The crisp sound was especially piercing on the silent altar.
Charles was stunned for a moment, then that handsome face instantly twisted into a liver color, the veins on his forehead throbbing. “What money?!”
“Playing dumb?” Annabell rolled her eyes, her staff stomping heavily on the stone slab, emitting a dull thump.
“Half an hour ago, I was merciful in the periphery and saved your useless lackeys from under the hooves of a rampaging Thorny Boar! Not only did I kick the boar away for them, I also helped them ‘relax their bones.'”
A mocking smile curled at the corner of Annabell’s lips, the very picture of a bully collecting protection money.
“The ‘personal safety protection service’ that I, the young miss, personally provided is unique in the Empire! This protection fee, are you trying to default on it?”
Hearing this, Charles’s mind immediately conjured up the image of that lackey with a missing front tooth and a face swollen like a pig’s head, and that blood-stained rag that read, “Charles, your useless men almost got gored by a boar… I’m coming to collect.”
‘What a load of crap about personal safety protection service!’
‘It was clearly a one-sided robbery! She beat them half to death, even stripped the first-grade health-restoring grass hidden in their shoes, and then she still has the nerve to swagger over to him, her master, to demand the “remaining balance”?!’
“Annabell! You’re going too far!”
Charles was so angry that his whole body trembled, his eyes bloodshot. He clenched his right hand, and a violent fire mana erupted in his palm. “Do you really think I, this prince, am afraid of you, you madwoman?!”
“Oh? Trying to skip out on the bill?” Annabell raised an eyebrow. Instead of backing off, she cracked her knuckles and stepped forward. There was no fear in her dual-pupiled eyes, only excitement. “Fine, then I’ll beat you until even your father doesn’t recognize you.”
“Your Highness! You must not!”
At the critical moment, the wise lackey beside him was scared out of his wits. He lunged forward, desperately grabbing Charles’s arm and lowering his voice in a frantic whisper.
“Your Highness, calm down! This woman is a complete lunatic! We’ve expended too much in the first layer. If we clash with her over a few magic herbs now, we’ll definitely suffer a huge loss!”
“The rankings are about to be announced and we’ll enter the second layer. Think of the bigger picture, Your Highness!”
Charles stared fixedly at Annabell’s punchable face. His chest heaved violently, as if he were a volcano about to erupt.
Humiliation! Unprecedented humiliation!
The dignified Grand Prince of the Empire, a top genius on the prodigy ranking, was being blackmailed publicly by a woman!
He clenched his molars so hard that he tasted blood in his mouth. After a long moment, he ripped the storage ring off his finger and smashed it at Annabell’s feet like garbage.
“Take your money and get lost, this prince!”
Annabell didn’t mind his attitude at all. Smiling, she bent down and picked up the ring. She scanned it with her spiritual sense—wow, it was packed with high-grade magic herbs and high-grade magic crystals. The guy was absolutely filthy rich.
‘A fat sheep!’
[Ding! Detected that target character ‘Charles’ has completely broken down!]
[Current affection level has plummeted to the lowest level: mortal enemy!]
[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining: dark gold hatred treasure chest x1!]
Listening to the beautiful system notifications in her mind, Annabell was practically setting off fireworks in her heart.
Awesome! Not only did she score a bunch of top-grade magic herbs for free, but she also got a dark gold treasure chest! This Grand Prince is like a walking ATM—might as well take it all!
Annabell was in a great mood. Just as she was about to pocket the ring, her peripheral vision caught an extremely eerie gaze.
It was Rosalind, who had just been teleported back not far away.
This lofty Saintess of the Church of Holy Light was now leaning against a stone pillar. Her cyan robes were tattered, and her face was deathly pale. She was clearly badly injured.
But… the way she looked at Annabell held not the murderous intent and venom of being defeated, but a sickeningly sticky intensity that made one’s scalp crawl. Even her pale cheeks flushed with a morbid red!
Hiss—
Annabell sucked in a cold breath. Goosebumps rose all over her body.
Annabell quickly averted her gaze and moved closer to Charlotte, trying to dispel the chill with the warmth of a normal person.
Just then, an ancient, majestic, utterly emotionless mechanical voice rang out above the altar.
“First layer trial concluded. Now announcing the clearance evaluation and ranking.”
The entire venue fell into dead silence.
Charles took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the humiliation in his heart, and straightened his disheveled clothes. A confident sneer curled at the corner of his mouth.
He had prepared for this secret realm for a full three years. First place was definitely his for the taking! As long as he got the extra reward for first place, he could regain his footing in the next layer!
The mechanical voice read out without a trace of emotion:
“First place, Annabell. Evaluation: Superior-Superior.”
The sneer on Charles’s face froze.
“Second place, Charlotte. Evaluation: Superior-Superior.”
Boom—!
The crowd erupted with sharp intakes of breath. Everyone, including Charles, stared in disbelief at the petite, timid, frail girl behind Annabell who had no mana fluctuations at all.
A Muggle? Second place?! And Superior-Superior at that?!
“Third place, Rosalind. Evaluation: Superior.”
“Fourth place, Charles. Evaluation: Medium.”
Dead silence. Deathly silence.
Charles’s eyes instantly became bloodshot, red like a furious beast.
He gritted his teeth so hard that his fingernails pierced his palms, blood dripping onto the stone slab.
“Fourth place? I… I’m actually in fourth place?!”
He suddenly turned his head, his gaze locking onto Charlotte not far away.
‘Annabell being first, I can swallow that reluctantly, after all, she’s a monster with the truth magic eye. But this worthless lackey who doesn’t even have a shred of mana, what right does she have to be ranked above me?!’
‘Something’s wrong… Absolutely wrong!’
Charles’s eyes gradually turned venomous, like a snake eyeing its prey.
‘This woman named Charlotte must be hiding an earth-shattering secret that allows her to perfectly clear the ruins! Or even… some kind of cheat item that can bypass the trial rules!’
Charles roared in his mind. ‘Annabell, and that worthless lackey of yours, don’t be too smug! In the next trial, I’ll tear you both to pieces and take back what’s mine with interest!’
There was no time for the crowd to digest the shock of the rankings. Suddenly, a dazzling teleportation formation light blazed in the center of the altar.
“Eliminated ones have been cleared. The remaining six will enter the second layer trial.”
The cruel elimination mechanism had already concluded in the first layer trial.
Of the original teams that entered the ruins, three had already been ruthlessly kicked out of this space by the ruins for failing to meet the minimum requirements of the trial.
Now, only six people could stand here: Annabell, Charlotte, Fourth Prince Charles, Charles’s clever lackey, Saintess Rosalind of the Church of Holy Light, and a powerful noble passerby.
Their eyes met, filled with deep vigilance and wariness.
Just as everyone was harboring their own thoughts and on guard against each other, the ancient voice that controlled the entire ruins once again exploded in the empty void, announcing the start of the next trial.
“First layer trial has ended.”
“Second layer trial begins—Ancient God’s embers.”
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