Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2651: Chapter 2652: Cicia and the Gargoyle

”...Are you Lulu?”

As soon as Cicia stepped through the door, she saw a gargoyle not far away with a pair of wings on its back, a pointy nose, and a pig snout, its entire body covered in a dull gray. This gargoyle hadn’t turned into a statue but was sneakily watching the drapery on the right side of the hall. Its head stretched to the left and rubbed to the right, as if it wanted to lift the drapery and look inside but seemed afraid of something that it didn’t dare.

Cicia’s sudden voice startled the guilty-looking gargoyle, making it shudder violently, even its thin and bony wings on its back cringed.

With fright, the gargoyle acted like a jammed puppet, twitching its head, then meeting Cicia’s gaze.

Cicia carefully scrutinized this sneaky-looking gargoyle, finding it increasingly familiar. This little look, this timid manner, and those undernourished-looking wings were exactly like the guardian gargoyle at the second narrow passageway of the Hanging Jail Stairway.

With doubt in her heart, Cicia called out again, ”Lulu?”

After locking eyes in a frozen stare for several seconds and being called out again by Cicia, the somewhat simple-minded gargoyle finally reacted, the red glow in its eyes gradually brightened.

Its face, both ugly and fierce yet curiously timid, suddenly lit up as if illuminated by bright sunshine.

”Chitter-chatter, jibber-jabber...” The gargoyle, as if seeing a family member, quickly darted toward Cicia, muttering in some unknown language.

Seeing the gargoyle’s reaction, Cicia confirmed it again: this was indeed Lulu!

But isn’t this all too absurd, why is Lulu also in this dream? If Lulu is here, where is the other gargoyle, Coco?

While Cicia was pondering, the gargoyle Lulu had already dashed over. Cicia deftly dodged Lulu’s pounce, then swiftly kicked it from behind, and the gargoyle Lulu was kicked to the ground.

This set of dodging, spinning, and sweeping side-kick was executed by Cicia with such fluidity and skill that it seemed etched into her muscle memory.

And just like countless times in the past, the gargoyle Lulu, kicked down to the ground, was not upset by being knocked over; instead, it looked so excited that it was about to cry... This long-missed feeling of being kicked by the Saintess was something it hadn’t experienced for who knows how long.

Lulu, awash in tears, continued to chatter in a voice that was both aggrieved and somewhat coquettish.

At this moment, however, Cicia was not paying attention to what Lulu was saying. She shook the left leg that had just kicked Lulu, a look of confusion in her eyes: Even though everything here feels very real, this leg’s strength isn’t the same as my original body. Is this a flaw in this dream? But if it’s truly a dream, creating everything should be easy, with no need to reveal such obvious flaws.

Cicia couldn’t quite figure out why this body was exhibiting such changes. It was hers, yet it felt like it wasn’t.

However, even with flaws in the body, the completeness of the dream’s construction was terrifyingly extreme. At least a thousand years ago, Cicia had only seen Illusionary Realms that were so lifelike, never a dream as realistic as this. After all, the Illusion Technique, at its core, was still under the wizard’s control. With the power of control, it could be continuously modified and perfected. Even creating an illusion identical to the True World isn’t impossible, like the global-scale illusion of the Illusionist Wizard.

But dreams are just a bubble of the Dream Realm, and the Dream Witch can only borrow the bubble rather than create it. This is fundamentally different from the Illusionist Wizard.

As Cicia was deep in thought, a pair of sharp claws wrapped in gray stone shells suddenly hugged Cicia’s thigh.

Looking down, Cicia saw Lulu clinging to her leg, crying, and muttering words of complaint.

”You...” Cicia initially wanted to tell Lulu to let go, but seeing Lulu still partially lying on the ground, weeping, she suddenly remembered something.

With the force used just now, it shouldn’t have knocked Lulu to the ground. Although Lulu was among the lowest of the gargoyles, it was still a magic monster from the Abyss, so how could an ordinary human’s strength knock it down? How would other monsters from the Abyss bear this?

Even if Lulu is a false creation by Angel in the dream, it should at least adhere to some rules, right?

”Chitter-chatter... Jibber-jabber...”

Cicia’s mind hadn’t wandered far before being interrupted by Lulu’s voice again.

Although Cicia was convinced this ”Lulu” was false, it was so much like the real Lulu... so much so that Cicia couldn’t bear to expose it.

Then let’s chat with it. As they chat, it will inevitably reveal its true self.

No matter how well it mimics, it isn’t Lulu.

For previously, she had asked The Sage about Lulu and the other guards’ situation. The Sage had told her a piece of news that was not entirely bad but certainly not good either: Lulu and another gargoyle had voluntarily petrified themselves and never woke up. They hadn’t been plundered by outsiders but had chosen to remain in deep sleep all these years, without anyone waking them. Now, they’re essentially in a state of ”sleep-death.”

