Chapter 2741 Mental Obstruction <TOC> Chapter 2743 Ghost Shadow
Translator: SumTLMan
Perhaps because his emotions had been surging up and down earlier, he had now grown a bit numb; even upon hearing Angel say there was a way to retrieve the sealed memories, the Gray Merchant showed little excitement, assuming it was yet another illusion of promises all talk and no substance.
Not to mention the Gray Merchant, Daus himself wore a face of disbelief:「Didn’t you just say it was empty inside? How is it you now say you have a way?」
Angel:「There is a way, but whether it will work is another matter.」
Daus:「……」
Angel did have some「methods」, but just as he said, these methods were still at the stage of conception and had not been put into practice; whether the outcome would be good or bad, he could not judge.
Continuing, Angel said:「The methods I mentioned can be broadly divided into two types. The first is: to wait.」
By waiting, he in fact meant to「seek from oneself」.
Angel wanted this mirror shard primarily for research. He himself possessed the Mirror Wraith and had a certain degree of knowledge about the Mirror World; after delving into it, it was not impossible to break Aedannis’ memory seal.
But this method of seeking from oneself has a drawback: it requires time for research. So, if they took this route, the Gray Merchant would have to wait.
As for how long to wait? Angel could not say.
「Wait a while, that’s still waiting. Wait until death, that too is waiting. How is this different from nonsense? And if in the end it all comes to nothing, won’t all that waiting have been in vain?」Daus’ snark arrived right on cue.
Precisely because of Daus’ snark, the Gray Merchant’s group across the way felt their opinion of Daus rising rapidly. Previously they had looked down on a self-serving type like him; now, given the different spatio-temporal context, their view had changed.
Moreover, Daus’ snark handily voiced what the Gray Merchant wanted to say. Had the Gray Merchant spoken, he would likely have been so tactful as to be incomprehensible. Daus’ retort was sharp and direct, hitting the core of the issue, clearly much better than a reply from the Gray Merchant.
Angel was not annoyed by Daus’ barbs; instead he nodded in acknowledgment:「What you say is true, waiting indeed has many drawbacks.」
Hearing Angel himself admit it, Daus, even as he found it odd, began to wonder whether he had spoken too harshly.
「In fact, the method isn’t impossible. After all, if we truly pursue a research path to seek a solution, right now, the only person who can see hope through is probably you.」After a brief contemplation, Daus added this line.
At present only Angel could probe into the mirror, so if they really took this route, Angel’s success rate might indeed be the highest.
「Whether it succeeds or fails, waiting should in the end be the last resort. Let’s set it aside for now and speak of the most immediate method at hand.」
Angel:「The second method I spoke of is to “seek from others” .」
If seeking from oneself will not do, naturally one seeks from others.
In Angel’s mind, there were two kinds of seeking. One was to go to the Wilderness of Dreams and ask the big figures there for help; the second was to seek aid from that benevolent one who had been hidden in the void earlier.
If Angel’s guess was right, the one hidden in the void earlier should be the male half on the Demon God’s mirror emblem.
Since the female on the emblem, Aedannis, possessed the ability to seal a person’s memories, then the other「he」on the emblem might have a similar ability. Even if not, he should at least know how to lift such a seal.
Angel had formed the idea but did not speak it aloud. Whether going to the Wilderness of Dreams or seeking the man in the void belonged to secrets not suitable to discuss openly at this moment.
Thus his words stopped at「seeking from others」, and he began thinking how to phrase things.
But his silence was taken by the others as a hint, and they all began filling in the blanks in their minds.
Seek help, from whom?
Of those who could resolve this matter, the only one they currently knew of was the Hidden Mirror Dweller. But it could certainly not be her; if they were to seek her, Angel could simply hand the shard directly to the Gray Merchant.
If not the Hidden Mirror Dweller, then who?
Angel’s backer, Rhine? Though the comparison was somewhat off, the Black Count and Rhine were, after all, existences of the same realm; their insight and breadth of perspective should not differ greatly. If even the Black Count had no way, would Rhine have one?
Then Mirror Lady or Book Ancestor? It was rumored the Mirror Lady had not appeared for a time, even the tea gathering had not been hosted by her; she seemed to be in cultivation, and Angel might not be able to meet her.
As for Book Ancestor, an existence unseen even by insiders of the Savage Grottoes, could Angel truly meet him?
Besides, even if he did meet Book Ancestor, that would run counter to the「most immediate method」Angel had proposed.
