Rebirth of the Noble Mage Behind the Scenes

Suddenly attacked, everyone scrambled for cover and tried to counterattack. However, most of the attacks were directly absorbed by the black Magic Power tendrils, and only a few high-rank attacks had some effect on the tendrils.

Caught off guard, several Resistance Army fighters were immediately swept up by the tendrils and then howled as they turned into dry black dust.

However, three Ninth Ranks quickly reacted, expanding their Domain Power to temporarily block these Magic Power tendrils.

At the same time, under the full force attack of the three, the central Great Barrier emitted a sound of unbearable pressure, suddenly collapsed, and dissipated into a dark red mist.

The moment the Barrier shattered, the surrounding tendrils simultaneously paused and then dispersed into a dark Magic Power mist.

"Did we succeed?"

Seeing this scene, many relaxed and showed signs of relief, thinking that the three Ninth Ranks had resolved the dangers of the ruins.

"Wait, where is it?"

However, at that moment, noticing the disappearance of the corpse in the hall, another Ninth Rank with red hair and golden eyes, enveloped in blue-purple thunder, suddenly spoke.

He is an old guard Ninth Rank of Moon River Kingdom, dubbed Thunder Heart – Dutcher, the strongest among the three present Ninth Ranks.

At this moment, Dutcher looked somewhat suspiciously at the people around him. His gaze lingered on the other two Ninth Ranks for a moment before sweeping over those below the Ninth Rank.

"Or perhaps, one of these ants has snagged a cheap prize?"

Hearing his words, Landon's heartbeat nearly quickened instantly. Thanks to the help of Dark Ravens, he managed to keep his facial expression unchanged.

Very fortunately, due to the special nature of the ruins' environment, almost all the aura was masked by the chaotic energy of the ruins itself. Consequently, Dutcher didn't pick up on his abnormality.

"You should be able to see, we woke up at the same time, even a bit earlier for you. As for our subordinates, they were able to regain normalcy only with our rescue."

Ray frowned slightly and glanced at him, also feeling a bit puzzled.

"I actually wonder if it was real at all, just like what we just saw."

Spirit Princess Bovalis spoke coldly. When she spoke, her gaze consistently remained on the central hall, where the broken but still lingering red mist was.

"Perhaps... its real location was never there in the first place."

Hearing her words, the other two Ninth Ranks also paused, then turned their gaze towards the red mist as well.

Indeed, this possibility was not nonexistent. If that were the case, then undoubtedly, that would be the most likely hiding place for the item.

Were those merely projections... or had someone taken them away beforehand?

Standing behind Spirit Princess Bovalis, Lady Mandel glanced at Landon thoughtfully, a notion crossing her mind.

She now felt somewhat scared; just now in the illusion, she had seen herself reaching the Ninth Rank Limit, and had trained countless beautiful young men, including the Mirror Man, to be her pets, serving her daily needs with their bodies.

But upon opening her eyes again, she was almost directly swallowed up by that eerie Barrier.

Luckily, she hadn't been too greedy and had requested aid from a Ninth Rank behind her. Otherwise, if she had ventured alone into the exploration, it was questionable if she could have left alive.

However, given the current situation, if her guess was correct, then she might truly have a chance to both gain the favor of her Ninth Rank superior and secretly obtain Helros' Infinite Magic Book.

But why hasn't that mist dispersed yet?

While Lady Mandel pondered, the situation in the hall once again shifted.

The red mist did not dissipate as everyone expected, but instead slowly began to spin, forming a dark red vortex.

The black mist formed by numerous tentacles around was gradually being drawn in, making the vortex's color deepen continuously.

Three Ninth Rank spellcasters all looked serious, as they could clearly feel that at the core of the dark vortex, there suddenly appeared something that gave them a strong sense of threat.

At the same time, the entire pyramid began to shake violently again, accompanied by deep rumbling sounds, and chunks of stones started to fall, the whole structure seemed ready to collapse at any moment.

"Everyone, leave here immediately! Retreat the same way we came."

Furrowing his brows, Ray immediately issued the order.

Obviously, his target for this trip was very likely hidden at the core of that vortex. But once the battle started, he could no longer pay attention to his subordinates.

Upon Ray's order, everyone quickly fled in all directions. The other two Ninth Rank didn't stop them either, also instructing their own people to escape on their own.

At the last moment of leaving the great hall, Landon couldn't help but look back.

In front of the three Ninth Rank, at the increasingly swelling dark core of the vortex, a gigantic figure mingled with countless corpses and black matter had already started to appear vaguely.

King Ray, please be safe.

Muttering a silent prayer in his heart, Landon immediately followed the guidance of Dark Crow, quickly escaping through a hidden passage.

According to Dark Crow, they were currently on the ninety-ninth underground level, and this passage could quickly lead to the eighteenth level of the pyramid, with very low danger.

Moving swiftly through the constantly shaking corridor, Landon agilely dodged falling rocks while avoiding dark Magic Power tentacles.

Since he could sense the flow of magic power of the relic, these tentacles and traps basically couldn't trouble him.

At full escape speed, about half a Magic Time later, he passed through the secret passage and reached the eighteenth level above ground.

After moving away from the core area at the bottom, the level of threat from various traps appearing inside the pyramid was also significantly less than that at the lower levels.

"Ah, I wonder how many of my companions can still make it out alive this time..."

While sprinting quickly towards the exit, Landon sighed, worrying about his companions.

"You have time to worry about them, you might as well start worrying about yourself now."

But at that moment, a cold voice suddenly sounded in his ear. At the same time, an invisible force field sphere abruptly rose, trapping Landon entirely within.

A figure dressed like a spellcaster slowly emerged from the side of the corridor.

"Who are you?!"

Both shocked and angry, Landon forcefully punched the force field ball, but to no effect.

"Rule Power, he is Ninth Rank! Landon, try to stall for time! When I signal you, immediately release that corpse!"

Sensing some kind of unusual essence, Dark Crow immediately reminded Landon inside his mind. After that, he fell silent again, unknowingly doing something.

"Heh, that's not important."

The figure just shrugged with a pointless laugh, not answering Landon's query.