Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2144: Chapter 2145: Suspicion

Looking at the undead scattered throughout the castle, Little Sam tried to brace himself to stand up but his actions softened, and with a thud, he fell again, his feet rubbing backward trying to get away from the castle.

However, Little Sam hadn’t retreated far before he stopped.

It wasn’t by choice, but he felt several malicious gazes upon him.

As a mortal who had never had a transcendent experience before, Little Sam discovered for the first time that malicious eyes could exert a sense of power... His hands and feet seemed shackled, and even a slight movement brought a chilling horror over his spine.

As Little Sam’s face turned pale and his body trembled, Angel’s voice reached his ears.

"Undead naturally suppress humans with weak vitality," Angel said as he walked to Little Sam’s side: "Your vitality isn’t weak, but you’re too young, still completely restrained by the undead."

While explaining it to Little Sam, Angel intercepted the undead gazes directed at Sam.

Only then did Little Sam feel the suffocating air slightly relieved.

But just as Little Sam caught his breath, he felt the ground faintly shaking. Puzzled, he lowered his head, looking at the ground dampened with some moisture, unsure what was happening.

Could it be an earthquake? The thought barely crossed Little Sam’s mind when he noticed numerous black threads emerging from the ground, accompanied by a stench so overwhelming it made him want to retch.

The black threads were like weeds, immediately surrounding Little Sam and Angel.

"What are these black threads? They kind of look like... hair?" Little Sam exclaimed.

"Indeed, it’s hair, but not living human hair, rather the remnants of the deceased," Angel, who had numerous encounters with the undead before, knew little of their methods, but after Nis’s clarification, he confirmed that these strands were death gas materialization from soul trickery.

However, death gas materialization requires a medium, generally the undead itself, or alternatively, the remains of the deceased.

Angel perceived no undead beneath, implying the medium for death gas materialization was indeed the remains.

Such dense hair also suggested there was no shortage of corpses buried under this vast ground.

"Wha-what should we do?" Little Sam shuddered, looking at the surrounding hair. They intertwined and coiled, resembling living tendrils, weaving either a cage or a coffin for their burial.

Little Sam: "If we escape, will they chase us?"

Angel: "I don’t know if they will chase us. But why flee?"

"What do we do if we don’t escape?" Little Sam instinctively asked.

"Just kill them," Angel calmly said, startling Little Sam with his audacity: "Rare to encounter undead material, though it’s a bit scarce, to fully replenish it, we likely still need to visit the Sea of Ghosts."

Undead material? Sea of Ghosts? Hearing Angel’s words, Little Sam involuntarily trembled, unfamiliar with these terms, yet merely uttering them made him feel suffocated beyond measure.

No sooner had Angel finished speaking than an orange-red flame appeared before him, initially inconspicuous, but once it touched the hair strands, it spread like wildfire, instantly engulfing all the surrounding threads.

In a blink, the cage woven by the hair strands vanished.

The ground was left with some ashes of the dead, along with the rising smoke.

As the smoke ascended, a terrifying howl suddenly echoed. Little Sam saw the lady undead at the door lunging at Mr. Pat, and as the howl pierced, his mind reeled in dizziness.

The lady undead’s howl was but a prelude, and soon, the surroundings filled with successive cries.

These were undead howls, an attack targeting spiritual power and soul.

Unfortunately, they had no effect on Angel.

Yet, Little Sam was impacted, clutching his head and screaming in pain. Angel casually tossed him a spiritual defense shield, allowing him to regain his breath.

Facing the attacking undead, Angel showed no trace of fear. As the lady undead was about to fly at him, he pulled the trigger of the Samsara Overture.

As a half-step mystic object, the Samsara Overture restrained the undead overwhelmingly.

This lady undead was not weak; even a peak apprentice might struggle against it. Yet, under a single strike from the Samsara Overture, it was instantly reduced to blue smoke. Furthermore, a few undead surging behind her were caught up and perished together.

Witnessing this scene, Little Sam, in his astonishment, noticed the lady undead’s true appearance revealed at the moment of vanishing.

"This is... my mother’s maid, Eisha!"

Upon hearing Little Sam’s words, Angel raised an eyebrow: "Oh? So it’s the servant from your family transformed? Do you know this person?"

While exterminating the approaching undead, Angel still had the time to create an illusion, showing a male figure in the illusion.

It was precisely the undead previously hidden in the statue of Queen Rowling.

Little Sam closely examined the man in the illusion, observing the semblance of his mother in the brows and eyes: "This... this is Earl Roland, my mother’s brother!"

"So he’s your relative?" Angel showed a look of sudden understanding: "No wonder he easily possessed you, there was a natural bloodline bridge."

This kind of possession, with bloodlines as a medium, was far easier than soul trick possession.

"Do you recognize anyone else here?" Angel pointed to the surrounding undead attacking him.

Although these undead remained in their terrifying forms, their faces still bore a semblance of their characteristics from life. After closely examining a few, Little Sam replied: "Some were servants of the family, but most I don’t recognize."

For instance, the undead currently being destroyed by Angel, Little Sam had never seen before.

"This undead’s clothing bears a few characteristics from life, plenty of tool bags... probably here to steal valuables from the castle." Angel guessed through the attire of the undead.

In this light, it’s likely many of the undead were invaders seeking the castle’s treasures, maybe thieves, adventurers, or just passersby.

No matter who they were in life, after death they transformed into the castle’s ghosts, attacking wave after wave of visitors.

In barely a minute, Angel slew five or six undead. The remaining undead hovered in mid-air, glaring at Angel with hatred and venom, ready to pounce.

Angel then turned to Little Sam: "Weren’t you wanting to check out the castle? Now’s your chance."

