Domino didn’t understand what Angor meant… until he heard Tepikkhu moaning.
“What are you doing? Go and protect young master!” the old servant yelled out, and all the guards quickly went to restrain Tepikkhu again.
“Ow… such pain…” Tepikkhu rubbed his temples.
The guards were already moving to pull him away.
“Stop!” Domino ordered his men to back away. He then assisted Tepikkhu to a chair nearby.
“Father?” he asked eagerly.
Tepikkhu opened his eyes and slowly recognized the figure of his son. “Domino? Ugh, my throat… Give me some water, Muwa.”
“Muwa” was the name of the servant beside Domino.
“Ma-master, you are okay? This is unbelievable!” Muwa had both his eyes and nose running badly.
Tepikkhu coughed and said, “What do you mean?… Quickly, water…”
Tepikkhu felt confused. He hadn’t remembered how he fainted yet.
However, his behavior convinced everyone that he was back to normal, which was exactly what Angor said.
Domino pulled his father into a tight hug and began to cry loudly as well, while all the other guards silently wept along.
Tepikkhu slowly recalled the situation. He saw something going into his mouth, then everything went dark… He wondered if a wizard came and helped him.
He wanted to enjoy the reunion with his family and servants, but as the master of a clan, he knew there were important matters at hand.
He gently pushed Domino aside and stood up, preparing to thank Angor.
Then he sprained his ankle and knelt down painfully. The parasite had messed up his limbs.
After some commotion, Tepikkhu was carried by a guard. He then ordered everyone to kneel down in front of Angor.
Thud! Thud!
Two dozen pairs of knees hit the floor.
“Thank you kindly, Sir Wizard. If not for you, I would have—”
“Get up. I’m here because Lady Lotus asked me to. It’s my job,” Angor said. He didn’t intend to watch the family hugging each other for any longer. “Let’s go. We can’t waste time now.”
Tepikkhu watched Angor walking to the door and sighed helplessly. A life-saving favor was such an easy task in the view of a wizard. No wonder the king of Midnight Sovereign was so determined to seek wizardry…
Outside, under the mist-covered evening, a young man in casual attire walked in front, while a group of guards and noble-looking clan members followed him carefully, as they headed to the south gate of the city.
Domino knew that Angor could save the infected people, but he was still terrified when he thought about how a million mutants were lurking out there in the city.
After walking for around two hours, Domino grew more and more puzzled because he never ran into another mutant again. There was only one “hostile” far ahead of them, who immediately ran away.
Domino couldn’t believe that the mutants were avoiding their guards, which only meant one thing—these monsters were afraid of the young wizard in the lead.
This boy possessed amazing powers. Just by following his calm and composed footsteps made Domino feel better already.
The dawn was approaching, and they finally reached the south gate. Upon exiting the affected area of the mist, they could see the train station in the distance as well as the woods and cave walls on the edge.
There was a group of Subterrians who weren’t infected, who were waiting at the train station. When Angor’s group emerged from the mist, a bulky man with a full suit of armor quickly ran toward them in excitement.
The man removed his helmet and revealed an aged and battle-scarred tortured face. He went down on one knee in front of Tepikkhu. “Your honor!”
“Glad to see you well, Captain Neboa,” Tepikkhu said as he kept walking toward the train station with the help of a guard.
“This is Sir—my life savior. He helped me escape the city,” Tepikkhu said as he pointed at Angor. Since wizards preferred to remain in tales and legends to mortals, Tepikkhu didn’t explain Angor’s identity to the captain of the guards.
Neboa quickly went to Angor and was going to kneel again.
Angor stopped him and walked away. “I’ve finished Lady Lotus’ request. You can go on your own.”
Before he moved far, he heard the survivors discussing loudly. Neboa was asking Domino whether they saw Ananda in the city.
Angor curled his lips.
So that Neboa man is Ananda’s father.
He just saw all the residents paying respect to the captain sincerely. He couldn’t really put this man and his thief daughter together.
“Don’t go into the mist yet. If my assumption is right, it will disappear not long after. Wait until then so you can go home safely,” Angor’s voice came from the distance.
When everyone turned to look toward his way, they could only see a faint shadow sinking into the dense mist.
