A metal-forged eye hovered above the chain sickle.
The rumbling from the surrounding furnaces had never ceased. The searing heat steaming up from the lava pools constantly distorted the transmitted image.
Within that warped image, Angel seemed to see the chain sickle's owner wearing an equally twisted expression—struggling, roaring, and despairing.
No matter how it begged, cursed, or hurled abuse, the chains still devoured its life, leaving not even a scrap of bone behind.
Such chains felt utterly unfamiliar to Angel.
Had he really forged these chains?
After calming himself somewhat, Angel looked over the empty lava pool. He did not linger any longer, instead controlling the scouting puppet to leave the area.
As the scouting puppet departed from the lava pool, Angel also spared some thought for the matter of **Ta.
He still remembered a question the demon devoured by the chains had once demanded: "Sparrow Sparrow, why are you doing this?"
Earlier, Angel had vaguely felt that Sparrow Sparrow's name sounded familiar. When he thought of **Ta, a deeply buried memory was unlocked.
Angel had not interacted much with **Ta. Yet in their few encounters, Angel's impression of **Ta had been rather good. He was a very talkative person. When Angel had first met him, **Ta had casually struck up conversations on many subjects, and during their chats, Angel's guard against him had lowered considerably.
Come to think of it, his memory of "Sparrow Sparrow" had come from something **Ta said during one of those conversations.
The reason Angel could recall such trivial memories was partly because his growing strength had enhanced his memory, and partly because **Ta's topic back then had been quite interesting.
He had begun by teasing and mocking his own name, which had left a deep impression on Angel.
"The first time people hear