Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2823: Chapter 2824: Weaving Net and Red Wax

”You seem to have something on your mind?” The voice of the Black Earl reached Angel’s ears.

Everyone also turned around, looking at Angel with confusion.

Angel smiled lightly: ”I was thinking, the information I received said that the Flying Phantoms were supposed to appear before the Maneater Flower, which means that there should be Flying Phantoms around here. But now, it seems this information might be wrong.”

Dox: ”It’s normal for information to be inaccurate, and besides, Flying Phantoms aren’t necessarily here. The underground aqueducts are so vast, and Flying Phantoms are fast-flying magical creatures, so it’s normal for them not to linger in one spot.”

Angel nodded: ”You’re right, Flying Phantoms aren’t like Maneater Flowers, which can remain stationary for extended periods. But Flying Phantoms... even just for survival, they can’t stay in one place forever. I misunderstood.”

After a bit of ”self-reflection,” Angel looked toward the small alleyway at the edge of the square: ”Let’s go, even though the Flying Phantoms aren’t here, the information on the Maneater Flower must be accurate. We should go and confront it.”

With that, Angel took the lead and headed towards the passageway, his previously preoccupied expression now completely gone.

Everyone felt that Angel’s behavior was somewhat strange, but now wasn’t the time to question it. They exchanged glances and, without speaking, followed Angel into the dark alley.

Just after entering the alley and walking only a few steps, everyone stopped.

It wasn’t that they stopped voluntarily, but because Angel, who was at the forefront, had stopped, so they followed suit.

Vay wanted to ask Angel why he stopped, but before he could speak, he was interrupted by Dox.

Dox put a finger to his lips, signaling Vay to remain silent, and then gestured for Kaier to come over, retreating out of the alley with Vay.

”Don’t come in for a while. Rest assured, if I activate the Plane Corridor later, I’ll take you away immediately.”

Dox made a promise through the Mind Ribbon.

Initially, Vay and Kaier didn’t know what was happening, but seeing Dox’s serious expression, they seemed to understand.

”Infant Spirit, is it appearing?” Vay asked softly.

Dox solemnly nodded.

Vay opened his mouth, wanting to say something but felt that speaking now would be verbose and somewhat melodramatic.

In the end, Vay only whispered, ”Be careful.”

Dox nodded without replying further, quickly returning to stand by the Black Earl and Angel.

No matter how strong this Infant Spirit might be, Dox, as a Bloodline Wizard, could definitely not retreat. Especially, he couldn’t let an illusion wizard lead the front line.

Quickening his pace, Dox aimed to overtake Angel, ready with a series of sarcastic remarks raring to go.

However, just as Dox prepared to move past Angel, he was intercepted by Angel’s outstretched hand.

Confused, Dox looked at Angel, who merely gave him a glance, telling him to be patient.

Despite Dox’s mind being filled with questions, the group had long trusted Angel’s arrangements, so even without an explanation, Dox stopped. Though he stubbornly refused to step back, choosing instead to stand alongside Angel.

Once stationary, Dox directed his gaze forward.

A tiny silhouette was barely discernible ahead of them.

He had glimpsed it earlier but was concerned about Vay and Kaier at the time, so didn’t take a closer look. Now scrutinizing it, his brow involuntarily furrowed.

That faint and elusive small figure was likely the Infant Spirit. Its precise appearance was currently obscured, so what worried Kaier wasn’t the Infant Spirit itself but something else.

The alley ahead was covered with coagulated blood-red wax, laid out irregularly, as if a wax wall had been scorched into a large hole.

Yet, what was crucial wasn’t the wax-strewn ground, but the layers of white weaving webs ahead.

These webs were indistinguishable from spider webs, just larger and tighter, clinging to the alley walls.

Moreover, there wasn’t just one web but many interlaced throughout. Through the dense web gaps, countless more webs were visible, layer upon layer, extending endlessly.

Their inability to clearly see the Infant Spirit’s features was because it wasn’t on the outermost web layer.

