Warlock Apprentice

Two supreme beings, one in the clouds and the other at the top of the tower, happened to lock glances.

The emotions hidden in their eyes were beyond the comprehension of outsiders.

But this visual crossing was not just a matter of distance—it also spanned Monty’s ambition and Aoluxiya’s obsessiveness!

When their gazes met, even without words, both sides knew the time for battle had arrived.

With a wave of his scepter, the wizards above the floating ice rose into the air, and Elemental Creatures of various colors and shapes formed behind them, carrying a terrifying momentum charged with different energies, and bore down directly on the Void Tower!

Their momentum was overwhelming, like arrows piercing straight into the heart of the ‘black cloud’!

Unlike the united front of the humans, the demons scattered to avoid confrontation. With Lassudral nearly collapsing now, the demons were most concerned about their own lives and no one chose to fight to the death at this moment.

The withdrawal of the demons greatly boosted the wizards’ morale. They had previously felt that the successive incidents in Lassudral would only add to the unpredictability, but now it seemed that the unknowns brought by the variable troubled not just humans but also trailing woes for the demons!

Under this unstoppable force, the wizards quickly advanced toward the tower top where Aoluxiya stood almost with the force of a bulldozer.

The Fire Servant Tandin watched the demons scattering around him and a flash of rage crossed his eyes: “These wastes of space!”

The Young Fire Demon Greerwu quietly rolled to Aoluxiya’s feet, hiding between the legs and peeking out: “Lord Aoluxiya, what should we do now?”

Aoluxiya looked back at the painting behind him, his gaze calm, “Aside from the man wearing a mask, the others are not to be feared.”

Aoluxiya put the mask back on and stepped forward.

Passing by Tandin, he whispered softly, “Protect the painting.”

Tandin nodded, paused for a moment, then said, “My Lord, dealing with these is easy, but…”

Tandin didn’t finish, but Aoluxiya understood. Once the Night Museum Owner returned from the painting, he would surely bring the Primeval Flame with him, and then all the creatures in Lassudral with fire attributes would go crazy. The struggle was only the first phase; the real trouble was what to do after obtaining the Primeval Flame.

Aoluxiya came to a halt, lifted his head to the sky, and seemed to see through the floating flames to the Void beyond the Birdcage.

And even farther places.

It took a while for Aoluxiya to retract his gaze and said softly, “Without flames, is there only ashes left? Watch and see, the path will appear.”

Having said that, Aoluxiya leapt into the air, his eyes of ephemeral flame flickered, ready to face the earth-shattering battle!

…

“Aoluxiya is actually taking matters into his own hands!” Delight flashed in Sinafa’s eyes, who then turned to Monty, “Lord Monty, the demons now only think of self-preservation, and Aoluxiya has no strong bodyguards, this is our best chance!”

The other wizards also agreed, the commencement of the final battle with Aoluxiya’s involvement was undoubtedly a great advantage for them.

However, instead of sharing the general joy, Monty furrowed his brow.

Seeing Monty’s puzzled look, Luci, who had been silent, asked, “You saw the situation at the top of the tower, do you sense something amiss?”

“The painting,” Luci declared decisively, “There’s something wrong with that painting.”

Sinafa also looked towards the top of the tower. She had focused all her attention on Aoluxiya and hadn’t noticed the painting before, but now she did see something wrong with it upon inspection.

The so-called ‘painting’ was only termed as such because it was framed. Without the frame, one might even mistake it for a piece of black paper.

It was completely black, with nothing on it; could this be called a painting?

Why did Aoluxiya carry such a peculiar painting everywhere?

And after Aoluxiya joined the fight, the Fire Servant stayed by the painting’s side, seemingly guarding it diligently. As Aoluxiya’s only powerful subordinate at present, it was not only that the Fire Servant did not join the battle, but he was also tasked with watching the painting.

Could it be that there were secrets hidden within that painting?

Sinafa looked at Luci, hoping to get clues from him. However, Luci was equally puzzled, his hands fluttering like phantoms, ceaselessly manipulating the twelve Horologes on his body. The chaos he saw through the Horologes only deepened Luci’s confusion.

“What did you see?” Sinafa asked.

Luci shook his head, “I can’t see it clearly, it’s all a mess. But, that painting feels alive to me, not like an inanimate object… It’s like a living creature that can breathe, and moreover, it’s transforming.”

Luci’s words remained elusive. Yet, at this point, all the wizards understood that the painting was no ordinary item.

“Could it be another Mysterious Object?” A wizard posed the question.

“It’s hard to say.” Even Monty couldn’t be sure: “But in any case, we should consider the worst-case scenario and be extremely cautious in dealing with that painting.”

At that moment, behind everyone, Rivetta, who was hastily jotting down notes, seemed to remember something as she looked at the painting. She quickly flipped through her record board; she recalled that she had recorded an incident… Soon, Rivetta found the previous entry: “Magic Painter Wizard’s traces shockingly appear in the Abyss, alarmingly linked to a Demon Lord!”

