Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2735: Chapter 2736: Spatial Dysregulation

The Grey Merchant’s bloodline fully activated, leaped into the sky, crushing forward like a ”spinning top”.

When Angel saw this scene, he knew the opportunity had arrived.

While the Grey Merchant was in high-speed rotation, it was nearly impossible to lock onto an opponent with the naked eye. At this moment, he would inevitably use spiritual power to lock onto Angel.

When launching a strong attack, use offense as defense.

In this situation, the Grey Merchant’s defense against spiritual power would also correspondingly weaken. Of course, this weakening doesn’t mean ”none,” just relatively less sensitive than before.

Moreover, with the Grey Merchant’s bloodline fully activated, his blood energy was brimming, making him completely fearless of external spiritual attacks.

So, the current situation for the Grey Merchant was that while his external defenses were heavy, internally, it was unobstructed.

Coincidentally, Angel’s illusion was attached to the Grey Merchant, barely considered internal.

Seeing the opportunity arise, Angel began his little maneuvers.

Angel controlled Earl Mi to reach out and gently grasp in the direction of the Grey Merchant. This action had no meaning on the energy level, which is why outsiders cannot detect energy fluctuations.

However, having no meaning on the energy level doesn’t mean the action is meaningless.

This action is one of the suggestive gestures Angel practiced in ”Heart Illusion”.

Every Illusionist Wizard designs corresponding suggestive gestures when practicing Heart Illusion. Whether it’s swinging a watch, snapping fingers, or playing an invisible piano... and so on.

This suggestion is similar to a ritual action before hypnosis.

Since it is similar to a ritual action, it naturally only relates to the complete ”ceremony”. And it is connected to the illusion Angel cast on the Grey Merchant, so, through this action, Angel can manipulate the illusion to some degree.

Besides secretly manipulating the illusion, Angel’s action also had a purpose: to attract the Grey Merchant’s attention. When his attention was diverted, the success rate of triggering the illusion increased.

Whether the Grey Merchant’s attention was attracted or not, Angel wasn’t sure. However, when the trajectory of the Grey Merchant’s movement diverged, he knew the illusion had successfully triggered.

...

The name of the illusion, Spatial Displacement.

——This was actually a name Angel just came up with, but he thought it was very fitting.

Originally, this illusion was only a sensory-obscuring illusion, simply called ”Basic Illusion Technique,” but Angel made slight alterations to this basic illusion.

Firstly, the illusion is the Art of Nightmare Illusion, with the medium being Angel’s right eye. This fundamentally elevated the illusion by several levels, plus the green pattern in the right eye enhanced the Heart Illusion, directly transforming the basic sensory illusion into a cognition-targeted illusion.

Next, Angel infused his understanding of space into the illusion. Even without the incorporation of Spatial Energy, the practitioner’s understanding of space deepened the illusion’s essence. For those with a slight lack of space understanding, the structure and power of this type of illusion are almost overwhelming.

Lastly, the release of the illusion was adapted to the situation. In a completely asymmetrical space, trying to forcibly alter the opponent’s spatial cognition and cause spatial chaos through ”swap” method is evidently inappropriate.

However, in the current situation, it was highly suitable. Because the arena itself is symmetrical and vast, and the arena also floats in the void, surrounded by pitch blackness, with no references except for magical creatures of the void. The void creatures are living things, inherently reflected in the illusion, so there was no concern about using them as reference points. Moreover, most void creatures did not show their forms, and only densely packed, bloodthirsty eyes could be seen in the dark void, making them difficult to use as reference coordinates.

In this spatially matching situation, Angel dared to boldly employ this type of spatial cognition illusion.

Facts proved that timing and location favored Angel.

The Grey Merchant smoothly caught in the trap, completely unaware that his spatial cognition, in terms of senses, had already been swapped.

This was the grand illusion Angel orchestrated.

In plain terms, it was to simulate a disorder akin to a symmetrical spatial displacement through illusion.

For ordinary people, this could be an incurable ailment, requiring adaptation and lifestyle changes.

But for an Official Wizard, the efficacy of such spatial displacement is actually limited, depending largely on ”human harmony”.

