That roar, full of oppressive pressure, echoed throughout the underground hall.
It was as if the sound wasn’t traveling through the air, but rather drilling directly into the bone marrow of everyone present through the violent tremor of the ground.
The already crumbling dome overhead rattled from the shockwaves, sending large clouds of dust and debris raining down like raindrops, stirring up layers of murky smoke on the rune-covered floor.
Helos stood in place, not panicked by the sudden turn of events.
The girl merely narrowed her eyes slightly, observing the flow of mana hidden behind the scene before her.
The scattered mana that had been floating freely in the surrounding air was now being forcibly drawn together, madly converging toward the dark hole in the wall behind the altar, forming a visible, massive mana vortex.
The center of that vortex was like a greedy black hole, devouring all the nearby mana without bottom.
“It feels a bit similar to the Curse of Silence, huh.”
Helos reached out and lightly patted the dust off her shoulder.
“Looks like…”
Her tone lost nine-tenths of its earlier playfulness, replaced by the gravity of a researcher facing an unknown experimental subject.
“This joke might have gone a little too far.”
On the other side of the altar, Claude, the instigator of this disaster, was leaning against the cold stone wall of the altar.
He watched the terrifying scene before him, watching the monstrous creature slowly rising from the darkness, its body so massive it nearly filled half the hall. A twisted smile spread across his face.
“Come on! Come on!”
His face was as pale as paper, and his forehead was covered in fine cold sweat, but he still screamed with all his might, as if only that could mask the fear threatening to swallow him from within.
“Let’s die together!!”
This wasn’t going according to his plan—in fact, it had completely derailed.
Yes, he had intended to use this legendary “Guardian of the Ruins” to deal with Helos and her group so he could escape in the chaos.
In his original plan, this magical beast, though powerful, would only be a slightly troublesome high-level monster—a tool to slow down his pursuers.
But it seemed he had severely underestimated the value of this ancient ruin, as well as Dean Feinalaisi’s handiwork from a century ago.
The monster before him was no ordinary magical beast. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was some kind of “dragon.”
Just the oppressive pressure it emitted made it hard for Claude to breathe, and his mana flowed sluggishly from fear.
He couldn’t escape. Faced with a monster of this level, and having lost all his items and staff, he didn’t even have the right to flee.
It’s over… it’s all over…
Claude wailed in despair.
But even if his end was destined to be destruction, he absolutely refused to show any weakness in front of those three who had humiliated him.
Since he was fated to be eliminated, fated to be laughed at by everyone, then he would drag these three damn bastards down with him!
The red-haired youth swallowed, feeling the violent tremors of the stone wall behind him.
His legs were so weak he could barely stand, relying on the wall for support just to avoid collapsing to the ground.
Mustering his last ounce of strength, he turned his head sharply and shot a vengeful, gloating look at Helos and her group.
He wanted to see fear on their faces.
He wanted to see that always haughty silver-haired girl scream in panic, that expressionless maid tremble in terror, and that absurdly strong black-haired man kneel and beg for mercy in despair!
Even if he saw just a moment of panic in them, he’d die without regrets.
However, when his eyes finally focused on the three, his smile froze instantly.
What did he see?
No fear, no panic, not even the slightest hint of wanting to run.
The three of them just stood there quietly, amidst the falling debris, as composed as tourists visiting a museum.
… Something was very off.
What crushed Claude even more was their expressions.
Helos was looking up, her light purple eyes shimmering with a light that sent chills down his spine.
It was like she had found some rare treasure, or a mountain of gold—greed and excitement.
She even stuck out her tongue and licked her slightly dry lips.
As for the black-haired man, aside from shielding Helos from falling rocks, he had also casually drawn the iron sword that had no scabbard.
Though it was just an ordinary weapon, in his hands it seemed to become a legendary divine blade.
His body leaned slightly forward, center of gravity lowered, and his pitch-black eyes locked onto the roaring monster, burning with a fierce flame called “battle intent.”
As for the blonde girl…
She was looking up and down at the massive creature with an extremely professional gaze, as if searching for the fastest spot to cut, where the cleanest incision could be made.
These three were acting like they were raring to go?!
Claude felt his brain short-circuiting. He muttered to himself:
“You… are you all crazy? That’s a guardian of the ruins! A monster comparable to a high-order mage! Aren’t you going to run?”
No one paid his nonsense any mind.
Helos’s attention was now completely absorbed by the big guy.
She could see the core inside the monster, as dazzling as the sun.
It was a mana crystal of extremely high purity, about the size of a human head.
Not only that, but at various joints of the monster’s body, there were at least a dozen intermediate-quality mana crystals embedded as mana transmission nodes.
It seemed this creature’s body had been modified, like adding prosthetics.
“…If I could take that back for research, hehe!”
Helos couldn’t help but exclaim softly.
“Just the materials from this one monster alone are worth at least several hundred points! And that core…”
She was rich…
This time, she was truly rich.
She turned to the two beside her, her eyes blazing with fervor.
“Julius! Gavi! Did you hear that?”
“This is a mobile treasure trove! We can’t let it get away!”
“Understood.”
Julius nodded, and the iron sword in his hand let out a clear ring.
“If it so much as moves, I’ll cut off its limbs.”
“Understood.”
Gavi’s voice was still flat.
“I recommend prioritizing the destruction of the mana transmission nodes at its knee and elbow joints to immobilize it.”
Listening to this exchange, Claude felt like he was overhearing a bunch of lunatics discussing how to dismember a dragon.
Were they actually planning to… hunt this thing?
“ROAR—!!!”
Just then, the fully awakened guardian let out an earth-shaking roar.
It finally noticed these tiny bugs, especially the red-haired human leaning against the altar.
