Chapter 1818 Unusual Changes <TOC> Chapter 1820 Play a Role
Translator: SumTLMan
As Angel was marveling at Gloria’s deserved reputation as a seasoned witch, the others had already begun examining the abnormalities of the Live Wire.
Why doesn’t the Live Wire violently struggle anymore when it’s on Angel’s right hand?
Is there something suspicious about Angel’s right hand?
These questions bubbled up in everyone’s minds, yet no one voiced them.
It was apparent to those present that Angel’s right hand held a secret. Although now, after Angel had advanced to a formal wizard, he could conceal the oddity of his right hand. However, when he was still an apprentice, others had noticed it.
This might be Angel’s personal secret, so everyone was uncertain whether to inquire about it or even where to begin.
At this moment, Sanders offered an explanation on Angel’s behalf: “His right hand can continuously emit an aura similar to that of the Nightmare Plane.”
As to why it would emit an aura from the Nightmare Plane, Sanders didn’t elaborate, and no one else felt compelled to ask.
After explaining, Sanders continued, “Now, it should be clear. Even if the Live Wire isn’t a creature from the Nightmare Plane, it certainly has some connection to it. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have reacted to the aura of the Nightmare Plane.”
Sanders was very familiar with Angel’s situation. His right hand, which had integrated the Projection Bloodline, had its most peculiar feature: the green rune.
However, this green rune required Angel to activate it intentionally. Thus, what Influenced the Live Wire must have been the aura of the Nightmare Plane.
At this point, Angel also realized. Even though he wore gloves that blocked most of the Nightmare Plane’s aura, a small amount still escaped. Perhaps it was this escaping aura that caused the Live Wire to act strangely .
“It’s not necessarily as I described, but give it a try and you’ll see,” Sanders said, extending his hand. Following a ripple in space, a gem that looked like a black pearl appeared in the palm of his hand.
A dense aura from the Nightmare Plane emanated from the gem.
This is a Nightmare Stone, a treasured magical material that flows out of the Nightmare Plane. It was also a frequently used material for Sanders when he cast spells in the past.
Sanders took a leaf from Angel’s hand. The Live Wire immediately resumed its intense struggle, twisting and turning, trying to break free from the binding energy on the leaf.
However, the moment Sanders brought the Nightmare Stone close to the leaf, the Live Wire suddenly stopped.
Surrounded by the thick aura from the Nightmare Plane, its struggles slowed down, and eventually, it seemed as if it had fallen asleep, staying motionless.
This simple test was sufficient to prove that the Live Wire had a clear behavioral response to the aura of the Nightmare Plane. This means that the aura can influence it.
Upon witnessing this, Rhine couldn’t help but feel a touch of sentiment. He had once considered using the aura from the Nightmare Plane to test the Live Wire’s reaction. Yet he never went through with it, not because he lacked initiative, but because Nightmare Stones are extremely rare… Of course, for someone like Sanders who frequently visits the Nightmare Plane, there’s an ample supply of these stones. But for others, obtaining one is not so straightforward.
Rhine remarked, “Now that we’ve confirmed that the aura from the Nightmare Plane can influence the Live Wire, the next step is to think about how to utilize this effect.”
Whether this influence is good or bad, and whether it can serve as the foundation to counteract the Live Wire’s contagion, remains uncertain. Nevertheless, this is the first glimmer of hope they’ve seen after hitting a research deadlock on the Live Wire for so long.
Sanders added, “Determining the exact impact of the Nightmare Plane’s aura on the Live Wire isn’t that challenging.”
Sanders turned around, glancing at the various rooms lining the corridor. Inside, those confined were patients suffering from madness due to the influence of the Live Wire. They were, in essence, the perfect test subjects.
If the aura from the Nightmare Plane can affect the Live Wire, then what reaction would patients, who are controlled by the Live Wire, exhibit under this Nightmare aura?
…
Inside a cramped room, a frail woman dressed in patient attire sat at the edge of the bed, her head lowered. Gently, she caressed a red-eyed cloth doll in her embrace.
Her actions were monotonous, repeating in a cyclical pattern.
However, when footsteps echoed from the corridor, she abruptly raised her head.
Through the iron bars, Sanders looked at the woman inside and declared, “Let’s start with her.”
As he spoke, Sanders reached out, lightly touching the bars.
The bars, resembling a grid, suddenly vanished, and at that moment, the door fully opened!
As Sanders and his party entered, the woman holding the cloth doll began to laugh eerily. She slowly stood up, with her toes oddly raised, and started walking towards Sanders.
When she was about two meters away from him, she halted and extended her hand forward.
Although she didn’t speak, her gesture was evident, seemingly inviting Sanders to grasp her hand.
Sanders remained motionless. But in the next instant, a humanoid illusion composed of numerous illusionary nodes appeared in front of him. This illusory figure, constructed by Sanders, was done haphazardly, even lacking a face.
Yet, the illusion tenderly took the woman’s hand. The woman immediately beamed, executing an elegant twirl, and began dancing with the illusion in the center of the room.
“What’s going on? Is she a dancer?” Gloria expressed, somewhat puzzled by the current situation.
Tree Spirit shook his head, “She used to be a seamstress and has always lived in Windmill Town. She doesn’t know how to dance.”
“So, what is she now…”
“She’s playing the role of a dancer,” Tree Spirit explained, “Perhaps being a dancer is her role on the puppet theater stage. Ever since she got infected, she became a dancer in an opera troupe, deeply engrossed in various waltz performances.”
“Every time she sees someone, she forcibly drags them to dance. And then…”
“She strangles their hands.”
As Tree Spirit’s voice trailed off, the dancer, who appeared graceful, danced faster and faster, spinning in place, her hands now resembling twisted pastries.
Gloria asked, “Is this how the infected express their aggressive desires towards humans?”
Tree Spirit nodded, “Yes, but this is just one way. Each puppet has a unique way of expressing their aggressive desire, and it aligns with the role they play. Like the Iva you encountered today, he seems to play the role of a vampire, so he’s very fond of biting people’s necks.”
“It sounds absurd. This woman didn’t know how to dance before, so where did her dancing skills come from?” Gloria still found it hard to believe.
“No one knows the answer to that question right now. Perhaps only by curing her can we find the solution,” Tree Spirit said, turning to Sanders. The hope of curing these patients probably relies on Sanders’ upcoming experiments.
Sanders understood Tree Spirit’s sentiments. After watching the bizarre dance, he reached out and gestured into the void.
The shadowy illusion immediately disintegrated. Countless illusion nodes reassembled, transforming into a misty illusionary realm, trapping the “dancer” in place.
Then, Sanders took out the Nightmare Stone.
He began to slowly infuse the aura of the Nightmare Plane into the illusionary realm.
As he proceeded, the dancer within the illusion began to show signs of anomaly.