The so-called human harmony refers to the Grey Merchant himself. Once he touches something visible but intangible, he will naturally become suspicious.

This suspicion may pass once or twice, but as it accumulates, even if the subject’s cognition is deceived, doubts will arise, subsequently realizing something is amiss.

For instance, if the Grey Merchant repeatedly misses his target in attacks, initially, he might self-rationalize through imagination, but after multiple failures, he will find it peculiar.

Yet, the key here is ”frequency”.

Once ensnared, would Angel give the Grey Merchant numerous chances to attack and doubt?

Certainly not, so when the Grey Merchant fell into the trap, with no external reminders, the outcome was already decided.

...

The Grey Merchant lavishly praised the completely ”nonexistent” opponent. After strutting his words, he resumed his stance, ready to engage in a real battle with Earl Mi.

Logically, Angel could make his move at this point.

Whether through Spatial Displacement, deceiving cognition, luring him off the arena, or relying solely on Earl Mi’s combat abilities, he could subdue the Grey Merchant suffering from spatial cognition disorder.

’Strategize’ or ’fight’, either path had secured victory.

Yet Angel chose neither; he opted for ’delay’. Or rather, ’wait’ for ’change’.

Victory, in truth, was irrelevant because even if Angel lost, there were still the rested Dox and Black Earl. On the level of Official Wizards, their victory was assured.

With this conclusion in mind, Angel hoped for some unforeseen ”change” in the battle’s dynamics.

This change, Angel pinned his hopes on the Grey Merchant.

Since that existence was observing him so closely through the Grey Merchant, would ”she” seize this opportunity to act? Even if she didn’t, would she provide Grey Merchant with a subtle nudge, awakening him from his cognitive disorder?

If she indeed did so, Angel would then have reason to directly target her.

In fact, Angel had already subtly locked onto the location of the previously sensed unusual emotion.

However, as time dragged on, the Grey Merchant continually missed encounters with ”Earl Mi”, and even when self-doubt began to emerge within the Grey Merchant, that presence still refrained from taking action.

Furthermore, Angel’s perception of those anomalous emotions was growing increasingly faint. Either the opponent discovered Angel was sensing it, or they seemed to be moving away from the gray merchant.

Angel personally leaned towards the latter.

Because although his gaze occasionally swept across key locations, he didn’t take any specific actions. Unless the opponent could read minds, and could penetrate Earl Mi’s facade to directly read Angel’s thoughts, otherwise they shouldn’t be able to sense Angel.

But if it’s the latter, the method by which the opponent distances themselves from the gray merchant is quite peculiar. Clearly, you can sense the anomalous emotions still attached to the gray merchant, yet they’re gradually becoming weaker. It’s as if the gray merchant’s body has an inherent spatial passage, where she initially gathered at the entrance, now is moving away from the entrance, heading deeper inside...

Such a bizarre situation vaguely reminded Angel of something.

The anomalous emotions quickly disappeared, and at that moment, a suspicion floated in Angel’s mind.

Angel pondered for a moment, watching the gray merchant still in a cognitive dissonance, his heart stirred, ready to take this opportunity to verify if the suspicion was correct.

Angel’s hesitation seemed, to outsiders, as though he was toying with the gray merchant.

The gray merchant had been trapped by the illusion from start to finish without confronting Angel directly, instead engaging in cunning strategies with the air. This scene made Dox feel quite impressed.

Clearly, he could easily defeat the opponent, even kill them, yet he chose to ”humiliate” them in this manner...

”Tsk, tsk, tsk... So, I said his heart is dark, now do you believe me?” Dox said to Vay.

Vay pursed his lips: ”What do you know, the lord must have deeper intentions for doing this.”

Dox’s eyes widened: ”You can defend him for even this?”

Vay said, ”I did not. Moreover, even if the lord truly did it intentionally, so what? Didn’t you hear earlier how the people on the other side cursed the lord? Even calling him a shapeshifter?!”

The more Vay spoke, the angrier he became, the more he thought, the more indignant: ”The lord previously promised to allow them into the Sunlight Sanctuary, they are truly ingrates! So, the lord humiliated him, so what?”

