Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1136: Section 1137 Interception
 

Fafnir had once again swiftly dispatched a wave of demons, and when he looked back, he saw Angel with an apologetic expression on his face.

Like before, these demons had come for Angel.

This showed just how widespread the influence of the Abyssal Awakening was.

After being targeted by demons twice in a row, Angel decided to use the Disguise Technique to conceal his appearance, but it seemed futile. As they continued on their way, they were still blocked by demons.

Angel was perplexed, his Disguise Technique incorporated elements of the Nightmare Illusion, so theoretically, it shouldn’t have been so easily seen through.

“Could it be that the demons are not recognizing me, but Canaan?” After all, Canaan worked at the Misty Cabin, and it seemed reasonable that the demons associated him with Angel when they saw Canaan.

As Angel was pondering this, Canaan seemed to read his mind: “Owner, it’s not that your illusion doesn’t work, it’s that your signature is too distinctive.”

Angel was startled. What did he mean by too distinctive a signature?

Fafnir had by now disposed of the demons blocking the path and turned to look at Angel with a sneer: “Did you think your Disguise Technique could conceal the mark given by Odeclass?”

It was because of the Flame Mark?! After a moment of realization, Angel touched the lobe of his left ear, where a fiery pattern resided—a Flame Mark left by Odeclass.

Originally, the purpose of the Flame Mark was to conceal Angel’s “human” identity, but its effect was so unique that in the entire Lassudral, only Angel possessed it. This made him stand out from the crowd, and the demons could sense the location of the Flame Mark without even needing to use their eyes.

Angel now felt a mix of laughter and tears; the very thing meant to conceal his identity, the Flame Mark, was what ultimately exposed him!

“Is there any way to hide this mark?” asked Canaan, who had also long noticed the conspicuousness of the Flame Mark on his owner. Previously, the Flame Mark served to intimidate lesser demons, but now, as Lassudral fell into chaos, that deterrence had lessened.

“There is a way, using a dragon scale to cover your Flame Mark should do the trick,” Fafnir’s gaze shifted toward Angel’s side, where an ice sphere floated up and down, the Icebound Hex that contained Toby.

Angel was aware that Binaqionse’s dragon scales could mask a presence, as Baltica had informed him when he was in the Land of Rest. But if he truly used Binaqionse’s dragon scale to hide his aura, the Icebound Hex encasing Toby wouldn’t last much longer.

Forced to choose between the two, Angel refrained from using Binaqionse’s dragon scales.

In fact, there was another way to disguise the Flame Mark. Angel sneaked a glance at Fafnir, thinking that if he could obtain one of Fafnir’s scales… Fafnir seemed to feel Angel’s gaze and glanced back coldly, causing Angel to shiver and lower his head, not daring to speak.

Lately, he had indeed become a bit overconfident, daring to consider targeting Fafnir. Angel quickly turned to introspection, as such thoughts were dangerous. Fafnir’s leniency towards him was not due to Angel himself but rather Odeclass’s mission. To become arrogant on that account would surely lead to a dire end.

Without a way to conceal the Flame Mark, Angel could only continue to stay close behind Fafnir.

Fortunately, after Fafnir had eliminated many demons, it appeared that they realized they were no match for him with their strength. Thus, the number of demons bold enough to challenge them dwindled.

At this moment, Angel also breathed a sigh of relief.

“The Abyssal Awakening’s allure is immense. However, after witnessing Lord Fafnir’s strength, there probably won’t be any more demons foolish enough to try,” Canaan said with a tone of reflection.

Angel felt somewhat contemplative himself; despite him having said before that the Abyssal Awakening was an anomaly… and even if it were real, it could only be of the Water System, these demons seemed to completely disbelieve.

However, there was nothing to be done about it, as these demons were witnessing an “external force-induced” Abyssal Awakening for the first time and naturally wouldn’t take Angel’s word for it.

…

Soon, they had entered the central area of Lassudral. If they went any further, it would be the core district—a region that Angel could not even touch using his Scouting Puppets.

The buildings on both sides of the street were immensely large, with doors wide enough for ogres to pass through. With just one look, Angel could tell how miniature the Misty Cabin was compared to them.

Many of the buildings here were relatively intact, and even some were bustling with the shadows of demons.

Angel’s group walked through the hazy, spark-filled streets, highly conspicuous. As they passed some of the intact buildings, Angel could distinctly feel the gaze emanating from within, surveying them. Faced with these malevolent stares, all Angel could do was to stick close to Fafnir.

