Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2522: Chapter 2523: Rescue

"The true body of the young Demon King... Yes, the true body is still in the distant beyond, what you see here is just a bubble illusion."

"This is the illusion created by that little demon, hahaha, it scared you, didn’t it."

A young boy with bandages wrapped around his right hand suddenly began to shout loudly and occasionally burst into laughter, appearing very much like a clown playing a prank.

If a score of 10 is perfect, setting aside the boy’s flushed face, Angel would give this boy 8 points for his acting skills and adaptability, with the deduction for his stuttered start.

But now, probably around 2 points.

Why isn’t it 0 points? Naturally, because this performance, despite its many flaws, somehow amused Angel at a particular point within his heart.

"Oh, so it’s the illusion created by the Princess."

While everyone else was staring in disbelief at Bruiser, Angel was nonchalantly, even with a smile, playing along.

"Of course! That little demon is most vicious by nature, and she created such an illusion deliberately to scare you. Right, right, right?" Bruiser said "right" three times, all targeting Angel. Clearly, Bruiser was on the verge of collapse, desperately seeking affirmation from others, even though he didn’t know who Angel was.

"The Princess indeed could do such things," Angel affirmed seriously.

Upon hearing this, Bruiser seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then loudly appealed: Don’t believe it; what you see is an illusion.

"However, since you are set on being the Princess’s illusion, why do you oppose the Princess in your speech? Since it’s an illusion, shouldn’t you show respect to the Princess and scare people as much as possible?"

Bruiser was instantly speechless, his face turning pale: "I, I..."

Angel: "So, even the Dark Demon King can be at a loss for words."

When Angel said this, let’s not talk about Bruiser’s feelings; Lady Melo was once again convinced of Serum’s words. Don’t be fooled by Angel’s usually gentle, friendly nature; he indeed had a mischievous side.

What Lady Melo needed to do at this moment was to keep silent, bow her head, and pretend to know nothing.

Angel’s mischievous target now was Bruiser. If his interest extended to her, it wouldn’t be good.

However, Lady Melo was thinking too much; Angel had a lot of respect for ladies, and in his own words, he didn’t consider himself mischievous.

He merely found Bruiser, the boy, quite interesting.

Among this group of Talented Ones who were rather dull, Bruiser was unique and naturally caught Angel’s attention as he stood out.

However, seeing Bruiser’s suddenly crestfallen face, Angel kindly chose not to continue teasing him.

Instead, he helped Bruiser out.

Angel casually released several illusion nodes, and a faint white mist enveloped Bruiser, concealing the "true art" Dox spoke of and blocking the eye-burning scene.

As for Golos, Angel didn’t forget, though he hadn’t provided any interesting reactions. While he was at it, he helped cover for him too.

Angel’s operation, what reaction Bruiser and Golos would have, he didn’t know for now, as the white mist also blocked sound.

The purpose of blocking sound wasn’t due to Bruiser’s noise but rather to create a quiet space. This was more conducive to exploring that aspect which intrigued him even more.

Thinking of this, Angel turned to look at Siber.

At this moment, Siber was squatting on the ground, head bowed, muttering to herself.

Angel listened closely and realized Siber was repeatedly saying: This is also an illusion; it’s an illusion; it’s an illusion...

Angel could be sure that Siber hadn’t been listening to Bruiser’s ramblings earlier. Strangely, the pair arrived at similar thoughts.

"Young boy, you are not fighting alone."

Angel gently sighed internally and walked over to Siber.

Siber sensed someone approaching, but she didn’t lift her head, continuing to bow silently.

"It seems Lady Melo’s etiquette teaching hasn’t penetrated your heart yet." Angel whispered softly, then extended his finger, and pointed to Siber’s brow from thin air.

A Nightmare Illusion for emotional soothing then rushed into Siber’s Spirit Sea.

The previously turbulent emotions gradually calmed down under the illusion’s effect.

Siber seemed to regain awareness, raised her head to find the Honorable Wizard, whom even Lady Melo respected, standing before her, and quickly stood up to greet him.

"Sir, please forgive my rudeness, I was just too..." Siber continued, recalling the earlier eye-burning scene, but her emotions were much more stable now than before.

