Translator: SumTLMan
After a while, the hand of Nightmare Illusion dissolved into light and shadow bubbles and disappeared.
“Is he doing okay?” Dangros poked its head out and asked in a low voice.
“His physical condition isn’t great, but fortunately, I haven’t sensed anything unusual within him.”
That is to say, either the misty shadow is hiding very well, so well that Angel can’t detect it, or it has already left his body.
Angel personally leans towards the latter.
Because the consciousness of the misty shadow wouldn’t be affected by the bodily senses of its host.
This includes pain perception and the brain’s self-protection. That is, Reynolds’ body, due to the self-protection of its senses, has fallen into a coma on its own, and the misty shadow could still control him and move freely.
And at this moment, Reynolds’ body has obviously lost the ability to move and judge, and there is no conscious control over it, which basically shows that the misty shadow should have left Reynolds’ body.
As for why it left?
The answer isn’t too complicated. Even though the misty shadow isn’t affected by its host and doesn’t care whether he is injured, anyone with eyes can see that Reynolds’ consecutive injuries are very strange.
A series of coincidences causing a chain of misfortunes is clearly not normal. If the misty shadow doesn’t believe in so-called “coincidences,” then what would it think of?
It might suspect that some power is interfering with destiny.
And this power has obviously reached an unspeakable level of destiny.
Facing this situation, even Angel, without knowing the truth, would feel a chill down his spine.
The misty shadow is certainly not foolish; it would be worried too.
At this time, the misfortune may only befall Reynolds, but what about the future? Could there be even greater misfortunes that could affect its own essence?
Moreover, the misty shadow could see that the misfortune only started after it possessed Reynolds.
There must be something wrong with Reynolds’ body.
Think about it, would the body of an ordinary apprentice without any issues be hidden in such a secluded room by Number 01?
Under these circumstances, the misty shadow could either gamble that the misfortune wouldn’t extend to its essence and continue to possess Reynolds, or it could distance itself from Reynolds.
Does Reynolds have any significant relevance to the misty shadow? Currently, it seems not.
Therefore, the misty shadow is unlikely to continue possessing Reynolds under such psychological pressure. The wisest choice would be to directly let go of Reynolds, this hot potato.
This judgment made by Angel is also based on another piece of evidence.
In the misty shadow’s quest to influence the physical realm, a physical body is an undeniably requisite. Upon the fifth level, the selection of Reynolds’ body by the misty shadow was a compelled choice, owed to the scarcity of available bodies.
Yet, the scenario diverges significantly on the first level, home to a Beast Garden of magical beasts. The initial body possessed by the misty shadow, a Fire Scale Familiar, was sourced from this Beast Garden.
The proximity to the Beast Garden underscores the misty shadow’s original intent to navigate towards it, suggesting a high probability that it has now secured a new body within the Beast Garden.
This development could be seen as fortuitous.
At least, the previous concern over Reynolds succumbing to a ‘skull explosion’ induced by the misty shadow no longer stands. Reynolds himself, not an outsider, neutralized this peril. Indeed, had Angel been tasked with rectifying the ‘skull explosion’ dilemma, success might have eluded him, highlighting the efficacy of Reynolds’ own body.
Having clarified the situation, Angel plans to collect Reynolds’ body. Subsequently, he will decide whether an expedition to the Beast Garden in search of the misty shadow is warranted.
Prior to collecting Reynolds’ body, however, a modicum of healing is necessary.
The backlash of misfortune inflicted substantial harm on Reynolds. Without treatment, his demise would be imminent.
Angel gently places Reynolds’ battered body on the ground and, following a brief examination, casts two second level spells: Isolation and Vitality Recovery.
Neither spell is a conventional healing spell. Given Reynolds’ unique condition——unsuitable for direct wound healing due to the extensive residual energy within, Isolation was employed to segregate the lingering energy toxins.
Vitality Recovery was chosen to temporarily slow the physical decay through the consumption of life energy. Although this spell diminishes lifespan, a metric challenging to quantify, the immediate benefits outweigh the repercussions. Moreover, life energy is dynamic, capable of enhancement and growth, such as during the advancement to a formal wizard.
Post-application of these measures, Angel retrieves a “Healing Ice Coffin” rune scroll to encase Reynolds within.
Subsequently, Angel’s shadow undulates slightly underfoot, and shortly, a head emerges gradually from the shadow.
Eremy.
Angel decides to entrust Reynolds to Eremy, considering the slim chance that the misty shadow might not have vacated Reynolds. To err on the side of caution, it would be imprudent to store the body within his bracelet. Eremy’s guardianship presents the optimal solution.
