Chapter 970 Disrupted Connection <TOC> Chapter 972 The Goat Demon
Translator: SumTLMan
Just as Angel had put away his letter and was preparing to further delve into the issue of the Wilderness of Dreams, the voice of Sineva resonated in his ears.
“Everyone in the supply team, gather at the Central Security Bureau.”
Upon opening his door, Angel found Madeline already waiting outside.
“It seems that Frost Moon has reached a consensus on the future of Emberstone Titan. Let’s head over,” Madeline stated.
“What might the result be?” Angel inquired.
“What else could it be? Either we return to the Wizarding World or face personnel reallocation. However, this has nothing to do with us. Our mission is to penetrate the frontline, which is a deeper and more dangerous part of the Abyss,” Madeline shrugged nonchalantly. “I guess Sineva is calling us over to arrange our forthcoming assignment.”
Madeline’s conjecture proved accurate. The assembly arranged by Sineva did indeed concern their duties.
Sineva only informed them about their departure time from Emberstone Titan and their next destination: the Gray Layer Zone, which they were to head to in three days.
After making these points clear, Sineva allowed everyone to disperse without mentioning how they would deal with those left behind at Emberstone Titan.
The Central Security Bureau was the heart of Emberstone Titan, boasting the highest construction. On their way out, Madeline guided Angel towards a door leading to a terrace.
Madeline intended to fly back to Watch Street from the terrace, but as Angel stepped onto the terrace and gazed down upon the holy city at the top of the massive rock from a bird’s eye view, enchanted by the golden light illuminating the sea of clouds, he suddenly paused.
“I once had a dream,” Angel started.
Madeline turned her head without questioning why Angel brought up this topic, simply waiting for what he had to say next.
“I dreamt of this place,” Angel’s eyes swept across Emberstone Titan. In his dream, the place was devoid of its bustling scenery; instead, it was occupied by peculiar demons.
Angel narrated his dream, including the final vision where he saw Emberstone Titan decimated by a heavenly fire meteor, an occurrence of an unknown origin.
Upon finishing, Angel inquired, “Is this a prophecy dream?”
Madeline merely shrugged, “Not certain. Maybe your thoughts led to this dream, or perhaps, this city’s final lament was fortuitously captured by you.”
Prophecy dreams are elusive. Madeline wasn’t a dream scholar after all, thus she couldn’t offer Angel the truth.
In any case, whether or not it was a prophecy dream didn’t truly matter. To both Madeline and Angel, they were just transitory passersby in relation to Emberstone Titan.
“Don’t overthink it, go back,” Madeline advised.
Initially, they were supposed to fly back to the Watcher Street, but Angel chose otherwise. He parted ways with Madeline halfway, landing outside the Central Security Bureau. His reason was, “I want to observe this city.”
Madeline responded, “Fair enough. If your dream truly was prophecy, it might not be long before Emberstone Titan is no longer visible.”
Angel measured the great city of wizards, step by step. Observing the teetering Emberstone Titan, soon to be abandoned, he felt as if each of his steps were tracing over history.
Everything will eventually fade, but history remembers its glory and downfall.
Now, he was witnessing the final chapters of this brilliant city before its curtain call.
Half a day later, Angel returned to Watcher Street. As he pushed open the magical cottage’s main door, a puzzled voice rang by his ear, “Is that Angel?”
Angel turned around to see Madeline semi-sitting, semi-leaning on the window frame, reading a spellbook. The wind blew her long green hair, revealing her pale neckline.
“Lady Madeline,” Angel respectfully greeted.
“So it really is you,” Madeline raised an eyebrow, “You’ve changed your appearance and concealed your aura, I almost thought we had a thief.”
Angel paused, dispelling his illusion transformation, revealing his true appearance: “I had a run-in with some wizards outside, so I had to alter my looks.”
“You certainly saved yourself some trouble with your disguise. Do you have any idea how many people came looking for you just now? Especially that annoying Muming from Torch Institute. I just got rid of him.” Madeline sighed, feeling as though her ears were itchy with the onslaught of useless chatter she had to endure.
Angel displayed a hint of sheepishness, realizing his actions had unintentionally caused a nuisance to Madeline.
Madeline waved a dismissive hand, “Never mind, it’s not a big deal.”
After a moment, she asked, “So, what are your impressions after a tour of Emberstone Titan?”
Angel pondered for a while before replying, “This is my first time here, so if I had to put my feelings into words, I’d say I’m a bit disappointed. But, if I ever get the chance to pen my own wizard’s travelogue, I’d definitely include this place.”
Many wizards have a penchant for writing travelogues, a trend that most likely took off in the wake of Master Fivenda.
“If it’s a wizard’s travelogue written by you, I’d be interested in adding it to my collection,” Madeline teased with a raised eyebrow.
Angel laughed off her comment. The idea of writing a travelogue was merely a passing thought. If he were to truly commit his experiences to paper, it would probably be a task for his twilight years, documenting memories of times long past. But would he live long enough to do that? That remained a big question mark.
