Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2709: Chapter 2710: Childlike You Nu

”What did you just say ’too’... what?” Angel looked at Dox with confusion.

Of course, it’s too wasteful! Did you think I was complementing you for being too smart? Dox held back his continuous urge to retort and changed to a more tactful tone: ”It’s nothing. I just wanted to say that using the Plane Corridor should be reserved for critical moments. Before that, we can actually try out some other methods.”

Angel stroked his chin: ”What you said makes sense, but...”

As soon as Angel had a ”but,” Dox thought to quickly interrupt, yet this time before he could speak, the Wise Sovereign spoke first.

”You want to use the Plane Corridor method to bypass the trial directly, and while that’s doable, my residence has specific spatial restriction Magical Energy Arrays. Even if I’m the one to handle it, it will take a certain amount of time to lift the restrictions.”

The Wise Sovereign mentioned ”it will take some time” but did not specify how long it would actually take. Even if Angel asks, the Wise Sovereign can randomly give a number because lifting the restrictions indeed takes time, and he can choose to be fast or slow as he pleases.

”I may not be able to lift the restrictions while you undergo the trial, so this method is temporarily unfeasible.”

The use of uncertain language like ”may not be able” and ”temporarily unfeasible” left room for this method, clearly outlined by the Wise Sovereign.

After a pause, the Wise Sovereign continued: ”Moreover, even if I could lift the spatial restrictions now, allowing you to directly traverse to my residence, it wouldn’t end the trial. Instead, it might infuriate her, making the trial’s difficulty increase dramatically.”

”Also, it would make her aware that I’m ’allied’ with you.” The Wise Sovereign added, ”Not a good sign for you all. Considering the Magical Energy Array in my residence, her ability to break it is faster if so desires. This means that once you confront her head-on, she will also be wary of me, and my residence will not be able to provide any more buffering time for you.”

Although the Wise Sovereign exaggerated his words, there was inherently no mutual trust between him and the Goddess from the start. If Angel and the others end up in severe conflict with the Goddess, the genuine support for Angel and his group wouldn’t come from the Hall of Wisdom or the Magical Energy Array but rather from the Wise Sovereign himself.

Nonetheless, the Wise Sovereign wasn’t exactly deceiving; he simply withheld the full truth.

After hearing the Wise Sovereign’s words, how could Angel not discern that the Wise Sovereign didn’t desire for them to ”cheat” using the Plane Corridor method? His series of words essentially conveyed one message: No matter what, they must endure the trial; skipping it would only breed trouble.

Although Angel perceived the Wise Sovereign’s words as overly vague and unconvincing, he did concur on one point: At present, ’she’ is vehemently opposed to the descendants of Noah. Before grasping the hidden truths, directly bypassing the trial won’t conclude it; it will only empower the mysterious ’her’ behind the scenes.

After all, ’trial’ is only the Wise Sovereign’s terminology; for her, it genuinely is a barricade, or even an eradication!

Attempting to use the Plane Corridor now to swiftly reach the Hall of Wisdom will only heighten her precautions. The best approach is cleverly breaking the barriers, ensuring the opponent isn’t tipped off to their strategic foresight until obtaining complete info from the Wise Sovereign and then gradually advancing or feigning weakness to devise responses.

But this circles back to the original dilemma.

Opting to break the barriers with ingenuity implies that they still must confront You Nu head-on and manage to break through without harming You Nu.

This notion stirred a headache for Angel, prompting him to rub his temples.

Perhaps noticing Angel’s grim expression, the Black Earl consoled through the Mind Ribbon: ”Don’t stress yourself too much... If this doesn’t work out, we can leave the ruins first. Exploring the legacy is not something to rush into.”

The Black Earl’s idea was that as long as Angel chose to leave, then the oath he’d signed with Angel would be void, allowing him to call upon his true self to handle the aftermath here.

Yet, this still stands as a desperate fallback rather than the primary course of action since the Wise Sovereign isn’t unintelligent; he’s well aware of any change that might occur following their departures. On their next meeting, the Wise Sovereign is unlikely to align with them anymore and is more apt to oppose them.

Before unraveling the legacy’s truth, becoming adversarial with the Wise Sovereign isn’t beneficial.

Even if the Black Earl understands this rationale, he posited such words because, in his eyes, the legacy site is significant but so is Angel, whose importance might eclipse even the legacy.

This is because what exists within the legacy remains a question mark, while the value of Angel is distinctly present before him. Simply rescuing Angel accrues great merit to Rhein, not to mention Angel’s innate substantial value.

Moreover, the key to the legacy site lies in Angel’s possession.

”Pressure?” Upon hearing the Black Earl’s console, Angel merely shook his head, ”I’m not feeling pressured, just suddenly missing a certain mucus monster...”

Missing the mucus monster? Everyone glanced around, puzzled by whom Angel referred to.

