Chapter 2761 Changes in Mammoth <TOC> Chapter 2763 Cocoon Breaking Rebirth
Translator: SumTLMan
Just as Vai fell into a desperate situation.
「Wait!」 Accompanied by a startled cry, a figure flew toward the arena platform.
However, before he could touch the dome of the arena platform, he was suppressed by a descending coercive pressure and could not move.
And this figure was not from Angel’s side, but rather…… the Gray Merchant.
If it had been earlier, the Gray Merchant would not have cared about Vai’s life or death; he even leaned more toward having Vai die at their hands. After all, the shard turning red meant that Vai was the target of the Hidden Mirror Dweller.
But now, the Gray Merchant was extremely unwilling to see Vai harmed.
Vai came from the Noah family, and the Black Count’s avatar was right across from them; to kill him, no need to think about it, would mean endless troubles afterward. Moreover, even if one did not mention Vai’s identity, merely the attitude previously learned from the adjudicator, that the Hidden Mirror Dweller would most likely break their word, made the Gray Merchant no longer willing to treat Vai, and the Noah family, as targets.
What’s more, that wizard on the other side who called himself Eremy had already promised he would find a way to release his memories. Relying on apprentices to compete for seats in the deep underground sewers was already somewhat improper; if he were to also beat Vai into a serious injury, or even kill him, then what face would he have to go find Eremy?
Originally, the Gray Merchant thought Mammoth understood this and could rein in his impulses, but unexpectedly, after his strength surged, Mammoth revealed another side, so decisive in killing it was as if he had become a different person.
The Gray Merchant did not want to see Vai beaten to death or injured by Mammoth. For this reason, even though he sensed Shrew’s face was full of displeasure, he still moved.
At least he had to remind Mammoth not to kill Vai.
Only, what the Gray Merchant did not expect was that before he could even enter the field, he was sanctioned by the black robed adjudicator; the terrifying coercive pressure crushed him so much that he did not even have the strength to stand.
The Gray Merchant could only watch helplessly as Mammoth released a scarlet Death Light that pierced through Vai’s body.
A one-hit kill!
「It’s over.」 The Gray Merchant looked at that scene on the arena platform as if frozen in black and white, and felt only a gray darkness before his eyes.
Thud.
Vai collapsed powerlessly to the ground; he seemed to have already lost his breath. And Mammoth stood where he was and kept laughing, but as he laughed he began to shed inexplicable tears; the tears gushed like a spring, as if the tear glands had lost control. In this expression of laughing and crying, Mammoth’s eyes gradually became dazed and at a loss.
The Death Light of the Eye of Arcana was completely exhausted in the previous strike.
At this moment Mammoth had fallen down from that prior state of self-feeling 「omnipotent」 and returned again to 「himself」.
Perhaps to outsiders Mammoth’s situation did not look so bad; but Mammoth himself could clearly feel that the inside of his heart was empty, he had not returned to being 「himself」 but had fallen from the clouds into the mud.
The powerful contrast in power level made it hard for Mammoth to accept for a time.
And this was precisely the 「power-level trap」 that Daus had previously mocked, Mammoth had been pitted by Shrew.
Exchanging short-term power gains brought about doubt and denial of the self, the erasure of potential, and a low depression of unknown duration.
Mammoth now also recovered a little; he saw the Gray Merchant outside with a shocked face, and he also saw the Black Count across the way who remained unmoved……
Only now did he suddenly feel that he seemed to have killed a descendant of Noah?
When he had killed Vai before, Mammoth had both excitement and fear; the tremor was stimulating, a difficult-to-restrain delight. But now, the tremor still existed, yet there was no longer excitement or thrill; what remained was only lingering fear and…… regret.
Mammoth at this moment was like a child who had lost his bearings, standing on the arena platform, not knowing what he should do next?
He remembered that Shrew wanted him to seize the spoils and take Seamus’ Hide. But this descendant of Noah across the way did not have Seamus’ Hide.
Then what should he do? Wait for the next match with Kael? Take Seamus’ Hide from Kael?
But he had already used the trump card Shrew gave him; how was he to defeat Kael?
Mammoth felt himself shrouded in emotions; his mind was a paste of mush. Any question could be thought only in a single-threaded way; as soon as there was a bit of branching, he would fall into a state of confusion.
For this very reason, Mammoth did not even know what he should do next.
While Mammoth’s face was full of helplessness, he failed to notice that the Sovereign of Wisdom in midair had not called off the match. This meant the match had not yet ended.
