Chapter 2190: Chapter 2191: Kelonkcro

Kelonkcro came over only after the last wave of minions had left, compared to its initial appearance, its size had halved. With slender legs and a large flaming tuft atop its head, it barely reached Angel’s knee when standing upright.

This was a far cry from the half-human-sized Kelonkcro of before, much smaller.

While Angel was appraising Kelonkcro, Kelonkcro was the first to report on the tasks of the past few days:

"Sir... Sir, I, I have already... completed Dan... Dan Dangross’s task. All, all the minions have... arrived."

Kelonkcro struggled to speak, but the more urgently it wanted to finish, the more it stammered. A simple sentence dragged on for quite some time.

After listening to Kelonkcro, Angel cast a suspicious look at Faespanneri.

The latter whispered, "Kelonkcro has a slight stutter."

Upon hearing Faespanneri mention its stutter, the flames on Kelonkcro became more vivid, unsure where to look, it sheepishly lowered its head.

Angel nodded, saying nothing, but felt slightly regretful inside. A stutter isn’t a major issue, but if Kelonkcro could indeed be persuaded, communication would be necessary for future cross-element practice, and if Kelonkcro couldn’t speak clearly then, it might cause a bit of frustration.

Nonetheless, it was only a minor flaw, not impossible to overcome.

Moreover, Kelonkcro already had intelligence and could communicate with the outside world in its sprite phase, far better than other clueless elemental sprites. Perhaps once it matured, the stutter would disappear.

Thus, Angel didn’t dwell too much on the stutter, especially since it was too soon to ponder an unpredictable future.

Angel gazed at Kelonkcro with a mischievous smile, pondering how to persuade it.

"You’ve done a great job on your task. I’ve witnessed many intriguing fire element talents, which were eye-opening. But speaking of which, I’m actually very interested in your talent as well." Angel stared intently at Kelonkcro.

Kelonkcro became a bit nervous, eager to explain: "My, my talent... is, is somewhat..."

Angel soothed its anxiety: "I understand. I’ve seen your talent before—it’s similar to an elemental explosion ability."

Kelonkcro nodded, swallowing back unspoken words.

"I’m really curious how, after an elemental explosion, you’re able to re-coalesce spirit intelligence and return to being whole. There must be an extraordinary process involved. Could you tell me about it?"

Kelonkcro didn’t know how to respond, as it felt that truly understanding would require experiencing an explosion itself, but currently it couldn’t self-explode.

Angel seemed to discern Kelonkcro’s thoughts and said, "Dangross told me about your current situation, rest assured I won’t ask for an explosion. You can just tell me the process."

Kelonkcro: "But, but I speak..."

"No problem, we can communicate slowly, there’s no rush, right?" Angel said with a smile, "Why don’t you stay here? We can have a good conversation. It’s a bit cold; do you need help adjusting the environment?"

Kelonkcro instinctively responded to Angel’s inquiry: "No need."

Angel: "Then it’s settled."

Settled what? Did I agree?

While Kelonkcro was still in a daze, Angel turned to Faespanneri by his side: "Leaving it here shouldn’t be a problem, right?"

Faespanneri’s gaze was calm yet profound; it glanced at Kelonkcro, seemingly aware of Angel’s intention.

After a moment of silence, it spoke: "Fine. However, Kelonkcro is still in its restoration phase. It’s best to send it back to Teacher Magu in the evening to rest. The environment here is not suitable for Kelonkcro’s restoration."

Angel nodded with a smile: "Alright."

In its bewilderment, Kelonkcro remained in the Illusionary Realm cottage while Faespanneri cast a deep glance at Angel, turned elegantly, and left.

Angel led Kelonkcro into the cottage and started exchanging ideas with it with a smile.

Though Kelonkcro spoke with a stutter, as long as they took their time, communication could still proceed. Their discussion centered around Kelonkcro’s explosive talent.

Angel wasn’t lying; he was genuinely intrigued by this talent. In the immensely powerful explosion, how exactly did Kelonkcro retain its core consciousness?

