Since the identities were confirmed without a doubt, the two of them did not dare to be careless. They quickly ran along the stairs and left the entrance to the treasure vault. Even the slightly older one was actually a younger brother in front of Blythe. He had led them on their first major mission back then.
When the figures of the two disappeared at the end of the stairs, Blythe silently sighed in relief, but clenched his teeth, trembling his fist with his remaining right hand.
"Are you satisfied now?" he asked in a low voice.
"Huh? Shouldn't I be asking you that, Mr. Blythe? Although I wouldn't kill them even if you didn't say so, since I'm a pacifist," came the voice of the young man, or rather, more like a boy.
The air around them trembled, and Blythe's gloomy eyes flashed with anger, as he sneered in contempt. Knowing what this guy was planning to do next, the word "pacifist" sounded more boring and laughable than an elementary school student's insult.
"If Mr. Blythe thinks so, then I can't do anything about it. But let's continue for now, because it won't be good if the Headmaster Ciella comes over," said the voice with a hint of resignation.
However, Blythe remained motionless in his spot.
"What's the matter, Mr. Blythe? Aren't you going to open the door? You should take action yourself; I'm not as sadistic as Xiaowei, enjoying watching others' puppet-like pain. But if you keep delaying, I won't be able to help."
"You're overthinking. Only the Three Saints have the authorization to open Erytheo. If I had that ability, why would I need you to be arrogant here?" Blythe replied.
There was a moment of silence, and then a slightly helpless tone seeped through. "Well, alright then, I guess I'll have to be rough."
In the next second, a figure appeared out of thin air and raised his hand, making a slashing motion in front—
As if a silver thread had been pulled through the air, it appeared for an instant and disappeared. But the seemingly indestructible heavy door neatly split in the middle and collapsed inward, causing a gust of wind that sent the scattered documents and treaties in the hall flying.
At the moment the door fell, an ethereal figure in white appeared at the gap of the door. His emotionless gaze fell upon Blythe and the boy.
"Detection of entrance breach, detection of unauthorized personnel Blythe, detection of unknown intruder, confirm destruction, immediate execution."
As the judgment was being made, several beams of light, as thick as carriage wheels, shot out from behind him. The astonishing energy flow engulfed the ground where Blythe and the boy stood, causing everything it touched to rapidly disintegrate in a burst of magical light.
However, neither of them were characters that could be easily dealt with. After blocking the incoming blast with a sword slash, Blythe immediately dodged to the side and began swiftly maneuvering to evade the continuous attacks.
After all, the gap was only so big, and it seemed that Erytheo's self-defensive countermeasures were all inside the room, so the scale of the attack couldn't get any larger. Therefore, Blythe was still able to calmly dodge.
As for the boy beside him, it was even simpler. With the opening of the spatial rules, the light cannon broke through the space directly in front, shot out from behind him, and landed on the floor, creating a deep crater. He just needed to continue repeating the process.
But this led to a deadlock. Erytheo couldn't launch any further attacks, but the high-density attacks made it difficult for the two on the outside to get closer, let alone enter the gap.
No, it wasn't even a deadlock. From the moment the door was destroyed, Erytheo must have already activated the alarm. If they couldn't take it down before Ciella and Lucius arrived, they would have failed.
...
"We found something, but only one. It's on the street to the south. Let me mark the location for you with the World Overview Eye."
Ciella's voice sounded tired. After all, she not only consumed mental energy, but also had to maintain her Holy Rank rules to keep her physical state.
Confirming the location marked by the pillar of light, Lucius finally felt a slight relaxation in his previously tensed heart. "Everyone, converge at the marked location and prepare to face possible enemies."
As he spoke, Lucius flew towards that direction.
But at that moment, a loud roar and alarm sounded from the heart of the lake island.
"Aritheo?!"
Stopping his body abruptly in mid-air, Lucius turned back in shock, looking towards the castle on the island.
"Director Lucius! Bliss-senpai is back! In the Elf Kingdom, he confirmed that the Elves we captured earlier are Dark Elves, and they might have some kind of destructive blood mark. We can't let them gather together! We are dispersing and detaining them separately. Furthermore, Bliss-senpai said that he encountered a possible Holy Rank enemy!"
A string of information flooded Lucius' ears, leaving him a bit bewildered for a moment.
Damn, why does it have to be now?!
Aritheo was attacked, Bliss returned with information about the Dark Elves, and Ciella found the magic formation. Three directions, three things that needed to be dealt with simultaneously.
Who attacked the treasury? What's the deal with the Holy Rank enemy Bliss encountered? Can I handle it?
It felt eerily familiar, just like the first time he learned everything about the lantern from his father and was completely at a loss.
