Meanwhile, amidst the chaos, there was also a noticeable presence of spatial energy. Angel often used The Gate of Void, so he was familiar with spatial energy and could ascertain that some residual energy from spatial traversal was within.
At that time, Angel speculated whether someone inside the lab had used spatial traversal, leaving some energy residue. But with the Magical Energy Array fully activated, he thought it improbable.
Busy with heading to the main control node, Angel hadn’t delved deeper into the investigation and left.
Now as Dangross brought it up again, Angel recalled the matter but remained puzzled, as he hadn’t sensed such energy on the Fire-scaled demon.
Perhaps noticing Angel’s confusion, Dangross said, "The flames might have masked your perception of the energy, and indeed, the energy on it was quite subtle. Only during the battle and the moment of daze did I sense faint fluctuations."
"Battle and daze?"
"Yes, I sense when it’s pondering, such fluctuations occur. Normally, however, there are none."
Angel wasn’t sure if what Dangross said was true, but he was willing to trust its judgment.
He looked at the Fire-scaled demon: "Did you escape from the Magical Beast Park? Were you transported here from outside?"
The Fire-scaled demon gave no answer, only presented Angel with a sinister smile.
Suddenly, the Fire-scaled demon began to inflate, but the Phantom Limb kept its body tightly restrained, causing the swelling force to concentrate entirely in its head.
Its face enlarged visibly, like an inflating balloon, expanding to four or five times its size in an instant.
Despite the distortion from its face stretching, the sinister smile on the Fire-scaled demon’s lips remained unchanged.
Until, bang––
The Fire-scaled demon’s head exploded, and blood, brain matter, and bone fragments scattered everywhere.
The aura of the Fire-scaled demon ceased completely at this moment, indicating it had died.
With its demise, Angel finally perceived the eerie energy fluctuations.
The strange energy emanated from a misty shadow emerging from the Fire-scaled demon’s head. The specifics inside the shadow mist were unclear, but one could vaguely make out numerous starlike spots flickering within.
"Chk, chk..." A peculiar laughter came from the shadow mist, its meaning unknown, but Angel again sensed taunting.
Without hesitation, Angel manipulated the Illusion Node to encircle the shadow mist.
Yet the shadow mist showed no interest in confronting Angel, instantly dissolving into a semi-ethereal state, dispersing into countless star points before vanishing.
"Wh—what happened? Where did that mist go?" Through the still sparking embers, Dangross sensed the disappearance of all auras.
Angel softly replied, "It already fled."
As the architect of the Illusionary Realm, Angel sensed clearly that the eerie energy point rapidly distanced itself. Even the Illusionary Realm didn’t hinder its escape, as if the realm didn’t exist for it. Upon leaving the realm, it immediately collected its aura, vanishing completely.
"Did it just flee?" Dangross looked incredulous, "Doesn’t a typical plot twist involve it revealing its true form and reversing the momentum? How did it just flee?"
Angel ignored Dangross’s plot theories, heading directly toward the Fire-scaled demon’s corpse.
As for pursuing the escaped shadow mist, Angel refrained, perceiving the other’s eerie form wasn’t material, otherwise, the Illusionary Realm wouldn’t have reacted thus. Capturing a semi-ethereal non-material existence isn’t feasible in a short span.
Moreover, prior to catching it, locating it is crucial.
Tracing a striving-to-escape shadow mist is evidently challenging. Hence, it’s more practical to investigate the Fire-scaled demon manipulated by that presence first.
Angel crouched down, examining the headless body of the Fire-scaled demon.
He tried to detect residual energy from the shadow mist within the Fire-scaled demon, hoping to capture its coordinates through certain means.
Yet, the Fire-scaled demon’s interior was devoid of any eerie residual energy.
Though slightly disappointed, given the adversary’s cunning nature, such a result was inevitable.
Angel continued studying the Fire-scaled demon’s body, uncovering no other anomalies. Conversely, Dangross noted the residual flame energy within the corpse was remarkably pure.
If the flame energy of Fire-scaled demons were all this pure, they wouldn’t remain at the bottom of the food chain.
It was certain this Fire-scaled demon was indeed unique.
But whether this uniqueness was innate or post-transmutation by the shadow mist intrusion remained uncertain.
Angel personally felt the likelihood of shadow mist modifications was high.
If the shadow mist traversed into the lab space, this Fire-scaled demon should be the one from the Magical Beast Park. And Reynaud had some understanding of the park’s Fire-scaled demons, confirming they weren’t special cases. Therefore, Angel believed it transformed by the shadow mist.
If indeed modified, considering the transformation’s efficacy, this Fire-scaled demon proved to be notably improved.
At least from the prior battle, whether in terms of energy level or craftiness in combat, it seemed comparable to the forefront contenders of the New Star Tournament. Whereas the Fire-scaled demon’s inherent power was likely comparable to Lyon before entering the portal.
This meant the shadow mist directly transformed a low-level apprentice into a pinnacle apprentice.
Such a notion is somewhat bewildering.
Is this inherent to the shadow mist’s ability? Or does it indeed possess expertise in species modification, energy alteration?
Currently indescribable, yet regardless of the case, Angel held an unresolved question: Why did the shadow mist possess the Fire-scaled demon?
The Magical Beast Park must have numerous creatures, even strong Sea Beasts raised there, why specifically attach to such a low-level creature?
Was it due to some inherent possession limitation?
If indeed limited, what drove the possession?
Angel softly murmured: "Or perhaps, in its semi-ethereal state, it cannot affect the Material Realm?"