Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3060: Chapter 3061: The Mist Dissipates

Confirming that the Illusionary Realm can be broken, Witch Sharon felt more at ease. She did not bother Aex and Stop any further, instead focusing on another matter.

The Gumman Royal Guards have arrived!

Through the Wizard’s Eye observation, it was clear that among the arriving royal guards, there were no Official Wizards, consistent with the message from Pagnini.

Without an Official Wizard, things are much easier.

The only concern is the possible spy among the guards.

The background of that spy is one of two camps: if they belong to the Witcher Organization, that’s fine; but if they are a spy from the Extreme Sect, that would be troublesome. After all, though they’re humans, their prolonged stay in the Wild Realm makes the Extreme Sect highly sensitive to Otherworldly auras.

Once targeted by the Extreme Sect due to some minor detail, the consequences could be unpredictable.

However, Witch Sharon considered the worst-case scenario. And in actual events, once you’re mentally prepared, there are many ways to avoid the worst outcome.

Ultimately, Witch Sharon chose a simple and direct method: intimidation.

She summoned several Human-faced Spirits and merged them into the many ancient trees surrounding the mountain forests. In an instant, each of these ancient trees’ aged bark displayed a human face... upon closer look, they resembled the Treant Tribe.

These Human-faced Ancient Trees are the first step in Witch Sharon’s plan.

The Human-faced Ancient Trees have no combat power; their purpose is only to intimidate and dissuade the guards from approaching the forests with their words.

Their rhetoric centers around one core: there is a powerful Black Wizard in the forests.

No matter if the guards are successfully scared away, as long as they know a Black Wizard is in the forest, they can proceed directly to the second step.

Witch Sharon would then appear as her Black Wizard persona to personally face the guards. Whether they would be trapped or killed would depend entirely on Witch Sharon’s mood.

After all, she ”kindly” placed the Human-faced Ancient Trees outside the forest to dissuade them from entering. If they don’t leave, they’ll have to face the consequences of staying.

To have a reasonable conversation with a Black Wizard? Forget it, they’re not a White Wizard.

It’s well known that Black Wizards don’t adhere to reason.

This is Witch Sharon’s plan, simple and direct: if kind advice is ignored, be prepared for the consequences.

Instill the idea that ”we brought this on ourselves” to the guards; that’s enough.

Of course, there may be flaws, and it could cause suspicion. But with the Black Wizard persona as a guise, any investigation would start with the Black Wizard.

There are plenty of Black Wizards in the Southern Domain Wizard World. By the time they discover the problem, it might be much later. By then, who knows if Witch Sharon will still be in the Southern Domain.

Therefore, as long as the plan is implemented successfully and the present is delayed, there is no need to worry about the future.

Soon, the plan started to unfold according to Witch Sharon’s arrangements.

The appearance of the Human-faced Ancient Trees indeed surprised the guards. However, they also realized that the trees’ strength posed no threat, so they didn’t mind hearing what the trees had to say.

Soon enough, the Human-faced Ancient Trees planted the concept of ”Powerful Black Wizard inside—do not enter” in their minds.

However, as royal guards, they are always arrogant, backed by King Gumman; and besides, this forest is within the Gumman Kingdom’s borders, where the King holds the most power.

Although they fear the Black Wizard, they considered the proximity to the Royal Capital and guessed the Black Wizard might not dare act... anyway, they were just investigating, not arresting.

Moreover, whether a Black Wizard is actually inside is still a question.

Thinking this, the royal guards continued forward.

As they advanced, they encountered several more Human-faced Ancient Trees, whose attitudes shifted from intimidation to gentle persuasion—an obvious change.

Creating a ”well-intentioned” setting for the Human-faced Ancient Trees was also part of Witch Sharon’s plan.

The only goal of this setup was to express goodwill to the utmost.

To prevent outsiders from prying, placing so many Human-faced Ancient Trees to dissuade intruders was as considerate as could be. If they still refuse to listen, it’s their own doing.

Eventually, even the royal guards felt a bit guilty, because the Human-faced Ancient Trees appeared full of good intentions, which they consistently ignored.

But to uncover the issue here, they felt obliged to proceed—the Gumman Kingdom was in a tense situation, and any minor disturbance was ordered by King Gumman to be thoroughly investigated, so they had their own compulsions to move forward.

As their thoughts became complex, when ”Black Wizard,” masked and cloaked, truly appeared before them, surprisingly, they felt a subtle relaxation inside.

What followed, naturally, was Witch Sharon’s performance.

As an Official Wizard and a powerful Space Mage, dealing with these Apprentices was effortless for Witch Sharon.

By this time, Witch Sharon had revealed herself, offering more options.

She created a special forest maze with the Power of Space, trapping the guards inside, right before their eyes.

”If you can find your way out of the maze, you will survive... however, I’ve left a little something in the maze. You better pray you don’t encounter it.”

”Good luck to you.”

After leaving these words, Witch Sharon’s mission was virtually complete.

Indeed, she left something in the maze... that was a Space Rift.

With careful observation, they might discover the Space Rift, but if they touch it unaware, their chances, given their level, are none.

However, a path to survival still exists. Witch Sharon’s words ”Find your way out of the maze and you live” weren’t false; she left an exit in the maze, and with gradual exploration, they still have a chance to emerge.

There’s also another method, even preserving everyone.

That is, enter then stay put until King Gumman sends someone to save them, ensuring all remain unscathed.

For Witch Sharon, whether they choose to explore the maze or wait for rescue is irrelevant because they won’t be able to enter the forest in the short term, achieving her goal.

After resolving the ”external disturbance,” Witch Sharon returned to the mist area, next tackling the ”internal trouble.”

Over the tall black pine tree, Witch Sharon quietly gazed at the fog in the sea of trees ahead.

