A Sorcerer's Journey 258 Hasty Return

5 years later:
"Ah! This feeling…"
Grimm, who was in the middle of cultivating 'Dissimilation Force Field' produced by the evolved Gadflies, suddenly yelled out in surprise and with a 'shraa', Grimm's clothes turned into powder in an instant.
With Grimm as the center point, the surrounding space seemed to have collapsed on itself. Dark gray rippling waves spread through the area, swirling around in the air.
At the same time, countless red strands of hair appeared out of thin air and mysteriously surrounded him.
These hairs seemed to be alive as they tried to dig their way into Grimm's body but to no avail due to the protection Grimm's transparent Sorcerer's Barrier provided. From afar, Grimm looked like a hairy, moldy egg.
'This is…'
For the past five years, Grimm had hand-picked a few thousand Elite Gadflies out of the tens of thousands of these green evolved Gadflies based on the "survival of the fittest" concept. Because their aura integrated with Grimm's, parts of these Elite Gadflies were penetrated by the red hairs. They shrieked loudly before vanishing into thin air, as if being warped into another unknown world.
These red hairs were like claws from hell, dragging whichever object touched by the curse into the realms of the Nightmare Deadlands.
"Caw? Damn it, I've also been affected by the Underbed Evil Shadow curse!"
Myna yelled as he turned into a child's cartoon cut-out character, trying to escape the pull of the Unknown World. Layers of red hair piled towards his body, similarly trying to pierce into it.
"Ha!"
Grimm yelled out as he manipulated the Force of Nature in a desperate attempt to resist the pull of the Unknown World. Strings of elemental energy gathered, shining brightly as it held up the surrounding space that was nearing the brink of collapse.
"Didn't she say that I won't get tossed into the Nightmare World as long as I don't go near the End of the World or sleep on a bed?"
Grimm collected the remaining evolved Gadflies that were untouched by the red hairs from the test bench while resisting with all his might, the spatial collapse around him, as well as the dense swarm of red hairs that were trying to pierce his own body.
The eyes underneath the Mask of Truth darted around constantly.
The grotesque bruises that covered Grimm's skin had seemingly sprung into life, floating around non-stop on his body and some were even starting to form odd shapes, turning the already bad situation even more horrifying.
These imprinted bruises looked like individual lifeforms that Grimm could not grasp yet.
Some imprinted bruises had a slower reaction, shifting shapes by rotating around slowly, or expanded and contracted like a beating heart. Some imprinted bruises were more active. Like small wall geckos, they squirmed around Grimm's body. One eye-catching bruise, the red baby palm imprint one had partly left Grimm's body and floated mid-air like a piece of paper.
Grimm's senses dulled as his body grew numb. He tried looking away from the horror show unfolding right in front of his eyes.

'These things, are by no means evil spirits. They are merely rare, peculiar unknown beings from this endless world.'
Perhaps, the Tomb Segja's judgement was right. The projection of the Nightmare World was still not strong enough to drag Grimm into the Unknown World yet. After a desperate struggle, the ominous red hairs that flocked Grimm had gradually lessened, and the degree of spatial collapse had reduced.
"Yaaa!"
Myna screeched as he escaped into the Dimensional Gap in a flash. Grimm sighed in relief as the momentum of the Spatial Collapse ground to a halt. Lifting his head, a three-meter-long red crack had opened up slowly before his eyes.
"Ah…"
Grimm was drenched in cold sweat. His face had gone extremely pale and couldn't lift a single finger at this point. All he could do was stare in fear at the thing above his head.
Within the red crack appeared two gigantic, neat rows of what seemed like a human's ivory-white teeth. As if able to sense Grimm's fear, the crack bent into a menacing arc as a scarlet tongue stuck out from it.
From his head till his toes, the scarlet tongue licked Grimm as if tasting a delicious morsel of food. 'Drip, drip, drip' sounded as Grimm's body soaked up the putrid-smelling red liquid. The only part dry of the liquid was his face under the Mask of Truth.
"Little sorcerer, you can't run from me…"
A gloomy but hoarse voice said as it gradually faded away. And thus everything around Grimm had once again returned to normal.
Grimm stood frozen on the spot, like a child that had been scared still. Only after a moment did Grimm become self-aware of his state. He gritted his teeth as he allowed his Resilient Will to gradually keep his emotions under control. With a loud call, "Little Myna!"
"Here."
A cartoonish cut-out of a plump Myna appeared on Grimm's shoulder. He looked left and right, observing his surroundings for a while before asking, "Are we still in the Pyrodust World?"
Gritting his teeth, humiliated by the degree of fear he had felt just now, Grimm's eyes were now filled with savagery and hatred.
"What do you think?" Grimm asked coldly.
