Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2248: Chapter 2249: Crownless King

The Gondola weaved through the gently drifting clouds.

It’s been half an hour since they left the Malaya Ice Mountain. Looking back at the path they had come from, the vast iceberg was no longer in sight, only the occasional jump of water creatures from the azure ocean below reminding them they had yet to leave the range of the Malaya Ice Mountain.

Angel leaned against the edge of the boat, the information that Frost Iser had shared with him still echoing in his mind.

"Nami Midori..." Angel muttered the name to himself.

After a while, Angel sat up, touched the void with his finger, and an illusion node swirling at his fingertips quickly constructed an illusion in front of him.

It was a map on a piece of parchment, with frayed edges.

The map delineated each extreme environment on the main continent of the Tidal World into regions and sketched a simple image of an elemental creature in each region.

This was the Tidal World Map drawn by Feng.

In fact, Angel hadn’t looked at this map for quite some time because he had the sages of each territory guiding him along the way, and later he had also recruited Lobal, who was very familiar with the Tidal World’s topography, far more reliable than Feng’s amateur mapping skills.

Angel took out the map again because he remembered what Frost Iser had said to him in the ice chamber—

"Nami Midori is the true embodiment of nature, more respected by the servants of nature than the current monarch of the Green Forest Domain—Leaf Groot. Moreover, Nami Midori is a Crownless King."

Angel: "What is a Crownless King?"

Frost Iser stood up from the throne, pointing at the mural Feng had painted for it on the ice wall, "This is the Crownless King."

Later, Angel learned that when Feng first arrived in the Tidal World, he had traveled through various regions and painted a picture for the rulers of each region at that time.

The rulers referred to here are the local rulers of the present time and place. For instance, the ruler of the Region of Fire at that time was Salamander Hyundai, or Frost Iser of the Malaya Ice Mountain was another example.

Almost the entire Tidal World followed this pattern except for the Green Forest Domain.

At that time, the king of the Green Forest Domain was Starwood Wood, but the painting Feng left in the Green Forest Domain was not of His Highness Starwood, but... Nami Midori.

Therefore, although Nami Midori had no titular prefix, the mural left by Feng symbolized its presence.

It was the true Crownless King of the Green Forest Domain.

"Moreover, in terms of individual strength, it might also be the Crownless King of all elemental creatures in the Tidal World."

This phrase was also spoken by Frost Iser. Although there was no direct evidence, without a doubt, obtaining recognition from Frost Iser, even if Nami Midori’s strength was not the "Crownless King" of the Tidal World, it was certainly among the pinnacle of the pyramid.

To know that when Mr. Magu mentioned Nami Midori, he showed a bit of apprehension, which speaks volumes.

Because of his curiosity about Nami Midori, Angel summoned the map drawn by Feng with illusion.

Since Frost Iser had said that the picture Feng left in the Green Forest Domain was drawn for Nami Midori. Therefore, on this map, Nami Midori should also be present.

Angel wanted to see what image this highly praised, yet also feared Nami Midori was exactly?

Angel began comparing the map to find the location of the Green Forest Domain.

The proportions and shapes of Feng’s drawn map were all incorrect, but through the images of the monarchs of various regions, Angel managed to locate the Green Forest Domain.

When Angel saw the corresponding elemental creature of the Green Forest Domain on the map, he paused.

Although the elemental creatures on the map were mostly simple sketches, compared to drawings of other regions, the Green Forest Domain couldn’t even be considered a sketch, but rather crude.

A green, curving line.

If Angel hadn’t carefully observed that there were two small yellow dots at the front end of the green line, he might have thought it was an unintentional stroke left by Feng while drawing.

Adding two yellow dots, however, brought the charm to this line.

Angel could see that it was a snake or a serpent-like creature.

"Is the so-called embodiment of nature, Nami Midori, actually a snake?" Angel pondered to himself, finding it rather intriguing. Throughout his journey, almost all the monarchs he encountered were humanoid or had human-like features.

