Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2739: Chapter 2740: Shadow in the Mirror

As everyone was filled with doubt, they suddenly heard Dox’s "hmm" sound.

"Look, doesn’t this look like a shadow figure?" Dox pointed to a black mark on the shattered mirror and said.

Earlier, everyone only noticed how blurry the mirror was and didn’t pay attention to the marks on it. Now that Dox mentioned it, they focused on the black mark on the mirror.

Admittedly, at first glance, it really looked like a shadow figure, and moreover...

"Why does it look somewhat familiar to me?" said Vay, who also thought the black mark looked like a shadow figure, and he felt like he’d seen it somewhere before.

As he spoke, Vay also moved closer to Dox, stretching his neck for a closer look at the mirror, almost pressing his face against it.

Just then, the mirror suddenly reflected a light, which flashed across Vay’s eyes.

Vay instinctively took a step back and closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he found the surroundings quiet. Looking around, he saw everyone staring at the mirror with astonished expressions.

Vay rubbed his sore eyes and stepped forward to scrutinize the mirror.

When he looked at the mirror again, Vay, like everyone else, wore a look of surprise and doubt.

"How, how has it... changed color?"

The black shadow mark remained, but now, the blurry mirror had turned entirely blood red, as if a blood-like glow was circulating on its surface.

Not only was everyone surprised, but even Angel was taken aback. He had previously focused on the shadow mark, but now he was bewildered by the flowing blood glow.

Clearly, he had sensed this mirror before and found nothing unusual. If there was an anomaly, it was likely within the mirror’s space. But now, the mirror surface had changed unexpectedly. Was the inner mirror space affecting the outer Material Realm?

Angel directed his gaze upwards towards the Wise Sovereign, attempting to get an answer from him.

However, the Wise Sovereign didn’t reply but instead focused his gaze on the gray merchant.

Since Dox mentioned the figure in the mirror, the group with the gray merchant hadn’t spoken, silently standing aside. It wasn’t until the mirror turned blood red that they exchanged quick glances, yet still remained silent.

Now, with the Wise Sovereign fixing his gaze on the gray merchant, even without an authoritative air, the gray merchant felt a heavy atmosphere.

The gray merchant understood the Wise Sovereign’s intent: he wanted him to explain the cause of the mirror’s anomaly.

The gray merchant hesitated whether to speak, as speaking might offend that person. But if he didn’t speak... he would offend the Noah Clan.

Offending the Mirror Bearer would likely mean losing his memory, but offending the Noah Clan could mean losing everything.

Weighing the options, the gray merchant chose to confess.

"The reason this mirror turned red is because it’s tainted with the ’target’s’ pheromone."

Dox: "Target’s pheromone?"

The gray merchant nodded, briefly explaining the cause and effect.

Actually, halfway through his explanation, everyone mostly understood the hidden details. The Sage’s reference to "her" seeking out the gray merchant was certain, otherwise there wouldn’t be their current duel.

After she sought out the gray merchant, she handed them this broken mirror and said that once it came into contact with the target’s pheromone, it would turn blood red.

Their task was to find the target and, if possible, obstruct or even intercept and kill the target.

The mirror had come into contact with Angel’s pheromone and had also been stained with Dox’s pheromone, without any change. But when Vay’s pheromone touched the mirror, it glowed with blood light. Without a doubt, Vay was the target the Mirror Bearer was looking for.

Or rather... one of the targets.

At this point, both the gray merchant and Angel’s group understood the truth, realizing "her" target was actually the Noah Clan. Among the Noah Clan present, besides Vay, there was another person—Black Earl!

If before this, the gray merchant had discovered Vay was the target, he might have dared to act. But now, knowing Black Earl was nearby, he had no desire to make any move.

At worst, it would mean losing his memory, which was better than losing his life.

"Being able to pinpoint through pheromone tracking," Dox chuckled, patting Vay’s shoulder, "Looks like many of your ancestors died at her hands."

