The second trial, the ntal enchantnt test, had consud a significant amount of ti.
There were reports that Cruello looked visibly drained after passing through the trial gates.
Only then did Tetanio realize the reason.
A novice who had only been studying magic for four or five years would naturally have little resistance to ntal enchantnts.
As soon as he was convinced, Tetanio hurried to scrape off the magic circle engraved on Whistle’s cliff.
Reproducing such a level of magic required too much effort to use directly, but he could at least imitate it.
“Right here!”
With a sudden motion, Tetanio flung open the door at the end of the passage, revealing a spacious cavern.
On the ground lay a massive magic circle he had prepared in advance, though only half of it was completed.
It didn’t matter.
Where the flow of mana had yet to be fully connected, he could simply place puppets to manually link the circuit.
“Ares, follow . The rest of you, head to the designated points.”
As the undead positioned themselves along the designated pillars to complete the circuit, Tetanio scattered Beatitudo across the magic circle.
Just as he was about to leave after finalizing the preparations, he hesitated.
The magic tool enhancing his sensory perception indicated that two individuals were roughly 50 ters away—still a safe distance.
‘Just in case.’
He loosened his cravat and placed a hand on his neck.
A vertically aligned deep blue key was drawn out.
Without hesitation, Tetanio tossed it directly into the center of the magic circle.
Even if the operation failed, this would buy him more ti to escape.
Now, the gap had closed to just 10 ters.
As he hurriedly opened the passage leading to the escape route, he shouted.
“Activate it!”
The undead stationed at the core triggered the magic circle.
From the center outward, mana linked together in a chain reaction, lighting up the cavern step by step.
A thick, pale mist surged up from the core.
Without looking back, Tetanio dashed out.
From the opposite end of the cavern, he heard a door creak open.
Perfect timing.
He grinned and sprinted toward the exit.
But at that mont—
A blinding white light erupted from the cavern behind him.
Even soone who had never seen divine energy before would recognize its overwhelming radiance.
“Uwaaagh!” Instinctively, he recoiled.
‘What lunatic launches an attack without even assessing the situation first?!’
But no matter how much he cursed their irrationality, the situation had already spiraled out of control.
Wait—Ares!
The na flashed through his mind, and he jerked his head up.
The most carefully crafted puppet he had ever created was standing firm against the deluge of light, brandishing its greatsword.
“H-Haha... Impressive... No—stop!”
Tetanio belatedly shouted, but his warning ca too late.
Sensing the danger, Ares unleashed a deep green aura in retaliation against the divine energy.
Whether due to its lingering survival instincts from life or sheer desperation, it drained every last drop of mana from its body to fuel the attack.
A massive crescent-shaped wave of energy sliced through the underground passage, ripping apart the walls, ceiling, and floor indiscriminately.
The structure couldn’t withstand it.
Cracks spread chaotically along the walls, and the entire space began to tremble.
From above, stone debris rained down in torrents, and thick clouds of dust engulfed the air.
‘No!’
The building had been deliberately weakened so it could be collapsed in case of ergency.
At this rate, it would cave in completely.
Screaming, he bolted for the exit.
The doorway was just ahead—he could make it before getting buried!
At last, he reached the door and stretched out his hand.
“...Damn it.”
The shock from the previous impact had broken the chanism.
He couldn’t get out.
With a face drained of color, he turned back toward the way he had co.
BOOM!
The underground cavern collapsed in on itself.
***
"Does every secret society feel the compulsive need to build hidden chambers?"
Black Serpent, Black Serpent... They really must think they’re actual snakes.
Following Cruello’s lead, I navigated the labyrinthine secret passages.
The sheer number of magical traps littering the path forced to tread cautiously with every step.
As a result, it was difficult to pinpoint Tetanio’s exact location. On top of that—
“There’s a high chance the gate won’t open, so we should be careful.”
Even the ergency escape chanisms were sealed off.
So there was no easy way out in case of trouble.
But I wasn’t scared.
If we were up against soone like Nigellia, that would be a different story. But I had already confird how unimpressive Tetanio was.
Besides, even against the Second Elder, I hadn’t had the option of fleeing.
Snakes had kept attacking nonstop, and she herself was such a skilled magician that she wouldn’t have let escape through a gate anyway.
Well, she was dead now.
In any case, though it was troubleso, we steadily closed the distance and arrived at a suspicious-looking door.
“Oh?”
Pushing open the iron door revealed a vast cavern.
Imdiately, I thought: This is the perfect place for a trap.
And my instincts were right.
A blizzard-like pale mist surged forward.
Just before my vision was swallowed in white, I caught a glimpse of what was inside the cavern.
Undead, lined up in precise formation, and floating at the center—a key.
“This is a ntal attack!”
I imdiately shouted.
Then, without hesitation, I sprinted through the secret passage and cast my prepared spell.
—Sixth Spell. Brilliance.
If soone was trapped in an illusion and then struck by a physical attack, it was over.
