Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1049: Section 1050 Hua Que
 

Standing tall within the Void was Lassudral, a marvel to behold.

At this moment, in a wild forest on the southern outskirts of Lassudral, a Purgatory Flame Slave who had just crossed Niming Lake was viewing the distant hazy glow of the buildings with astonishment.

“Is this Lassudral? The never-falling city that never sleeps,” he murmured softly, “It even rivals the Sky Mechanical City. Is it because it is supported by the Unparalleled Great Demon God?”

Strangely enough, although he was a Purgatory Flame Slave, he was muttering in the common language of humans.

“Hua Que, what are you muttering about?” A thunderous buzzing voice came from another Purgatory Flame Slave in front holding a giant red axe.

“Nothing much, just marveling at how majestic Lassudral is,” shifting from the common human tongue, his lips seemingly tainted with fiery red magma gently parted, and the cryptic murmurs of Demon Language spilled from Hua Que’s mouth.

“Typical of an uncultured mongrel, Lassudral is actually quite average among the many Demon Cities in the Barren Face,” the axe-wielding Flame Slave said with a look of disdain.

Barren Face? What is that? Hua Que was somewhat puzzled in his heart, but he did not voice his question. Instead, he said with a flattering tone, “It appears that Master Kaido has been to many Demon Cities?”

The axe-wielding Purgatory Flame Slave was indeed Kaido. He raised his ferocious head high, breathing out a trail of fire from his nostrils: “Of course, I used to follow Lord Negal! I’ve even glimpsed the resting place of the lord in Mosambique from afar, now that is a true marvel.”

Kaido was proudly talking about his past experiences, but to Hua Que, this narrative was extremely dull. This was because a lot of Kaido’s talk consisted of “I’ve seen from afar,” “I have heard,” “It is said”… The Demon Cities he had actually been to probably numbered just two or three, and Lassudral was the largest he had experienced.

Seeing that Kaido seemed to be getting carried away, Hua Que suddenly said, “Master Kaido, the Mosambique you mentioned just now sounds like a very grand Demon City, what is it like?”

Kaido was stunned. As a slave back then, he had only glimpsed it from a distance, his vision obscured by purgatorial flames, and had no idea what it looked like.

However, Kaido didn’t want to admit his ignorance in front of his newly acquired minion.

After hemming and hawing for a while, he finally said, “Anyway, it’s very large and majestic… You who don’t even know your lineage, a little mongrel, will never go in your lifetime, so why ask so many questions?”

Being called a mongrel, Hua Que felt a moment of sadness. Kaido caught this, thinking he had found a breakthrough point. This little mongrel even dared to ask questions to inconvenience Master Kaido, and excitedly spoke more addictively.

“Without lineage, without a crest, a male Flame Slave even adopting a Succubus’ name? Hua Que? What kind of name is that, it’s a disgrace to our Purgatory Flame Slave race!” Kaido’s huge nostrils blew out white mist, leering at the “dejected” Hua Que: “Also, as a male Flame Slave, our choice weapons should be giant axes or hammers, yet you choose to use chains like a female… Who do you plan to bind? Yourself?”

When Kaido was almost done ranting, they had already reached the outskirts of Lassudral.

Not far away, some demonic figures started to appear, and Kaido conveniently closed his mouth. As for their place in the hierarchy, the Purgatory Flame Slaves ranked even below Half-Blood Demons, often being nothing more than demonic house slaves. Moreover, they weren’t in roles like butlers or personal attendants, but rather expendable cannon fodder.

Although they might look ferocious, their true strength was very low. In the Abyss, all demons looked down on Flame Slaves.

But Purgatory Flame Slaves had their advantages, demons wouldn’t bother to strike at them at will.

For demons, Purgatory Flame Slaves were far better than so-called Half-Blood Demons; after all, from the very root, the lineage of Purgatory Flame Slaves was to serve demons. But Half-Blood Demons, with their mixed lineage, often turned out to be rebellious.

Suddenly, Kaido fell silent. His previously exaggerated movements became cautious upon entering Lassudral, and this display of submission made Hua Que snicker inwardly.

This was Hua Que’s first time in Lassudral and his first sight of the demonic marketplace.

His curiosity piqued, he turned his head to look around at the city, which was unlike anything he had imagined. Now taking it all in, he knew that it might not be long before he could no longer see it.

However, he was currently on the edge of the suburban outskirts of Lassudral, where even the buildings that did exist could not be considered refined; for example, there was a simple cabin hidden within the dense forest to his right—

“Misty Cabin? With a name like that, what kind of business is done in this cabin?” Hua Que wondered to himself.

“What are you looking at?” Kaido, following Hua Que’s gaze, noticed the small cabin in the forest. Upon seeing the size of the cabin, Kaido scoffed, “Such a tiny building, plus that door, it’s even shorter than I am tall, I bet that shop will never attract any business in its lifetime.”

