The Wizard World

The golden light was flashing.

Angele’s sight was blurred for a second after the teleportation. He realized that he was in front of a clear lake after he could see things again.

He was lying on a white beach. The other wizards were also lying around him in different poses.

The eye-blinding sunlight was hot and strong. Angele could smell blood in the gentle wind that was brushing over his face.

"What’s this place?" Monteria was on the right; she just woke up and was rubbing her temples. It seemed like she was still dizzy.

"I don’t know. We were teleported here." Angele stood up and wiped the sand off his robe. He checked the surroundings quickly.

The wizards were teleported to an area that was surrounded by mountains and there was a small lake in front of them. Angele could see silver fish swimming in the clear water.

Angele put his hand into the pouch, but it seemed like he failed to find the item he needed.

"Do you have an item that can show our location?" He looked at Monteria.

Monteria shrugged. "I don’t, but I heard that Justin learned a spell that can help locate us from an ancient ruin. We should ask him after he wakes up."

Angele nodded but did not say anything. He looked at the wizards and noticed only several of them were waking up.

"Becky?"

White light flashed and Becky appeared behind Angele.

Becky’s body was covered with white sand and dirty.

"Damn, I was teleported into the sand!" Becky was wiping the sand off her body anxiously.

Angele was not concerned, he just wanted to make sure that Becky was still alive. He looked at Monteria—the woman was trying to craft potions using different materials.

"I need the potions to keep my body stable due to a lab accident," Monteria explained as she noticed that Angele was looking at her.

"I’ll leave now since we returned safely. Can you let them know after they wake up?" Angele looked at Monteria. "I assume you’ve completed the mission. I saw that the stone pillar was taken away."

"Yeah, Fiona took it during the battle. It was the core of the Blood Throne and I think things will be fine. We completed the mission, but I’m not sure about the other teams." Monteria’s brow furrowed. "You’re not heading back to the alliance?"

"I will, but I need to check on my other friends. They live in remote areas; although the Dark Wizard Tower might not be able to find them, I want to make sure that they’re safe," Angele responded in a calm tone.

"Sure, go ahead." Monteria shrugged again.

Angele exchanged eye contact with Becky and they walked into the forest by the beach.

Becky followed Angele into the forest and started laughing after they walked for a while.

"You’re done! Master Alice has already recognized you." She chuckled. "The winner of the competition, the leader of the elite team, Purple Eye, is now identified as a traitor. The Dark Wizard Tower will definitely go after you."

Angele stopped moving and remained silent.

"What? Are you scared?" Becky sneered.

The two stood in the forest. The golden sunlight landed on the ground after passing through the gaps between the leaves which were shaking slightly in the wind.

Angele opened his mouth after he remained silent for a while.

"The contract states that my benefit and the people that are important to me will be protected in exchange for my service. I didn’t want to join the alliance’s operation, but my mother was attacked by you and that’s a breach of the contract."

"No... it’s not..." A deep and old voice echoed in the air.

Angele’s expression changed, white light flashed in the air and Becky appeared in front of him.

A silver bat appeared above the tree; the silver glow around the bat was brighter than the golden sunlight. The bat almost looked like a silver statue.

The silver bat landed on a branch in front of Angele and Becky and stared at Angele with a pair of deep eyes.

"Alice has informed us about the situation, but we had no time to confirm it. However, we’ve confirmed it now. Green, are you sure you want to join the alliance?" the bat spoke slowly.

Angele looked at the bat with a serious expression on his face. He recognized the voice immediately—it was his teacher, the head of a department. Angele had never met his teacher after joining the department and it was the first time they had a serious conversation.

"Teacher?" he wondered. "Is this your physical form, or...?"

"This is my physical form," the bat responded in a calm tone. "I’ve been using this body for over one thousand years. Come back to us, Green. I’m one of the department heads and your guilt can be remitted. Also, I can protect your mother."

Becky’s eyes were wide open, it felt like she found the situation hard to believe.

Angele remained calm. "I’ve never breached the contract. Everything I did was allowed. Also, I still think that the Dark Wizard Tower is the one who breached the contract."

"Is this your real thought?" the bat questioned back.

"Yes."

The conversation was not going well.

