Chapter 1138: Section 1139: Manifestation and Confrontation
Angel was pondering.
The information revealed by what Popota said earlier was actually quite substantial.
The one who could give orders to Gruda must definitely be a demon, and moreover, one of the higher demon rank. Thus, in the current Lassudral, there were only the seven seats of the Void Tower.
Excluding Barfiment, who had already died, only six seats remained.
According to Popota’s implication, the mysterious mastermind was a high-ranking demon unrelated to him, which meant that Yadasai and Urdixinos should also be ruled out.
Angel did not believe that Minotaur, who had recently been in a severely wounded state, could have recovered in such a short time and also manipulated so many lesser demons to intercept him. If Minotaur was also ruled out, only three candidates remained.
Nitotipu, Komodo, and Jupiter.
Among these three, logically, the most likely was Nitotipu. After all, as a marine demon, by attribute, the Water System rhythm would probably only be somewhat useful to it.
However, Nitotipu was currently in the Void Tower, and not long ago, Angel had observed Nitotipu’s situation through a strand of wind. It seemed that Nitotipu had not paid any attention to him from beginning to end. Therefore, Angel also did not think it was Nitotipu.
As for Jupiter, according to Canaan’s exact words, it was a demon only interested in food, which also did not seem likely to be Jupiter.
That left only one option.
—Komodo.
If it really was Komodo, Angel found it to be utterly absurd because among the seven seats of the Void Tower, only Komodo was a pure Fire System demon.
Or had his speculation been wrong?
Angel whispered his thoughts, and upon hearing them, Canaan also fell into contemplation. However, it was Fafnir who was walking at the forefront that suddenly stopped.
“Sometimes, the more outrageous it is, the more likely it can be,” Fafnir spoke, then out of nowhere, drew a Domain of Wind around Angel and then looked towards a certain empty direction.
Following Fafnir’s gaze, Canaan did not see any figure.
At first glance, it was a wide-open empty space. Apart from seeing faint outlines of buildings in the distance, there was nothing else.
Instead, Angel faintly sensed something amiss about a particular spot in the spacious square.
Angel stared carefully at the place that felt strange, and suddenly, he saw a ripple waving through the space.
Like a water pattern, diffusing out of thin air.
In the center of the water pattern, slowly stretched out a hand, or rather… it was a forelimb covered in black-red scales.
Following the appearance of this hand, a crack opened up in the center of the water pattern.
A foot stepped out as well, just like the hand, completely covered in black-red scales. Or rather, pure black scales, with fiery red patterns flowing on them.
When it completely stepped out from the crack, Angel felt a sense of the grotesque in his heart.
This was a large demon, its body sheathed in glossy black scales, as if fiery red magma was sealed within the scales. As it moved, the magma continuously flowed and shifted. Although there were only black and red colors, Angel could see an illusion of shimmering light.
Its body was streamlined, with a long, lizard-like tail protruding from its back.
Angel was sure that this was a terrifying demon he had never seen before, whose size was no less than that of the troll Gruda he had encountered previously. However, when facing this demon, he always had a sense of familiarity.
Especially its head, the protruding bone teeth reminded him of the shadow of a certain kind of creature.
Salamander.
At this time, the crack behind the demon slowly closed up, and before it completely sealed, Angel vaguely saw what appeared to be a scarlet blood pool behind the crack, filled with stacked bones.
After the crack closed, the demon hooked a sinister smile, and the next second, a terrifying aura enveloped everything within several miles around them.
Although the Domain of Wind could deflect this terrifying aura, Angel knew that he had indeed become a bird in a cage now.
Once he left the Domain of Wind, he would surely be suppressed by the terrifying aura to the point of being unable to move, even if he used the Gravity Meridian.
“So it’s you, Komodo,” Fafnir was unfazed by the aura and spoke without expression.
Both Angel and Canaan were stunned, was the other party Komodo? Although the head somewhat resembled a salamander, the whole appearance was entirely different from Komodo.
Komodo was a demon skilled in the manipulation of flames, obviously weaker in close combat. Previously, when faced by ‘Black Dragon’ Issac at close range, Komodo had avoided confrontation. But this demon in front of them, apparently looked more like it was skilled in physical combat?!
“Fafnir… hehehehahahaha…” Komodo’s laughter was very strange, and his gaze flickered constantly, sometimes gloomy, sometimes frenzied.
“This can’t be your true form,” Fafnir spoke indifferently: “I smell the scent of a horned demon, and also, another repugnant smell of flesh and blood. Did you, devour those two Blood Cocoons?”
“Devour? No, no, no, I merely integrated some trivial advantages from their bodies into myself with a little trick. Since Lassudral is already on the brink of destruction, whether those two fools live or die is meaningless, so why not benefit me?” Komodo did not deny it and laughed wildly.
At this moment, Angel also finally understood why Komodo seemed somewhat different from before—he had fused with the Blood Cocoons of Urdixinos and Minotaur?
However, this kind of method that could integrate the “advantages” of other demons sounded to Angel more like a fusion of bloodlines, but Komodo shouldn’t have extracted bloodlines, should he? Moreover, to integrate bloodlines, a large amount of matching techniques and materials was required.
Perhaps it was some kind of Secret Technique of the demons?
“Indeed so,” Fafnir wasn’t surprised at all but rather looked at Komodo with a pitying gaze, “Although you have increased your strength in a short time, the aftermath will follow you forever.”
The abrupt and contradictory change in Komodo’s nature was actually one such aftermath. After all, both Urdixinos and Minotaur were formidable great demons; before being injured, they were comparable in strength to Komodo, and even if Komodo forcibly devoured them, some of their characteristics were still influencing him.
If these issues weren’t resolved, there was a very real possibility that Komodo would undergo a drastic change in personality, hobbies, ways of thinking, and even memory. By then, whether Komodo would still be Komodo was hard to say.
“Aftermath?” Komodo’s smile was very eerie, “Of course, there will be aftermath, but now am I not here to make amends?”
As Komodo said this, his gaze slowly shifted to focus on Angel.
He was naturally aware of the existence of the aftermath, but in order to enhance his strength and compete for the Primeval Flame, he had to do this. Moreover, Komodo had contemplated solutions to the aftermath, the most immediate of which was awakening.