Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2608: Chapter 2609: Notting and Dante

"Old glory? What do you mean?" The curly-horned Half-Blood Demon furrowed his brow slightly: "Has the Neya Tribe fallen too?"

"What do you mean by ’fallen’?" Angel asked softly.

The curly-horned Half-Blood Demon: "Bowing to those malignant existences in the Abyssal Depth, that is falling—a matter our noble family lineage can never tolerate."

"Our noble family lineage? It seems this curly-horned Half-Blood Demon’s family lineage is also what you call noble lineage? Could it be the Neya lineage the adults mentioned?" Kaier’s curious voice echoed in the Mind Ribbon.

"Probably not. The feeling he revealed when he spoke didn’t seem like he considered the Neya Tribe his own." Dox replied in the Mind Ribbon.

Angel did not respond in the Mind Ribbon, but he agreed with Dox’s statement. Because, given the other party’s character that values the glory of his own lineage so much, when his family is mentioned, there would definitely be a reaction. However, when Angel brought up the Neya Tribe, the other party showed no emotional fluctuations, indicating he is not from the Neya Tribe.

However, from the other party’s tone, Angel could sense he held respect for the Neya Tribe. It seems that the Savior lineage from ten thousand years ago influenced many other family names.

Angel: "The malicious existences in the Abyssal Depth, are you referring to the Demon God and Ancient Ones?"

The curly-horned Half-Blood Demon squinted his eyes: "Didn’t expect you to know about the Ancient Ones? You indeed know more than I imagined... Yes, the malignities I’m referring to include the Demon God and Ancient Ones you mentioned."

While talking to the other party, Angel was also deconstructing every sentence he said. The information deconstructed from this sentence is quite interesting.

The most malignant existences in the Abyssal Depth are undoubtedly the Demon God and Ancient Ones, but the curly-horned Half-Blood Demon left room in his words. He only said that those two are included, but didn’t say "that’s them".

This implies there are other malignant existences in the Abyssal Depth that the curly-horned Half-Blood Demon detests and... dreads.

Angel conveyed the information he deconstructed in the Mind Ribbon. His initial intention was to ask the Black Earl if he knew of other dreadful existences in the Abyssal Depth, but the Black Earl was also unaware.

"The Abyssal Depth, the realms humans have ventured into are not too many... At least not deeply in the Southern Domain. Other Wizard Realms may delve more, as they have the support of the Origin World behind them." Black Earl: "In our limited exploration, the Ancient Ones are already the extent of what we’ve grasped here. Whether there’s anything more concealed than the Ancient Ones, I don’t know."

"Angel, are you overinterpreting it? Could it be that when he said ’include these two’, it’s just a figure of speech, considering there’s more than those two in the Abyssal Depth, like demons, for instance." Dox said.

Angel: "No, demons are fundamentally incomparable to the Demon God and Ancient Ones."

It’s akin to two armies fighting, where the strategist would only mention the brave generals of the enemy, not the foot soldiers under them.

Angel didn’t explain further in the Mind Ribbon because the curly-horned Half-Blood Demon took the initiative to ask.

"You still haven’t answered my question, has the Neya Tribe fallen?" The curly-horned Half-Blood Demon looked solemn, evidently caring about the answer to this question.

Angel: "According to your standard of fallen, they probably haven’t."

"What do you mean?"

Angel: "Do you know the surname ’Stian’?"

The curly-horned Half-Blood Demon nodded: "I do, it’s a major surname in the Neya Tribe."

"Good that you know." Angel paused: "I don’t know if the entire Neya Tribe has fallen, but I do know this surname ’Stian’ has been changed to ’Stian Trofehr.’

The curly-horned Half-Blood Demon and others present looked at Angel with puzzled eyes. What does he mean by this?

"Stian is the surname of a hero, why change the surname?" The curly-horned Half-Blood Demon asked with doubt.

Angel spoke lightly: "Because the descendants of Stian have already pledged allegiance to a demon. As far as I know, that demon is a Sheep Demon, and it bestowed Stian with a new surname, namely the latter part ’Trofehr.’

The moment Angel finished speaking, a palpable malevolence emanated from the curly-horned Half-Blood Demon.

Unlike the earlier malevolence targeted at Angel specifically, this time the malevolence was purely because... the curly-horned Half-Blood Demon was infuriated.

Always maintaining a calm demeanor, even when Franklin, his former superior, was mentioned, he was calm, but at this moment, he truly was enraged.

His visceral emotions surged with malicious intent.