Fafnir’s authority did indeed prevent these demons from acting rashly.

But sometimes, there were exceptions.

Just as they were about to step into the core district, a large group of demons suddenly surged out, encircling them completely. It was the first time they encountered so many at once, a dense mass that almost reached a hundred.

Their sizes varied, but all emanated a terrifying and arrogant presence. Moreover, there were many of them, momentarily blanketing the sky.

The tangible greed in the demons’ eyes turned into arrows aimed directly at Angel. Clearly, their objective was still Angel!

“Why are there so many demons coming?” Even Canaan was somewhat surprised. After witnessing Fafnir’s strength, one wouldn’t think the demons would dare to challenge her again, given their nature.

No one could answer Canaan’s question.

In the face of this group of demons, not only did Angel feel uneasy, but even Fafnir found them to be a bit of a nuisance. It wasn’t that she couldn’t deal with them; it was just that she would need to expend more effort to protect Angel while doing so.

With a slight flick of her finger, a gentle breeze began to swirl around Angel.

“Do not move from where you are. If you seek your own death, you cannot blame me,” Fafnir’s voice reached Angel’s ears, and without waiting for a response, she began a new round of battle with the demons that were charging at them.

Angel heeded Fafnir’s instruction, remaining absolutely still even when a stray demon sneaked up to him, swinging a hooked scythe in his direction—he did not flinch.

The moment the scythe came into contact with the gentle breeze surrounding Angel, Fafnir instantly sensed it. A furious gust of wind lifted the scythe, and the hapless demon was shredded into a blood rain by the cutting wind.

Soon after, the battle was over.

Fafnir stood arrogantly at the center of the street, surrounded by chunks of flesh and corpses. Specks of demon blood stained her dark skin. She licked the blood off the corner of her mouth, looking like a devil incarnate who reveled in slaughter.

The sound of footsteps squelched in the viscous blood and flesh.

Having walked through the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, Fafnir said indifferently, “It’s time to leave.”

Fafnir did not comment on the battle; to her, it was still an insignificant fight. However, she gave Angel an approving glance. The scythe had almost crossed Angel’s safety threshold, and yet he had adhered to her earlier instructions not to move, which had saved her some effort.

Of course, Fafnir was unaware that this was only Angel’s exterior composure.

Internally, he was silently chanting secret soul spells; had the scythe come any closer, he figured he might have had to resort to astral projection to flee with his body. While he had promised Fafnir one thing, Angel didn’t dare entrust his safety entirely to her.

When Fafnir gave the signal to leave, Canaan poked his head out of a nearby building. The demons were targeting Angel, but they had completely ignored Canaan, so he had escaped unharmed.

However, as they continued on their way, Canaan’s brows furrowed tightly—

He still didn’t understand why so many demons, knowing Fafnir was there, still came to seek death.

He felt there was something amiss about the situation.

This eerie sense of dissonance surged once more the moment they entered the core area.

Because once again, they were surrounded by demons.

This time, there were even more demons than before!

“A bunch of garbage that just won’t go away,” Fafnir said grimly. Once again, she surrounded Angel with a gentle breeze and, not waiting for the demons to make their move, she summoned an endless wind.

Angel didn’t need Fafnir to tell him; he stood at the center of the breeze without moving a muscle, though his expression was even grimmer than before.

These two encounters with the demon blockades were different from the previous ones. The earlier demons, having witnessed Fafnir’s power, had immediately deserted their companions and fled. But these demons sought to capture him with a reckless disregard for their own lives.

Angel was aware of the importance of the Abyssal Awakening to the demons. But what use was awakening if they were willing to throw away their lives?

While Angel was pondering, Canaan, who had hidden on the sidelines, was also scrutinizing the demon horde.

As an observer, the more Canaan watched, the more confused he became: they were targeting Angel, no doubt about it, as almost all the demons were clamoring towards him. It was understandable to have a common goal, but why did they all exhibit the same frenzy in their eyes?

When Canaan noticed the near-synchronized movements of two different demons trying to close in on Angel, enlightenment flashed through his mind.

“It seems like they are being controlled?!”

Controlled? When Canaan’s observation reached the battlefield, Angel immediately caught on. Considering how much the demons valued their lives, it really was improbable for them to battle so recklessly.

But if there was a puppet master controlling them, then that seemed possible.

However, who could control so many demons? Even if they were just lesser demons, without great strength, controlling so many of them was no easy feat.