Chapter 2789 Mask Ownership <TOC> Chapter 2791 Contract and Cooperation
Translator: SumTLMan
「Kael is gone!」 Vai turned his head, anxiously speaking to everyone.
But Daus and the Black Count both remained silent and said nothing, even though he shouted loudly he still failed to draw their attention.
Vai wanted to turn to Angel for help, but when he focused his eyes and took a closer look, he discovered that not only had Kael disappeared…… Angel was gone as well.
「Lord Super Dimensional…… Kael……」 Vai’s face was full of shock, and he could not help but stumble back a few steps.
「Don’t be so surprised, I know they are gone.」 Daus finally came back to his senses, turning his head to speak to Vai.
Vai still had a completely bewildered look on his face: 「They, they suddenly just vanished? What happened?」
Daus: 「It’s nothing much, it’s just that Kael seems to have accidentally stepped on a dog hole and fallen in, Angel saw this, and then jumped in after him as well.」
Vai: 「And then?」
Daus nodded: 「There is no ‘and then’, that’s all.」
Vai’s suppressed anger seemed to be ignited in an instant: 「You still call that nothing much?! Tell me, where around here is there a dog hole?」
As his shouting reached its end, Vai’s voice suddenly dropped, and he muttered to himself: 「Dog hole? You said dog hole?」
「You mean…… Younus?」
「Why are you shouting so loudly.」 Daus dug at his ear: 「It isn’t Younus, it should be one of the three One-Eyed Treasures…… I also thought it through carefully just now, since they are Younus’ three children, according to the Sovereign of Wisdom’s words they shouldn’t kill Angel.」
But Vai’s expression was not relaxed at all, and he still said solemnly: 「In any case, it’s all uncertain. The Sovereign of Wisdom’s words, I can’t be sure about, One-Eyed family’s temperament, I also can’t be sure about. If they really make a move, what are we supposed to do?」
Daus: 「If they really do act, I think Angel probably won’t be in any danger.」
「Then what about Kael?」
Daus: 「As for Kael he can only pray for his own blessings.」
Hearing such irresponsible words from Daus, Vai’s anger once again began to surge upward. Just at this moment, the Black Count’s voice came: 「Don’t worry, this dog hole is different from the previous ones, this time I did not feel any malice or danger.」
Previously the Black Count had always maintained a scent-based lock around the dog holes, so his sense for these dog holes was keener than that of others. Although he could not determine whether this dog hole that appeared this time belonged to the Big Treasure or the Second Treasure, as for whether there was malice and killing intent, that he could still judge.
Moreover, when Kael fell into the dog hole, Angel was able to notice it in time and follow him in, so how could the Black Count possibly have failed to notice?
The reason the Black Count did not follow them in was also very simple, he knew very well that, if they wanted to get past Younus’ obstruction without hurting Younus, most likely the only way was to rely on a magic formation to resolve it. And among those present only Angel could accomplish this, if he followed into the dog hole as well he would very likely create pressure and a burden, so it was better to let Angel go alone.
All the things Angel had done and all the decisions he had made during this period, the Black Count had seen with his own eyes, and he also believed that with Angel’s ability, he could handle this matter perfectly.
So, right now they did not need to do anything either, they only needed to wait.
……
At the same time, Angel and Kael were in a pitch-black space.
Kael looked around, his expression somewhat puzzled, he clearly remembered falling into a very small hole, and he had not felt any landing, so how had he suddenly appeared here?
This space looked rather large, on all sides were walls, no flaws could be seen anywhere and there were no doors or windows, no light at all, just like a dark death cell.
Most importantly, Kael discovered that his mental power could not leave his body, which meant that he could not use the perspective of mental power to check those dead corners hidden in the darkness.
And Kael had not learned any other method of opening an energy-sight perspective, which made him somewhat apprehensive.
In other words, the only thing Kael could make use of now was his naked eyes and the naked eyes are what are most easily deceived.
If Kael were here alone, he would probably already have begun to feel fear and confusion. However, fortunately, Lord Super Dimensional was also beside him, and this let Kael’s heart settle down a little.
「My lord, this place is……」
「Inside the stomach of One-Eyed Big Treasure or One-Eyed Second Treasure.」 Angel answered Kael on this side, while secretly instructing Eremy to spread his own shadow outward toward the surroundings.
Angel’s mental power was also being suppressed, however the intensity of the suppression was limited, and if he really forced it open he could still do so. However, when Angel was in an unknown place, he would be even more cautious and careful than usual.
His mental power was not particularly strong, and if it were specifically targeted he would be placed in a very passive position.
So, Angel linked his own perspective together with Eremy’s perspective, and what Eremy’s eyes saw was a purely energy-based field of vision that could clearly perceive every detail in the surroundings.