So the priority was to eliminate any imdiate threats.
The illusion tried to take hold, but my flood of holy light overpowered it, montarily dispelling everything from sight.
Once the divine energy receded, sothing would definitely appear.
Tetanio had quite the reputation for being skilled with magic circles—what would he have prepared this ti?
But when the glow of Brilliance faded, the sight before was completely unexpected.
“...Huh?”
The mist was gone.
This wasn’t another illusion.
Had the undead collapsed and broken the magic circle?
Or perhaps—the undead themselves had been part of the spell formation?
This translation ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Just as I was beginning to process my confusion, an ominous sign appeared.
A powerful shockwave struck the opposite door of the cavern.
Cracks spread erratically across the space, and soon the entire structure trembled as if it were about to collapse.
“Ugh!”
Lately, every place I enter seems to be on the verge of collapsing. Did I get cursed by the god of architecture or sothing?
Since this wasn’t the first ti, I remained calm and assessed the situation.
What was the most urgent thing right now?
“The key!”
The answer was clear. I imdiately sprang into action, scrambling over the fallen undead to snatch the key before quickly searching for Cruello.
In just that brief mont, he had sohow been caught in an illusion—his complexion was visibly pale.
His gaze was hazy, and he seed completely indifferent to the crumbling cavern around him.
At least he wasn’t trying to kill , which ant he just needed a little ti to recover.
I only had to hold out for a short while.
If I could reinforce my body with divine protection before the collapse, I should be fine...
“Oh...”
That was the mont the ceiling caved in.
The cracks that had been devouring the underground space had finally done their job.
Looking up at the debris plumting from above, I had the odd sensation that ti was slowing down.
Divine protection was a Sixth Spell, just like Brilliance.
I couldn’t recite it in less than a second.
But a gate—?
The mont that thought crossed my mind, I grabbed Cruello and rubbed the ring.
Nothing happened.
"There’s a high chance the gate won’t open, so we should be careful."
The second I recalled that warning, I clenched my eyes shut.
So this is how I die—crushed under rubble.
This would rank as the second most aningless death of my life.
“...Pebula, I swear.”
CRACK.
A deafening sound erupted above .
For a second, I thought it might be the sound of my body breaking apart, but strangely, there was no pain.
Had I already been transferred into a new body...?
I hesitantly pried one eye open.
What I saw was a sky-blue barrier bristling like a hedgehog’s quills.
Ah.
“I thought... you were unconscious.”
My strength drained from my body, and I collapsed onto the spot.
Given how unwell Cruello had seed earlier, I assud he was still out of commission, but thankfully, that wasn’t the case.
Next ti, I wouldn’t rely solely on him—I’d make sure to morize a defensive spell in advance.
Actually, I should do that right now.
The structure was still in a dangerous state.
I slowly crawled inward and began chanting.
My legs were weak, and I nearly collapsed again, but Cruello caught before I could fall.
“Thanks. But... are you sure ice can hold this up? Not that I doubt you or anything, but if we get trapped here, suffocation becos a concern.”
“If the entire building collapses, the magic circle inscribed here will be nullified as well.”
“Ah, so I should keep rubbing the ring just in case, since we don’t know when an opening might appear?”
As I said that, I leaned against the wall for a brief mont—only for it to crumble.
I nearly fell over, but Cruello pulled into his arms.
The ice barrier expanded, sealing off the surroundings in a spherical do.
With the way the ice spikes jutted out, it truly looked like a hedgehog.
“Stay put.”
“You make it sound like I’m so kind of troublemaker...”
I grumbled awkwardly, but I didn’t resist.
My spell wasn’t finished yet, and the temperature was dropping rapidly.
I might as well borrow so of Cruello’s body heat.
Listening to the chaotic noises beyond the barrier, I waited absentmindedly for the situation to settle.
That was when I noticed—Cruello’s heartbeat was unnaturally fast.
What did he see in that mist?
I was about to ask when he spoke first.
“We almost died again.”
“Well... yeah. It would’ve been humiliating! Not even against the Second Elder—just against him of all people—”
“And I almost killed you again.”
The playful tone I had used to lighten the mood was abruptly cut off.
I shut my mouth.
Cruello adjusted his hold on , pulling deeper into his embrace.
As a result, I couldn’t see his expression.
“It was nothing, but the mont I let my guard down, this happened. Which ans I’m even more insignificant.”
“That’s not—”
“I’m beginning to think... that I’m lacking.”
That didn’t sound like simple self-deprecation.
Was he thinking about Morion?
My stomach twisted.
I tried to pull away to see his face, but he didn’t let go.
Frustrated, yet unable to push him away in this situation, I hastily asked,
“What did you see in the mist? What was it? Tell .”
The mist had only shrouded us for a mont.
I hadn’t seen anything because it had been overpowered by divine energy—but Cruello must have seen sothing.
After a brief silence, he finally answered.
“Siora.”
“...What?”
“Siora Bonetti was dead.”
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