Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3058: Chapter 3059: Pasturing

Stop’s words made the Witch Sharon frown slightly.

As a Space Mage, she knew very well that if it were just ordinary space fluctuations, no one would notice... Even if discovered by other wizards, they wouldn’t deliberately come looking to avoid conflict.

But this time it wasn’t the usual space fluctuation.

This time, the space traversal involved not only her power but also Aex’s power. Her power alone would not attract much attention, but once mixed with Aex’s power, it was a different story.

"If people from the Royal Capital of Gumman discover the situation here, will someone come over to check it out?" Witch Sharon asked, "Should we leave now, or should we resolve the remaining issues with Aex first before leaving?"

Stop glanced at Aex, who was lying on the ground gasping for breath, and pondered: "You check Aex’s condition first, and I’ll contact Pagnini."

Witch Sharon nodded, watching as Stop closed his eyes, then she lowered her head to start examining Aex’s condition.

The more she checked, the tighter Witch Sharon’s brows knitted.

Aex’s physical condition had no major issues, but his mental state was somewhat poor...

About half a minute later, Stop opened his eyes: "How is Aex’s condition? Is the backlash severe?"

Witch Sharon: "His physical symptoms are normal, and he just needs some rest. However, his mental state is not good, and I can’t probe into his Spirit Sea."

Witch Sharon pinched her brow: "Comparing with past situations, something seems off... Are you sure he didn’t host any other energy at the arena?"

Stop shook his head: "No."

Witch Sharon: "That’s strange. Did he host some unknown energy while acting alone?"

Stop sneered: "Have you just met him today? Do you think he would randomly host unknown energy?"

Although Stop’s sarcasm made Sharon a bit embarrassed, she had to admit that Stop was right. They had known Aex for many years and understood his ways.

Aex, in his younger years, accidentally hosted the energy of an unknown category of succubus. As a result, it caused him great trouble, even changing his personality.

Later, after they broke through the cold spire of the High Castle Evil Wizard, they learned from the secrets left by the wizard that the unknown category of succubus was a minion of Pan God, and its energy mixed with a trace of Pan God’s power.

And Pan God is an Ancient One of the Abyss. How strong is he? The Evil Wizard didn’t have a record, but the title Ancient One is enough to indicate its esteemed status.

Even just a fraction, one in tens of thousands of Pan God’s power, made Aex suffer greatly, and he’s struggled to mend it for years. With the prior experience of Pan God’s power, Aex would never whimsically host unknown energy.

"If Aex hasn’t hosted unknown energy, then his current mental anomaly can only be caused by the Illusionary Power he hosted before." Witch Sharon looked at Stop, "But, the Illusionary Power alone shouldn’t cause such a strong psychic influence."

At this point, Witch Sharon paused a bit and said hesitantly: "Unless the Illusionary Power cast by that wizard named Jon contains some unknown and special energy."

"Speaking of which, when I was once trapped in that illusionary realm, I vaguely felt that something was off with it, but I couldn’t pinpoint what exactly. The only thing certain is that without relying on Aex’s banishment, I probably couldn’t have broken that illusionary realm in a short time... Could it really be an issue with the illusionary power?"

For Witch Sharon’s speculation, Stop didn’t know if it was correct, as he never had deep contact with that illusionary realm. When they arrived at the Earth Cavern arena, Aex immediately went to banish the illusionary realm, and Stop was completely an onlooker, not examining it closely.

After pondering for a while, Stop said: "Can you awaken Aex’s consciousness?"

Witch Sharon nodded: "Should be possible, but even if Aex is awakened, relying solely on his power won’t solve the issue."

Stop: "I understand, first awaken him, ask what exactly happened, and then decide our next move."

Witch Sharon: "Okay."

Just as Witch Sharon was about to awaken Aex’s consciousness, she suddenly thought of something: "By the way, what did Pagnini say?"

Stop: "One good news, one bad news, which one do you want to hear first?"

