Published at 6th of March 2026 6:23 am

Chapter 2614: Strange Dog Tunnel

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"I originally thought it was the Triclops Demon, because even the Half-Blood Demon became a guard, so it made sense for a Demon Dominator to appear. But unexpectedly, it turned out to be the Triclops Blue Demon..." Vay murmured, narrating his feelings.

Although the others didn’t speak, most of them felt similarly to Vay. Because Day had previously raised their psychological expectations to a sufficiently high level, yet they hadn’t anticipated that the birth of that entity would be so unique.

No wonder Day had previously said with deep meaning that they would definitely be surprised to see that entity.

And why Day mentioned that the Wood Spirit would be scared when seeing that entity and still doesn’t trust it. Now they understood, because in the Wood Spirit’s eyes, judging by appearance, the Triclops Blue Demon is taller and more terrifying, much more intimidating compared to the Ghosteye Witch’s slender figure.

"I also didn’t expect the Triclops Blue Demon in the intelligence to be an entity we can’t afford to offend." Angel’s face showed an apologetic expression.

Before this, the projections in the Nightmare Realm were weak becoming strong, even becoming unpredictably powerful. But unexpectedly, when it came to the Triclops Blue Demon, it went the opposite way.

It was precisely because of this misinformation that Angel made an incorrect judgment.

"No need to blame yourself, sir. This outcome was beyond our expectations. Moreover, isn’t there a solution now? As long as we can subdue that Wood Spirit, the problem can be solved easily." Undoubtedly, the one speaking was the newly initiated little fanboy, Vay.

Vay completely stood on Angel’s perspective, which is why he thought this way.

But others had some different thoughts.

For instance, Dox: "Is the intelligence you received so unreliable? The Triclops Blue Demon wasn’t even marked as untouchable, just listed alongside the Ghosteye Witch like that?"

Dox’s tone carried a touch of complaint, but he didn’t directly blame Angel, instead using it as an opportunity to criticize the source of the intelligence. If Angel were to respond to him, besides sharing indignation, most likely he could only explain the source of the intelligence, which was precisely Dox’s intent.

Angel understood Dox’s intention, but he still couldn’t disclose the intelligence source, so he chose to express with silence.

As the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, the Black Earl suddenly initiated a ’private chat’ with Angel as the conversation target.

"Speaking quietly again, is there anything that can’t be discussed together? Let’s deliberate it openly." Dox, sensing this, immediately voiced his thoughts and tried to involve Kaier and Vay, but those two quietly stepped back...

Yet the Black Earl completely disregarded Dox, in the private chat channel, he asked Angel: "Are you sure the deviation in your intelligence source has occurred?"

Angel: "At least from my intelligence source, the Triclops Blue Demon is not worth mentioning."

The Black Earl listened, falling into contemplation. After a long pause, he said: "Is your intelligence source Sanders?"

Angel remained silent.

It could be said to be Sanders, but actually, it was more what he witnessed personally. However, for the Black Earl to suddenly mention Sanders, had he guessed something?

From Angel’s understanding, those who know Sanders can go to the Nightmare Realm are basically the highest core layers of the Barbarian Cave, and only outsiders like Greya know.

Could it be that there’s now another who knows, the Black Earl? The Black Earl has a good relationship with Rhein, and seems to have a love-hate relationship with Sanders, could he truly know the secret of the Nightmare Realm?

While Angel was caught up in wild thoughts, the Black Earl didn’t continue to probe further, instead he said: "I understand."

Angel: "??????"

What do you understand? Did you figure out the Nightmare Realm? Or was it something else?

Angel was full of doubts, yet the Black Earl said with deep implications: "After we leave the relics this time, I will have a chat with Sanders."

Angel: "...chat about what?"

Could it be that the Black Earl doesn’t know about the Nightmare Realm, he just guessed that Sanders was the intelligence source?

If that were the case, then... then it actually isn’t bad. Besides, Sanders has already taken the blame for him several times, it wouldn’t make a difference one more time.

The first time Sanders took the fall for Angel, he was anxious; but now, although his emotions were still complex, he was at peace with it. Moreover, in this incident, Sanders truly cannot be disentangled.

After all, it was Sanders’s projection that killed the Triclops Blue Demon in the Nightmare Realm before.

After the private chat ended, the Black Earl told everyone: "If you can find the Wood Spirit, then do your best to find it. If that doesn’t work, we can always choose another entrance."