Because of his deranged state, Mammoth could not see the situation at the scene clearly. But the others watching this duel clearly saw the changes on the arena platform.
Vai, who had been struck by the Eye of Arcana’s Death Light, should have been as dead as dead could be; yet to everyone’s amazement, he seemed not to have died.
His finger twitched a little, and then, under the gaze of all, he slightly raised his head.
At this time, Vai’s face could no longer be made out as the visage he once had. It was all a sheet of flesh and blood; one could even vaguely see shattered white bone fragments.
From that blasted, disfigured face of Vai’s alone, one could already see that his current state was definitely not good.
However, compared with Mammoth, who had fallen into a deranged state, Vai still retained reason.
Vai did not move, nor could he move; he could only gaze from afar at Mammoth not far away, who was crying and laughing at the same time.
Then, mustering the little magic still left in his body, he aimed at Mammoth in the distance.
Mammoth was completely immersed in his own world and did not perceive the energy fluctuations around him at all.
Not until a massive surge of energy, wrapped with a strong wind, swept at him from behind did he drowsily come back to himself.
However, even when Mammoth had come back to himself and turned his head to see a palm condensed of stone, he still did not react, or rather…… his reaction was delayed.
The palm slapped fiercely on Mammoth’s back; the tremendous force directly slapped Mammoth flying.
Only when he was in midair did Mammoth suddenly feel that he had been struck by Vai? But wasn’t Vai already dead?
And at this moment, Mammoth’s thinking still lingered on 「why did Vai not die」; he did not think at all about 「how am I to respond now」.
This too was the backlash from having used a masterless organ powered by energy not belonging to himself. Thought stretched long and became dull; his sense of danger was lost; crisis-handling ability fell to the level of an ordinary person.
This state would not last long; given Mammoth’s powerful physical qualities, he would presumably recover quickly. But the consumption of potential and the trauma to the psyche would not be things that could be healed in a short time.
One could say that Daus was right: this time Shrew truly did pit Mammoth.
Most importantly, Shrew had still not gotten what she wished.
In the end, amid sluggish thinking, Mammoth was slapped out of the arena platform; when the Gray Merchant saved him from the void monsters’ green-glowing eyes, he belatedly said: 「I…… lost?」
Seeing Mammoth’s dumb, foolish expression, the anger that had surged up into the Gray Merchant’s chest still did not vent.
He only pulled Mammoth and returned to their side of the field.
After the Gray Merchant returned, he glared hard at Shrew. Shrew subconsciously wanted to say something, but when she saw the Gray Merchant’s gloomy face, she nonetheless held her tongue.
As for such a sullen and indifferent expression, Shrew had seen it many times before and would not fear it, because the Gray Merchant’s temperament had always been like this in the past.
But ever since a portion of his memories had been taken by the Hidden Mirror Dweller, the Gray Merchant’s temperament had undergone a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree transformation, tending more toward the gentlemanly mildness of long ago; such an ugly expression had hardly ever appeared on his face.
Now, the Gray Merchant directly presented this expression to Shrew, which was enough to show the anger in his heart.
Because Shrew had deceived him.
Shrew had never said at all that the out-of-bounds measure she gave Mammoth would be the Eye of Arcana!
This was a masterless organ that bloodline branch wizards could use as a trump card at the bottom of the chest!
Clearly, Shrew had seen that the space apprentice on the opposite side had little to do with the Noah family; from the attitudes of others and various details, he was instead linked a little with Red Sword Daus, and he probably did not have any powerful background, likely a wandering apprentice, and perhaps even that piece of Seamus’ Hide had been lent to him by Daus.
Having determined that the other side might not have a background, Shrew’s mindset changed; she not only wanted to obtain Seamus’ Hide but also wanted to use Mammoth to kill the other party!
In Shrew’s view, an apprentice without a background, dead is simply dead. She could both gain the spoils and save herself future trouble.
But what Shrew had not expected was that, for this duel, it was Vai who took the field rather than Kael.
After the duel began, Shrew also had no way to transmit sound to Mammoth; this led to Mammoth using the Eye of Arcana and thereby pitting himself.
The final outcome made the Gray Merchant display tremendous anger. But Shrew did not care; from her perspective, everything was merely ill luck.
What Shrew did not know, however, was that had she truly managed to get Kael killed,
it would have been essentially no different from provoking the Black Count. Because behind Kael stood a bigwig as well: Aesop, the 「Dimension Walker」.