It could be said, Eremy could completely replace Angel’s mental power, and be even stronger.
If Eremy had no problems, Angel would probably feel much more at ease.
Angel shook his head, temporarily setting aside the possibility that Eremy’s consciousness might revive, and carefully observed the situation in all directions.
Previously, using the naked eye to look around, he could only see emptiness all around, but in Eremy’s perspective, Angel saw a mass of darkness standing not far away.
It was a mass of pure darkness that kept swelling and contracting.
It was like a misty sphere that deliberately held its fog in so that it did not spread, except that here the fog had turned into darkness flickering like flames.
If it had been just a single dark sphere, Angel would most likely have simply paid attention to it first and then continued checking other places for mechanisms or exits.
But this dark sphere was a little different.
Angel sensed the emotions within the dark sphere, these emotions were very complex, but they did not contain pure malice.
If one were to use a personifying analogy, it was like a gentleman who is usually steady suddenly discovering an unknown object placed before his eyes, one that arouses his curiosity, not daring to touch it directly but instead observing it with great care.
At first listen there seems to be nothing wrong with that, but if you think about it carefully, who is this steady 「gentleman」 observing as the unknown object? Angel and Kael.
In the eyes of the other party, he and Kael were nothing more than an object, and 「unknown」 merely meant: of value or of no value.
Even if the other side showed no malice, this kind of indifferent attitude that regards life as an object actually delivers a greater impact than malice itself.
Setting aside for the moment the other party’s worldview and values, speaking purely of this dark sphere, barring any accidents it should be one of the three sons of Younus spoken of by the Sovereign of Wisdom.
「We are inside its stomach? Then, then then…… how are we supposed to get out?」 Kael unconsciously moved a little closer to Angel.
Angel: 「That is something we have to ask the master of this place, what was the meaning of inviting us here.」
「The master of this place? Do you mean One-Eyed Big Treasure and One-Eyed Second Treasure?」 Kael glanced around the surroundings, and did not see any 「human」 figure.
Angel nodded: 「Strictly speaking, this is the inside of One-Eyed Big Treasure’s body.」
When Angel said this, his gaze turned toward the direction where the dark sphere was: 「Care to have a talk? Should I keep addressing you as One-Eyed Big Treasure, or do you prefer that I call you by some other name?」
Kael looked along the direction in which Angel was speaking, and saw nothing at all, but he trusted Angel’s judgment, and fixed his stare firmly on that direction.
After Kael had stared for over half a minute, finally, that dark sphere slowly revealed a reflected image from within the energy field of vision.
It was only a shadow, it did not truly appear in the material world, it was still within the energy perspective.
Seeing this reflected image, Angel was actually somewhat surprised, the other party clearly knew that Angel could see him, yet was still willing to show himself, and this in effect amounted to cooperating with Kael. To create a projection into the material world while spending effort for the sake of a mere apprentice, if one insists on putting it into words, that could be considered a small gesture of 「sincerity」?
After the dark sphere revealed its projection, it also very human-like gave itself a single eye and a mouth that could open to speak.
The eye was oval, the white of the eye took up ninety percent, the pupil was a tiny black dot, the mouth occupied half the proportion of the sphere and inside one could see two protruding fangs stark white.
Even though he knew that the eye and mouth were only simulated by the other party, this appearance…… really looked very much like a certain cartoon image Angel had seen on a holographic tablet.
Angel held himself back again and again, but in the end still could not help saying: 「Or would you prefer that I call you Gastly?」
Angel’s suddenly spoken line, this line that he blurted out, directly broke the ghostly atmosphere surrounding the dark sphere’s manifestation.
「Gastly? Is that what you humans call our kind?」
This voice came from within the dark sphere, and it sounded much younger than Angel had imagined. He had thought that even if the other party spoke, the voice would be that of an elderly, grave figure, but in fact his voice was young yet steady.
「No, Her Highness the Goddess has said, we three brothers are unique and unmatched. Humans cannot possibly have a general name for us.」
Although it was only an ordinary declarative sentence, the words nonetheless carried a note of doubt toward Angel.
Angel explained with a perfectly serious expression: 「Gastly is a kind of spiritual lifeform, and its appearance is, in many ways, quite similar to what you are showing now. So, I assumed that beneath the core of One-Eyed Big Treasure, there was a spiritual lifeform hidden.」
The dark sphere narrowed its eye slightly, as if judging whether Angel’s words were true.
A few seconds later, the dark sphere said in a low voice: 「There are both true and false parts, I don’t like guessing which parts are true and which parts are false.」
Angel was taken aback for a moment, he had not expected that the dark sphere would even have the function of directly judging the truth or falsity of spoken words?