Over such a long period, even a gargoyle underwent ”sleep-death.” Even if there were still some life waves, there wasn’t any way to wake them.

This is the ecology of lower-level gargoyles. Because their bodies are weak, when they enter sleep-death, even if their body gets completely destroyed, they feel nothing; in fact, as their body gets ruined, they completely die. Meanwhile, high-level gargoyles have highly resilient bodies, and if they ”sleep-death,” they can be revived through various external stimuli. For instance, a dark gold gargoyle can be awakened with constant burning by a Transcendent fire.

And precisely because Cicia knew they had been sleep-dead, she was certain that what’s in front of her wasn’t Lulu.

Yet, looking at the crying ”Lulu,” Cicia, just like thousands of years ago, crouched down halfway, patted Lulu’s somewhat hard and smooth head, and comforted with a familiar tone, ”Alright, alright, stop crying, I don’t know about other things, but I am real... go ahead, I’m listening.”

Lulu’s reaction was the same as before; in Cicia’s soft voice, its emotions slowly calmed down, starting to speak between sobs and hics.

However, its words were still ”chitter-chatter, jibber-jabber.”

”It’s incredible how even its tone and habits can be imitated...” Cicia slightly frowned. ”Could it be that Angel is manipulating my memories?”

Cicia thought about it, but then felt it was impossible. Even though the Dream Sorcerer could do many unbelievable things in the Dream Realm, not being the dream realm’s master meant such a silent invasion of memories could only be achieved through Rule-level abilities; Cicia couldn’t think of another way.

Moreover, Cicia, weakened though she was, essentially had no body or soul, being purely a collection of memories, or an alternative Consciousness. Whether her memory had been read or not, she could still sense it.

Yet without reading her memory, how could Angel simulate such a realistic Lulu, even down to its reaction patterns?

Even the tones when being aggrieved... were just like back then...

Originally pondering how Angel created such a realistic ”Lulu,” but as Lulu used its familiar voice and nostalgic tone to weep and plead with Cicia for consolation, Cicia felt as though this body of hers had a heart being touched, with her vision becoming gradually blurry.

Truly, for Cicia, it had been so long since she felt this way; everything was like thousands of years ago. The mansion hadn’t toppled, the sunshine was bright, her body was unharmed, and there was still a familiar little companion by her side.

Cicia found herself indulging in this feeling, this long-lost sensation too beautiful... too beautiful...

...

However, the former Saintess Cicia was fundamentally a rational person. Even as emotions surged, her intellect did not remain dormant.

She knew no matter how beautiful it was, it was just a dream.

A long-lost beautiful dream.

Since it’s a dream, there will be a time for awakening.

Cicia didn’t want to be led blindly by the dream created by Angel; she forcibly restrained her emotional contemplation.

With her thoughts no longer disturbed by emotions, Cicia began to seriously regard everything around her.

Since Angel created ”Lulu,” let’s first see what Angel intends to do.

The appearance of Lulu must have a purpose.

Cicia started to carefully listen to Lulu’s bounteous and verbose complaints, trying to find the core element Lulu was attempting to express within those words.

After a while, Cicia looked at Lulu, full of confusion: ”You’re asking me where this is? I wanted to ask you.”

She originally wanted to get the ”clues” that Angel integrated when creating Lulu, but in the end, Lulu asked her the same question, even before she could.

What is Angel up to?

Going through all the trouble to create Lulu, purely to awaken her past emotions? And how does Angel know all of Lulu’s behavioral patterns?

Cicia felt increasingly strange about this ”dream.”

”You also just woke up and arrived here upon waking? How long did you sleep? You don’t know?!”

Cicia sighed helplessly, turning to look around: ”You woke up alone? Is Coco not here?”

Coco, like Lulu, is also a gargoyle.

Millennia ago, Cicia often went to the Hanging Jail Stairway to visit her close friend Margaret, so she was familiar with several guards there.

The ones she was most familiar with were the two gargoyles at the second passageway, Coco and Lulu. These two gargoyles were brought to Naraku City when they were still stone embryos, and they grew up there. They looked fierce but were actually very playful. Along with the fact that ordinary gargoyles are not very intelligent, they were at most like children around eleven or twelve, with an innate sense of innocence and purity.

Due to their pure nature, they seemed like children to Cicia, so she was more lenient with these two gargoyles. The result of this leniency was that every time she went to the Hanging Jail Stairway, she had little followers.

