Angel didn’t speak, but fell into silence.
The Black Earl thought Angel was weighing the pros and cons and didn’t mind, giving Angel time to consider.
After a while, Angel softly said, "There’s no need for you to test me, sir. What could I know about the Noah clan? It’s nothing more than overhearing some little gossip, which won’t affect the exploration at all."
What Angel said was likely true, because if it really had an impact, he wouldn’t have agreed to let the Noah clan members come along. As for setting a trap? That’s impossible; their arrival was completely coincidental. Besides, with Angel’s current strength, even without malicious intent, his inspiration can easily detect it.
However, even if Angel knew just some trivial information, the Black Earl still wanted to know.
After all, on that table, the Demon God’s followers clearly recorded the mysterious predecessor of the Noah clan. Perhaps what Angel knows is about this person?
"Are you sure you don’t want to know how Sanders managed to create the Moving Mirage? If all you’ve heard is small gossip, then exchanging it for this secret is still worthwhile for you."
Angel still shook his head: "No need, even if you don’t tell me, I roughly understand the truth behind this secret."
Previously, Angel had fallen silent for a while. At that time, the Black Earl thought Angel was contemplating whether to make this trade. But in reality, Angel was deducing the so-called "secret" the Black Earl mentioned.
Although the Black Earl didn’t reveal anything about this secret, it’s hard not to take Angel’s deep knowledge of Sanders into account.
Sanders never taught him the Moving Mirage, and never even mentioned it, there must be a reason.
Moreover, Sanders has no reason to keep such a thing private.
So what could the reason be?
Insufficient strength? Probably not. He is now an Official Wizard, only a step away from True Knowledge. Also, even if it’s due to strength, couldn’t he at least give a heads-up?
Now that the Black Earl dares to tell him, it indicates that the issue is not about strength.
Apart from strength, the other reason Angel could think of is that Sanders doesn’t want Angel to learn his Moving Mirage.
That is to say, there are drawbacks to Sanders’ Moving Mirage. Significant drawbacks that outweigh the minimal benefits.
Otherwise, Sanders wouldn’t even mention it.
Sanders once told Angel that to connect to the Nightmare Realm Portal, he severed his own Nightmare Soul Body talent, gaining access to the Nightmare Realm but losing his chance for further achievement.
If Sanders could talk about that, yet not mention the Moving Mirage, the answer is pretty clear.
Sanders is afraid that even if Angel knows it’s a drawback, he might imitate it for various reasons.
And Angel happened to hear about something...
"Oh? You know this secret?" The Black Earl asked curiously, "Did Sanders tell you?"
Angel: "No, but you mentioned before that my mentor and elemental partner tried to cooperate, but it didn’t work out due to various reasons. Whereas I succeeded in releasing the Moving Mirage precisely because I matched the attributes of the Demon People."
"Combining these two factors, one can basically deduce that to perfectly release the Moving Mirage, the mentor just needs to find someone compatible with himself."
The Black Earl’s voice suddenly turned distant: "Do you know who this person is?"
"You just said, ’The person who knows you best is your enemy.’ I feel this statement is flawed; the one who understands oneself the most should be oneself first, then your enemy. Otherwise, if you don’t even know yourself, wouldn’t that be living in vain?"
After saying this, Angel stopped speaking, but the person he referred to was already hinted at in his words.
The Black Earl looked deeply at Angel, and after a long while, chuckled slightly: "It seems I’ve spoken too much this time. I shouldn’t have told you so much about the Moving Mirage information before."
"However, I didn’t expect that you had met another Sanders."
The Black Earl’s words confirmed that Angel’s deduction was correct. The reason Sanders could perfectly use the Moving Mirage is because of another version of himself within.
A person identical to Sanders, but more sinister and enchanting.
The Black Earl continued, "Unless absolutely necessary, Sanders won’t let him out. You have met him, which means you were once in a very bad situation, facing the risk of death at any moment, and Sanders was unable to reach you, so he sent him instead?"
Angel: "..."
Indeed, this old monster could almost perfectly reconstruct the situation with just a few thoughts.
Seeing Angel’s silence, the Black Earl realized he was right: "Since you know this secret, we can’t exchange information about it, so let’s just drop this matter."
The Black Earl hadn’t anticipated that Angel’s thinking could be even more nimble than he assumed.
If it had been another student of Sanders—Sumishe answering, even if Sumishe had seen the other Sanders, given his character, he wouldn’t have connected the dots.
He now truly acknowledges that Angel’s rise to becoming the most dazzling new star in the Southern Domain in a short time isn’t just by chance.
Angel’s achievements may have been aided by opportunity, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is an inevitable result.
While the Black Earl was lost in thoughts, Angel’s voice came from the other end of the Mind Ribbon: "You told me about the Moving Mirage earlier, which counts as information exchange. I can tell you this: I don’t actually know what ties this place to the Noah clan, it was purely by happenstance that I found out there used to be someone with the last name Noah here."
The Black Earl was slightly taken aback; he thought Angel would certainly keep the secret, but unexpectedly he revealed it?
"This person with the last name Noah, who is he?"
Angel: "The name should already appear in your mind, right? I won’t say it, for I am an outsider. If this Noah clan member hasn’t perished, calling them directly by name would surely be sacrilegious."
Angel didn’t specify who it was, but that didn’t hinder the Black Earl’s confirmation.
It surely was him, the most mysterious and legendary predecessor hung proudly at the very top of the Noah family tree—Augustine Noah.
Black Earl: "The ’happenstance’ you mentioned, you probably wouldn’t want to share it with me, would you?"
Angel: "It can be shared, but not now."
Angel could share some things about Augustine with the Black Earl, but not things from within the Nightmare Realm, rather when he encountered Augustine while refining that key. Of course, this is all on the premise that—what’s behind the wall is related to Augustine.
If the destination associated with that key has nothing to do with the Noah Clan, then there’s no need to mention it. However, this possibility is slim, after all, Augustine personally oversaw the Alchemy Omen. If it had nothing to do with him, it would only mean... Angel has once again unluckily encountered the hardest Alchemy Omen.