Luo Lan advanced another distance, and with the help of the flickering torches and magical lamps swaying by the lakeside, he finally managed to see the figures moving around the frozen lake.
All were dressed in dark gray cloaks and uniform armor—the Augustus Knight Order, the very same ones he had seen during the day. About forty to fifty people were scattered along the shore; some were on guard duty, while others moved heavy crates and magical crystals.
The man commanding it all was none other than the stern-faced knight captain from earlier, Paris.
At this moment, he was not wearing his helmet. He stood with his arms crossed on a protruding rock not far from the water’s edge, calmly scanning the entire lakeside area.
Standing beside Paris were three figures who looked like mages. They were completely shrouded in voluminous robes, their faces obscured. One of them was slightly raising a hand, with faint threads of magical power flowing from their fingertips. The other two occasionally spoke in low voices, pointing toward several locations along the shore.
Paris turned his gaze toward the mage with the raised hand. The mage seemed to say something, prompting Paris to nod slightly and turn to give several concise hand signals to the nearby knights.
The knights immediately sprang into action, carrying several deep blue magic crystals—each half the height of a man and containing a liquid-like luminescence—to designated positions, then carefully burying them halfway into the soil.
“Honored Lord Paris,” the mage spoke again. “Could you have your knights move a bit faster? Breaking the magic circle takes time. If this drags on and draws unnecessary attention… it will be difficult for any of us to explain ourselves.”
Paris turned his head toward the black-robed mage, his gaze seemingly piercing through the other’s true identity hidden behind the cognition-interfering magic.
However, he only raised an eyebrow slightly and expressed no dissatisfaction.
To Paris, the other person’s appearance was not important, nor was their identity. He was merely a knight loyal to the Regent and the House of Augustus; obeying orders was his sacred duty.
The Regent’s adjutant had ordered him to cooperate fully with these three mages, so his responsibility was to execute the order perfectly, nothing more.
“As you command.”
Paris’s voice was as steady as still water as he turned and gave a low-voiced order to the busy knights.
When Luo Lan saw Paris’s face clearly by the firelight, many of the questions that had arisen during the day were resolved.
Previously, he had instinctively felt that the timing of Paris’s appearance was too coincidental, but he hadn’t expected to reunite with him here.
However, Luo Lan couldn’t figure out what their source of information was. He knew that a legendary holy relic was hidden beneath this seemingly ordinary frozen lake because of his memories from the first timeline, but from where did the Lord Regent obtain his news?
Confused thoughts raced through his mind, but time no longer allowed Luo Lan to overthink.
The preparation of the lakeside magic circle was nearing its end. The three mages had begun moving to their predetermined positions to weave the array, while Paris remained standing where he was, vigilantly scanning the shore.
Right now, there were only two paths before Luo Lan.
The first was to snatch the chestnut from the fire—to find an opportunity under the noses of these elite knights and three mages of unknown strength to seize the holy relic before they could.
The second was to retreat and make plans for another day.
Reason told Luo Lan that the second path was the safest. Currently, the enemy’s information was unclear, and acting rashly carried immense risk…
But.
Having returned for a second life, wasn’t it to seize every opportunity that could change fate? Wasn’t it to make up for those regrets? Wasn’t it to fight for a different chance at survival?
The holy relic was right down there. If he missed this chance, who knew when he would encounter the next one?
—Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Luo Lan curled his lip. With a slight thought, he took a red face mask out of the Atlas Cube.
Ever since the Cube had opened that storage space—which, while not spacious, was convenient and secure—he had stuffed many things inside that were unsuitable for public display.
“A man can’t spend his life hiding in fear; just do it. Regret for a moment if I rush, regret for a lifetime if I don’t.”
Luo Lan took a deep breath and found a new spot with a better view to wait quietly.
He needed to wait for the right moment—a moment when their mental state was most relaxed or when their attention was completely drawn elsewhere.
There was only one chance.
The youth slowly adjusted his breathing, bringing himself to his peak state, and then moved inch by inch behind a small leeward hill.
The terrain here was slightly elevated with an open view, allowing him to clearly overlook most of the frozen lake area, especially the ruins gradually being revealed in the center of the lake. However, the only flaw was that this angle was almost directly facing the rock where Paris stood.
“It’s across the entire lake… he shouldn’t be able to rush in front of me instantly, right?”
Luo Lan muttered to himself.
By the lakeside, the three mages entered their designated positions. They raised their hands simultaneously, and magical power erupted, interweaving in mid-air to form a massive mana network covering most of the lake’s surface.
Immediately after, the mana network slammed downward, like an invisible giant hand reaching into the lake water.
A deafening roar of rushing water suddenly erupted. A massive vortex formed in the center of the lake instantly, and then the entire body of water defied the constraints of gravity. It was drawn up into the air, transforming into a thick water dragon connecting the lake bed to the sky.
The water dragon continued to spiral upward, carrying shattered ice and silt from the bottom of the lake, eventually condensing into a massive sphere of water over fifty meters in diameter at an altitude of about thirty meters.
The exterior of the water sphere presented a relatively smooth curved surface due to the magical binding, reflecting the light of the magic circle below and the sparse stars in the sky, looking both eerie and spectacular.
With the concealment of the lake water gone, the full view of the lake bottom was finally exposed to everyone.
It was a field of ruins severely damaged by water erosion, with fallen corridors and pillars scattered among the mud of the lake bed in a strange manner. The center of the ruins was slightly elevated, appearing to be a small platform.
One mage carefully directed magic toward the magic crystals behind them, then blinked directly onto the platform in the center of the ruins.
Luo Lan’s pupils contracted slightly, his gaze following the mage closely.
What was displayed on the platform was not some treasure chest, but a dull gold cube about the size of a human head, floating quietly and covered in countless etched marks.
A Rubik’s cube.
The corners of Luo Lan’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch.
Why was it another cube?
Had the Atlas Cube not put him through enough? Did the holy relic at the bottom of the lake have to look like this too? Couldn’t there be some originality?
The mage took a deep breath and began to work on the unlocking process. His movements were cautious as his hands traced patterns around the cube, with threads of magic flowing from his fingertips to touch certain etchings on its surface.
Following his operations, the cube began to rotate slowly on its own. Different faces lit up with a faint glow, seemingly undergoing some kind of permutation and combination.
This process clearly drew everyone’s attention.
Even Paris, who had been maintaining his vigilance, couldn’t help but turn his gaze toward the bottom of the lake. He leaned forward slightly, pressing his hand against the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Luo Lan tentatively leaned out, watching the mage let out a muffled groan of pain as he was shocked by electricity due to a failure in the unlocking process.
The mechanism for unlocking the holy relic was a simple pattern-matching puzzle. One needed to find six identical emblems among the fifty-four small faces to open it.
He had indeed spent quite a bit of effort dealing with this mechanism in his previous life, but… this was his second life. Why bother coming back if he didn’t remember the mechanics?
Thus, as the mage failed once more and was shocked by the mana triggered by the cube, Luo Lan prepared to move.