Chapter 2731 Inner Self <TOC> Chapter 2733 Gem Magic
Translator: SumTLMan
「What, do you have a problem with what I said?」Seeing that Daus had been silent for a long time, Angel spoke.
Daus raised his head and looked at Angel, letting out a deep breath, but said nothing.
His eyes were complicated, all kinds of emotions sprouting up together. Even with Angel’s emotional perception, it was difficult to perceive Daus’ specific feelings.
Gloom and suspicion, excitement and daze, helplessness and astonishment, sorrow and expectation.
These extreme, opposing emotions were constantly appearing and vanishing like bubbles in a short period of time.
Angel couldn’t accurately judge Daus’ mood; in fact, Daus himself didn’t know how to describe what he was feeling now.
It was as if there were two「selves」locked in a tug-of-war. Which one was the real ego, and which the true self? Daus only felt his mind was a chaotic mess.
His thoughts were like a small boat floating on the sea, sometimes pushed into the deep, sometimes towards the shallow.
After a very long time, Daus finally spoke in a low voice:「…No problem.」
Angel:「If you have no problem, that’s good. Here, you hold onto this single-use space pouch first. Consider it a benefit I’m giving you in advance. Of course, your own labor fee is inside as well.」
Angel’s words, in fact, faintly hinted that for at least a period of time in the future, Daus would be working for him. Otherwise, there’d be no advance「benefit」at all.
Daus said nothing, but just as Angel had said, he put the spatial pouch away again.
Whether or not Daus really understood, at this moment, he had at least given up struggling.
Angel said nothing further, instead gazing toward the Sunlight Sanctuary. The group led by the Gray Merchant was already gradually coming out from the sanctuary.
There was no doubt that even if they tried to keep their faces from changing, the joy radiating from them was hard to conceal. From the Gray Merchant to the apprentices, all were filled with relief and happiness.
The Sunlight Sanctuary had brought them such great changes. Normally, this sort of internal enhancement is hard to feel unless the boost reaches an extreme value all at once. The Sunlight Sanctuary achieved exactly that. Even the apprentices could sense the sweeping transformation in their mental seas. Such positive change was enough to affect their whole lives.
With such an opportunity, how could they not be happy?
As for Shrew, her injuries were serious, and just repairing them would take some time; she hadn’t left the Sunlight Sanctuary yet. But from her contented expression, and the way her half-withered body was swiftly regrowing and regaining its luster, it was clear she would have no complaints about the Sunlight Sanctuary.
「Since both contestants are ready, the second duel is about to begin.」At this time, the voice of the Sovereign of Wisdom came from above.
Shrew had already been eliminated, so it didn’t matter if she was still in the Sunlight Sanctuary. Anyway, the Gray Merchant would certainly be going up in person for the second duel.
As long as the Gray Merchant was in place, the rest didn’t matter.
Hearing the judge’s voice, the Gray Merchant suppressed his excitement, temporarily put aside the positive changes brought by the Sunlight Sanctuary, and stepped slowly to the center of the arena.
With the Gray Merchant stepping out, it was naturally Angel’s turn to send someone up from his side.
The Gray Merchant was curious: Who would it be? Daus? Daus had not suffered much damage, but he was innately suppressed by the Gray Merchant. Unless he had some other trump card like the Sunlight Sanctuary, the chance of Daus going up was low.
So, besides Daus, only that red-haired, gold-eyed mysterious wizard seemed available.
Wait, maybe that slab nose one could go up too. If that nose was really as the Gray Merchant guessed, coming from that family, then this duel would become quite difficult.
While the Gray Merchant pondered, he didn’t know that his opponent had already been decided.
According to「her」request, Angel would have to go up no matter what. Daus had fought Shrew, so Angel would have to fight this round.
As for Angel’s entry, apart from Vai and Kael who were cheering him on telepathically, neither the Black Count nor Daus had much of a reaction.
