Translator: SumTLMan
After a weighty silence, Sunisha took the lead in breaking the stillness: “It must be Azaz! Only he is capable of going to such lengths!”
“He’s audacious indeed, daring to turn Carvelyn into a living ingredient!”
Sunisha clenched her fists tightly, her face shadowed in gloom. The vines wrapped around her gossamer robe, once adorned with radiant white flowers, now sprouted dark blooms suffused with a chilling aura.
The others concurred with Sunisha’s assessment. Carvelyn had slipped into a coma not long after her competition with Azaz. Gloria’s diagnosis indicated that someone intended to transform Carvelyn into a living ingredient, implying that it had to be the work of an extraordinary gourmet specialist.
Although Sunisha was also a gourmet specialist, her relationship with Carvelyn ruled her out as a suspect. Even if she had harbored ill will toward Carvelyn, there were plenty of other opportunities; there was no need to act now.
Of course, Alan was also in the gourmet field, but he was not powerful enough to pose a threat to Carvelyn. Thus, Azaz remained the only likely culprit.
Alan asked, “Lady Barbie, since Carvelyn has already been turned into a living ingredient, is there still a way to save her?”
While Sunisha was not inclined to let Azaz off the hook easily, the most pressing matter at hand was Carvelyn. She looked at Gloria with anxious eyes, hoping for some encouraging news.
Gloria replied, “I only said that someone is preparing to make Carvelyn a living ingredient. She’s still in a transitional phase and hasn’t fully transformed yet. If we wait another hour, she probably will have.”
“If she does fully transform, rescuing her could be difficult. However, as it stands, saving her shouldn’t be a problem.”
Hearing this from Gloria, Sunisha put her hand over her heart and breathed a sigh of relief.
She was fortunate that her intuition led her to rush here. Had she delayed even an hour longer, it would have been a point of no return.
If it can save her, then naturally that’s a good thing.
“Please, Gloria, I beseech you to save Carvelyn,” Sunisha bows deeply before Gloria, her expression laden with utmost gravity.
Gloria: “Saving her isn’t the issue, but I can’t possibly do it for nothing in return.”
Having navigated the Wizarding World for so long, Sunisha well understands the principle of equivalent exchange… However, Carvelyn is currently unconscious, and there’s no one from her Shepherd God family around to discuss terms with Gloria. After some contemplation, she clenches her teeth and says, “As long as you can save her, I will pay the corresponding price on her behalf.”
Gloria looks deep into Sunisha’s eyes: “Are you certain you’re willing to pay the price on her behalf? You should know that in the entire Sky Mechanical City, aside from the one who afflicted her, probably only I can save her. So the price won’t be a trifling one.”
Without any hesitation, Sunisha nods: “Yes, I will bear the cost. I have faith in Gloria’s sense of fair trade; as long as it doesn’t involve matters of principle, I will comply.”
The situation is a double-edged sword. If the party to the deal was a nobody, Gloria could exploit the situation to its zenith, potentially ruining the other party beyond redemption.
However, behind Carvelyn stands a powerful Shepherd God family, and Sunisha’s background is also shrouded in mystery. Therefore, even though Gloria deliberately inflated the “cost,” she wouldn’t dare to push it to an extreme.
That’s why Sunisha would say she trusts Gloria’s sense of “fair trade.”
All in all, Sunisha will undoubtedly be at a disadvantage, but currently, no one else can save Carvelyn. Resorting to Azaz would be the most desperate measure, so she has no choice but to agree to Gloria’s terms.
As for why Sunisha is willing to pay the price for Carvelyn, that’s her own personal matter.
“Since you’re sure, then the deal is made,” Gloria dispenses with formalities; whether or not a contract is signed, Sunisha wouldn’t dare renege. “What the exact price will be, I’ll let you know in due course. For now, let’s discuss how to save her.”
Gloria: “You should all understand one thing: Humans themselves are actually a type of ingredient. You may not eat them, but for the vast majority of carnivorous non-human creatures, humans are just another food source, indistinguishable from other organisms.”
“Suppose I were a cannibalistic witch; all of you here, including those at the Woodrow Bar outside, would essentially be ingredients for me, or rather, a reserve of sustenance. Therefore, there’s no need to be fixated on the topic of ingredients; ingredients themselves are not special.”
“However, the same piece of meat can taste differently depending on how it’s prepared. If we regard Carvelyn as a slab of meat, treating her in an ordinary manner, like grilling, might make her palatable but not necessarily delectable or beneficial to one’s health. But when handled by a gourmet wizard, that meat will undergo a rebirth and become an extraordinary dish imbued with special energy.”
“As of now, Carvelyn is in the phase of being ‘processed’ by a gourmet wizard.”
Gloria: “The simplest way to save her is to reverse the gourmet wizard’s ‘processing’ and restore her to her original, untainted state.”
Gloria’s remarks, which continuously refer to meat, ingredients, and reserve supplies, are all aimed at human subjects. Even though the audience has a high tolerance, the statements still strike a discordant note.
Alan shook off the goosebumps on his arm and asked, “So, how can we remove the traces of the gourmet wizard’s handiwork?”
“That depends on the techniques the gourmet wizard used to process the ingredient in the first place,” said Gloria, turning to Sunisha. “You must have watched the match between Carvelyn and Azaz, right? Can you fill me in on the specific circumstances during the competition?”
