The picture visibly aged rapidly.
From pristine beginnings, it became yellowed and mottled, until the painting finally fractured into fine dust, disappearing, leaving only an empty frame.
"Just what is happening here? Why did the painting change? Why did the half-black-hole-faced woman become a freckled girl? What is this wood? And why did the painting ultimately turn into ashes?"
Dox’s questions burst out one after another.
Normally, Dox’s machine-gun barrage of inquiries would certainly draw Black Earl’s ridicule. But this time, the Black Earl didn’t stop Dox, for these were the questions he wanted answers to as well.
Angel, however, paid no attention to Dox, and instead carefully examined the round wood in his hand, which was not light in weight.
There was no response for a long time, so Black Earl couldn’t help but ask, "Is this the Wood Spirit?"
Concealed so secretly, everyone’s first thought was the Wood Spirit. However, Black Earl was somewhat puzzled: if it was the Wood Spirit, why did the Wise Sovereign deceive him earlier, saying there was a trap here and the Wood Spirit was definitely not here?
Since the Wise Sovereign let them search for the Wood Spirit, there was no need to deceive him on purpose.
Furthermore, Black Earl had examined this painting before and found nothing unusual, so how did Angel discover it?
Angel: "It’s not the Wood Spirit, but it should be somewhat related to it."
As Angel said this, he glanced at the Wise Sovereign.
This time, the Wise Sovereign didn’t remain silent but softly said, "The first time I saw the Wood Spirit here, it performed this shell-escape trick to avoid me. This should be something it created or an offshoot of its main body."
After the Wise Sovereign finished speaking, he directly asked, "How did you discover it?"
"Are we swapping answers now?" Angel replied offhandedly.
The Sage said nothing, but his three eyes quietly stared at Angel, seemingly trying to see through him. However, this was just an illusion; the Sage’s gaze was merely Angel using illusion techniques to portray it, without any intimidating force.
Nevertheless, Angel did not attempt to provoke the Sage at this time; he avoided his gaze, then casually said, "I’ve happened to see this painting."
"You’ve seen this painting?" The Sage questioned, confused: "Impossible, how could you have seen it?"
Angel: "Skarob."
The Sage Sovereign asked skeptically: "He is...?"
Angel: "Doesn’t the Wise Sovereign know? Skarob Wright is the author of this painting."
The Sage indeed didn’t know who the author of this painting was. Although, as an Alchemist, he had some understanding of aesthetics, he primarily focused on Potionology; appreciation and aesthetics were more aligned with the study of Metallography.
Moreover, although this painting was quite well-done, it was ultimately the work of mortals, mounted in a transcendent material frame. The Sage considered it a waste, let alone appreciating and studying it.
The one truly interested in paintings was Franklin, the Warden of the Hanging Jail Stairway and one of the core Dominators of Naraku City.
Now hearing Angel mention a painter’s name, the Wise Sovereign really couldn’t determine whether he was telling the truth.
"Although I’ve never seen the original painting, I had the fortune to see some synopsis of this painter’s works collected by an Alchemist who loves paintings. The synopses contain imitations of this artist’s works, seemingly compiled by later generations." Angel, upon realizing the Sage didn’t know the painter’s name, began to fabricate details.
"Besides this ’Pastoral Afternoon Painting,’ there are other works like ’The Milking Shepherd,’ ’The Homecoming Fisher,’ ’Towards the Evening Glow’..."
Angel spoke as he used illusion techniques to simulate paintings one by one.
To others, the style did indeed match closely with the previous painting.
But to the Wise Sovereign, several of these images felt familiar, as if Franklin had collected the originals.
Could he be telling the truth, actually knowing the original appearance of the painting?
The Sage previously entirely disbelieved Angel had seen this oil painting, since it was a work of a mortal painter who has been gone for ten thousand years.
Even if the painter was famous at the time, ten thousand years would suffice for everyone to forget him.
But now someone claimed to have seen his works, which the Sage found hard to believe.
Yet Angel’s examples did strike a familiar chord with the Sage, so he couldn’t come up with any argument to refute him.
Also, upon careful thought, it seemed indeed somewhat plausible.
Mortals cannot preserve a painter’s work for ten thousand years, but Wizards can. Franklin likes the painter’s works; surely other Wizards could like them too?
Angel also mentioned a key point. It was an ’Alchemist’ who collected the works.
The vast majority of Alchemists, due to the necessity of crafting blueprints, have a preference for art that cultivates aesthetics. Thus, it’s not uncommon for Alchemists to collect mortal paintings.
Wizard collections, once properly maintained, can persist for ten thousand years without issue. Moreover, many Witcher Organizations and Wizard Families often recreate ancient books to prevent the loss of singular copies.
If Angel indeed saw the works in some Alchemist collection, it seemed, that wasn’t entirely impossible.
However, the Wise Sovereign still felt it odd. Could it really be such a coincidence that Angel just happened to see this author’s collection and also coincidentally came here?
If it’s the first coincidence, the Sage might accept it. But Angel is always surrounded by a shroud of Mist.
This led the Sage to suspect Angel came prepared. Or perhaps he is the descendant of a Wizard somehow affiliated with Naraku City?
By affiliated, it doesn’t only mean Wizards who are friendly with Naraku City but also those who are adversarial.
Thus, the Wise Sovereign is increasingly curious about Angel’s identity.
While the Sage observed Angel, Angel continued, "Oh, the ’Pastoral Afternoon Painting’ original is like this."
Angel waved again, and an illusion appeared before everyone.
The so-called original of ’Pastoral Afternoon Painting’ was exactly the scene that appeared last; the farmer’s wife was not a blonde woman but a freckled girl with a ponytail.
"Also because the original differed, I noticed something amiss and tried to solve the puzzle of the painting."
"The final result is as you’ve seen."
"What sustains the painting’s freshness is the lifeforce within the wood, and this wood is hidden in the space of the painting... more accurately, not within the painting, but in a reflective membrane layer on the surface."
Angel said this and meaningfully added, "This membrane is somewhat like a mirror."
Mirror?
Upon hearing this term, everyone frowned because they had thought of a suspected non-existent Demon God: Mirror Demon God.
They later found a suspected "Mirror Demon God’s" Mark, with half featuring the profile of a long-haired woman and the other half a man in a hat.
And previously the "farmer’s wife" profile in the painting seemed vaguely similar to the long-haired woman in the Mark.
Could this painting also be related to the Mirror Demon God?
Black Earl considered this, "glancing" at the Wise Sovereign. The Sage had previously hinted that the person displaying this painting here was worth Angel conducting an exchange of questions with.
So, was the Mirror Demon God related to the Wise Sovereign?