novelraw Chapter 295: Sartre's Downfall, A Chance Encounter with Eve
Chapter 295: Sartre's Downfall, A Chance Encounter with Eve
When Satt saw Benerod appearing before him, he also revealed a smile.
"You finally came..."
In his father's initial plan, there was an arrangement for his half-brother, whose real name was Zane Morin, to give him the accumulated points.
Although many adjustments had been made to the strategy now, it did not affect the implementation of the original plan.
"Hurry up, give me your points..."
He glanced at the points leaderboard: "Not bad... actually ranked 15th. Good, later I'll put in a good word for you in front of Father and get you some rewards."
After saying this, he finally noticed the black-robed Cress behind Benerod.
He had seen this person before; he seemed to be someone from his father's side, but he didn't know the specifics, so he didn't pay much attention.
Benerod slowly approached him: "Of course, my brother... I'll give you the points now."
As he spoke, he raised his hand.Satt's mind was filled with the thought that as soon as he got half of Zane's points, he would immediately enter the top five of the leaderboard!
However, just as he focused all his attention on the leaderboard, anticipating the change in his ranking—
Benerod suddenly drew his sword and thrust it towards his heart.
Satt's expression instantly froze, and he looked down in disbelief at the sword tip buried in his chest.
Immediately after, he showed an angry expression and threw a punch at Benerod.
Benerod was not surprised by this. As the son of a duke, it was normal to have some life-saving methods.
Although his sword had pierced the other's chest, it had failed to pierce the heart and was blocked.
It wasn't armor; it was probably some kind of automatically triggered magic spell scroll that constructed a protective barrier around his heart.
However, it made no difference.
He swung his sword again and launched an attack. Even with only the strength he displayed on the surface, he was not weaker than his opponent; in reality, he was even stronger.
Satt hurriedly engaged in the fight, his face still showing shock and anger: "What are you doing?"
"Isn't it obvious? My dear brother..."
Benerod's attacks became increasingly sharp, his face still wearing a relaxed expression: "As long as you die, Father will use more resources to cultivate me."
"Hah... Do you think you can hide something like this from Father?"
After saying this, Satt immediately shouted: "What are you all doing? Hurry up and help!"
Only then did the group of underlings behind him snap out of their daze and quickly surround them.
"Why hide it?"
Benerod's expression remained relaxed, with a hint of mockery: "Is it possible that Father is the one who told me to do this?"
Satt's expression momentarily faltered, then he sneered coldly: "Impossible! You, a bastard, how could..."
"A bastard, at least, can be confirmed as his own flesh and blood, but you, the so-called legitimate son, might not be."
Benerod was still doing his best to act, portraying the arrogance and conceit of a bastard who had finally achieved his wish and risen to power.
"By the way, you probably don't even know this yourself. Your mother, that bitch, has long since betrayed Father!"
As his words fell, he swung his sword again, leaving a deep bloody line on Satt's neck, almost severing his head.
"You... nonsense!"
Cress watched the scene before him with great interest. For him, this was a rather amusing clown show.
Under the combined attacks of the group, Benerod, who needed to conceal part of his strength, quickly fell into a disadvantage. He "struggled" to resist their attacks and looked at Cress behind him: "What are you still waiting for?"
Cress's face still maintained a smile: "Don't be so impatient, Young Master Zane. Your impatient temperament is quite similar to your father's..."
It seems there shouldn't be a problem.
His gaze had actually been observing Zane from beginning to end. This was also what Duke Morin had instructed. At least from the current performance, there didn't seem to be anything suspicious.
Then—
Cress raised his hand, around which wisps of black mist swirled.
The next moment, he waved his hand downward, and the black mist instantly transformed into a giant "ghost claw." In an instant, it smashed Satt, along with his gang of underlings, into a bloody pulp.
Benerod's pupils contracted sharply, but he quickly controlled his emotions. When he turned his head again, he still wore that triumphant expression, mixed with a hint of dissatisfaction.
"Couldn't you have acted sooner?"
"My apologies, Young Master Zane... Well, my task is complete, so I'll take my leave now."
He turned and left, his figure dissolving into black mist and quickly disappearing without a trace.
Benerod looked at the place where he disappeared for a long, long time.
Although he had long sensed that this man named Cress was dangerous, he had still vastly underestimated him.
This level of strength was probably stronger than the instructors at the Royal National Academy!
Even if he hadn't reached the Transcendent Level, he was very close.
And that strange method just now... that black mist gave him a very ominous feeling.
It wasn't dark elemental mana, nor was it simply black magic. It was more evil than that, carrying a disgusting resentment that made living beings nauseous.
A Necromancer?
Benerod quickly thought of this possibility.
Looking at the points on his wristband that had skyrocketed after plundering Satt, and the prompt that had been sent at some unknown time telling him to leave the Silent Forest as quickly as possible, Benerod seemed to vaguely guess something.
He really did need to hurry and leave, but not simply to escape. He needed to pass on the message as quickly as possible.
The wristband was clearly already controlled by Duke Morin's people and couldn't be trusted, so he couldn't send a message through it either, or he would only expose himself for nothing...
He had to personally deliver this news to the powerful experts outside the forest!
Thinking of this, he no longer hesitated and immediately ran towards the outside of the Silent Forest at his fastest speed.
After a familiar moment of dizziness, Lin Mo opened his eyes again and looked at the world before him.
"This place is..."
He surveyed his surroundings.
The road ahead was quite wide, about twenty to thirty meters, unlike the narrow passages of some dungeons.
