Chapter 969 Emberstone Titan <TOC> Chapter 971 Farewell
Translator: SumTLMan
Following a relentless three-day siege, Emberstone Titan was grievously wounded. Upon setting foot on it, Angel could spot crumbled and collapsed buildings dotting the landscape at regular intervals.
Even the bridges that linked to other colossal giants had several broken spans.
Despite such desolation, Angel, after climbing the Emberstone Titan, couldn’t help but constantly marvel at this city of sanctuary.
“We should head to Watch Street and wait for news from Sineva,” Madeline suggested.
Watch Street was formerly Emberstone Titan’s pub street, teeming with numerous eateries and pubs. Yet, in the wake of this conflict, Watch Street was thoroughly desolate. The scene was characterized by debris and ruins, looking even more dilapidated than the central cathedral outside.
“Thousands of Dual Blade Butchers descended upon Watch Street, and no one could resist,” a wizard’s apprentice mending his wounds on the roadside commented. “The Butchers, all here to plunder food and drink, were massive. Their dual blades could effortlessly lay waste to the surrounding buildings.”
Precisely because of the massive invasion by the Dual Blade Butchers, Watch Street bore even more considerable damage compared to other areas.
“Are the Dual Blade Butchers those fat guys that fly using their ears?” Angel inquired Madeline.
Madeline nodded, “Yes, they are also a kind of demon from the Abyss. Despite their humanoid appearance, their internal structure is entirely different. The Butchers are fond of food and culinary arts and are often kept as cooks by some half-blooded demons.”
No wonder Angel had seen a Butcher carrying a large pot on his back. It turned out they also moonlighted as personal chefs.
“It seems we won’t find a place to rest on Watch Street,” Madeline shook her head in resignation. “Well, let’s just stay in the magical cottage.”
Madeline chose a flat spot and brought forth a magical cottage. It had the same number of rooms as before, one each for Madeline and Angel.
“We should rest here for a while. Sineva should summon us soon,” Madeline said before returning to her room.
Upon returning to his room, Angel decided to meditate first, seizing this opportunity to replenish the magic power he had previously expended.
In the Abyss, battles could spring up anytime. Restoring magic source reserves in the nick of time was essential for any wizard adventuring in the Abyss.
As Angel commenced his meditation, indeed as Madeline had postulated, the efficiency was markedly less than in the Wizarding World.
However, his expenditure was minimal, only half a day’s duration was needed to return to a state of wholeness.
When Angel opened his eyes, Toby happened to have just taken a spin outside, flitting in through the window. A look of satisfaction adorned Toby’s face, as if it had just partaken in a joyous event.
Intrigued, Angel queried, “What’s up? Did you meet a pretty bird out there?”
Toby glanced at Angel with an indignant expression. It wasn’t until after a while that it flapped its wings, presenting its recent spoils.
Angel expressed his suspicion, “Did you go scavenging corpses at the base of Crag Forest?”
Toby nodded. They had been embroiled in combat with the abyssal creatures for several hours. Although Angel casually pocketed some items that appeared to be useful, the number of monsters was simply too vast. Many, once slain, simply plummeted lifelessly to the ground.
Angel, however, felt no remorse. After all, these creatures could barely compare to even a second-level apprentice in power. The majority fought on instinct alone, their destitution clearly evident.
Only the Fire Lich occasionally produced fragments of a ‘Firestone,’ slightly more valuable. Yet, the strength of a Fire Lich was almost equivalent to that of a peak apprentice, typically only killed by a wizard’s hand.
“You are indeed resourceful. If there’s anything good, how about I trade you with some small dried fish?” Angel proposed with a grin.
Toby held its head high in pride, prepared to display its looted treasures. However, it suddenly remembered that even the previously promised dried fish hadn’t been delivered, suspecting another IOU on the horizon.
Toby refrained from revealing its hoard, yet Angel didn’t mind, knowing there would be nothing of considerable value, “No need to show it. Once we depart the Abyss, I’ll help you sell it and set up a little gold vault for you.”
Upon hearing about a personal gold vault, Toby immediately nodded in ecstasy. If it had its own money, it could purchase as many dried fish as it desired!
While Toby was engrossed in fantasizing about a lavish future where it could eat and toss as many fish as it pleased, Angel prepared to examine another matter.
Could he connect to the Wilderness of Dreams within the Abyss?
Originally, this was a matter he intended to test immediately upon arrival in the Abyss. However, due to the prior battles and other priorities, it was only now he had the time to address this issue.
He attempted to cast a Dream Initiation Spell on himself.
As Angel’s eyelids began to droop, his thoughts gradually spiraled into chaos, a clear sign that something was amiss. Typically, when he invoked the Dream Initiation spell, he would immediately sense his two abilities associated with the Wilderness of Dreams, and a miniature mental image of the Wilderness of Dreams would form in his mind. However, at present, he sensed nothing at all.
Angel found himself entrenched in a repressed dream.
His dream transported him to the Emberstone Titan, yet it was stripped of its protective brilliance, its past glory was no more, and the surroundings had morphed into a desolate wasteland. Inside, humans were conspicuously absent, replaced by grotesque demons.
The demons loitered and destroyed at will.
