Chapter 1160: Section 1161 Intent
Sanders’s expression became somewhat solemn.
He hadn’t recognized the statue at first, but when Angel said that the statue was of the Demon God—the Cruel Scholar, Sanders immediately felt a chill gradually creeping up his spine.
The Cruel Scholar, that was a Demon God!
Even a regular Demon God could cause huge upheaval, let alone one of the great Demon Gods!
“How do you have a statue of the Cruel Scholar?!” Sanders’s eyebrows were deeply furrowed as he stared intently into Angel’s eyes.
Angel was silent for a moment before he spoke of what had happened in the underground hall, “When I was in the underground hall, I encountered the will of the Cruel Scholar…”
After listening to Angel’s account, Sanders became even more serious, “…and then, you agreed to the conditions of the Demon God?”
Angel nodded.
“You should know that anything related to a Demon God should never be underestimated,” Sanders’s eyes showed rare anxiety. Seeing Angel remain silent with his head bowed, Sanders could only sigh deeply.
This wasn’t Angel’s fault. In that closed situation, under the deliberate scheme of the Cruel Scholar, Angel was left with only two options—agree or die.
Now that he had agreed, Sanders, as Angel’s mentor, could only try to find a way to minimize the influence the Demon God had over Angel.
For a time, Sanders fell into deep thought, rapidly searching his memory for related cases involving Demon Gods.
In the Wizards’ Realm, many wizards have dealings with Demon Gods, either openly or in secret, because using the power of Demon Gods makes it very convenient to achieve desired results quickly. However, such dealings usually don’t involve face-to-face interactions with a Demon God, at most they conduct unknown transactions with one of the myriad avatars of the Demon Gods. Direct involvement with the main will of a Demon God is quite rare indeed.
After all, wizards influenced by a Demon God, especially those that actively make contact, tend to be either of low potential or seeking quick success. Such wizards wouldn’t warrant much attention from a Demon God.
Wizards with real potential, on the other hand, would be extremely cautious and avoid active involvement with Demon Gods. Sanders had repeatedly warned Angel to stay away from anything related to Demon Gods. He never expected an incident like this to happen here.
Sanders recalled many cases related to Demon Gods and compared them horizontally and vertically with Angel’s situation. Then, he noticed something strange.
“You just verbally agreed to the Cruel Scholar’s promise? You didn’t sign any penalty clauses?” Sanders asked.
Receiving an affirmative answer from Angel, Sanders’s expression grew even more puzzled, “And the Cruel Scholar didn’t brand you with his true name inscription?”
Angel still shook his head.
Sanders frowned. This did not match the examples he was familiar with at all. Not to mention those directly facing the will of a Demon God; even wizards who communicated with one of the myriad avatars of Demon Gods would inevitably be branded with the mark of a Demon God.
Such individuals were actually easy to identify. Each time Sanders came across such a person, he could faintly smell the disgusting scent on them. In Barbarian Cave, in fact, there were similar individuals, both apprentices and wizards alike.
But Angel was special. When Sanders had seen him previously, he had never sensed any trace of a Demon God’s aura, which was why he only learned of Angel’s agreement with the Cruel Scholar after Angel himself had acknowledged it.
“Go over the process in detail again, starting from when you fell into the underground pipe—do not miss any details,” Sanders pressed.
Although Angel did not understand why, he began to recount the events from start to finish in great detail.
This time, Angel was very meticulous, including his observation of the inscriptions in the underground pipe, and his attempts to activate the door at the end… every detail, including his own thoughts and suspicions, were laid out without omission.
“…It could read minds. I didn’t say anything and it already knew a lot about me… It also went to my Land of the Soul…”
“Wait!” Sanders suddenly interrupted, “The Cruel Scholar checked the wound on your soul?”
Angel nodded.
“What was the outcome,” Sanders’s throat moved slightly. As Angel’s mentor, he was very much aware of Angel’s soul matters. For others, the soul may be fragile and defenseless, but Angel’s soul was a taboo!
Even Sanders himself did not dare to study it and could only make side guesses. Perhaps the biggest mystery of the ‘Nightmare Soul Body’ was the soul itself!
“I don’t know. I only remember seeing green patterns… The main consciousness of the Cruel Scholar retreated from my Land of the Soul… and then I received a green pattern of ‘concealment’… soon after, Jupiter woke up.”
Only now did Sanders understand that the protective covering-like layer he felt on Angel was the ‘concealment’ green pattern. However, this concealment pattern seemed only able to block the heart-reading technique.
