To outsiders, Angel and the Infant Spirit had faced each other for a full five minutes.
Nothing happened during that time. They merely stared into each other's eyes, as though they were competing through their gazes.
In the end, Angel was the first to look away.
"Admitted defeat?" Black Earl's voice sounded at just the right moment through the Mind Tether. "Or did you find a solution?"
Angel said, "Do I look like the defeated side?"
Black Earl glanced at the Infant Spirit opposite them, which was still staring fixedly at Angel, and said mildly, "At least in this battle of stares, you were slightly inferior."
Angel: ...What battle of stares?
Who had he been having a staring contest with? He had clearly been talking to Shaye in his mind. What staring—
Halfway through his words, Angel caught sight of the Infant Spirit from the corner of his eye. At first glance, its terrifyingly round, wide-open eyes had made Angel instinctively avert his gaze.
And because of that one evasive glance, when Angel turned back to look at Black Earl, the latter's emotions were full of teasing.
If Black Earl's true body had been here, he would probably have been looking at him with a mocking gaze.
Angel sighed inwardly. Trying to explain now that he had not been having any sort of staring contest with the Infant Spirit would be rather difficult.
Since words could not explain it well, he would simply demonstrate with actions.
Angel said, "Whether I'm slightly inferior or not, we'll only know after taking another step forward."
With that, Angel took a step ahead.
Because the Domain Field covered only a limited area, Black Earl had no choice but to follow Angel forward.
"Are you preparing for battle, or do you have another method?" As