the mysterious harp held by the fox, but it seems I misunderstood… Could it be that a new Mysterious Object is truly about to be born?”
“Probably not.” Angel hesitated for a moment and denied it.
Sanders stopped and looked at him, waiting for his explanation.
“I can’t explain it clearly, it’s just a feeling.” Angel tried to describe his feelings but always felt that no matter how he did so, it was somewhat unsatisfactory.
Sanders was silent for a moment, then said to Angel, “Maybe your feeling is right.”
After all, this area was undoubtedly related to the Nightmare Plane, and as long as it was about the Nightmare Plane, Sanders believed that trusting Angel’s intuition shouldn’t be wrong.
However, according to what Angel said, if that Mysterious Aura wasn’t a new Mysterious Object about to be born, then what could it be?
And what connection did it have to the Nightmare Plane channel?
Or is it that a powerful creature from the Nightmare Plane has brought a Mysterious Object to the wizarding world?
At this time, several groups of wizards came over and greeted Sanders. Among them were true knowledge wizards with strong auras.
On the surface, Sanders exchanged pleasantries with the newcomers, but in private, he spoke to Angel about their identities through a mental connection.
“Manbuchuk from the Hurricane Tower, Touloux from the Uto Academy, Fuyani from the Night Whisper Forest… Harris from the Twilight’s Edge, nicknamed ‘Evil Dragon’…”
Aside from those familiar with Sanders, the wizards’ greetings were brief. In this process, Angel heard at least a dozen different wizard organizations, including large, medium, and small-scale ones.
From the emergence of the Dark Domain in Sleepless City to now, only two days have passed. The number of wizard organizations attracted by the “Mysterious Object” is already so large that if more days pass, even more distant wizard organizations are expected to arrive.
This is the appeal of Mysterious Objects.
However, not everyone is attracted by the Mysterious Object, like the person in front of them.
“I didn’t expect to see you so soon after parting in Mechanical City, Lord Phantom Master.” A hoarse voice came, “I originally wanted to invite you to Sleepless City to talk about the Dream Realm Travelogue.”
Angel looked up to see a wrinkled, white-bearded old man in a dark robe, his beard almost reaching his chest, swaying in the wind.
“If you want the —Dream Realm Travelogue—, I can make a copy and exchange it with you,” Sanders said indifferently.
As Sanders talked with the white-bearded old man, Angel also guessed his identity. Knowing the —Dream Realm Travelogue—, he must have attended Sky Auction, right?
“He is Quete, nicknamed ‘Eternal Night Lord,’ regarded as one of the three pillars of Sleepless City,” Sanders said through the mental connection while talking with Quete, “This old guy has been to the Nightmare Plane, and I guess he may have figured out the situation inside.”
Sure enough, not long after Sanders dropped this remark, Quete led the conversation to the Nightmare Plane and whether Sanders’ purpose in coming here was the Mysterious Object or the Nightmare Plane passage.
However, Sanders didn’t say anything and dismissed Quete in just a few sentences.
“Mysterious Objects are indeed attractive, but a Nightmare Plane passage would drive people even crazier,” Sanders said. “If the outside world knew that there might be a Nightmare Plane passage here, there would probably be more than just a few people coming.”
“After all, every appearance of a Nightmare Plane passage is fleeting and never lasts this long, which is one of the reasons why so few people enter it each time,” Sanders looked towards the outer city of Sleepless City: But, does a Nightmare Plane passage really exist in there?
If it doesn’t exist, why is the spatial energy of the nearby planar layers so turbulent?
Sanders furrowed his brow, looking at the tranquil Dark Domain, feeling a vague unease.
When they saw Firo, he was hovering in mid-air, his eyes filled with greed, looking at the pitch-black outer city.
“Lord Phantom Master,” Firo landed.
“Tell me about the situation inside, what happened before you came out, and why is the spatial energy surging now?” Sanders asked.
Firo was about to answer, but after seeing Angel beside Sanders, he hesitated.
But seeing that Sanders did not ask Angel to step back, he continued: “It’s a bit complicated. The Dark Domain began to spread from the top of the Eternal Day Radiance dome, almost instantly enveloping the entire outer city. During this process, harp sounds rang out, starting as normal tones and gradually turning into seductive sounds that could provoke wicked desires…”
“…Later, with the combined efforts of everyone, we opened the planar passage and escaped. But not long afterward, the vortex at the source of the darkness in the sky began to spin faster and faster, eventually activating all the surrounding spatial energy. As a result, the planar passages centered on Sleepless City were all sealed.”
Firo’s words, the first half of which were already known from the message. So, Sanders mainly listened for any details that Firo might have overlooked, as well as what had changed after they left the Dark Domain.