Of course, this was a transformation, which could be changed. But it also showed that humanoid forms were quite favorable among the Element Lords.

Nami Midori was the only pure beast form without any human features.

"That’s quite unique...but not necessarily permanent, as many years have passed, and Nami Midori might have changed its form."

Angel thought, perhaps he could ask Lobal. It claimed to have traversed most of the Tidal World and might have seen Nami Midori.

Angel looked up and glanced outside the Gondola at Lobal.

What he saw made Angel raise an eyebrow. Lobal was not circling around the Gondola as usual, but was hooking onto the boat’s edge with its long tail, using the Gondola’s power to carry it along.

And Lobal itself was in silence.

This silence wasn’t because Lobal wasn’t speaking but because its three heads were whispering to one another, seeming to have a private meeting, but their conversation was wrapped in wind, revealing not a trace.

From the arguing expressions of the main, secondary, and tail heads, it could be seen that their discussion was quite intense.

Who knew what they were talking about.

"Speaking of silence... since leaving the Malaya Ice Mountain, the surroundings do feel a lot quieter." Angel thought, as he turned to look around.

The Speedy was still attached to the Gondola as usual, dutifully acting as a force booster, its silence was expected.

Cubic wasn’t flapping its wings in the air but was on the table, resting its small front hooves on its rosy little face, eyes blank. Not sure what it was pondering, but Angel felt a swarm of question marks surrounded its head.

And the usually noisy source—Dangross, at this moment, wasn’t speaking either, nor was it gazing at Toby like a lovesick fool, but instead leaned on the table with drooped eyes, looking perplexed.

One could say that on the entire Gondola, aside from Angel, only Toby remained the same. Toby was currently nestled in Angel’s pocket, rustling through and pulling out clothes from Snow Feather, treating Angel’s pocket as a dressing room, trying on different outfits.

"What happened today? Suddenly, all the elemental creatures seem preoccupied?" Angel looked puzzled.

Angel pondered for a moment and then lightly tapped the boat’s edge with his knuckle, the energy ripple instantly reaching Lobal’s tail hooking onto the boat edge.

Lobal’s three heads suddenly froze, turned rigidly, and looked at Angel.

"Master." After a mysterious moment of silence, the tail head spoke first.

Angel: "You seem to be having a heated discussion, what are you talking about?"

The tail head hesitated for a while, exchanged glances with the main and vice heads, and then spoke up: "Actually, we were in..."

As the tail head expounded, Angel finally realized that the three heads of Lobal had gathered to discuss the Shadow Box Trilogy they had watched earlier in the Ice Palace.

The Shadow Box Trilogy had left them greatly astounded with each installment; the third part, "The Possible Futures of Tidal Realm," particularly shocked them unimaginably.

"Sir, will humans surely enter the Tidal World?" the main head couldn’t help but ask.

Angel glanced at it but didn’t respond. The trilogy had already made the answer crystal clear, making the question redundant.

Seeing Angel ignoring it, the main head lowered its head awkwardly.

While the main head fell silent, the vice head raised another question: "Sir, would it be good or bad for elemental creatures if humans enter the Tidal World?"

Angel: "There are both pros and cons. But regardless, the decision isn’t in your hands, so there’s no need for you to worry."

As if prearranged, the tail head added: "After watching ’The Possible Futures of Tidal Realm,’ I’ve been wondering... do you intend to make us your elemental companions?"

As the tail head finished speaking, Cubic also perked up its ears. From this, it could be inferred that Cubic had been pondering questions related to the trilogy in silence.

Facing the tail head’s query, Angel asked in return: "Would you prefer I say yes or no?"

The tail head fell silent, but from its eyes, Angel discerned clear resistance.

This reaction was within Angel’s expectations, considering his initial encounter with these wind elemental creatures had been far from pleasant.

Angel didn’t mind; he hadn’t intended to make these pledged wind elements his companions anyway.

