novelraw Chapter 204: The Blood Angel’s Seal
Chapter 204: The Blood Angel’s Seal
[In One Of The Tunnels.]
The chaotic, scrambled energy signature of the unrefined crystals pulsed against the cavern walls, creating a natural blind spot that even high-tier surveillance magic couldn’t pierce.
Mirabella looked over her shoulder at her team, who were quietly following behind them, and nodded lightly: the faint glow of the labyrinth hiding the calculating gleam in her eyes.
’This will confuse those old men.’ She thought, confident that the Eagle Empire’s Level 500 watchers were currently flying in circles, completely blind to their true movements. Having shaken their unwanted audience, she turned her head ahead:
"Stop."
The command was absolute, carrying the weight of a seasoned adventurer who knew the exact coordinates of every lethal trap in the zone. The group came to a stop, staring at Mirabella in confusion: their boots grinding against the loose, calcified dust of the tunnel floor.
"From here onwards, be on guard. Stay close to me Carl, as for the rest of you... Don’t die a useless death."
Her blunt warning sent a chill down their spines. With that, she walked towards the entrance, Carl right behind her, his assassin instincts completely subservient to her lead, then Hitachi and the rest falling into a tight defensive formation.
After walking for two minutes in suffocating silence, the oppressive weight of the air suddenly lifted as they finally arrived at the edge of the tunnel.
"I can see the path ahead." Rose yelled, increasing her light skill, which was illuminating their surroundings. The warm, golden glow pushed back the darkness, revealing a sight that defied logic.
Mirabella was the first to enter the opened cave, followed by the group. Everyone moved their gazes on the huge space before them, staring at the countless tunnels opposite them. It was a massive, subterranean nexus, a crossroads carved into the very foundation of the giant skeleton.
"Are you kidding me?" Austin exclaimed in shock, his voice echoing into the vast emptiness.
While everyone’s gaze was fixed on the Tunnels, Mirabella and Hitachi were staring at the ten meters tall angel statue, standing before them. It was carved from an unknown, blood-red stone that seemed to absorb Rose’s magical light. The entity’s four hands joined together in prayer, her gaze lowered to the ground, and ten wings were spread wide, casting long, menacing shadows across the cavern floor.
But it wasn’t the craftsmanship that had arrested the attention of the team’s two strongest members. On the ten wings were ten swords, and with the energy flowing from each sword, they were... vibrating with a terrifying, heaven-rending density.
"Legendary Class swords." Hitachi muttered in shock, his celestial eyes spinning rapidly as they tried to process the sheer volume of weapon-aura radiating from the hilts.
"And ten at that!" Before Aurelia could take a step forward, completely hypnotized by the allure of such mythical loot, Mirabella stopped her with a raised hand.
"Don’t even move an inch!" She snapped, stunning everyone. Her voice cracked like a whip, shattering the hypnotic draw of the weapons.
Mirabella pointed at the white line on the ground, separated them from the zone ahead. It was barely visible, a thin thread of concentrated runic dust that pulsed with lethal intent.
"This is a trap, if you pass this life, you will surely die..." She turned to David, her eyes cold and demanding.
"As a rune master, you should understand that statue, right?" She asked.
David swallowed hard, stepping forward cautiously to examine the intricate, microscopic carvings covering the floor just beyond the white line. He stared at her then at the statue: "I am not sure, but this looks like the blood angel runic formation."
"Blood Angel?" The rest were speechless, the ominous name sending a collective shudder through the team.
"The Blood Angel is a very evil entity in the past, due to her wickedness and evil deeds, she was sealed here with those ten swords. With what I understand, she is a very powerful Lv500 angel, and the ones who seal her are the sealing leading family of Galaxy Fall, one of our great protectors, the Sun family."
Mirabella blinked, visibly taken aback. Hearing the academic, historical reverence attached to the Sun family, the same family the Demon Emperor and the Devil Cult were currently discussing in the Abyssal.
She stared at the angel; and lightly shook her head, quickly masking the turbulent emotions behind her stoic captain’s facade.
"Forget it, we’re going around, we will leave the swords... It’s better to live than die." Carl said, crossing his arms on his chest, his usual greed thoroughly neutralized by the threat of a Level 500 celestial horror.
"Carl is right, if we take these weapons, we might unlock her seal, and we will be in trouble, we should be careful here." David added, his scholarly mind calculating the absolute zero percent survival rate if the formation was broken.
Mirabella pointed her finger at one of the tunnels: "That’s the right Tunnel, once we enter there, we will be teleported to the flag’s location." She said, her knowledge of the zone’s mechanics once again proving flawless.
"Good, let’s get going!" Hitachi said, turning around, eager to complete the tournament objective, but Mirabella’s next word froze everyone in place.
"Of course, we are getting those swords before leaving... I am sure all of you need it, right?"
The nine looked at one another in surprised, then at the weapons... The disconnect between her calm tone and the suicidal reality of her proposal was staggering. Those were ten legendary class weapons, one could level a small city, let alone ten of them, but can they defeat the angel with their current strength? The gap between Level 300 below students and a Level 500 boss was a chasm of certain death.
"Um... Mirabella, I think we shouldn’t do that." Kent said in a low voice, even with his high-tier armor and shield, he wasn’t confident on winning something that’s 400 Level above him. He was a knight, but even he knew when a hit would turn him into red mist.
"Yes..." Casey added, already trembling, her grip tight on her short sword.
Mirabella nodded lightly at them, her expression shifting into the calculating, ruthless merchant she truly was. "No worries... I will get the swords, if you need any of them, pay up with awakening stones."
"...?!"
Awakening stones were super rare, catalysts used to break biological bottlenecks or evolve levels. How the hell will students have awakening stones, even if they do have it, will they have the amount Mirabella will ask for? It was an absurd demand.
"I don’t think any of us have a pleasing amount of awakening stones here." Precious said the words running in everyone’s mind, stating the harsh economic reality of their situation.
"No worries, when you have hundred million gold coins, you can exchange for it." Mirabella flashed them a smile, her simple words freezing them in place. A hundred million gold was the GDP of a minor province.
"Um... You’re our captain, shouldn’t you share the loots with all of us?" David asked in a low voice, staring at the ground, trying to appeal to her sense of academy camaraderie.
"Of course, I will willingly share the loots with you all, but this isn’t a loot... Don’t mistake these two things." Mirabella said, rising one finger, drawing a very strict line between party-dropped items and items she risked her own neck to personally unseal.
"One hundred million gold coins, I will keep the ten identical swords, remember, no one should know what happened here, or anything about this angel." She said, laying down a strict non-disclosure agreement.
"Ok then, up to you." Hitachi said, stepping back, his face indifferent, completely washing his hands of the suicidal endeavor.
’This guy can say such a thing because he already has a legendary class sword!! What about us?! Apart from him, only Rose has a legendary class staff, the rest of us have nothing.’ Austin thought with gritted teeth, the toxic sting of player envy burning in his chest. In Galaxy Fall, gear was life, and passing up a Legendary weapon was practically a sin, regardless of the danger. He turned to Mirabella, his ambition finally overriding his fear:
"What if we help you?" He asked.