Pascal gazed from afar at Anna in the griffin’s beak, and the panic in her eyes gradually faded.

She’d been worried Anna might get dragged into some trouble on the battlefield and be unable to get out. And based on what she knew of Anna, there was no way Anna could escape easily on her own.

The trial on the fifth floor was an unknown they had never faced before.

The book had long recorded this ancient battlefield in detail—its history, its appearance, even the method to clear it. But that didn’t change the fact that this was still their first time taking on the trial.

Pascal knew Anna’s personality well enough. She was the kind who could never sit still.

If they let Anna run around freely, who knew what bigger mess she’d stir up.

And now...

Pascal looked at the lifeless Anna with relief and let out a huge sigh.

Dead was good.

A dead Anna was way more reliable than a living Anna!

“Ah! I smell him!”

Shirley lightly twitched her nose, grabbed Pascal’s arm, and pulled her to look into the distance. “It’s the president’s scent. I think he came to pick us up!”

“The Avianwing Clan has noses that sharp too?”

Pascal blinked blankly and looked in the direction Shirley pointed. Sure enough, she quickly spotted Noah.

Just as they had planned before entering The Spire, once Pascal released the holy light, Noah was able to follow the source and find her in the middle of the vast battlefield.

“President!” Shirley ran toward Noah, waving as she approached. “I found Pascal, and Anna too—she’s flying in the sky!”

“I saw.”

Noah met up with Shirley, and at the same time looked up at Anna hanging from the griffin’s mouth. The red-haired girl was pale as a sheet, but the resentful little look in her eyes was already coming back to life. She’d probably revive in a bit.

As a true Undying One, Anna probably didn’t need Noah worrying about her safety.

Noah thought exactly the same as Pascal—dead people were more useful than living ones, especially Anna Carole.

He chose not to worry about Anna for now, and turned his gaze to Shirley instead.

The Avianwing Clan warrior looked fired up. The atmosphere of slaughter on the battlefield had clearly infected her. It was waking the warrior soul that had slept inside her for so long, and she’d been trembling with excitement since earlier.

The Avianwing Clan were born warriors. Their intelligence was born from warfire, so naturally, they belonged in warfire too.

In fact, Noah had always considered Shirley a core member for the fifth-floor trial.

According to the records in the book, on the way to destroy the mage tower, Mediator Aether had, as expected, been intercepted. Many powerful enemies emerged and once pushed the not-yet-fully-grown Aether into a desperate corner.

So if Noah wanted to break through and destroy the mage tower, he needed enough raw combat power.

Pascal’s holy light explosion worked wonderfully against monsters. But if the target was human, then no matter how fierce her holy light was, it would be hard for it to cause real lethal damage.

Not to mention... on the way to the mage tower, enemies from the Holy Order would appear as well.

When that happened, a certain illiterate nun who couldn’t learn magic would lose all combat ability.

Shirley was different.

She had an innately powerful body. She was the finest kind of soldier on a battlefield. As long as it didn’t involve aerial combat, she could unleash power enough to fight a hundred alone.

And conveniently enough—

The Hidel Plains were flat. Almost everywhere was close-quarters terrain. High ground that was easy to defend and hard to attack was rarely seen. It was practically the perfect battlefield for Shirley to shine.

“Aelia.”

Noah called to the adjutant beside him, then crouched down and picked up a stone to sketch a tactical route map on the ground.

“Take three squads. Go around the frontal battlefield and cut in from here. Draw the attention of one high-ranking archbishop of the Church here. You don’t need to beat him. The key is to keep him tied down and stop him from interfering with the surprise attack on the other side.”

“A high-ranking archbishop of the Church?”

Aelia froze for a moment. This girl who had “betrayed” humanity blinked, then widened her eyes in surprise. “Lord Aether, where did you get that intelligence? We didn’t know there would be an archbishop stationed there...”

Noah thought that was a hard question to answer—he couldn’t exactly say he read it in a history book.

After all, Aether Spire had stood for over nine hundred years.

Countless climbers had challenged The Spire in that time, and there had also been many who broke through the fifth floor.

Some of them recorded the methods for clearing the trial and compiled them into books, passing them down as precious experience to the next generation. Over time, those records gradually spread far and wide.

What Noah had read in the president’s office was the climber’s handbook recognized by the royal family of the duchy.

And the “delay tactic” he had just proposed was also recorded in that handbook as the optimal solution.

“Just do as I say first. It won’t be wrong.”

“...Yes!” Aelia saluted Noah. Then she noticed the traces of holy light still lingering around Pascal and suddenly thought of something. “Lord Aether, I think the plan can be adjusted. The nun by your side should go with them.”

Noah turned his head curiously and realized that Aelia, this NPC from The Spire, seemed to possess unusually high intelligence.

He wasn’t in a hurry for the moment, so he wanted to hear her reasoning. “Why?”

Aelia answered seriously, “If your goal is only to hold that archbishop back, then sending a nun from the Holy Order is the best choice. Her holy light is extremely pure. With just a few simple spells, she should be able to suppress even someone at archbishop level.”

“Unfortunately, that won’t work.”

Noah shook his head. “Pascal can’t use holy light spells. At most, she’d just be a wooden post that won’t die if she goes there. She can’t delay him.”

“She can’t use spells?” Aelia froze again and looked at Pascal like this was absurd. “But isn’t she a nun of the Holy Order?”

Noah waved a hand. “She’s illiterate... don’t ask for details. It’s kind of hurtful.”

“Illiterate...”