At this point, even without Angel’s words, others could sense the fury he exuded.

"A Sheep Demon? A mere Sheep Demon? And that caused the Savior lineage’s heroic surname to change? Despicable, detestable!!"

In the midst of malevolent thoughts, the curly-horned Half-Blood Demon’s angry howl echoed.

Angel instructed Earl Mi to protect the two Apprentices, keeping them from being affected by the malevolence, then calmly said: "According to your standards, this shouldn’t be falling, right?"

"What do you know? This is even more detestable than falling!!"

Compared to pledging allegiance to the Demon Gods and Ancient Ones, pledging allegiance to a demon is indeed more ludicrous.

Of course, Angel understood this, and the reason for saying it was undoubtedly... intentional.

As for why? None. It’s simply a mischievous intent wanting to see the self-righteous Half-Blood Demon’s discomfited state.

However, the curly-horned Half-Blood Demon has ultimately the composure of a thousand years; though furious, he hasn’t lost his mind.

He curbed his emotions and said to Angel: "Are you sure about what you said?"

"I have no reason to lie." Angel: "Moreover, the one who told me was also a Half-Blood Demon quite similar to you. I don’t know if you’ve heard of the Immortal Brigade?"

"The Immortal Brigade, that Immortal Brigade?" The Black Earl’s voice was heard first in the Mind Ribbon.

"If adults are referring to the ancestors of those Abyssal Natives and Half-Blood Demons in Undying Street who are commemorated, then yes, it is the Immortal Brigade." Angel said in the Mind Ribbon.

"If you have the chance, could you bring back the remains of the Immortal Brigade to Undying Street?" Black Earl said after a moment of silence.

"Others have thought about it, but unfortunately, they don’t want to leave."

They have always stayed in the Land of Rest, not only to repay Baltica, but also unwilling to leave the longest night of bygone days.

"I haven’t heard of them." The curly-horned Half-Blood Demon shook his head, "But if your mentioned Immortal Brigade is composed of Half-Blood Demons and they don’t face the demons, then they should originate from the Immortal Army. It was a brave army formed by strong warriors sent by various noble families during the Antecedent War."

Angel: "That should be it. The Immortal Brigade indeed consists entirely of Half-Blood Demons. What I mentioned earlier was all obtained from one of the Grave Knights of the Immortal Brigade."

The curly-horned Half-Blood Demon remained silent for a long time after listening.

Perhaps digesting Angel’s words, or perhaps lamenting the unpredictable nature of fate.

After a while, the proud look on the curved-horn half-blood demon’s face faded significantly. The originally elegant and handsome countenance seemed to have lost some of its charm.

"Besides the Neya Tribe, who else has fallen?"

Angel: "I’ve only been to the Abyss once, so I know very little. Besides the Neya Tribe, I’ve heard of the Notting Tribe and the Dante Clan. However, I can ask my teammates, as some of them often delve deep into the Abyss."

The ’teammate’ Angel referred to was, without doubt, the Black Earl.

In comparison, the Black Earl actually knew more. He just hadn’t spoken up.

Angel had already started muttering to the Black Earl within the Mind Ribbon, even contemplating whether to use this as leverage to ask the curved-horn half-blood demon some questions.

Unexpectedly, before Angel could speak, the curved-horn half-blood demon started first: "No need, I’m familiar with the Notting Tribe and the Dante Clan. Just talk about these two tribes."

Though the curved-horn half-blood demon spoke calmly, Angel could sense the turbulent emotions hidden deep within his soul body.

"Did he figure out our plan and realize we’re trying to use this to leverage him?" Dox wondered in the Mind Ribbon.

The Black Earl didn’t say anything but looked at Angel.

Angel silently replied in the Mind Ribbon: "Perhaps it’s not that, maybe he got lucky."

"What do you mean?" Dox asked, confused.

"This curved-horn half-blood demon is either from the Notting Tribe or the Dante Clan." The Black Earl answered Dox’s question instead of Angel.

No matter how lively it was within the Mind Ribbon, outwardly Angel remained calm like the other: "Which tribe would you like to know about first?"

The curved-horn half-blood demon looked at Angel with unwavering eyes, seemingly realizing something: "Your probing is too obvious; you did it on purpose, didn’t you?"

Angel chuckled silently.

"Since you’ve figured it out, let’s be direct." The curved-horn half-blood demon sighed deeply: "I know what you want to ask. I can answer a few questions before you leave."

