Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1422: Section 1423 Disorder

“So-called loss of control refers to a state similar to a virus-like spread, affecting some mysterious object and leading to a state of disorder,”

“For these mysterious objects, if you meet their infiltration criteria, you will enter their chaotic rhythm and, eventually, be assimilated by the disorder.”

In short, a mysterious object that has lost control is akin to a peculiar and terrifying disaster.

Once a person falls into it, it’s as if you’re contending against an intractable disaster.

Angel listened to this but was still somewhat confused, “Then, your task, sir, is to fight against the disaster and conquer it?”

Frost nodded, and then shook his head, “It’s not that simple. Let me give you an example instead.”

“Do you know why I came to Black Castle?” Frost seemed to ask a question, but he didn’t actually expect Angel to respond. He continued along the same line of questioning, “The reason, in fact, begins with a mysterious object that has lost control.”

“Not long ago, I was resting in a nearby world, and then one day, I received some intelligence from the Orderly Guild.”

“It was reported that in a small world not far from me, there was a confirmed presence of a mysterious object that had lost control.”

“And this out-of-control mysterious object has been named by the Orderly Guild as—the Reincarnation Casket of the Undead.”

When Frost mentioned “Reincarnation,” Angel clearly saw him grit his teeth, reminding Angel of the time, not long ago, when he had muttered something after hearing the name “Samsara Overture” for the Revolver: “Samsara, this name really makes me uncomfortable.”

So, was Frost uncomfortable because of the “Reincarnation” in the Reincarnation Casket?

However, the mention of “Reincarnation” reminded Angel of an empty display case he had seen at the Development Institute not long ago. According to Master Midora, that display case contained a mysterious object crafted by a member of the institute.

And the record on this display case read that this mysterious object was tentatively named “Reincarnation Casket.”

Could there be a connection between the “Reincarnation Casket of the Undead” mentioned by Frost and the “Reincarnation Casket” at the Development Institute?

As Angel pondered silently, Frost continued, “The Reincarnation Casket of the Undead has been classified by the Orderly Guild with a relatively low priority for retrieval… A low priority does not mean the Reincarnation Casket isn’t powerful; it means that although it’s out of control, the infiltration criteria are singular.”

For example, consider certain powerful Demon Gods of the Abyss, all you have to do is silently recite their true names and they could project their will onto you. And this act of descent is really an ‘invasion’ of humans.

Out-of-control mysterious objects are the same in that, once they lose control, they each have different criteria for invading humans. For instance, performing a specific action could result in invasion by a mysterious object for some people.

For others, uttering a specific syllable could lead to invasion by a mysterious object.

This invasion means that humans are pulled into the chaotic rhythm of the mysterious object.

In plainer terms, it’s like—

‘Welcome to my nightmare.’

Some out-of-control mysterious objects have an invasion reach that knows no bounds; even from the other end of the universe, as long as you fulfill certain conditions, you can be drawn into the chaotic rhythm of a mysterious object.

The retrieval priority for such mysterious objects is extremely high.

“As for the Reincarnation Casket of the Undead, its invasion criteria are very simple: It created a peculiar space enveloping the small world it was in, and as soon as you enter the range of that small world, you are pulled into its chaotic rhythm. If you avoid this small world, you won’t be invaded. Therefore, its retrieval priority is relatively low,” Frost explained.

After discussing priorities, Frost returned to the subject of the Reincarnation Casket of the Undead.

“After I received the news, I arrived in this small world immediately to retrieve the out-of-control object as quickly as possible,” said Frost. “Retrieving out-of-control mysterious objects has significant benefits, which you will naturally understand if you ever visit the Orderly Guild, so I won’t elaborate on that.”

“Because there was no detailed information about this Reincarnation Casket, I had to be personally invaded by the out-of-control object to find out the specifics, so I stepped into this small world.”

“What happened next was a nightmare.”

Frost rubbed his temples, reluctant to recall the situation at the time.

Angel: “Is the Reincarnation Casket very powerful?”

Frost pondered for a moment, then nodded, “Its power is not in the strength level as you know it, but in its ability to deprive rules.”

“Many out-of-control objects have the ability to strip away or even alter rules. The Reincarnation Casket deprived a certain peculiar perception ability.”

“This peculiar perception ability is your capacity to sense the Mind Space, Spirit Sea, Land of the Soul… and such, the spaces that have an energy-like illusory nature.” Sighing deeply, Frost added, “So now you should know what kind of situation you’d face once you fall into the Reincarnation Casket, right?”