Angel: "No need to say more; I am curious about one thing."

"How did you exit from the Rainbow House below?"

...

After a while, Angel listened to Siber’s account.

Siber herself didn’t know exactly how she came out. Upon entering the rainbow mist, she saw scenes from the Red Coral Church on Thoroughbred Island from years ago.

These scenes were very different from her memories and had turned eerie. The missionary she had seen, cold as ice before, drifted like a ghost. Every time he faced someone, he would punish them in the name of God. The punishments involved decapitation.

Siber was initially frightened by these scenes, fleeing constantly, fearing the ghostly missionary would appear before her the next moment. Gradually, she noticed something odd.

She saw patches of rainbow mist.

Originally, upon entering the Red Coral Church, the rainbow mist disappeared, but inexplicably, she occasionally saw faint mist emerging.

Moreover, the most concentrated place of rainbow mist was where the missionary and the victims were.

At this point, Siber had realized that this might not be real but rather an illusionary realm. As she began seeing rainbow mist, she understood she was entirely isolated from it; the mist couldn’t blend into her body, merely floating outside. This led her to another conclusion: the ghostly missionary was an illusion composed of rainbow mist, and possibly, like the mist, it couldn’t interact with her, so the missionary couldn’t harm her.

This hypothesis seemed abrupt in logic but wasn’t in reality. Siber confirmed it was an illusion and recalled Angel’s words before entering—

"Go in, there is no danger, just some surprises... or, scares."

No danger was the key point.

After determining it was an illusion, Siber no longer feared the ghostly missionary. Yet, she still wished to leave, as these scenes, though illusionary, truly made her feel biologically uncomfortable.

She began seeking ways to exit the Red Coral Church, and her method was simple and direct.

She firmly believed the rainbow mist was crucial in forming the illusion, and since she could occasionally spot drifting mist, she thought if she moved toward areas where it was thinner, she might be able to walk out.

The facts were indeed as she had thought.

She left the Red Coral Church and found the Glass House, arriving at this place which she found even more unbearable than the illusions at the Red Coral Church.

"I can see the rainbow mist." Angel squinted his eyes, as if he had thought of something.

Angel thought for a moment, then turned to Lady Melo and asked, "When you were in the Rainbow House and entered the illusion, did you see any rainbow mist?"

Lady Melo shook her head: "I saw it before entering, but not after stepping into that little house."

Even Lady Melo didn’t see any rainbow mist in the illusion, yet Siber did, which was quite intriguing.

Angel was well aware that the so-called rainbow mist was merely an illusion node’s fabricated phenomenon, which could appear as rainbow-colored, white mist, or gray mist.

And the fact that Siber could occasionally see the rainbow mist in the illusion meant that she could see the location of the illusion nodes.

Even if it was only occasional, it indicated that Siber had a very strong talent for observing illusion nodes.

This kind of talent generally appeared in two types of people.

First, those with a strong talent for insight, usually found among the bloodline side, and the prophecy system and shadow system of the mysterious side. Second, are the talented ones of the illusion series, who, even without formal illusion training, feel a strong resonance with the illusion nodes due to their outstanding talent.

Of course, whether it is one or the other, the necessary prerequisite is: the illusion faced must be low-grade, roughly between level 0 and level 1 trick. The rainbow illusion below, as Angel saw it, was indeed a low-level trick. If it was any stronger, even a talented one in the illusion series would not be able to sense the illusion nodes within.

So, what situation was Siber in?

Angel could roughly determine Siber’s situation just by asking Lady Melo about the vision from Siber’s talent orb test.

But Angel didn’t do that.

Because if Siber really had a talent in the illusion series, she wouldn’t have any other choices, and would definitely become part of the Illusion Demon Island lineage.

By then, perhaps they would meet on Illusion Demon Island.

So, it was better to leave a bit of suspense.

...

Angel didn’t continue talking much with Siber, just asked a few casual questions and then let her stand aside as a vase.

On the other side, Lady Melo was also urgently working on cracking the mechanism.