At least Daus said:「Try to defeat him before his bloodline activates.」
The Black Count didn’t comment at all. In his opinion, if Angel could give Daus the Sunlight Sanctuary, he surely had other trump cards.
Just Eremy alone, even if the Black Count himself faced him, he might not win in a short time; if Eremy teamed up with Angel, even the Black Count would back off.
So, there was nothing to worry about.
Victory was certain. The only question was which card Angel would play to show「her」: who was hiding in the shadows.
Angel indeed felt no pressure. Before stepping onto the stage, the only thing he said had nothing to do with the duel, but was rather a low, murmured soliloquy:
「Following your heart isn’t a bad thing; freedom does not have only one definition. Constraint is a cocoon, in the state you believe to be unfree, you gain protection and grow safely. When you break out of the cocoon, what you expect to find is freedom, but in reality, what you may face is a raging storm.」
「So, you choose to stay in a tree hollow that shields you from wind and rain. Even though it’s cramped, you still feel that you are free at that moment.」
「But actually, it’s just flying from one cocoon into another ivory tower.」
「There is only one opening to see the outside sky. That’s the view from the ivory tower. Like a frog at the bottom of a well, the sky it sees is only as wide as the well’s mouth.」
Angel seemed to be talking to himself, but everyone understood to whom he was speaking.
Previously, Angel had said similar things, but he had only stated his point of view without any analysis. Now, perhaps seeing Daus’ lost expression, he spoke at length.
To the Black Count, Angel’s words were somewhat off-target and a bit naive.
But one point was correct: looking up at the sky from the bottom of a well, one could never see true freedom.
Only by breaking out of the current level, breaking free from established perspectives, and seeing from an entirely new vantage could everything, including the understanding of freedom, appear different. So Daus, blindly pursuing so-called freedom, had in fact entered a dead end.
Angel didn’t care whether Daus was listening. After he finished speaking, he stretched lazily and stepped onto the arena.
He hadn’t named names, so Daus could simply block out his words. Of course, if Daus really did that, Angel would still give Daus the freedom he wanted. As for the price, in Daus’ world of freedom, there would always come a day when the debt was repaid.
Angel stepped onto the arena, striding toward the center.
He did not stride out with large steps, but each step was solemn and, in secret, he activated his emotional perception.
He wasn’t sensing the Gray Merchant’s emotions; he was seeking out the hidden「her」.
Since she had specifically named him to go up, she would surely be watching in secret once he took the stage.
As long as she cast her gaze on him, and as long as her true self was still somewhere within the underground sewers, even if separated by an alternate dimension, Angel believed he could sense her location.
Angel’s steps were slow, drawing many gazes: from the Gray Merchant’s side, and from Daus and the others as well. Each look carried its own emotions.
Through emotional perception, Angel could faintly sense their feelings and even interpret their general thoughts.
But Angel didn’t have the mental bandwidth to analyze every mind. He simply divided all the emotions he sensed into three broad categories: goodwill, indifference, and malice.
Basically, Daus and the others felt goodwill toward him. On the Gray Merchant’s side, apart from the Gray Merchant himself, who was slightly friendly, the others were mostly indifferent, neither particularly friendly nor hostile.
As for malice, this was what Angel cared about most. In his view:「she」would surely Harbor Malice toward him, so following the source of malice might allow him to track her.
But Angel hadn’t considered everything.
On the arena, the malice he sensed outnumbered all goodwill and indifference put together.
And all that malice came from void monsters. They howled and screamed, drooling as they greedily eyed everyone on the arena.
So much malice left Angel momentarily dazed.
He had thought malice would be the least, so any hint of it would stand out most; he didn’t expect his emotional perception would also encompass the malice from these monsters.
This was rather beyond his expectations.
As he walked forward, Angel pondered countermeasures.
Without question, all this malice from the void monsters was chaotic and evil. Most of them had no reason, only instincts for slaughter and devouring.
Did「she」 want him on stage merely to observe, or did she harbor murderous intent?