Besides discussing talents, Angel also brought up topics from the human world, occasionally mentioning the light and beauty of the outside world and hinting at more expansive and peculiar pan-dimensional situations.

These topics were naturally to spark Kelonkcro’s yearning for the outside world, but... with its whole body engulfed in flames, its emotions were hard to discern.

The day passed just like that, and as twilight began to approach, Angel sent Kelonkcro by the Lava Lake and arranged a meeting time for the next day.

On the way back to the Iceflame Cave, Angel encountered Phoenix descending from the sky.

Phoenix came with fierce intent, filled with strong battle spirit, targeting Earl Mi.

Angel, however, didn’t want to engage in a pointless fight, tricking Phoenix into thinking Earl Mi was unwell and suggesting to fight later. Phoenix, unable to see Earl Mi, truly believed something was wrong and turned away somewhat despondent.

As for fighting Angel, Phoenix was aware that Angel had some confusing tricks, and if they fought, there’s no certainty about the outcome. Yet Phoenix didn’t want to fight Angel, preferring Earl Mi’s straightforward approach.

After sending Phoenix off, Angel felt a piercing sensation, as though someone locked their gaze on him.

Angel turned to look where the gaze came from, and saw, over the Lava Lake, a giant shadow slowly rising.

Eyes blazing with fire quietly observed Angel.

Angel recognized its identity, the Fire Giant... Duroche.

Duroche’s eyes carried a hint of hostility, yet it made no moves—just silently watched Angel.

But even this gaze carried sharp intensity.

Duroche’s power had grown stronger compared to the previous days, evidently benefiting greatly from the Elemental Tide.

Even Earl Mi, who was hidden in the shadows, began to alert Angel.

Angel understood clearly that, like Phoenix, Duroche probably wanted to settle scores with Earl Mi. Now, with Earl Mi hidden, they couldn’t attack.

After all, Angel was received by Demonic Fire Midir and Teacher Magu. Unless ordered by Demonic Fire Midir, they wouldn’t make a move against him.

Thinking of this, Angel ignored Duroche’s gaze and headed towards the Iceflame Cave on his own.

After moving away from the Magma Pool, the prickling sensation on his back disappeared. Looking back, Duroche had already sunk to the bottom of the lake, presumably to guard Dangross.

Angel shook his head and walked along the Scorched Earth path invisible in Twilight, returning to the cave.

Two more days passed.

In these two days, Angel still focused on Kelonkcro.

During this period, Angel noticed that Kelonkcro, due to its stuttering when speaking, rarely expressed its opinions unless necessary, though its inner world was richer than imagined.

Moreover, although Kelonkcro seemed to passively accept many things, this did not mean it lacked its own opinions; they were just suppressed.

It was precisely due to noticing this suppression that Angel realized Kelonkcro’s emotions were deeply hidden, and he also noticed that Kelonkcro did not have a particularly good impression of him.

It just didn’t show it.

If Kelonkcro inherently harbors resistance, convincing it would be difficult. Therefore, Angel’s main effort these past two days shifted from persuasion to closing the distance.

At the very least, he needed to eliminate Kelonkcro’s wariness, bringing it back to a normal level.

However, because Kelonkcro was too introverted and thus more sensitive, any attempt to deliberately close the distance could easily be detected. So Angel used unnoticed details in daily interactions to gradually dissolve its guard.

Doing so indeed prevented Kelonkcro from sensing his ulterior motives.

But there was a minor side effect: the efficiency was too low. While Kelonkcro began to let down its guard, it was still a long way from fully trusting and successfully strategizing it.

Moreover, Angel couldn’t stay here for too long, which made him quite anxious.

...

As nightfall arrived that day, as usual, Angel sent Kelonkcro back to the Lava Lake.

Just as Angel was about to leave, Toby, perched on his shoulder, suddenly called out to the sky.

Angel looked up and saw a Flame Sparrow, with a burning long tail feather, flying from the distant sky and landing in front of him.

"We meet again." Angel nodded slightly to the Flame Sparrow.