It took about ten minutes for the complex mechanism to finally be completely dismantled. The two people suspended in mid-air also landed safely under the pull of Lady Melo’s magic power.

Although Bruiser and Golos landed and untied the ropes, Angel did not remove the white mist.

Because there was still one problem left to solve: their clothes.

Lady Melo did have some women’s clothing, as well as some gender-neutral wizard robes, but these were all stored in a one-time spatial capsule, and one had already been used when she gave it to Amisha earlier, and she did not want to use another one for this. To someone like her at the peak apprentice level, although she could afford spatial capsules, they were also consumable, so it was better to save wherever possible.

Moreover, this room also had wardrobes, as well as some carpets and curtain decorations, which should suffice for two grown men to manage.

After Lady Melo gave her suggestion, Bruiser and Golos silently went to the wardrobe and opened it to see.

It was unsurprising—all were for princesses to wear.

Women’s clothing was one thing, but these were not what decent people would wear: for example, a bunch of black belts with various buckles, and dresses made from human hair and skin sewn together.

They stood before the wardrobe, lacking the courage to take any piece out.

Just then, they suddenly heard some rumbling noises coming from outside.

In their confusion, Angel spoke: "Outside is the commotion that Dox created."

Lady Melo asked, "Honorable Wizard, do you mean our intrusion has already been discovered?"

Angel lazily nodded: "It was noticed long ago; when you were cracking the mechanism, the princess and her entourage came to the second floor."

Lady Melo’s heart skipped a beat; the time she spent cracking the mechanism wasn’t short, and it didn’t take long to go from the second to the third floor. The princess might have already reached the third floor?

Angel’s words made Lady Melo and the other talented ones a bit worried, while the python spirit Slaikum appeared worried but was actually rejoicing inside.

Angel glanced at Slaikum, then said, "I placed a little obstacle on the second floor earlier; they are temporarily trapped for now."

"Honorable Wizard, how long can they be trapped?" Lady Melo asked urgently, as this concerned the safety of the talented ones below.

"Not sure, maybe two to three minutes, or perhaps five to six minutes." Angel said this while glancing at the two youths still standing in front of the wardrobe: "So, your opportunity to dress up is limited, of course, you can also choose to remain stark naked. I will cooperate with you by removing the illusions surrounding you."

Angel’s words made Bruiser and Golos even more anxious, and finally, they started to choose their attire.

Meanwhile, under Angel’s guidance, Lady Melo went below to find the remaining talented ones still trapped in the illusions.

During Lady Melo’s search, Angel turned back to Slaikum: "Are you anticipating the princess’s arrival?"

Slaikum immediately shook his head, flattering, "How could that be? I’m with you now, Honorable Wizard. If the princess sees me, she will definitely kill me. Please, trust me."

Angel raised an eyebrow: "Really? So you’re planning to follow me?"

Slaikum hesitated for half a second and quickly nodded: "It would be my honor if you would take me along!"

Angel laughed, not delving further into the topic, but instead, brought up something else: "Do you know why I said it could take the princess two to three minutes or maybe five to six minutes to break through my obstacle?"

This abrupt question made Slaikum pause before shaking his head: "I don’t know."

"Actually, Gray Crow could have opened the obstacle minutes ago. But he didn’t, choosing instead to do some insignificant things." Angel continued, "However, Gray Crow’s slacking can’t stay hidden for long; it depends on when the princess realizes and bursts out. So, it might be soon, or it might take some time."

Angel looked at Slaikum: "It seems your judgment is correct, this Gray Crow Wizard isn’t loyal to the princess."

Slaikum nodded earnestly while thinking about how he could report to the princess later.

"I actually feel a bit sorry for the princess; her guard Gray Crow Wizard is rebellious, and her gate spirit betrayed her, truly pitiful."

"Yes, pitiful indeed..." Slaikum inadvertently echoed Angel, then realized his mistake and quickly added, "But, the princess deserves it. Such a venomous person shouldn’t exist in this world!"

Angel gave Slaikum a deep look: "It seems you’re really ready to cut ties with the princess and intend to join my side."

Slaikum: "That’s what I should do."

Angel said no more and looked towards the door. Lady Melo had already brought everyone up by then.