The Underground Labyrinth isn’t limited to one path, there is always a path that avoids that entity.

Even though the Black Earl didn’t mention Angel in his words, everyone clearly felt that he and Angel probably established some sort of agreement, at least the Black Earl believed Angel’s statement.

Dox was eager to inquire about what they talked about, but after holding back for a long time, he only managed a flattering line: "Anyway, I am also an Official Wizard. Next time when you chat, could you include me?"

Angel and the Black Earl tacitly chose to ignore Dox.

And they found a very convincing excuse: the mascot’s current inspiration has begun to deliberately act up, it’s better not to listen to him at all now.

As for whether this is the real reason, it doesn’t matter.

"Sir, you mentioned earlier that the situation changed, may I know what situation?" Vay suddenly asked.

Although this question was of concern to everyone, Dox always felt that Vay was helping Angel change the subject... hmph, the guy who stands against us.

The Black Earl: "Weren’t you all guessing where my last scent mark was left earlier? Now I can tell you the answer, near that narrow path."

"Narrow path?" Angel paused, hesitantly said: "Sir, are you referring to that small rectangular narrow passage on top of the high wall, resembling a dog hole?"

The Black Earl nodded: "That’s right."

Everyone recalled that dog hole at this time, they had even thought about whether to walk through it, but under Dox’s suggestion, they took the main path. As it turned out, Dox’s suggestion was reliable then, as the dog hole didn’t necessarily lead anywhere, but the main path led to the Hanging Jail Stairway.

"I was originally planning to place the tracking point inside that narrow path, but my intuition told me something was off about that path, so I spent some magic power and placed the scent mark point in high altitude."

As to why not place it on the ground, everyone didn’t need to ask because there were many mutated Carrion Squirrels on that path...

"Sir, do you think there’s a problem with the path itself, or a problem at the end of the path?" Angel questioned.

"I couldn’t determine the situation back then, perhaps it’s the path itself, or perhaps it’s something within the path that made me feel uneasy, regardless, I gave up placing the scent mark point on that narrow path."

Black Earl: "And what happened later proved my decision was correct."

When they met Day, the Black Earl first discovered an anomaly with that narrow path.

And this anomaly, to speak of, is not particularly uncommon in the Wizards’ Realm, it is just... that narrow path suddenly disappeared.

Not knowing what the situation was, the Black Earl simply informed everyone quietly, intending to discuss with Day before deliberating with everyone to see if that narrow path is some sort of mechanism.

What the Black Earl didn’t expect was that after a while, the small path reappeared.

Just as the Black Earl was observing the situation of the small path, he felt a slight tremor in the ground.

This tremor felt like footsteps, and it was similar to the tremors caused by the mutant carrion squirrel on the ground, but it was more urgent, as if there was a predator chasing it from behind.

However, the Black Earl did not perceive any other restless sounds behind him.

It wasn’t until the "mutant carrion squirrel" reached the crossroads that the Black Earl smelled a familiar scent.

This mutant carrion squirrel was the Wizard who initially chased from the smoke duct. To escape the squirrel craze, he transformed into a carrion squirrel and blended in. After some time of reverse travel, the Wizard finally escaped the riotous squirrel swarm and arrived at a crossroads with fewer mutant carrion squirrels.

At this moment, facing a high dog hole and the wide road on the ground.

The Wizard fell into contemplation.

When the Black Earl said this, everyone had already guessed the outcome: "Did he go to that dog hole?"

The Black Earl nodded: "That small path seems to appear whenever it senses someone coming. Even if that person is in the shape of a mutant carrion squirrel, it can still be sensed."

On one side was the high dog hole, and on the other was a flat but endless road ahead.

No matter how you think about it, without more information, it was a choice between two options. A fifty-fifty chance.

And the Wizard probably felt annoyed from being among the mutant carrion squirrels for too long. And since that small path was too high, the mutant carrion squirrel couldn’t reach it, so he eventually chose to climb the dog hole.

"So, what was his final outcome?" Kaier asked, trembling slightly.

The Black Earl: "After he went inside, the small path closed. What happened inside, I also don’t know. Upon discovering this situation, I mentioned to you for the second time that the scent positioning point had changed."

Angel nodded, he remembered the Black Earl saying at that time that the person chasing from behind might not catch up temporarily, but there were already more visitors in the smoke duct, presumably all from the Merchant Organization.

"And just two minutes ago, after we left from Day, that small path was opened again." The Black Earl paused: "That Wizard was... spat out."

