Sunders severed the Nightmare Domain and fused it into Angor’s body, thus placing Angor in a strange trance.
Before the gentleman made the move, Sunders told Angor that the boy would fall into different illusions, some of which would appear most enticing, and Angor must not surrender to them. Otherwise, the boy would never wake up again.
In Angor’s view, however, whatever Sunders warned him about never showed up.
Angor was now in a weak coma—he could hear everything around him, but he could not get up.
He heard Sunders talking about how Felicia went to Brilliance Plane, how Greya might be still alive… He did not know if the two pieces of information were related but at least there was hope for Greya.
Of course, he heard Flora maligning him.
He also heard Sunders bidding for the eyeless man, but Lady Lotus won in the end.
He heard them all while being completely unable to move.
At one moment, he felt his body heating up. His blood moved faster, and his spirit was getting tired quickly.
Especially around the back of his shoulder bone. One second, it was scorching in pain, and the next second, it was taken over by unbearable itchiness.
The terrible feelings had prevented him from minding any other business. He soon put his full attention at the strange reaction on his body.
Angor hid his spirit inside the mind space and waited. He waited for an illusion to come, a realistic illusion that would trick him, so he could see through it and inherit his Nightmare Domain.
However, the Nightmare Domain had almost finished fusing into him, and the “enticing and irresistible illusion” never came.
And aside from the terrible itchiness on his shoulder, he did not feel anything at all.
“Today’s auction shall end here!”
Angor could hear his surroundings again once the Nightmare Domain was fully fused, and just at the right time as Twilight’s voice reached his ears.
The auction ended?
He wondered what was sold as the last lot. He really hoped it was an anti-undead weapon.
Angor tried and failed to get up again.
He heard Sunders and Twilight talking about some kind of trade, then there was a rough male voice inviting Sunders to drink…
Angor found himself existing at somewhere quiet.
He heard the noises of beasts howling and birds chirping.
He smelled flower and grass.
He sensed something shifting restlessly in the depth of his soul.
Angor grew excited a little. Finally! The illusion was here to mislead him.
Yet he was disappointed again. The “illusion” did nothing to affect his mind.
…
Angor stretched himself and sat up. He had no idea how long had elapsed.
He opened his eyes and realized something strange.
He was lying on a stone bed. There were beautiful flowers and woods that were full of wildlife. A bookshelf stood beside the bed while a number of random objects scattered on a desk nearby.
“Desk and bookshelf here? Really, the rain’s going to ruin them,” Angor muttered and walked to the desk.
A pile of files was placed on it. He saw an opened the letter on top before he put aside its clean-white envelope.
“Mister Monkey has arrived at XXX, inviting Phantom to XXX…”
Angor could not read some of the symbols. He sensed mana coming from them. They were probably encryptions or something.
He released his spirit feelers to sense the magic sequence contained in the symbols so he could hopefully decipher them.
Before he could do so though, he saw his vision changing drastically.
He appeared somewhere high up in the air.
He did not fall. Instead, someone grabbed the back of his collar, rendering him a helpless kitten who got its scruff seized.
Angor slowly turned around and saw a handsome yet emotionless face.
“Pro-professor…” Angor smiled in a silly manner. It was Sunders who “picked him up”.
“I didn’t expect you to wake up so fast,” said the gentleman as he raised an eyebrow.
He did not question Angor about the Nightmare Domain. Especially since the particular aura coming from Angor’s body already proved it to him.
Angor looked around before he looked down at his feet.
It was evening. It seemed they were right above Twilight Well.
Angor tried to be polite by smiling brightly. “How long was I out, sir? Was that… your Sorcerer’s Garden?”
“Mmhmm. Three hours. I’m going back to Brute Cavern now,” said Sunders. He considered for a moment before saying, “Since you’re awake… you can get back on your own.”
The man simply let go of the boy and waved a hand to say “goodbye”.
“Wait-Professor! Help! I can’t fly!”
Angor never had a chance to ask about the auction or about Greya or the Nightmare Domain. Sunders only disappeared into the night sky.