"I don’t refuse to answer out of unwillingness but due to the contract, as guards of the Hanging Jail Stairway, we cannot reveal too much information. Therefore, the scope of what I can answer is very limited and might not include what you want to know."

Although the curved-horn half-blood demon’s words didn’t explicitly state it, they admitted to being from either the Notting Tribe or Dante Clan.

"Won’t you forgive my previous offense offhandedly?" Angel raised an eyebrow, casually mentioning.

The curved-horn half-blood demon: "That depends on whether your words qualify for my forgiveness."

Angel smiled, no longer saying more, returning to the previous question: "Back to the question, which tribe would you like to know first?"

"Both."

Angel: "Then I’ll start with the Notting Tribe. The Notting Tribe hasn’t fallen, if no incident has occurred. Because I know a descendant of the Notting Tribe named Pulapa, who is a mixed-blood of the Notting Tribe and the Ghostly Floating Little Demon."

"The Ghostly Floating Little Demon? That’s an excellent companion." When mentioning the Ghostly Floating Little Demon, the curved-horn half-blood demon uncharacteristically didn’t express disdain.

In the minds of Abyssal Natives, the Ghostly Floating Little Demon is not an evil demon. The reasoning is simple; the Ghostly Floating Little Demon’s strength is weak, often mocked by other demons, and thus lives a solitary existence.

Jon once said, "Near vermilion turns red, near ink turns black," which applies perfectly to the Ghostly Floating Little Demon. By living solitary, they avoid contact with other demons and become increasingly peaceful, even interacting with the natives.

With interaction comes sparks.

Even if the Ghostly Floating Little Demons form companionships with the natives, they’ve never abandoned them. Compared to centaurs, who spread their seeds all over the Abyss but are seen favorably by the Wizards’ Realm, Ghostly Floating Little Demons are truly loyal.

Because of this, humans don’t typically kill Ghostly Floating Little Demons upon encounter. At most, they scare them, make them shed tears, or manufacture Ghostly Floating Water, as both are valuable Transcendent ingredients.

Of course, there are humans who seek quick benefits. Ghostly Floating Little Demons, after all, are demons, valuable and weak in strength, often hunted by groups. These are mostly impoverished apprentices and aimless Wandering Wizards. Official Wizards generally don’t do such things.

Pulapa, however, wasn’t so lucky; his parents were killed by humans. Hence, Pulapa abhors humans.

But hating humans doesn’t mean he sides with demons.

At least from Pulapa, Angel knows that the Notting Tribe despises demons, except for the Ghostly Floating Little Demons.

Therefore, from the curved-horn half-blood demon’s definition, the Notting Tribe isn’t considered fallen.

"The basic knowledge came from Pulapa; the Notting Tribe should remain unfallen," Angel finished and looked at the Black Earl: "My understanding of the Notting Tribe is limited; should I let my teammate add some information?"

After Angel spoke, the Black Earl silently added in the Mind Ribbon: "Regarding the Notting Tribe, I don’t know more than you. They don’t collaborate with humans or demons, considered a neutral force..."

Angel: "..." He had already spoken, was it possible to retract now?

Angel was contemplating whether to make up some lies when the curved-horn half-blood demon shook his head: "No need, what you mentioned about the Notting Tribe is just as before. They, like the Ghostly Floating Little Demons, prefer not to settle in large groups, forming many branches and settling in various surface areas."

"Such behavior is seen as suicidal to us; many large clans even speculate the Notting Tribe won’t survive another hundred years. But unexpectedly, ten thousand years later, they still maintain past habits and haven’t perished."

"Knowing this is enough."

With that, the curved-horn half-blood demon’s expression slowly became solemn: "Now, let’s discuss the Dante Clan."

The curved-horn half-blood demon clearly wasn’t hiding anymore; from his evaluation of the Notting Tribe, it was evident that he wasn’t part of it.

The answer was clear; in life, apart from demon bloodline, his other bloodline came from the Dante Clan.

Now, Angel felt troubled, for the Dante Clan had some issues, and he didn’t know whether to mention them.

Besides this, his understanding of the Dante Clan was limited.

While he could fabricate some stories based on Pulapa’s daily actions for the Notting Tribe, he really didn’t know much about the Dante Clan.

To avoid losing face, Angel hurriedly sought help from the Black Earl in the Mind Ribbon: "My lord, do you know anything about the Dante Clan? What I know isn’t appropriate to discuss, so now I can only rely on you."

As Angel anxiously awaited, a few seconds later, the Black Earl quietly spoke:

"... I’ve never heard of the Dante Clan."