That was uncertain.
But would「she」 really intend to devour him?
He hadn’t heard the Sovereign of Wisdom mention her being a man-eater.
With that, Angel filtered out all malice associated with devouring and those that viewed him as food or prey.
After this filtering, the malice from the void dropped by seventy or eighty percent, leaving only pure killing intent.
Perhaps they considered humans too small to be satisfying as prey, so rather than eating, they’d prefer to abide by their former master’s rule: kill anyone who leaves the arena.
Angel thought for a moment and decided to filter out another batch of malice, this time targeting「extreme malice.」
Perhaps「she」 did bear malice or murderous intent, but Angel judged he probably wasn’t on her must-kill list, just a target of ordinary malice, not extreme.
So Angel screened out extreme malice.
With this, the malice from the void lessened again, and now less than a hundred remained. Sweeping his eyes around, he could generally identify the sources.
Those with weak malice were mostly minor monsters, not the main killing force, so their murderous intent wasn’t strong.
Worth noting, among them was a whale-shaped monster with horns on its head. Even among void monsters, it was enormous, yet its malice was extremely faint, almost nonexistent. But externally, it behaved like the rest, wildly excited, howling and drooling with greed.
If not for its drooping eyelids, giving the impression it might fall asleep at any moment, Angel would have found it hard to spot the difference from the others with extreme malice.
「An actor par excellence…」 Angel mused inwardly.
Not only an actor, but also skilled in hiding its strength. Undoubtedly, this whale monster had awakened sentience; otherwise, it wouldn’t possess such contrasting emotions.
Angel merely noted this with some feeling, then moved his gaze away.
Although much malice remained, he had already memorized the sources, and aside from the「actor」: there were no anomalies.
Maybe… she hadn’t focused her gaze on him yet?
Lost in thought, Angel had reached the center of the arena.
Perhaps because of Angel’s solemn demeanor, showing great「respect」 for the opponent: even though he walked slowly and might test the audience’s patience, no one complained.
When Angel stood still, the Gray Merchant gave a very courteous nod first, and briefly introduced himself, without stating his real name, using only the title「Gray Merchant.」
Polite, yet cunning.
Because while his introduction withheld details, the information given was largely true. If Angel returned the greeting, he would have to do the same, and from the title alone, the opponent could likely deduce his identity, which was exactly what the Gray Merchant wanted.
Of course, Angel could choose not to respond, and the Gray Merchant would have no objection.
However, Angel did return the gesture. But just as he began to introduce himself, the shadow at his feet began to churn. A humanoid black shadow crawled up from the ground and slowly merged with Angel. Only when it fully attached did the anomaly end.
With the shadow merged, Angel’s appearance changed dramatically. His body became a size larger, not his true form, but rather, a shroud of black flame-like ghostly shadow.
With this shadowy covering, Angel’s face was no longer visible. Only his glowing green eyes could be seen.
The most eye-catching part of the shadow was a「blue lantern flower」 atop his head, faintly glowing, swaying in the breeze, occasionally releasing small bubbles.
Transformed thus, Angel introduced himself in a hoarse, deep voice:「…Eremy.」
No matter the Gray Merchant’s reaction, Daus and the others were stunned.
They didn’t expect Angel to introduce himself this way, by having Eremy possess him and saying he was Eremy. In a sense… it wasn’t wrong?
The self-introduction was just a small episode. What really surprised everyone was that Angel revealed Eremy right from the start… Did this mean Angel had an even stronger trump card than Eremy?
While the others speculated, the Gray Merchant looked at his opponent in puzzlement.
Eremy? Was that his name?
Or just another alias?
The Gray Merchant searched all his memories, but found nothing similar. Soon, though, he didn’t care whether the name was real.
Because his opponent had swelled into a three-meter-tall giant of shadow.
If it was only the shadow expanding, it wouldn’t matter. But as the shadow grew, the opponent’s aura deepened, far, far… beyond the Gray Merchant’s understanding!