Angor fell from somewhere hundreds of meters high and he almost cried.
“But I just saved the world! How could you!”
Sunders did not leave for real. He was going to save Angor if the boy could not save himself. However, when the man heard Angor yelling like that, he teleported away without a second thought.
“Serves you right.” Blood vessels were pulsing on the gentleman’s forehead.
Angor fell through clouds and began to drop faster.
The ground was near, but he was not as panicked this time.
He could not fly, true. However, he had gone through such experience twice. One of them was fake and was caused by Sunders’ Acoustic Illusion. It did not matter though. He had full knowledge about how to save himself from falling.
When there were only several meters left, he released a small tornado.
The lifting force of the air current easily helped him slow down his momentum. He skillfully made a flip in the air and touched down safe and sound.
Next, Angor checked his belongings. As expected, Sunders had returned his bone card. The balance reading only had three digits now.
His waist pouch had an extra space capsule in it, which contained everything he bought from the auction.
While Toby… was sound asleep in his chest pocket. The bird was in good condition.
Angor stroked Toby’s feathers and smiled in relief. “Don’t act like that again, alright?”
A moment later, Angor returned to Twilight Well.
The Wizard Fair at night was even livelier compared to daytime. To avoid unnecessary trouble after making such a “courageous show” during the auction, he lifted his collar high to cover his face before walking toward the base of Brute Cavern carefully.
…
He pushed the door open and saw the guest hall that was lighted. Dave and Prome sat in the hall with grim expressions.
Dave quickly looked toward the door.
“Angor!! You’re safe!”
“How did you get out?
“And why did you run to Twilight like that? Lady Twilight was so scary then. I thought I’d lose you forever.”
Dave assaulted Angor with endless questions, and Angor did not feel troubled by it at all. Rather, he sensed a tiny trace of warmth coming to his chest.
After babbling for a while, Dave gave Angor a sad look. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t keep Toby safe… Toby’s gone. I think Lady Twilight got him.”
Angor was surprised now. Was Toby not right inside his pocket?
Prome sighed and joined them. “Let me explain. Dave brought Toby out from the mist and asked me to save him. I’d only managed to stop the bleeding before something terrible shocked us into unconsciousness. By the time we came to, Toby is no longer with us.”
Prome lowered his head to apologize.
Angor recalled seeing all apprentices in the Nightmare Domain scattered on the floor right after he shut down the plane passage and amongst them were Dave and Prome. He was the one who hurried to get Toby.
And he totally forgot to tell them about it.
Angor waved his hands off embarrassingly. “No, no. I thank you for your help today. And… Twilight didn’t get Toby. He’s sleeping in my pocket.”
Angor explained what happened during their time out while omitting anything about the Nightmare Domain.
“… I was out too when the eyeless man was being sold. I don’t know what was the last item. I just woke up not long ago.”
“Toby’s fine? Oh, thank the spirit.” Dave released the breath he had been holding. “So Mister Sunders saved you? I was wondering why Lady Lotus kept mentioning his name during the auction. So Sunders was inside Chamber 19 all along!”
“You’re all safe, and that’s what matters,” Prome spoke.
Angor looked toward Prome. “I’ll fulfill my promise, Master Prome. I’ll start attempting to draw Prelude to Elimination once I returned to Brute Cavern. I’ll probably succeed if nothing goes wrong.”
Truth was, Prome never believed Angor could do something like that. However, he did not show it. He only gave the boy a gentle smile. “It’s okay if you can’t do it. I’ll go check out Floating Mech City in a few days. They must have something I need.”
Magic array enchantment was not something possible for a mere elementary apprentice alchemist, and Angor totally expected Prome to express his disbelief in him. He needed to back up his promise with the final product, not empty words.
Angor always approached Prome by means of profit exchange, and that would be how he fulfilled his promises.
To Dave, however, Angor did not express anything particular. He only put a hand on Dave’s shoulder while carefully remembering the deed that his friend did for him.
That was enough for their reunion. Now that they had time to spend together, they sat next to the fireplace and talked about random things.