…
Angor walked on the street of Midnight Sovereign, alone this time, in a more relaxed mood. It didn’t take him very long to reach the white wall.
The wall was a portal toward Twilight Well. When he was still some distance away, he saw countless tiny light beams coming from the wall.
No doubt these were the parasites produced by the rainbow dragonflies.
As he drew closer, the light beams changed their courses to steer away from him. There were so many of them that Angor easily caught several parasites by grabbing the air.
They looked similar to the one he caught inside Nightmare Domain a moment ago, just a bit smaller.
He observed the parasites for a while before he tossed them away.
Then he looked at the white wall which was still giving out parasites like crazy. He took a deep breath and walked inside.
Before he could check his surroundings again, Sunders’ voice transmission came.
“I sensed your aura. You’re inside Twilight Well now?”
“Yes, professor.”
“The nest of the bugs is right beside the entrance, guarded by the dragonflies. So that you don’t run into them, stay there and don’t move. I’ll go get you.”
Without waiting for an answer, Sunders cut the connection.
Angor looked up at the tri-branch fork road ahead. Guards? He already saw them.
A swarm of shiny, colorful dragonflies was circling around the fork road. Their wings caused a loud buzzing sound.
Not only could he see them, but he could also sense them as well.
“Lord Shava!”
“Good day, Shava, your highness!”
“Oh, Miss Shava! Shiny like the moon, as ever!”
“Enjoy the brilliance of the queen, Shava!”
It seemed the rainbow dragonflies weren’t very intelligent. Angor only sensed childish and simple thoughts. He had to guess a lot to figure out what the emotions actually meant.
About a hundred dragonflies kept praising him. Each time a dragonfly managed to say something brilliant, it would land on Angor’s hair and release its color more brightly.
Angor didn’t felt any fear at all. Rather, he found these insects quite funny.
It wasn’t long before a good number of dragonflies had gathered on his hair while shining brightly. If someone were here to observe, he or she would find a walking human lamp, who was illuminating everything with different colors.
Angor waved the bugs away. The dragonflies remained at a close distance, but Angor didn’t mind them further.
He carefully inspected the environment. The shopfronts near the entrance were always the most expensive to rent. A magic florist nearby had its door wide open, and the interior of the shop was in a complete mess. Another grocery store was locked up; its magic array was still shining away. Further away, the buildings around the fork road were too obscured for Angor to see clearly. But he believed he saw bloodstains and debris on the road.
This place was bustling with people just half a month ago. But now… It wasn’t totally ruined yet. However, everything was too barren and quiet.
He didn’t see any mutants here. They were probably hiding in the buildings. Angor was already used to being left alone now, so he simply wandered into the magic florist shop to check.
The door toward deeper inside was locked, while there was a magic array protecting the stairs, so he could only check the outer room of the first floor.
He thought about taking something he could use from the shop. However, he was disappointed to notice that the plants on the first floor were all untiered cheap stuff such as Echo Flowers. Besides, most of the plants were torn up.
Several intact specimens were mostly used by beginner Apothecary Alchemists, and he had no use for them.
Sunders’ voice came again, “Where are you?”
“The florist shop to the left of the entrance,” Angor quickly replied.
“You encountered the dragonfly guards?”
On the roof of a building several hundred meters away, Sunders watched the scene with his physical form concealed. He saw the dragonfly swarm outside the florist waggling around as if performing some kind of performance.
“Yes,” Angor said as he walked out of the shop. “They didn’t attack me though.”
Next, Sunders saw the shining insects all landed on Angor’s head, turning his young student into a human lamp.
Angor chased them off again. “I think they mistook me for Shava again. I sensed their emotions. They’re singing for her.”
Sunders remained speechless for a while. And he was just worried about the safety of this kid…
“That name again…” Sunders sighed. He was getting frustrated at how Angor’s Nightmare Form contained too many mysteries. Now he really wished to bring Angor to Nightmare Realm again so that the kid could grow stronger at a faster pace.
“Since they’re not hostile to you, try to go to their nest. Our target is right inside,” Sunders said.
“Okay. Where is the nest?”
“Inside a shop called ‘Lady’s Juice’. It’s managed by The Pleasure House. Be very careful. If you sense ANY negative intent, get out immediately, and I’ll assist you from outside. Do you understand? Do NOT do anything reckless!”