Angel’s mention of the mucus monster was naturally reminiscing about the Void Traveler’s leader, ’Wang Wang.’ Realizing spatial traversal wasn’t viable and the Plane Corridor was restricted, Angel promptly thought of Wang Wang’s void traversal abilities.

The creature’s void traversal differed from other Void Travelers, representing a higher dimensional traversal. If Wang Wang were present, Angel might not even need to go to the Hall of Wisdom, potentially getting whisked away directly to the legacy site.

Furthermore, even if they were engulfed by You Nu, Wang Wang could likely traverse out unharmed.

While Angel contemplated the ”possibility,” his inner conviction was strong due to the overwhelming nature of such dimensional travels, bypassing everything he currently understands—virtually unstoppable.

Sadly, Wang Wang wasn’t by his side.

Angel could theoretically contact Wang Wang through Heideland, but doing so, he’d perceive as embarrassing.

Hence, Angel could only cherish the nostalgia and covet Wang Wang’s traversal abilities. If only he could maneuver across high dimensions, that would be ideal...

Angel didn’t particularly conceal his emotions, leaving the onlookers, confused by his reflective mood, topped with question marks over their heads.

As the crowd speculated over what creature Angel missed, Angel diverted the topic, asking: ”Wise Sovereign, will Little Trespasser, Second Trespasser, and Big Trespasser partake in the trial?”

Wise Sovereign: ”I believe I made it quite clear before. Do you doubt it?”

Angel: ”I don’t have doubts, but... I indeed hope the one-eyed Little Trespasser or the other two might join the trial. Well... preferably before we encounter You Nu.”

When Angel brought this up, the crowd was stunned but quickly grasped his intentions.

Clearly, the Wise Sovereign previously implied Angel should employ the Magical Energy Array to resolve the trial. However, You Nu can perform limited actions within the Magical Energy Array. Once confronted with You Nu, analyzing the array might not reveal its flaws promptly.

The optimal plan would be having a pre-strategy rehearsal.

Observing how You Nu maneuvers within the Magical Energy Array, what privileges do they possess? There are privileges that counter You Nu’s actions as well. By pinning down the patterns corresponding to these privileges, Angel is confident about breaking through.

Yet, You Nu belongs to ’her,’ responding more to ’her’ than the Wise Sovereign. Upon encountering them, You Nu surely won’t offer rehearsal time; hence Angel surmised relying on You Nu’s three offspring.

The Black Earl sighed relief at Angel’s inquiry, originally suspecting Angel was close to conceding. Fortunately, he hadn’t despaired, and Angel’s proposed method provided substantial reference.

However, the premise is the Wise Sovereign approving You Nu’s children to pre-”trial” them and the trial’s leniency in moderation.

At that moment, everyone’s gaze turned to the Wise Sovereign, awaiting his decision.

The Wise Sovereign pondered briefly before softly stating: ”I never mentioned they’re not part of the trial.”

While lacking direct answers, this statement essentially indicated the Wise Sovereign’s stance. Big Trespasser, Second Trespasser, or Little Trespasser might appear shortly.

With the Wise Sovereign’s response, Angel felt a bit relieved.

As long as the Trespassers have regulated privileges within the Magical Energy Array, the ”breaking barriers with cleverness” plan should be feasible.

Concerning the Magical Energy Array’s solution... That’s hardly Angel’s primary concern. Whether hard or easy means little to Angel; his actual focus is on the time spent, fearing delays might lead to more complications.

However, considering the Wise Sovereign raised this option, it likely won’t consume excessive time.

Seeing Angel prepared for the trial, the Wise Sovereign ceased continuing on this topic, returning to discussing the True Words Tome’s contract...

...

As the Wise Sovereign elucidated contract terms with Angel, a faint light emerged in the depths of the dark legacy site.

In the pitch-black space, a mirror slowly appeared.

This was a square mirror with a rope-textured bronze frame, floating in mid-air.

At the center of the mirror, there was a black abyss that spun continuously, resembling the eye of a storm.

Below the mirror, a slumbering blonde woman suddenly opened her eyes.

This blonde woman was undoubtedly the ”she” referred to by the Wise Sovereign. She was also the female twin represented in the Mirror Demon God’s symbol... Adanis.

Adanis stood up and looked towards the mirror with the black vortex, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

”Why don’t you show yourself? Did the task fail?” A ghostly voice emerged from Adanis’ mouth.

The vortex in the mirror stopped rotating for a few seconds before a hand, seemingly made entirely of ruby, appeared on the mirror. This gem hand was not complete, with a visibly broken little finger, from which ”blood” flowed.

If Angel were here, he’d immediately recognize that this was the gem hand he saw in the dresser mirror deep in the room on the second floor of the Hanging Jail Stairway.

The broken little finger of the gem hand had been self-snatched, used to write words with the flowing ’blood’ on the mirror.

