Chapter 1138: Section 1139: Manifestation and Confrontation
Angel was pondering.
The information revealed by what Popota said earlier was actually quite substantial.
The one who could give orders to Gruda must definitely be a demon, and moreover, one of the higher demon rank. Thus, in the current Lassudral, there were only the seven seats of the Void Tower.
Excluding Barfiment, who had already died, only six seats remained.
According to Popota’s implication, the mysterious mastermind was a high-ranking demon unrelated to him, which meant that Yadasai and Urdixinos should also be ruled out.
Angel did not believe that Minotaur, who had recently been in a severely wounded state, could have recovered in such a short time and also manipulated so many lesser demons to intercept him. If Minotaur was also ruled out, only three candidates remained.
Nitotipu, Komodo, and Jupiter.
Among these three, logically, the most likely was Nitotipu. After all, as a marine demon, by attribute, the Water System rhythm would probably only be somewhat useful to it.
However, Nitotipu was currently in the Void Tower, and not long ago, Angel had observed Nitotipu’s situation through a strand of wind. It seemed that Nitotipu had not paid any attention to him from beginning to end. Therefore, Angel also did not think it was Nitotipu.
As for Jupiter, according to Canaan’s exact words, it was a demon only interested in food, which also did not seem likely to be Jupiter.
That left only one option.
—Komodo.
If it really was Komodo, Angel found it to be utterly absurd because among the seven seats of the Void Tower, only Komodo was a pure Fire System demon.
Or had his speculation been wrong?
Angel whispered his thoughts, and upon hearing them, Canaan also fell into contemplation. However, it was Fafnir who was walking at the forefront that suddenly stopped.
“Sometimes, the more outrageous it is, the more likely it can be,” Fafnir spoke, then out of nowhere, drew a Domain of Wind around Angel and then looked towards a certain empty direction.
Following Fafnir’s gaze, Canaan did not see any figure.
At first glance, it was a wide-open empty space. Apart from seeing faint outlines of buildings in the distance, there was nothing else.
Instead, Angel faintly sensed something amiss about a particular spot in the spacious square.
Angel stared carefully at the place that felt strange, and suddenly, he saw a ripple waving through the space.
Like a water pattern, diffusing out of thin air.
In the center of the water pattern, slowly stretched out a hand, or rather… it was a forelimb covered in black-red scales.
Following the appearance of this hand, a crack opened up in the center of the water pattern.
A foot stepped out as well, just like the hand, completely covered in black-red scales. Or rather, pure black scales, with fiery red patterns flowing on them.
When it completely stepped out from the crack, Angel felt a sense of the grotesque in his heart.
This was a large demon, its body sheathed in glossy black scales, as if fiery red magma was sealed within the scales. As it moved, the magma continuously flowed and shifted. Although there were only black and red colors, Angel could see an illusion of shimmering light.
Its body was streamlined, with a long, lizard-like tail protruding from its back.
Angel was sure that this was a terrifying demon he had never seen before, whose size was no less than that of the troll Gruda he had encountered previously. However, when facing this demon, he always had a sense of familiarity.
Especially its head, the protruding bone teeth reminded him of the shadow of a certain kind of creature.
Salamander.
At this time, the crack behind the demon slowly closed up, and before it completely sealed, Angel vaguely saw what appeared to be a scarlet blood pool behind the crack, filled with stacked bones.
After the crack closed, the demon hooked a sinister smile, and the next second, a terrifying aura enveloped everything within several miles around them.
Although the Domain of Wind could deflect this terrifying aura, Angel knew that he had indeed become a bird in a cage now.
Once he left the Domain of Wind, he would surely be suppressed by the terrifying aura to the point of being unable to move, even if he used the Gravity Meridian.
“So it’s you, Komodo,” Fafnir was unfazed by the aura and spoke without expression.
Both Angel and Canaan were stunned, was the other party Komodo? Although the head somewhat resembled a salamander, the whole appearance was entirely different from Komodo.
Komodo was a demon skilled in the manipulation of flames, obviously weaker in close combat. Previously, when faced by ‘Black Dragon’ Issac at close range, Komodo had avoided confrontation. But this demon in front of them, apparently looked more like it was skilled in physical combat?!
“Fafnir… hehehehahahaha…” Komodo’s laughter was very strange, and his gaze flickered constantly, sometimes gloomy, sometimes frenzied.
“This can’t be your true form,” Fafnir spoke indifferently: “I smell the scent of a horned demon, and also, another repugnant smell of flesh and blood. Did you, devour those two Blood Cocoons?”
“Devour? No, no, no, I merely integrated some trivial advantages from their bodies into myself with a little trick. Since Lassudral is already on the brink of destruction, whether those two fools live or die is meaningless, so why not benefit me?” Komodo did not deny it and laughed wildly.