This type of tracking clearly relied on bloodline connections. Since it’s a bloodline connection, she must have the bloodline of Noah ancestors.

However, Dox’s statement was slightly exaggerated; it’s not necessarily that Noah’s ancestors died at her hands, she might have obtained the Noah bloodline in other ways.

Nevertheless, Vay didn’t refute Dox’s claim, because considering how she tasked the gray merchant to "intercept and kill" Noah’s descendants, it was possible that Noah’s ancestors did indeed die by her hands.

"Hmph, we will definitely root out the internal conflict," Vay said angrily.

In Vay’s view, the legacy site was left by Noah’s ancestors for their descendants, meaning it belonged to their Noah Clan, and the intelligent beings inside should respect the Noah descendants, even if they only obeyed Noah’s ancestors. If they failed to do so, that was betrayal, that’s an internal conflict!

Since it’s an internal conflict, it must be quelled. And the best way to quell internal conflict is to eradicate, making it final!

After saying this, Vay turned to Angel with an expectant tone, "Sir, we can definitely do it, right?"

Before Angel could reply, Dox interjected with a jest, "What good is asking him? He didn’t make the mirror red."

Vay was momentarily silenced, as he really didn’t know how to refute Dox this time. His question was purely instinctive, forgetting Angel’s actual identity.

While Vay was momentarily stunned, Angel hinted, "Perhaps we don’t necessarily have to eradicate; we might be able to cooperate?"

Upon hearing Angel’s suggestion, Vay didn’t argue but internally disagreed. With tensions this high, how could they possibly cooperate? At this moment, Vay had a realization, understanding that even the words of the Lighthouse weren’t always advisable.

Others likely thought the same as Vay; only the gray merchant across the room felt Angel’s words were suggesting... a softer approach to achieve their goal, or in other words, agreeing to trade?

However, their interpretations were all off the mark. Angel’s mention of cooperation wasn’t about Adanis but the male voice he had previously conversed with.

Although his identity wasn’t yet confirmed, it was very likely to be the male figure in the Mirror Demon God’s emblem. His benevolence was apparent, and cooperating with him might enable the Noah descendants to better achieve their objectives, and perhaps even influence Adanis’s perception?

At this moment, Angel was indeed considering things from the perspective of the Noah descendants.

But, there’s one thing that Angel is very puzzled about. Why do Adanis and the man with the kind voice focus on him?

He’s clearly an outsider, supposed to be an audience member watching from the sidelines. Why does the spotlight shine on him, making the stage seem to gravitate toward his feet?

It must be an illusion, after all, Adanis specifically targeted the Noah descendants... Plus, that man’s voice might not have contacted only him; maybe the Black Earl received information earlier?

Thinking of this, Angel temporarily suppressed his doubts.

He turned back to the Gray Merchant; the mirror needs to be resolved.

The situation previously described by the Gray Merchant was very detailed, without hiding any details. Everyone now understands why the reactions of the Wicked Woman and others are so strong, and why the Gray Merchant values the mirror so highly.

The blame for everything falls on the Mirror Bearer. Because she sealed the Gray Merchant’s most crucial memory in the mirror.

Why this memory is important, the Gray Merchant did not explain, but from the reactions of the Wicked Woman and others, it is clear that this memory might be related to the Gray Merchant’s secret, or even secrets of the Merchant Organization.

Thus, the Gray Merchant has no reason not to retrieve the mirror, and the Wicked Woman’s forceful snatching is based on this.

The reason the Gray Merchant suddenly chose to yield now, achieving his goal through negotiation and even being willing to give it up, is actually not difficult to understand. From the Gray Merchant’s clear attitude of fear toward the Black Earl, he has surely recognized the Black Earl’s identity.

People from the Wizards’ Realm are mostly aware of current affairs, and the Gray Merchant is no exception.

"This mirror..." Angel just started to speak, then paused to ponder. This made the Gray Merchant’s heart rise high, unable to settle.

Angel wasn’t pausing deliberately; he was genuinely thinking about how to handle this mirror.

