Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2014: Chapter 2015: Magical Creatures in the Darkness

A foul white vapor emanates from the mouth of a green-eyed giant troll.

The troll’s singular glowing eye subtly illuminates, casting a faint light on the white vapor in the pure darkness, making the troll’s face clearly visible.

At this moment, the troll is hunched over, its large face directly confronting Angel.

The troll’s fierce face, at first glance, exudes a sense of brutality, yet while locking eyes with Angel, the troll does not wield its giant axe but instead tilts its head, gazing at Angel with bewilderment.

Within the troll’s limited brain, a stream of confused thoughts continuously emerge.

These thoughts are not about how to smash Angel with the axe but are a surge of emotions that even the troll itself does not understand. If its intelligence were higher, it might realize that these emotions flooding its heart could be called... appeasement.

How to appease the life form before it? This is the question on its mind.

”Angel, move aside!” Just as Angel was staring into the troll’s eyes, a sharp shout came from behind. Angel reflexively leaned sideways, and a fierce black shadow rushed from behind, slicing the puzzled troll in half.

The troll’s body instantly split into two, disappearing into the darkness.

Meanwhile, Sanders, surrounded by a light shield, emerged from the darkness: ”What were you doing just now?”

Angel: ”...I was intrigued by the emotions conveyed by this troll.”

Sanders furrowed his brow: ”Do not be disturbed by any external information here, and do not easily trust your judgment. Ensure your safety first; if you want to analyze these creatures’ emotions, you must be in a safe place.”

Angel nodded in understanding. Although he sensed that the troll had no intention of starting a fight, this was no reason to expose himself to danger.

Trolls are still anomalies, and their thoughts cannot be gauged with human reasoning.

”Do not hesitate, let’s follow.” Sanders could hear the rumbling ahead. Without saying more, he patted Angel’s shoulder, signaling to continue advancing into the darkness.

They stepped into the dark realm five minutes ago. After entering, Angel began to perceive the eeriness of this place.

In the dark passage, the space seemed to have expanded significantly; however, when using light techniques, it was clear that the passage actually did not extend on either side, still bordered by thick walls, with the darkness amplifying their perception of the unknown.

Aside from the change in spatial awareness, the magical creatures here are also bizarre. Not only do they themselves have problems, but their numbers are also extremely puzzling.

Magical creatures continuously emerge from the darkness, even as Rhein keeps clearing them away, and now they can still hear the sounds of Rhein clearing creatures ahead, yet creatures continue to appear.

Such as the earlier green-eyed giant troll.

Rhein leads, clearing creatures ahead, while Angel stays in the middle, with Sanders at the rear. In theory, in Angel’s position, he should not encounter creatures, yet the green-eyed giant troll still appeared.

This was not because Rhein failed to clear it in time but rather because the green-eyed giant troll had appeared once more.

Despite the continuous slaughter of these creatures, they continue to reappear as if driven by some mysterious force in the darkness.

It is thought that this mysterious force might be the darkness capable of engulfing light.

This belief stems from the fact that when creatures die, their bodies are immediately consumed by the darkness and disappear, only for new creatures to soon be born again from the darkness.

This bizarre and unreasonable situation increasingly resembles the Nightmare Realm.

Soon, they caught up with Rhein ahead. Rhein was in the process of cutting down a bat-shaped creature flying mid-air and glanced back at them: ”I sensed magical fluctuations behind me just now, was that you?”

Sanders nodded: ”Encountered a green-eyed giant troll.”

Just as Sanders finished speaking, a fragrant breeze blew in from behind.

Everyone instantly erected barriers around themselves and simultaneously used spells to dispel negative effects, executing this series of actions seamlessly. Though they were unsure what the fragrant breeze specifically was, in such circumstances, waiting until the fragrance became a deadly weapon to react would be too late.

After completing these defenses, they turned to see countless plant tendrils emerging from the darkness, shooting towards Sanders and Rhein like a rain of arrows. These tendrils bore thorns, sometimes displaying blooming little red flowers, whose scent emanated from the stamens.

”Poisonous Red Vine Vine.” Sanders called out the name of the creature.

In the eyes of Fragrance Alchemists, the Poisonous Red Vine is one of the best demonic materials for creating poisonous fragrances, not only serving as primary material but also augmenting other poisonous scents, its versatility unmatched. Unfortunately, such Poisonous Red Vine is nearly extinct in the Southern Domain.

Sanders, positioned at the very back, was the first to launch a counter-attack against the Poisonous Red Vine.

Neither Angel nor Rhein moved, for the strength of the Poisonous Red Vine was not great; after defending against the poisonous scent, dealing with it was as easy as slicing vegetables.

Angel even contemplated that if Lianna were here, seeing so many Poisonous Red Vines, she might become frantically excited.

Nonetheless, unfortunately, after the Poisonous Red Vine dies, it still merges into the darkness and cannot contribute itself as demonic material. The only collectible substance is the toxic scent lingering in the air, yet they lack a Fragrance Alchemist or equipment to gather it.

In less than ten seconds, Sanders incinerated the Poisonous Red Vine into ashes using blazing black fire.

After dealing with the Poisonous Red Vine, Sanders frowned: ”Lord Rhein, I sense something slightly amiss. The frequency of creature appearances seems heightened.”

Rhein sensed it too; initially, upon entering, it took several minutes after vanquishing a batch of creatures for new ones to emerge, but now, even before clearing a batch fully, new creatures are born, which indeed is not a good sign.

The only comfort is that despite the increased frequency of creature births, the quality of the creatures remains varied.

Such quality, no matter their number, poses no threat to them.

Rhein is now contemplating whether to retreat. Although the current creatures do not pose a huge threat, any variable can potentially alter outcomes; hence, Rhein must carefully consider.

After much deliberation, Rhein decides to continue forward.

After all, the situation has not yet spiraled out of control, and they are nearing the gate; without obstacles, it should take less than a minute to reach it.

While Rhein considers this, a twisted spherical creature surrounded by numerous tentacles suddenly emerges from the darkness ahead.

It is apparent that the ideal situation of no creature blockage is challenging to achieve.