Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2421: Chapter 2422: Rejection Mechanism

This situation gave Angel a strong sense of déjà vu.

Previously, in the Abyss, Toby was tainted by the aura left by the Pilgrim of Misfortune, and unlucky events followed one after another. The current situation is strangely similar.

Of course, the misfortune encountered by the Mist Shadow should not come from the Pilgrim of Misfortune.

Where would it come from?

Simply a streak of bad luck? Angel doesn’t really believe that.

But if there is external interference, who can interfere in such luck?

Among the Transcendent beings Angel has encountered, aside from the Pilgrim of Misfortune and the Fate Thief, there shouldn’t be... no, there is one more.

Reynaud himself can also influence luck to a certain extent. He is called ”John’s Revenge” for a reason.

But Reynaud usually brings good luck, while now this ”Reynaud” is riddled with misfortune.

Is this the result of the Mist Shadow possessing Reynaud’s body causing rejection effects?

Rejection can be understood as the will of the self expelling foreign will. This isn’t just on an individual level; even the world itself has similar rejection mechanisms. For example, Jon, due to his discord with the native will, experienced a series of subsequent tragedies, which is also an example of rejection.

However, generally speaking, rejection isn’t unsolvable. As long as one’s individual strength is formidable, one can completely overpower the native will.

Moreover, the rejection mechanism is a passive defense; most people really have no means to perfect this passive mechanism unless you have similar countermeasures or if you’ve got a cheat.

Whether Reynaud has countermeasures, Angel doesn’t know. But if the ”cheat” that influences luck truly exists in Reynaud’s talent, then this ”out-of-discussion” mechanism might just become the main method for expelling foreign will.

And this method leads to Reynaud, even if his body isn’t strong, having a natural attribute of being difficult to possess.

Angel doesn’t know whether this hypothesis is correct, but if it truly is, then the Mist Shadow must be feeling quite uncomfortable now.

The downside to the rise in luck is the extremity of terrible luck.

The activation of the mechanism corridor proves it all.

However, what Angel worries a bit more about is if this backlash of misfortune has no upper limit, even if it truly crushes the Mist Shadow, Reynaud’s body likely won’t get any favorable outcome either.

This belongs to the rejection mechanism where the loss to the enemy is a thousand, but the self-loss is also a thousand.

”Hope that when Reynaud’s body is found, he can still roughly maintain human form?” Angel silently thought, looking at the charred imprint on the ground visible to the skin tissue.

...

Outside the base laboratory.

A huge ”buzzing” sound came from the distance, accompanied by the rolling mist around, a new wave of Law-driven airflow strikes.

Fero, who was previously outside spouting fiery remarks, now silenced his voice, furrowing his brow, gazing toward the direction where the airflow was coming from.

”Why does it feel like the pressure from this airflow is increasing? And... the sound seems to be getting closer to here.”

Fero felt inexplicably uneasy, somehow sensing a bad omen.

He lowered his head, looking at a piece of black crystal in his palm, which Kanter had given him, instructing him to crush it during danger, allowing Kanter to locate him by crossing dimensional crevices.

Fero pondered whether to crush it now.

At this moment, not only was Fero hesitating, but 03 inside the Mechanist Core was also dithering.

She too felt the mighty roaring sound, while also hearing the sea beasts’ laments hidden beneath the roar. She knew what kind of sea beast it was and understood that this sea beast had very mysterious characteristics, and would definitely become the best target material for the experiment’s final goal.

It’s just, she was somewhat puzzled as to why that sea beast, though powerful, hasn’t been taken down even though 01 brought so many combat personnel out and took that precious alchemy tool.

Moreover, judging from the intensity of the Law-driven airflow and the volume of the roaring, it can be seen that the battlefield seems to be far from The Nest, yet getting closer to the laboratory.

Could this be due to a stalemate, dragging the pursuit battle to the laboratory to leverage its power?

If 01 truly encountered difficulties and attempts to leverage the laboratory’s power against that sea beast, then his return to the laboratory might lead to an ambush from the group outside.

understood that she couldn’t wait any longer.

