Warlock Apprentice

Angor could almost feel Sunders’ anger hidden in the calm voice.

In fact, Sunders had all the reasons to get angry. The Abyss was in a delicate state when everyone was trying their best to stay alive and avoid problems. When Angor showed up here at such a moment, he was only looking for trouble.

Just the other day, Sunders received Sumesh’s untimely visit and chased him away, which was fine because Sumesh at least knew how to protect himself in the Abyss. But Angor was a way bigger problem.

Angor knew his professor was pissed off for real and quickly changed the subject. “Ahem, I do have something to tell you, sir, but that can wait. We’re in a pickle right now.”

“What’s going on?”

“I-I’ll let Mister Brofen do the explanation.”

“Brofen??!”

“Servant of Sugar” Brofen, an odd alchemist who always wanted to resurrect a vile demon? Why is Angor staying with him?

As Sunders wondered how much more headache-inducing annoyance his student had in stock, he heard another man’s voice from the connection.

“It’s me, Brofen, an alchemist working for the supply team of Moonfrost Union. Greetings, Mister Phantom.”

Brofen slowly explained the situation, while Sunders listened with a cold look.

“You’re currently in a place called the ‘necropolis’?”

“A Grave Knight told us so. Just now, Miss Sennefer suggested that we set two coordinates from our respective positions so that we can use a stable passageway to get out—”

“Tell me about this ‘pub house’. What does it look like?”

“Huh? It’s a wooden building with a typical swinging door. The word ‘Bar’ is written on top of it using Abyssal. So, about our plan—”

“What’s the name of the barkeeper?”

Angor saw Brofen getting impatient and decided to answer this one himself. “Sir, we heard a woman talking to us, but we didn’t see her face. She really hates humans though.”

Sunders did not respond.

“Um, should we follow Miss Sennefer’s suggestion—”

“You shouldn’t worry about that. Watch yourself. I’ll be there right away.”

The sphere dimmed as Sunders canceled their connection.

Brofen pinched his nose bridge. “That’s it?”

Angor shrugged. Nothing he could do now.

Madelyne and Vifet had returned to the chapel. With Sennefer and the undead knight fighting, the other enemies had retreated farther away. Staying there would only drag Sennefer down.

They all heard the conversation and would like to know what Sunders said right away.

“What’s with the sad look?” Madelyne glanced at Brofen. “Did Mister Phantom get trapped as well?”

“That’s not it. Just… Ugh.”

Frustrated, Brofen repeated Sunders’ words.

Madelyne was very confused now. She never saw Sunders acting so strangely before.

“Mister Phantom wishes to know about that woman? Does he know who she is?” asked Vifet.

Everyone including Angor was thinking about the same thing. It seemed as if Sunders recognized this graveyard.

But none of the wizards present ever heard about this “necropolis” before.

The battle outside continued as Sennefer unleashed her full Bloodline power. The curse on her greatly reduced her strength. However, her superior Bloodline Art still allowed her to challenge a level-2 truth-finder just fine.

The problem was, she could not keep this up for too long. Being inside this alien dimension had doubled her mana consumption, whereas her foe seemed completely fine. She couldn’t afford to prolong the fight.

She was gaining more and more wounds and bruises on her body as time passed. Her limit was near.

She found a chance and threw a hasty glance at Brofen to ask what happened to Sunders using eye contact.

Brofen showed her an embarrassed smile.

“Curse it all. It was foolish of us to put our hope on someone else!”

She changed her tactic and began avoiding confronting the knight head-on while inconspicuously telling Brofen to prepare a plane passageway.

Brofen sighed and complied. This was seemingly the only way.

But he stopped his action when he received another order from Sennefer.

“Release Krula?!” Brofen shook his head madly. “No. That will be a disaster!”

“Just do it! If we get out of here alive, I’ll ask Mister Monkey to give you another vile tentacle. All will vanish for naught if we all die!”

Brofen took a deep breath and summoned his alchemy workshop. But before he could enter, a ray of bright light suddenly came from the sky and brightened the dark graveyard.

Everyone including Brofen stopped moving and looked above.

A rupture had appeared in the unlit sky, across which people could see the original gloomy sky of the Abyss Plane.

As they all wondered what was happening, a figure emerged from the rupture and landed on top of a gravestone.

“Everlasting nighttime… So this is the rumored necropolis.”

Old-fashioned black gentleman suit, white shirt, polished boots, a delicate short cane, and a black cape with red inner linings. The visitor’s face was hidden under the wide brim of his top hat. But everything else on him had told people that, “Phantom Master”, the killer machine, had come.

“He came inside when he could have brought us out to safety? My oh my…” Brofen moaned.

Angor was also wondering about this problem. However, he did feel glad to see his professor.

“What are you doing here?” Sennefer questioned Sunders when she saw the rupture in the sky closing up. “Did Angor not tell you what we’re dealing with?”

Sunders removed his hat and allowed everyone to see his short green hair and a well-kept face of a middle-aged noble. He glanced at the entrance of the chapel on Dokibell and saw Angor there. He then spoke to Sennefer.

“I just heard the existence of the legendary necropolis. Of course I won’t let such a chance slip.”

Step by step, he walked among the gravestones and approached the pub house in the distance with an almost exciting look.

A broken greatsword suddenly materialized in front of him, followed by the armored knight who kept Sennefer occupied just now.

“My boss means to eliminate all humans who set foot in this realm. You’re not an exception.”

The sword began to glow ominously.

“Watch out!” Sennefer yelled out. “That thing can cut through the very dimension!”

With a simple move, Sunders used his cane to parry the giant blade several times larger and undeniably heavier.

To everyone’s great surprise, he succeeded as if he were fencing off a tree stick wielded by a child.

He then gently tapped the cane against the ground, sending an invisible shockwave around him, causing a large group of the onlooking skeletons to sink under the dirt.

“They say that those inside the necropolis always obey their rules. For one, the ‘witch of resurrection’ does not reject any honest customer,” Sunders spoke as he walked to the pub door. “Am I right, Miss Balalaika?”