Clearly, there was not the slightest fluctuation resembling a True Word spell.
No…… they were at this moment inside the body of One-Eyed Big Treasure, and if the other side wanted to cast a probing spell, it truly might not be possible to notice it.
Thinking of this, Angel became a little more solemn, it seemed that when speaking, unless absolutely necessary, he should as far as possible avoid using overly definite wording……
「Forget it, names are not important in my view, you can call me One-Eyed Big Treasure, if you want to call me Gastly that’s fine too.」 After pausing for a moment, the dark sphere added another line: 「However, I will remind you of one thing, if it happened to be the Second Treasure right now, you probably wouldn’t be getting off lightly.」
Angel: 「…… would it kill me?」
One-Eyed Big Treasure: 「No, it will use all sorts of methods to make you uncomfortable. For example, it will project your most embarrassing moments onto any mirror your aura passes by, and where people appear…… whether you are in the Southern Region, or have gone to other worlds, it will have ways to lock onto your aura.」
Angel: ……
Previously, the Sovereign of Wisdom’s evaluation of One-Eyed Second Treasure had been 「mysterious and deep」, and its abilities were extremely powerful. Looking at it now, that is indeed the case, compared with physical death, the Second Treasure has already learned how to bring about social death for people.
Moreover, it is a large-scale, all-out hunting style of social death, even if you flee to other worlds, you still cannot block its pursuit.
Mysterious, deep…… and now one must add the word obsessive.
「To have a peaceful talk with you all, this in itself is also what I wish, but can you represent the entire party, and represent those descendants of Noah?」 One-Eyed Big Treasure returned to the main topic.
Angel: 「Of course I can. Since I am the one who has appeared here, that means I can represent the others. If you don’t believe it, Gastly, you can ask this apprentice beside me.」
One-Eyed Big Treasure paused for about two seconds, probably not having expected that Angel would really call it Gastly.
And earlier, it had also said that any name was fine, so now it would be awkward to take its words back, and it could only pretend it had not heard.
「What you said is true, I acknowledge that. But before I talk with you, I need you to answer one question for me.」
Angel: 「You want to ask me, how did I know that you are One-Eyed Big Treasure?」
One-Eyed Big Treasure’s expression grew complicated, and after quite a while it finally said: 「…… yes.」
Angel: 「The Sovereign of Wisdom once said that Younus’ three children each have different personalities, and from the personality one can basically determine exactly which of you is which.」
One-Eyed Big Treasure very much wanted to ask: but earlier I had not even spoken yet, so how did you determine our personalities.
However, before One-Eyed Big Treasure could open its mouth to ask, Angel seemed to have already anticipated it, and answered directly: 「One-Eyed Little Treasure cannot endure its own temperament and would never pull us in here just to observe us and then remain silent for a long time. As for One-Eyed Second Treasure, although I don’t really understand its deeds, according to the Sovereign of Wisdom’s description, if it wanted to observe us it would definitely observe in secret, rather than staying in this space waiting for us to discover it.」
「Eliminating those two, that leaves only One-Eyed Big Treasure, which means you, Gastly.」 Angel paused for a moment: 「Moreover, the Sovereign of Wisdom also said before that you agreed to help me pass on the Gray Merchant’s memories, and although everything can only be carried out after we have passed the trial of Younus, the closer we get to the Wise One’s Great Hall, the more I can’t help thinking that we are about to face Younus, and that Gastly should also be appearing.」
「With this prior preparation, when you appeared it could be considered within expectations.」
As for the reasons Angel gave, One-Eyed Big Treasure judged them to be true. However, what it did not know was that although all of Angel’s reasons were indeed true, he had not stated all of the reasons. For example, the concrete basis on which Angel determined the identity of One-Eyed Big Treasure actually came from super-perception, and this point he had not mentioned at all.
One-Eyed Big Treasure: 「Your answer is true, and I accept it. Then now, we can have a peaceful talk……」
Angel: 「Wait.」
One-Eyed Big Treasure looked at Angel in confusion, wasn’t it Angel who had brought up having a talk, so why was he suddenly calling it to a halt.
Angel: 「I also just answered your question, so in the interest of fairness, shouldn’t you also answer a question of mine?」
One-Eyed Big Treasure did not speak, it merely used that single eye to motion for Angel to ask.
「With so many of us here, why did you have to single him out?」 Angel pointed at Kael.
Clearly there had been so many people walking together, yet the person One-Eyed Big Treasure chose to pull away was Kael? If Angel had not noticed in time and followed in, Kael’s current situation would be very hard to predict.
So, Angel wanted to know, why had One-Eyed Big Treasure chosen Kael first?
Chapter 2789 Mask Ownership <TOC> Chapter 2791 Contract and Cooperation