As one of the founders of the magazine “Glowing City Night Talk,” Rivetta had a habit of thinking up headlines while taking notes.

Her brow furrowed when she saw this title.

Aoluxiya had emerged from the Hunting Museum, and Angel had previously mentioned that the Hunting Museum’s night curator seemed to have some connection with the Magic Painter Wizard. Could that painting be… the work of the Magic Painter Wizard?

While such an association might seem far-fetched, as a wizard who had been compiling articles for “Glowing City Night Talk” for many years, Rivetta had witnessed too many nonsensical connections. In the Wizards’ Realm, filled with the eerie and the fantastic, the more inadvertent, the more likely it was to be the ultimate answer.

After contemplating, Rivetta decided to voice her speculation.

Initially, the others frowned and dismissed the idea, but after further thought, there seemed indeed a hint of possibility.

“Ah, if only Angel were here, we would know the inside story,” said a weathered voice from behind. They turned to see Kanter had returned to the ice floe.

“Since Angel knew about the night curator’s relationship with Mirafel Feng, he must have gotten some message, perhaps directly from the night curator himself… If that painting truly is Feng’s work, asking Angel would have been most convenient, alas, Angel has met with trouble…” Kanter shook his head and deliberately glanced at Nereus with his eyes as he finished his statement.

Nereus’s face turned somewhat unsightly because, following Kanter’s remarks, the looks others gave him became noticeably different.

Even Monty gave Nereus a cold stare.

Previously, when Angel’s usefulness had been exhausted, they naturally didn’t mind Nereus’s actions, but now, reminded by Kanter, they realized there must be many details on Angel that they had overlooked. Often times, details determined success or failure.

“Actually, this is just Rivetta’s guess. If the painting really is by the Magic Painter Wizard, why would Aoluxiya cherish and carry it with him?” Someone voiced this doubt.

“Isn’t the Magic Painter Wizard most skilled at connecting the two-dimensional and three-dimensional worlds? Perhaps, behind that painting, there lies a hidden world.”

The discussion continued, but Monty no longer listened. His gaze, however, now rested on Aoluxiya.

No matter what meaning the painting ultimately held, it would become clear in time.

When Monty’s gaze shifted to the battlefield, his expression turned serious—

In the midst of the wizards’ encirclement, Aoluxiya moved as if taking a leisurely stroll, appearing slow, but each of his movements left afterimages. Moreover, Aoluxiya was surrounded by ice-blue ghostly flames; not to mention approaching it, but just coming a few steps closer, many wizards who hadn’t managed to activate their bloodline were eroded by the ghostly flames. Initially, they seemed to be frozen stiff, but as the ghostly flames flickered, the eroded wizards from inside out turned into ice-blue fragments.

For a moment, the crystal-like fragments floated in the sky.

There was a brutal sense of dreaminess.

“Lord Monty, over ten wizards have been slain by Aoluxiya, and those eroded by the ice-blue ghostly flames cannot even be recalled by soul wizards. In this situation, I’m afraid our momentum will be hindered,” said Maher.

Yet, as soon as he finished speaking, a commotion emerged near the Void Tower.

“It’s not a matter of fear; the situation has already arisen,” Rivetta said from Maher’s side. Her beautiful eyes looked toward the distant horizon.

The initial momentum, which had even made demons choose to dodge, had now turned into a one-sided slaughter by Aoluxiya that the human wizards had to avoid. In the process, some wizards fell into the demons’ clutches, and the demons were far from merciful to these captured wizards.

Faced with such circumstances, the wizards’ momentum naturally faded, and some had begun to retreat.

Monty knew Aoluxiya was strong. His plan was to have these wizards wear down Aoluxiya as much as possible, but now it seemed to have little effect. After pondering for a moment, Monty turned to Winchester, who was spitting blood at the side: “You lead the retreating wizards to study Aoluxiya’s ghostly flames, try to find a way to counteract or slow down the erosion.”

Then, Monty assigned Maher to take care of the energy management on the ice floe.

After completing all this, Monty’s gaze turned to the True Knowledge Wizards present.

After a while, all the True Knowledge Wizards, except Nereus, stepped forward to restrain Aoluxiya.

Monty also flew to the frontline of the battlefield, ready to provide support.

Aoluxiya could crush ordinary wizards, but it wasn’t so easy to simply annihilate True Knowledge Wizards who had already found their path. Moreover, Monty would also intervene if danger arose.

Under these circumstances, Aoluxiya began to fight with restricted movements.

Aoluxiya realized that Monty’s plan was not to have a final showdown now but to wear it down for a later advantage.

Aoluxiya frowned, feeling reluctant to retreat at this point, fearing trouble with the painting.

Yet, if the attrition continued, Monty might indeed succeed.

Aoluxiya pondered whether to use that one move now…

However, just then, a sudden dark cloud began to form in the sky.

At the same time, a ghostly voice entered everyone’s ears: “Drip-drop, drip-drop—”