His body still carried the scent of that inducer, which made it incredibly agitated.
The guardian raised its massive front claw and slammed it down toward Claude with the force of ten thousand tons!
The shadow engulfed Claude entirely.
“AAAAAH—!”
Claude let out a despairing scream, closing his eyes, waiting to be crushed into a paste.
But the anticipated pain never came.
“CLANG—!!!”
A deafening clash exploded right above his head.
A powerful gust of wind stung Claude’s face, forcing him to open his eyes.
Then he witnessed a sight he would never forget.
That black-haired youth—the man he had mocked as a mere attendant—was now standing in front of him.
With nothing more than that seemingly ordinary iron sword, he had actually blocked the giant claw that was as big as a carriage!
Julius’s feet were deeply embedded in the ground, but his straight back didn’t bend an inch.
He stood firm like a sea-stabilizing pillar, creating an absolutely safe space for the useless waste behind him.
“Hey, redhead.”
Julius didn’t turn around. His voice was calm and cold, showing no strain.
“I know you’re annoying and even tried to harm us.”
“But…”
The black-haired man suddenly exerted force, shaking his long sword, and actually forced the massive stone arm back!
“Until the exam is over, you can’t die.”
“After all… you’ve still got the points we want.”
The guardian, staggered back, grew enraged.
Flames of anger shot from its eyes. It opened its huge mouth, and a dense, earthy yellow light gathered inside.
It was about to unleash a dragon breath!
This attack probably had power exceeding a high-order spell!
Claude was terrified out of his wits.
“Shut up.”
But before he could scream, a cool female voice rang out.
Helos had somehow already walked up beside Julius.
She looked at the massive creature charging its attack, showing no fear on her face.
She simply raised a hand.
That pale, slender palm pointed from afar at the guardian’s glowing mouth.
“Using magic in front of me?”
The girl’s lips curled into a disdainful sneer.
“Don’t you think you’re worthy?”
A blue light flashed in Helos’s eyes. Without even needing the power of her “Curse of Silence,” she forcibly stopped the monster’s action with just a mental shockwave.
The next second, the guardian only spat out a puff of gray-black smoke.
“Pfft.”
The moment was incredibly awkward.
The massive monster seemed stunned too.
It blinked its emerald-green eyes in confusion, clearly unable to understand what had just happened.
It only felt a slight pain in its brain.
But that slight pain was enough to make it lose control of its mana.
“Now!”
Helos shouted.
“Gavi! Go!”
“Yes!”
A golden lightning bolt cut through the air.
Gavi’s figure appeared behind the guardian like a ghost.
The armor-piercing spikes on her arms had already extended, and she drove them with pinpoint accuracy into the connecting node of the guardian’s left knee!
“CRACK!”
That was the sound of a mana crystal shattering.
The guardian’s massive body tilted violently, instantly collapsing to one knee.
“Julius!”
“Coming!”
The black-haired youth let out a long roar, leaping high into the air. The iron sword in his hand traced a brilliant arc in the air.
Even without using the Holy Sword “Daybreak,” with his terrifying physical abilities and masterful swordsmanship, this strike still carried the power to split mountains and crack rocks!
“Slash!”
The long sword, with a howling wind, slashed fiercely down onto the guardian’s right front claw, which had just tried to lift!
“BOOM—!”
Rocks flew everywhere.
That stone-covered front claw was cut clean off by this sword and crashed to the ground!
“ROAR—!!!”
The guardian let out a pained and furious roar.
It struggled wildly, trying to stand up, trying to fight back.
At the same time, it attempted to mobilize the mana inside its body to repair the wound.
But by then, Helos had used physical enhancement for the first time in a while, closing the distance in just a few breaths.
In her hand, a very familiar thin sword had appeared.
It seemed identical to the one Cedric had given her back then, but the blue light flickering on it and the red glow wrapping around the blade indicated it was a different weapon.
Transmutation weapon—another ability of the Branch of Enlightenment Alchemy.
Not only that, Helos had also activated the Crimson Armament from the Branch of Courage Alchemy, further enhancing the weapon.
At this moment, the thin sword’s sharpness had reached a level unimaginable for ordinary people.
Combined with the Curse of Silence’s weakening effect on the monster, Helos’s strike was even more powerful than Gavi’s.
She also directly tore through the monster’s rock-solid skin, and the impact force even sent the monster toppling sideways.
From that moment on, it became a one-sided slaughter.
A downed magical beast that couldn’t use magic, facing a knight with explosive physical attack power, an assassin who only targeted weak points, and a controller specialized in seal magic.
Its only fate was to become a pile of valuable materials.
Claude sat slumped on the ground, dazedly watching the unbelievable scene before him.
He watched the powerful Guardian of the Ruins, which just minutes ago he had considered an unbeatable nightmare, being dismantled piece by piece like a toy by those three.
He watched Helos’s calm commanding figure, Julius’s unstoppable sword, Gavi’s ghostly assassinations.
An unprecedented sense of defeat, along with a deep fear, completely overwhelmed him.
He finally understood just what kind of monsters he had been provoking.
These were the bookworms from the Comprehensive Research Academy?
This was like a grade-schooler going up and beating Tyson to death in three punches!
“BOOM—!”
With the last loud crash, the guardian’s massive body finally collapsed completely.
Its dazzling core mana crystal rolled out from the crack in its chest and stopped right at Helos’s feet.
The battle was over.
Helos bent down and picked up the still-warm crystal.
She blew the dust off it, then turned to look at the thoroughly dumbfounded red-haired youth in the corner.
The girl showed the “friendly yet deadly” smile that Claude would remember for the rest of his life.
“Alright.”
“Materials are farmed.”
“Next…”
“Claude, don’t you think we should settle the bill for that mental damage earlier?”