"Since I’ve committed to a twenty-year oath, I won’t consider other possibilities. After twenty years, you’ll be free," Angel concluded, ending the topic.

"Have you been to the Green Forest Domain before? Have you seen Nami Midori?" Angel asked.

Though still engrossed in earlier thoughts, the tail head quickly set aside its restlessness upon Angel’s inquiry and began to recount details carefully.

A few minutes later, the tail head stopped talking.

From the tail head’s account, Angel learned that Lobal had indeed visited the Green Forest Domain during its travels through the Tidal World but had not seen Nami Midori.

Lobal actually wanted to meet this legendary figure, but a certain incident later changed its mind.

Nami Midori resided in a secluded forest area within the Green Forest Domain. When Lobal was ready to approach the forest, it had been swept away by a terrifying aura before it could get close.

Afterward, Lobal found out that this was Nami Midori’s warning to intruders of her forest.

Because the aura had deeply shocked Lobal, an unprecedented terror, it no longer dared to think of meeting Nami Midori.

Moreover, according to Lobal, not only did it not get to see Nami Midori, but almost no other elemental creatures in the Green Forest Domain did either.

Even among the mouths of some newly born elves in the Green Forest Domain, stories related to "Nami Midori" had become mere legends—heard of but never seen.

This suggested that Nami Midori was not only powerful but also very mysteriously low-key.

This also explained why other region’s Element Lords and The Sage knew little about Nami Midori since she had not shown herself in a long time.

"It seems that to find out if Nami Midori’s true form is a snake, one must visit the Green Forest Domain," Angel thought to himself.

After sending Lobal away, Angel also paused his curiosity about Nami Midori.

Putting away the Illusion Technique map, Angel greeted Toby and secretly communicated with Earl Mi to stay alert before entering his daily meditation time.

As Angel entered meditation, he didn’t notice the contemplative look on Dangross’s face as it lifted its "head," seemingly making a decision, and gazed slowly at... Angel.

Three hours later, Angel awakened from his meditation.

As soon as he opened his eyes, a palm appeared before him. Instinctively, Angel swung it away, sending the palm outside the Flying Boat.

After the swing, Angel realized that the palm seemed to have eyebrows and eyes, reminiscent of Dangross?

Angel hurried to the boat’s edge to look down.

The force seemed to have sent Dangross downwards. Being an elemental creature... even a fall from a thousand meters should be fine, right? But below was the sea...

As Angel contemplated this, he saw a gust of wind rise from below.

Along with the wind came cries and wails.

Upon closer inspection, a hand made of wind gently cradled Dangross. And Dangross, unaware of being held, continued to wail.

It wasn’t until the wind hand placed Dangross back onto the Flying Boat that it bewilderedly glanced around.

Huh? It hadn’t fallen? It had thought it was going to plummet into the sea and become the first drowned Fire Elemental.

While Dangross felt a sense of relief, Angel lightly addressed the wind hand outside the boat: "Thank you."

The wind hand swayed slightly before disappearing.

"What was that just now?" Dangross asked, standing up.

"Speedy, it saved you, so you should thank it." Angel casually remarked, "Since Speedy is currently serving me, it means I saved you too, so you should also thank me."

Dangross instinctively wanted to express gratitude but paused as if remembering something: "But you’re the one who hit me down!"

Angel responded with a composed look: "I opened my eyes to see you right in front of me; how was I supposed to know if you were going to attack? It’s best to strike first."

Dangross: "I wasn’t going to attack you. I was...I was..."

Seeing Dangross suddenly lower its head, Angel raised an eyebrow: "What were you going to do?"

After a long silence, Dangross mumbled: "I... I wanted to... say thank you to you."

"See, you still wanted to thank me." Angel chuckled lightly.

Dangross: "That’s different. You hit me down just now, so I won’t thank you for that."

Angel raised an eyebrow: "Then why did you just say you wanted to thank me?"

Dangross squirmed slightly before saying: "I meant to thank you for what happened earlier at Malaya Ice Mountain."