Grimm had lost his sorcerer's robe as it turned into dust in the Spatial Collapse the moment the Shadow of a Nightmare was triggered. Now naked, Grimm ignored the imprinted bruises on his skin that turned an even darker shade. Instead, he started collecting the putrid-smelling red liquid that drenched his body, into a test bottle.
"Caw caw, Young Master, seems like you've become a target by the guys in the Nightmare World. They really want a bite of you huh?"
Myna said to Grimm, half smiling as if he changed his mood upon seeing things had calmed down.
Grimm's expression grew even more bitter. Ignoring the gag-inducing stench, he carefully collected the remaining traces of red 'spit' as he exclaimed madly in a hoarse voice, "One day when I have gained enough power, I'm gonna go to the Nightmare World. I don't care what price I have to pay, I'm going to go to the End of the World and turn these bastards into specimens on my test bench!"
Myna was caught by Grimm's statement for a moment, before sticking his tongue out and muttered to himself, "It's those guys that have you as their target and yet, here you are creating a grudge with them."
Even after Grimm's phase of madness, he still retained his rationality. He jumped into the lake to wash up quickly before changing into another set of sorcerer's robes. After storing all his experimental equipment, he said hurriedly, "Let's go! To the Void Fortress!" It's almost time the World's Aperture Transmission Front between the Void Fortress and the Sorcerer World is completed.
Thus, a man and a bird, left the Camphoragate Underground Lake cave lab hurriedly.
***
One month later.
Six Demon-Hunter Sorcerers were in hot pursuit of an Enigmatic Amonro. These sorcerers were guaranteed to show no mercy to these Amonros that plotted to resurrect their former glory, and threaten the sorcerer's existence in this world.
However, despite the eradication process by the coalition of Demon-Hunter Sorcerers and Lava Giants, this Enigmatic Amonro continued fighting under the Enigmatic Prophet King without further supplies by the lower-tier Amonros. One cannot deny that this Amonro was a resilient one indeed.
This Amonro must have been a level-two creature and a high-level Enigmatic Noble back when it still had the support of the Enigmatic Energy.
As for now, the world had turned into the Pyrodust World. Even the Enigmatic Prophet King could only barely maintain the powers of a Level 4 creature in the Enigmatic Perishing Lands.
Even so, the Enigmatic Pershing Land was now under complete occupation by the Demon-Hunter Sorcerers!
This exiled Enigmatic Prophet King had already lost the support of the World Law's Principal Will. It was no longer the defender of this world. Instead, it was no more than a Level 3 creature that was hanging onto its last leg.
As this Enigmatic Amonro flew further away, the looks on these Demon-Hunter Sorcerers' faces grew sour.
They had failed to eliminate this target in two previous Demon-Hunting missions already. Would this mission go down as the third?
The rewards would increase after every failed Demon-Hunting mission. This was done to attract higher-level Demon-Hunter Sorcerers to take on the mission, as well as to publish the names of the failed Demon-Hunter Sorcerers.
This kind of humiliation was one that was hard to accept by all Demon-Hunter Sorcerers. As such, they had to put in every bit of effort to complete their missions.
At the very least, they had yet to lose sight of this sly Enigmatic Amonro. With a group, there was still a chance of success! Perhaps, it was time to use their trump card. A few of these Demon-Hunter Sorcerers looked at each other in the eyes, eyes that were filled with determination.
At this moment, a sorcerer well-experienced in detection called out in surprise, "Yes! There's a Demon-Hunter Sorcerer that's passing by in front. He can help us get hold of that sly bastard."
"Hm? It's true! We're in luck, quick, let's rush over! This guy's not something an average Demon-Hunter Sorcerer can handle. Don't let that passerby sorcerer lose his life."
A few other Demon-Hunter Sorcerers burst into laughter as they made their final push.
A few moments later.
These six Demon-Hunter Sorcerers were shocked by the sight in front of them. Standing in front of them was a mysterious sorcerer that wore a gray-white swirling mask, with a Myna standing on his shoulder. They looked on in disbelief.
'The mission target is already dead?'
It's no mistake that the guy was just a Level 1 sorcerer but how could he kill the mission target in such a short amount of time?!
The ground underneath Grimm's feet was littered with contorted parts of the Amonro looking exactly the same as the horrifying results of the Life Code disintegration experiment in his laboratory. This was the great power of Grimm's Dissimilation Force Field.
Making use of the ability to contort space, Grimm didn't need to fight a head on battle with this Amonro. By extending his Dissimilation Force Field, he tore apart this Amonro into pieces by completely collapsing its Life Code, all within a matter of minutes.
Looking at these six Demon-Hunter Sorcerers in front of him, Grimm asked in a hoarse voice, "Is the construction of the World's Aperture Transmission Front on top of the Void Fortress completed?"
