Thinking of this, Angel ordered Earl Mi to have the severed hand take that mirror fragment!
Following the order, the severed hand that had been attracting the Grey Merchant’s attention stopped hiding and became aggressive, directly provoking the Grey Merchant.
After diverting most of the Grey Merchant’s attention to itself.
Concealed in the shadows, another severed hand, gripping the fragmented mirror, didn’t hesitate to jump off the Grey Merchant.
The Grey Merchant also noticed this hand and discovered it held the crucial memory-embedded mirror fragment, prompting immediate panic, intending to abandon the provocation from the other hand and first deal with the one holding the mirror fragment.
The previously ignored provocative hand promptly underwent disintegration.
Its energy composition matched the Power of the Gemstone within the Grey Merchant’s body precisely. Its disintegration didn’t arouse resistance from the surrounding Power of the Gemstone, simply perceived as another wave of Power of the Gemstone merging into the Grey Merchant.
But the Power of the Gemstone is not meant to "return to the flow"; its purpose is merely to disturb the Gray Merchant’s judgment.
The method was simple, just activate the Power of the Gemstone, and rainbow-like mist rose, directly blocking the Gray Merchant’s vision.
The Gray Merchant opened the energy vision without hesitation.
But when he used his spiritual power to open the energy vision, he realized that the severed hand with the important mirror had already disappeared!
It was clearly just a momentary obscuration, so how did it disappear?!
He kept searching, but no matter how he looked, there was not a single trace.
For the first time, the Gray Merchant’s emotions fluctuated violently, and in a fit of anger, he launched a crazed attack against the Power of the Gemstone that blocked his sight.
However, at this time, the Power of the Gemstone, which was transformed from the severed hand, had already lost Earl Mi’s control and truly fused into the Gray Merchant’s body, meaning the Gray Merchant was bombarding his own energy.
This was nothing but ineffective rage.
The Gray Merchant couldn’t find the severed hand because of spatial distortion. When the severed hand was still on the Gray Merchant, spatial distortion had no effect, but once it moved away from the Gray Merchant, spatial distortion naturally obscured his view.
At this time, if there was a large-scale attack, it might shake the severed hand out.
However, the Gray Merchant did not do so.
Angel was also puzzled about why the Gray Merchant didn’t simply launch a large-scale group attack. Knowing that Angel was already close to the Gray Merchant, ready to retrieve the severed hand to avoid being swept away by the group attack. As a result, the Gray Merchant didn’t even attempt a group attack.
But it was just as well, as Angel smoothly retrieved the severed hand.
The Gray Merchant, while unable to see Angel’s actions, was observed by everyone outside, including the Wise Sovereign, who saw everything Angel did.
Dox and the others did not know what Angel was doing, nor what the cloth-wrapped item in Angel’s hand was.
However, from the expressions of the Vicious Woman and others, Dox and the rest understood that Angel probably took something very important.
Previously, no matter how much Angel "provoked," only that pink-haired girl would jump around furiously while the others remained calm.
But this time, nearly everyone on the opposite side showed outrage. Especially the Vicious Woman, who even floated in mid-air, trying to rush into the arena.
However, she was stopped by the Wise Sovereign.
But this didn’t mean the Vicious Woman gave up, as the bandages behind her continuously danced and extended, gradually spreading all around, clearly ready to fight to the death with Angel if he appeared.
Angel could feel the Vicious Woman’s gaze full of malice.
Or rather, the emotions of the Traveling Merchant’s group collectively changed from neutral to hostile. Angel naturally sensed this change immediately.
Regarding this, Angel was actually quite puzzled.
This broken mirror should be something "she," Adanis, gave to the Gray Merchant, probably for... observing him during the fight? He took the mirror without touching the Gray Merchant’s belongings, so why did the Vicious Woman and others change their hostility so greatly?
Angel shook his head, not thinking too deeply about it, and decided to resolve this battle first before considering other matters.
However, before making a move on the Gray Merchant, Angel glanced at the Wise Sovereign.
Angel tried to deduce the Wise Sovereign’s reaction to his taking of the mirror, but the Wise Sovereign’s face was concealed by a cloak, making it difficult to discern his thoughts.
Only a subtle feeling emerged, as if the atmosphere around him had become more solemn than before.
Angel suppressed the urge to speak with the Wise Sovereign, refocusing his attention on the Gray Merchant.
...
After that individual departed, whatever tricks Angel wanted to use now hardly mattered.
However, facing the Gray Merchant, there was no need to use those other tricks. Especially when the Gray Merchant was still trapped by the spatial distortion illusion.
Even though the Gray Merchant had realized something was wrong and was trying to break free of the illusion’s restraints, it was too late.
In fact, Angel capitalized on the Gray Merchant’s "awareness" of the illusion, slightly unlocking the spatial distortion’s inhibition, allowing him to falsely believe he had seen through the truth of spatial swapping.
In the end, the Gray Merchant walked himself out of the arena.
When the Wise Sovereign announced the Gray Merchant’s defeat in the duel, the Gray Merchant still thought he had seen through the illusion and was approaching Angel. In reality, Angel had calculated everything, including his... delusion.
...
As the announcement of the match’s end came from the Wise Sovereign’s mouth.
A figure swiftly rushed into the arena.
Seething with thick bloodlust and overflowing malice, dashing towards Angel.
Without a doubt, only the Vicious Woman dared to make a move against Angel at this moment.
However, the Vicious Woman hadn’t even reached Angel when Dox, who also charged into the arena, blocked her with a sword. After being blocked, before the Vicious Woman could react, the ground suddenly rose with thin stone pillars, intertwining like coiling serpents to enclose the Vicious Woman. Eventually, these thin stone pillars transformed into a twisted black birdcage, suspended mid-air.
The Vicious Woman did not resist from start to finish. It wasn’t that she was unwilling; rather, a massive oppressive force intimidated her, preventing any movement.
This oppressive force did not come from the black-cloaked referee but from the opposing... floating stone slab.
The Vicious Woman, imprisoned in the birdcage, deflated like a balloon and slumped into it.
All she could do now was glare fiercely at Angel.
That sinister gaze, peering through the gaps in her hair, was like a venomous snake hidden in the grass silently watching you, chilling and vicious. Anyone caught off guard by it would feel a shiver down their spine.
The Vicious Woman, although silent, conveyed her strong malice through her actions and gaze.
At this time, the Apprentices led by the Magic Elephant also stepped onto the arena. They dared not act, merely standing guard by the Vicious Woman, warily watching the people opposite.
Amidst the crowd, the pink-haired woman furiously shouted at Angel, "Give it back! Return what you took!"
As the pink-haired woman roared, on the other side, the Gray Merchant finally recovered from his defeat.
He turned back and saw the Vicious Woman and all his Apprentices had rushed into the arena.
The Apprentices were unharmed for now, but the Vicious Woman was trapped in a gigantic, twisted birdcage.
Hearing the pink-haired woman’s words, and realizing whom she was addressing, the Gray Merchant quickly understood the situation.
He sighed softly, and with a flash, appeared in the center of the standoff.