Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1378: Section 1379: The Giant of Weishan

Fairy Tale World, the Middle Layer.

Angel followed behind Sanders, flying toward the depths of the dark and desolate mountain ridges.

“You seem to have quite an opinion on Taros?” Sanders suddenly asked while they were flying.

Angel hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Not long ago, they were in the bright Sky Mechanical City, but in the blink of an eye, they used the Teleportation Array to arrive in the Fairy Tale World. Their original plan was to pass through Silent Hill and then head to Black Castle.

After arriving at Silent Hill, they did not stay and left immediately.

And to leave Silent Hill, they had to pass by a very talkative double-faced Stone Spirit.

The Stone Spirit was the Gatekeeper of Silent Hill, named Taros.

“I was once attacked by Isabella in Silent Hill. When I tried to escape to Taros, it didn’t open the gate to let me out.”

Because of this, Angel had no choice but to face Isabella head-on as there was nowhere else to escape.

Angel knew that Isabella was merely toying with him at that time, and even if Taros had opened the gate, he guessed Isabella would still have caught up to him. However, this was something Angel realized later. At that moment, his only path to survival was to leave through Taros. But when Angel arrived near Taros, the Stone Spirit, usually so talkative, had no reaction and was as silent as an ordinary stone.

Taros’ refusal to open the gate also made clear its stance; it was not on his side. In other words, it didn’t matter to Taros if Isabella killed Angel.

Due to that experience, when they passed through Silent Hill and Taros chirped sycophantically to Sanders, Angel couldn’t help but sarcastically comment, “Now, you have plenty to say. Back then, why didn’t you say a word?”

It was because of this remark that Sanders had initiated the current conversation.

“I see,” Sanders said indifferently after listening. “In that situation, even if he knew you were from the lineage of Illusion Demon Island, he wouldn’t possibly let you go.”

Angel thought Sanders would talk about ‘reality,’ and indeed, the first thing Sanders said pointed out the harsh reality.

However, Sanders’ tone sharply changed with the next sentence, “Though a double-faced Stone Spirit is also a kind of Spirit Fusion, like the three Ancestral Spirits of Barbarian Cave, it’s only been born for just over two thousand years. Its strength is actually not strong; its defensive power barely suffices, but in other aspects, it’s quite ordinary. If a True Knowledge Wizard went against him, he could easily be reduced to ashes.”

Sanders said this, and Angel still hadn’t grasped his meaning.

Then Sanders added, “Silent Hill might seem like a decent Witcher Organization, but it actually is the weakest under Fairy Tale Town’s jurisdiction, barely on par with Illusion Demon Island. However, if Illusion Demon Island had one more True Knowledge Wizard, they would completely overpower Silent Hill.”

By this point, Angel finally understood Sanders’ insane insinuation.

He was telling him that as soon as he advanced to become a True Knowledge Wizard, he could go and eliminate Taros, and even if Silent Hill came knocking for retribution, Illusion Demon Island would have his back!

Angel was touched, but he didn’t think it necessary to go through such lengths.

Although he was annoyed by Taros blocking his path, at least Taros didn’t kick him while he was down back then. The one he truly resented, the real culprit behind his near death, was the Calamity Queen, Isabella.

However, Angel was still a long way off from reaching Isabella’s level of power.

Even if he truly wished to avenge that past grudge, now was probably not the time.

After setting aside the issue with Taros, Angel didn’t want to dwell on past events any longer, especially since they were about to head to Black Castle. And the current owner of Black Castle was Isabella.

The more he thought about it, the sultrier he felt, so he simply decided not to think about it.

Angel changed the subject, talking about what happened in Sky Mechanical City.

“Winchester and Brufen didn’t seek out the Mentor afterward, did they?” Angel asked.

Sanders nodded, “No, they haven’t. You don’t need to worry about them; they are even less inclined to stir up trouble than you are.”

Indeed, they hadn’t sought out Sanders, but Sanders had gone to them. So he knew very well that Brufen, whose Calamity Curse was not completely cleared, least wanted to be embroiled in trouble, and Winchester, after learning about Angel’s good relations with Midora and the possibility that he could influence Midora in concocting an improved Coagulation Potion, was even more unwilling to get involved with Angel’s affairs.

Therefore, Angel didn’t have to worry about them continuing to harass him.

“Even though they won’t trouble you, your appearance in Machinery City must have already reached the Frostmoon Alliance by now. It’s just not clear what action they’ll take against you next,” Sanders said.

If Monty had already met with Odeclass, then their interest in Angel would have significantly decreased. But if not, they’d probably do whatever they could to track him down.

