Chapter 900 The Lovers <TOC> Chapter 902 Antidote
Translator: SumTLMan
In the Wizarding World, the adage that ‘a little knowledge is a dangerous thing’ often rings ominously true.
Angel feigned obliviousness, projecting an air of nonchalance. Whether they were entangled in the throes of romance or not, it had naught to do with him.
However, Eureka seemed determined to not let Angel off the hook so easily. She turned to Suis, and in a hushed whisper, queried, “How did you end up returning with Angel?”
“We crossed paths en route, so we decided to return together,” Suis answered with a gentle smile.
The warmth in his smile dumbfounded Angel. Suis was renowned for his stone-cold heart and impassive demeanor. Yet, he was now sporting an uncharacteristic expression in Eureka’s presence.
Compared to Angel’s astonishment, Eureka’s bewilderment was more profound.
Her prior conversation with Suis’ puppet double, who had stayed with her, had involved some chatter about Angel. The puppet’s advice was to confront Angel once Suis returned in his original form to unravel the secrets hidden beneath his exterior.
Hence, Eureka had an inkling that Suis might take action against Angel upon his return.
She had even contemplated informing Suis not to make any rash moves against Angel before he merged with his puppet double, especially given the fact that Phantom Master was standing behind Angel.
But to her utter surprise, Suis, who was yet to merge with his puppet double’s will, seemed to get along fairly well with Angel. This was certainly out of character for Suis who would never waste courtesies on a mere apprentice wizard.
Could it be that Suis was acquainted with Angel?
That didn’t seem right either.
The puppet that had stayed with her was a split ego of Suis, left behind when he initially departed from Edge Island. This split ego possessed Suis’ memories and experiences. If this puppet double didn’t recognize Angel, then Suis himself shouldn’t either.
The only possible explanation could be that Suis had become familiar with Angel during his absence.
Yet, this proposition was equally puzzling. How could Suis, of all people, have formed a close relationship with a wizard apprentice?
Eureka’s mind was in turmoil, one mystery piling atop another. Perplexed and in deep thought, she chose to confront Suis directly, “It appears you’re familiar with Angel?”
“In the current Wizarding World of the Southern Region, Angel is an entity recognized by all but a few,” Suis said with a chuckle, “After all, the future is cloaked in his mysterious promise.”
Eureka appeared perplexed: “???”
‘Mysterious promise’ – what could that mean? Eureka glanced at Angel and then at Suis, her face a canvas of confusion.
Just as Suis was about to elucidate, Angel suddenly heard a call from below. Peering downwards, he spotted Ollie shouting his name, her gaze directed towards the sky-bound Gondola.
Angel steered the Gondola downward until it gently landed on the ground.
Ollie promptly hitched up her skirt and rushed towards them, her face etched with worry.
As Ollie arrived at the side of the Gondola, she noticed Eureka standing there. Beyond her, Suis was also present.
Though Ollie had seen these two wizards before, she had never interacted with them closely. Spotting them now, she was startled and immediately knelt on the ground.
“Ollie, what’s happened?” Angel asked, his brows creased, “I saw the knights of the manor leaving Grud Town just now. Even Head Maid Mana went with them. What is going on?”
“The viscount,” Ollie said, her voice laced with panic, “The viscount is missing!”
Upon hearing that his brother Leon was in trouble, Angel felt his heart lurch. He quickly questioned Ollie about the circumstances.
According to her, Leon would typically go to Dread Mountain Waterfall for his training. What he was training for, no one knew. He would leave every day, usually returning before lunch.
But today, it was past dinner time, and Leon had not yet returned.
Initially, an early or late return wouldn’t be considered a significant issue. But when Leon’s personal servant went to Dread Mountain Waterfall to find him, he found Leon’s armor, weapons, and clothes near the waterfall. Leon, however, was nowhere to be found.
Given the vast expanse of Dread Mountain Waterfall and the intimidating steam rising from the water, the servant searched along the east bank but found no trace of Leon. He hastily returned to inform Head Maid Mana.
That is what led to the dispatch of a group of knights just now.
“Dread Mountain Waterfall? Why on earth would my brother train there?” Angel’s impression of Dread Mountain Waterfall was rooted in his childhood memories—terrible, awe-inspiring, and majestic. While the waterfalls might not seem significant to him now, to the average person, they still represented a place fraught with danger.
In the days before Jon’s health began to wane, he’d marveled at how the heart of the Dread Mountain Waterfall nearly matched the splendor of the tallest waterfall from his hometown.
Couple that with its proximity to Dread Mountain Waterfall, the roar of the water was enough to make anyone’s eardrums quiver in awe.
Why on earth would Leon pick Dread Mountain Waterfall as a place for his cultivation?
“Leon is practicing the Will Refining Technique. In simple terms, it’s about pushing the body through extreme environments to temper the will, which ultimately leads to a mental breakthrough. Such cultivation should not cease before truly stepping through the doors of transcendence, lest mental power regresses,” explained Suis. “However, it was Leon’s choice to temper his body under the waterfall.”
To temper his body under a waterfall without stopping? The color drained from Angel’s face at the thought.