Little Sam shivered, looking at the surrounding undead: "But, the undead..."

"Don’t worry, all the undead are here, none inside the castle. If you want to look, go ahead now."

Little Sam: "There really aren’t any more undead?"

Angel: "None."

Angel wasn’t lying; he sensed with spiritual power, verifying no undead were left inside the castle, but... although the undead had vanished, there were still plenty of remains.

However, these corpses are lifeless objects; they won’t move, and at most, they might just give a scare.

Little Sem saw Angel so determined and thought for a moment before rushing toward the large door. His visit to the ancient castle was initially meant to explore inside; besides, outside, he might hinder Mr. Pat’s performance.

After Little Sem pushed open the ancient castle’s door and disappeared, Angel only then turned his gaze to the surrounding undead.

At this moment, all the undead turned their heads toward the direction of the castle.

"So it’s indeed true." Angel looked at the bizarre scene before him and mused inwardly.

Previously, the undead possessing Little Sem didn’t attack Angel immediately but rushed inside the castle, which felt peculiar to Angel, somewhat contrary to the traits of undead.

At that moment, he wondered if there was something unusual inside the castle.

He used spiritual power to scan the castle’s interior but didn’t find any traces of the transcendent within the castle.

Now, having sent Little Sem to the castle, all the undead immediately turned their attention to Little Sem, even abandoning their animosity towards Angel, which again clearly indicates there are doubts about the castle.

"If there really is an issue, what could it be?"

Angel looked at the castle, this abandoned castle standing at the junction of dawn and darkness, suddenly became mysterious.

As Angel was observing the castle, all the surrounding undead abandoned their assault on Angel and instead flew quickly into the castle, evidently preparing to chase Little Sem.

Angel saw this and leisurely snapped his fingers, the vicinity of the castle immediately shrouded in mist.

Under the cover of the Mist Illusion, all undead were unable to charge into the real castle. Once they entered the castle’s alert range, they would be guided to the vicinity of Angel.

One after another, they appeared around Angel.

Even so, the undead persistently rushed towards the castle.

"Actually ignoring me." Angel shrugged, "Although there’s a subtle feeling, it’s not bad, at least it saves some effort."

Angel raised the Samsara Overture and aimed it at the undead rushing toward the castle, away from him.

A few shots later, the mist dissipated.

All the undead were completely purified.

Actually, Angel could have kept one, used the special effects of the Samsara Overture to restore the undead to normal and inquire about the castle’s doubts; but he thought about it and decided against it.

Wasting the special effects on these undead wasn’t worth it.

After completely eliminating the undead, Angel did not enter the castle but stood in place and closed his eyes.

Using spiritual power began observing Little Sem within the castle.

After entering the castle, aside from initially being startled by the corpses piled in the hall, Little Sem was quite composed at other times. Moreover, Little Sem displayed considerable familiarity with the castle, taking several shortcuts and arriving at a certain room on the fourth floor.

This familiarity clearly shows Little Sem indeed lived here once.

The room Little Sem entered was evidently a female’s boudoir. In this room, Little Sem exhibited emotional fluctuations, especially when he saw the portrait covered in dust and spider webs on the wall, he seemed to lose his soul.

Standing in front of the portrait, Little Sem brushed away the dust on it, gazed at the person in the painting, and silently shed tears.

The portrait depicted a gentle-looking woman, whose eyebrows and eyes bore a resemblance to Little Sem. Angel guessed this person should be Little Sem’s mother.

Little Sem stayed in his mother’s room for a long time.

Touching items his mother previously used, his gaze seemed distant as he remembered the past. Only after a long while did Little Sem leave this room.

Little Sem went to several other rooms, but from his expression, it seemed he was merely reminiscing.

About fifteen minutes later, Little Sem came down from upstairs.

Angel thought Little Sem would leave the castle, but he didn’t; instead, he went around a corner, activated some secret mechanisms, and a downward path appeared on the wall.

The path’s end led to an underground chamber.

Angel had previously explored the castle and discovered this place; he also carefully examined it. The chamber held a large amount of artwork, including sculptures, paintings, and musical instruments.

From Angel’s appraisal standards, these artworks were undoubtedly of master level.

Such a varied collection of masterworks could probably only be found in the artistic capital of Saint Sem City. Here, people, whether commoners or nobility, were passionate about art. Presumably, Little Sem’s mother was also an art collector.

Each piece here could be sold for a fortune.

Angel previously thought if Little Sem didn’t know about this chamber, he would inform him. One, to prevent masterworks from gathering dust; two, these artworks could allow Little Sem to lead a good life.

But thinking now, it’s unnecessary.

Little Sem clearly knew about this chamber, and this time he insisted on coming to the castle, presumably for the artworks in the chamber.

"That painting of a girl holding a daisy stem, so beautiful; if Old Pat were still around, he would be infatuated with it. And the sculpture of the sleeping goddess under the moon... it’s divine..." Angel observed the artworks with spiritual power, constantly muttering praises.

While observing the artworks, he noticed with the corner of his eye that although Little Sem came to the chamber, he did not look at the artworks. Instead, he walked to a corner, did something, and disappeared through the wall.

Angel was stunned by this scene.

There’s another room behind the chamber’s wall?!

Angel hurriedly used spiritual power to explore but found nothing. Behind the wall, there was just a thick layer of soil, no room at all.

Little Sem seemed to have vanished directly.

"Where did he go?" With confusion, Angel refocused his spiritual power on the wall where Little Sem disappeared.

This time, Angel finally discovered something strange.

A pattern painted with blood.

The design comprised a multitude of combined geometric shapes.

"Not a Magic Pattern, nor does it have energy fluctuations, rather it resembles... an Inscription?"