It resided behind several layers of webs, and through its shadow, its peculiar actions were evident—climbing walls, hanging from ceilings, occasionally frenzied.

Though the Infant Spirit was not visible, it could be set aside temporarily. The immediate concern was the dense layers of white weaving webs.

”Does it look like these are made of silk?” Dox deduced from the web’s reflections and the gentle swaying at the edges that the webs appeared unlike sticky, thin spider webs but seemed constructed from silk fabric forming a net-like structure.

Angel’s eyes flickered slightly with light, indicating the use of the Eye of Nalda.

After a while, Angel calmly closed his eyes, the light fading away.

”That’s silk.” When Angel reopened his eyes, he provided a definite answer.

”Really silk?” Dox hesitated: ”There’s dripping wax and woven silk everywhere, it feels like we’ve arrived at Elysium Pavillion...”

The Black Earl shot Dox a cold glance, prompting Dox to feign a cough and quell his colorful imagination.

”What I mean is, since it’s silk, using fire should work, right? Might as well melt the wax on the ground, it’s an eyesore otherwise.”

Angel: ”It is silk, but not ordinary silk. As for the wax on the floor, I couldn’t perceive anything unusual, but its presence here suggests it isn’t ordinary.”

”Not ordinary silk?” Dox questioned: ”What’s unusual about it?”

Angel: ”Can’t you sense it yourself?”

”Facing the undead, releasing spiritual power recklessly is practically inviting death.” Dox spoke earnestly.

Angel: ”...” These words are for the two apprentices, why is an official wizard worrying?”

The Black Earl added lightly: ”Infant Spirits, like the undead, once they detect living beings, they rush forward to hunt without hesitation. Yet now, the Infant Spirit remains busy within the depths of these webs, indicating two possibilities.”

”First, Angel’s illusionary realm has obscured its senses, and it hasn’t discovered us.”

”Second, it’s not the mindless undead we imagined; it won’t recklessly charge directly at us.”

Black Earl: ”I personally lean toward the second possibility.”

As for the reason, just look at the densely packed webs in front that exude an ”artistic sense”, and you’ll basically understand.

It doesn’t seem like something a mindless creature could accomplish.

Of course, the Black Earl doesn’t believe that the Infant Spirits are intelligent; he still holds his previous opinion—perhaps the Maneater Flower is controlling the Infant Spirits.

Because they haven’t seen where the Maneater Flower is now. Perhaps, it’s on that indistinguishable Infant Spirits?

Pausing for a moment, the Black Earl continued, ”It’s also possible that both possibilities exist. Anyway, no matter which one it is, if you extend your spiritual power now, you won’t be attacked.”

The Black Earl’s mention of ”extend out” doesn’t mean extending to the Infant Spirits, but rather keeping the spiritual power within Angel’s illusionary realm. This way, even if the Infant Spirits launch a surprise attack, there’s still time to retract the spiritual power.

Dox thought about it, found it reasonable, and only then cautiously extended his spirit tentacle out of his body.

When he extended the spirit tentacle and used the spiritual power perspective to observe, he finally understood why Angel said ’it’s silk, but not ordinary silk.’

Because in the spiritual power perspective, these silks faintly glow with a crimson light, like blood about to dry up, making its final struggle before it turns completely black.

This crimson light, compared to scarlet blood light, is more ominous and more discomforting.

Most importantly, within this crimson light, Dox didn’t feel the presence of energy. It seemed to be a natural glow from the silk.

And the silk, in the spiritual power perspective, looked unremarkable. If it weren’t for these ominous lights, even Dox wouldn’t think there was anything special about the silk.

”You can see it now, right?” Angel mentioned softly: ”The webs seem ordinary, yet they have an extraordinary side. But in perception, there’s no hint of anything unusual. And this whole place with its red wax seems ordinary too. Who can say it doesn’t have a completely different side?”

Dox: ”Even so, being too afraid to touch just by looking at the surface would be overly cautious.”

