Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2794: Chapter 2795: Intercept and Assassinate

Angel’s words left everyone both heartbroken and relieved.

Heartbroken because every additional external array plate prepared is a waste.

And although a single plate might not be expensive, the total cost adds up significantly...

Of course, the most heartbroken among them was probably Dox. As a Wandering Wizard, he’s experienced firsthand how terrifying poverty can be. While Kaier can also be considered a Wandering Wizard, he hasn’t yet advanced to Official Wizard status, and with his adept spatial technique, he has more than enough resources.

However, alongside the heartbreak, the relief was even greater.

Angel had prepared thoroughly. It was better to be over-prepared than under-prepared. This way, at least they had a bit of confidence regarding the journey ahead.

As they resumed their journey, everyone tacitly agreed to remain silent. If they needed to communicate, they did so discreetly using the Mind Ribbon for private exchanges.

Because the fork in the road was nearby, Angel was constantly observing the surrounding flow of Magical Energy Array Power. Their chatter could potentially distract him.

Maintaining silence, they continued for about two more minutes.

Suddenly, Angel furrowed his brows, quickly drawing out an Array Plate and tossing it like a frisbee to a predetermined position. Simultaneously, he shouted through the Mind Ribbon: "Here it comes, prepare to break through."

Angel’s words were momentarily mystifying, but everyone soon understood and prepared to use the Acceleration Spell, while Speedy boosted them with the Wind’s Force.

"How could they come so quickly? We haven’t even seen the fork yet?" Naturally, it was Dox who had spared the time to speak. Despite his surprise, Dox’s Bloodline had already begun to activate, with faint blood-red light emanating.

"Perhaps it’s a combination of lovelorn heart and maternal heart coming together," Angel replied.

If You Nu’s two Temporal Bodies arrived simultaneously, one could be at the fork while the other lies in wait elsewhere.

Precisely because of this possibility, Angel remained cautious along the way, continuously calculating the surrounding energy nodes, even before reaching the fork.

The decision proved correct... well, incorrect.

"There’s no need to be so on edge, it’s me." A dark creature, equipped with ears and limbs, emerged from underground.

Without a doubt, it was the Genggui with whom they’d previously forged a pact.

Due to the contractual bond, Genggui’s identity was indisputable. However, even though they faced Genggui, the group didn’t lower their guard.

No one could be certain that Angel’s warning of two Temporal Bodies ambushing them one after the other was false. If indeed two Temporal Bodies were mobilized, their vigilance needed to stay high, ready to break through at any moment.

"Why are you here?" Angel asked, not retracting the Array Plate and looking puzzled at Genggui.

Genggui: "I received intelligence to inform you."

Genggui paused, glancing at the Array Plates arranged around them, and said with slight admiration, "It seems you held back against me and my brother earlier. You’re handling the Magical Energy Array with great speed and its suppression is much stronger than before; I couldn’t even conjure a portal... I had to manifest spiritually."

Despite the lament, Genggui was still pleased, as it implied that when Angel faced the maternal figure, no unexpected incidents were likely to occur.

"What kind of intelligence? What information?" Angel asked curiously.

"Earlier, the maternal figure contacted us." A slightly cold voice rang out from nearby. Everyone turned to see the Cyclops Family’s second sibling appearing now. The one speaking was the second sibling.

Angel quietly looked at the sibling, waiting for its follow-up.

The sibling spoke calmly: "The maternal figure instructed me and Genggui to intercept you."

Genggui: "Why are you calling me Genggui as well?"

The sibling shot its elder brother a glance: "You seem to like that name, considering you never change your form."

Genggui: "Isn’t this form better-looking than our original one?"

Most importantly, Genggui felt this form was especially reminiscent of an elder brother in the Cyclops Family, majestic and heroic. So, it preferred maintaining this appearance.

The sibling scoffed, muttering under breath: "Being brainwashed without realizing it."

Ignoring Genggui, the sibling turned to Angel: "Just for this intelligence, it’s not worth for us to come and inform you. But in this intelligence, there are doubts I wish to resolve."

Dox frowned: "What doubts does this intelligence hold?"

