Chapter 1105: Section 1106 Artistic Processing
It wasn’t until now that Urdixinos’s eyes flashed with panic. It indeed loved watching plays, but that didn’t mean it was willing to become a character in one!
Especially since this was an absurd puppet show, and it didn’t even know the program, from the initial horror to the subsequent war, and now the romance, full of twists and turns, bizarre imagination, and unknown dangers.
Urdixinos struggled to escape.
But Barfiment and Minotaur, who had long found Urdixinos displeasing, would not let it go easily. Within their authority, they held Urdixinos tightly.
The interlude before entering the seventh chapter began to play, previously it had been a duet between Barfiment and Minotaur. Now with Urdixinos added, the dance had become an even more indecent trio.
Urdixinos’s face was a mix of despair and horror; as a spectator, it could clap, cheer, and jeer with laughter, but it was only upon truly stepping onto this sinister stage that it realized how awful it was to be unable to control oneself, being manipulated like a puppet on strings.
On the ground, inside the raincloud cage, Nitotipu held her forehead: “How could I have held Void meetings with such a foolish demon for six hundred years? It seems, I really shouldn’t stay here, leaving is the right choice.”
Despite saying so, Nitotipu was hurriedly gesturing through the rain towards Yadasai: “Now, it’s time for you to rescue those three fools. I just hope that you won’t become a monkey on stage like them.”
Yadasai’s reply was a cold snort, then he spread his bone wings and burst through the fiery blockade in the sky.
Meanwhile, in the scorched earth of the southern suburbs, Fafnir clapped in delight.
Angel was watching the sky, and prompted by Canaan, he saw Yadasai ascend into the high skies; the situation on the floating ice was unclear, but it was safe to assume it was dire under the assault of four great demons.
Angel was startled by the sound of Fafnir clapping while his mind was uneasy.
Turning around, Angel couldn’t tell what Fafnir had seen to be so excited. Following its gaze, it seemed to be looking up, perhaps something had happened to the floating ice in the sky?
Angel really wished Fafnir would let him see what was happening above, but he expected that if he asked, Fafnir would only respond with a cold snort.
Angel shook his head, deciding to ignore the excited Fafnir and concentrate on pondering the dilemma before him.
“Hahaha, very good, three have been trapped now. If the remaining four all ascend the stage, I wonder what it would be like.” Fafnir was completely pleased by the performance on that ethereal stage: “Not a single detail can be missed, it must be recorded.”
Fafnir’s eyes were glued to the show, fearful of missing any part of it.
Having heard Fafnir’s comment, Angel seemed to think of something, his eyes sparkling: “Honorable Lord Fafnir.”
“Do not disturb me.” Fafnir didn’t even want to waste time turning around, her curiosity, silent for who knows how many years, was thoroughly aroused by the bizarre puppet show of the Extinguished Torch Academy.
Even though he was brushed off, Angel didn’t back down, and pressed on: “Lord Fafnir, do you have anything you wish to record? I have a recording tool that could serve you.”
Angel took out a Crystal Ball, which he had acquired from the Resource Allocation Hall upon his return to the Barbarian Cave, an improved version of the communicator that could simultaneously record sound while capturing images.
However, Angel’s Holographic Tablet had more comprehensive features, so he had almost never used the Crystal Ball. The reason he even bothered to collect it from the Resource Allocation Hall was because Lady Mirror had once mentioned wanting him to design a new communicator, as she was fed up with Rhein and Mute’s heavy preference for the Crystal Ball.
Angel’s words finally drew Fafnir’s gaze.
She could, of course, memorize those scenes in her mind, but having another medium to record and project them would make her feel more like an audience member, plus, it offered the chance to share with others.
“Can this thing really record images?” Fafnir looked at the Crystal Ball.
“Of course, it can not only record images but also embed the sound into them,” Angel finished, seeing Fafnir’s eyes suddenly brighten and her hand reaching out to take the Crystal Ball, so he quickly added, “However, the recording range of the Crystal Ball is limited, it must be near the corresponding location to start recording.”
Fafnir’s eyes narrowed: “Are you toying with me?”
Angel immediately waved his hands: “I just mean to say, I can use the Illusion Technique to simulate the scene you are witnessing.”
No sooner had he snapped his fingers than the courtyard of the Misty Cabin underwent a drastic change. Wisps of fog rose up in the once empty courtyard, and with Fafnir and Canaan watching, the ground transformed into a hot spring.
Small pebbles were stacked, a wisp of hot spring mist curled up, and even the dilapidated wooden cabin before had turned into an exquisite, exotic loft.
