Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1077: Section 1078: Lord of the Flameless  

Under the dark canopy of the sky, patterns of flame floated about as if the volcano behind them was about to erupt, with an oppressive force bearing down.

Angel stood on the rooftop, gazing at the flame patterns wavering under the night sky, his thoughts unsettled.

In a short amount of time, many things had happened, which left Angel somewhat confused.

Looking at the sky, it seemed like the night was a harbinger of the step he was about to take, yet curiously, at this very moment, Lassudral was under martial law, and the descendant of the Demon God, Aoluxiya, had appeared here.

It was as if all things were converging together, and this Demon City suspended in the Void was both a stage and a potential battlefield, shrouded in layers of impenetrable Mist.

As Angel pondered, several sounds came from a distance.

Those were the faint rustling noises of stepping on dry leaves and twigs, which were particularly grating in the quiet of the night.

Angel looked toward the source of the noises, only to see Pulapa and Canaan coming over from the winding forest path.

Pulapa looked somewhat disheveled, his head drooping, a picture of dejection.

Upon seeing Angel, Pulapa’s expression was one of disappointment, “Master, I inquired about what you asked, but as soon as they heard it was to find a way to dispel a curse of bad luck, they all avoided me. There was even a demon who thought I was cursed with bad luck and almost killed me; I barely escaped…”

The curse of bad luck was indeed a source of fear in the Abyss, so it was normal for Pulapa’s statement to provoke such a strong backlash.

It was also fortunate that Pulapa’s abilities had improved, otherwise, it would have been almost impossible for him to escape from a demon’s attack.

“I didn’t consider it thoroughly,” Angel said with an apologetic face, and at the same time, he handed a small bag of Demon Gold Coins to Pulapa: “You don’t need to ask about this matter anymore, I have found a solution.”

Pulapa opened his mouth, initially wanting to ask who was cursed with bad luck, but looking at the heavy pouch in his hand, he swallowed his words and said, “Then, Master, I’ll go back to the Hunting Museum first.”

After Pulapa left, Angel turned his gaze to Canaan. Canaan had looked as if he wanted to speak but hesitated while Pulapa was talking.

“What is it you want to say?” Angel asked.

“It’s nothing!” Canaan reflexively answered, but after saying it, he seemed to think his reaction was a bit too strong and clumsily added, “Master, I really don’t have anything to say, I went to the core district to make inquiries, but there was no harvest.”

With that, Canaan left with the words, “I’m going to clean up,” and turned to head into the courtyard.

Angel looked suspiciously at Canaan’s behavior. He remembered that Canaan had gone to inquire about the reason behind the martial law. Was such behavior necessary?

Actually, after Aoluxiya had appeared, Angel already knew that the martial law must be related to Aoluxiya. He had even planned to tell Canaan about it, but he hadn’t expected Canaan to run off muddling through his words; Angel had no idea what had happened.

Angel shook his head, too lazy to concern himself with Canaan’s situation, and sat down again on the rooftop, continuing to stare into the night sky. He always felt that this night sky would soon be completely engulfed by flames, like in Feng’s painting “The Night”.

However, not long after Angel sat down, Canaan came out of the store again, twisting and turning awkwardly.

“Master…actually, I did hear some news in the core district, but these are just rumors with very low credibility,” Canaan hesitated for a moment and then carefully asked, “Master, do you still want to hear it?”

“Go ahead, I’m listening.”

Canaan hesitated for a long time before he slowly said, “It’s said that the reason behind the martial law seems to be the arrival of a very important figure, who is very likely to be a descendant of the Demon God.”

After Canaan finished speaking, it seemed as if he had released all the heavy burdens from his heart, breathing out a deep sigh.

In that moment, Canaan felt as though he had betrayed the demons to become a “traitor to his own kind.”

In the Abyss, demons generally knew that the human wizards on the surface seemed to be coveting the descendants of the Demon God, which is why, after learning that a descendant of the Demon God had come to Lassudral, Canaan had been in a daze all the time.

Knowing that his master was human, Canaan had never asked about the reason for his arrival in Lassudral, but the coincidence in timing made him mistakenly believe that Angel had come for the descendant of the Demon God.

Therefore, on his way back, Canaan had been pondering whether to tell Angel about the Demon God’s descendant visiting Lassudral.

Not to tell would also be wrong. After all, he had mentioned his destination when he left.

But once he told the Master, and if the Master was indeed a spy for the human wizards, then he reckoned he would become a classic traitor to his own kind.

Canaan was in a great dilemma.

He pondered for a long time, thinking of the generosity the Master had shown him over the past few days, and recalling how he had been humiliated by the Serpent Tail Demon, only to completely turn his fortunes around because of the trial trip; all of this kindness had come from the Master.

So, after weighing the two options, Canaan eventually still spoke up.

However, Canaan’s self-deemed “passionate and eloquent” speech elicited only—

“Oh, I understand now,”

Canaan, who wouldn’t give up, asked, “Shopkeeper, aren’t you surprised at all? Or don’t you want to try to notify your human companions?”