Eremy nods, devoid of verbal communication, and unfurls a level of pulsating shadow on the ground, commencing the engulfment of the ice coffin above.
Just as the ice coffin was about to sink into the shadows, Dangros suddenly murmured, “Why does Reynolds’ cheek look so swollen? It’s just like my traveling frog little brother.”
Dangros’s words inadvertently made Angel also focus on Reynolds’ face.
Previously, he had not taken a good look at Reynolds’ face, mainly because… it was too gruesome to behold.
The once handsome features were completely unrecognizable, with large areas of skin charred, and flesh intertwined with yellow-green slime, which was indeed an eyesore.
Now, for the first time, Angel seriously examined Reynolds’ face.
Upon this examination, Angel discovered something odd.
“Wait a moment, Eremy.” Angel stopped Eremy’s encompassing, walked over to the front of the ice coffin, opened the coffin lid, and gently pressed on the swollen area of Reynolds’ cheek.
The skin was brittle and fell off directly. However, beneath the skin, Angel felt a layer of hard material.
This did not feel like fascia.
Hesitating for a moment, Angel pried open Reynolds’ mouth.
With a gentle twist of his finger, an object was retrieved from his mouth.
“It’s okay now.” After closing the ice coffin lid, Angel told Eremy, who immediately rolled up the shadows, swallowing the transparent ice coffin out of sight.
Once the rolling shadows returned to their normal state, Angel picked up the object taken from Reynolds’ mouth.
It was a small transparent bottle.
The bottle was not large, fitting in the palm of a hand, containing some yellowish cold liquid. In the center of the liquid, a purple-black crystal was soaked.
“This thing, why does it look somewhat familiar?” Dangros also examined the object in the bottle, the crystal inside giving him a strong sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
“Hmph, chirp chirp.” Toby made a few sounds, eyeing Dangros with a sidelong glance. Even though Dangros could not understand Toby’s bird language, he could tell that Toby seemed to be despising him.
“Toby is right.” Under Dangros’s somewhat bewildered and slightly aggrieved expression, Angel spoke: “The thing inside should belong to Ziz.”
Previously, they had encountered Ziz’s offspring outside, which had many purple crystals growing on its body. Although the crystal in the bottle was a deeper color, the overall appearance was still consistent.
Thus, Angel judged that this should be something from Ziz’s body.
However, what Angel was most concerned about was not the purple-black crystal, but the bottle itself, and the cold liquid inside.
This type of cold liquid, he had seen more than once before, every organ-carrying container in the exhibition room was equipped with the same type of cold liquid.
Angel began to harbor some doubts, wondering if this could also be a type of transplantable organ.
But if it were an organ… hadn’t the Ziz’s offspring not yet been captured? How was this obtained?
It’s important to realize that extracting an organ with transcendent properties isn’t as simple as directly prying a crystal from its body; this requires the use of special techniques. Bloodline wizards or biological alchemists both possess such techniques.
Therefore, if it contains a transplantable organ, this becomes quite strange.
Or is it possible that there actually are two Ziz’s offsprings? And one has already been captured?
That seems unlikely.
For the moment, Angel couldn’t figure it out and decided to set the matter aside, shifting his focus from the cold liquid inside to the bottle on the outside.
Although Angel had never seen this bottle in person before, he had recently noticed the impression of such a bottle on velvet cloth in a hidden room from room number 01.
With a casual wave of his hand, a box created by illusion appeared in front of him.
This box was the same hidden box he had discovered earlier, divided into two sections, each holding an item. However, when Angel found it, the box was already empty.
Angel compared the bottle with the impression on the velvet cloth inside the illusory box.
Sure enough, it matched one of the impressions.
This bottle must be one of the two missing bottles from room number 01.
It’s presumed to have been stolen by the misty shadow, which, being unable to directly interact with the physical world, had to place it on Reynolds.
As for why it was in Reynolds’ mouth instead of on his person… Angel guessed that the misty shadow, fearing it would quickly be ruined due to misfortune if carried on the body, deemed the mouth safer.
If that’s the case, the misty shadow clearly valued what was inside the bottle highly.
“Could it be that the misty shadow’s goal in going to the fifth level was actually this bottle? But then why did it set fire on the fifth level before?”
Angel was puzzled by the misty shadow’s actions, but holding the bottle, a new idea dawned on him.
Since the misty shadow placed such importance on this bottle, if it possessed a new creature in the Beast Garden, would it come back to take this bottle?
Previously, Angel had considered whether to search for the misty shadow’s traces in the Beast Garden. Now it seemed there might be no need to actively search; waiting here might be the best strategy.