Diary of a Dead Wizard-Chapter 117: The Vanished Cocoon

The incident with the Wraith was a bit strange. Logically speaking, a Soul Wave Detector that hasn't been activated is just an ordinary mirror—it shouldn't have been able to reveal a Wraith.

But Byron and Nick didn’t think Saul had just seen things either.

After all, whether what Saul saw was a hallucination or not, the result could only go one of two ways: either the Wraith existed, or it didn’t.

“This is the entrance to Hanging Hands Valley. It’s impossible for a truly powerful Wraith to be here,” Nick said as he activated the soulwave detector and checked the surroundings again.

Nothing. No sign of any spiritual entity.

“But Saul, why did you put the detector on the ground?” Nick looked up, puzzled. His lips twitched slightly. “Was it because you’re too short to reach the table?”

Pfft!

Saul immediately turned to glare at Byron, only to be met with his calm expression and innocent eyes.

Saul’s gaze shifted to Byron’s throat—he swore, it definitely cracked open just now!

But height wasn’t an issue he could deal with right now… even if he firmly believed he’d reach 180 centimeters eventually.

“Anyway.” Saul returned to the main topic. He glanced around again, making sure there were no Head Monsters left nearby, and then whispered to the two, “Just now, I saw a lot of… monsters that were just heads with two legs. But they vanished before you guys came back.”

Lowering his voice even more, he asked, “I didn’t dare provoke them. Do you know what kind of monsters those are?”

He looked up—just in time to see Byron’s face twitch slightly.

Meanwhile, Nick’s pupils contracted sharply, clear fear flashing in his eyes.

Smack! Nick suddenly slapped himself across the face, then looked up with a slightly twisted expression. “Those… monsters, they’re all gone now?”

Seeing Nick’s reaction, Saul nodded quickly. “They’re all gone. Otherwise I wouldn’t have dared to even mention it.”

“I need a moment alone,” Nick muttered and slipped into his tent.

Not long after, muffled moaning could be heard from inside—like someone trying to hold back sobs with their hands over their mouth.

Byron held it together better. His throat split slightly as he spoke. “Good thing you didn’t startle them. Those are Head Monsters. Normally, you’d only see them deeper inside Hanging Hands Valley.”

Noting the confusion in Saul’s eyes, Byron sighed. “I didn’t tell you about them earlier because the more people know they exist, the more likely they are to encounter them. But you still ran into them. If you had drawn their attention, they might’ve turned you into a Head Monster too. And you would’ve forgotten you were ever a normal person.”

So that’s why Byron and Nick hadn’t mentioned such dangerous creatures at all.

“How many of them did you see?”

“...The place was covered with them.”

Hiss— Byron inhaled sharply, then stood up and called out at Nick’s tent, “Nick, hurry up and get a hold of yourself. We need to leave this place now.”

A vague sound came from inside in response.

Byron returned and said to Saul, “No need to dismantle the instruments. Just move them onto the crawler. We’re relocating.”

Afraid the Head Monsters might return at any moment, Byron and Saul only grabbed the most essential things and gave up on the tents altogether.

Besides some books, Saul hadn’t brought much anyway. But just as he picked up his backpack and stepped outside—

He froze.

Where was the nightmare butterfly’s cocoon?

It was while observing that silver orb-like cocoon that he’d first seen the Head Monsters.

After that, everything had been so tense that he hadn’t thought about the cocoon at all.

Now, looking back, he couldn’t remember whether he had put it away or not.

He quickly searched all his pockets, even got on the ground to look around—but the silver orb was nowhere to be found.

“No way it just vanished. Could one of the Head Monsters have picked it up?”

Saul sat down, closed his eyes, and focused.

“No, I distinctly remember the moment I saw the Head Monsters—I stopped feeling anything in my hand. That’s why I didn’t realize the cocoon was missing until later.”

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He mimed holding something in his hand and slowly opened his eyes. “Right. It vanished in an instant.”

Now that he was a formal apprentice, his memory had been enhanced by his mental body—he wouldn’t make the kind of silly mistake where he forgot where he put something moments ago.

He could even recall minute actions if he concentrated.

So Saul was certain: he hadn’t simply misplaced the cocoon. It had vanished, in the blink of an eye.

And in that moment, he hadn’t noticed at all—not until afterward, when things had calmed down.

“Saul!”

It was Byron calling from outside.

Saul cast one last unwilling glance at the tent. “Did it escape on its own? Or was it stolen by something else?”

Damn it, I didn’t even get to study it yet!

But this place was no longer safe.

Even a Third Rank apprentice like Byron was on edge.

Saul couldn’t afford to be careless.

He hurried out of the tent, his heart filled with regret.

By then, Nick had finally recovered from his emotional spiral and returned to the crawler with his gear. His hands were covered in bruises—it wasn’t clear if he’d pinched himself too hard.

Saul already knew that because Nick studied emotion-related wizardly, he often suppressed his own emotional responses.

But if he ever couldn’t hold it back—whether laughing or panicking—it would result in extreme outbursts.

Like laughing until he passed out, or being so scared he vomited.

This side effect was actually quite dangerous. In normal situations it was manageable, but if a crisis struck and he couldn’t stay calm, it could become life-threatening.

Saul suspected this might even be one of the reasons why Nick hadn’t been able to advance to Third Rank yet.

The wooden spider rumbled to life and quickly left the now unsafe campsite.

As it climbed the slope, Saul glanced back through the rear window—and saw a vague crowd of heads at the base of the mountain.

He averted his eyes and pretended he hadn’t seen anything.

Right in front of him was the soulwave detector’s mirror.

Because they were in a rush, they hadn’t disassembled the device—just lifted it whole onto the wooden spider.

That made the once-roomy cabin feel cramped, forcing the three of them to sit against the walls.

The moment Saul saw the mirror, the memory of the dark figure that had appeared in it came flooding back. A wave of discomfort settled in his chest, and he turned his head to avoid it.

But as he shifted his gaze away, he seemed to catch a glimpse of silver light.

He quickly turned back.

In the mirror was his own warped, blurry face—no trace of silver.

“Did I imagine it?”

He leaned closer, and his twisted reflection grew clearer.

Still nothing unusual.

But as he was about to pull back, he noticed something strange—

His left eye shimmered.

Saul froze, then glanced around at the others.

Because the detector was in the way, the other two couldn’t see his face.

Only then did Saul narrow his eyes and slip into a semi-immersive meditative state.

This time, he finally saw it.

Inside his left eye—there it was. A silver orb, covered in starlight, gleaming brilliantly.

Saul resisted the urge to rub his eyes and slowly lowered his head.

The nightmare butterfly’s cocoon… it had moved into his eye on its own!

(End of Chapter)