Wasn’t it merely You Nu instructing her two children to intercept them, something the Wise Sovereign hinted at previously?

The sibling: "First, I’ll offer you additional intel; the maternal figure will dispatch the maternal heart, and the other Temporal Bodies are occupied elsewhere, and won’t appear."

This piece of intel was indeed useful. If only the maternal heart was coming, it would only ambush them at the fork. At least it meant they didn’t need to tighten their nerves before reaching the fork.

After sharing this intel, the sibling paused before directly facing Angel: "What have you done?"

Angel was taken aback: "What? What have I done?"

The others also turned their curious gaze to Angel, having been together all along, what could he have done?

The sibling: "Genggui and I used to be tasked with intercepting those heading toward the relic site. But the maternal figure never ordered us to be ruthless, only instructed us to send newcomers into the Sea of Void Mirror, wash away their memories, and start anew."

"But you are different; the maternal figure wants us to intercept you with utmost effort and cast you into the Sea of Void Mirror."

Dox: "Isn’t that the same thing?"

The sibling gave Dox a quick dismissive glance, scoffing: "But this time, the maternal figure added two more clauses. The first clause, if capturing alive fails, act with lethal force."

This wasn’t interception—this was assault, a hunt!

"As for the second clause," the sibling once again focused on Angel, "if anyone else isn’t killed, that’s fine, but you must die."

Although the sibling recounted lightly, the atmosphere revealed an overwhelming aura of murder.

Genggui interjected appropriately: "Sibling, since we’re bound to them by contract, we cannot act against them."

Sibling: "I won’t act; I just need him to answer... what did he really do?"

To annihilate everyone wasn’t something the sibling really cared about. Because this time, the Noah descendants reached achievements beyond predecessors, not only reaching here but even persuading the Wise Sovereign to assist them.

Thus, these Noah descendants were special and invoking the crown’s murderous intent was understandable.

But what the sibling couldn’t fathom was why Angel was so special?

Even if others aren’t killed, it’s tolerable, but Angel must be the priority target. Why exactly? What has Angel done to become such an eye-sore to the maternal figure, a thorn in their side?

Everyone was filled with doubt regarding Second Bao’s questioning.

If what Second Bao claimed happened for the first time, it wouldn’t matter much. But this wasn’t the first time; during the previous duel, Wisest Sovereign explicitly stated: Angel must fight.

As for the reason, Wisest Sovereign didn’t know either, only mentioning it was "her" wish.

And now, Angel was being targeted again.

Others could be killed or spared, but Angel was destined to die. What had happened to make those behind this harbor such hatred against Angel?

Angel was perplexed himself, shaking his head: "I don’t know."

Angel’s stance showed, you can freely use a truth spell or an oath to query him. He simply didn’t know, and was also kept in the dark.

After a careful observation, Second Bao confirmed Angel shouldn’t be lying. It pondered for a moment: "Then what exactly did you come to the underground aqueduct to do this time? You are not a descendant of Noah, what is your purpose in the legacy place?"

Since Angel didn’t know the reasons, Second Bao decided to analyze it himself. Perhaps by analyzing Angel’s purpose, it could uncover why he wasn’t favored by "Her Majesty".

"Just a spontaneous whim to go, as for saying the legacy place... I wanted to see it." Angel didn’t resist answering, maintaining an open and honest attitude, and laid bare his thoughts.

No doubt, this statement was indeed true. Everyone present, including Second Bao, could analyze it.

However, whether Second Bao, Black Earl, or Dox, actually felt something was amiss.

Perhaps Angel’s statement was true, but beneath those words, there might be hidden matters, and these unsaid words of Angel might be the utmost truth.

But since Angel didn’t reveal these words, everyone felt awkward to delve deeper.

Though they felt awkward, Second Bao didn’t experience such emotion and straightforwardly asked: "Just wanted to see? Why do I find that hard to believe? Are you sure there’re no other motives, those hidden, unexpressed purposes?"