Angel: "Spat?"

The Black Earl: "Although thrown out by some force, I think ’spat’ might be a more apt description."

Angel: "So, sir, do you think that dog hole has biological activity?"

"I don’t know, maybe it’s some kind of magical creature’s disguise, or maybe it’s just a mechanism." The Black Earl: "But that’s not important, what matters is that the Wizard didn’t die."

"Though he didn’t die, he became emaciated, losing at least more than half of the essence and energy in his body." The Black Earl: "Yet he was lucky that the Shapeshifting Technique wasn’t lifted, so even being spat out, other mutant carrion squirrels didn’t come to gnaw on him, and he should be able to wait for rescue."

After hearing the Black Earl’s account of the outcome, Vay and Kaier shivered, thankful they didn’t choose the dog hole back then. That dog hole could dry up even a Wizard, wouldn’t they be directly "digested"?

The two apprentices were worried about the safety issues, but Angel and Dox sensed something amiss in the Black Earl’s words.

"Only essence and energy lost? What about the bloodline? The magic vortex?" Dox asked.

The Black Earl: "The bloodline is depleted but fundamentally undamaged, the magic vortex dried but not broken."

Angel: "So, did the dog hole or the magical creature inside it show mercy?"

If wanting to destroy this Wizard, they could have just extracted the bloodline and damaged the psychic model. But the opponent only got "drained" of the less important parts.

—Of course, this "less important" is relative to the essence of the Wizard. With the current state of that Wizard, it would take years to recover to his original state without good potions.

"I don’t know, but I find this dog hole very interesting. If we don’t find the Wood Spirit later and return, we could ask Day about it. Maybe he knows some inside information," said the Black Earl.

The reason for not asking before was that the Black Earl assumed that the Wizard was dead, and that the dog hole was either a magical creature or a mechanism. But since the Wizard didn’t die, it got intriguing.

It was definitely deliberate to leave a life intact, not harming his essence. Is there a wise being hidden behind the dog hole?

While they were chatting, a new narrow entrance appeared before them.

This narrow entrance had no guards, because before they left, Day sighed: "Originally there was another narrow entrance ahead, guarded by two powerful Wizard-level magic puppets. However, after the fall, the magic puppets were taken by their original owner, so this is essentially the last guarded narrow entrance."

Evidently, the initial designer of the Hanging Jail Stairway’s front door sorted the dangers of the narrow entrance in sequence: the outermost layer was signaled by statues, followed by gargoyles to block, then soul demons guarding, and finally, life and death decided by magic puppets.

But now, the magic puppets were gone.

This last narrow entrance was danger-free... or not.

While the magic puppets were no longer there, what lay behind the last narrow entrance? A huge square, along with rows of buildings.

At this moment, the square was filled with Ghostly Shadows greedily absorbing dark energies, all of them Ghosteye Witches.

Inside those buildings, one could also sense potent energy auras, with the front Gemini Towers being the most prominent. Those two Gemini Towers were the two spires of a large bell tower, and atop these towers gathered the densest dark energies.

Even from hundreds of meters away, that terrifying aura could make the two apprentices feel weak-kneed.

"The two Wizard-level Ghosteye Witches that Day mentioned are likely in those Gemini Towers." After Angel spoke, he turned to Dox: "Are you going in?"

"Feeling a bit tired today, won’t fight." Dox paused, quickly changing the topic: "What about the statue of the peeing boy you mentioned? I didn’t see it, is it inside the building?"

Angel: "Not inside the building, we probably need to keep going forward. This is the external affairs institution of the Hanging Jail Stairway, the real prison isn’t here."

Angel spoke while also observing the vast space comparable to a living area, trying to find a way forward.

Because there were too many Ghosteye Witches here, they couldn’t easily use spell techniques without exposing themselves, so they could only rely on their eyes to judge.

But there were so many buildings, it was hard to see a clear path forward.

As everyone was fretting, the Black Earl suddenly wrinkled his nose and spat an indescribable curse.

When everyone looked over, the Black Earl coldly said: "I found a path, it’s behind the Gemini Towers, we need to take a detour. However, I’m not sure if that path is the one you’re looking for, but it’s definitely a way leading to a sewage tunnel entrance."

Hearing the Black Earl almost gnashing his teeth, everyone understood why he just swore.

The Ghosteye Witches’ scent was already unpleasant, and on top of that, he smelled the sewage, which for the Black Earl who only had a nose left, was akin to enduring torture.

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