He was aware that Leon’s mental strength had surpassed 10 points, but this backstory was news to him. Had he known earlier, he would have handed the Cold Night Potion directly to Leon to spare him this torment.
However, ruminating on the past offered Angel no solace. For now, he needed to ensure his brother’s safety.
Angel promptly prepared to head to Dread Mountain Waterfall. However, Suis raised his hand, saying, “After all, he is my disciple. Let me handle this.”
At the conclusion of Suis’s words, a mental force of astonishing magnitude radiated out from him, quickly reaching in the direction of Dread Mountain Waterfall.
Dread Mountain Waterfall was still tens of miles away, but Suis was able to sense it in an instant through his mental power.
After a while, Suis retracted his mental power and frowned, saying, “I didn’t detect Leon. Let’s go there and check.”
Upon reaching Dread Mountain Waterfall, Suis no longer used his mental power to investigate but cast a spell known as False Breaker, seeking any concealed traces.
After a while, Suis flew down to a spot under the waterfall and pointed at a damp boulder, saying, “There’s a reaction here to blood.”
Lifting his gaze, Suis quickly deduced the situation.
“Leon was tempering his body here, perhaps distracted or met with an accident, he failed to endure, and was finally swept away by the force of the waterfall,” Suis pointed to the boulder that had reacted to the blood, “He grazed himself here when he fell, and most likely ended up in the river.”
“Roughly seven hours ago, disregarding any variables, if we traverse along the undercurrent of the river, we should be able to locate him,” Suis paused momentarily before adding, “or perhaps, his remains.”
Wizards have always been unflinching in considering the worst possible outcomes, so it was no surprise to Angel when Suis offered this grim conjecture.
Regardless of what the eventual outcome might be, as soon as he received this response, Angel started his search downstream along the river without any hesitation.
Angel practically dispatched all of his scout puppets simultaneously while he himself commenced the search along the way.
The river was turbulent and rapid. On his journey, Angel witnessed an abundance of sharp rocks honed in the middle of the waterway, causing his courage to falter increasingly.
After flying for about an hour, Angel found no traces of anything, and the feedback from the underwater scout puppets brought no good news, adding to his restlessness.
Simultaneously, a sense of guilt and self-blame began to sprout from the depths of Angel’s heart.
He had been back at the Pat Manor for more than half a year, and his focus had been wholly on Jon, while his concern for his brother, Leon, had decreased. He was not even aware until today of how perilous Leon’s training had been.
He was always thinking that they had ample time in the future but had never anticipated the fickleness of life.
With a heavy heart filled with negative emotions, Angel continued his search on the dark river surface, seeking a glimmer of hope.
Perhaps Angel’s prayers had some effect, for before the moon reached its zenith, at last, a scout puppet brought some positive news.
Leon’s traces were found in a downstream swamp area, a place where humans were forbidden to tread.
From the images synchronized by the scout puppet, Angel saw Leon, stark naked, bound by several sharp-toothed, clawed green thorns, and hung on a massive green cocoon.
His body was covered in blood, presenting a picture of the utmost misery and distress.
However, the one piece of good news was the faint movement of Leon’s chest, indicating that he was still alive.
Having pinpointed Leon’s location, Angel, without any hesitation, activated the Gravity Lines and in virtually the blink of an eye, arrived at the swamp.
Upon Angel’s arrival, an immediate whiff of the surrounding putrefaction hung heavy in the air, as pungent as a rotting carcass in the sweltering heat.
A cursory glance around revealed a morbid tableau; not only was Leon strung up, but a menagerie of lifeless beasts littered the vicinity, their vast skeletal remains serving as grim monuments to death.
The scene was at least two hundred meters from the river; the distance ruled out the possibility of Leon wandering there by his own volition. Angel deduced that an unknown creature must have carried Leon there, perhaps viewing him as a reservoir of sustenance for later consumption.
Despite the gruesome panorama, Angel could not discern any other living entities nearby. He swiftly approached Leon’s side.
Thorns wrapped around Leon, an unwilling marionette caught in an insidious trap. Upon closer inspection, Angel felt a chill creeping up his spine. Leon’s injuries were more severe than initially thought; a majority of his bones had either shattered or splintered, and the trauma had even affected his internal organs.
However, something seemed amiss. Leon, while unconscious, had a calm countenance, with a faint smile gracing his lips, as if he were at peace in the face of adversity.
After calling Leon’s name several times with no response, Angel decided to sever the thorny fetters and tend to Leon’s visible wounds.
However, just as Angel prepared to make his move, the voice of Suis reached his ears from behind him.
“If you cut the Bewildering Vine binding him right now, the Swamptide Spider’s venom coursing through him might trigger an instantaneous, severe reaction. The venom could rapidly spread throughout his system, which would make rescuing him an Herculean task.”
Turning around, Angel found that Suis and Eureka had joined him at the marsh at some point. While Suis had been discussing the situation with Angel, Eureka appeared to regard the large, green cocoon containing Leon with a measure of distaste.
Angel paid no mind to how they had managed to locate him; instead, he lapsed into deep thought.
The Bewildering Vine and the Swamptide Spider’s venom?Â
Although Angel was no poison specialist, Suis’s words triggered a recollection of a magical insect.
The Swamptide Spider!