Warlock Apprentice

Both Angor and Shadow froze when they heard the strange voice that almost consisted of two different tones.

They were currently walking on a narrow path among several trees. A shadow suddenly appeared behind falling leaves. In a moment of seconds, a little girl about the age of 12 stood in the middle of their way.

Everything on the girl looked dark. Black bubble skirt with crimson braids, a black veil that covered pale white skin, and long, black hair that reached all the way to her chest… her dressing style would usually sit well on mature women with special tastes.

Angor immediately recognized those looks. She was the individual he briefly encountered in Hippocrotee—”Sundown Queen” Isabella.

However, it was a tiny trace of her consciousness that troubled him back at Hippocrotee. Now, he was looking at the real deal.

“Lady Isabella!” Shadow was visibly trembling now. He just addressed Isabella as a “mean psycho”. Their conversation was already heard by her. There was no doubt Isabella would do something about it.

Bam!

A giant blood-red hand suddenly appeared and slapped Shadow’s face.

Shadow was sent flying into the air before he crashed some distance away. The crash created a small crater in the dirt. Half of his face was of a different color, and he was spitting broken teeth mixed with blood.

All the while, Isabella kept giggling in a strange way that looked both mad and adorable. Anyone unaware of her identity would regard her as a “little girl”, which would probably get them killed.

“I’ll let you live for now, and you should thank your teacher. The next time you twist your little tongue behind my back will be your funeral!” The woman gazed at Shadow with a violent look.

“Plea… Please forgive my terrible manner.” Shadow forced himself to stand up on his damaged bones and knelt down.

Isabella spat and rested her gaze on Angor.

She quickly revealed a disdainful yet envious look when looking at Angor’s hair and deep-blue eyes. Angor already had the look of a fine gentleman at a young age. The Puppet Master would absolutely give him full score when judging his appearance.

Angor’s form was blinking because his Infinite Reticence was already broken down by someone’s awareness.

“Ohh, nice hiding, kid. I would have overlooked you if not for Diablo’s Spirit Bond. And if you slipped from me… that will be so sad.” While speaking in her double-tone voice, Isabella grinned malevolently.

Angor faced the mighty wizard with a serious look. This was the first time that he ever stood in front of a wizard who fully released her killing intent.

During Twilight Auction, Twilight was still controlling her actions because many wizards were looking, which allowed Angor to find a chance. Yet Isabella was different. She was using her might to press Angor since the moment she arrived; it prevented him from lifting a finger.

Angor couldn’t help but imagine his possible ways to die.

Shadow, on the other hand, lifted his head in great shock. According to Isabella’s words, HE was the one that exposed Angor’s position. Without the Spirit Bond, Angor might have avoided detection!

Even though what had already happened couldn’t be undone, Shadow still blamed himself.

“What are you looking at?” Isabella pushed a hand forward, and a blood-red floating hand suddenly lifted Angor into the air.

Unlike what she just did to Shadow, she was planning to torture Angor slowly to death in order to satisfy her twisted hobby.

“Such disgusting eyes… Oh wait, it’d be good if I use them on a Hundred-Eyed Devil.” Her giggling and childish voice blended with each other perfectly, which worsened the mental stress she exerted.

Angor couldn’t move at all under Isabella’s suppression. He couldn’t even trigger his soul scar. The woman’s death grip had halted the blood flow in his neck. His vision and hearing were failing.

Shadow grew distressed when he saw Angor’s physical condition worsening by the second.

The Kurna Pact required them to help each other, but it only worked when the situation was within their abilities. At this moment, Isabella was way more powerful than both of them. The pact would not do anything if Angor was killed right here.

But Shadow was still frightened. After spending some time with Angor, Shadow was beginning to like his new companion.

Usually, Shadow remained composed and wordless in front of people. He presented his random and wayward side in front of Angor because he considered Angor a friend worth talking to.

As a gentle-natured “academism” wizard, Angor would meet a lot of disadvantages in the wizarding world. But there was one thing for sure—someone like Angor could always be a worthy friend. Just like the famous academism wizard ‘Light Walker’ Gandolf—even without his brilliant alchemy skills, almost every wizard was willing to befriend this elderly gentleman.

