Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2074: Chapter 2075: Nightmare Light

While Angel was still observing the Magical Energy Array, the Boiling Gentleman had already stepped onto the stone platform.

The Boiling Gentleman explained the purpose of the stone platform while inviting Angel to step onto it.

According to the Boiling Gentleman, the Xinnai Land is now still in a state of descent, and spatial waves are relatively stable only in the Duling Garden because it has a large quantity of Fungal Bloom.

In other areas, the spatial energy seems stable, but Master Nuka has locked down free spatial movement. The only way to move between points is through fixed Teleportation Arrays, and this movement cannot cross regions.

This stone platform is the short-distance Teleportation Array of the Rainbow Mountain. The destination is the top of the Rainbow Mountain, where the entrance to the Mist Corridor is located.

After listening to the Boiling Gentleman, Angel secretly tested for himself. The Gate of Void that could be smoothly opened in the Duling Garden showed a noticeable delay here, and forcibly opening it could likely lead to spell technique collapse or even backlash.

Since the Boiling Gentleman had already stepped onto the stone platform, Angel couldn’t continue to study the familiar Magic Patterns and had to temporarily put aside his doubts about space and patterns, following the Boiling Gentleman onto the Teleportation Array.

Once the array was activated and the halo flickered, Angel and the Boiling Gentleman instantly disappeared from the stone platform.

When the feeling of weightlessness vanished, they found themselves in a forest.

The forest seemed endless for the moment, with extremely lush vegetation.

Unusually, whether the flourishing trees or the oddly-shaped flowers and grasses on the ground, all emitted a faint colorful glow.

Mist lingered among the trees, and the colorful glow shimmered on the flowing thin mist, resembling a constantly surging phantasmal rainbow river that rendered this place like a dreamlike forest from a fairy tale.

Moreover, this dreamlike sensation wasn’t just visual.

The air was filled with a sweet food scent that stirred the taste buds while the eyes embraced the beauty.

Angel wasn’t a wizard specializing in scent or culinary arts, but he had a keen sense of smell and easily captured the sweet scents emanating from the surrounding plants. Different plants exuded different aromas, yet all were capable of enhancing the taste buds and causing saliva to secrete in the mouth.

Though different plants emitted different aromas, when mixed, they surprisingly blended harmoniously and purely.

If Greya were here, she would likely have bright eyes, setting aside all her worries and starting to study these plants.

Angel, though somewhat interested in these plants, was more eager to leave this place than research them.

After stepping out of the Teleportation Array, the Boiling Gentleman led the way while continuing to speak in disconnected logic. Angel had become accustomed to his style, occasionally responding, making it seem harmonious.

Soon, they walked out of the dreamlike forest into a more open area.

From here, they could clearly sense that they were near the summit of the Rainbow Mountain.

With far-reaching views, they could overlook most scenes of the Rainbow Mountain area, including the mist flowing at the edge, even able to glimpse through the mist to the distant horizon’s more remote outlines of buildings.

Even without seeing the details clearly, the mere shadow of those building outlines was exceedingly large.

As if constructed by the heavens, they exuded a sense of grandeur and solemnity.

”That is the Xinnai Royal City where Master Nuka resides, though not on the same spatial plane. Since the Royal City is the core area of the Xinnai Land, you can see it from anywhere by looking towards the sky.” The Boiling Gentleman also followed Angel’s gaze, looking at the vast city on the horizon like a mirage.

Angel stared at the Royal City for a long time before his pupils slightly shrank.

The Royal City hadn’t undergone any changes; nothing changed here either. The reason Angel’s gaze shifted was that he noticed a thin layer of red light seemingly enveloping the Royal City’s sky.

The entire city appeared shrouded as if with a faint red filter.

Angel had never been to the Royal City, where he wouldn’t care about light of white, green, or even purple, but it was the red light!

Reeves previously told him during his recount of exploring the ruins that everywhere was eerie, but the eeriest was the intermittently surging red light.

When bathed in the red light, everything around him morphed terrifyingly.

