“The Champion Association is full of experts; it’s just that everyone stays quite low-key.”
Miss Meihua didn’t immediately catch the sarcasm in the Priestess’s words.
It was a truly bizarre conversation. Since the two supports had nothing better to do, chatting was a good way to pass the time.
“Miss Samimi, you haven’t told me what ‘almost’ means,” Miss Meihua asked again.
“The battle is almost over,” Samimi replied.
Suddenly, the Duke duplicate assumed a tricky sword posture, hiding half his body behind his blade. He lunged with a sudden, vicious thrust aimed straight at Niubao’s thigh.
The strike was incredibly sinister. Though it appeared light and effortless, the blade was aimed precisely at the femoral artery. Once that was punctured, it was essentially game over.
Of course, such a move required extremely precise swordsmanship and deep penetration, especially since thigh muscles were much denser than a neck.
Just as the real Divine Knight Duke had used this move against the Crystal Monster Nun, the Crystal Monster version had chosen to retreat.
However, this time, the real Niubao adopted a completely different offensive strategy. She charged forward with an explosive step, closing the distance for close-quarters combat, and activated a skill at zero range.
But Niubao didn’t have a shield. Her charge was an *Iron Mountain Lean*. With a single strike, the Crystal Monster Duke was sent flying, slamming into the crystal wall. Cracks instantly spider-webbed across its entire body.
*Creeeeeak!*
With a flick of her hand, Niubao threw the Holy Saw for a merciless follow-up, smashing the Crystal Monster Duke’s head to pieces with one blow.
In that exact moment, the Crystal Monster Shield Axe Hero took the opportunity to charge at her side. It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance since she only had one large saw to wield. “Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The Crystal Deep Moss Blade transformed into a spinning shield-axe, triggering the Deep Moss Revenge to deliver the strongest strike within the shattered space.
Right then, a Hidden Door opened. It was the real Shield Axe Hero, Selina. She arrived just in time to witness this final scene.
The Deep Moss Blade was still attempting to sneak attack Niubao from behind. But at the critical moment, as if she had eyes in the back of her head, Niubao performed a clean, graceful side flip, easily evading the terrifying strike.
Her skirt brushed against the dark green light as she dodged the blade by a hair’s breadth.
A shield-axe with Deep Moss Revenge activated possessed a powerful suction force, making it impossible to pull away. Attempting to flee would only result in being sucked back in.
However, Niubao didn’t pull away. Instead, her side flip landed her right on the flat of the Deep Moss Shield Axe. Light as a dragonfly, she actually stood atop the enemy’s weapon, using its own momentum. She swung both hands, drawing twin blades from her waist.
*Slash! Slash!*
The twin blades flashed, and the Crystal Hero’s head instantly soared into the sky.
Not only that, but this was merely a casual kill for Niubao. Her true target was the Crystal Labyrinth Core.
Two sharp streaks of sword light carved through the air. There were no exaggerated special effects, but a massive X-shaped scar was left on the wall.
In just two rounds, the Beastman Nun had slain two duplicates and shattered the Crystal Labyrinth Core with those two slashes.
This was the scene that greeted the Shield Axe Hero, Selina, as she opened the Hidden Door. She stood there, frozen like a wooden statue.
‘There was a way to crack my Deep Moss Revenge?’ No, this didn’t even count as cracking it. The girl had simply jumped and evaded it with ease; the move hadn’t posed a threat at all.
‘As expected, the original is far more formidable than the duplicate.’
From that moment on, Selina could no longer look at anyone else.
That was a mountain a Hero had to climb; otherwise, one wouldn’t deserve the title.
*Rumble! Rumble!*
Niubao performed a stylish sword flourish and sheathed her twin blades behind her back. Following that, the entire Crystal Labyrinth began to collapse, with jagged cracks spreading across the floor.
“Niubao, take the loot inside the ruby!”
Samimi shouted, running over to retrieve the Holy Saw that was pinned to the domain wall.
Although she really wanted Niubao to stop using that saw, she could see that the Holy Saw held extraordinary meaning for her. After all, it was a gift from the Priestess Rebecca.
But from now on, it didn’t matter how many weapons Niubao wanted to carry, because clearing the Crystal Labyrinth was meant to solve that exact problem.
Niubao reached into the shattered ruby and found the loot Samimi had mentioned.
“Goodbye, Miss Meihua. We’ll be taking the treasure. Give my regards to Mister Duke. Let’s explore together again next time.” Samimi stopped pretending. Her face was full of smiles as she raised her hand in what she thought was a cool farewell gesture.
Before anyone could respond, the crystal floor beneath her feet crumbled, and they all plunged into the deep void.
It wasn’t just Samimi; everyone else was in free-fall as well. This was a normal phenomenon, meaning everyone had safely exited the Crystal Labyrinth.
In the blink of an eye, Samimi and Niubao returned to that desolate camp site.
The crystal mass in front of them, having spat them out, shattered into pieces on the ground, completely dead.
The Crystal Labyrinth had been successfully cleared.
