Chapter 2745: Chapter 2746: Means of Victory
Kaier shared his speculations.
"Your analysis is decent," Dox praised, but in the next second, his tone shifted abruptly: "However, analyzing after the fact is still a step too slow. Battles change rapidly; thereâs not so much time for you to ponder slowly. So, youâre still far off!"
After praising and then criticizing Kaier, Dox began to address Kaierâs doubts.
"Your guess is correct, Vay summoning the stone pillar was indeed a small mistake. He didnât consider that his shadow had already connected with the stone pillar, giving the Shadow Phantom an opportunity."
Dox: "However, you got one thing wrong. The Shadow Phantom didnât tamper with Vayâs shadow âmultiple timesâ; he actually did just one thing."
Kaier looked at Dox, waiting for him to reveal the answer.
However, Dox stopped speaking at this point and turned his gaze to Angel.
Angel: "Mycelial Mother."
Dox turned to Kaier: "Thatâs right, itâs the Mycelial Mother."
Kaier: ... Is it because you didnât know, so you looked to Master Chaowei?
Kaierâs skeptical gaze made Dox a little uneasy. He turned his head slightly, avoiding direct eye contact with Kaier, and coughed lightly: "The name isnât whatâs important; understanding its effect is."
"The Mycelial Mother can attract split mycelial bodies. As you saw, the reason the fungal barrier expanded so quickly, and no matter where Vay went, the barrier could completely cover him, is because a Mycelial Mother was placed in his shadow."
Vay wanted to avoid the fungal barrier, moving swiftly on the arena stage. This action actually caused the barrier to expand rapidly.
Now, the reason Vay is lost within the fungal barrier is that no matter where he goes, the barrier above him canât be shaken off. Even though there are areas on the arena stage not yet covered by the barrier, as soon as Vay finds these areas, the barrier will cover them in advance. So as long as the Mother exists in Vayâs shadow, heâll keep losing his way on the arena stage.
Dox: "Besides attracting mycelial bodies, the Mycelial Mother seems to be controllable by the Shadow Phantom."
Earlier, when Vay suddenly coughed blood from the top of the stone pillar, interrupting the spell of the Earth Cocoon, it was likely the Shadow Phantomâs influence through the Mycelial Mother.
"However, the Shadow Phantomâs influence over the Mycelial Mother shouldnât be too deep, otherwise he could have secured victory through it already, rather than engaging in constant harassing attacks and playing a war of attrition."
"Think about it, how could the fungal barrier be completely controlled by a mere apprentice like the Shadow Phantom? It might be a method bestowed by official wizards."
Kaier: "Are you suggesting it was given by the Wicked Woman and the Grey Merchant?"
Dox shook his head: "The Shadow Phantom seems well-practiced with using the fungal barrier. This shouldnât be his first time playing like this. He may have obtained the Mycelial Mother before. As for who gave it to him, thatâs hard to say."
Despite what Dox said, Kaier was still very angry: "Using such a method is really shameless."
While Kaier was angrily dissatisfied, Dox looked at him with an odd expression: "If my memory hasnât gone wrong, you also have some out-of-discussion methods, and yours seem even more..."
Dox didnât continue, since Kaier was, after all, on their side, and he stopped where needed.
Kaierâs gaze drifted, his nose making a humming resonance for a long while, before he softly murmured: "Itâs not the same."
As to how it was different? Kaier couldnât really say, otherwise he wouldnât have sounded so lacking in confidence.
Dox didnât pursue the topic further, since doing so would be undermining their own side.
"Now, it depends on whether Vay can find the Mycelial Mother." Dox paused, looking at the arena almost completely covered in mist, then added: "But even if he finds the Mycelial Mother, itâll be very difficult."
Kaier: "Is there really no chance at all?"
"It doesnât seem thereâs any opportunity now," Dox said, then glanced at the Black Earl, wanting to see if the Black Earl would prepare any "asymmetrical" methods for Vay.
However, just like before, the Black Earl showed no reaction, as if he hadnât heard their discussion.
Inwardly puzzled, Dox muttered a few things to himself, then walked over to Angelâs side, asking, "What do you think?"
Angel: "Thereâs still a chance."
Hearing Angelâs words, Kaierâs eyes lit up, looking at Angel with hopeful eyes. Dox frowned: "Where do you see the chance?"
Angel, however, didnât reply, only giving Dox a look heavy with meaning.
That gaze filled Doxâs heart with doubt and suspicion. Coupled with the Black Earlâs silence, could it be... there truly was something he missed, and Vay still had a chance of victory?
Thinking this, Dox refocused on the arena.