She had to take action, or else, not to mention waiting for them to rescue her, 01’s return while being attacked from both front and back would inevitably lead to their side’s failure.

But with Fero watching outside and Sanders and the others not showing up, they were likely guarding against her coming out.

bit her lips, once again looking at the bottle in her hands, the mysterious seed core inside still emitting a great attraction to her.

Should she consume it? Consuming it might give her the strength to resist, but her future would become unpredictable.

Not consuming it, relying solely on herself, facing a Second Level True Knowledge Wizard is impossible.

hesitated for a long time but ultimately laid the seed core back down. She decided to gamble, betting that Sanders isn’t outside.

If she wins the bet, facing Fero alone, even if she temporarily lacks strength, she can charge toward the laboratory to activate the largest mechanism, coordinating from inside and outside.

Even if she loses the bet, as long as they don’t kill her instantly upon sight, she has the chance to swallow the seed core.

After making the decision, 03 took a deep breath, her gaze determined, looking at the blazing flames outside...

...

On the fourth underground level of the laboratory.

”It’s coming again.” Nis softly exclaimed, feeling the boundless waves of Law surrounding them.

The air was very quiet until the Law-driven airflow dissipated, Nis broke the silence again: ”The intensity of this Law-driven airflow seems to show no signs of decreasing; instead, it’s consistently escalating.”

”It’s approaching us.” Kanter affirmed directly.

”The Law-driven airflow, if there’s no accident, is caused by 01’s attempts to deal with the Demonic Cub. Its continuous approach means 01 and his group might be coming back now?” Since understanding 01’s objective, inferring the outside situation became simpler.

Kanter nodded: ”They should be returning. But his return this time might not necessarily be victorious.”

Nis understood Kanter’s point; if victorious, the Law-driven airflow should dissipate accordingly, its persistence indicates issues with the battle.

Perhaps they underestimated the Demonic Cub’s strength, or overestimated their own coordination.

But regardless of why 01 and his group are returning, their return might already be a settled matter.

The need to resolve now is what should they do?

”We can’t wait any longer, leave the laboratory as soon as possible,” Kanter stated.

This is not only because Fero is outside, needing support; most importantly, if 01 truly lured the Demonic Cub into the laboratory and killed it nearby, everyone present could be implicated.

If Gluz Deward is enraged, he surely wouldn’t differentiate who is aligned with whom amongst those present and would undeniably wipe out everyone.

Therefore, leaving the laboratory range as soon as possible is the best choice.

If not feasible, figure out a way to prevent 01’s assault on the Demonic Cub.

After they made their decision, Kanter began to contact Angel, while Nis looked back at Reynaud and found his soul body somewhat unstable, with a dazed expression.

Nis thought Reynaud was worried about his body and said, ”Even if the flesh is gone, believe me, the soul can live forever.”

Reynaud slowly raised his head, and from his confused eyes, Nis could tell that Reynaud might not have heard their conversation before.

Indeed, Reynaud looked bewildered and said, ”Huh?”

Nis sighed and didn’t inform Reynaud of their decision, planning to take him away directly once everything was settled: ”It’s nothing... Uh, what were you thinking just now?”

Reynaud: ”I, I seemed to feel the connection to my body weakening, and for a while before, I couldn’t feel it at all. It’s like it doesn’t exist...”

Nis patted Reynaud’s shoulder: ”You don’t need to worry, your body might already be dead.”

Reynaud: ”...”

”You’re homeless now, and your body is dead, so just obediently join Soul Valley in the future.”

Reynaud: ”...I seem to vaguely sense something again.” His body seems salvageable.

Nis wanted to say more, but Kanter suddenly said, ”There’s a situation.”

Nis looked over in confusion, only to see Kanter extend his hand, revealing a crystal as dark as night in his palm.

At this moment, cracks appeared on the surface of the crystal, spreading quickly and soon covering the entire crystal.

”Ferro has crushed the crystal I gave him; something might have happened over there. We need to leave immediately!” Kanter said.

”But Angel over there...”

Kanter: ”I’ve already informed Toby and that Fire Spirit. They will tell Angel later.”

