Translator: SumTLMan
At last, Angel took the decisive action to cast both Daluke and his grandfather into the Wilderness of Dreams.
Originally, Angel had only planned on casting Daluke into the dream wilderness, given his grandfather, despite his pitiful exterior, was actually uninjured internally.
What Angel didn’t expect was the restless and tenacious nature of Daluke’s grandfather. Witnessing his grandson’s indecisiveness was aggravating, coupled with an unbearable itchy discomfort throughout his body, he had a sudden thought: If I were to die, my grandson would be free of his indecision.
The moment this thought arose, it swelled rapidly. All rational and emotional thoughts were swept away, replaced by this overpowering idea.
In the end, Daluke’s grandfather clenched his teeth and hurled himself headfirst into the nearby flowerbed.
A large gash was instantly opened on his skull, and life began to swiftly ebb away with the spilling blood.
Being old and frail, such an impulsive act left no room for any form of revival.
Angel heaved a sigh. Just before Daluke’s grandfather slipped into death’s grasp, Angel employed the Dream Initiation spell to cast him into the Wilderness of Dreams. Once Daluke’s grandfather had entered the Wilderness of Dreams, Daluke wouldn’t object anymore, and so Angel took him along too.
The situation concluded in such an unexpected manner, catching even Angel off-guard.
Nevertheless, from a certain perspective, one could say that the grandfather and grandson had a safe reunion in the Wilderness of Dreams.
After dealing with their bodies, Angel returned to the entrance of the Ocean Theater. In two minutes, he released the mysterious aura of the Dream Conch to completely envelop the theater and dragged it into the Wilderness of Dreams.
Then, without a moment’s hesitation, Angel turned on his heel and departed.
Meanwhile, in the far-off Sea Moon City, a cargo ship slowly docked at Vichy Harbor. The harbor whistle had already sounded, and people from various firms within the city were already waiting on the sidelines, ready to get their hands on the foreign goods at the earliest.
The first to disembark were the passengers. This batch of passengers wasn’t too many, but they all dressed rather peculiarly.
For example, a man cloaked in black robes despite the summer heat, with his exposed hands looking more like dead wood than human flesh. Then there was a seemingly cheerful and beautiful woman with two slender serpents of green and red coiled around her neck, hissing ominously. There was also a man seemingly levitating, sitting on a dainty red fox and clad in golden robes…
The seemingly least extraordinary among these individuals was likely a chubby young man in a hat. Save for his physique, which was twice as ample as others, and his perpetually beaming face, his eyes almost invisible amidst the flesh, he appeared to be the most regular of the bunch.
At this moment, another figure joined the assembly of passengers.
A stern redhead, whose only bold feature was his fiery hair, seemed relatively normal as well. Nevertheless, his appearance prompted all other passengers to step aside, making way for him.
Moreover, as the redhead alighted, all present bowed their heads in reverence, with some even trembling in fear.
The only exception was the hat-wearing chubby man, who cheerfully commented, “What an honor to have the protection of the Redhead gentleman during our journey. I feel quite safe.”
Redhead glanced at him and then fixated his gaze on the back of his hand. There, a pale gold fish scale, nestled against the plump white skin, sparkled brilliantly under the midday sun.
“So, the Song of the Deep Sea is also recruiting talents on this route? Unusual,” Redhead responded indifferently, paying him no more heed, leaving behind a glimpse of his cloak adorned with black and gold motifs, flickering before the chubby man’s eyes.
The chubby man continued to smile, watching respectfully as Redhead departed. It was only after Redhead disappeared into the Vichy Harbor that he murmured, “Suis disembarked at Edge Island… Is he siding with Basket Witch? Could he have received news about some trickery on the island? But that can’t be right; if there was something amiss, Basket Witch would come in person. Then, why did Suis come here?”
After pondering for a moment, he jumped into the sea under the astonished gaze of onlookers.
The people ashore gasped and sent for rescue. However, the experienced swimmers who dived in after him found no trace of the chubby man beneath the waves…
Redhead was none other than Suis, the “Mentor” of Leon.
Upon leaving the ship, he immediately set off towards Grud Town. But after only a short flight, he frowned, as if he had remembered something. He looked tense, and in the next second, he disappeared.
Meanwhile, Angel had just left Watford.
As he was preparing to return to Grud Town with his Gondola, a figure suddenly appeared not far away.
An overwhelming surge of vitality surged towards Angel, a power comparable to the time he had faced Eureka, an overpowering sense of bloodline hierarchy. Angel’s hand halted, nearly causing him to kneel on the spot.
But as quickly as this wave of life force arrived, it dissipated just as rapidly.
As Angel lifted his head, he found that the figure who almost caused his stumble was a red-haired young man, wearing a black wind coat with golden patterns, a white shirt, and black trousers.
There was a moment of bewilderment for Angel, a plethora of images flashing through his mind. He was not at all unfamiliar with the redhead standing before him.