Several minutes later, the old bat loosened its expression.

"I was going to teach you my technique after the war, but I didn’t expect you to betray the organization at this critical period."

"I’m just doing what I have to do," Angele spoke in a light tone.

"Good." The bat nodded. "I can understand, but the Duke will not. You’re the only student I accepted in recent years and I respect your decision. You must have a strong mind to walk further, that’s how wizards strengthen themselves."

"However, the Dark Wizard Tower will not forgive a traitor." The bat opened his wings and released some eye-blinding silver light.

"You’re no longer my student, but I’ll let you go this time. Leave now..." The bat finished its words and disappeared into the air, its voice echoing in the forest.

Angele just stood there and remained silent.

"The department head is not here just for you. He’ll kill the wizards from the alliance. Your teacher has many shadows and forms. It’s incredible that he decided to take you out by himself." Becky sighed with mixed emotions.

"The strong wizards of the alliance will come and help them. Let’s leave now, I don’t want to be caught in the mid of an intense battle." Angele just realized that the Dark Wizard Tower was trying to give him the last chance.

Angele was never a man that knew how to set up a perfect plan. He failed to analyze the situation and it became awkward.

"The Dark Wizard Tower will release my information to the public sooner or later," Angele spoke in a calm tone. "I guess the alliance and the Dark Wizard Tower will all go after me."

"You’re in the middle of them. They’ll send people to track you down. Do you have a plan?"

"A plan?" Angele started advancing. "I joined the Dark Wizard Tower because I want to protect the people that are important to me during the war. I’d never have betrayed them had they given me what they promised."

Becky looked at Angele and advised, "The department head was here to deliver the message and that’s an honor. Think twice before making the decision. I’m sure your teacher will help you if you ask. The department heads all had strong power in the organization."

Angele did not respond. Raising his left arm, he looked at the five scorpion patterns; they looked like five glowing rubies.

He did not want to connect the Nightmare Realm to the wizard world if he had the choice. The lords would change the wizard world completely.

"The Dark Wizard Tower can track you down and kill you easily. If you make the wrong choice, you’ll become a wanted criminal." Becky was still trying to convince Angele for some reason.

The trees of the forest looked like coconut trees; they were traveling through it at full speed.

*BAM*

They suddenly heard some loud noise from behind them.

Angele turned around and checked the situation.

A silver vortex appeared above the forest. Dark lightning was striking the area under the vortex constantly.

Angele looked at the lightning and made the decision.

"I need to go somewhere alone. Find a place and hide. Don’t try to contact the Dark Wizard Tower. I can track you down whenever I want."

Becky snorted but did not say anything.

Angele was not concerned. He pressed on his chest and disappeared into a ball of flames.

’Creating your shadow...’ Zero’s voice echoed in his ears.

************************

Angele felt like that he was traveling through an intestine. He jumped out of the exit like a fish jumping into the sea. The feeling was great.

Angele regained his consciousness quickly.

The sky was dark and the clouds looked like burning flames. There were red electric pulses flashing in the sky. The dark land was covered with white bones and dust.

A tall statue was standing on the ground quietly. The statue was red and it almost like it was connected to the sky. It was a giant wearing heavy armor.

The giant’s head was covered by a red helmet and surrounded by a red glow. The upper body and the bottom body of the giant were separated. There was a floating eyeball on its waist.

The giant was chained up on four stone pillars.

"A shadow?" Eye Devil’s voice echoed in the sky. "Any good news, Phoenix? Have you prepared the souls?"

Angele nodded. "I’ve collected all the needed souls. Ready your army. I can’t teleport back to Nightmare Realm at the moment because it’ll be hard for me to return to the wizard world."

"Great, thanks for your hard work." Eye Devil sounded excited. "Maybe there’s something in your world that can help me."

"Maybe, don’t forget what you promised me."

"Of course."

*GA*

A large black bird appeared in the sky and made some loud noise.

Angele raised his head and looked at the bird.

*BOOM*

The black bird exploded into pieces and turned into a rain of blood, landing on the ground.

"Although you may not care, I need to double-check the location of the runes because I want to minimize the risk. How long do you need to open the dimension fissure and enter the wizard world?" Angele questioned.