Leaving aside Aesop’s attitude, even if things had truly gone in Shrew’s direction, Angel would have personally taken the field to avenge Kael.
The reason was very simple: Kael was his mission target this time and could not die; Kael was the true owner of the ruin site key and could not die; the Seamus’ Hide on Kael was also his, whoever seized it would die.
One could say that Shrew was not ill-starred this time; rather, fortune was turning.
Of course, Shrew would clearly not feel grateful; what filled her heart now was more: after all, the descendant of Noah did not die, and I even paid a masterless organ, so the one at a loss is instead me.
The disparities between people and the differences in one’s bottom line were displayed vividly upon Shrew.
Apart from Shrew, the moods of the others were each different, yet one question was similar:
Why did the descendant of Noah not die after being struck by the Eye of Arcana?
……
This question was, in fact, also what Angel and Daus were curious about.
「So the lord was unhurried because he gave Vai a trump card…… Tsk tsk tsk, originally Vai looked decent; now it’s really miserable, his whole body is rotten flesh. I fear he will have to live the rest of his days under an ugly face.」 Daus, using a princess-carry, lifted Vai down from the arena platform and set him on the ground.
While treating Vai, Daus also kept up his banter.
Only, after treating him for a while, Daus suddenly discovered that his healing had no effect at all.
Vai’s body was, at a speed visible to the naked eye, becoming withered and exhausted. His eyes were also gradually losing their light, as though at any moment they might completely lose their luster.
Daus had earlier been mocking Vai, but now he could no longer laugh.
He snapped his head up to look at the Black Count.
「He, w-what is going on with him?」 Daus’ expression carried some panic and anxiety; he even stammered as he spoke.
The Black Count ignored Daus and instead looked from on high at Vai, who lay on the ground with a single thought still lingering.
「Since you have already used it, have you made your decision?」
This sentence from the Black Count had neither antecedent nor consequence; everyone was baffled upon hearing it, not understanding what he was talking about. But Vai seemed to understand the Black Count’s meaning; after a moment’s silence, he said softly: 「Ancestor, did Sister Aila’s death also come because she reached this step?」
The Black Count: 「If you have time to pay attention to Aila, it would be better to pay more attention to yourself. The time in which you can make a choice is already running out.」
Hearing the Black Count’s words, Angel felt a slight doubt in his heart. Who was this name 「Aila」 that suddenly popped from Vai’s mouth? Why would Vai, at this time, care about Aila rather than himself?
While Angel wondered, Daus across the way mouthed some words to pass a sentence to Angel.
Aila was Vai’s older sister.
Moreover, his real older sister.
For Vai to say at this time that Aila had died, what did that mean? Did he feel that Aila’s death was the same as his current situation? Died upon a duel? It shouldn’t be such a coincidence, should it?
While Angel pondered the relationship between Aila and Vai, the Black Count continued: 「If not for its protection, after being blasted by the Eye of Arcana, you could not possibly have survived…… Now, it’s your turn to make a choice.」
The corners of Vai’s eyes grew slightly moist; he did not look again at the Black Count but instead turned his head to look at Daus.
Vai’s mouth moved slightly, as if he were about to say something.
Daus thought Vai had some 「last words」 to entrust and immediately leaned in.
However, when Daus’ ear came close, Vai spat a mouthful of saliva at him, hard.
While Daus stared dumbfounded, Vai roared with all his strength: 「Sure enough, meeting you brings bad luck! I clearly hid for so many years, and the moment I went to find you, I was forced to go down into the ruins!」
「Now it’s finished! I will certainly be just like Sister Aila, unable to say even a single sentence, and thus become a living dead without rhyme or reason! Damn it, hateful!」
After shouting and cursing a few loud lines, he left Daus completely stupefied by the scolding.
Only then did Vai turn his head to look at the Black Count, with a look of resignation: 「Come then, I have no other choice either. A puppet is a puppet; at least my fleshly body will still live.」
「Daus, in the future I may no longer be me. Are you satisfied now.」
The moisture at the corners of his eyes finally became teardrops at this moment and slowly slid down.
Vai closed his eyes and wanted to display a posture of going to his death magnanimously.
But his eyelids at this time had already vanished and could not close; he could only stare helplessly as his ancestor detached from that stone slab and slowly flew toward him……
Chapter 2761 Changes in Mammoth <TOC> Chapter 2763 Cocoon Breaking Rebirth