Vay loudly expressed it to ensure the people on the opposite side would hear.

And indeed, the group of the wicked woman heard it. However, among them, Pow Le was the only one who truly took it to heart; the others, including the wicked woman, did not pay much attention.

Because although it appeared that Earl Mi was toying with the gray merchant, ultimately there were no further actions.

Moreover, who can really say whether Earl Mi’s illusion technique would require a buffering time after release or simply mean that after casting, he can no longer use other abilities?

After all, this is the ability that can affect a Blood Origin Wizard, isn’t some side effect quite normal?

That’s why the wicked woman and her group really didn’t think too much.

However, when Earl Mi was ”playing” enough and started to make moves, inching closer to the gray merchant, they began to feel nervous.

They hadn’t cared earlier because the gray merchant wasn’t hurt. But now that Earl Mi started moving, they felt uncertain.

No one knew whether Earl Mi’s attitude towards the gray merchant was forgiveness or killing.

The wicked woman’s group didn’t dare to blink, they stared intently at the confrontation on the arena, afraid of missing any detail. But soon, their expression started to become peculiar.

Earl Mi did not deliver a death blow to the gray merchant, but his actions confused the wicked woman and others.

Above Earl Mi’s head, the Blue Lantern Flower gently swayed, and dismembered hands composed of crystals or gems appeared in front of Earl Mi.

In just a few seconds, nearly twenty hands of various colors but identically shaped were produced.

The wicked woman’s group may not be familiar with the appearance of these dismembered hands, but the Black Earl’s group was quite familiar. These were clearly modeled after Dangross’s hands, even the eyes and mouth in the palms were identical!

Once these dismembered hands were produced, they carried the breath of the earth, approaching the gray merchant from different directions.

To prevent the gray merchant from discovering their presence, Earl Mi used ”mirror symmetry” to constantly feint attacks, distracting the gray merchant’s attention.

Even so, some of the hands were affected and consequently broke completely.

However, even in destruction, the hands fulfilled their last bit of duty. They altered their presence, transforming into debris, making the gray merchant believe they struck Earl Mi, thus weakening doubt over cognitive dissonance.

By the time some hands approached the gray merchant, less than half of the hands remained.

These hands, in comparison to the gray merchant who had fully activated his bloodline and transformed into the original form of a ground dragon, were as tiny as ants. Yet, precisely because of their small size, the gray merchant didn’t notice them initially.

The dismembered hands crawled up the gray merchant’s tail, constantly moving over the skin covered with crystal scales.

This is what outsiders observed, the happenings on the current arena.

With those hands having extremely weak energy, it was definitely impossible to deliver a fatal blow to the gray merchant. However, these hands roaming over the gray merchant’s body created a picture that was quite... indescribable.

Luckily, the gray merchant had activated his bloodline, appearing entirely non-human. Otherwise, these hands roaming over the gray merchant’s body would seem akin to caressing, even more unbearable.

”I was wrong.” At this moment, Dox suddenly exclaimed: ”I thought his previous toying demeanor was humiliating to the opponent enough, I didn’t expect he had an even harsher move.”

”If this was a witch, after leaving the stage, it certainly would be unceasingly relentless.”

Dox’s voice was heard by everyone except the two in the arena.

Regardless of whether Dox was slandering or had truly seen through the truth, his words made the wicked woman’s gaze suddenly become gloomy.

As males present had nothing to relate with, yet as a witch, the wicked woman connected instantly with Dox’s words. His words evoked an immediate sense of empathy.

Earlier she hadn’t felt Angel’s actions were so improper nor thought it was humiliating for the gray merchant, but at this moment, the wicked woman’s view was altered. Her vicious gaze locked onto Angel, no matter how she looked, she felt this gemstone giant was surrounded by a lewd aura.

Angel naturally felt the wicked woman’s gaze.

He also noticed the wicked woman’s emotions had suddenly changed from neutral to malicious.

Angel didn’t know what happened in between, though he didn’t have the leisure to investigate the emotional shift of the wicked woman now.

For he felt another anomalous emotion!

Moreover, this time the anomalous emotion wasn’t emanating from the gray merchant, but from... the Void!