Angel extended his index finger and gently stirred the air, as if tiny specks of starlight were swirling around his fingertip.
On the other side, Frode stared blankly at the glass surface of the window. The glass reflected the starlight swirling around Angel’s fingertip, as if it were a mirror.
By this time, how could Frode not understand Angel’s meaning?
"Are you saying that the glass of these windows can also become a medium for the Mirror Grudge to reside in?!"
"Yes." Angel nodded.
The so-called Mirror Grudge does not simply dwell within mirrors. Any tangible object that can reflect the real world can be used as a dwelling place. If its ability evolves further, the Mirror Grudge could even use the surface of calm water as a place to reside.
As for the farm owner’s ghost, who hasn’t been dead for long, it shouldn’t be able to reside on water unless there are unusual circumstances. But glass, being a solid material, can indeed serve as its medium for leap transitions and dwelling.
"Almost every room in the factory has glass windows. If even the glass can become its dwelling, doesn’t that mean the entire wood factory is exposed right under its eyes?"
"But... but the Mirror Grudge has never appeared on the glass before, and I haven’t sensed its necromantic energy on the window glass. Moreover, if it could transfer through the glass, it could have killed more people in the previous cases considering its lethal nature." Frode seemed puzzled. He wasn’t doubting Angel’s judgment but was rather unsure of why the Mirror Grudge had never shown this ability if it could indeed dwell within the glass.
"In terms of logic, any abnormal behavior can be interpreted. Although undead are typically not known for intelligence, any behavior taken to achieve a goal can be considered a form of survival instinct." Angel said, "Perhaps consider the Mirror Grudge as a wizard with mirror-passing abilities opposing you because you sheltered Little Sem. In such a scenario, why wouldn’t he reveal his glass-passing capability to you?"
Frode followed Angel’s thought process and imagined himself in this scenario.
"In a battle where information is unknown, understanding the opponent’s psychology is key. If it were me, I certainly wouldn’t want the opponent to know my trump card, and hiding it is mainly to... feign weakness to lure the enemy."
Angel: "Why feign weakness to lure the enemy?"
"Feigning weakness is naturally to make the opponent overlook this trait, to achieve a decisive blow..." As Frode said this, he seemed to realize something.
The farm owner’s ghost didn’t come to kill Frode, nor the knights and wizards of the Silver Heron royal family. His target is Little Sem!
It only dwells in mirrors and not on transparent glass surfaces to create the illusion that it can’t traverse glass, lulling the opponent into complacency.
Once they’ve indeed overlooked this feature of glass, it could use the opportunity to achieve its goal of killing Little Sem!
But now the question arises, how does it plan to reach the hillside and kill Little Sem by feigning weakness?
While they did neglect the glass-passing ability, the Mirror Grudge requires close proximity for spatial leap transition across mirrors or glass. From here at the foot of the mountain to halfway up is still far, and the Mirror Grudge can’t leap directly up there.
Unless, there are other glass surfaces along the way up the mountain it can use as stepping stones.
Nonetheless, Frode clearly knew that the distance from the foot to the hillside was devoid of anything but plants and some wild animals.
Could it be that he overlooked some detail?
As Frode pondered, his gaze inadvertently fell outside the window. From there, he could only see the pitch-black forest and the vague outlines of mountain ridges further away.
From the distant mountains, Frode vaguely saw a few points of moving firelight.
Frode knew those lights came from the torches held by the knights patrolling the mountain, assigned by Neya to diligently search for the farm owner’s ghost... Wait, knights?
Could the knights be carrying glass surfaces?
A sudden insight flashed in Frode’s mind.
Knights typically don’t carry mirrors or glass, but Frode remembered Angel saying that ’any tangible object capable of reflecting the real world can be used as a medium,’ and indeed the knights did have such reflective material... their armor.
"Master, can shiny reflective armor serve as a dwelling place for the Mirror Grudge?" Frode hurriedly asked.
The armor of the Royal Knights, aside from a few alloy armors, was mostly silver armor, polished to a mirror-like finish.
"It can." Angel nodded.
Hearing this, Frode’s heart sank: "Oh no!"
If the Mirror Grudge could indeed leap through polished armor, then it could make multiple leaps via different knights and ultimately transfer to Star Lake Castle mid-hill. Because, right now, the mountains are swarming with knights on patrol!
"I haven’t sensed the necromantic energy of the farm owner’s ghost today and found nothing nearby. I suspect it has already gone up the mountain!" Frode glanced out the window. Star Lake Castle at the hillside was ablaze with light, yet within Frode’s eyes, it was inexplicably shrouded in an ominous shadow.
Angel, having just arrived and not yet familiar with the situation, grew alert as Frode spoke.
Without hesitation, Angel immediately activated The Gate of Void on the Witchcraft Slot, targeting mid-hill!
In the next second, Angel and Frode appeared outside Star Lake Castle.
When Frode exited The Gate of Void, the sight made him exhale slightly in relief as Drue was directing nearby knights at the castle gate. Some royal wizards were also patrolling in the air.
With these people here, the Mirror Grudge shouldn’t dare to intrude into Star Lake Castle at this moment.
However, as Frode turned his head to look at Angel, he suddenly sensed something was off. Angel was staring intently at the third floor of the castle, his brows distinctly furrowed.
The third floor was precisely the floor where Little Sem was currently residing!
"Master, is something wrong?" As Frode inquired, Drue noticed their arrival from afar and quickly approached.
Angel did not respond but gently exerted strength with his feet, leaping into mid-air.
Frode, too, manipulated his Soul Force, following suit.
"Look." Angel pointed to the window of a room on the third floor.
Frode followed his gaze. The direction Angel pointed was exactly Little Sem’s room.
The window was ajar, leaving a slight gap. Yet from outside looking in, it was entirely pitch dark.
Apart from the darkness, Frode didn’t sense anything else unusual... but the darkness itself was wrong.
Even at night, even if there were no lights in the room, it shouldn’t be this utterly dark. It was as if something were devouring the surrounding light.
As Frode assessed the situation, Drue flew up on a broomstick and hovered in mid-air. He respectfully saluted Angel from a distance and then looked at the third-floor room.