Lucius pressed his forehead, feeling the blood vessels on his temples thumping.
"You go handle the magic formation. Leave the academy to me. Only I have access to Aritheo, and moreover—it's the academy created by me and those two guys. Of course, we have to protect it till the end."
Lucius paused for half a second, then smiled in relief. "Gosh, can't you show some motivation other than now?"
"...Narusei! I'm always serious!"
...
"It seems that Ciella or Lucius will be here soon, as well as other teachers."
Lying in the hall stairs leading to the entrance of Aritheo, covered in wounds, Bliss heard the alarm reverberating through the castle and couldn't help but laugh through the pain.
He had planned to directly face the barrage when the boy wasn't paying attention—those high-powered magitech cannons. If he abandoned his defenses, even his level-nine knight body would be killed instantly.
After being controlled by that guy using some method, Bliss had lost all desire to live. Instead of being controlled like a walking corpse and doing harm to his savior, it would be better to just die.
He had underestimated the boy's ability to multitask. While adjusting the spatial barrier, he also controlled Bliss. Although Bliss was grazed by the cannon fire in the end, he only sustained injuries. Death was absolutely impossible.
"Ha, really. I didn't intend to make such a big commotion."
As if hearing Bliss' mutterings, the boy raised his hand and snapped his fingers, disappearing directly from the spot and reappearing in front of Aritheo in the next moment.
"Banish The Realm, activate. Weaken The Realm, activate. Burn The Realm, activate. Imprison Space, activate!"
With four consecutive instructions, a sea of fire enveloped Arieth's surroundings while the magitech cannon behind him fired once again, attempting to control and kill the young man in one shot.
However, contrary to their expectations, the young man completely disregarded the series of weakening and control attempts, reaching out and pressing his hand against Arieth's face amidst the artillery fire.
Immediately after, a thick white beam of light engulfed Arieth and the young man's figures.
"That guy... Was he hit?"
As the sole witness to this scene, Bliss's expression displayed astonishment.
Why would that guy choose to directly face the artillery barrage? Is he suicidal or insane? He could clearly have dodged it.
Obviously, the young man was not an idiot, nor was he reckless. The brilliance of the magitech cannon dissipated, and the young man still stood there unscathed, albeit with a change of clothes and a slightly charred face.
"Cough cough, it seems the power indeed isn't insignificant."
Damn, what kind of immortal body is this? Is he really fine? Unbelievable!
Bliss's mind was blown; it seems that even without the power of a Holy Rank, as long as this guy had the martial skills of a Level Nine Knight, he could withstand powerful magitech cannon shots with his body alone.
That magitech cannon was designed by the Arch Sage Diah specifically for defending this treasure trove and could withstand even a high-powered shot without relying on law-based defenses!
"When the Arch Sage Diah created you, he probably designed you according to the standards of a top-tier Level Nine, right? The power of that shot was indeed enough to kill a Level Nine."
"But unfortunately, you weren't designed to withstand a Holy Rank attack."
"The ambush failed. Begin transferring the treasures--"
As a Magic creature, Arieth did not have the emotion called fear, so even in this situation, he faithfully followed those established instructions.
"Sorry, that won't do. Hm, even though you're just a terminal, you shouldn't have any emotions. Let's begin, 'Deconstruct' and 'Rewrite'!"
In Arieth's pupils, the young man's eyes were reflected, as if something began spreading frantically.
...
"Half of the people move to the target location nearby and the rest protect Arieth on Lakeheart Island!"
After giving the latest order, Lucius landed on the target location indicated by Ciella just a moment ago.
In front of him stood a slightly aged-looking tavern with a closed door hanging a sign indicating temporary closure.
Gathering himself, Lucius walked forward and pushed the door open.
In the instant the door was pushed open, a putrid smell rushed out, accompanied by splattering acid. A giant man-eating flower charged towards him.
If it were an ordinary person, they would probably be immediately scared unconscious and have their head bitten off. Unfortunately for this flower, it wasn't an ordinary person it encountered.
"Incinerate..." Lucius pointed his index finger forward, and a wisp of fire flashed and disappeared.
With a bang, the giant man-eating flower was consumed by the fierce flames, its huge sac bursting open. The acid in the air was incinerated, and the remains struggled on the ground for less than two seconds before turning to ashes.
"Using spells of other attributes occasionally seems nice... Heh, such a big commotion, huh? It seems the arrivals are unfriendly."
Lucius raised his right hand, his usual dark magic energy emerging. He scanned the surroundings with a gloomy gaze before finally resting on the Magic formation on the ground in front of the counter, causing the headmaster's pupils to suddenly contract.
"So that's how it is. Indeed, I actually overlooked something incredible. How did I forget about all of you? Bastard!"