Being in the same gourmet field, Sunisha immediately grasped Gloria’s intention. Azaz must have interfered with Carvelyn during their match; therefore, to understand how Azaz processed “the ingredient”——Carvelyn, it is crucial to revisit the events of that match.
Since no footage was available, Carvelyn could only use rudimentary illusions coupled with verbal descriptions to explain what had transpired.
Azaz is a man who wears a mask. There is not a single trace of a gourmet apprentice about him, and he is perpetually accompanied by a dark shadow.
The shadowy figure is generally blurry, but occasionally reveals a slightly clearer silhouette, resembling a humanoid or perhaps… a demon from the Abyss.
As for exactly what kind of demon it is, Sunisha can’t make a determination.
During the competition, Azaz was initially being completely dominated by Carvelyn; it was clear to everyone present that Azaz was destined to lose.
Sunisha made the same assessment at the time, but the unexpected occurred after Carvelyn switched her battle attire.
She donned her most powerful suit that she could wear at the moment——the Time-Space Witch Suit.
Upon activating the Time-Space Witch Suit, Carvelyn transcended time and space, allowing her to traverse through mid-to-long range distances at will, launching a sixty-second time-and-space assault against Azaz.
Angel had previously witnessed Carvelyn’s relentless pursuit of Shirley while wearing the Time-Space Witch Suit.
In Angel’s judgment, even Jiebo would have to give way when Carvelyn activated this suit. Even formal wizards who hadn’t extensively studied spatial magic would find themselves vulnerable to Carvelyn’s attacks.
One could say that this was a suit so formidable it could send chills down your spine.
Yet, ironically, this most powerful battle suit became the very reason for Carvelyn’s downfall.
After several rounds of time-and-space pursuit, Carvelyn inflicted significant damage upon Azaz. However, during one of these spatial displacements, Carvelyn didn’t launch an attack against Azaz but instead plummeted to the ground, rendered immobile for a prolonged period.
This singular mistake led to a defensive lapse when Carvelyn later faced Azaz, culminating in her reluctant defeat.
All the spectators could see that the turning point was that one ill-fated spatial displacement Carvelyn made after switching to the Time-Space Witch Suit.
They all believed that Carvelyn’s failure in that displacement set off the subsequent chain of tumultuous events.
The real situation, however, is not as it appears on the surface.
After the competition concluded, Sunisha was assisting Carvelyn toward the backstage area for competitors when Carvelyn revealed the truth of what had transpired——
“At that moment, Carvelyn was engaged in space-time movement. Inside the passage of that spatial displacement, she saw that perpetual dark silhouette that hovers behind Azaz.”
“Or to put it more accurately, what existed in that spatial passage was no longer a mere shadow but a corporeal entity — significantly larger than the shadow behind Azaz.”
Upon saying this, Sunisha paused as everyone present was momentarily stunned.
“So, Carvelyn was attacked within the spatial passage?”
Sunisha nodded, then shook her head, “I believe that’s what happened. She was definitely attacked within that passage. However, Carvelyn…she can’t remember it.”
“She can’t remember? Is she suffering from amnesia?”
“Yes, a brief lapse in memory. Carvelyn recalls only seeing a sinister demonic grin. A shadow engulfed her, and after that, she doesn’t remember what happened. When she came to, she found herself fallen on the stage.”
“After that incident, Carvelyn felt as if her energy was gradually being drained, eventually leading to her defeat at the hands of Azaz.”
“This loss of power, I surmise, is related to what transpired within the spatial passage.”
At this point, Sunisha concluded her account. What happened afterward was known to everyone. Carvelyn fainted backstage, and Alan rushed to get medical assistance.
“It seems that the issue lies in the segment of space-time movement,” Coral said, somewhat regretfully. “Ironically, Carvelyn can’t recall exactly what transpired during that time.”
Sunisha sighed as well, feeling that if she had known what had transpired back then, she wouldn’t be so much at a disadvantage.
Now, all Sunisha could rely on was Gloria for useful information from her account of events. Although she felt this was asking a lot from Gloria, almost pushing her into a corner.
After a moment of silence, Gloria said, “Unfortunately, that part of the memory has been forgotten.”
Hearing this, Sunisha’s face turned pale instantly. Could it be that even Gloria was at a loss?
However, the next second, the sun seemed to shine again in Sunisha’s disheartened heart.
“However, I do have a rough idea of the situation. What is affecting Carvelyn must be that Demon Shadow. Knowing this, I can choose the corresponding measures to stabilize Carvelyn,” Gloria paused, then shifted her tone. “But that’s merely stabilizing her physical state, putting a temporary halt to her transformation into a living ingredient. To completely cure her, one option is to rely on luck and painstakingly sift through the factors causing Carvelyn’s transformation, taking it step-by-step.”
“Alternatively, we could ascertain exactly what kind of Demon Shadow lies behind Azaz.”
Gloria didn’t have the luxury of time to experiment one by one on Carvelyn, so the best course of action would be to observe personally during Azaz’s competition tomorrow.
Besides, Gloria was also somewhat interested in the background of Azaz; she had originally planned to go watch him tomorrow. Now, with the added agenda of saving Carvelyn, she could kill two birds with one stone.