Chapter 1226: Section 1227 Rumors
Sky Island.
It had been going on for four days now, the entire island wrapped in a gloomy atmosphere.
Ever since Monty returned to Sky Island, he had stayed in the council hall without ever coming out. It was evident how much the failure of the hunting plan had impacted him.
At the graveyard on the outskirts of Sky Island, Sanders stood on the cliff platform, watching the inverted waterfall in the distant sky.
He had been standing there for almost two hours, lost in thought.
Passing Wizards cast looks of sympathy and emotion toward Sanders… after all, Angel’s reputation had been soaring before these events. Yet such a promising seed had disappeared just like that, making anyone aware of the matter sigh in regret.
Of course, whether this sigh contained more sympathy or secret joy was another matter.
“Angel is just missing, could he still be alive?” a few Wizard Apprentices whispered among themselves. They had not truly participated in that battle, but now rumors had already spread throughout Sky Island. Perhaps it wouldn’t be long before the Wizards’ Realm of the Southern Domain would hear of these events.
“How could he not be dead? My elemental class Mentor, the ‘Mourning Witch,’ is close with Lady Rivetta. According to what she heard from Lady Rivetta, not only was Angel taken away bound, but he was also followed by a terrifying Demon God! In such a situation, how could he possibly have survived?”
Apprentices who had not participated in the plan were all ears for the upper echelons’ gossip, some even vividly describing the scenario based on hearsay, with added interpretations far from the truth.
“I heard Angel had also been marked by the Thief of Time. Who would’ve thought… this time the Thief of Time made a mistake too. A genius who falls midway is no different from those fools buried in the graveyard.”
“Shh, keep it down! Sinafa is nearby, haven’t you heard the latest rumors?”
“You mean the rumors about Monty?”
“Yes, I heard that Monty is stuck in his progress because the Thief of Time misjudged, and now he wants to use the bloodline of a Demon God descendant to strive for Legend…”
The group, murmuring these words, began to distance themselves from the graveyard, their voices fading until they disappeared altogether.
After they left, a woman with frosty hair and fiery eyes suddenly appeared where they had been standing.
It was Sinafa herself, the one they spoke of with fear!
Sinafa had been busy dealing with the aftermath of the failed plan and knew very little about the outside world. She had finally managed to take a break for official business.
It was then that she overheard the rumors.
Sinafa’s expression was clouded as she snapped her fingers, startling a flurry of birds from the trees. Two shadowy figures swiftly descended to kneel at her feet.
“Go investigate who started the rumors about Monty.”
“Understood,” the two figures, cloaked in black robes, nodded their heads.
“Also, take those who were spreading rumors just now to the punishment room for half a month. No one is to release them!”
After giving her orders, Sinafa watched the two shadows disappear.
Only then did she raise her head, looking toward Sanders in the graveyard, and slowly made her way over to him.
Sinafa joined Sanders and followed his gaze to the distance, but aside from the magnificent waterfall, she saw nothing else.
“What are you doing here?” Sinafa asked curiously.
It took a long while before she received an answer.
“Waiting for someone,” Sanders replied succinctly, his tone indifferent.
“Waiting for someone? Who are you waiting for?”
Just as Sinafa’s words fell, they saw an old man with a hunched back and a walking stick slowly approaching from the graveyard carried by a ghostly wind.
“Belus?” Sinafa recognized the newcomer’s name.
‘Soul Walker’ Belus was of course known to Sinafa. Although they belonged to different Witcher Organizations, they were both part of the same Wizards’ Alliance. It was said that Belus had been on Sky Island for hundreds of years, handling the souls of Wizards who died in the Abyss.
Was Belus the one Sanders was waiting for?
“Lady Sinafa, Lord Monty,” Belus greeted with a bow as he approached.
Sinafa remained silent, merely nodding her head. Sanders gave Belus a slight nod in return, as despite Belus being less powerful, he was a friend of Lord Rhein, and Sanders gave Belus his due respect.
“How about it, any clues?” Sanders returned the gesture and went straight to the point.
Belus didn’t immediately respond, instead taking a slow glance at Sinafa.
Sinafa was wondering what had happened when she saw Belus glance over, she immediately understood—it was time to clear out… Sinafa wasn’t annoyed, prying into other people’s privacy was indeed impolite.
Thinking it over, Sinafa said to Sanders, “I came to find you because of some matters regarding supplies.”
Since arriving in the Abyss, Sanders had signed a contract with Frostmoon. His essential task was to smuggle creatures from the Otherworld using the Gravity Garden, as well as to transport some strategic supplies. During the battle in Lassudral, because most wizards lacked sufficient space, they accumulated the slain demons’ corpses in Sanders’s Gravity Garden. Sinafa had come over this time for this exact reason.