This Flame Sparrow was precisely Fesspanra, who used its wings as hands in a very human-like manner, performing a salute: "Mr. Pat, His Highness has ended his retreat and would like to invite you for a conversation. Do you have time now?"

Angel nodded nonchalantly: "Alright."

After all, he still had to meet with Demonfire Midir again. He also wanted to know Midir’s attitude towards the future entry of humans into the Tidal World.

Angel patted Toby, who immediately understood his meaning and transformed into a Flame Gryphon many times the size of Fesspanra.

In Fesspanra’s astonished gaze, Angel seated himself on Toby’s back, signaling it: "Let’s go."

Fesspanra, in a daze, nodded: "Please follow me."

During the flight to the volcanic crater, Fesspanra occasionally cast curious and doubtful glances at Toby.

"Are you curious about Toby?"

Pointed out of his thoughts, Fesspanra nodded somewhat sheepishly: "Although I vaguely saw something during the World’s Harmony before, it’s the first time I’ve seen a descendant of Kalomchis at such close range... Truly powerful and majestic, just as Teacher Magu described."

Praised by Fesspanra, Toby let out a proud call. Only Toby forgot that it was in its Gryphon form now, and its call was much louder than in its seabird form, creating waves of sound ripples that drew the attention of many nearby fire creatures.

Angel even saw a disturbance in the Lava Lake below, revealing Duroche’s figure.

Angel glanced at Duroche and then looked away, casually saying: "Toby is very pleased with your praise."

Fesspanra replied earnestly: "I am merely stating the facts."

Hearing this, Toby let out an even more excited cry.

Angel patted Toby’s mane, signaling it to calm down first; if it kept calling, they would indeed become the center of attention.

To avoid being overly observed, Angel quickly changed the subject: "By the way, how is Dangross lately, is Duroche still guarding him?"

At the mention of Dangross, a sympathetic and pitiful expression appeared on Fesspanra’s face: "Yes, Dangross is still cowering over at Teacher Magu’s place, not daring to show its face."

"Does Duroche hate him so much? Could it be that during Duroche’s period of obscured Spirit Intelligence, Dangross did something unforgivably evil to it, making it unable to let go even after regaining its intelligence?"

Fesspanra shook its head: "Not really; with Dangross’ level, it couldn’t do anything too evil. The main reason is, in the past, Dangross often claimed Duroche as its subordinate to intimidate and oppress other elemental creatures, doing many troublesome things."

"Moreover, although Duroche gained something from this setback, it doesn’t negate the fact that Dangross misjudged Mr. Pat’s stance and strength, leading to Duroche’s Origin being damaged."

"Thus, Duroche refuses to let it go."

Angel nodded in understanding, summarizing: "In short, Duroche won’t overlook the past mistakes just because the outcome was positive."

Fesspanra: "However, Duroche doesn’t really intend to act against Dangross. It’s more of an expression of attitude. After being exploited by Dangross all these years, it deserves some payback. I estimate it will last at least one to two more months, during which Dangross will need to lay low... which is good, as Dangross’ respite brings tranquility to us all."

Angel: "Listening to you, it seems Dangross isn’t very well-liked?"

Fesspanra shook its head: "Not really; it was born from the ashes of Kalomchis, so everyone is more tolerant of it. Having been tolerant for so many years, everyone is naturally willing to relax a bit."

As they chatted, the massive silhouette of the volcanic crater appeared beneath them.

Fesspanra stopped at this point: "His Highness is waiting for you below, so I won’t go further."

Angel nodded, patted Toby, and the latter, in a dive, rushed into the glowing red crater.

Inside the crater, on a man-made platform, Angel saw the Demonfire Midir, now expanded in size, maintaining a demonic form; its flame-constructed horns were larger, spiraling upwards. Though its fleshy wings were not spread, the aura it exuded was imposing.

Angel instructed Toby to cultivate in the volcanic magma and himself walked to a nearby spot in front of Demonfire Midir, bowing slightly as a greeting.

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