Witch Sharon paused her actions, looked up at Stop: "Are you planning to use me to satisfy your inner joy?"

Stop said blandly: "I’m not interested in you."

Witch Sharon squinted her eyes, not much moved by Stop’s somewhat "sarcastic" words, instead, she breathed a sigh of relief: "Then I’m relieved..."

After a pause, Witch Sharon waved her hand: "Tell me the bad news first."

Stop: "The bad news is, indeed, someone from the Royal Capital of Gumman found the space fluctuation here, and it has been reported to King Gumman."

Involving King Gumman made Witch Sharon’s face change slightly. Although they hadn’t been in the Southern Domain for long, they already knew much about the Gumman Kingdom’s affairs.

In the not-too-distant future, the Gumman Kingdom will inevitably become a major turmoil in the Southern Domain.

Because they knew it would be chaotic, they chose to stay in the Gumman Kingdom... Only in a land of chaos could it become their Paradise.

But choosing it didn’t mean they wanted to plunge straight into the vortex’s center.

At least not for now.

Witch Sharon: "What about the good news?"

Stop: "The good news is... King Gumman didn’t pay much attention to this report, only sending a guard squad over."

Upon hearing it was just the royal guards, Witch Sharon was slightly relieved. As far as she knew, among the royal guards of Gumman, only one was an Official Wizard, and he usually stayed by King Gumman’s side, the others were at most apprentices.

However, to be, on the safe side, Witch Sharon still asked: "Is the Captain of the Guard coming?"

The Captain of the Guard is that only Official Wizard.

Stop: "He’s not coming."

Witch Sharon finally relaxed; as long as the Captain of the Guard wasn’t coming, apprentices coming here is basically sending them to their doom.

But Witch Sharon wasn’t happy for long as Stop added: "Although the Captain of the Guard isn’t coming, among the guards coming this time, according to Pagnini, there are spies planted by other factions."

"Spies? What do you mean?" Witch Sharon looked at Stop in confusion.

Stop shrugged: "Just what it sounds like."

According to the Gumman Kingdom’s current situation, it’s roughly divided into three major factions: the native faction led by the Royal House of Gumman, the witcher organization faction led by the foreign Frost Moon Alliance, and the extreme sect faction that aims to eliminate dissent.

Since there are spies from other factions within the guards, they could only have been planted by major witcher organizations or extreme sects.

Stop: "Pagnini also cannot identify exactly who is the spy, nor can he confirm which faction they belong to."

This is actually quite normal, because Pagnini’s investigation relies on others’ prophecy. And if spies in the Wizards’ Realm have strong backing, their handlers will certainly employ anti-prophecy or interference measures.

For Pagnini to discover there’s a spy already shows remarkable skill.

Sharon Witch: "Unable to identify who, unable to determine the faction... Does that mean we need to avoid them?"

The spies surely have special channels to transmit messages. If their whereabouts are exposed and the information gets out, that would be problematic. Moreover, if the spies belong to the witcher organizations that’s fine, but if they’re from the extreme sect, then that would be trouble.

Extreme sects are favored by the World Will, and with even slight carelessness, they could be exposed.

Stop pondered for a moment and said: "No need; if they do come, just trap them. Besides, with their speed, they likely can’t reach here anytime soon."

Sharon Witch agreed; they’re over a hundred miles from the Royal Capital, and the others are merely apprentices, spending quite a bit of time on the journey itself.

By the time they arrive, they might have already left. Hence, there’s no need for excessive worry.

Thinking this, Sharon Witch assuredly shifted her attention to Aex.

Compared to other matters, awakening Aex is more important.

About three minutes later, Aex regained consciousness. However, this does not mitigate his pain; conversely, as his awareness cleared, the mental anguish intensified.

Upon opening his eyes, Aex’s face turned even paler, with sweat continuously seeping from his forehead and temples.

He looked like he was experiencing the most painful thing in the world.

Which was indeed the case.

"I feel that the energy being pastured is like it’s connected to something vast and indescribable, constantly expanding in my time-space barrier... I feel it’s about to burst; it will explode from being stretched!"