When he left the Old Land Continent with Morrow, he had seen this man in the Vichy Harbor. Later, in the —Handsome Man Field Guide— given to him by Mirror Lady, he saw this man once again.
In fact, not too long ago, while crafting the Rhythm of the Ocean, he had even adopted this man’s visage.
The thought of the male merman in the illusion of the Rhythm of the Ocean made Angel’s expression somewhat awkward.
“Lord Suis,” Angel greeted respectfully, his head bowed slightly. Apart from feeling a bit guilty, there was also a sense of trepidation. He had learned from Leon that Suis would definitely return to Pat’s mansion, but he hadn’t expected it to happen this quickly.
If Suis was back, considering his fondness for Jon, would there be any changes to his plan?
“Do I seem familiar with you?” Suis noticed the changes in Angel’s expressions, from surprise to guilt. Was there something he wasn’t aware of?
The sudden transition from Sea Moon City to Watford by Suis was naturally done through a planar passage.
He had rushed over here specifically due to sensing a mysterious fluctuation. As far as he knew, the mysterious fluctuation that appeared on Edge Island could only be the treasure of King Guman stolen by Eureka.
He had assumed that Eureka had run into some kind of trouble, and considering the direction of the mysterious fluctuations was towards Grud Town, he had reluctantly used a precious spellcasting material that he hadn’t dared to use all the way here, traversing the planar passage.
He intended to seize the opportunity to apply pressure and change the “situation” the moment he appeared… However, the moment he left the planar passage, he realized that Eureka was not in front of him. Instead, it was a young man he had heard of countless times recently, a boy even his sister Eliza couldn’t stop praising – Angel.
Knowing that Angel was brothers with Leon, his intended apprentice, he immediately withdrew his intimidating presence when he recognized who it was.
Just as his sister Eliza has pointed out, Angel is a future alchemy master in the making. Being blood brothers with Leon, they have the potential to forge a friendship with this future master of crafting.
Furthermore, the Scarlet Sovereignty that Angel once crafted remains in his possession. As Eliza accurately noted, its craftsmanship is so immaculate, it could easily be mistaken for the genuine artifact.
Given this, even if Eliza hadn’t said a word, Suis would have come to his own conclusions.
However, Suis found himself puzzled. Why did Angel seem a little flustered even before he voiced his question?
Angel coughed awkwardly, “Four years ago, when I traveled to the Feran Continent, I had the fortune of crossing paths with you at Vichy Harbor.”
Four years ago? Suis reflected. His memory might not compare to the almost supernatural recall of Sanders, but he could still remember events from four years prior.
After a moment of recollection, Suis remembered disembarking from the ship, the ‘Bohemia’, and spotting an apprentice of the third level – a bearded old man. Accompanying him were three children – two boys and a girl. One of them bore a striking resemblance to Angel.
“I see.” Suis nodded, “It’s hard to believe, in just four short years, you’ve transitioned from a mere mortal to a person of influence in the Wizarding World of the Southern Region.”
At Suis’ words, it was Angel’s turn to be surprised.
“You’re aware of me?”
“I’ve heard quite a bit about you lately. The moniker ‘Half-Step into the Mysterious’ has echoed across the Southern Region from Sky Mechanical City.”
“Half-Step into the Mysterious?” Angel wore a perplexed expression. He had no recognition of such a baffling nickname!
Suis seemed to discern Angel’s thoughts and chuckled lightly, “You’ve been keeping a low profile, the reputation from Sky Mechanical City only echoing your most illustrious achievements, merely as a convenient moniker.”
Pausing for a moment, a shadow passed over Suis’s eyes. “If you are dissatisfied with this title, you can craft a Mysterious Object, and thus completely overrule this current alias.”
“A Mysterious Object is not that easy to craft!” Angel vented, a deep frustration ringing in his words. Jiebo had told him not too long ago that he could earn his own title, so why had the winds of public opinion changed so abruptly in just half a year?
Unbeknownst to Angel, the title of ‘Half-Step into the Mysterious’ was indeed known in the outside world, but not to the extent that Suis suggested. It spread across the Southern Region, alongside similar titles such as ‘Illusion Music Box Wizard’, ‘Master of Illusions’, ‘Lion Hearted Thorn’, ‘Milk Baron’… Of course, the origin of the last one, ‘Milk Baron’, was a mystery and the least used.
“I just sensed a mysterious fluctuation. After coming here and seeing you, I thought you were planning to remove the ‘half-step’ prefix from your ‘Half-Step into the Mysterious’ title. But it seems that’s not the case,” Suis casually shifted the topic back to the mysterious fluctuation earlier.
Of course, Angel grasped Suis’s intent. Almost every one of the fifty who detected his mysterious fluctuation seemed to feel the need to come and stir the pot a bit.
All he could do was reluctantly present the Dream Conch, just as he had when faced with Sirius and Eureka before.
“The mysterious fluctuation that you detected, Lord, was probably generated when I was experimenting with this,” he said, referring to the Dream Conch.