An Anatomy Refinery Sorcerer riding on an Abyss Dragon came back into his senses and looked Grimm in the eye cautiously and said, "Although it's completed, the demon-hunting expedition missions are still not over, so we can't go back to the Sorcerer World yet."
"Understood."
Like a sorcerer that did not enjoy pointless chitchat, Grimm made a simple sorcerer's bow to the six Demon-Hunter Sorcerers before turning and leaving the area.
Until Grimm disappeared into the horizon, three of these Demon-Hunter Sorcerers glanced at each other before simultaneously flying towards the charred remains of the Enigmatic Amonro.
It was quite obvious that these three sorcerers planned to use the remaining clues to deduce the nature of Grimm's sorcery attack.
The other three were not as enthusiastic about it. One of them sighed while saying, "From the first glance, that guy looked like a veteran hunter. The aura that emanated from him just now… this guy's just unlucky that he hasn't received his Honor Badge yet."
The Demon-Hunter Sorcerer that was experienced in detection exclaimed in surprise, "This monster! He changed the body message of the mission target? Is this some kind of mysterious Curse Sorcery?"
***
Another half month later.
On the Void Fortress, Grimm turned around and said to Millie, "It's because of my current condition that I must return to the Sorcerer World as soon as I can."
Looking at Grimm as her silver hair fluttered in the air, Millie listened to him explain the incident where came under the curse of the Shadow of a Nightmare.
While shocked to hear what Grimm had to say, Millie nodded her head calmly and said, "It really didn't cross my mind that you were able to meet the Great Tomb Segja personally to get a special permit so you could return earlier to the Sorcerer's World. I estimate that this demon-hunting expedition would persist for fifteen to twenty years. I'd personally say twenty years is the minimum."
Grimm replied bleakly, "Rushing along at this pace makes me feel a sense of this world's surrealism. I think that this world isn't as simple as what is seen on its surface."
"Is it even up to us, Level-1 sorcerers to grasp the sheer breadth and depth of a world?" Millie smiled without deeper meaning before the farewell.
A reluctant smile broke across Grimm's face as he nodded towards Millie. Holding the special grant given by Tomb Segja, he turned and walked towards the Transmission Front in the Sorcerer's Tower as Millie looked on.
Looking at the purplish bruises that covered his arms, Grimm sighed.
***
A few hourglasses later.
After a wave of mind-spinning dizziness, Grimm opened his eyes in confusion inside the silkworm cocoon. He peered out of the glass window to look at the gigantic magical array underneath the bright magic lantern. Silently saying to himself, "The Sorcerer World...I'm finally back."
A wave of comforting warmth and intimate familiarity from the Principal Will Law enveloped Grimm, like a mother's embrace of her infant.
***
'Click!'
The silkworm cocoon was opened from the outside. Two female humanoid creatures with a similar height to an average human congratulated respectfully: "Respected great sorcerer, you have returned to the Holy Tower of the Seven Rings of the Sorcerer's World.
Inside the cocoon, the energy vines that held Grimm in place slowly retracted away.
Because the transmission was done individually, the pulling force generated by the Transmission Front was extremely high. As a level-one sorcerer, Grimm had to be sheltered from these forces inside a silkworm cocoon. It provided a stable resistance to the pulling force when the World's Aperture was opened up.
Ignoring the two slaves, Grimm stretched his curled up body out of the silkworm cocoon. Floating midair, the mysterious pair of eyes underneath the Mask of Truth observed the surroundings.
The majesty of this sorcerer awed the two Soul Slaves, who held their breath quietly. They only lowered their heads in respect.
They were in a circular square with a diameter spanning several hundred meters. A massive hexagram magic array covered the ground beneath their feet. With tall walls surrounding the square, the place looked like a gigantic chimney. A few sorcerers walked out from a reinforced room a few hundred meters away at the top of the square, looking towards Grimm who was sent back to the Sorcerer's World alone.
'Rumble.'
A behemoth cephalopod soul slave stretched out its soft tentacles and gripped onto the silkworm cocoon in which Grimm was transported to the Sorcerer's World. It then proceeded to store the cocoon into a room after opening up a large door in the walls.
"What's the situation? Demon-Hunter Sorcerer, your special grant."
The expressions of these Demon-Hunter Sorcerers grew dark upon seeing Grimm being the only one sent back to the Sorcerer's World. They flew down to Grimm, asking anxiously with slightly hoarse voices.
These sorcerers were already level-two Demon-Hunter Sorcerers.
It's hard to blame these sorcerers for such reactions. There aren't many situations where single Demon-Hunter Sorcerers are sent back to the Sorcerer's World. But in such rare instances, it was highly likely that they bore bad news–the announcement of the Demon-Hunting Expeditions's failure.

Chapter end