At the end of the long corridor was a massive gate, though nothing was carved upon it.
The door was slightly ajar.
Enya walked to the gap and, without a second thought for what lay beyond, slipped through sideways. Sophia stepped forward and poked her head through the crack to peer inside.
From here on, they had officially entered the Underground Ruins. Upon passing through the gate, what met her eyes was a structure resembling a grand hall.
Nina poked her head in as well. When she saw how spacious it was, filled with numerous glowing ores, her interest was instantly piqued.
She loved wide-open spaces.
Nina dashed inside before Sophia. Noticing Nina fly past her, Sophia’s gaze reflexively followed her.
When she saw Nina bypass Enya and run straight onto the floor of the hall, Sophia couldn’t help but frown.
She had been too lenient with her just now!
One had to be cautious in these types of Underground Ruins.
Granted, with Nina’s current strength—the level of Sixth Rank Peak Magic—she could force her way through the vast majority of ancient ruins buried underground.
However, there were also ancient ruins where the dangers and treachery were so great that even experts of a higher Order of Magic could perish within.
Sophia stepped inside as well, but she had barely taken two steps when she heard the heavy stone gate behind them begin to move.
The door was closing on its own!
She instinctively summoned her Staff and turned back to retreat toward Enya’s side.
Meanwhile, something was happening on Nina’s end as well.
Debris began falling from above, hitting the ground with a series of loud thuds.
After Nina dodged the falling rubble, she looked up at the ceiling.
Hanging upside down from the ceiling, roughly a hundred meters up, were dozens of humanoid stone statues.
Each held a different weapon, and at that moment, they all began to move. The debris was falling from their shifting bodies.
“Huh?”
Nina let out a cry of surprise.
Sophia’s gaze shifted upward as well, and by the time she looked, those statues were already staring down at the three of them.
Enya felt her body grow light.
The gravity she felt shifted from beneath her feet to above her head, yet she remained firmly rooted to the spot.
The moment Sophia felt the gravity invert, she activated Wind Control Magic.
After adjusting her posture, she immediately launched an attack, refusing to give the statues a chance to strike first.
Nina took advantage of the falling speed and drew two Short Swords, spinning herself into a whirlwind.
With a strike that shattered a stone spear, she instantly destroyed a stone statue ten times her size. Upon landing on the ceiling, she didn’t stop moving.
Glowing with a golden light, she charged into the midst of the dozens of statues.
The stone statues couldn’t capture Nina’s agile form at all. They couldn’t even hit her afterimages, let alone anything else.
Sophia provided practiced high-altitude fire support from above.
Enya’s gaze, however, was fixed on the one statue among them that hadn’t moved. Its size was even more massive than the others.
She estimated it to be over twenty meters tall.
It sat upon a chair, looking like a general supervising a battle.
Enya walked forward with slow, steady steps.
At that moment, red light flared in the eyes of the statue on the chair, and two fierce, crimson streaks of Magic Flash shot toward her.
The energy of the two flashes was so intense it caused ripples to appear in the space around them, showing just how terrifying the Magic Power contained within them was.
Enya did not dodge or weave; she faced the crimson beams head-on.
Heavenly Sword Ten Supremes • Third • Bladeless!
The Magic Flash was split down the middle, turning into four beams of light. Their trajectories were severely diverted away from the path Enya was walking.
The red light hit the ground, scorching the stone into a pool of lava.
As for the seated statue, half of its head had been sliced away, leaving only the bottom half of its eyes.
The surface where it had been cut was smoother than the floor crafted by a master artisan.
On the wall behind the statue, a hundred-meter-long sword mark had been carved.
The Sky Sword Ten Extremes were literally the ten ultimate forms of Swordsmanship.
As the Giant Stone Statue lost half of its head, the remaining statues ceased all movement. It seemed this one had been the core.
Enya glanced at the statue and couldn’t help but wonder.
“Is there a secret passage?”
Logically, if the Lord of Mist Church had used this place as a Mist Sect Stronghold, they would have certainly dismantled such traps.
Especially the Illusion Trap outside.
If Enya was walking through the main entrance, it meant the Lord of Mist Church had a secret passage they could use to bypass everything.
Flying toward the statue, Enya found a passage behind the massive stone chair, roughly the width of a Car.
Once Enya passed through that opening, she felt the abnormal gravity on her body correct itself. Sophia flew in after her.
However, the moment Sophia passed through the hole, she lost control of her direction and watched helplessly as the ground rushed up toward her.
Fortunately, a pair of hands caught her.
Enya first caught a glimpse of a pair of fair, long legs peeping out from the Long Robe, then looked down at the blonde Sophia, whose hair was brushing the floor.