The walls were no longer walls but melting magma; doors didn’t lead to doors but to the world of the undead; statues in corridors weren’t silent ornaments but would open scarlet eyes, cracking from above and transforming into terrifying creatures that hunt and purge outside invaders; even the marble floor would produce dark smoke to drag one into unknown timespaces...

Hence, all who explored these ruins couldn’t escape.

No matter how hard they tried to escape pursuit or the moments when red light surged, soon enough, the red light would suffuse every part of the ruins, giving nowhere to hide.

And this red light wasn’t brought by Nightmare Realm creatures, but rather the ruins’ own bizarre peculiarity.

Because when Reeves entered the ruins, they were still purely ruins, untouched by Nightmare Realm creatures.

Angel felt odd when Reeves narrated it before as he hadn’t seen any so-called red light;

From Duling Garden to Rose District and then Rainbow Mountain, there was no red light. Unexpectedly, it was at Master Nuka’s residence, the Xinnai Royal City, where he saw the red light.

Angel wanted to inquire about the truth of the red light but hesitated, fearing it might not be anything special. Even if it were special, given Shava’s identity, she might know about the red light; asking would expose his ignorance, leading to risks of revealing his disguise.

After weighing it for a long time, he decided to ask. Angel thought even if suspicion arose from a question, it wouldn’t completely expose his disguise, and after all... the Dalmatian was still in his arms, ready to cover for him.

However, while he intended to ask, Angel didn’t directly inquire but remarked in a mild tone, ”The red light over the Royal City... interesting.”

If the Boiling Gentleman acknowledged this statement, he would naturally continue along the topic of the red light.

If not, then the red light was nothing special, and Angel would simply consider himself unlucky, at most losing some face. Besides, he hadn’t directly asked, so a little awkwardness wouldn’t matter.

”Did Lord Shava also notice?” Fortunately, the Boiling Gentleman didn’t question Angel, but responded in a reflective tone, ”Master Nuka decided to make this place the Xinnai Land’s descent site because of discovering the Nightmare Light.”

”Never expected there to be seeds of Nightmare Light here, though not many. If they were like in the core area, even just at the city’s edge, it might attract beings like the Mist Forest’s master, the Demon Flower Sea’s owner, and even the Rose Baron to descend.”

After hearing the Boiling Gentleman’s words, Angel’s mind was filled with questions.

What is the Nightmare Light? What special qualities does it have that could attract powerful Nightmare Realm entities to descend?

Angel wanted to ask the Fey Gentleman, but this time he dared not. Because, from the Fey Gentleman’s words, there is also a Nightmare Light within the Nightmare Realm.

If that’s really the case, Shava must know what the Nightmare Light is.

If he pursued further, he estimated that there would indeed be a risk of exposing himself.

After sighing a few times, the Fey Gentleman did not extend the topic of Nightmare Light, but continued to walk forward.

Although Angel felt itchy with curiosity, he could not say much, so he followed in silence. As for the mystery of the Nightmare Light, he could only try to find the truth after leaving here.

...

”We’ve arrived. From here, you can reach the Candle Corridor.”

After passing through the territories of many terrifying insect swarms, and finally taking a small path through a dense forest, they arrived at the northeastern slope of Rainbow Mountain.

This is a relatively flat region, offering a very wide view, allowing them to clearly see everything here.

On the left is a small house in the shape of a loaf of bread, like a restaurant, behind which is a pink lake continuously bubbling with mist and foam. Presumably, this lake is the source of the Pink Princess, while on the right are several mother nests of Colorful Dragonflies resembling mountain hollows.

Although the Fey Gentleman said you could reach the Candle Corridor from here, Angel hadn’t yet found the so-called entrance.

As Angel looked around, the door of the bread house opened, and with a tremor of the ground, Davascia, looking like a meatball, walked out from within.

With black and white eyes blinking a couple of times, Davascia tilted his head before finally fixing his gaze on Angel.

”Lord Shava, would you like to have the Candy Feast I prepared?” Davascia looked at Angel with shining eyes.

