Warlock Apprentice

“No one can stop the reignition of our clan’s flame, no one can!”

The high-pitched voice, accompanied by a maniacal expression.

His eyes bore into Angel, the frenetic shouting stirred the surrounding energy, forcing Angel to retreat time and again.

“I’m going to kill you… Yeehahaha!” “Don’t stand in my way!” “Humanity? I have no humanity, and moreover, I disdain being human!”

From calm to madness, then from madness to a self-reflective dialogue.

Angel silently watched the “Popota” performing before him—from the words he had earlier spoken, Angel was pretty sure that this alien form was indeed Popota, but Popota’s transformation, in both appearance and strength, was surprising to Angel.

In his mind, the image of Popota was still that of a handsome and dashing young man in white.

Even back when they were in Barbarian Cave, Angel could see the dark side hidden within Popota, but his outward gentleness and generosity left a significant impression on Angel.

He simply couldn’t equate the gentle youth with the mad, split, and ugly alien before him.

Regarding Popota’s transformation, besides feeling somewhat emotional, Angel had no right to comment, since the change had certainly been a personal choice. Besides, there was no close relationship between Popota and himself. Angel was more concerned about how he could slip away unnoticed.

If it had been Popota from half a month ago, Angel leaving directly wouldn’t have mattered.

But now, Popota had changed too much. Even facing him gave Angel an extreme sense of danger, as if he was confronting Fafnir. It might just be an illusion, but from the fact that Popota had been at peace with Yadasai before, it was evident that Popota’s strength had undergone earth-shattering changes.

And now, Popota’s condition was also very wrong. He seemed calm, but the slightest thing could ignite his anger, volatile and explosive.

So, Angel now had to find a way to leave this place, preferably silently, without triggering Popota’s emotions.

While Angel was lost in thoughts, a sudden “clang” resonated.

Looking closely, he saw that the chain which had hung in midair fell to the ground, then, like a serpent, slowly retracted back onto Popota.

Popota, attracted by the sound, turned his head as well.

He glanced at the chain, then at Angel.

“Indeed I should not have left you alive!” “Kill him!” “The chain is, after all, forged by him, his aura not yet completely erased, still affecting it!” “Even the smallest error is impermissible, must kill! Kill! Kill!”

Popota seemed to be conversing with another person within his own mind.

However, the conclusion he reached didn’t seem promising… because Angel could see that both of Popota’s eyes were simultaneously flashing with intense murderous intent and malevolence!

“Not good!” Angel’s heart chilled, and he moved abruptly.

The Secret Soul Murmur he had already silently recited instantly took effect, and as Popota launched his attack, Angel drifted by like a wisp of smoke.

In an instant, his figure reached the end of the corridor.

However, Popota’s current strength was not to be underestimated; even without the Gravity Meridian, his speed was almost as fast as Angel, and each of his steps was powerfully planted, even causing the air to shake.

Under such turbulence, Angel could not run at full speed.

And as Popota drew near Angel, he seemed to have remembered something. A massive and terrifying oppression surged madly from behind.

All Angel could do was to speed up. Just like when he had saved Toby from the giant snake in the Shadow Cave, as long as he was fast enough, faster than the opponent could react, faster than the oppressive force could catch up to him, he could escape!

But the situation in the Shadow Cave was ultimately different from now. Angel was unable to exhibit his full speed here. Moreover, as he reached the outer corridor, the energy that was already influenced by the outside world became somewhat chaotic. Coupled with Popota, his speed could only decrease further.

In the end, Angel was still caught up.

He was flung to the top of the corridor and then smashed heavily onto the ground. With the terrifying oppression bearing down, Angel was entirely unable to move.

He could only watch, wide-eyed, as Popota, with a sinister laugh, slowly approached from the other end of the corridor.

“Eehahaha—You can’t escape!” “Keep running!” “I won’t let you go; you have to die!”

Angel lay immobile on the floor, the sensation as though his very bones were being compressed made even his thoughts in his mind seem to freeze, unable to think of anything.

Just as Angel thought it was all over, he suddenly heard the whinnying of a horse, and the sound of hooves?

A horse? What would a horse be doing here?

Before Angel could ponder further, he saw a Nightmare Beast, flaming with deep black fire, leap over his head.

The next second, Angel felt a sense of weightlessness.