He took the mirror for research purposes, while the Gray Merchant wanted his sealed memories.

Thinking closely, their aims do not conflict; they can reach a consensus.

And to reach a consensus, they only need to solve one problem: liberating the Gray Merchant’s memories sealed in the mirror by Adanis.

As long as the Gray Merchant’s memory can be unsealed, the mirror has no value for him. When Angel takes it, there will be no dispute. But the question now is... how should the unsealing happen?

While Angel pondered, the Gray Merchant’s mood grew increasingly restless. Until now, he couldn’t fathom the thoughts of the Red-haired, golden-eyed Wizard opposite him.

If he doesn’t want to trade, he can simply refuse. But he hasn’t outright rejected it, seemingly inclined to trade; yet why say half the words and then remain silent?

Is he considering what to trade, or is he still pondering whether to trade?

After a while, even Dox couldn’t help but wave a hand in front of Angel to test if he was still lost in thought. Angel finally raised his eyes.

Angel seemed to have regained his senses, but instead of picking up where he left off, he controlled his spirit tentacle to envelop the broken mirror and lifted it from his palm.

The levitating mirror allowed everyone to see the image on it more clearly.

The red light remained, and the silhouette in the mirror carved out in the crimson hue was increasingly distinct. From the outline, it’s apparent the Gray Merchant didn’t lie; the figure inside is indeed identical to him.

As the Gray Merchant looked complexly at the figure in the mirror, Angel’s subsequent actions stunned the group.

Angel raised his hand, reaching toward the broken mirror. According to conventional thinking, his hand should be stopped by the mirror.

In reality, Angel’s hand encountered no obstacle, directly penetrating the mirror.

Angel seemed to reach into the mirror, but that’s not the case. The broken mirror itself isn’t large enough, not even as big as his hand.

It’s merely a medium; realistically, Angel’s hand caused space ripples before touching the mirror. His hand didn’t physically touch the mirror yet delved into its interior.

This operation from Angel seemed normal to the Black Earl and others, since Angel previously showcased his hand probe into the painting in the Hanging Jail Stairway to them.

But to the Gray Merchant and his group, it was startling.

After the Mirror Bearer sealed the Gray Merchant’s memory, they tried various ways to test the mirror with no result. In their eyes, it’s a common broken and fragile mirror.

Too much force might shatter it.

So, after repeated failures, they chose to admit defeat and give up.

Because of their attempts, they understand the mirror’s fragility and commonplace nature, making Angel’s success in doing what they couldn’t so astonishing.

...

Though Angel’s hand-reaching move was abrupt, people present weren’t foolish. A bit of thinking combined with the Gray Merchant’s prior explanations, most could guess Angel intended to try unsealing the mirror.

After their initial shock, the Gray Merchant and others realized this.

They forgot their prior conflicts, gazing at Angel with hopeful eyes. Even the Wicked Woman changed her expression, intently staring at the hand reaching into the mirror.

From the slight movements of Angel’s arm, they could tell his hand was searching back and forth inside the mirror.

Whether he found anything, only Angel knew.

Moments later, Angel withdrew his hand, empty-handed. The silhouette remained unchanged on the mirror.

The Gray Merchant and others looked slightly disappointed but didn’t lose all hope. Since Angel could reach inside, the memory unsealing is possible.

Perhaps it’s just out of reach, unable to access the Gray Merchant’s sealed memory.

Or maybe Angel already touched the Gray Merchant’s memory, just preparing to negotiate terms before unsealing?

They gazed eagerly at Angel, wishing for an explanation, but they were too embarrassed to ask.

The only one unconcerned with stance or occasion, yelling without restraint, is Pink Mo. And Pink Mo... was hushed by the Gray Merchant.

While they debated whether to secretly loosen Pink Mo’s constraint to stir some atmosphere, someone spoke first and asked what loomed in their minds.

"Is there anything good in the mirror?"

The questioning style revealed the speaker was undoubtedly Dox.