Either Lulu followed her, or Coco did... As for why both couldn’t follow at the same time, it was naturally because there still needed to be a guard at the second passageway. One leaving was fine, but if both left, that wouldn’t work.

”Jibber-jabber, bally-balla.”

Cicia nodded as she listened: ”Coco is behind the curtain, where there is a terrifying old man, and Coco is still in statue form, you’re too scared to go in?”

”You’re really cowardly,” Cicia said, somewhat speechless. No wonder Lulu was previously sneaking and peering around the curtain.

But, did Lulu say it was an old man?

Then it’s not Angel, is it Popota?

Was Lulu created to awaken her ”human nature” and then tell her Popota’s location?

Cicia was a bit confused, unable to discern what was going on, and her mind was in chaos. So she decided not to think anything and directly walked towards the curtain.

After all, eventually, she had to meet someone.

Whether meeting Angel or the ”false Baiyuanians” created by Angel, she had to meet them first before talking about anything else.

When Cicia arrived in front of the curtain, she heard a rustling from inside and a man mumbling softly.

”Interesting, I didn’t imagine this is how a gargoyle would be structured.”

”I’ll take a bit of your fingernail if you don’t mind? Don’t worry, I’ll use nail clippers; it won’t hurt.”

”I’ll also take a little bit of hair. Don’t be afraid; this is just an external redundant tissue removal operation. There’s a scissors, no harm to you.”

”Oh, and I need some blood. Trust me, it won’t hurt, and it’s just a tiny bit of blood.”

Just listening to this made Cicia furrow her brow. Similar sounds could often be heard in Naraku City in the past. Because Naraku City once conducted a lot of live experiments, those experimenters would put on this hypocritical appearance when facing the test subjects.

Although Cicia was sent to Naraku City and was somewhat associated with those experiments, she herself did not actually like them.

Why use live bodies? Why use fellow species? Why use intelligent life forms?

In those days, Cicia couldn’t get answers to these questions, but she tacitly allowed the existence of those experiments.

But now, hearing these sounds again made her very upset.

Angel tricking her with dreams was one thing, but to recreate the scene back then instantly ignited Cicia’s anger.

She sharply pulled open the curtain and rushed in.

She was ready to take action, but when she saw the scene in front of her, she was stunned.

”Coco...what are you doing?” Cicia stared in a daze at the familiar gargoyle.

One hand held by a gaunt old man, the other hand holding a cream ice ball and licking it eagerly, Coco raised his head, eyes brightening instantly: ”Ah, glug-glug, jibber-jabber!”

”Just giving him a bit of useless body tissue and you get food? You’re that gluttonous?!”

After Cicia finished speaking, she frowned tightly and looked at the old man with gray hair: ”Are you Popota? Why are you studying Coco, what are you doing studying Coco?”

”Coco, is it called Coco? That’s quite a nice name.” The old man didn’t mind Cicia’s accusation at all. Instead, he smiled kindly at Cicia: ”I’m not Popota, you can call me Jon. As for the Popota you’re looking for, he’s in the dining room.”

”But I must say, it’s my first time seeing you. Are you new here? Are you an old acquaintance of Popota? That means you must be a wizard too?”

Faced with Jon’s barrage of questions, Cicia suddenly didn’t know what to answer.

Coco didn’t seem afraid at all, completely different from what she imagined. And this old man even looked kindly and friendly, not even a hint of hostility, which made her feel guilty instead.

Most importantly, he wasn’t Popota either. Jon? Who is this? Just how many false creatures did Angel create in this dream?

Cicia scratched her hair irritably, turning to look at Lulu behind her: ”Didn’t you say Coco was in statue form? And is this the scary old man you mentioned?”

Lulu: ”Di-di-di-la...”

Cicia: ”You only felt scared just by hearing his voice, when did you become so cowardly? Did you sleep too long that you slept your brains out?”

Lulu pursed his lips reluctantly.

”And you, Coco! How many times have I told you before, don’t trust humans too much. Not all humans are like me or Margaret, one day you’ll suffer for it!”

Even if everything was false, Cicia rarely found the feeling of scolding them like in the past, and she was scolding her two little followers, so she might as well scold to her heart’s content. Telling them to be clear about identifying people, then saying not to be lured by small benefits...

Soon, she was done scolding them for quite some time.

Meanwhile, Jon curiously watched the scene unfold before him. He didn’t expect that during his rare visit back to Pat Manor for rest, he’d encounter not only two living gargoyles but also an interesting little girl.

She seemed very familiar with these two gargoyles. Could it be that she is their owner?

As Jon observed, Cicia scolded, and the two gargoyles kept their heads down in silence. The equilibrium was broken by a voice coming from not far away.

”Hey, Cicia, do you know these two gargoyles?”