Strong! Vigorous! Overbearing!
In just this instant, the potential Rephya exploded with surpassed that of Teresa, the successor of the Association.
Filthy!
So damn filthy!
What kind of hero can defeat the Demon King?
The answer: one that is even more despicable than the Demon King!
Chloe's lips curled slightly upward.
He admitted that this seemingly naive hero was indeed a formidable opponent.
[Ethereal Dawn Divine Sword Broadcast Announcement]
[Detected structural turbulence in the artificial Maze of Howling Castle, exit beams have been deployed, all senior students please lead the newcomers to exit the Maze]
[Please proceed immediately to the nearest deployment point, I repeat, please proceed immediately to the deployment point]
Columns of light shot up into the Maze.
One of them was very close to them.
Teresa looked at Chloe with a complex expression, then glanced at Rephya.
For some reason, she suddenly had a premonition that this team, a sleeping dragon and a brilliant phoenix, might cause chaos with the Ethereal Emblem.
On the other hand, Fratiss looked at Rephya with eyes almost warming.
She had heard that in the Abyss it's popular to charcoal-grill Enchanting Demon tails; she wondered if tails changed by props were edible.
Chloe was lost in thought.
According to the original storyline, Fratiss was impressed by Rephya's sturdy physique, no less than a Warrior, and her fearless combat with enemies. Only then did she became the hero's first companion.
Brief comment: Logging in gives you an SR right away.
But now, due to his influence, Rephya didn't acquire the [tenacity] trait, and her combat strategy against enemies had drastically changed from the original storyline.
Even so, she still received Fratiss's high approval.
What was this?
The convergence of the world line?
Yet Rephya didn't notice at all.
She looked reluctantly at the dilapidated village and said,
"Is our Maze journey coming to an end like this?"
"The road is long, and you'll have plenty of opportunities to explore the Maze in the future."
Teresa said.
She didn't want to stay here even a moment longer.
There was clearly an incident beyond comprehension happening in the Howling Castle Maze.
If Extraordinary beings want to live long, they shouldn't take unnecessary risks.
The group looked at the light column cast from the horizon in the distance.
It was time to leave.
...
Location: Outside Howling Castle·Wasteland
A massive influx of dream fragments poured into Anderson's brain, as if the sky was hanging down to strangle him with grass.
Anderson at that moment felt like he had brain fog, the immense pain made him feel like someone was tearing him apart by the legs.
A psychologist excels at mental treatment by amending dreams.
Pulling an entire area's students briefly into dreams directly is too much for a middle-aged man.
"Professor, please don't die!"
Looking at Anderson's drooping head, Monet frantically shook him by the shoulders.
Monet's mind was a mess.
Since he joined the Disciplinary Department, he had been partnering with the professor.
This was a middle-aged man who liked to hide himself under a raincoat robe.
His biggest hobby was bickering with him.
Every time he got into minor troubles due to his recklessness, after surviving the danger thanks to his Sixth Sense, he would irritatingly wiggle his hips, saying, "I told you there was danger that you didn't heed, didn't you suffer?"
Then, with a horrified face, he'd say, "Working with you, I'll get screwed over by you one day."
Every time it infuriated him to the extent he wanted to strangle him, but...
Three blood arrows shot through the air, Monet's Sword Dance left behind afterimages, shattering the Blood Magic.
The scattering fragments of blood arrows shattered the surrounding rocks into pieces.
Facing Monet were three relentless demon attacks; he barely had time to shield the professor in his arms, and the blood oozing from his palms left him nearly depleted.
Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
When had it become a habit to protect the timid Anderson?
He was supposed to be the senior.
Was it when he constantly mocked, "I told you there was danger you didn't listen," yet never gave up on him?
He couldn't remember.
"Coward, if you don't wake up now, you'll really become a dead ghost."
He shouted hoarsely.
With a sharp shriek akin to tinnitus, Anderson's eyes flush red as he climbed up, saying,
"Summoning souls? My ears are going to bleed!"
He grumbled and flipped open a book.
With this kid donning the Stealth Robe and him sinking into the ocean of dreams to escape, they were encircled by a few Sequence Seven demon people in just a few minutes.
He looked hesitantly at the dimming robe, his teacher's relic had lost its effect.
Two major Extraordinary relics, one was gone.
But fortunately, he finally found the student of the Treasure Elf.
What they needed to do now was to buy time.
"Attack together, kill them all."
Filled with hostility, Anderson empowered Monet with invigorating Magic, then charged with a book embedded with a ram.
A few rounds later, they surprisingly beat the three demon heads askew.
Monet spat, laughing aloud, "Great! This is how we should fight!"
Anderson said numbly,
"Teaming up with you is like facing the Abyss directly."
"Didn't I kill them all? Even those Pseudo-men controlled by the Evil God's Followers through blood sacrifices?"
Anderson finally realized that the scene was a mess.
It turned out that Howling Castle's Pseudo-men had come out en masse.
Unlike the dregs outside, these Pseudo-men already had Sequence power.
Some were even close to Sequence Eight.
With such numbers at once, no wonder this kid got injured like this.
At that moment, Monet instinctively raised his head as he dressed his wounds.
The surrounding had unknowingly become quiet, devoid of the chirps and bird calls.
He saw that the corpses of the once-slain followers and Pseudo-men suddenly turned their heads, looking at them intently, with sinister smiles beneath their lifeless eyes.
All he felt was a chill, like a cold snake coiling around his body, his body temperature rapidly dropped, and fear started spreading.
The corpses swarmed toward Monet like a tide.
With beads of sweat dripping from his forehead, his complexion flushed red, he shouted towards Anderson:
"Professor, help me, there's a Sequence Six."
The next moment, the book in Anderson's hand quickly flipped, pages forming a tidal wave, suppressing the eerily smiling corpses.
Monet was elated, slicing with his Two-Handed Greatsword, blood-red threads binding him appeared in the void, severed immediately under the glow of the sword.
Anderson's terrified voice came,
"Run, Monet, get the message out, you must get the message out!"
The Warrior didn't hesitate, veins bulging, tearing through the encirclement of corpses with flashes of electricity, escaping in an instant.
The previously severed Ethereal Dawn Divine Sword descended, reestablishing contact with him as he swiftly relayed the information verbally.
After finishing, he turned around and charged in the direction he came from.
Soon, he saw Professor Anderson surrounded by waves of white paper, half the forest covered, pages billowing like rippling waves, entrapping each eerily smiling corpse in layers of paper.
But for some reason, he was entrapment without killing.
The white paper warped those silhouettes into grotesque shapes, but they were still relentlessly crawling towards Anderson.
The nearest ones were gnawing his left arm down to the bone, the spattered blood dyeing his clothes red.
"Anderson, I come to aid you!"
The Greatsword swung like a Thunderbolt, with flickering flashes of electricity forcefully entering those corpses.
Under immense force and speed, those severed bodies, along with the surrounding woods, instantly shattered into two, crashing down.
He was still charging!
"Anderson, I'll cover you, let's retreat together in a moment."
"Wait, don't come over!"