Angor could have moved faster than the apprentices because everyone else seemed too enthusiastic about monster hunting. However, he still maintained a moderate speed so that he would not lose his way in the fog.
He suddenly caught a whiff of blood in the air and heard Madelyne calling out to him somewhat anxiously.
“Stop. The Scythe Wielder sent its avatars down here!”
Out of instinct, Angor obeyed her order and turned back.
He was startled by a fat human figure floating right behind him, who was quickly coming to him while wielding two oversized butcher knives.
“Gyahahaha! I just need a little bit more to finish my human meat hamburger. You’ll do nicely!” the figure screamed as he showed a bloody, face-splitting grin.
Angor was briefly confused when he heard the voice kept changing into that of people he knew, such as Sunders, Nausica, and Greya. Then he quickly realized that this monster might be able to mimic people’s voices. It wasn’t Madelyne who warned him just now, but this monster trying to lure him into a trap.
The monster looked like a very fat man for the most part. It carried a giant fry pan on its back, and it had a pair of large, fan-like ears currently flapping up and down, helping the monster stay afloat.
The sharp knives it held were only inches away from Angor’s face.
Desperate, Angor used Mind Overdrive to predict the course of the weapons, and successfully backed away to a safe distance.
Madelyne just told him that it was difficult to recover mana in the Abyss, so he should avoid spending any beyond what was necessary.
Apparently, the other apprentices didn’t share the same concern, telling from how they had been going all-out after every monster they could see.
In order not to get dangerously exhausted, Angor quickly worked his brain to think of ways to get away from the hungry monster without using mana.
He did have a few useful tricks up his sleeve. But before he could carry out any of them, Toby moved.
Toby had already prepared a big move against the annoying “fat man”. As soon as he saw Angor moving away, he turned into a gray flash of lightning and cut off the monster’s large ears in a blink of an eye.
Losing its support, the monster fell, screaming in panic.
Angor saw Toby returning with a proud look and shook his head in frustration. “Welp, all my own plans were for nothing, I guess. I’m glad you saved me all the effort though.”
He didn’t plan to go after the falling monster. It would probably end up as a bloody and useless pile on the ground anyway.
They continued flying up, and soon, Angor saw light across the dark fog.
He finally made it out of the foggy area. And when he saw what was waiting above, he almost lost his balance due to sheer amazement.
There was a building. A building that could not be explained using simple words.
The tip of the stone pillar was replaced by a gigantic city. Or maybe it was only the center of a city. There were many more structures constructed on the stone pillars nearby, which were all connected by giant suspension bridges that formed a traffic network in the sky.
But on a second look, Angor thought it improper to call it a “city”, because the entire place appeared like a single building dimensionally divided into parts and rooms.
It looked more like a huge castle or church of an insane size.
Even the Floating Mech City did not impress him as such when he went there for the first time.
And he only grew more and more excited when thinking about how the miraculous establishment was built in the dangerous Abyss and had been protecting its inhabitants for thousands of years.
The building was glowing slightly, making it appear as a beacon in the dark sky. The sacred sight reminded Angor of all the holy landmarks he saw in the documentaries. He felt as if he were visiting a palace in heaven.
The problem was, such a monument of hope was clearly not in its full glory right now, because it had been tainted by darkness and blood.
Swarms of flying monsters had completely surrounded the building within, while guards watching the walls were constantly trying to fend them off. Occasionally, a monster would successfully land a strike upon the magnificent walls and roofs, causing splinters of stones and bricks to come off and sink below.
The tragic sight made Angor feel sad all of a sudden. And he wasn’t the only one—several more apprentices had emerged from the fog and were all looking at the suffering building with grief clearly written in their expressions.
“The great Cinder Rock stood tall and bright for thousands of years... yet it cannot keep the eternal darkness away forever. Now is finally time for it to expire,” an apprentice exclaimed in sadness.
Angor saw Madelyne and slowly moved that way.
Further ahead of them, Maher and his team were confronting a group of Abyssal monsters, who also had a bigger, humanoid figure acting as their leader.
“That’s the Scythe Wielder. Did it scare you yet?” Madelyne saw Angor coming and explained. “As I said last time, it’s a half-blood demon, meaning, the b*stard of a demon and a non-demon creature. Note that I’m not being offensive here. Native demons in the Abyss all treat such individuals in the same way.”
Angor could feel that the “half-demon” was as strong as a wizard. He wondered what genuine demons would look like.
The standoff did not last very long because the arrival of the Moonfrost Union had added a decisive strength to the defense force of Cinder Rock. Since it was unlikely for humans and demons to negotiate, they stumbled into a fight immediately.
The battle ended as fast as it started. Within seconds, Sennefer used her absolute power to annihilate the Scythe Wielder from afar before it had time to react. And without their leader, the other monsters became easy prey.
Similar to before, the union guards would sometimes leave weaker monsters to the apprentices to deal with. And since there were lots of monsters this time, Angor managed to try his hands against several unlucky creatures.
The “clean-up work” took them about six hours, during which Angor gladly learned a lot about how to fight against lesser demons properly. And now, he knew how to keep a good pace with the others without using up his mana.
Madelyne saw Angor’s kills and smirked. “I thought you’re one of those academism people. But I was wrong. You’re Mister Phantom’s student after all.”
Angor took a moment to examine himself, and he was happy to know that he kept his mana reserve above 60%.
He only spent mana casting illusions when he was surrounded by too many monsters. Other than that, he mostly used his alchemy weapons as a means of attack. As an alchemist who couldn’t actively use Bloodline powers, having several handy alchemy weapons prepared was the most obvious choice. These all relied on magic crystals to be powered up, and he had not worried about not having enough magic crystals in a long time.
“If that was a competition, you’d have been one of the top competitors,” Madelyne commented. “Are you still looking for a Bloodline? You’ll have a good chance of taking it from an Abyssal monster. If you don’t know how, I can help you. As for payment, I’ll ask for one of your music boxes. What do you say?”
Angor politely rejected the offer. The truth was, he already had a bloodline. However, he couldn’t tell anyone.
When the sky was mostly free from monsters, people looked at the damaged building in grim silence.
“Let’s move.” Madelyne beckoned to Angor. “The Moonfrost Union will stay here for at least a month to arrange their affairs. Cinder Rock might be safe for now, but I don’t think it will ever regain its greatness.”
The encounter had ended at the complete victory of the humans. Yet nobody felt like celebrating.