At this moment, Angel also finally understood why Komodo seemed somewhat different from before—he had fused with the Blood Cocoons of Urdixinos and Minotaur?
However, this kind of method that could integrate the “advantages” of other demons sounded to Angel more like a fusion of bloodlines, but Komodo shouldn’t have extracted bloodlines, should he? Moreover, to integrate bloodlines, a large amount of matching techniques and materials was required.
Perhaps it was some kind of Secret Technique of the demons?
“Indeed so,” Fafnir wasn’t surprised at all but rather looked at Komodo with a pitying gaze, “Although you have increased your strength in a short time, the aftermath will follow you forever.”
The abrupt and contradictory change in Komodo’s nature was actually one such aftermath. After all, both Urdixinos and Minotaur were formidable great demons; before being injured, they were comparable in strength to Komodo, and even if Komodo forcibly devoured them, some of their characteristics were still influencing him.
If these issues weren’t resolved, there was a very real possibility that Komodo would undergo a drastic change in personality, hobbies, ways of thinking, and even memory. By then, whether Komodo would still be Komodo was hard to say.
“Aftermath?” Komodo’s smile was very eerie, “Of course, there will be aftermath, but now am I not here to make amends?”
As Komodo said this, his gaze slowly shifted to focus on Angel.
He was naturally aware of the existence of the aftermath, but in order to enhance his strength and compete for the Primeval Flame, he had to do this. Moreover, Komodo had contemplated solutions to the aftermath, the most immediate of which was awakening.
Once he could achieve Abyssal Awakening, with the wondrous power of being reborn, the aftermath on his body would definitely be resolved, and he would also be able to integrate the strengths of those two idiots, becoming even more powerful.
However, for a demon to awaken was not so easy, so Komodo turned his attention to Angel.
Although he had already heard the rules of the Misty Cabin and even had demons assert that the journey of experience only works for those of the Water System, Komodo did not believe it.
Komodo’s nature was narrow-minded and obstinate; without trying for himself, he would never take someone else’s word for it.
And even if Angel’s journey of experience truly was of no use, Komodo was not worried.
Once he obtained the Primeval Flame, with its magical properties, the problem of the aftermath could just as well be resolved.
Nevertheless, although Komodo was confident about competing for the Primeval Flame, considering Aoluxiya’s distinct identity, should there be some secret method, a chance of failure still existed. Therefore, Komodo did not consider giving up on Angel.
At the least, he must capture Angel first!
…
The meaning behind Komodo’s gaze was self-evident.
Although Angel didn’t know why Komodo believed he could resolve its aftermath, he suspected it had something to do with the influence of the journey of experience.
He inwardly sighed, but verbally he explained, “The journey of experience through the Ocean’s Rhythm is for those outside of the Water System…”
After Angel spoke, Komodo showed no reaction, still looking at him with a piercing gaze.
He had made himself very clear; didn’t Komodo have any way of verifying the truth?
Komodo ignored Angel’s puzzled look and instead focused on Fafnir, knowing full well that to get Angel, he had to confront Fafnir first.
If it were before, Komodo might not have been able to defeat Fafnir. But now, having fused with the Blood Cocoons of two great demons and absorbed countless demon blood, his strength had surged dramatically.
He was confident that even if he couldn’t defeat Fafnir in a short time, he definitely would not lose!
Komodo looked towards Fafnir, and even without speaking, their eyes met and Fafnir grasped his intentions.
Fafnir knew Komodo’s nature well; even if she personally told him that the journey of experience would be of no use to him, Komodo likely wouldn’t believe her. So she didn’t say much more, only calmly stating, “He carries a mission from Odeclass, I cannot allow you to take him away.”
In the face of Fafnir’s rejection, Komodo’s lips curled up slightly: “Nothing is absolute, how about we make a deal?”
The standoff between Fafnir and Komodo was not only being observed by the lurking demons around but also caught the attention of humans atop the floating ice.
Let’s turn back the clock to a short while ago.
When Popota pressed the Inscriptive Central Hub, Lassudral appeared very calm, but in fact, a significant change had already taken place. It was at this moment that Luci of the “Swinging Pendulum” on the ice floe faintly sensed a dark omen, causing great turmoil in his heart.
He shared his premonitions with Monty, who also felt uneasy at that moment, with the source of his unease pointing towards the Void Tower.
Previously, during the emergence of the dark light zone, they sent Puppets to scout out the situation. Although many Puppets vanished in the dark light zone, some did not enter and merely hovered nearby.
Now that the dark light zone had disappeared, Monty had those Puppets explore the area close to where it once was.
This investigation, while not entering the Void Tower, nevertheless uncovered some demon activities.
After carefully observing the movements of these demons, Monty noticed that they seemed to have a common target.
Angel!