“Companion? Who are you referring to?” Angel looked at Canaan with confusion. “And why should I be surprised? The progeny of a Demon God you’re talking about was sitting in the shop not long ago.”

“What?!” Canaan’s expression was one of utter disbelief.

Angel simply recounted the earlier visit of the Demon God’s progeny. Amid Canaan’s stunned expression, Angel asked, “By the way, it said its name was Aoluxiya. Do you know anything about its background?”

Canaan nodded mechanically, “Aoluxiya is a progeny of the Lord of the Flameless.”

Angel had already heard about this from Fafnir, but what he really wanted to know was personal information about Aoluxiya, as well as details about this Lord of the Flameless.

How many Abyssal Demon Gods were there? Angel wasn’t sure, but he did know that all Abyssal Demon Gods were Legendary Level beings and above.

According to classification, there were the Unparalleled Great Demon Gods, Great Demon Gods, and ordinary Demon Gods.

The Unparalleled Great Demon Gods stood at the very pinnacle, such as the “Crown Clown” who sought utter balance, and the “Deep Master” who sought all sacrifices. They were part of the strongest force in the Abyss, illuminating thousands of planes.

The Great Demon Gods were slightly lesser in rank, like the “Ominous Evil Play” that liked to toy with desires and hearts, the “Cruel Scholar” who created the Abyssal Inscription Studies, and the “Morning Sun” that almost destroyed the Wizards’ Realm thousands of years ago; all belonged to this tier.

As for ordinary Demon Gods, Angel didn’t know much, but there was no doubt that each was incredibly powerful.

“The Lord of the Flameless is a Great Demon God,” Canaan said with the same wooden expression, still unable to accept the fact that the progeny of a Demon God had come to the Misty Cabin within the half-hour he had been out.

Although Canaan was still in a daze, his narrative did not stop, and he shared everything he knew in great detail.

With Canaan’s narration, Angel got a rough idea about Aoluxiya and the Lord of the Flameless.

The Lord of the Flameless was a Great Demon God who could control flames, seeking eternal combustion, until nothing was left to burn and the very absence of flames could cause space to collapse. Around the Lord of the Flameless, one could see no flame, nor sense any Fire Element, yet one was already engulfed in flames. That was why he was known as the Lord of the Flameless.

As for Aoluxiya, Canaan had never encountered it, but the rumors suggested that Aoluxiya was not following the path of the Lord of the Flameless; it seemed to want to carve out its own.

There was another noteworthy point: it was rumored that Aoluxiya was searching for something, possibly related to an Unparalleled Great Demon God from before the fall of the gods. However, this was only hearsay, unconfirmed.

But Canaan’s words incited in Angel a flurry of speculations.

Aoluxiya’s arrival in the surface world of Lassudral had to have a purpose. It had sent out young Fire Demons and Fire Servant Demons as scouts, probably to explore. Could its goal be the very thing the rumors claimed Aoluxiya had been seeking?

And now, Night was about to make a breakthrough; was there a connection between the two?

Angel pondered for a moment but couldn’t come up with a reasonable answer and decided to temporarily set it aside. After all, the answers to these questions were, at most, a matter of satisfying his curiosity and held no other significance for Angel.

After sending away Canaan, who was still in a state of confusion, Angel’s gaze returned to the night sky.

Unbeknownst to him, the floating flame patterns in the night sky became increasingly bright and intricate, like a spider’s web, enveloping Lassudral in layer upon layer. And yet, they also became more ferocious, as if boundless flames were about to descend from the heavens.

“Does this fire really have something to do with the Night proprietor?” Angel murmured under his breath, his eyes fixated on the undulating flame patterns, momentarily lost in thought.

The night entwined with flame patterns, the eternally desolate Demon City, and the boundlessly lonely wind in the Void.

This scene was etched into his vision, frozen in time.

It was a night without stars, yet unusually beautiful.

As Angel watched, he suddenly felt a burning sensation on his earlobes. He snapped back to reality, only to see that the Flame Mark on his ears, for some reason, had begun to actively release streams of Fire Element.

These streams of Fire Element formed a dense web of ethereal flames that floated around Angel, moving up and down.

“What’s going on?” Angel found he couldn’t control the flames around him, but they showed no intention of leaving or dissipating. They merely danced up and down near him, apparently expressing joy, or perhaps even… worship.

The anomaly with Angel also caught the attention of Fafnir, especially since the flames came from an Odeclass Inscription. She was even more concerned.

Fafnir lightly tapped her feet and flew from the treetops to Angel’s side, her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the dancing flames with puzzlement.

A gentle breeze infiltrated the space where the flames danced, as if to scrutinize their essence or to join them in their dance.

After a while, Fafnir suddenly thought of something and abruptly looked up at the sky full of flame patterns.

“Could it be… the birth of the Primeval Flame?”