“Lost all my power…” Angel replied somewhat stunned.

“Not all power, the strength of the flesh hasn’t disappeared, so all in all, the Reincarnation Casket is more suitable for Wizards who specialize in Bloodline powers to recover,”

Frost continued, “Losing power is actually just the first trial upon entering the Reincarnation Casket. The true power of the Reincarnation Casket lies beyond that.”

Next, Frost described the specific experiences with the Reincarnation Casket, and Angel finally understood why it was prefixed with the word “Undead” as well as why it was called the Reincarnation Casket—

After Frost entered the Reincarnation Casket and lost his powers, that was the least of his concerns. He was directly dragged into a forsaken hour-space, a scenario with only one scene, named… the Cursed Monastery.

In the Cursed Monastery, there were a great number of insane humans, along with many bizarre incidents.

Sudden deaths, a room with devilish sounds at midnight, long whispers ringing in the ears, and mysteriously appearing staircases…

“Sounds like some kind of suspenseful horror story, doesn’t it?” Angel frowned.

“Indeed, it does, but for me, it wasn’t just a story—it was a cycle of reincarnations I had to go through,” Frost sighed. “Do you know what the real truth behind this series of strange phenomena is?”

“Undead malice?” Angel replied, if this experience were to be treated as a horror novel, it would either be the unpredictability of the human heart or the misdeeds of the undead. Given that “Undead” was part of the prefix for the Reincarnation Casket, Angel immediately thought of undead malice.

Frost nodded, “Indeed, it is the undead causing trouble, and what I had to do was to solve puzzles and clues in this strange hour-space, find the hidden undead, and kill it.”

“As long as you kill it, you can leave?” Angel muttered, “Then it sounds not so difficult.”

After all, those bizarre incidents didn’t seem technically challenging, and even if it was the undead causing trouble, that particular undead was probably not powerful.

“Certainly not difficult, it was just a very ordinary undead. Even though I lost my powers, with my physical body, it was easy to deal with. But after resolving the weird occurrences in that hour-space, I entered another hour-space…”

Angel paused for a moment, and listening to this, he began to understand why it was called “Reincarnation.”

And so Frost went through one hour-space after another, facing a series of horrific scenarios haunted by the undead, such as the Cursed Monastery, Wailing Orphanage, Ghost Town… All fairly easy to deal with, but during the eighth reincarnation, he suddenly encountered a scene: Dusk Demon Temple.

“In the Dusk Demon Temple, I encountered a Special Undead comparable to a Half-step Legend. The situation was extremely tough,” he said.

Frost didn’t say how he got past it, but one could imagine, as the transition from an ordinary undead to a Special Undead was a tremendous leap, precisely because you couldn’t predict what abilities the Special Undead would have! Even more terrifying was that the power of this Special Undead was comparable to a Half-step Legend!

This leap in power was nothing short of astounding!

Frost continued, discovering that this so-called reincarnation had no logic whatsoever and was entirely a matter of luck.

One moment it was common undead malice, the next, it jumped to Special Undead malice being commonplace.

The most terrifying part was Frost’s recounting of his last destination in this cycle of reincarnation: Ancient God Cemetery.

In the Ancient God Cemetery, Frost encountered an Undead Fallen God comparable to a Legend and a host of Half-step Legend undead following it.

Just imagining it, Angel felt his chest tighten.

“I defeated that Fallen God Undead, but I paid the price with my right arm,” Frost said calmly, concluding the tale. “This cycle was my twentieth reincarnation. When it ended, I received a reward, and then I was kicked out of the Reincarnation Casket.”

To Angel, it all sounded like a game. Frost played through twenty scenarios, finally cleared the game, got his end-of-game reward, and then the game ended.

“So, was this object that’s out of control successfully recovered?”

Frost shook his head, “No, because I didn’t find the core of the Reincarnation Casket, which is its essence.”

To find the core of the Reincarnation Casket, there was only one way: re-enter the Reincarnation Casket, relive the cycles over and again, and seek that elusive chance.

Angel felt a chill down his spine as he listened to Frost’s account.

If one needed to re-enter a second time, it would be too horrific. To have your powers sealed and then face such powerful undead was truly terrifying!

“Entering a second time doesn’t guarantee finding it either. There could be a third time, a fourth time… or even more,” Frost sighed. What actually frustrated Frost the most wasn’t encountering powerful undead but the unknown trials of each reincarnation and the interconnected hidden clues within each cycle’s scenario.

He was a Mystic Hunter, not a puzzle-solving expert!

“And that, is the out-of-control Mysterious Object.”