Angel then spoke of matters essentially similar to what he’d said before, only that he shared more of his own psychological thoughts, like how he had weighed the decision for a long time before agreeing to the Cruel Scholar.
After Angel finished speaking, Sanders fell into silence once again.
The sudden withdrawal of the Cruel Scholar from Angel’s Land of the Soul, without any further probing, actually revealed a significant amount of information.
Sanders put himself in the position of the Cruel Scholar and considered that, according to external assessments of the Cruel Scholar, it was an extremely unique Demon God, even more knowledgeable than many Wizards and a Demon God that pursued scholarly study and research to an extreme. If it acted according to its behavior pattern upon finding something unusual with Angel’s soul, it would undoubtedly have a desire to research and would not so easily abandon exploration. The only reason it would give up probing, perhaps, was that… it failed.
After clashing with the entity behind Angel’s soul, it lost.
This was the most likely possibility, and based on this likelihood, all the subsequent actions of the Cruel Scholar, including its decision not to imprint the true name sigil onto Angel, were explained.
Because for a Demon God to imprint a true name sigil, it must be engraved upon the soul!
The reason it did not do this was because—it, did, not, dare!
Upon this realization, Sanders couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, but at the same time, he was filled with curiosity about the existence behind Angel’s soul; even a grand Demon God’s strength seemed insufficient. What mysteries were hidden behind it? However, as curious as he was, he understood one principle very clearly—without the prerequisite of power, curiosity could kill a cat.
So, the Cruel Scholar didn’t dare to imprint the sigil and was very curious about Angel, which is why it left the statue by his side, wanting to observe through it?
According to this logic, everything fell into place with the facts.
Sanders felt that this might just be the truth.
Sanders shared his conjecture with Angel in a straightforward manner, “Perhaps the Cruel Scholar is wary of the existence behind your soul, and that’s why it didn’t dare to imprint the sigil.”
After a pause, Sanders added, “However, you need to remember that even if your soul is special, it’s not your power, and it might even become a danger to you… Plus, if your physical body dies, your soul will just be a lonely vessel in the boundless world, never reaching the other shore.”
Sanders made these remarks to make Angel realize not to place any hopes on unknown powers.
Only what one controls and understands can truly be considered one’s own.
Angel nodded as if enlightened, “Then, carrying this statue with me, is there any danger? I heard the will of the Cruel Scholar say that this object seems to be usable, and later I met Yadasai, who told me this is a Descent, what is a Descent?”
“A Descent is a container that accommodates the will of a Demon God to descend,” Sanders explained, “And what they call ‘using’ it, is actually just like those fervent believers in the Evil God, praying from the depths of their hearts for the mercy of the Demon God, which can then actively send down its will.”
“If you actively pray for the descent of a Demon God, the cost is beyond your imagination. So, you must absolutely not use it,” warned Sanders in a gentler tone, “As for whether this Descent might have any dangers, I do not yet know. However, as it stands, your situation differs from others who have been marked by a Demon God, so if there’s an impact, it should be very limited. After we return to Barbarian Cave, I will check the literature and archives.”
“Also, since the Descent can contain the will of a Demon God, it might maintain consciousness and observe you from the shadows, so you should always keep the green Pattern for shielding active; and if you have any secret affairs to conduct, try to open the Nightmare Realm and keep it outside the Nightmare Realm,” Sanders advised.
After speaking, Sanders looked at Angel and sighed deeply.
How come this young man always seemed to attract more trouble? Previously, when Angel was not under his watch, it was one thing, but now in Lassudral, and in such a short period of time, he had managed to provoke someone like the Cruel Scholar… Sanders rubbed his temples, feeling a sense of weary fatigue.
As Sanders sighed, the Void Tower suddenly began to shake violently.
Chunks of rock started to fall sparsely from above.
Angel and Sanders exchanged glances, and their figures instantly sprang into action. They were very close to the main gate, so they soon arrived in front of it.
The gate was vast enough to accommodate a giant. At that moment, the gate was wide open; when they got there, they first saw an endless cloud of dust outside.
The dust could either be from fierce battles stirring up the earth or from the debris formed when Lassudral collapsed. However, the dust was soon covered by a blanket of fog.
“Pitter-patter—” A soft and alluring female voice suddenly filled their ears.
Then, fine rain began to fall from the sky.
Upon seeing this sight, both Angel and Sanders simultaneously thought of a name: Nitotipu!
“Nitotipu’s rainclouds have enveloped the entire range of the Void Tower,” Sanders mused, “What does it plan to do?”