Elsewhere, Angel seemed to also be watching the duel, but in his mind, he was thinking... if Kaier faced the Shadow Phantom and the remaining three apprentices, was there a direct path to victory?
Yes, in truth, Angel wasnât optimistic about Vayâs chances of winning.
As Dox said, Vay was now facing many difficulties, and even finding the Mycelial Mother wouldnât help. His only option now is to disregard these factors affecting him and focus on dealing with the Shadow Phantom. But within the mist, shadows are everywhere, and this is entirely the Shadow Phantomâs home ground. Itâs very, very tough for Vay to win on the home ground of the Shadow Phantom.
The reason Angel told Dox "thereâs still a chance" is because the Black Earl hasnât taken a stand.
According to the Black Earlâs previous habits, when Dox and Kaier were discussing, he would certainly offer some of his own views. But now he remained completely silent, and while Angel couldnât say this was necessarily related to Vayâs victory, he still retained some of his own opinions.
Moreover, "thereâs still a chance" is actually quite ambiguous. Having a chance doesnât guarantee a win; Angel didnât specify who it was an opportunity for either. He can fully explain it as the whole apprentice battle still having a chance, rather than Vay individually having a chance.
After all, he holds the right to interpret, and he didnât close off alternative explanations.
As for the meaningful look he gave to Dox... is it not okay to fake being deep sometimes?
Besides, isnât this a fundamental skill of wizards?
Previously, when the White Bear was at Pat Manor, Angel often saw him engrossed in a book titled "The Wizardâs Self-Cultivation," detailing the fundamental behavior and qualities a wizard should possess. Although Angel found it more like "An Actorâs Self-Cultivation" or "Chronicles of a Charlatan," after the White Bear learned from it, he really did embody the flavor of a "Prophet Wizard" more effectively.
Angel looked down on it at the time, but later discovered that sometimes, when you canât explain things or donât have an answer, acting profound works pretty well.
This was proven during his time as a judge in the New Star Competition. While other guest judges, akin to him, were commenting on the on-stage contestants and speculating the outcome, Angel just needed to show an enigmatic expression to smoothly steer the topic away without much explanation.
Similarly now, Angel couldnât truly explain where Vayâs opportunity lay, so he acted.
Of course, this kind of âactingâ canât be overdone. Once people have defined you, further acting loses its effect. Luckily, Doxâs perception of Angel was more surface-level brightness with a crafty core, still some distance away from labeling him as pretentious. So thereâs room for more acting.
Not having high hopes for Vay, Angel naturally shifted his focus to the apprentice duel and placed his hope on Kaier.
Unlike the Black Earl, Angel had no intention of testing his descendant at this crucial moment.
After all, Kaier is the one who convened the expedition. If he wishes to proceed deeper, Angel certainly intends to support him fully.
Based on the current situation, if Vay loses the battle, Kaier will likely engage consecutively against the four apprentices on the other side.
The seemingly most mysterious opponent is the Shepherd, a rhythm apprentice of the air element. Yet, Angel worries least about the Shepherd, because he plans to have Speedy accompany Kaier onto the stage.
Admittedly, such out-of-discussion methods might seem somewhat shameless to Dox.
How could an Official Wizard lend their elemental partner to someone else as an Out of Discussion tactic? If you did that, wouldnât the witch and the grey merchant on the other side also be able to loan their elemental partners to other apprentices?
Although Dox misunderstood that Speedy was his elemental partner, the other thoughts were quite normal.
Angel would naturally never do such an open act; he is an Alchemist, and what he has the most of are various alchemy materials and semi-finished products. He just needs to give Speedy a shell and inscribe a warding magic pattern to conceal its identity.
Moreover, elemental partners have a mental link with their owners during battle, but Speedy is not Angelâs elemental partner, at most a subordinate. So it has autonomy, and in a fight, it doesnât fear exposing its relationship with Angel.
With Speedyâs assistance, Kaier should be able to defeat the Shepherd.
Among the remaining three, Fenmo is relatively easy to deal with. As an apprentice of the Illusion Series, Angel, being a wizard of the Illusion Series, has too many tools to break through Fenmoâs illusions. As long as Kaier isnât deceived by illusions, with Speedy and his own abilities, he can defeat Fenmo.
The Magic Elephant is a Bloodline Wizard, which is a bit more troublesome. However, a Bloodline Wizard in the apprentice stage is not entirely unstoppable. Kaier is a Space Series apprentice; perhaps what Jun left behind can help him.
Lastly, thereâs the Shadow Entity.
Although Kaier has repeatedly stated that if he went first, the situation might be different, Angel feels Kaier is too optimistic. The Shadow Entity can certainly prolong the battle but may also have short-term explosive tactics.