Then, he noticed that the oppressive force that had pinned him down had suddenly vanished… or rather, he seemed to have undergone some kind of spatial shift, arriving at an area free of oppression.

“`

While Angel was still in a daze, a pair of glossy black leather boots appeared beside him with a click-clack sound.

The owner of the boots walked past Angel and stopped in front of him.

“As expected, you’re never easy to look after.” A familiar voice poured into his ears like a spring, instantly revitalizing his previously frozen thoughts, and all the dimness turned vivid in that moment.

Angel tried his best to lift his head, only to see the person in front of him turn his face partially, revealing a tuft of gray-green curly hair under the brim of his hat.

“Mentor… Mentor!” Angel’s eyes brightened, the man in front of him was Sanders!

Sanders nodded slightly, signaling Angel to step back. His gaze remained fixed on the horrible aberration at the other end of the corridor, his expression very solemn. Angel could not gauge the strength of the aberration, but Sanders could estimate it to some extent.

At least, it belonged to the same tier as the previous Barfiment.

Does that mean this is also a great demon? Remembering the information he had received earlier, could this aberration be one of the elusive Seven Seats—Jupiter?

Although Sanders thought so, he always felt like he had seen this aberration before.

“Is he Jupiter?” Sanders asked softly.

Angel shook his head vigorously, “Not Jupiter, he is Popota! The apprentice that went missing in the Twilight Mountains before!”

Sanders furrowed his brows, this answer was completely unexpected to him. But if he followed Angel’s words… Sanders recalled Popota’s appearance. His memory was extraordinary; as long as he wished, he could remember the appearance and clothing details of an unnamed passerby even from a hundred years ago.

And Popota was indeed the only apprentice from the Barbarian Cave who had come to the Watchguard Fortress, so Sanders actually had a good impression of him.

The aberration in front of him looked nothing like Popota, but the chain, as well as the contour of its eyes, were exactly the same as Popota’s.

“How did he become like this? Why is he here?” Sanders wondered.

However, his questions could not be answered at the moment, because the flame chain suddenly stabbed towards Sanders.

Sanders and Popota began to fight in the narrow corridor.

Meanwhile, Angel retreated to the corner, pulled open the palm-fire statue, and temporarily hid in a narrow and empty room.

After entering the room, Angel took a moment to catch his breath, then heard intense noises from outside; the entire corridor seemed to be shaking.

The only relief was that the materials used to construct the Void Tower were very sturdy, so Angel was safe hiding there for the time being.

While Sanders and Popota were clashing, Angel pondered Sanders’s question.

Why had Popota turned into what he was now? Angel actually had a guess in his mind. Previously, when he had used the Scouting Puppet, he saw Popota kill a Purgatory Flame Slave by the Magma pool. However, when the Scouting Puppet was discovered, he did not see what happened afterward.

But when he went back to the Magma pool, he could no longer see the slain Purgatory Flame Slave, only its weapon remained on the ground. Furthermore, the rest of the area around the Magma pool was covered with Purgatory Flame Slave weapons. If Popota had been seeking profit, he definitely would not have left those weapons and only taken the bodies.

Thinking back on it now, maybe Popota’s power surge was related to those missing bodies?

Perhaps through devouring or sacrifice.

However, regardless of the method used, if Popota managed to reach nearly the level of a great demon from being an apprentice in such a short time, it was almost certain that his end would not be pleasant.

A collapse was inevitable.

Even when Glarke from the Dusknights’ Blade, after his physical destruction, possessed a new body to become “Spiwey,” he could not immediately transition from an apprentice to a wizard and still had to progress step by step.

Nevertheless, when exactly the collapse would happen, that was difficult to say.

As for Sanders’s second question: Why was Popota here?

Angel, in fact, had a flicker of insight when he first saw Popota, but he had been too preoccupied with how to escape and had not thought it through.

Now, delving deeper into the analysis, it seemed that the answer was gradually becoming clear.

Why did Lassudral collapse?

Because an uninvited guest had intruded into the Void Tower and destroyed the Inscription nexus in the underground hall.

Angel had already encountered Jupiter and Yadasai in the Void Tower, so aside from them, who could the intruder be?

At this point, the answer was very clear: Popota was very likely the intruder, and his purpose here was probably to destroy the Inscription nexus.

But if this line of thought was pursued further, it became truly horrifying.

What would be the purpose behind Popota’s desperate attempt to destroy the Inscription nexus?