Aelia looked like she’d been struck by lightning. She stood there stiffly, muttering under her breath, “But that... that’s not right... could it be... how is that possible?”

Noah guessed Aelia’s CPU had burned out.

He kept drawing the tactical route map on his own, fully reproducing the strategy guide from memory.

After more than nine hundred years of exploration, the duchy’s climbers had worked out an almost perfect tactical layout. It took some time, but it was safe and stable.

So Noah didn’t need to think up anything new right now. He could just copy the homework and be done with it.

He pointed out several feint routes in succession, avoiding direct confrontation as much as possible. The thinking behind them was not only ingenious, but also coordinated with each other perfectly. Aelia was left staring in a daze.

The shock in Aelia’s heart hadn’t stopped since earlier. Now she looked at the “Aether” before her in utter astonishment, unable to imagine how he had come up with such a complicated strategy in so little time.

And at that moment, Noah laid out the final line of attack.

“Last is the main force. Shirley and I will follow this tunnel straight to the base of the mage tower. We’ll destroy the core before we’re discovered, if possible.”

“What a... brilliant strategy.” Aelia was instantly filled with respect for Noah. But then her little brain started turning again. She pointed at the final hidden route Noah had drawn, her face full of confusion. “But I think this is a bit unnecessary. The feints in the other places are already perfect... You could use another method to reach the mage tower.”

“Like what?”

Noah felt Aelia had more to say than he expected, and her thinking was more flexible too.

The Spire was indeed a place full of mystery and wonder, but... he couldn’t help wondering whether Aelia really was just an NPC created by The Spire.

By the time that thought crossed his mind, Aelia had already pointed out the issue.

“I think we can go by air. Your Avianwing Clan friend can carry at least two people to the mage tower. The griffins are busy on the frontal battlefield, so they won’t notice us. This route is obviously faster than digging a tunnel, and safer too.”

After saying that, Aelia blinked expectantly, clearly waiting for Noah’s praise and approval.

Instead, the corner of Noah’s mouth twitched.

This NPC really knew how to bring up the one thing she shouldn’t.

“That plan won’t work either.” Noah regretfully rejected Aelia’s suggestion. “Unfortunately, my Avianwing Clan friend can’t fly.”

Aelia took another mental critical hit. “But isn’t she from the Avianwing Clan? I can see her wings!”

Noah said calmly, “She’s afraid of heights.”

Aelia: “...”

She stood there in a daze, eyes unfocused, as if she had just heard something that violated the laws of the world.

Looks like her CPU burned out again.

After a while, Aelia silently took off her helmet and let her overheated forehead breathe. A waterfall of silver-white hair spilled down, and only then did she gradually recover.

“I need a moment.” Aelia still wore a look of total life confusion as she summed up this talent show. “An illiterate nun, an Avianwing Clan warrior who’s afraid of heights, and...”

She tilted her head back and saw Anna, now revived, struggling in the griffin’s mouth. Her head immediately tilted to the side. “And... what is that? Wasn’t she dead just now?”

Noah reminded her, “That’s an Undying One.”

“There’s actually an Undying One too...”

The moment Aelia heard those three words, her expression shifted slightly. She instinctively covered her chest.

Noah noticed the strange look on the face of this NPC created by The Spire. Damp strands of hair clung to her cheeks with sweat. An unusual light surfaced in her clear eyes, and her breathing slowly grew heavier, as if the Undying One held some extraordinary meaning for her.

A violent boom rang out dozens of meters away.

A round boulder was hurled into the battlefield by a catapult, smashing out a huge crater. Dirt and dust flew everywhere, along with countless screams from soldiers dying on the spot.

Only then did Aelia remember she was still on the battlefield. She suddenly snapped back to herself and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, Lord Aether. I... was a little surprised.”

“It’s normal to be stunned.”

Noah waved a hand, signaling that she didn’t need to say more. “Anyway, everything goes according to plan.”

The confusion in Aelia’s eyes vanished completely, and in the end became a firm military salute. “Yes! Lord Aether!”

“We should move too.”

Watching Aelia gradually walk away, Noah prepared to follow the plan and lead Shirley and Pascal straight into the mage tower, destroy the core as quickly as possible, and complete the trial.

As for Anna... she could hang in the sky a little longer.

Anyway, once the trial ended, as a member of the guild, she would naturally return together with Noah and the others.

And it was right then—

Another explosive roar burst beside them.

At first Noah thought it was the catapult again, but he quickly realized he was wrong.

There was no dust flying up around them. No soldiers screaming. No shattered stones scattering.

So where had the sound come from?

“President...”

In the middle of his confusion, Noah heard Pascal’s trembling voice beside him.

She pointed into the distance, her lips moving as she said in shock, “Look over there...”

Noah’s heart sank, and countless ominous premonitions suddenly rose inside him.

He turned to look.

The azure tower standing deep in the plains was burning fiercely, like a pillar of fire rising from the earth. Explosions rampaged through the inside of the tower, shattering all the floating magical script on its outer walls. Countless burning figures ran and screamed inside, then jumped one after another from the tower and crashed heavily to the ground.

The mage tower that had only recently been transported onto the battlefield was suddenly collapsing as it burned, consumed by an explosion no one understood.

The mage tower deep within the human camp—the ultimate goal of the trial—collapsed like a giant burned to death, baptized in blood and flame, lying helpless on the ground.

Noah stared in shock toward the ruins, watching dust whip violently into the gale. A terrifying shockwave surged outward, and the entire Xider Plain trembled without cease.

Something’s off.

Damn it—this part isn’t in the history books!