"What? Do you have a problem with my explanation?" Angor asked when Dorcas didn't respond.
Dorcas looked up at Angor and exhaled deeply. He didn't say anything.
His eyes were filled with all kinds of emotions. Angor couldn't tell what Dorcas was feeling even with his Beyonder Senses.
Sadness and doubt, excitement and absent-mindedness, helplessness and confusion, sadness and expectation.
In a short period of time, all kinds of opposing and extreme emotions were born and extinguished like bubbles.
Angor couldn't tell what Dorcas was feeling right now. In fact, Dorcas didn't even know how to describe it.
It was like two "selves" were fighting against each other. Which one was his "id"? Which one was his "real self"? Dorcas felt his head was in a mess.
His mind was like a small boat floating on the ocean, sometimes pushed to the depths, and sometimes pushed back to the surface.
After a long time, Dorcas finally spoke in a small voice, "… I don't mind."
"I'm glad you don't have a problem with that. Take this one-use space capsule. Consider it a gift from me. Of course, there's also a fee for your service. "
In fact, he was hinting that Dorcas would have to "work" for him for a while, at least. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked for benefits first.
Dorcas didn't say anything. Just as Angor said, he put away the capsule.
It didn't matter if Dorcas understood Angor's words. At least, he had given up.
Angor didn't say anything else. He looked at the Light Shrine, where Gray Merchant and his people were already coming out.
There was no doubt that even if they tried to suppress the change in their expressions, it was difficult to conceal the joyous aura around them. Everyone, from the gray merchant to the apprentices, was glad and happy.
The changes brought to them by the Sunlight Sacred Hall were too great. Originally, it was very difficult for an individual to feel this kind of internal enhancement, unless the enhancement reached the limit. But the Light Shrine did just that. Even apprentices could feel the tremendous change in their spirit sea. Such a positive change could affect them for the rest of their lives.
How could they not be happy about such an opportunity?
As for the woman, she was still in the Light Shrine. It would take her some time to recover from her injuries. However, judging from her happy expression and the fact that half of her withered body quickly regained its luster, she wouldn't complain about the Light Shrine.
"Now that both sides are in position, the second match will begin." The Wise Ruler's voice came from above.
The woman was already eliminated, so it didn't matter if she was still in the Light Shrine. In any case, the second duel would definitely be fought by the grey merchant himself.
As long as Gray Merchant was in position, he didn't have to worry about anything else.
Upon hearing the referee's voice, Hui Shang suppressed his excitement and temporarily forgot about the positive changes brought to his body by the Sunlight Sacred Hall. Step by step, he walked towards the center of the arena.
Now that Gray Merchant had shown up, it was time for Angor's side to show up.
............ ..... ..................................
That meant the red-haired, golden-eyed wizard was the only one who could fight Gray Merchant.
Wait. Maybe that stone nose could fight too. If the nose was really from that family as the gray merchant had guessed, then this duel would be very difficult.
While Hui Shang was deep in thought, he did not know that his opponent had already been decided.
According to "her" request, Angor had to fight no matter what. Since Madame and Dorcas were fighting, Angor had to fight this time.
While Vale and Kael were cheering Angor on in their Spirit Bond, Count Black and Dorcas didn't seem to care much about Angor's arrival.
"Try to defeat him before he activates his bloodline," Dorcas said.
Count Black didn't say anything. If Angor could give Dorcas the Light Shrine, Count Black believed Angor must have something else up his sleeve.
Count Black wasn't sure if he could defeat Elmi in a short time. If Elmi worked together with Angor, even Count Black himself would have to retreat.
So, there was nothing to worry about.
He would win for sure. It all depended on which trump card he was going to show to "her" hiding in the dark.
Angor didn't feel any pressure. The only thing he said before entering the stage wasn't about the match.
"Following your heart isn't a bad thing. There's more than one definition of freedom. Shackles are like a cocoon. While you think you're not free, it's protected, and it's growing peacefully. When you break out of the cocoon, you think you're going to see your freedom, but you're probably going to face a violent storm.
"So, you choose to stay in a tree hole that can shelter you from the wind and rain. Even in a narrow tree hole, you still think you're free.
"But in reality, you're just flying from a cocoon to another ivory tower.
"There's only one hole where you can see the sky outside. That's the perspective of an ivory tower. You're like a frog at the bottom of a well, who can only see the sky as big as the mouth of the well. "
Angor sounded like he was talking to himself, but everyone knew who he was talking to.
Angor had said something similar before, but he only expressed his own opinion and did not try to analyze it. Now, he probably saw Dorcas' blank expression, so he said something like that.
Black Earl also thought Angor's words were a little wrong, and a little too naive.
But one thing was for sure. Looking at the sky from the bottom of a well would not allow one to see true freedom.
Jumping out of the current social class, jumping out of the established perspective, and looking at a completely new world, one would see different things, including the understanding of freedom. So, Dorcas, who blindly pursued so-called freedom, had already entered the wrong path.
Angor didn't care if Dorcas heard him or not. He stretched his body and stepped onto the stage.
He didn't mention anyone's name, so Dorcas could just ignore it. Of course, if Dorcas really did that, Angor would choose to give Dorcas the freedom he wanted. As for the so-called price, it would be paid one day in Dorcas' world of freedom.
Angor stepped onto the stage and walked to the center step by step.
He didn't take any big steps, but each of his steps was very serious. He also secretly activated his Ultra Perception.
He wasn't trying to sense Gray Merchant's emotions. Instead, he was trying to find "her" in the dark.
Since she asked him to enter the stage, she would definitely spy on him after he stepped onto the stage.