Aex, sweating profusely, swiftly shared his current feelings.

This was completely different from when he pastured Pan-god’s power back then.

Pan-god’s power was like an eerie dull knife, constantly tormenting him, changing everything slowly through the dimensions of time.

But this time, it wasn’t a dull knife; it was a sharp blade, piercing straight into his head, embedding into his brain, stirring continuously, seemingly about to kill him at any second.

Sharon Witch initially thought there was merely a mental issue, completely unexpecting the pain Aex encountered would be so intense that, as per his description, he already foresaw "brain explosion, consciousness annihilation."

Way more terrifying than Pan-god’s power before.

Moreover, coming both urgently and irritably.

"What exactly is this energy?" Sharon Witch asked urgently.

"Illusion... illusion technique..." Aex said breathlessly and with difficulty.

"Is it really illusion technique?" A hint of doubt flashed in Sharon Witch’s eyes: "Why does illusion technique cause such an impact? What’s peculiar about the illusion technique?"

But at this moment, Aex couldn’t answer, or rather, in this instant, he couldn’t delve into deeper thinking.

Sharon Witch could only look towards Stop.

However, Stop was even more bewildered than Sharon Witch. He had an impression of the wizard who cast the illusion but was completely unaware of his illusion technique.

Besides, Stop wasn’t thinking about the illusion technique, but Pagnini.

"When I contacted Pagnini earlier, he gave no warning regarding Aex’s situation, which is quite strange."

Pagnini isn’t a Prophet Wizard; his "prophecy" abilities are, in fact, closely related to Aex. After all, Pagnini is accompanied by Aex’s "half-body."

As a "half-body," if he noticed something wrong with Aex, he’d surely have Pagnini alert them. But Pagnini didn’t mention anything about Aex’s situation, which clearly points to a problem.

Either this special energy has surpassed what can be foreseen; or Aex’s half-body has been shielded... or perhaps, both.

Reflecting on this, Stop’s mind conjured Angel’s image.

He vaguely felt before that Sharon Witch’s backlash in Paradise Land might be related to this wizard. Now, realizing his illusion technique has affected Aex, Stop’s attention towards Angel heightened.

Why is he... not fitting within the script?

Anti-prophecy? No, anti-prophecy might make locking difficult, but it certainly can be detected.

Just like this time, Pagnini knows there are spies within the guards but can’t confirm exactly who.

Similarly, if Angel had anti-prophecy abilities, he might not be part of the script but would certainly be noted beforehand.

Yet the reality is that Pagnini knows nothing of Angel, nor does he anticipate Angel disrupting Paradise Land’s space sealing. He is nothing but an exception, a variable.

His abilities seem to inherit this "variable" quality.

Pagnini’s side couldn’t detect him; only when they witnessed in person did they know of Aex’s predicament. Pagnini’s "script" doesn’t include this occurrence at all.

"An outsider beyond the script?" Stop pondered internally, a hint of excitement glimmering in his eyes.

While Stop doubted Angel’s identity, Sharon Witch persistently inquired about Aex’s condition, seeking a way to help him.

Observing Aex’s painful state, Sharon Witch suddenly recalled something he mentioned earlier.

"It seems we’ve fallen into a thinking trap... originally when pasturing Pan-god’s power, Aex ended up bearing all consequences because Pan-god’s power was extremely sinister, hiding itself in Aex’s Spirit Sea, making it impossible to expel. But this time, this illusionary power hasn’t hidden itself; its purpose is expansion and the destruction of the Spirit Sea; since so, we could break the time-space barrier and release it!"

"Can’t break it internally? Then do so externally!"

Sharon Witch recalled Angel’s illusion technique being stable in an external environment. Though not knowing why it destabilized in Aex’s Spirit Sea... but if it could be returned to the external environment, might it stabilize again?

Once stable, they could find a way to dismantle the illusion technique slowly, surely unbinding Aex’s connection with the illusion!