The three people from the Yaoguang Guild should have returned to the spot they were originally teleported from. But Samimi was quite curious about what kind of Magic Phoenix had forcibly teleported them into the Crystal Labyrinth in the first place.
Then again, this was just a minor dungeon, not a major event. There wasn’t much to say.
Samimi and Niubao shared a wordless understanding. Taking advantage of the dark, they quietly left No. 24 Pioneer Camp.
In the Sea of Ten Thousand Trees at night, the darkness was so thick you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. The moonlight couldn’t penetrate the canopy at all.
Walking outside the Pioneer Camp felt even less safe than being inside a monster dungeon.
There was no other choice; they had to hide for a bit.
Because they wanted to play the pig to eat the tiger, they had to take risks. They were eccentric posers with standards; they would never act like those incompetent fools.
—
“Commander! Something’s happened!”
After dawn broke, the adventurers of No. 24 Pioneer Camp discovered that the door to the desolate storage room had been destroyed.
They thought the crystal monster inside had escaped, but when they went in, they found the Crystal Labyrinth had exploded.
Everyone was scratching their heads. Why would the Crystal Labyrinth suddenly explode? That mission had existed for a very, very long time—since the establishment of No. 24 Pioneer Camp. No one had been able to crack the labyrinth in all that time.
Although it was only an A-rank mission, it had actually been classified as a “sealed mission” by the Adventurers’ Guild. It wasn’t generally open to the public; it was an old, difficult problem that had piled up for years.
After all, over many years, the Adventurers’ Guild always had some sealed old missions that couldn’t be solved. Since they weren’t too dangerous and weren’t urgent, keeping them under control was considered a physical form of sealing magic.
But now that the Crystal Labyrinth was destroyed, the Camp Commander was equally baffled. He could only go home and bite the bullet to write an ambiguous report to submit to the Adventurers’ Guild.
Since no one had come to challenge the Crystal Labyrinth recently, the fact that the door lock was destroyed was highly suspicious. Everything felt incredibly eerie.
‘Could it be them?’
The Beastman Nun who had insta-killed the Hunting Demon King… more and more mysteries were appearing in this peril-filled pioneer land.
At the same time, the two culprits had already reached a large pioneer camp near the edge of the forest.
As soon as they arrived, they dived into the camp cafeteria and ordered a whole table of expensive, high-energy food.
However, upon closer inspection, they looked a bit different than before. Specifically, the weapons on their bodies were all gone.
Niubao’s Holy Saw, Holy Knight sword, and golden hammer were all nowhere to be seen. She looked like a perfectly clean Ox Nun.
Only the Divine Staff remained in Samimi’s hand. Even the axe-sword wrapped in black cloth was gone, and the Sun Gold Sutra in her canvas bag had vanished as well.
Even their two travel backpacks had become light, serving as mere decorations. If it weren’t for the need to look like adventurers, they wouldn’t even need to carry the backpacks.
How did this happen? It was, of course, because of the loot obtained after clearing the Crystal Labyrinth.
Looking at Niubao’s small hand, she was actually wearing a beautiful ruby ring.
Hah! When did the honest and simple Niubao become so vain that she cared about jewelry?
It wasn’t for vanity; it was actually a **[Functional Accessory]**.
This ruby ring was what Niubao had fished out after punching the ruby eye of the Crystal Labyrinth to pieces. it was the ultimate treasure of the dungeon.
The ability of this thing was simple. It came with a four-by-four **Crystal Hidden Space**. The holder could store conventional items inside.
It was the kind of spatial ring that everyone in cultivation novels had, yet in our otherworld adventure novels, it was considered an extremely rare item.
Its quality was **[Rare Purple Accessory]**. Its rarity was just below Legendary Divine Weapons but 100 times rarer than Epic Purple weapons.
While it didn’t increase the holder’s attributes, it provided life-changing convenience.
For instance, now Samimi and Niubao no longer had to travel across the continent carrying massive bags.
The two of them didn’t have to look like walking weapon racks, carrying several weapons everywhere.
Whenever they needed a weapon, they could just summon it from the Crystal Space. When not in use, they could put it back. It was simple and convenient.
However, Niubao initially didn’t want to wear the ruby ring. She was quite resistant, feeling that good things should be left for Master Samimi.
“Be a good girl, Niubao. You earned this.”
It took Samimi several hours on the road to convince the stubborn cow to wear the ring.
Furthermore, the decision to let Niubao equip the functional accessory was based on practical combat value.
Theoretically, Samimi could exert 99% of her combat power with just the Divine Staff, which satisfied 100% of conventional combat. As for the New Demon Sword and the Sun Gold Sutra, those were trump cards not meant for frequent use.
To put it simply, Samimi was a magic-based class; she didn’t need to switch weapons often.
But Niubao was different. With the ring, Niubao could switch weapons at any time, using whatever she pleased.
As a side note, the ruby ring required mana to be used.
“Master Priestess, what are we going to steal next? Are there any more monsters to kill?”
Soon, Niubao had finished off dozens of plates of food, her energy fully replenished.