As long as she looked at him, and as long as her real body was still in the underground sewer, Angor believed that he could sense her location even if they were separated by an alternate dimension.
Angor walked slowly, which attracted a lot of attention. Some were from Gray Merchant's side, and some were from Dorcas' group. Everyone was looking at him with different emotions.
Using Ultra Perception, Angor could vaguely sense their emotions and even read their minds.
However, Angor didn't have enough time to read their minds. He simply categorized all the emotions he sensed into three categories: kindness, indifference, and malice.
Basically, Dorcas and the others only felt kindness toward him. Gray Merchant's side, on the other hand, didn't feel anything. Gray Merchant's side didn't show any kindness or malice at all.
As for malice … that was what Angor was most concerned about. In his mind, "she" was definitely hostile toward him. If he could find the source of the malice, he might be able to find out where "she" was.
However, Angor didn't consider everything.
The "malice" he sensed on the stage was more than all the "kindness" and "indifference" added together.
And all of it came from the void monsters. They roared, howled, and stared at the people on the stage with greedy eyes while drooling.
Angor didn't know how to react to so much malice.
He thought that there would be the least amount of malice, so if there was any, it would be the most obvious. However, he did not expect that his super perception would detect the malice of these monsters as well.
This was a little out of his expectations.
Angor walked forward while trying to come up with a plan.
There was no doubt that these void monsters were all chaotic and evil. Most of them had no sense of reason. They only had the instinct to kill and devour.
Perhaps "she" wanted him to enter the stage to observe him. But would "she" want to kill him?
Angor wasn't sure.
But "she" wouldn't want to eat him, would she?
Also, the Wise Overseer never told him that "she" was a cannibal.
With that in mind, Angor blocked out all the malice that looked at him as a snack or food.
With that, most of the malice coming from the void was reduced. The rest of the malice was pure murderous intent.
They probably thought that humans were too small to fill the gaps between their teeth, so they preferred to follow the rules set by their masters and kill anyone who left the stage.
Angor considered for a moment and decided to block out another batch of malice. This time, he chose to block out "extreme malice".
"She" might want to kill him, but Angor believed that he was not on the "must-kill" list yet. She might have something against him, but it was not the most extreme case yet.
Therefore, Angor chose to block out "extreme malice".
With this, the malice coming from the void was reduced even further. There were less than a hundred of them left. Angor glanced at them and found out where they came from.
The ones with weaker malice were mostly small monsters. They weren't the main force in the first place, so their malice wasn't as strong as before.
It was worth mentioning that one of them was a whale-shaped monster with a horn on its head. Its body was huge even among Void monsters, but its malice was rather faint and almost nonexistent. Still, its outward appearance was no different from the other monsters: immeasurably excited, roaring and howling as if drooling.
If it weren't for its drooping eyelids, which made it look like it was about to fall asleep at any moment, Angor would have a hard time telling it apart from the other "extreme" monsters.
"What a great actor …" Angor thought to himself.
Not only was it good at acting, but it also knew how to keep a low profile. Without a doubt, the whale-shaped monster must have gained sentience. Otherwise, it wouldn't be acting like this.
Angor only sighed in his mind before he moved his eyes away.
There were still a lot of malice, but he already remembered where they came from. Apart from the "great actor", nothing else was out of place.
Maybe … she wasn't looking at him yet?
As he pondered, he reached the center of the arena.
Maybe it was because Angor's expression was serious and "respectful", no one complained even though Angor's pace was slow and irritating.
When Angor came to a stop, Gray Merchant nodded to him politely. He also briefly introduced himself. He didn't use his real name. Instead, he referred to himself as Gray Merchant.
It could be considered polite, but it could also be considered cunning.
This was because even though the grey merchant had concealed some information in his self-introduction, the information was basically true. If Angor returned the gesture, he would have to do the same.
Even if Angor only used a nickname, Gray Merchant would be able to figure out who he really was. That was Gray Merchant's goal.
Of course, Angor didn't have to answer, and Gray Merchant wouldn't mind.
Still, he returned the gesture. While he was introducing himself, the shadow on the ground began to wriggle until a human-shaped shadow crawled out of the ground and attached itself to Angor's body. Only then did the strange phenomenon stop.
As the shadow attached itself to him, Angor's appearance changed drastically. His body was bigger than before, but it wasn't his real body. It was a shadow that looked like black flames.
The shadow covered Angor's face completely. The only thing that could be seen were his green eyes.
Other than that, the most eye-catching thing about Dim Shadow was that there was a "Blue Lantern Flower" on top of his head that was emitting a faint light. Under the breeze, it swayed from time to time and spat out a few small bubbles.
After "transforming", Angor used a hoarse voice to introduce himself. "… Elmi."
No matter what Gray Merchant's reaction was, Dorcas and the others were stunned.
They didn't expect Angor to use this method to introduce himself. Using Elmi's possession to call himself Elmi … wasn't wrong?
Angor's self-introduction was only a brief interlude. What surprised them the most was that Angor revealed Elmi's identity right away. Did this mean Angor had something even more powerful than Elmi's?
While everyone was guessing, Hui Shang was looking at his opponent in confusion.
Elmi? Was that his name?
Or was it an alias as well?
Gray Merchant searched through all his memories but couldn't find anything similar. Soon, Gray Merchant no longer cared about whether the name was real or not.
This was because his opponent had grown into a three-meter-tall shadow giant.
It wasn't a big deal if the shadow only grew bigger. However, as the shadow grew bigger, the aura of his opponent also grew stronger. In fact, it had already surpassed Gray Merchant's knowledge!
(End of Chapter)
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