Shadow already decided to develop a good relation with Angor. He was REALLY worried about Angor’s safety now.

“Lady Isabella! Please spare Angor. I’ll take him away and I promise he’ll not show up in front of you again—”

Bam!

The man was knocked away for the second time.

“He… he’s a talented alchemist… he can pay you! He almost reached out to Mystery energy…” Shadow kept speaking despite the lack of teeth.

Mystery Item?

Isabella gave Angor a doubtful glance, albeit just briefly.

A level-2 apprentice? Mystery? What a joke.

Isabella dropped Angor down, but it wasn’t because of Shadow’s words. She noticed that Angor would die any moment now, and she wanted him to suffer more.

Angor collapsed on the ground and gasped for air. The great pain and numbness in his body actually helped him to lift Isabella’s suppressive aura just a little.

Without waiting any longer, Angor unleashed his Nightmare Domain as fast as he could.

A level-2 apprentice and level-2 wizard didn’t sound too verbally different. But in this world, the gap between them was impossible to cross. To Isabella, Angor’s strongest attacks might feel like mosquito stings.

And there was only one thing Angor could do.

With his Nightmare Domain in place, Angor immediately began to imagine the face of the “queen”, which successfully caused his shoulder bone to itch.

He didn’t know what would happen by doing so, but he was glad that he at least had something— or not.

It was now clear that Isabella wasn’t one of the fictional villains who would give others time to retaliate. As soon as she saw Angor’s Nightmare Domain, she simply knocked him out with a spell without taking the effort to figure out Angor’s plan at all.

Last time, Angor’s Nightmare Domain saved him from Twilight because his domain was still connected to Nightmare Realm. Now that Sunders severed the domain and put it under Angor’s own control, this piece of Nightmare Domain had to rely on Angor’s support.

Of course, when Angor was knocked out, his Nightmare Domain quickly scattered.

…

Anyone who wished to leave Silent Hill had to go through this path.

It was already midnight, but there were still pedestrians who saw the conflict. Everyone simply turned away when they saw Isabella’s face, fearing that the terrible woman’s ordeal might accidentally fall upon innocent onlookers.

Occasionally, there were wizards who noticed the display of strength from far away. Similarly, they didn’t pay much attention to it. The confrontation between an apprentice and a level-2 wizard wasn’t worth the time.

Nobody would care about what happened, either to be safe or to save their precious time.

Well, maybe with the exception of extremely odd individuals, such as Dual Sprite Talos, who basically had nothing to do all day.

“Holy stones. How old is Isabella? A thousand years old? And she’s stingier than a toddler.”

“You don’t understand. It’s better this way!”

“Why is this better?”

“Dark Castle is so close to us. She might bring us a fortune with that character of hers!”

“Ohh, you’re right! Clever!”

“Of course I am clever! And if I’m clever, you’re also clever!”

Talos spoke to itself while occasionally commenting on Isabella’s style.

Angor didn’t manage to display his Nightmare Domain for long, but Talos still saw it, and the sprite suddenly stopped speaking.

A moment later, Talos spoke again, in a very small voice that only itself could hear this time.

“No doubt. That’s the same aura used by Mister Phantom.”

“So Diablo’s little new friend is Phantom’s disciple?”

“Should be.”

“Oh, this is gonna be fun. Will Mister Phantom get furious for this?”

“No. Remember when Flora did something similar?”

“But that’s different. Flora asked for her own doom, while Angor is only a victim or Isabella’s twisted ideal.”

“So you think Mister Phantom will come?”

“Maybe not? Aha! I said this because you said it first! And I am you!”

Talos remained silent for a while.

“Should we tell Isabella? Maybe she’ll let Angor go if she knows Phantom is the kid’s teacher.”

“No! That won’t be fun.”

“So what should we do now?”

“We sell the news to magazines, dumba*s! I already made up a title for it—Holy Crap! Phantom’s Personal Follower Surrendered Himself to a 10-Year-Old Lady!”

“Nice one! I can already imagine being paid!”

“Will we get 100 crystals out of this? Yes, we will!”