After speaking, Kanter directly crushed the black crystal.

As the crystal powder scattered, a ravenous space rift instantly appeared before them.

Kanter: ”Let’s go!”

Nis also nodded solemnly.

Then Kanter added, ”Remember to reimburse me for the two Nightmare Light Crystals later.”

Nis’s expression instantly changed from serious to grim.

...

On the other side, located on the first floor of the laboratory, Angel also sensed the arrival of the law waves.

However, Angel didn’t stop as he usually does; instead, he accelerated his pace.

”Toby, Gravity Meridian,” Angel said while moving rapidly.

Toby nodded, leapt into the air, and flapped his wings, causing waves of gray mist to spread and completely envelop them.

With the Gravity Meridian’s enhancement, Angel could move freely within the law waves.

Angel’s speed was swift, leaving corridors behind as he sensed getting closer to Reynaud’s body.

At this time, if the mist shadow doesn’t have the protection of similar Law Meridian power, it would certainly be affected by the law waves and cease activity, offering Angel the opportunity.

However, while running, Angel pondered a new problem: while the opportunity to solve the problem seemed easy, how could he prevent the mist shadow from exploding?

Previously, after catching the fire scale summoned demon, the mist shadow directly exploded its head. Such scenes are still vivid in his memory. If Reynaud also exploded, his body would be useless even if found.

Angel thought hard but couldn’t devise a perfect solution.

Ultimately, he could only hope that Reynaud’s core will would exert some strength.

Since fate and luck could be altered through rejection mechanisms, perhaps the mist shadow could malfunction when attempting to explode, preventing it from happening.

With a hopeful outlook, Angel rushed through corridor after corridor as the law waves swept by.

Quickly, Angel arrived in a new corridor.

All the energy pipes in this corridor were already emptied; the luminous energy fluid vanished, replaced by toxic mist permeating the corridor.

Undoubtedly, this was a trap corridor.

Standing outside the corridor, Angel’s sight penetrated the ghostly green toxic mist, already seeing a silhouette not far away.

Judging by the outline, it was Reynaud.

At this moment, ”Reynaud” was lying motionless on the ground, looking like a corpse.

”Is he dead?” Dangross’s voice rang in the ear.

”I don’t know, but he might be trapped by the law waves unable to move.” After saying this, Angel directly walked into the corridor.

The toxic mist inside wasn’t simple. It didn’t consist of particles floating in the Material Realm but was a form of energy toxin, so it couldn’t be blown away by the wind, nor can ordinary energy shields defend against it.

For apprentices, this energy toxin posed an insurmountable challenge. Once it formed mist in a confined space, it could easily push apprentices into despair.

But for Official Wizards, this toxin couldn’t even break through spiritual power shields, illustrating the dominance of energy levels.

Angel walked step by step to Reynaud’s side.

Here, he could clearly see Reynaud’s ”miserable” condition.

Burned by fire, frozen, struck by lightning, every inch of skin was scorched and red, with skin fragments being black and blood drenching the flesh.

His clothes were completely gone, with only remnants of fabric fibers on the ruined skin, indicating he was once a decent person.

Fortunately, at least Reynaud appeared complete, without missing limbs. But whether functionality was lost remained unknown.

”...How pitiful,” Dangross spread his palm, looking at the lying corpse on the ground. Having seen Reynaud’s intact soul body, seeing his ruined flesh was jarring.

This was probably the result of misfortune’s backlash.

Angel was hesitant about dealing with Reynaud now, worried misfortune would continue affecting the surroundings.

Ultimately, Angel still summoned the Hand of Magic to drag Reynaud out of the toxic mist.

Then, Angel swiftly bound Reynaud and took out a Magic Rune Scroll for Arcane Nullification, intending to see if the magic vacuum environment could stop the mist shadow’s explosion.

Soon, the law waves dissipated.

Angel braced himself.

But after the resonance of the law waves faded, the unrecognizable Reynaud still remained motionless.

Angel hesitated for a moment, using the Power of Nightmare Illusion to conjure a hand reaching toward Reynaud’s brow.