On the other side of the arena.
The group of Grey Merchants had initially felt confident of victory when they saw Dox successfully cursed, with a blood spear piercing his chest. But the variables in the arena changed too quickly. No one expected that the seemingly dying Dox, who could be on the brink of death with just one more blow, would suddenly be fully resurrected.
Conversely, the shrew who had the upper hand suffered a backlash from the curse, and the transplanted malicious eye exploded instantly.
Everything happened so fast that their joyous mood hadn’t even ended before the next second turned into a head-on blow.
Flora covered her mouth, shaking her head while widening her eyes in disbelief at the changes happening before her. Many other apprentices felt the same, and even the Magic Elephant, whose expression was hidden behind a mask, kept sighing.
The Shepherd put away his lazy expression and muttered to himself, "Is this what a wizard’s battle is like?"
Reversal, inversion... then a counter-reversal.
The changes in the battle were so fast that it was hard to catch up.
The silent Grey Merchant finally spoke, "This battle, the shrew has lost."
There wasn’t a hint of uncertainty in Grey Merchant’s tone as he confidently stated the result... even though the duel hadn’t truly ended.
As Grey Merchant’s words fell, the spirits of the already downcast crowd were further dampened, becoming even more despondent.
Seeing this situation, Grey Merchant said, "However, the outcome of this battle has little to do with the shrew. Who could have imagined that a Wandering Wizard was hiding a Mysterious Parchment?"
"Currently, the effect of that Mysterious Parchment doesn’t seem to be directly offensive, more like a repair and defense ability. The shrew’s curse was backfired by the defensive nature, which is the key to her failure."
"So, we can only blame it on bad luck."
Grey Merchant’s words slightly soothed the crowd’s emotions.
However, the youngest, Flora, known for ruining the atmosphere, asked, "Then if it were swapped with your position, could you win?"
Though Flora’s question was what everyone thought, she was probably the only one bold enough to ask aloud.
Grey Merchant didn’t blame Flora for the inappropriate question, because if he were in her position, he might have the same doubts.
"If that Mysterious Parchment only showed purely defensive and restorative abilities, it’s not impossible to win."
Grey Merchant actually had confidence in his own strength. However, facing the Mysterious Parchment made him a bit nervous, so he didn’t give a definite answer.
To win against Dox under the protection of the Mysterious Parchment, two points needed to be confirmed: the effect of the Mysterious Parchment, and the duration of the Mysterious Parchment.
From the perspective of effects, which are non-offensive, Grey Merchant was confident he could stall a bit.
But if the Mysterious Parchment’s duration were quite long, Grey Merchant might not be able to stall till the end.
So, even if Grey Merchant’s bloodline completely restrained Dox, facing such unpredictable "variables" would make the battle intense and tricky.
Grey Merchant: "However, if I were in Dox’s position, I probably wouldn’t use the Mysterious Parchment."
With Grey Merchant’s insight, how could it not be apparent that the shrew hadn’t gone for the kill directly, leaving Dox a sliver of survival chance?
In this situation, if you lose, you just lose, and you can recover slowly.
But such a Mysterious Parchment, once used, becomes scarce.
Even if it’s a Mysterious Parchment that can be reused, once you reveal it, there will be endless troubles. Because... you are just a Wandering Wizard with no backing, holding such a rare treasure, especially one with restorative nature, even someone as powerful as Monty might become tempted.
So even if Grey Merchant were backed by the Birlos Family, he would never use such a Mysterious Parchment in a duel. Unless it was absolutely certain he wouldn’t survive, then he wouldn’t have to worry about the aftermath.
Dox’s bold use, even before a life-and-death crisis, though it might lead to victory, would certainly arouse covetousness.
Perhaps even the Black Hand hidden in the mirror might be tempted.
As Grey Merchant pondered, how could Dox, being involved, not understand the key points here?
His emotions right now were highly complicated, especially towards Angel, feeling both gratitude and resentment. He was thankful that Angel was willing to give him such a rare Magic Rune Scroll, bringing a sense of being trusted, showing that his "make a friend" strategy was highly successful.
But resentful because Angel surely knew the repercussions of using the Magic Rune Scroll, which is why when he handed it over at the time, he said this meaningful sentence:
— "This is my trump card lent to you. If you feel that victory is hopeless or you’re facing a life-and-death crisis, you can activate it. However, you must think carefully; once you use the trump card I’ve lent you, you’ll need to pay the corresponding price."
At that time, Dox noticed familiar patterns on the parchment, instantly thinking of the "Sunlight Garden" Angel used in Princess Town. At that time, Angel used the Sunlight Garden Magic Rune Scroll to ensure that the Talented One of Barbarian Cave, Amisha, wasn’t affected in potential.
At that time, Dox felt a bit heartache, thinking it unnecessary to use such a valuable Magic Rune Scroll on the Talented One.
Therefore, Dox had seen the Sunlight Garden before.
So when Angel handed this parchment to him, Dox quickly determined the "truth" of this parchment.
At that time, Dox thought, although this Sunlight Garden parchment was indeed very valuable, even containing faint Mysterious Aura, if truth be told, he could scrape together something equivalent to its price.
Thus, he heard Angel’s words, but didn’t take them seriously, not even imagining he would have to use this parchment.
When he activated the parchment and felt the thick, pervasive Mysterious Aura, he realized Angel had set him up.
Even though now Dox felt extremely refreshed, his state incredibly high, even the stubborn ailments in his body and unnoticed internal injuries were soothed. His mood, however, was extremely complicated, even contemplating kneeling on the ground to beg Angel to spare him... the price for this Mysterious Parchment, how could he possibly afford it?!
Why couldn’t he see it clearly, using this parchment prematurely before the ultimate moment?!
Right now, Dox had lost even the mindset to fight.
Just then, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of something not far away, the center of the Holy Temple’s phantom shadow, simulated by the light shield, with a parchment suspended motionless.
Dox’s eyes suddenly lit up, ignoring the ongoing duel, directly turned and asked Angel, "This parchment can be used an unlimited number of times, right? Right? It must be!"
As Dox’s words fell, all eyes in the room turned toward Angel.
Even The Sage in the sky cast a curious glance at Angel.