Besides, the Shadow Series has the strongest ability to evade damage, so Kaier doesnât have a clear advantage against it.
Using the Out of Discussion means provided by Angel, Kaier should still be able to win, but it might be quite strenuous.
Is there a way to allow Kaier to win easily?
Angel contemplated as his gaze slowly turned to the shadow on the ground... Earl Mi.
He didnât plan to send Earl Mi to the arena; instead, he suddenly remembered something. He still has a Shadow Demon in hand; it was previously given to Earl Mi for training. Perhaps he could let the Shadow Demon take the stage?
Just as Angel was about to communicate with Earl Mi to see if the Shadow Demon was feasible, the voice of the Wise Sovereign suddenly reached his ears.
It wasnât the transmitted voice of the Wise Sovereign, but the announcement of the duel result proclaimed by the Wise Sovereign.
Angel instinctively looked up.
He had been prepared for Vayâs defeat, but when he looked at the arena, he was shocked to see... there was only one person standingâthe victor, Vay!
Beside Vay, a gigantic Earth Spike had pierced through the Shadow Entityâs abdomen, lifting it high.
Dripping blood fell from the Earth Spike, proving the Shadow Entity was its True Body, not just a shadow.
The winner of this duel... Vay?!
Angelâs eyes flashed a moment of astonishment but quickly controlled his expressions.
He had been considering how Kaier could achieve victory and hadnât been focused on Vayâs battle. How did Vay win? How did he turn disadvantages into advantages?
With questions in mind, Angel began to examine his memory.
Although he had been thinking about other things, his eyes had not left the arena. So by recalling his shallow memory, he could review what had happened earlier.
As montage-like scenes flashed by, Angel finally saw the process of Vayâs earlier fight.
...
The time went back to three minutes ago.
The petrified skin on Vayâs body had become mottled and was nearly half cracked. Cracks oozed with fresh blood continuously.
At this time, Vayâs body had hardly any place that was intact.
Moreover, from the cracks on Vayâs back, white tufted structures began to grow. These tufts were the budding entities following the fungus invasion.
These mycelial buds, using Vayâs body as a cradle and feeding on blood and mana, began to proliferate crazily within a short span.
If not quickly blocked, these tuft-like mycelial buds would grow uncontrollably until they drained all of Vayâs flesh and blood.
The only comfort was that this fungus invasion was not like the ones nurtured by the Misty Goldlady, as it did not invade the Mind Space or the Land of the Soul. So even if all his flesh was lost, Vay would still have a glimmer of hope.
Vayâs current condition wasnât good; besides the bleeding and fungal growth, he felt dizzy and was stumbling.
He had stopped resisting the invasion of the fungus in the mist and wandered like a zombie within it.
His actions seemed disorderly, but from his repeated resistance, it was guessable what he wanted to do next.
Vay should have decided to risk everything, refusing to seek a safe zone and instead directly confronting the Shadow Entity.
Just as Angel speculated, if Vay could seize a single opportunity, perhaps he could change the battleâs outcome.
However, Vayâs tactics were understandable to an outsider, and the Shadow Entity in the battle could understand them too.
Therefore, the Shadow Entity ceased sneak attacks, moving away from Vay instead.
The Shadow Entity moved freely in the mist, sensing Vayâs presence, but evaded him thoroughly to prevent Vay from pinpointing its position.
Now, the Shadow Entity only needed to wait for the mycelial buds to spread and could easily secure victory.
Vay wandered further away, while the Shadow Entity retreated further, with no intention of getting close.
However, at this moment, the Shadow Entityâs gaze slightly tightened.
Vay was actually taking potions!
Earlier, due to the Shadow Entityâs intermittent attacks, Vay hadnât had time to employ his money power, but now, as Shadow Entity was not attacking sneakily, Vay had the leisure to take potions.
The Shadow Entity watched helplessly as Vay took potions to recover while forcibly tearing off the tufted structures from his skin.
Although this didnât prevent the expansion of the mycelial buds, the potion Vay took was exceptionally effective. Even if unable to directly remove the mycelial buds, it achieved a perfect balance with them.
In this balanced state, Vay was almost at normal combat proficiency.
Though the cost was substantial, Vay could endure.
Seeing Vayâs condition improve, a slight annoyance flared within the Shadow Entity. However, it restrained this impulse, refraining from reckless attacks.
If the situation drags on, the Shadow Entity wonât suffer losses, but Vayâs potions would eventually run out.
Thatâs the Shadow Entityâs current thoughtâstay put, await changes.
But soon, the Shadow Entityâs plans shifted.
Because Vay walked himself into a dead end...
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