Vay’s shock, along with Dox’s echo from the side, made everyone look at Angel. Even the Black Earl, through the connectivity of their bloodline, investigated the situation within Vay’s body.
At this moment, Angel calmly withdrew his hand.
"They, they’re still not moving," Vay said. Even though Angel had already withdrawn his hand, the mycelium larvae inside him still didn’t dare to move, as if knowing their natural enemy was still nearby and not daring to be careless.
While the others were still in doubt, Dox, who had once had the privilege of seeing Cha Cha, was not surprised by Angel’s miraculous methods. He was the first to recover and asked, "So, as the Mushroom Master, you should have a way to help him expel those invading mycelium, right?"
Angel: "Say ’Mushroom Master’ one more time, and you can prepare to compensate the Sunlight Sanctuary with your tavern. Of course, the total value of your tavern isn’t even worth a strand of its fur, so it’s only the first installment of the compensation."
After Angel spoke, he gave Dox a slight glance.
Although Angel’s tone was very calm, Dox could feel that he was serious. He really would use his precious tavern to repay the debt to the Sunlight Sanctuary!
How despicable, threatening me like this!
Dox cursed internally but outwardly chuckled, "I was just kidding... don’t look at me like that, there won’t be a next time, I promise!"
Dox took the initiative to back down, and as for the reason—
Even though Angel’s words were harsh, what he said was true. The Cross Tavern meant a lot to Dox, but to Angel, it was worthless, not even comparable to the fur of the Sunlight Sanctuary.
Including the tavern in the conversation was purely to upset Dox.
Dox didn’t want to lose the Cross Tavern over such a trivial matter, so he decided to back down when necessary.
How could Angel not perceive Dox’s inner grumbling, but since Dox didn’t express it, Angel pretended not to sense it...
"How to expel the mycelium from his body? It can be done now," Angel turned back to the main topic.
Dox was taken aback and took a while to react, "Does it still need to be picked out one by one?"
Angel nodded.
Dox: "Isn’t there a faster way? Like drinking a potion and having all the mycelium expelled."
At this time, Vay timidly asked, "Why should it be expelled by vomiting?"
Dox gave him an annoyed look, "Do you want to expel it by defecating instead?"
Vay’s expression changed, and he fell silent.
Angel: "This is the quickest and least harmful method to his body. There are faster methods, but they might cause blood loss, and how long it would take to recover is uncertain—half a month? A month? Or even longer?"
Dox wanted to say more, but Vay quickly interrupted, "This way is enough. They’re not moving now, making them much easier to expel than before."
As he spoke, Vay forced out a dozen or so white cotton-like mycelium larvae from his body...of course, not by vomiting but by opening a small hole in his petrified skin, allowing the mycelium larvae to fall out.
The first time he forced the mycelium larvae out so smoothly, although the number wasn’t large, it was so easy and fluid that he felt like he was dreaming.
Most importantly, it wasn’t itchy at all and caused no pain.
Previously, when he pulled them out forcibly, it was very painful, and the mycelium larvae seemed to be swimming faster upon realizing they were about to be pulled out, making Vay even itchier.
Now there was no sensation, and he could easily expel a handful; the difference was night and day!
After tasting the sweetness of success, Vay stopped speaking, sitting directly on the ground, closing his eyes, and focusing on forcing out the mycelium larvae from his body.
At first, only a dozen or so would fall, but later, the number increased significantly. Even dozens or hundreds fell at once.
However, the mycelium larvae themselves were very tiny, so even with hundreds falling out, it only looked like a small tuft of fluffy dog hair.
Compared to the tens of thousands of mycelium larvae in his body, it was insignificant.
But Vay’s dedication was high, and at this speed, it’s estimated he could solve the mycelium issue in about a day. This was much faster than before.
Once Vay got into the state, Angel ignored the dazed Dox and continued to discuss duel strategies with Kael.
Kael’s expression grew more and more astonished as he listened, almost as if his soul had been drawn out and he was in a dream. The ideas Angel was proposing were just too whimsical, or rather... too absurd.
Can I really achieve this?
While Kael was still in a haze, the Wise Sovereign announced that preparation time was over, and the duelists from both sides were to enter the arena.
In his muddled state, Kael was pushed onto the stage.
This time, their side went up first again, with the merchants following shortly. However, at this point, it didn’t matter. On their side, only Kael was capable of going up, and their opponent had probably already worked out their strategy and identified who would face off.
So, the order no longer mattered.
Kael’s first battle was against Pink Jasmine.
Even though they saw Angel discussing tactics with Kael, and guessed Angel might be an illusionist, they still sent Pink Jasmine, an apprentice from the Illusion Series, likely intending to use the method of probing Kael’s abilities, similar to their previous approach with the ghostly shadows.
While reusing such a tactic may bore the audience, the strategy itself is quite effective.
Especially since Vay can’t go up for now, leaving Kael as their only opponent. They had three apprentices, allowing for a probe, a drain, and finally a strike.
This would be the best arrangement, but it’s highly likely they wouldn’t need the final strike; probing and draining should suffice to stop Kael from advancing.
After all, in their view, Kael is from the Academy Faction and is too inexperienced.
However, they hadn’t noticed that Kael relaxed noticeably when he saw his opponent was Pink Jasmine. Because in the strategies Angel had explained to him before, dealing with Pink Jasmine was the simplest and sounded the least absurd. After all, Angel himself was an Illusionist Wizard, fully aware of the capabilities of illusions, without needing unnecessary "flashy" moves.
As Kael was feeling fortunate, the Wise Sovereign’s voice of "duel start," accompanied by the dome, descended onto the arena.
The duel officially commenced.
...