Angel could hardly go by planar corridor to see Book Ancestor and then return again by planar passage. Such extravagance Angel might not mind, but the Gray Merchant would likely not. After all, this was about resolving the Gray Merchant’s memories; it would be unreasonable to make Angel furnish the costly materials for the planar passage.
And however anxious he might be, the Gray Merchant would not be anxious for a single moment. If he truly knew Angel intended to seek Book Ancestor, he would surely wait for Angel to return before making decisions, and not foolishly expend a planar passage.
Of course, if they knew Angel had a linked-type teleportation formation disc that could send him straight back, that would be another matter.
Since they were not appealing to backers, and Angel had clearly said it was the「most immediate」method,
At hand… most immediate.
Turning that phrase over, they seemed to have a faint answer.
They slowly lifted their heads and looked toward the one suspended in midair, long silent…… the Sovereign of Wisdom.
Angel meant, seek help from the Sovereign of Wisdom, didn’t he?
Come to think of it, they had almost forgotten the Sovereign of Wisdom. On reflection, the Sovereign of Wisdom was obviously connected to that Hidden Mirror Dweller; moreover, having lived in the underground sewers for ten thousand years, it was impossible he had not witnessed the Hidden Mirror Dweller’s methods.
Add to that Younus and the Three One-Eyed Treasures, all with tangled ties to that figure and able to freely enter and exit through mirrors. Now, they all served under the Sovereign of Wisdom; rebellious as they might be, his understanding of them, and his knowledge of the world within the mirror, surely surpassed that of everyone present.
It might well be that the Sovereign of Wisdom could be the only solution at this stage.
……
Not only the others, even the Sovereign of Wisdom took Angel’s words to mean seeking help from himself.
Thus when all eyes turned toward him, the Sovereign of Wisdom sighed softly in his heart and took the initiative to speak:「There is a way to lift the seal, but two conditions must be met.」
His words made everyone’s eyes light up; it seemed Angel had guessed right, the Sovereign of Wisdom did indeed have a way!
Angel, however, was taken aback. The Sovereign of Wisdom had a way? If you have a way, say so earlier, why did he rack his brains so much?
So thought Angel, but seeing Vai’s worshipful gaze and the looks on the others:「just as expected」, he seemed to understand something.
Right, by「seeking from others」he meant seeking the Sovereign of Wisdom!
Angel accepted this framing with an easy conscience and cast a「wise」look at the Sovereign of Wisdom.
Though the Sovereign of Wisdom found Angel’s gaze a bit odd, he did not dwell on it. With a light wave of his hand, Angel felt the fragment drawn away by a tugging force.
Angel hesitated a moment, then allowed the force to pull the fragment away.
The shard drifted up into the air and finally alighted in the Sovereign of Wisdom’s palm.
He glanced at the broken mirror piece; the residual crimson had already faded, leaving only a blurred mirror surface and a faint, flickering silhouette.
The Sovereign of Wisdom sighed softly. He had hinted before that Angel should not take it, yet Angel had taken it anyway.
As for Angel’s involvement in the Gray Merchant’s memories, the Sovereign of Wisdom was in fact indifferent, Angel truly could do it, and at present he alone could. But if Angel, by means of this affair, were to enter the world within the mirror, that was what the Sovereign of Wisdom did not wish to see.
Moreover, the Sovereign of Wisdom had once made an agreement with the Goddess not to obstruct anyone from entering the mirror. At the time, he agreed chiefly for Younus’ convenience; but that had become today’s shackle. He could only hint and could not speak plainly.
Fortunately, Daus’ inspiration talent had just been triggered, letting him sense the terror and danger of the Mirror World and thus warning Angel; otherwise, had Angel rashly stepped into the mirror, the consequences would have been unpredictable.
The Sovereign of Wisdom extended a finger and lightly traced the pad across the mirror shard——
As though wiping dust from the glass.
After a long moment, he shifted his gaze from the shard and lowered his head to look at the group.
「Lord Adjudicator, what are the two conditions that must be met?」The Gray Merchant bowed to the Sovereign of Wisdom and asked.
The Sovereign of Wisdom:「Inside, there must be a handoff; and Outside, there must be a catch.」
They were indeed two conditions, and straightforward to grasp. Yet, upon hearing them, the Gray Merchant furrowed his brow.
「Does the Lord Adjudicator mean someone must enter the mirror?」the Gray Merchant asked.