Over the next three days, Angel had a fairly fulfilling time exploring near Crag Forest.
The energy level of the Abyss was indeed higher than that of the Southern Region. Even in the Withered Land of Crag Forest, Angel managed to find numerous materials brimming with energy. His investigations revealed that some of these materials could serve as perfect substitutes for certain magical materials used in the Wizarding World. However, the close alignment between the energy these materials harbored and the essence of the Abyss rendered them extremely unstable, despite their high potency.
During the tests, Angel experienced multiple explosions.
In one instance, he even blew a large hole in Madeline’s magical cottage. Since then, Madeline had exiled him every time he started an alchemy experiment.
This made Angel miss Bruen’s alchemy workshop. If only he had his own workshop where he could conduct his alchemical research anytime…
When the three-day deadline arrived, Angel emerged from his fervent exploration into his complex craft.
He had started to comprehend that the Abyss indeed concealed a plethora of high-energy materials. However, many of these substances were rarely recorded as alchemical demonic materials due to their challenging handling and excessive instability.
Despite his extensive collection of materials, only a minimal fraction was actually usable. Moreover, their utility was due to his adept handling skills. In the hands of any other alchemist, they would likely lead to explosions.
“There is an abundance of usable demonic materials in the Abyss. Yet, if these materials were to grow near our base city, they would undoubtedly be harvested instantly, leaving none for you,” Madeline commented on this matter.
Angel sighed a little. He had initially thought himself fortunate for making such a discovery, but it seemed he had underestimated the relentless profit-seeking nature of wizards. As Madeline stated, if there were any premium materials near the base city, there would be none left for him.
“However, the fact that you’ve managed to refine these waste materials to a usable state is commendable. By dealing with these waste materials, you might even make a fortune,” After her sarcastic remark, Madeline also objectively praised Angel’s material handling capabilities.
Of course, if Angel had spent the time he used for processing waste materials on alchemy instead, the magic crystals he would have earned would be at least a hundred times more.
…
When they bid farewell to Emberstone Titan, it was on the fourth night after their arrival in the Abyss. Although, there were no distinctions between day and night in this place.
It was at this point that Angel finally learned how Frost Moon had arranged for those stranded on Emberstone Titan.
Nearly half of the Frost Moon’s guards escorted thousands of stranded individuals to another base city called Immortal Street, located tens of thousands of miles away.
At first, Angel thought the distance of tens of thousands of miles did not seem too far. After all, Florentina had previously opened a spatial gate, and they could even teleport directly.
Later on, Madeline revealed that the space within the Abyss was highly unstable, with few wizards daring to utilize planar passages within it. Even flight was not undertaken at high speed, due to the numerous airborne hazards that had to be avoided.
As for why Florentina could open a spatial gate, it was because the Crag Forest and the previous Scorching Land possessed more stable spatial energy. This is also why, after crossing the planes, they chose the Scorching Land as their point of origin.
Leaving Emberstone Titan this time, they had only a small Ice Wings as their mode of transport.
However, those on the Ice Wings were mostly apprentices without their own flight vehicles. Those who possessed flight vehicles didn’t need to squeeze onto the Ice Wings.
Angel didn’t wait for Madeline’s reminder and took out the Gondola voluntarily. Both of them sat on the Gondola and, under the guidance of the Frost Moon Guard, slowly flew towards the distant horizon.
Angel turned around, looking back at Emberstone Titan that was getting farther and farther away.
At that moment, Emberstone Titan stood majestically amidst the clouds, its golden light still flashing. It was like a gentle deity, continuing to bless those who were still lingering on it with its last vestiges of power.
Regrettably, it wouldn’t be long. Once all the lingerers have moved on to Immortal Street, the brilliance of Emberstone Titan will be completely extinguished, plunging forever into darkness.
Angel’s backward glance could be seen as a salute to this architectural marvel of the Wizarding World or perhaps, a final farewell.
After leaving Emberstone Titan, the Gondola that Angel was riding became the focus of everyone’s attention.
Among a group of strange flying vehicles, the Gondola surpassed all others in both appearance and speed. As a result, no matter where they flew, they would receive attention and gazes from others.
Upon learning that this flying boat was crafted by Angel, many wizards who had doubts about Angel’s alchemy were utterly dispelled.
No rumor could ever stand up to the persuasive power of witnessing something firsthand.
“Perhaps after you leave the Abyss, your title will be promoted from ‘Music Box Magician’ to ‘Master of Vehicles’,” Madeline, noticing the attention from the surroundings, couldn’t help but jest.
Angel: “……”
Although many were curious about the Gondola, very few actually approached to inquire. After all, this was the Abyss where danger could strike at any moment. Even if they were truly curious, it would be safer to wait until they reached a secure location before making inquiries.
Chapter 970 Disrupted Connection <TOC> Chapter 972 The Goat Demon