Angel and Black Earl looked at Dox together.

Although they didn’t say a word, Dox understood their meaning—since you say so, you should go ahead.

Dox’s lips trembled a bit, eager to say unhesitatingly: I’ll go if I have to.

But somehow, looking at the red wax and the webs made him nervous. He was fine with speaking grandiosely and arguing, but when it came to actually stepping forward, he felt shaky.

Seeing Dox’s hesitance and reluctance, Angel and Black Earl exchanged a glance, and they both understood the answer.

They didn’t truly want Dox to go forward; they were merely curious to see if Dox had any ”inspiration” about the silk and red wax.

From the current situation, Dox’s inspiration was frantically warning him.

Knowing Dox’s character as a Bloodline Wizard, and having seen his earlier willingness to take proactive roles as a ”meat shield,” it’s clear he has a sense of responsibility to be at the forefront.

This sense of responsibility wasn’t imposed by others but was something Dox felt he needed to do, an inner conviction.

A Bloodline Wizard with an innate sense of responsibility to be a meat shield suddenly hesitates and backs down. If it were someone else, their beliefs might have collapsed.

But for Dox... inspiration is his faith. When inspiration sends warnings, it means the faith requires structural adjustments.

Just like now, even if Angel and Black Earl encouraged him with their eyes, Dox showed resistance. This ”responsibility” represented ”faith,” making subtle changes.

This might seem cowardly, but Angel actually appreciated this timely change. If Dox was merely reckless, eager to find enlightenment between life and death, Angel might not have wanted to recruit him.

Those who seek enlightenment between life and death aren’t necessarily bad, but certain prerequisites are required. For instance, being a protagonist favored by fate.

Dox’s reluctance to move forward led Angel and Black Earl to stop urging him and, instead, seriously consider countermeasures.

The webs and red wax ahead definitely pose great danger, otherwise Dox wouldn’t have stopped.

But even knowing the danger, they have to find a way to resolve it, or they won’t be able to proceed.

”Can it be resolved through the Magical Energy Array?” Dox inquired.

Since You Nu could previously suppress it using the Magical Energy Array, perhaps they could rely on the array here as well?

Angel shook his head: ”What I can do is destabilize the spatial stability, giving you a gap to create a Plane Corridor.”

Moreover, Angel noticed that the Magical Energy Array here was distinctly different from the outside, more stable and intricate. Even for him, destabilizing the spatial nodes would require greater effort, possibly needing extremely rare materials, rather than solving it with just an External Array Disk.

However, Angel didn’t bother to mention this; if it indeed came to escaping, using precious materials was necessary. Not to save others, but oneself.

Dox: ”Then what do we do? Should we try my method and burn it with fire?”

At this moment, Vay’s voice came through the Mind Ribbon: ”Are you stupid? Using fire just reveals our presence.”

Dox turned his head, looking towards the alley outside, at Vay who peeked in, and said irritably: ”Why can’t you be like Kaier and stay quietly at the edge of the illusion, not meddling?”

Vay: ”Your suggestion is terrible, I couldn’t hold back. Even if my lord said the Infant Spirits might be intelligent, it doesn’t mean they’ll definitely notice us, right? I trust Lord Chaowei’s illusion more.”

Dox: ”Even if it didn’t notice us, are we supposed to stay in the illusion forever? Without these webs and red wax blocking us, we could sneak through the illusion quietly. But that’s not the case now.”

”Either way, we need to confront the Infant Spirits directly.”

Vay wanted to argue further, but before he could speak, Angel interrupted: ”I’m not taking any stance on your argument. But personally, I think Dox’s last statement is correct. This time, we need to confront the Infant Spirits directly, no matter what.”

Vay: ”My lord...”

Angel contemplated for a moment, seemingly having made a difficult decision: ”Let me try to probe the Infant Spirits first.”

Black Earl turned the slate towards Angel: ”How do you plan to probe?”

Angel thought for a moment, then softly uttered a word: ”Illusion Technique.”