As soon as Kaido finished speaking, the door of the cabin was pushed open, and a blue-skinned Half-Blood Demon walked out from inside. It had a satisfied smile on its face, as if it had come across something delightful.

“It’s definitely not a customer!” Kaido asserted: “Probably just a staff member of that shop.”

Then, a second Half-Blood Demon came out.

“This one…This one must also be an employee, certainly.”

The third, the fourth…until the tenth Half-Blood Demon came out, Kaido’s eyes had bulged in disbelief. How could such a small shop have any visitors? Weren’t all Half-Blood Demons in Lassudral arrogant? With such a low door, they would definitely refuse to step inside, right?

“Aren’t these Half-Blood Demons customers?” Hua Que blinked, feigning curiosity.

Kaido had wanted to blurt out “That’s right,” but ended up choking the words back. If it were just one or two half-blood demons, it might have been fine to stir things up, but with so many coming out of that shop, he found it impossible to incite any trouble.

Still, Kaido couldn’t help himself and said, “Last time I came, I didn’t even see this cabin. It was probably just a few half-blood demons gathering in there, not making any significant impact.”

After Kaido’s words fell, an ice-blue demon walked out of that cabin.

Even though it was a lesser demon, it was also a standout among them, completely different from the weak half-blood demons that had come out before.

“This… this is just an exception.” Kaido’s face turned red as he struggled to speak.

At that moment, the ground suddenly shook a few times, and behind the small wooden hut, which had been empty, ripples appeared in the yard. A giant demon, made entirely of ice crystals, stepped out from the ripples.

“Is that ripple an Illusion Technique used for concealment? That’s a Cold Winter Giant Demon!” Hua Que couldn’t help but cry out in surprise. A Cold Winter Giant Demon was nearly at the intermediate rank of demons, and it had a kinship with Cold Winter Demons, which were among the top of the intermediate demons!

The appearance of the Cold Winter Giant Demon in this remote shop left Kaido completely in disbelief.

Kaido shook as he pointed in the direction of the cabin, seemingly wanting to say something more…

But by then, even Hua Que had started to feel a little sorry for him. “Lord Kaido, you might as well stop talking,” it said.

Kaido’s mouth seemed cursed by a Word Spirit, as whatever he said turned out to be the opposite.

Hua Que shook its head and dragged the steaming, angry Kaido towards the depths of Lassudral.

As they were leaving, Hua Que suddenly felt as if someone was watching him.

He turned around but found nothing. However, on the rooftop of the nearby Misty Cabin, a dark-skinned woman was yawning and stretching lazily.

Was it his imagination?

…

Fafnir stretched languidly, having rested on the rooftop for half the day. She then remembered an unusual piece of information she had picked up when she woke up earlier.

Fafnir looked down and thought for a moment, recalling a figure in her mind.

It was a Purgatory Flame Slave she had seen not long ago, with a slightly slender build, faint flames burning on its body, and a crimson chain that looked like a Fire Serpent, slowly moving across it.

At first glance, there seemed to be nothing wrong with this Purgatory Flame Slave.

But Fafnir raised an eyebrow; she had detected clear signs of disguise on this Flame Slave, and its soul was undeniably that of a lowly human.

“Has a human come to Lassudral?” Angel was at this moment on the second-floor loft of the cabin, where a window connected directly to the rooftop of the cabin.

Fafnir was half-lying on the roof, right next to the loft’s skylight: “That’s right, and you seem not at all surprised.”

“There are plenty of humans around, anyway, it has nothing to do with me.” Angel shrugged. He had heard during his time at Watchguard Fortress that wizards would sneak into the inner layers of Demon City to gather intelligence, so the presence of humans here, although unusual, was not unacceptable.

There were more pressing matters he was concerned with than these trivial issues.

Like earning money. Or, for instance, completing the model of the half-door in the Mind Space.

A chime of wind bells sounded from the courtyard below.

“It seems a new group of guests has arrived,” Angel said as he pulled out the Ocean’s Rhythm and spoke to Fafnir, “I’m going to head down now.”

As he came down from the second floor, Angel saw Canaan, speaking fluently in Demon Language to a new group of guests, deftly explaining while drawing circles in mid-air with his fingertips and wrapping up faint water vapor to strike the wind chimes outside.

The sound of the wind chimes was the signal Canaan had sent him.

Now, Canaan was not dressed as shabbily as the day before; instead, he had conjured up a magical water dress with the Mimicry of the Water System, for beauty and to demonstrate his affinity with the Water System to the guests.

Canaan spoke rapidly, and Angel, who only half-understood the Demon Language, caught only the last sentence clearly.

——”The shop owner has arrived, and your experiential journey is about to begin.”