It all depended on fortune.

Regardless of what action Frostmoon took, Sanders now had the confidence to protect Angel. Even if Monty himself should come, Sanders wasn’t particularly afraid.

After all, another piece of news spread out at the same time as “Angel is in the Sky Mechanical City.”

Angel had become a member of the research institute.

Even if Monty His Excellency would disregard the authority of the research institute and make a move on Angel, the Barbarian Cave would not stand idly by. The Barbarian Cave had been an alchemical desert for a long time, and now that Angel had become a member of the research institute, he was like a refreshing spring watering the desert, a chance for a future oasis to sprout.

Under such circumstances, everyone in the Barbarian Cave would not sit by and watch Angel come to harm.

Before Sanders left Sky Mechanical City, His Excellency Rhein had contacted Angel through the Barbarian Cave’s outpost in the Mechanical City just to confirm the matter with the research institute.

After confirming the facts, Rhein already regarded Angel as a core strategic element for the future development of the Barbarian Cave, so how could he allow Angel to encounter any mishaps.

“Originally, I was thinking that after you become an official wizard, the organization’s resources would be more heavily inclined towards you. But I didn’t expect it to start happening now,” Sanders said with a slight sigh of emotion.

Angel was puzzled, “Ah?”

“When you go back to the Barbarian Cave one day, you’ll understand,” Sanders said.

…

As they traversed the gloomy mountains and reached a plain, Sanders stopped and said, “We’re here.”

We’re here? Angel looked around in confusion. There was nothing, just barren wasteland. And by his own estimation, shouldn’t there be some distance from Black Castle?

“Let’s go,” Sanders didn’t offer any further explanation, and with a slight wave of his hand, he tore open a space rift.

It wasn’t until they had crossed the space rift that Angel realized in amazement that Sanders had brought him to the Inner Layer World.

Because the top layer, middle layer, and inner layer worlds had similar terrains, the only difference lay in the concentration of the primordial magic. So, they were actually still in the same wasteland plain as before.

As Angel observed their surroundings, the ground beneath them suddenly shook.

An earthquake?

Beyond the shaking, there was also a massive whooshing of wind.

Both the source of the tremor and the source of the sound came from behind them—

Angel turned around and saw something happening between the overlapping mountains behind them.

At the same time, the already dim sky suddenly gathered a thick mass of dark clouds, with lightning serpents sprawling within them, and thunder echoing nonstop.

By the momentary white light produced by the lightning, Angel saw a large number of stones, defying gravity, slowly rising into the sky between the mountains.

As Angel watched this spectacle in puzzlement, a hand as massive as the mountains suddenly reached over a peak.

Followed by, a head of an unknown size slowly rose from the midst of the mountains.

“Stop looking, let’s move,” Sanders said without another word, and with a tip of his toe, flew with Angel towards the other side of the wasteland, “The Inner Layer of Fairy Tale World houses many very primal and ancient magical creatures. The reason we’ve been hurrying through the middle layer and not entering the inner layer is because of this fellow’s presence in the mountains.”

“This fellow was originally a native Mountain Giant from Fairy Tale World, but after many years of immersion in dense magic power, it has mutated into a tough and difficult magical creature. Its territory is that mountainous region. Try not to provoke it. Its strength is incredibly powerful.”

Sanders’s expression seemed genuine; even he considered the magical creature powerful, its strength probably not lower than the True Knowledge Level.

They continued to fly until the mountains were no longer visible and only then slightly slowed down their pace.

Throughout their escape, Sanders also gave Angel a brief introduction to the Mountain Giant.

It was an indigenous magical creature that remained from when the Fairy Tale World merged with the Southern Domain. However, at the time of the plane’s fusion, the Mountain Giant was an insignificant little creature, and now, after an unknown length of time for development and nurturing, it had become so mighty.

Its energy strength had not yet reached that of a True Knowledge Wizard, but its destructive force and defensive capabilities far surpassed the limit of a first-level True Knowledge Wizard!

However, the main reason the Mountain Giant could break through the limits of its Blood Origin and grow to such a state was because of the dense magic power of the Inner World. And because it benefited from the unique magic environment here, it could remain mighty only within this region; it could not break the barrier to go to the middle or upper layers.

Therefore, the threat of the Mountain Giant to Fairy Tale World was not great. As long as one avoided entering the Inner World through those mountains, they would be safe and sound.

“Because of the special magic environment here, there are not many magical creatures in the Inner Layer World. The ones that might appear here are all tough nuts to crack.”

Fortunately, on their way to Black Castle, there was only this one magical creature that could threaten their safety.