Suddenly, a profound darkness blanketed the sky, exuding an overpowering menace. Flaming meteors fell from the heavens, obliterating the Emberstone Titan, already on the brink of ruin.
The tower toppled over, bricks rained down like a violent shower, statues were shattered, and stone skulls fell from the sacred cathedral, with bloody tears trickling down from the eye sockets of the skulls.
The glory was no more.
Angel stirred from his slumber at this point, aware that he had just experienced a dream. However, in this dream, “he” didn’t exist; instead, he watched a cataclysmic downfall from a third-person perspective.
“This dream is strange,” Angel murmured to himself.
He had heard a term from Freud—the Omen Dream. A wizard’s dream, at times, after resonating with some unknown entity or perhaps an unknown frequency, could seemingly glimpse the future.
Such dreams were fragmented, bereft of any logical foundation.
Could it be that the dream he just had was an Omen Dream? A vision of the ultimate downfall of the Emberstone Titan?
Pondering for a moment and getting nowhere, Angel shrugged off the chaotic thoughts: “Whether it’s an Omen Dream or not, the most crucial issue at present is… I used the Dream Initiation spell, I fell asleep and even dreamt, but I didn’t enter the Wilderness of Dreams.”
He couldn’t even sense his abilities connected to the Wilderness of Dreams, let alone enter it.
“Is it because the Abyss is a blocking zone, making connection impossible? Or is the Wilderness of Dreams only accessible within the Wizarding World?” Angel was perplexed, yet he was not entirely surprised.
Should the Wilderness of Dreams truly have the capability to span across planes, it would indeed be terrifying. Angel anticipated that should this news spread, he’d most likely be detained by the Frost Moon Expeditionary Force immediately.
He had expected the Disrupted Connection to the Wilderness of Dreams, yet, should he utilize the Dream Conch in the Abyss, where might the items that enter dreams end up?
Although Angel contemplated this, he currently dared not execute his thoughts. To other wizards, the Dream Conch may not be of high value, yet Angel was fully aware of its true worth. He didn’t want this knowledge to be widespread. Should someone covet it and be willing to part with tens of thousands of magic crystals for the Dream Conch, he’d have nowhere to even shed his tears.
He could always attempt this after meeting his mentor.
Dismissing the thought, Angel extracted the Cathedral of the Dead from his bracelet. Previously, Tulas served as a sheriff in Initial Heart City and had never left the Wilderness of Dreams. Now, as Tulas’ soul resided in the Cathedral of the Dead, he had essentially crossed planes with Angel. Angel couldn’t connect to the Wilderness of Dreams and was unaware of Tulas’ situation.
However, when Angel delved his mental force into the Cathedral of the Dead, he found Tulas, helmet off, lounging on a bed, picking at his toes while reading a book.
Without his horned helmet, Tulas’ somewhat youthful, handsome face was exposed. The contrast was stark between his rugged demeanor, his muscular abdomen covered in hair, and this almost boyish visage.
Angel made no attempt to hide his mental probe, so as soon as he extended it into the room, Tulas detected him.
Tulas immediately donned his helmet, grumbling under his breath, “Lord Pat, next time please knock before entering, how can I face someone without my helmet on?”
Ignoring Tulas’ complaint, Angel asked, “Did you leave Initial Heart City voluntarily?”
Upon hearing this, Tulas replied with a hint of grievance, “I didn’t leave willingly. About a day ago, I was dueling with a scammer claiming to be a legendary knight. Suddenly, I was inexplicably ejected.”
“That scammer will surely claim that I retreated from the fight, probably spreading rumors and slandering me in the city by now. The more I think about it, the angrier I get!” Tulas exclaimed, “As a great existence who can defeat Red Beard in a flash, how can I be so belittled! Lord Pat, please send me back in, I must duel him to the death!”
Angel: “…” It was just a three-day and three-night duel with Red Beard, how did it suddenly turn into an instant defeat? Have you been reading some quirky novel again?”
He held back the retort in his heart, understanding the futility of arguing with a fool.
Angel: “I’m afraid it won’t work, you can’t enter for now.”
“Why not? I am the sheriff, a sharp blade deterring the scum of Initial Heart City, how can it function without me!” Tulas protested with a furrowed brow: “Moreover, my duel isn’t over yet! My reputation can’t be tarnished here! At least let me in to finish this fight!”
Angel said nonchalantly: “I’m sorry, the server is undergoing maintenance.”
Ignoring Tulas’s aggrieved wailing, Angel left the conversation after dropping this statement. However, he didn’t entirely snub him; ten minutes later, a handful of novels descended from the heavens, landing on Tulas’s bedside table.
He hoped that after reading these novels, Tulas would cease bringing up Red Beard. After all, in these stories, Tulas’s opponents were not limited to Red Beard, but also included legendary female pirate ‘Pink Hair’ of the Black Pearl, the dragon-riding ‘Dragon Scale’, and the one-legged ‘Gold Foot’ who was despised by the sea itself.
Putting away the Cathedral of the Dead, Angel took out a notebook to record Tulas’s situation.
He had previously inspected Tulas’s soul form and found no damage. It seems that crossing planes merely resulted in Tulas being booted out of Initial Heart City, without causing any harm to him.
This was an invaluable piece of information.