Sophia’s face was currently flushed a deep red, though it was unclear if it was due to the inverted gravity or the shame of being held upside down.
“Sophia Sister, what are you and the Dragon doing?”
Nina ran inside. She had adapted to the gravity reversal quickly; the moment she sensed the shift, she had twisted her body in mid-air.
After landing steadily on the ground, Nina’s pair of azure eyes stared at the dragon and the Elf being held in a strange position.
Nina’s hand was still covering her backside. It seemed the burning sensation from the earlier spanking could still be felt.
Sophia braced her hands against the ground.
Enya took the opportunity to let go of the thighs she was holding. With a push, Sophia performed a backflip and landed firmly on her feet.
Although Sophia was a Magic User, she had undergone some physical training. A backflip was simple for her.
However, Sophia’s flip revealed an unexpected sight; amidst the white blur, Enya caught a glimpse of elegant green.
Enya fixed her gaze forward, pretending she had seen nothing, and gestured for the two Elves to continue their journey.
This Ruin might have been a temple in the past, so it wasn’t rigged with various mechanisms. The rest of the time was spent simply traveling.
As Enya walked, she suddenly came to a halt.
Sophia seemed to be lost in thought and didn’t notice Enya’s movement. She continued walking until her leg bumped into something.
“Yai?!”
“…”
Enya’s Dragon Tail would sway unconsciously.
Only after bumping into Sophia did Enya actively control her tail, stopping the rhythmic swaying and pulling it slightly closer to her body.
Sophia looked down and saw this, immediately saying with some embarrassment:
“I’m sorry, Predecessor…”
“Uh, it’s fine.”
Enya turned to look at the wall on the right. She placed her hand on it, and after just a second, she turned to Sophia and said:
“Help me open this wall.”
“Okay!”
Sophia summoned her Staff and tapped the tip against the wall.
Then, the entire wall began to tremble. A thin layer of golden light surfaced upon it, followed by a crack appearing in the wall.
The gap slowly widened like a large door. As soon as it opened a little, White Mist could be seen seeping out.
Enya reached out and pulled Sophia into her arms. Before Sophia could even react, she had already been whisked away to a spot some distance away.
“Eh?”
The White Mist seeping from the crack acted like tentacles, lashing out at the spot where Enya and Sophia had just been standing.
“Eh?!”
Only then did Sophia realize she had been targeted by something. If Enya hadn’t pulled her away…
Perhaps she would have been snatched by those White Mist tentacles and used to plug the gap?
Enya’s golden-red Dragon Eyes narrowed as she stared at the White Mist tentacles reaching out from the crack. In the blink of an eye, they were shredded into small Fragments.
The White Mist tried to recombine, only to find that some force had severed its connection with the fragmented mist!
The creature inside the wall sensed the danger and prepared to flee, but Nina directly smashed the wall open. Charging through the rubble and heavy smoke, she plunged inside shrouded in brilliant Golden Fire.
Before long, bursts of miserable screams and wails echoed from within the hole.
Enya released her hold on Sophia and walked toward the breach. Sophia bit her lip and quickly followed.
Past the hole was a narrow path. Unlike the outside, this place looked as though it had been excavated by tomb raiders.
Nina had already run far ahead.
Enya led Sophia into the narrow path. After walking for a long distance, they encountered a dead end.
The two of them stood before a solid wall of rock.
Sophia reached out to touch it, only to find the rock was hollow. Her hand passed right through it.
“This is an illusion? The effect is so realistic!”
The rock blocking the road looked completely real. Unless one sensed the Magic Power aura very carefully, it was impossible to tell that this was an Illusion Trap.
*BOOM.*
The tunnel hadn’t been reinforced, and the vibration caused some debris to fall.
Enya stood beside Sophia, spreading her wings to shield her.
*Cling. Cling. Cling.*
Small stones struck the Iron Armor, making crisp, light sounds.
Inside Enya’s embrace, Sophia’s ears perked up.
Sophia lowered her head slightly, her eyes drifting toward the hand gently resting on her waist. A flush of shyness crossed her face.
The words slipped out of her mouth.
“Predecessor, you’re bad…”
“?”
Enya was somewhat puzzled. I’m shielding you from dust and falling rocks so you don’t get dirty; how am I being bad?
Sophia lifted her head slightly, her slender fingers tidying a stray lock of hair.
‘I… how did I say that out loud?’
‘That was supposed to stay in my head!’
Unable to face Enya’s gaze, Sophia hurried toward the rock illusion, changing the subject as she went.
“It sounds like Nina has run into trouble. I’m going to help her now!”
“…”
Enya watched as Sophia disappeared into the illusion. She let out a long sigh, defending herself in her heart.
‘I really didn’t mean anything else by it!’