The gem hand appeared in the mirror and repeated the scene that had played out in front of Angel.

The gem hand extended the broken finger and left a line of blood-red words on the mirror.

”I am unworthy of Your Highness’s grace.”

Adanis glanced at the unclear, even ”mirror-reversed” blood-red words, furrowing her brows, ”You’re not the main body? Talk to me.”

The gem hand slowly withdrew, and the mirror reverted to a vortex.

But soon, the gem hand reappeared, this time with a mouth made of pink gemstones in the center of its palm.

The mouth slowly opened, and a childish female voice came out: ”Goddess, forgive me.”

With the still lingering blood words on the mirror: ”I am unworthy of Your Highness’s grace,” Adanis understood that this unclear phrase actually meant nothing more than a ’sorry.’

To twist ’sorry’ into such an odd and incorrect expression, Adanis realized who was in the mirror.

”You Nu’s child-like spirit?”

”Yes. I am the child-like spirit of You Nu,” the childish voice responded.

”Where is your main body?” Adanis asked, puzzled, ”Did it send you to inquire about the situation?”

”The girl-like spirit of You Nu is helping the Dominator clean up experimental residues, the mother-like spirit of You Nu is accompanying Little Bao, so only I am free...” The child-like spirit of You Nu said with some wistfulness.

Adanis: ”Aren’t you usually the one accompanying Little Bao?”

The child-like spirit of You Nu: ”Today, Little Bao didn’t want to play, it came to complain because Second Bao ignored it...”

Complaining child? Adanis rubbed her temples, feeling a slight headache.

Adanis: ”So, your main body is handling these trifling affairs? And then sent you to gather intelligence?”

The child-like spirit of You Nu dared not reply, but silence was also an answer.

In Adanis’ view, the main body of You Nu comprised the girl-like spirit and the mother-like spirit, as their intelligence was at least capable of normal communication. The child-like spirit’s intelligence... was even less than that of the one-eyed Little Bao.

Of course, the true essence of You Nu was a combination of child-like, girl-like, and mother-like spirits. Singling out one or two doesn’t constitute the main body; they are merely avatars.

Adanis took a deep breath, faced with the aggrieved child-like spirit of You Nu, she could only suppress her displeasure.

She understood very well why it was the child-like spirit sent to probe. Ultimately, it was because You Nu had never changed its perception of itself.

You Nu never considered the child-like, girl-like, and mother-like spirits as separate entities; they were all itself, only possessing memories from different stages.

Therefore, regardless of which spirit went to investigate, You Nu considered it was itself, hence didn’t see the issue.

The real problem lay with Adanis herself; she should have explicitly instructed You Nu to send the girl-like or mother-like spirit before dispatching it.

Thus, Adanis could only quell her internal dissatisfaction.

”Forget it, tell me the situation. How did your mission fail? Weren’t you tasked to investigate why the outpost was destroyed and their situation? Which part went wrong?”

The child-like spirit of You Nu pondered for a moment, saying: ”I hid in the mirror, trying to secretly observe who destroyed the outpost, but... I accidentally got discovered.”

Adanis: ”Discovered? What happened?”

The child-like spirit of You Nu wasn’t sure how to describe it, especially since it didn’t have the girl-like and mother-like spirits’ clear ability to recognize humans’ faces. In its eyes, those two humans looked identical.

After thinking long and hard, it couldn’t come up with suitable wording.

Adanis understood the child-like spirit of You Nu very well. Seeing it remain silent for so long, she resignedly held her forehead and said, ”If you can’t think of how to say it, never mind. As usual, mirror reconstruction.”

Upon hearing ”mirror reconstruction,” the child’s vexation instantly vanished.

”As expected, Your Highness cares for me the most.” The youthful voice carried a hint of affection and coquettishness.

Adanis sighed inwardly. When You Nu was brought out of the Mirror World by her, it only had the child-like spirit; the girl-like and mother-like spirits hadn’t been born yet, so Adanis had spent the most time with the child-like spirit.

So, her favoritism towards the child-like spirit of You Nu was only natural.

You Nu’s main body probably had the child-like spirit handle this matter, considering this reason too.

”Alright, start talking.”

”Obey Your Highness’s rules!”

A line of blood words appeared on the mirror.

Adanis was expressionless, too lazy to correct the child-like spirit of You Nu’s misuse of words. She just silently stared at the line of blood words, waiting for its next move.

Under Adanis’ watch, the line of blood words on the mirror gradually blurred at a visible speed, as if mixed with a lot of clear water. The mirror surface slowly became clear, with only a bit of light red remaining at the edges.

Under the child-like spirit of You Nu’s control, the clear mirror began to generate an image.

Silhouettes emerged slowly within the image.

If Angel were here, he would find that this silhouette was exactly how he looked in disguise.