Chapter 406: Guide (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

A twisting gray road with other paths branching out from it lay amid the vibrant green trees, as though it was the blood veins of the land.

Slowly advancing along the narrow path was a black carriage being pulled by four unicorns.

There was no defining feature on the carriage whatsoever, only pure black. The coachman was a messy-haired, short old man holding a horsewhip in his hand. He looked as if he could fall asleep any time.

The dark sky brought no light to them and to the path. The cold wind continued to swoosh across.

The path was smooth but not so much, so the wheels occasionally stumbled on some rocks and granted a not-so-smooth ride to whoever was inside the carriage.

Inside the carriage was a man seated cross-legged, staring blankly at one corner. Blue light was continuously flashing in his eyes.

"Perhaps once I return home after the birthday party, I'll be able to finish my new project… It's about time I start this," he uttered under his breath. Looking at the holographic image rotating before him, he smiled.

Angele was looking at a hologram modeled after him. But, it had some slight modifications compared to his true form. The model showed an appearance similar to his true form, though his height had become shorter by half a meter, from three meters.

Three days ago, as he traveled in the black carriage he was in, Angele was contemplating on several things. One of these things was the continuously decreasing usefulness of his biochip. His biochip was now only used for storing a powerful spell or for storing data—mainly, becoming a mere archive.

Angele's brows were furrowed.

Just using Zero as a storage seems to be not fully utilizing what it's actually capable of…

A while ago, Angele had started thinking of things that could be used to further enhance his strength with less effort but more results. And so, his biochip came into his mind. If he could get Zero to integrate his spells, matrices, and runic knowledge to create something, then he'd gain another card for battles.

At present…

In the hologram, his body had become much slimmer and not only did his one horn get reduced to several centimeters long, he also gained another horn, and these were each located on the side of his head. His eyes had also become two golden-red pairs of eyes that when looked upon, would make one feel like they would get sucked in. Equipped with silver plated armor formed by his Metal Mastery and his face covered by illusory flames—all of this was Angele's newly conceptualized form, a new, powerful arsenal of his.

This new form's purpose was to increase the damage output he could unleash in fights all the while reducing the mentality and stamina required.

Angele breathed in and out.

He looked out the window and could see a red mountain from afar.

Angele closed his eyes. Soon, they would arrive at the Blue Gold Cave.

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From near a cave, at a place not too exposed, several men and women wearing robes of different colors were gathering in one place. All of them were exuding terrifying auras. They were all clearly elites. Yet, nobody seemed to be talking and instead were gathered there as though they were waiting for something.

The chilling gusts continued to howl across the surroundings.

The sound of a black carriage traveling toward them echoed and stopped by where the group of elites was at.

A young man, with an average face, long red hair that was draped over his shoulder and wearing a golden-hemmed robe, stepped out of it.

All of them looked at the young man and bowed in greetings.

"Wizard Green?" a male wizard asked.

The young man only nodded and replied with a question, "Is everyone here?"

"No, two more people are on their way to this place. They should be arriving in a few minutes."

"Got it."

After a moment, a portal appeared, and two black-robed wizards stepped out of it.

"Just in time."

When the two wizards saw the red-haired young man wearing a golden-hemmed robe, they bowed to him and introduced themselves.

"I'm Frappe, and this guy right here is Leo." Wizard Frappe smirked.

Wizards Frappe and Leo said, "Happy April Fool's Day!"

"The real chapter is below!"

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A twisting gray road that had branched paths lay amid the vibrant green trees. The overall appearance of the road looked like blood veins but on land.

Slowly advancing along the narrow path was a black carriage pulled by four unicorns.

No defining feature could be seen on the carriage, only pure black. The coachman of the carriage was a messy-haired, short old man who held a horsewhip in his hand while he looked as though he could fall asleep any time.

No light was brought upon from the dark sky. The cold wind was swooshing across everywhere.

The carriage was slowly advancing as the wheels relentlessly crushed the pebbles in its wake. The shrubs on both sides of the road were shaking. Some forest creatures seemed to have been scared away due to the movements of the carriage.

"Master, in three days, we'll reach the Blue Gold Cave, but you will have to walk there to the cave yourself," the coachman reminded as he yawned.

"It's fine. I can walk." A deep voice belonging to a male came from the carriage.

The window of the carriage opened, revealing the pale and mysterious face of a man.

The man had a pair of glowing red eyes, which looked like clear red crystals of the highest quality.

He placed his hand on the windowsill and looked out to the other side of the forest.

"Something is going on. Ham, stop the carriage. We have to wait," he spoke calmly.

"As you wish, master." The coachman was not in the least nervous, for he seemed to have already gotten used to this kind of things. "This is the fourth time. What's wrong with this world? If it wasn't Master Green who hired me, I wouldn't even think of traveling this far."

Angele chuckled upon listening to him and looked at the other side of the forest again. Along a narrow path, an intense battle was occurring.

Several people wearing gray clothes and white bandana were duking it out with the guards of three carriages. People were laughing loudly, groaning in pain, and shouting. It was complete chaos.

"There are several bandits nearby. We should wait until they finish," Angele spoke tonelessly. It had been since he departed from the mansion, heading to the Blue Gold Cave. Still, the number of bandits in the forest was surprising.

Angele would always wait until the bandits finished pillaging before passing by, not wanting to draw too much attention.