Angel chuckled, admitting for the first time: "Yes, there certainly are purposes. However, these purposes would not cause any harm to the legacy place, nor to the underground aqueduct. In fact, I won’t aim to accomplish these purposes deliberately or affect it adversely in a short period. For me, it’s a long-term, anticipated purpose, not immediate nor mandatory."

"You can perceive this as my path of growth."

"It concerns no one but me. It won’t harm any life in the underground aqueduct, including your mother You Nu, and the ’her’ behind You Nu."

Angel expressed earnestly, yet still did not reveal the secret.

But this was enough.

Second Bao wasn’t intent on exploring Angel’s secret; its main concern was Angel posing a threat to its mother—even though a pact was signed, the contract largely limited direct harm, but what about indirect harm?

If Angel caused danger to the underground aqueduct or harm to Her Majesty, affecting its mother, it might not breach the contract but would still injure the mother.

This was why Second Bao needed to clarify.

Angel seemed to discern what Second Bao cared most about, hence he included references to You Nu, making it clear to Second Bao that he wouldn’t initiate harm, either direct or indirect, to any life here.

Having reached this point, Second Bao knew further queries would yield nothing. Nonetheless, it didn’t immediately abandon the topic, instead opting for a different approach.

"I accept what you’re saying, and I believe you truly don’t know why Her Majesty holds such enmity toward you." Second Bao stared into Angel’s eyes: "But do you have any guesses at all?"

Angel pondered briefly: "I do have guesses, though my conjectures somewhat relate to my purpose here. As I mentioned earlier, my purpose here is not purely straightforward. Nevertheless, my purpose has no connection whatsoever to the present or future underground aqueduct."

"If it truly isn’t linked to here, then why are you receiving special treatment?"

Before Angel could reply, Dox interjected: "Aren’t you returning to the origin point with this logic?"

"He wasn’t wrong; we came here on impulse with no proper preparation. He remained with us after entering here, and we’re equally curious why only he is receiving special treatment."

"Yet, as you saw, he spoke truthfully—he truly doesn’t know."

"In my view, the sole possibility isn’t some other reason, it’s merely because of him!"

Second Bao’s interest was piqued by Dox’s statement: "What do you mean?"

"Maybe ’she’ simply dislikes him, or misidentifies him as someone else, or connected to someone else, hence the intent to kill him."

Dox’s interjection turned the dialogue into a conference. Previously silent, Genggui chimed in: "Could he have offended Her Majesty in the past?"

Dox pointed at Angel’s face: "If I told you this guy hasn’t even turned twenty, would you believe me?"

Angel shot Dox a chilling sideways glance, causing Dox’s fingers to slowly retract, refraining from pointing at Angel.

Nonetheless, Dox’s words rendered Second Bao and Genggui silent in contemplation. They hadn’t anticipated Angel being so young; comparing their ages, Angel seemed as young as a newborn infant.

Thinking thus, wasn’t it unreasonable?

Such a young wizard, how could he possibly have offended Her Majesty?

Perhaps, as Dox indicated, it’s merely a misunderstanding?

Second Bao and Genggui were skeptical of Angel’s explanation but were led from doubting Angel to doubting themselves due to Dox’s uproar.

Angel likely didn’t foresee this shift.

Though Dox appeared to be meddling blindly, within his speech was a sentence aligning with Angel’s unvoiced guess.

—Perhaps "she" mistook Angel’s identity or connection, thus intent on killing Angel.

Angel genuinely lacked any notion as to why he was singled out; his only thought involved the opposing male and female figures within the Mirror Demon God.

The male figure previously expressed goodwill during the duel via void’s magical creatures, perhaps inciting the female—Adanis—to show malice, leading to this pursuit.

Though this remained a mere guess, Angel himself felt the logic was incoherent.

Because before the male reached out, Adanis already exhibited unique treatment toward him.

"He must appear in the duel," marked as special treatment.

Thus, the chronological order of events disrupted the guess. Adanis provided special treatment first, followed by the male’s contact.

But apart from this hypothesis, Angel held no other suspicions, still left wondering. He merely came to "see" the legacy place, preparing for future "legacy land" ventures in the Nightmare Realm.

How did it escalate to becoming a universal nemesis?