Warlock Apprentice

Both Angor and Shadow froze when they heard the strange voice that almost consisted of two different tones.

They were currently walking on a narrow path among several trees. A shadow suddenly appeared behind falling leaves. In a moment of seconds, a little girl about the age of 12 stood in the middle of their way.

Everything on the girl looked dark. Black bubble skirt with crimson braids, a black veil that covered pale white skin, and long, black hair that reached all the way to her chest… her dressing style would usually sit well on mature women with special tastes.

Angor immediately recognized those looks. She was the individual he briefly encountered in Hippocrotee—”Sundown Queen” Isabella.

However, it was a tiny trace of her consciousness that troubled him back at Hippocrotee. Now, he was looking at the real deal.

“Lady Isabella!” Shadow was visibly trembling now. He just addressed Isabella as a “mean psycho”. Their conversation was already heard by her. There was no doubt Isabella would do something about it.

Bam!

Anyone who wished to leave Silent Hill had to go through this path.

It was already midnight, but there were still pedestrians who saw the conflict. Everyone simply turned away when they saw Isabella’s face, fearing that the terrible woman’s ordeal might accidentally fall upon innocent onlookers.

Occasionally, there were wizards who noticed the display of strength from far away. Similarly, they didn’t pay much attention to it. The confrontation between an apprentice and a level-2 wizard wasn’t worth the time.

Nobody would care about what happened, either to be safe or to save their precious time.

Well, maybe with the exception of extremely odd individuals, such as Dual Sprite Talos, who basically had nothing to do all day.

“Holy stones. How old is Isabella? A thousand years old? And she’s stingier than a toddler.”

“You don’t understand. It’s better this way!”

“Why is this better?”

“Dark Castle is so close to us. She might bring us a fortune with that character of hers!”

“Ohh, you’re right! Clever!”

“Of course I am clever! And if I’m clever, you’re also clever!”

Talos spoke to itself while occasionally commenting on Isabella’s style.

Angor didn’t manage to display his Nightmare Domain for long, but Talos still saw it, and the sprite suddenly stopped speaking.

A moment later, Talos spoke again, in a very small voice that only itself could hear this time.

“No doubt. That’s the same aura used by Mister Phantom.”

“So Diablo’s little new friend is Phantom’s disciple?”

“Should be.”

“Oh, this is gonna be fun. Will Mister Phantom get furious for this?”

“No. Remember when Flora did something similar?”

“But that’s different. Flora asked for her own doom, while Angor is only a victim or Isabella’s twisted ideal.”

“So you think Mister Phantom will come?”

“Maybe not? Aha! I said this because you said it first! And I am you!”

Talos remained silent for a while.

“Should we tell Isabella? Maybe she’ll let Angor go if she knows Phantom is the kid’s teacher.”

“No! That won’t be fun.”

“So what should we do now?”

“We sell the news to magazines, dumba*s! I already made up a title for it—Holy Crap! Phantom’s Personal Follower Surrendered Himself to a 10-Year-Old Lady!”

“Nice one! I can already imagine being paid!”

“Will we get 100 crystals out of this? Yes, we will!”