Chapter 406 Fireless Embers

( ) "...What kind of wizard is that guy? It's terrible."

Joshua, who was knocked into the air by Maca's quick burst of spells, is now running away crazily. He had to run away, because this was the first time since he had this power, he was beaten with a magic spell and had no power to fight back.

Although he doesn't know how powerful his master is - it must be very strong, right? However, the master has never used offensive spells to deal with them, because the master only needs to activate the brand to make them completely lose their will to fight.

No, they are a group of timid children, where does the will to fight come from?

"...Didn't he come after him?"

Joshua was running wildly in the alley, looking back from time to time, but there was no sign of anyone chasing him. But full of fear, he couldn't stop—he didn't even have the guts to take a breath!

He kept running, just to stay away from that monster wizard who suddenly appeared... the farther the better!

He didn't think about where he should flee to, he was just fleeing instinctively.

The buildings on both sides kept receding while he was running, and gradually merged with the night. Occasionally, there would be one or two hooting of an owl, which was as shrill as a child crying, and made people shudder.

Joshua felt as if he had returned to his childhood, to the period before he was taken away by his master. He thought of his father, the one who drank, gambled, and beat him when he had nothing to do.

He also remembered that one night when he escaped from that dirty and terrifying home, he was chased by his father with a stick and broke a leg.

Yes, that's right... That night was also so dark, without stars or moon, the street lamps were flickering non-stop, and the neighing of the night cat made his legs weak.

He kept running, while the crippled and terrifying father was chasing after him closely. The stick in his hand was thick and hard, and it was burning pain on his back when it was scraped.

His father planted a seed of fear for him.

"...Don't come here! Father...don't hit me..."

Joshua's spirit was almost on the verge of collapse. He dragged his somewhat weak body and ran forward with all his strength, muttering incessantly.

This chaos seemed to bring him some strength.

As he ran all the way, black mist emerged again, and gradually covered his whole body.

Not long after, he suddenly soared into the air and subconsciously rushed towards the exit of Jackson Square.

The wind whimpered in his ears, but he didn't hear it at all. He was overwhelmed by his own fear, and the inexplicable force invaded his body, confused his thoughts, and forced him to act on instinct.

He wants to go home, return to the place where "father" can't be found, and then accept the punishment honestly. Although the master's punishment was terrible, for him, it might as well be a kind of alternative salvation.

Because no one has been kind to him, no one needs him - only the master needs him!

"... Accept the punishment well, and then the master will continue to need me. I want to go back there and escape from the terrible 'father', and the master will hug me like usual..."

Many children were taken there, and he was not the first, nor will he be the last. It remains to be seen what the other kids were thinking, but that was what Joshua was thinking.

When he rushed through the brick wall and reappeared on the streets of New York, he had completely turned into a dense black mist flying at high speed.

In the black mist with its long tail, there were several times more "Mars" mixed in than usual, and it looked like a shining red meteor flying in the air.

The meteor streaked high under low clouds and headed west of downtown.

...

Beside an abandoned warehouse, there stands a slightly dilapidated monastery. The outer walls of this monastery are mottled grayish yellow, dark green creepers cover a lot of area, and most of the original exquisite carvings have been destroyed.

From the outside, it doesn't look like a place where someone came back.

"Squeak—"

Joshua pushed open the tall wooden door in a trance, and walked in with heavy steps. He didn't stay in this dusty space, but walked straight towards the courtyard behind.

There is also nothing strange in the atrium, withered and yellow weeds are everywhere, and the pool of the fountain has long since dried up. There seems to be some strange graffiti carved on the wall, but it has already become a puzzle that no one can solve.

Joshua passed through the atrium, stepped up loose stairs, and entered an empty room on the second floor.

In this room, there is a tattered bed and an empty desk. And on the wall opposite the desk, there is a broken and cracked mirror.

The mirror was covered with dust, making the figure barely visible.

"The tail feathers of a thestral."

Facing the mirror, Joshua read the password inarticulately. However, with the passage of time and seconds, the mirror did not produce any changes.

"Thestral tail feathers!"