The noise ahead slowly dissipated as the bandits had the carriages surrounded. Something seemed to have happened, and Angele could hear them laughing.

For more than 10 minutes they laughed and shouted.

Angele initially thought they would leave after they were done, but they were doing something else instead.

He stopped watching and closed the window and then took up the staff lying on the seat.

Ka!

Angele jumped off the carriage with a black staff in hand after the door was pushed open. He put on his hood and covered his entire body with his long, black robe.

"Ham, stay here."

"Sure, master!" Ham smiled. Angele could see his white teeth. He was simply no mediocre coachman, considering how a normal coachman would not travel alone with someone like Angele.

Angele nodded and slowly advanced with the staff in his hand. Some of his hair could still be seen underneath the robe.

Three carriages formed a triangular blockade up ahead, barring the bandits outside. The women and children within the blockade looked helpless.

The ground was covered with corpses and pools of blood. The stench of blood drifted in the air. Some of the corpses belonged to the bandits, but most of them were from the guards.

The bandits around the carriages were looking at the women and children with malevolent expressions. There was no way for those in the middle to escape.

Most of the bandits were carrying scimitars or crossguard swords. Some were wearing a broken version of the army's leather uniform.

The bandits were being led by a half-naked man who had a long scar below his left eye, standing on one side with his arms crossed. The scar twisted as he laughed. It was terrifying.

"Beard, what else?" the man shouted at the carriages.

There was a brawny man who had a long, black beard standing in the triangular blockade. He held the corpse of a girl in his right, his chest was soaked in fresh blood, and he was laughing.

A gash was left on the corpse's neck, with blood spurting out. The girl's soulless eyes were wide open, her body still twitching.

Hatred, desperation, and anger were written all over the female guards' faces as they looked at the girl's corpse. They tightly gripped their weapons in anger, yet there was not much they could do.

There were many broken arrows on the ground, indicating that arrow attacks weren't effective. No visible wound could be seen on the man who had a long beard.

"Whatever, we'll sooner or later die anyway. Why don't we try and take some of them down?" A girl in red was enraged, looking as if she would fight until the end.

"They killed all the men. It's obvious what they'll do to us. There must be a way. We shouldn't just hand ourselves to them!" one of the female guards said.

"Besides, Big Daddy just needs some treatment. I'm sure he's still alive! We shall not give up!" the guard encouraged.

There were about 10 girls in the blockade. Their final hope lay in the white-haired old man who was lying on the ground.

He had a damaged black leather armor equipped. A long scimitar was stabbed into the ground beside him.

"Yes. If Big Daddy wakes up, there will be hope," the other female guard said.

"Who's there?!"

Suddenly, the bandits around the carriage shouted.

Angele was slowly walking to the bandits, but before he could reach the carriage, he was detected.

Nevertheless, he didn't try to sneak. He was still unhurriedly walking to the bandits without a care.

A small group of bandits went to Angele immediately. The leader was the man with a scar under his left eye.

The man squinted, and his face turned solemn after noticing that there was only one man walking toward them.

"Friend, we're members of the Sandstorm. We'll be done in 10 minutes. Can you wait?" The man knew that no one would dive straight into a group of bandits alone unless it was someone who possessed great power or a… formal wizard. But in his troupe, there were several wizard apprentices, and he was a grand knight himself. With enchanted weapons in tow, he was certain they could win a fight against a low-rank wizard.

The man wasn't really a bandit and so he didn't wish to risk himself in the situation. Hence, he decided to speak with the stranger first.

Angele looked at the bandit, but before he could say anything, things changed.

Chi! Chi! Chi!

Suddenly, a huge red shadow appeared under his feet and transformed into a man right above the bandits. The shadow quickly solidified, and he turned around and showed everyone his appearance.

It was a young man with an attractive face.

Pa!

The man landed to the ground on his toes and bowed to Angele.

"Master Purple Eye, don't waste your time. I can kill them for you since they got in your way." He licked his lips. Flames were rising in his eyes.

Angele looked at the man.

"Turin?"

"I'm glad you know me." Turin was one of the elites who joined Angele's group.

Turin was also one of the powerful wizards who joined Dark Wizard Tower through their own power. They hadn't come from famous wizard families, but their skill level was extremely high.

Turin's body was wrapped with a red cloak. His hair was as red as a burning flame. There was a queer expression on his face.

"I recognize you because your words have left a deep impression on my mind." Angele smiled. "Regardless, I'm glad you're here to welcome me."

"Victoria is up ahead awaiting your arrival, too." Turin smiled as well. "We're certain you'll make our life more exciting."

"That should be one of the reasons you joined me, right?" Angele chuckled. Turin was one of the three leaders Angele had decided upon.

Turin was like a cruel beast who craved for danger and excitement in his life. That was his reason for joining Dark Wizard Tower. When he learned about the organization's big plan, he almost went crazy.

Rumors said Turin was a genius from a small wizard organization. He stayed in the mountains for years, but he realized his family and the organization he was formerly in could no longer satisfy him. Turin craved for better knowledge and stronger spells.

Turin realized that the people around him were too weak after accidentally killing off his father and his teacher during a simulation battle.

After that event, Turin became mentally unstable and he slew thousands of people during a war between wizards. That was how he became an infamous "criminal" and a wanted person by all the organizations in the central continent.

Furthermore, the man loved eating the raw liver of children and kept many of them as a livestock in his territory, just so he could enjoy a fresh liver whenever he wanted to.