Warlock Apprentice

Going for the sky wasn’t a safe choice because of that giant monster that could knock people away by flapping its wings or some other body parts.

As a means of caution, Angor kept his sequence of gravity activated while climbing so that he could run away from danger the moment he saw any.

Despite his effort, he was still sent away by a strong air current before he could see what caused it. Due to the gravity power, he did not crash down this time. After tumbling in the air for a while, he managed to regain his balance.

He looked up again and saw the same giant shadow looming over him. It seemed that this unknown monster that he couldn’t see clearly was preventing him from going too high.

Was that some kind of wind spell?

Angor tried several more times, and every time, the strong wind would block his movement no matter how fast he flew.

After making sure that there was no way to leave the shadow’s territory by flying farther, he returned to the ground helplessly.

Meanwhile, Sunders suddenly halted his movement while traversing through the thick mist.

He thought there was something amiss, that he forgot to tell Angor something very important.

I told him the general size of this town but… I didn’t mention there was a boundary in the sky as well.

Well, he’ll find out and give up after getting hurt.

After getting assaulted by the strange power many times, Angor found the energy in his soul terribly disrupted, which didn’t feel much different from getting his body seriously wounded.

Sunders’ assumption would have have been right if Angor did not find the strange cottage first, in which case Angor would keep exploring the mist instead of struggling with the barrier in the sky.

But by some coincidence, the cottage was the very first landmark Angor ran into. Since the sky was a no-go, he dragged his tattered soul back to the ground and looked at the seemingly harmless cottage in fear.

The cottage was always there to welcome him. It was like a nemesis that he could not escape from.

He wanted to run away, yet something told him that he had to solve the mystery hidden inside that house if he wanted to get out of the “loop”.

He took a deep breath, straightened his body, and tidied up his dirt-covered gentleman suit and top hat before entering the house again. In such a situation, the noble disciplines helped him drive away unnecessary concerns.

Carefully, he knocked on the door.

No answer.

He then entered the house and went straight to the painting without minding the other parts of the cottage.

Just as he thought, the view of the painting drew closer as if he were a traveler who kept moving to the castle under the moonlight.

He left the house and kept going. This time, he wanted to find the subsequent cottages and figure out where they meant to take him, or the “ending” of the paintings.

He believed that, if something evil was plotting against him, it would show up once the painting reached its end.

He tried leaving some marks in the cottages he visited, and each time he entered a new one, the marks were no longer there.

When he counted to the 29th cottage, the painting finally reached the castle door. Looking closely allowed him to observe the abandoned building better—broken wooden door with several nails missing, decolored banners full of cobwebs, window curtains with missing parts… There weren’t any traces left by battles or conflict, which meant the castle was deprived of care and maintenance over a long period of time.

“Ready to welcome me with your traps next time?” Angor muttered in a small voice.

After getting everything ready, he pushed open the door to the 30th cottage.

Everything was still the same.

Carefully, he went ahead to check the painting again.

Instead of moving into the castle, the “viewer” looked up a little while the gate was still closed.

Is something up there?

Puzzled, he kept checking the next cottages. The 31st, the 32nd…

Finally, there was something noticeable in the 34th painting.

The “viewer” did not change their view toward the sky. Whoever created the picture was staring at a window on the second floor. The window was left open where the broken curtains swayed in the wind.

The 34th painting successfully reached the window, which allowed Angor to see into the room.

The decoration inside suggested that it belonged to a lady. Also, there was another painting hanging on the wall opposite the window.

Angor thought the strange circumstance would keep going as the paintings kept showing themselves. But it wasn’t the case. Inside the 34th painting, Angor could see what was drawn on the “inner” painting—the portrait of a blond girl who was smiling brightly. It was a typical family drawing for nobles.

“Is that the end of it? What does it mean?”

Again, he stepped out of the cottage and moved forward.

The individual shown by the “inner painting” in the 35th cottage became a middle-aged lady who had a crystal ball floating above her palm. Her hair color and facial features suggested that she was the same girl from the last painting, but older.

Wait, a crystal ball, a witch… Witch’s Town?

Sunders didn’t tell him where the town’s name came from. Angor took a guess that it was because of this witch.

Is it really? But why didn’t Sunders mention this woman or these cottages?

With that question in mind, he went to the 36th cottage.

And something went very wrong this time.

The lady became a wrinkled and grisly old hag unpleasant to human eyes. The few remaining strands of hair on her head told Angor that she was still the same woman from before.

Also, the woman was gazing across the painting and straight at Angor’s face.

When he realized this, Angor stepped away from the painting in fear. At the same time, the witch became alive and slowly crawled out of the inner painting.

Inside the castle room, she gave Angor a devilish grin. She then lifted a hand and created a glowing, green portal in front of her.

An identical portal emerged from beside Angor.

Startled, Angor looked aside and saw the witch standing nor far from him across the passage. And this time, the mighty and murderous aura of the witch traveled through the portal and fell upon his body like a tidal wave.

Run… I must run!!

The aura didn’t feel much different from Isabella’s aura when Isabella wanted him dead. Angor couldn’t imagine what would become of him if the witch actually moved into the cottage.

She was probably as powerful as Sunders, if not stronger.

When the witch started walking, Angor immediately activated the sequence of gravity, which he had been preparing, and bolted toward the door. He was afraid that when the woman descended upon the world he was in, her power would easily render all his tricks useless.

“Give up… this is MY domain…”

Angor heard a sharp voice talking to him. And of course, he wasn’t going to listen.

Also, he heard someone yelping in surprise. However, he paid no heed to it and kept running while believing that the old hag used some other tricks to fool him.

Like a lightning bolt, Angor dived into the thick mist outside and left the cottage far behind, which sat there as quietly as before.

The green portal was still up, yet the old woman did not go through it. She stayed in the castle room with a disappointed expression.

She sealed herself in her old memories and drifted in an endless time loop so that she could wait for a Nightmare Watcher to come.

But that boy was already marked by something…

On his back… those green lines, slithering like vipers…