He stared blankly at the broken mirror, and repeated the password again, but there was still no movement—the scene he expected did not appear.

"...how, how...the password is correct...Thestral's tail feathers! Thestral's tail feathers! Thestrals..."

He jumped in front of the mirror, pressed his hands against the wall, and muttered frantically. He wanted to go back, to the place that made him both afraid and attached.

But the cold reality in front of him made him gradually despair. The broken mirror seemed to silently tell him that the last redemption in his life, the last light in his darkness, had been quietly extinguished at some point.

"It seems...you have been abandoned?"

A voice suddenly sounded behind him, making his feet go limp in fright, and he fell to the ground in panic. Without hesitation, he almost crawled towards the dirty corner with his hands and feet, shivering and curled up into a ball.

In the direction where the voice came from, Maca's figure gradually appeared - he was standing at the door of the room, silently watching everything here.

"Did you get the news so soon?" He squinted, staring at the mirror and murmured.

The opponent's response to Sirius was to immediately erase it, because for the obscurant, dealing with Sirius is not a difficult task.

If Maca hadn't come, if Maca hadn't arranged for the Acromantula to protect him, Sirius would have been silently eliminated long ago.

No, even if there is an extra Alienated Acromantula, the opponent can send reinforcements to try to destroy it. Therefore, they have no reason to choose to abandon a silent person who has been cultivated with great difficulty so decisively.

Then, there are not many reasons for them to abandon Joshua, and the most likely one is the arrival of Maca.

He stretched out his hand, groped around the mirror, and carefully sensed the magic fluctuations in it. A large amount of magic knowledge flows rapidly in his mind, and is compared with the magic feedback in front of him one by one.

After a moment, he put his hand down.

"Your name is 'Joshua'... right?" Maca turned his head, looked at the shivering young man in the corner and said, "Want to go in with me? I think you should ask them Some Problems……"

He paused for a moment, then chuckled lightly and said, "...Of course, the premise is that they haven't run away yet."

As soon as the words were finished, the staff in his hand was lifted up. During the surge of magic power, a series of complex rune characters faintly flashed on the top of the staff, and fell into the hazy mirror fragments one by one.

Immediately afterwards, the already broken mirror was suddenly covered with a layer of silver light, and the original damaged and old parts began to be repaired automatically.

Not long after, a brand new full-length mirror that was incompatible with the dilapidated surroundings suddenly appeared in front of him.

In the mirror that was as clean as new, Maca couldn't see his own figure, all he could see was the scene of this room. But different from the actual environment, the room in the mirror is not dirty or old.

Maca turned his head again, and the young man named Joshua got up when the mirror glowed silver, and walked to his side in a daze.

But when Maca's eyes fell on him again, he took a few steps back inexplicably in horror, and stood aside with his neck hunched and his back arched.

"To enter or not to enter, you decide for yourself."

Maca had no time to waste on him. After casually dropping a word, he walked directly into the mirror.

The monastery in the mirror has a lot of traces of life, the hanging lamps in the corridor are still exuding gentle brilliance, the red carpet is soft and clean, and the landscape oil paintings on the walls are vivid and clear.

Maca walked lightly between the corridors, and occasionally opened a room to have a look, but did not find a single figure.

When he came to the hall downstairs, the fireplace seemed to have just been extinguished, and there was still a warm breath in the embers.

In front of some seats on the long dining table next to it, there are even leftovers leftovers, and a pot of unfinished pumpkin cream soup is still steaming.

"Did you leave not long ago?" Maca frowned, "The clue is broken again..."

He tore open an armchair and sat down, resting his forehead and meditating quietly.

After a while, when Maca was still sorting out his thoughts, Joshua walked in nervously. He saw Maca sitting at the dining table at a glance, and suddenly stopped in a panic, staying at the door without saying a word.

He seemed a little at a loss, not knowing what to do with himself. He didn't dare to speak to Maca, and he didn't dare to turn around and leave—he didn't even know where he should go from now on.

He could only stand there silently, staring blankly at the patterns on the carpet with lowered eyelids.

"Do you know where they went?"

As Maca asked, Joshua trembled all over.