The Sovereign of Wisdom shook his head:「Not necessarily. Of these two conditions, the harder one to fulfill is not 『inside, a handoff』 but 『outside, a catch』.」
Confusion showed on their faces. In their understanding:「inside, a handoff」meant passing from within to without;「outside, a catch」meant someone outside to receive.
By that comparison, surely passing from inside outward should be harder. Why did Lord Adjudicator say the outside catch was harder?
The Sovereign of Wisdom:「Because creatures able to roam the Mirror World are not all that rare. But those who, from outside the mirror, can use the flesh as medium to touch the Mirror World directly are very few.」
「Among you, only he can do it.」
The Sovereign of Wisdom flicked the fragment lightly; its glowing arc fell true, landing precisely in Angel’s palm.
This gesture both returned the shard to Angel and made it plain to the Gray Merchant that only Angel could possibly be the one to fulfill「outside, a catch」.
The Gray Merchant understood as well: what was meant by「outside, a catch」was not what he had imagined, merely waiting outside for someone inside to pass something out. Rather, someone outside must use the flesh as a medium, reach into the mirror, and take the sealed memories handed out by a being within the mirror.
And the wizard across the way who called himself Eremy had previously, before everyone’s eyes, extended his hand into a mirror. No wonder Lord Adjudicator said only he could do it.
Thinking on it thus, Lord Adjudicator’s claim that the outside catch was harder made sense.
But now the problem was this: Eremy seemed inclined to strike a deal with him; that is to say, the 『outside catch』 looked promising. What the Adjudicator called 『inside handoff』, however, they still did not know how to fulfill.
Just as the Gray Merchant was about to ask Lord Adjudicator, Eremy’s voice came from across the way.
「If all that’s needed is to satisfy these two conditions, then I think I know how.」
The Gray Merchant looked over in surprise. He hadn’t known what to do before, now he had a way?
Angel:「If what’s needed is simply a being that can roam the Mirror World, then I truly can find one.」
Indeed, as soon as Angel heard the Sovereign of Wisdom explain the meaning of the two conditions, the name「Mirror Wraith」leapt into his mind. If the Mirror Wraith made contact with this shard, it might very well be able to enter the Mirror World without incident.
However, the Mirror Wraith was in the end hard to control, and given its crimes, Angel had never intended to keep it forever. Once his research into mirror dimension was about complete, he would send it on its way.
Therefore, though he had had the thought at the time, he had not spoken.
The only reason he now spoke was the Sovereign of Wisdom’s prompting.
Angel had not understood what the Sovereign of Wisdom did with the broken mirror shard until it was returned to him, then he discovered, to his surprise, that the Sovereign of Wisdom had left some information upon it.
Through that information, Angel learned that once the Sovereign of Wisdom took the shard, he had used special means to contact the One-Eyed Family.
The Sovereign of Wisdom meant that he could help resolve the condition of「inside handoff」. He would have one of Younus’ children, any one, pass the sealed memories out from within.
However, all of this would have to wait until they had passed Younus’ interception.
The timing was not the Sovereign of Wisdom’s decision but the will of the One-Eyed Big Treasure.
The One-Eyed Big Treasure did not explain why to the Sovereign of Wisdom, but from the timing chosen, one could guess its intent.
The Sovereign of Wisdom had said before that although the One-Eyed Three Treasures leaned more toward him than Aedannis, if they were matched between him and Younus, there was no question, they would lean toward Younus, their mother.
That the One-Eyed Big Treasure would only help after they passed Younus’ interception was, in truth, a warning. If, in dealing with Younus, they injured or even killed her, then as for any help, they should forget it.
If they wanted the One-Eyed Family’s help, their only choice was: while passing Younus’ interception, they must not harm Younus.
The above was the first message the Sovereign of Wisdom left on the fragment.
The second message was what Angel had previously said to the Gray Merchant.
The Sovereign of Wisdom did not wish to expose himself; thus, even if the Gray Merchant’s memories were truly passed out, it was to be Angel’s doing, at least on the surface, with no connection to him.
These were all the messages the Sovereign of Wisdom left upon the shard. The gist had been conveyed, yet he had not said why he was willing to help, nor whether he required recompense for what he had done.
Angel had his doubts but did not think too hard on them. If the Sovereign of Wisdom did ask for recompense, Angel would simply pass that bill to the Gray Merchant.
And in any case, this was not something to consider at this very moment.
Chapter 2741 Mental Obstruction <TOC> Chapter 2743 Ghost Shadow