Angel remained silent for a moment, then shook his head: ”I just ate a dinner at Misty Goldlady’s castle earlier, so I’m not hungry now.”

Davascia lowered his head in some disappointment: ”Oh...”

”When Lord Shava gets hungry, will you come here to have the Candy Feast?” Davascia looked back up with hopeful eyes after his initial disappointment.

”If we are still in Xinnai Land by then, there’s a chance.” Angel replied ambiguously.

Davascia didn’t think too much about it. Hearing ”there’s a chance,” he happily nodded, muttering, ”I should prepare in advance, what ingredients should I use?” Then, Davascia, biting his finger, returned to the bread house.

Angel’s mouth moved as if wanting to say something but in the end, nothing came out.

”Davascia is just like that, only hearing what he wants to hear. However, he is truly eager to make a Candy Feast that will satisfy Lord Shava.” The Fey Gentleman remarked from the side. Although he did not say it outright, the hidden meaning still hoped Lord Shava would return to Xinnai Land in the future.

After the Fey Gentleman finished speaking, he walked forward. He didn’t head to either side but went straight to the front.

In front of a stone wall beneath a small slope.

The Fey Gentleman reached out and tapped the stone wall, which then disappeared, revealing in front of them a dark passage.

”This is the entrance and exit of the Candle Corridor.” After saying this, the Fey Gentleman was the first to step into the passage.

Angel also followed, and upon stepping into the Candle Corridor, he thought to himself: as expected, his previous suspicion was correct, that there are dangers lurking near each region’s entrance and exit.

Especially at this connection between the Candle Corridor and Rainbow Mountain, not only are there Colorful Dragonflies, but Davascia’s home is also nearby.

If it were someone else entering, they’d likely face Davascia immediately.

Angel now felt somewhat fortunate that he could still communicate with Sanders through the Wilderness of Dreams. Otherwise, if they entered this relic because of him, the outcome would likely not be favorable.

...

Candle Corridor.

At first glance, it looked much like what Angel saw when looking through the relic gate. It was all narrow corridors, with wall-mounted candelabras at intervals casting light, so it wasn’t too dark.

However, the reach of the candlelight was limited in dispelling darkness, and shadows existed between the candelabras. Within these shadows lurked some strangely shaped ghosts.

Upon entering the Candle Corridor, the Dalmatian jumped down from Angel’s arms and started barking at some dark corners.

And the targets of its barking were these oddly-shaped magical creatures.

For instance, this one in front of them.

It was a magical creature emerging from the darkness, resembling a leopard. Overall, it looked like a black magic leopard, but the middle of its abdomen, not covered by fur, revealed stark white bones. These bones didn’t contain any internal organs but a faintly glowing metallic sphere.

Upon its appearance, the strange bone leopard stared at Angel with a fierce gaze.

This was the first magical creature Angel encountered after entering the relic that harbored intense malice towards him. Perhaps for this reason, the Dalmatian leaped down from his embrace, positioned itself in front of Angel, and barked at this bone leopard.

Seeing the bone leopard was about to pounce on Angel, the Fey Gentleman standing by the side lightly snapped his fingers, causing the glowing metallic sphere in the bone leopard’s abdomen to bubble and release a large amount of steam.

After a second or two, a muffled sound came from inside the sphere, and its light quickly diminished. Simultaneously, the green glow in the bone leopard’s eyes vanished, as if its soul had been lost.

Subsequently, the bone leopard completely turned into a corpse, collapsing to the ground.

It was only then that the Fey Gentleman awkwardly explained: ”These magical creatures I captured from the void and modified...”

For this reason, these creatures couldn’t sense Shava’s aura, and thus couldn’t be suppressed by Shava’s rank.

This didn’t surprise Angel much. Seeing the bone leopard, he already sensed it wasn’t a Nightmare Realm Demon, so he believed the Fey Gentleman’s explanation.

More than anything, Angel was curious about the ”modification” mentioned by the Fey Gentleman.