“Fine,” Sanders didn’t say much and started to release the demons’ corpses one after another.
The pile of demon corpses that constituted a veritable mountain suddenly appeared out of thin air, turning the surrounding several hundred meters of the graveyard into forbidden ground with the intense odor of blood and lingering resentment over the bodies.
By the time Sanders stopped, there were already over a thousand demon corpses.
Sinafa paused briefly, waved her hand, and a frost pattern emerged on her palm. These demon corpses were all sucked into the frost pattern.
This frost pattern was the renowned Everwinter Garden. Although the owner of this Witchcraft Garden was Monty, it was currently on loan to Sinafa for managing the distribution of supplies.
After collecting the demon corpses, Sinafa turned and walked away. She hadn’t gone far, however, when she suddenly stopped, turned around, and said, “Oh, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Luci inquired with the Wheel of Time about Angel’s fate, and the response was that it could not be probed, as if the Prophecy was blocked,” Sinafa said, “So, Angel might not be dead.”
Following the battle at Lassudral, they were all well aware that Angel was in possession of an item that could block Divination. If Angel were truly dead, then the Prophecy blocking would be ineffective, as the Alchemy item needed energy to sustain itself.
Of course, it was still uncertain. Perhaps Angel used Magic Crystals as an energy source; then the Alchemy item might remain active for a while after his death. However, this was less likely; anyone who saw those Alchemy items, even a Demon God, would probably take them after killing Angel and not leave them on a corpse.
“I know Angel wouldn’t die so easily,” Sanders said, aware that the essence blood he left on Angel hadn’t been destroyed. Although he couldn’t pinpoint the location, the chances of Angel still being alive were high.
“You seem to have a lot of faith in Angel,” Sinafa said with a smile, turning around and waving her hand goodbye, “Anyway, I’ve said what I needed to say; I’m leaving. Oh, by the way, Lord Monty is also very concerned about Angel’s fate.”
With those words, Sinafa vanished into the distance.
“Lord Monty’s concern over Angel’s fate is also a problem,” Belus’s aged voice reached Sanders’s ears.
“After all, once we know where Angel is, the location of Primeval Flame and Aoluxiya will be revealed, too,” Sanders said with a sigh, “Have you found any clues on your end?”
Belus nodded slightly.
He first pulled out a small vial from his pocket and handed it to Sanders.
Inside the vial was a drop of bright red blood, which Sanders had collected from Angel at the Void Tower. Even though they couldn’t probe for Angel due to the Prophecy being blocked, as long as there was blood, there were many more things they could do.
“Not being essence blood, the information is a bit blurry. However, the feedback from the Strings of the World is the same as Sinafa’s words—Angel is probably not dead,” Belus said.
Whether Angel was dead or alive, Sanders could judge for himself, so he was very clear that Belus must have more to say.
“As for Angel’s current situation…” Belus paused suddenly, “He might be doing better than you think.”
Sanders looked puzzlingly at Belus.
“Based on some of the details shown by the Strings of the World, I’ve observed intense blood vitality. His blood vitality now is more than double compared to the blood you gave me,” Belus said, a furtive gleam in his eyes, “Although I didn’t pinpoint his exact location, the intense blood vitality on him even reminded me of Sinafa when she had just advanced to Official Wizard.”
Sinafa had a powerful Bloodline, naturally rich in vital blood essence!
According to Sanders’s estimation, for Angel to reach the blood vitality level of Sinafa when she first became a wizard, he would have to advance to True Knowledge Wizard at the very least… Yet, exceptions existed.
Angel’s Projected Bloodline was one of those uncontrollable exceptions.
Sanders’s research on the Projected Bloodline was still at a stage like a blind man crossing a river, only able to base his studies on Angel’s case.
However, before this, the Projected Bloodline had only manifested primary and stable effects. Suddenly having such robust blood vitality, could it mean that Angel had fused with another part of the Projected Bloodline?
As Sanders was deep in thought, he suddenly felt a vague sensation in his heart.
At first, Sanders didn’t realize what it was, but as his Bloodline began to simmer faintly, he understood all at once.
He could sense the activity of the essence blood!
The only essence blood Sanders had left outside was in Angel’s possession.
And now, sensing the movement of the essence blood meant… Angel’s location had been revealed!
Due to the great distance, Sanders couldn’t feel the exact position of the essence blood, but he could sense that the location was somewhere near the surface of the Abyss.
To avoid the essence blood being blocked again, Sanders’s figure suddenly turned into a shadow and vanished from the Sky Island.
Belus was left there alone, stroking his staff, confused.