Angel snapped his fingers again, and the hot spring villa morphed into a volcano crater on the verge of eruption. Not only that, but he successively replicated the scenes of desert sandstorms and churning oceans. Each scene was very lifelike.
Angel was skilled in Illusion Technique, and both Fafnir and Canaan knew it. Previously, to prevent prying eyes, Angel had set up an Illusionary Realm outside the courtyard, but at that time they didn’t think much of it. However, now as Angel continually changed the surrounding Illusionary Realm, they began to sense something extraordinary.
Next to the hot spring villa, they could truly feel the faint smoke swirling around; at the edge of the volcano crater, the pungent smell of sulfur still lingered in their nostrils; the dryness of the sandstorm and the moisture of the ocean—Angel perfectly replicated every detail as if they were genuinely in those environments.
Just in terms of the performance of the Illusionary Realm alone, Fafnir couldn’t help but agree—it was indeed very realistic.
“Whatever scene you see, my lord, I can reproduce it,” Angel said.
Fafnir pondered for a moment, “Using the Illusionary Realm to represent the stage and then recording it through the Crystal Ball… Hmm, your idea is good, but can you see the situation in the sky?”
Angel’s eyes lit up—indeed, Fafnir had been watching the floating ice scene in the sky before.
“Although I can’t see… the omnipotent Lady Fafnir should be able to help me witness it, right?” Angel spoke in a roundabout way before finally revealing his purpose.
Fafnir was still a bit hesitant; if she watched it herself, she wouldn’t have to consume any energy, but to help Angel see the same skies, she would need to expend power. Even though it was not much, she did not want to waste it.
Seeing that Fafnir seemed hesitant, Angel quickly began to praise himself, “Not only can I perfectly simulate the Illusionary Realm, but I can also ensure that the perspective of the viewers is just right every time.”
To prove himself, Angel called to mind a scene from the previous battle between Canaan and Sinafa.
There’s a term called “cinematic sense”. Although Angel learned it from the Holographic Tablet, the concept had long been present in the Wizards’ Realm; for example, Witches would adjust angles to look better in pictures, which is known as cinematic sense. Even in the country of Mortals—Yirong Country—they invented a kind of reflective imaging dark box, which is essentially similar to the Wizards’ image capturing device, except they use light-sensitive materials and require long exposure times. Photographers also ask their subjects to have a so-called photographic sense to make the images look better.
The previous battle between Canaan and Sinafa was already impressive, but through Illusion Technique and the so-called cinematic sense, Angel depicted the scene of the fight even more thrillingly.
In the moments of their back-and-forth confrontation, Angel also employed concepts such as slow motion, montage transitions, and bullet time, making the portrayal even more astonishing.
“Seeing it from different perspectives seems to be more immersive and aesthetically pleasing than from a single viewpoint,” Canaan said, mesmerized.
“This is called artistic expression,” Angel casually explained. “Painting, sculpting, and others have similar aspects. Besides, you can achieve an artistic structural analysis, exaggerated performances, and off-stage side narratives to highlight the intensity of the battle.”
Canaan understood Angel’s explanation instantly, but shook his head, “Artistic expression, I can accept. But the other things you mentioned, for a battle, are too fancy; the focus of a battle shouldn’t lie there.”
Angel was startled, and realized it was true—the art techniques he knew from the Holographic Tablet were intended for humans in an entertainment age, not necessarily acceptable to Demons.
As he was about to change the scene, Fafnir, who was listening to ‘the art of exaggerated performance’ from behind, suddenly said, “Good! The more exaggerated, the better!”
Before Angel could react to what Fafnir was talking about, he felt an odd wind pouring into his eyes.
The next second, the scene before him changed.
He found his perspective shifting abruptly from the ground to the sky.
Angel felt as if his consciousness had split into two halves, one remaining on the ground, while the other became a wisp of wind weaving through the high altitude.
However, this wisp of wind was not under his control, instead, it was Fafnir leading him through the high skies.
The wisp of wind drew closer and closer to the floating ice overhead, so near that Angel could almost see the sky’s… stage?!
“Is there really a stage?” Angel looked with surprise and doubt at the ethereal puppet show stage; he had always heard Fafnir talk about ‘watching a play’ but never imagined Fafnir’s words would actually hold true.
As his line of sight continued to ascend, Angel finally arrived at the position of the floating ice.
However, Fafnir didn’t manipulate the wind to fly towards the floating ice, but instead moved to the vicinity of the external stage. Even so, Angel saw Sanders standing atop the ice with just a glance.