[Vol. 7] Chapter 192: The Sudden Change
Only Violet, who had a stronger power and more knowledge of the situation, began to show a look of realization.
"I see now... I understand. Source Crystals, and the technology of Sainz... I think I get it. This is incredible... wait, could it be that all the monsters in the [Morst Underground Labyrinth] are...?"
She shook her head, pushing aside the many guesses and thoughts that suddenly flooded her mind. She turned to look at the two followers next to her.
"Lucas, Little Fang, I'm going inside to take a look. You two stay here. No creature is allowed to enter unless I give the order. If anyone dares to force their way in... feel free to deal with them on the spot."
"Yes!"
"Understood!"
With one last glance at the giant dragons in the mural that seemed to be watching her, so lifelike they almost seemed ready to fly out, Violet shook her head again, clearing her mind of distractions, and stepped into the now fully opened [Dragon Gate].
……………………………
At the same time, on the 25th floor of the Cavern Zone,
A sudden turmoil caught all the adventuring teams in the Labyrinth by surprise, throwing them into an unprecedented crisis. Among them was the Frederick Royal Academy team led by Carinvega.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"
Like the graceful notes of an artist’s hand, several dazzling beams of light turned into blades, swiftly cutting through the final monster's massive body, slicing it into pieces like a butcher carving meat.
Watching the creature's dismembered limbs turn into gray particles and slowly float away, as if they had never existed, Rosie breathed a sigh of relief. She then turned her head to look at the Carinvega who walked towards her from the center of their protective formation, a thoughtful look on her face.
"Your Highness, did you notice? These creatures are very similar to the spider-like monster that suddenly charged into the banquet hall last time. Especially the way they disappear after death... I believe they likely come from the same source."
"Mm..."
Carinvega nodded thoughtfully, but no one knew exactly what this deeply strategic and wise princess was thinking. After a while, she glanced at the catgirl, Noelle, who was busy treating the injured members of the team. She then turned to the companions gathered around and said with a confident tone.
“The two students who were seriously injured during the attack have already been sent back to Sainz for treatment. We still have about three hours until the official end of the competition. Since Sainz Academy hasn't made any formal response, it means they’re still in control of the situation. For the Austre Empire’s final victory, let's hang on a bit longer, everyone.”
Rosie nodded slightly.
“Of course, we’ll fight to the last moment for you, Your Highness. But given what’s happened, do we still need to continue hunting Source Crystals?”
Looking around at the environment, the girl with different-colored eyes shook her head.
“No, let’s stay here to rest and recover. Once the time is up, we’ll teleport out. We’ve been collecting points diligently for the past week, so the remaining few hours won’t make much of a difference. Safety comes first.”
“I understand, we will follow Your Highness’s command. Also…”
Rosie seemed to want to say something else, but just then, a sudden shout from the crowd interrupted her.
“Your Highness, look over there!”
It turned out that at the site where the strange monsters had just been eliminated, a card depicting a “Gate” had suddenly appeared out of nowhere amidst the floating gray particles!
A slightly glowing portal appeared as a projection in front of the card. Then, a tall man wearing a high hat and black magician’s robes stepped out with light steps. His odd smile and gaze made everyone in the crowd instinctively break out in cold sweat and feel a chill run down their spines.
“Well, well, this is quite the coincidence. I didn’t expect that the target chosen by ‘Magic’ would happen to be in this team…”
The man muttered to himself in a way that no one could really understand. Then, he took out a cane and lightly tapped the ground, all while gracefully bowing toward the princess with the differently colored eyes.
“It’s been a while since we last met, the noble Princess Carinvega… Oh, for you, this should be our first time meeting, right? My apologies, my apologies~ I can’t help it, though this wasn’t my intention, could you please come with me for a moment?”
“Bastard! No matter who you are, if you dare to have bad intentions toward the princess, you’ll have to deal with my blade first!”
Faced with this obvious kidnapping intention and arrogant words, one of the members in the team, composed entirely of loyal followers of the princess, couldn’t hold back their temper. Their strong desire to act and burning anger quickly overcame any fear of this unknown presence. They immediately shouted and drew their sword to strike!
“You’re a brave little knight, aren’t you? To boldly sacrifice yourself for your lord, it almost makes me nostalgic for my younger days~”
The man in magician's robes casually waved his staff with a smile, and just as the elite knight, whose strength was at least on the Earth level, swung his sword at him, the knight suddenly froze. It was as if an invisible hand had grabbed his whole body, and he was lifted off the ground.
This strange, invisible force completely restrained him. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t make any movement. Even his ability to speak seemed to be forcibly sealed in an instant. All he could do was stare in disbelief and make muffled, painful sounds like “Mmm! Mmm!”
“Berenic! What kind of dark magic is this...?!”
“Help! Someone help!!”
In shock, several members of the team immediately drew their magically loaded guns and fired a series of shots at the enemy who had restrained their teammate.
As elite members chosen by the Frederick Royal Academy, they naturally wielded high-quality magical weapons. These weren’t ordinary weapons, but powerful custom-made magical rifles used by the Royal Guard. Once hit, any enemy at Earth level, or below, had little chance of stopping the attack. At the very least, they would be severely injured. Even legendary-level warriors wouldn’t dare to take such an attack head-on, and it would serve as an effective way to restrain the enemy.
Using various modern magical weapons, Carinvega’s elite team, despite having no one stronger than Rosie, who was at the peak of earth level, was more than capable of working together to defeat most monsters at the sky level. Even when encountering multiple strong enemies at once, they could easily retreat safely. In their week-long exploration of the maze, they had already killed over ten sky level monsters together.
However, what happened next made everyone widen their eyes in disbelief.
“Little ones, relying too much on external objects is not good for your own training.”