Warlock Apprentice

In the quiet study,

Sanders swiftly puts a final period on a new section of the paper titled ”Wizarding World Energy Standards and the Wilderness of Dreams Energy System Structure” on his desk.

He then puts down the pen, lifts his head, and looks at Angel sitting across from him: ”You just mentioned an apprentice made a sacrifice to a demon?”

Angel nods, ”Not only that, but it’s also very likely a Flame Pattern Demon.”

Because Angel had previously shared his experiences in the Abyss, Sanders knew that Flame Pattern Demons are nobility among demons, capable of reaching the level of a Great Demon when mature.

”A Flame Pattern Demon and a Gourmet Apprentice make for an interesting combination,” Sanders says, then taps his knuckles on the desk. The stack of thick papers on the desk vanishes into thin air, and he stands up: ”Let’s go and have a look.”

The very reason Angel came to seek Sanders was just as a precaution. After all, it was very plausible that a Flame Pattern Demon was behind Asaz.

Of course, if that Flame Pattern Demon happened to be a Great Demon, that would be another story... However, a Great Demon likely wouldn’t be so idle as to play sacrificial tricks with a Gourmet Apprentice.

By the time they reached the hall, Greya was sitting on the sofa with a dark expression, holding a glass containing a liquid that shimmered with a faint green light. Sharley stood behind Greya, curiously sizing up Asaz who was sitting opposite.

Asaz was bound and seated on a chair on the other side, silent with his head down.

Angel glanced at Sharley, who at first tried to act like an ostrich, pretending not to see. It wasn’t until Angel squinted that Sharley sighed and left the hall.

She was truly curious about the truth behind all this...

After Sharley left, Angel and Sanders took their seats respectively.

At this moment, Greya drains her glass in one gulp and exhales a breath mixed with black smoke and ice mist, reflecting, ”That was the last glass of Ice Duchess prepared by Felicia. I originally wanted to save it for after my return from Yan... but today, I nearly got caught up in trouble, so I had to drink it ahead of time.”

Angel asks, ”Did you get anything out of him?”

Greya shakes her head: ”I was too occupied with restoring my body’s activity, I haven’t had the chance to ask yet.”

After finishing her words, Greya turns her gaze to Asaz. Asaz is clearly nervous, especially so when he recognizes that the man in the black suit is Sanders, his calves start to tremble.

”It’s your turn to speak,” Greya says with a mocking tone, ”You claimed you hadn’t danced with the demon. You should be aware of the consequences of making a sacrifice to a demon. You better explain yourself clearly, or you can imagine what will happen next.”

Perhaps because she had drunk the Ice Duchess, Greya’s temper had somewhat cooled, and her tone was much calmer than before.

After a long silence, Asaz finally began to speak slowly: ”I come from Winsbills...”

Winsbills was a Transcendent City once not less renowned than Sky Mechanical City, but after the incident with the Blood Night Butcher two thousand years ago, the prosperity of Winsbills vanished overnight. Although it has slowly regained some vitality, it still cannot compare to its former glory. Moreover, compared to the order of Sky Mechanical City, Winsbills, with its many wandering Wizards, leans more towards freedom... or rather, rebelliousness. This also causes Winsbills to perpetually veer on the edge of chaos.

Recently, ”Voidwalker” Esos settled in Winsbills, which has brought some degree of calm to the chaos there.

And as for Asaz, he was born in the new era after Esos settled down.

Being born in a Transcendent City, he was exposed to the World of Wizards from an early age. However, although his parents were only Mortals, he never had a chance to test for magical Talent until he was fifteen years old, when he met a man who came to Winsbills to recover from his injuries.

This man was named Tubal, who claimed to be a wandering chef.

Asaz inherited his father’s tavern and, in times of poor business, fate led him to become an apprentice to Tubal, learning how to cook and how to manage the establishment.

It was only after getting to know Tubal that he found out Tubal was originally a Gourmet Sorcerer.

Having been recognized for his culinary talent, Asaz was taken on as an apprentice by Tubal. Tubal was quite decent to Asaz, but when it came to the philosophy of creating magical food, Asaz had some disagreements with Tubal’s views, although at the time he was unaware that Tubal had already fallen from grace.

Only when Tubal’s physical body was about to disintegrate did Asaz learn the truth.

Tubal came to Winsbills to heal his wounds, Asaz didn’t know what exactly his injuries were, but it was a fact that Tubal was always in poor health and often coughed up blood. Tubal also frequently prepared various magical foods for healing, but sadly they were of no use.

When Tubal felt there was no hope left, he finally revealed all of the truth to Asaz.

Tubal came from the Northern Territory, another Wizards’ Realm an immeasurable distance from the Southern Domain. After making sacrifices to a demon, he was attacked by a group of wizards, which led to his injuries and escape. Guided by a demon, he secretly made his way from the Abyss to the Southern Domain.

When Tubal himself recounted the story, he was filled with hatred for the wizards of the Northern Territory who had attacked him, painting himself as a pitiful person who was persecuted simply because his ideas were questioned. However, Asaz weighed the truth in his own mind.

On his deathbed, Tubal asked Asaz to accept his philosophy, but Asaz refused. Although Tubal was angry, he was already on the verge of collapse and did not wish to kill his long-nurtured student. Therefore, he said, ”You may not accept my philosophy, but you must help me make sacrifices to the demon. Otherwise, once I die, my soul will be devoured by the demon I have sacrificed to.”

Asaz, not wanting to see Tubal’s soul fall, hesitated repeatedly, but ultimately agreed to Tubal’s request.

He continued to make sacrifices to the demon, and this demon was Sebastian.

”What about Tubal’s soul?” Greya asked.

Asaz, after a moment of silence, said, ”The mentor deceived me, he had already made a pact with the demon, and upon his death, his soul belonged to the demon. So, even though I continued making sacrifices to the demon, his soul was still devoured by the demon.”

However, by that time Asaz had already started making sacrifices to the demon, so even though Tubal’s soul was devoured, he was powerless to reverse it and couldn’t even free himself from the demon.

As Asaz was sorting through Tubal’s relics, he discovered over two hundred sets of human bones in Tubal’s basement, all victims killed by Tubal to make sacrifices to the demon.

Looking at the piles of white bones and knowing they were used as food offerings for the demon, Asaz was trembling all over. He was also plagued by nightmares for several months.

Since then, Asaz swore never to use humans as sacrifices for demons.

Even when Sebastian tempted him in various ways and even exchanged surnames, offering him greater power, Asaz still did not relent.

This was his belief as a human being, and it continued to this day.

Asaz’s story came to an end, and although there must have been omissions, to Angel his story felt true.

And his story also clarified why the demon he made sacrifices to used humans as living ingredients. It turned out that this methodology was not taught by Asaz, but by his mentor Tubal.

Angel looked at Greya, wanting to see her opinion, but Greya seemed to still be deep in thought.

Angel then turned to Sanders and asked through the Mind Ribbon, ”What do you think about Asaz’s words, true or false?”

Sanders hardly hesitated: ”True.”

The power of demons can conceal the truth from validation spells, but Sanders clearly sensed that there was no demonic power stirring within Asaz... In fact, through Asaz, Sanders could even make out the vague outline of that demon.