At this moment, the fog in the forest had thinned significantly compared to its initial state.

This indicates that the Mist Illusion is already weakening, and if it continues at this rate, it won’t take long to fully break through the Mist Illusion.

With this in mind, Witch Sharon took a deep breath.

”I’ve resolved the guards’ issue; how are things on your side?” Witch Sharon asked through the Mind Ribbon.

However, after a long while, no one on the other end of the Mind Ribbon made a sound.

Witch Sharon just thought they were seriously dispelling the Mist, so she didn’t pay much attention and continued to wait silently outside. She even had the leisure to observe the guards’ actions in the forest maze.

It is worth mentioning that once these guards entered the maze, their behavior was not as aggressive as when they entered the forest, but they chose to stay put and wait for rescue.

However, not everyone was willing to wait for rescue, as there were still some who wanted to take the initiative.

Among those who took the initiative, they were divided into two types: one type would go by themselves without dragging everyone down; the other type wished to attack together with the others.

Witch Sharon noticed that among the second group, some people seemed to be ”stirring up trouble.” They weren’t suggesting everyone attack together but were secretly encouraging the crowd’s emotions.

The participants themselves hadn’t noticed anything amiss with these individuals; but Sharon, as an observer, found their behavior quite strange.

A spy... perhaps it’s one of these people.

Witch Sharon watched them with great interest, secretly guessing who the spy was and whether their camp was the Witcher Organization or the Extreme Sect?

After observing for about five minutes, Witch Sharon finally focused on one man and one woman.

Both of these apprentices showed obvious signs of agitation, and their speaking style, content, and language structure were noticeably different from others.

Generally speaking, different life backgrounds will lead to differences in speaking styles; but now, the difference between these two and the others was not just a simple background difference, it even hinted at differences in ”values and perceptions.”

They might not have noticed it themselves, but Witch Sharon saw it all clearly.

Among these two individuals, there might be a spy; or perhaps, they both were.

”It seems I’ve found the spy among the guards... Should I go and test them? Check their backgrounds?” Witch Sharon spoke in the Mind Ribbon.

Unfortunately... there was no response.

”Stop, Aex?” Witch Sharon hesitated for a moment and directly called their real names.

However, still no one responded.

Sensing the quiet Mind Ribbon, a sense of emptiness inexplicably arose in Witch Sharon’s heart.

Something was off.

Even if they were seriously deciphering the Illusion Technique, they shouldn’t ignore her direct call, right? Could something have happened within the Illusionary Realm?

Witch Sharon called out several more times, but no matter how she yelled, there was no echo.

At this moment, Witch Sharon no longer had time to worry about who the spy was; without hesitation, she jumped down from the black pine tree, diving straight into the mist with a soft thud.

Upon entering the Mist Illusion, Witch Sharon immediately felt the familiar trance.

Everything around was a vast whiteness, as if her five senses were all disoriented.

However, this time Witch Sharon wasn’t as frantic as when she was trapped on the platform before, because... the Mind Ribbon wasn’t severed.

The Illusion Technique could confuse the senses, but it couldn’t cut off the connection of the mind.

She closed her eyes, shutting off all external perceptions, only following the guidance of the Mind Ribbon, step by step moving forward. And she advanced deeper into the Mist.

She didn’t know how long it took, but Witch Sharon felt the connection of the Mind Ribbon was almost reaching its end.

Then, Witch Sharon opened her eyes.

Surrounding her was still mist, with no sign of anyone.

Witch Sharon ignored the mist and focused on the end of the Mind Ribbon...

Logically, the end of the Mind Ribbon should connect to Stop and Aex. But what Sharon saw now was an even denser mist.

This area covered by mist seemed about ten meters square, similar to the surrounding mist but denser... and the green patterns within the mist seemed even more numerous, faintly glowing green.

Looking at that small area enclosed in mist, Sharon suddenly felt a chill all over her body. It wasn’t a change in external temperature but a ”thrill” emanating from the heart.

It’s as if some great terror lay ahead.

”I’m just scaring myself,” Witch Sharon murmured softly, wondering how there could suddenly be great terror where there was nothing before?

Witch Sharon was silent for a moment, then shouted into the mist, ”Can you hear me? Aex, Stop?”

No echo.

”It should be the Mist obscuring the senses, as it was for me on the platform before,” Witch Sharon’s throat moved as she swallowed, finally deciding to go forward and take a look.

Because the end of the Mind Ribbon was within this mist.

In other words, Stop and Aex should both be in there.

”Since Pagnini didn’t issue a warning to Stop earlier, there shouldn’t be anything major. Perhaps they’re just trapped, and once I go in, combining my strength, we should be able to break this layer of mist,” Witch Sharon said to herself, seemingly to bolster her courage.

With that, Witch Sharon took a deep breath and quickly walked into the mist.

The mist swallowed Witch Sharon’s figure, and soon enough, everything around returned to silence.

The sound of Witch Sharon talking to herself abruptly stopped as she entered the mist.

Time continued to pass.

Without the energy support of a controller, the power of the green pattern was exhausted, and coupled with the suppression of foreign energy systems by the World Will of the Wizards’ Realm, the rate of green pattern consumption became increasingly faster.

This meant that the existence time of this mist wouldn’t be long.

An hour later, the dense fog that swallowed Witch Sharon gradually thinned, and it became clear that there was no one within.

Four hours later, the mist surrounding the forest changed from thick and thin to a thin layer.

Another two hours passed, and the thin mist completely disappeared, with the forest restoring its usual Peace under the morning light.

But Witch Sharon, Stop, and Aex did not reappear after the mist vanished.

It was as if they had never been here.

Only the still-operating forest maze in the distance served as traces of Witch Sharon’s presence.