All around were incredibly high walls. Looking up, he couldn't see the top. Lin Mo touched the wall; the texture was rough, seemingly just ordinary stone.
He tried punching it to test the wall's hardness. However, his fist mysteriously failed to actually touch the wall and was blocked by an invisible barrier.
A triggered magic array?
It seemed it could automatically identify aggression or threats. When faced with aggressive behavior or a sufficient level of threat, it would automatically activate.
Judging from the effect of that punch just now, it didn't even create a single ripple. It seemed that even with full force, it would be impossible to break.
There was only one path. Lin Mo slowly walked forward, constantly observing the situation around him.
There were no torches or other lighting on the walls, but the road ahead was mysteriously very bright, as if it were daytime.
After walking about two kilometers, the scene ahead finally changed.
A fork in the road...
Two forked paths led to the left and right directions.
Only about ten meters of each path were visible. Further ahead, it seemed as if something was blocking the view, making it blurry.
Lin Mo frowned and thought for a moment. Not knowing how to choose, he used the old method, activating the [Shadow Split] skill to summon a clone and sent it into the left path to investigate.
After entering the path, the obscuring mist ahead disappeared. The path underfoot was still the same as the initial one: wide and empty.
Continuing deeper, he soon saw the end of the path ahead.
No magical creatures?
Just as this doubt arose in Lin Mo's mind, a blurry, indistinct phantom suddenly appeared before his clone.
It was a gate very similar to the entrance of the Secret Realm. Immediately after, accompanied by a mana fluctuation very familiar to Lin Mo, a magical creature walked out from it, appearing before him.
Unlike the previous Secret Realm, were the magical creatures in this Secret Realm teleported here?
"Lin Mo" pondered while raising his hand, easily pinning down the magical creature charging towards him. With a slight exertion of force, he snapped its neck.
The strength wasn't high; the threat level was only Level 1.
After all, he had just entered the Secret Realm...
After dealing with this creature, he continued forward. What appeared before him were three forked paths.
The number of forks had increased... It seemed this Secret Realm was much more complex than the one Lin Mo had entered before.
Lin Mo frowned, took out paper and pen from his Spatial Ring, and noted down the current paths.
Then he continued to have the clone choose a path and enter it.
After another short journey, in the same manner, several magical creatures were teleported before him.
This time, what appeared were still Level 1 magical creatures, but the number increased from 1 to 3.
For Lin Mo's clone, this still wasn't much of a threat, but...
The path that appeared before him now had four forks.
And the clone's duration was almost over.
Rather than a Secret Realm, this was actually a very complex maze... far more complex than the first Secret Realm Lin Mo had entered.
To fully explore such a complex maze would take far too much time, and the clone's duration wasn't enough; it simply couldn't be done.
Could he only act directly and rely on luck?
Lin Mo had already tried earlier. After the clone entered a forked path, the position swap function of the [Shadow Split] skill seemed to become unusable.
This actually contained a lot of information... Normally, the position swap function of the [Shadow Split] skill wouldn't be interfered with by ordinary things like magic barriers.
The inability to swap meant either his own Qi and Blood was being interfered with, or the main body and the clone were no longer in the same space.
In other words, this maze-like Secret Realm, each forked path might essentially be an independently created space.
If this was indeed the case, then the person who created this Secret Realm's understanding and mastery of space magic could be said to be astonishingly high.
Undoubtedly a Heroic Realm, or even Legendary Level space system mage!
Returning to the present, since using clones to investigate was no longer effective, he now had to make a real choice.
Lin Mo observed the two forked paths before him again and finally chose to trust his intuition, walking towards the right path.
It didn't seem any different from the left path, still a similar scene. However, the main body could perceive more things compared to the clone.
Especially when directly facing those "teleported" magical creatures.
That spatial fluctuation was quite astonishing to Lin Mo, who had only preliminarily dabbled in space magic.
Unfortunately, that brief moment was really insufficient for research and reference. Lin Mo raised his hand and used an [Assaulting Seize], easily dealing with the opponent.
Of course, the [Attribute Increase] skill had been active all along.
Continuing forward, similar to the path his clone had experienced, he encountered three, then four forked paths in sequence. Lin Mo chose paths based on his first instinct each time.
After the four forked paths, a Level 2 magical creature was teleported in.
After easily crushing this speed bump, the scene that appeared before him once again made Lin Mo pause.
There were still four paths ahead, but this time, there was only one on the left and one on the right.
The other two were going up and down, respectively.
This meant that this maze didn't exist on just one plane but was three-dimensional, increasing the complexity yet again.
Lin Mo chose the upward path.
After a short uphill section, the scene that appeared was unexpectedly no different.
If counting by stages, was this the 4th stage?
Lin Mo looked thoughtfully at the three Level 2 magical creatures appearing before him.
In terms of the magical creatures' strength and numbers, at least for now, it seemed to follow a pattern.
The forked paths became six. It was impossible to imagine how many independent spaces existed within this three-dimensional maze. Forget about creating it; just the mental strength required to fully conceive it was enough to make one hesitate.
Continuing forward like this, Lin Mo soon arrived at the 10th "stage" of the maze.
This time, after he made his choice and stepped into the passage, the scene before him became different...
After passing through the section that obscured vision and perception, the path ahead was actually a lush, green forest.
Looking back, the path he came from still existed. Taking a step back, what lay before him was still the ordinary maze passage. But taking a step forward felt like being in a brand new world. This wonder of overlapping spaces yet seamless connection was truly admirable.
A boss stage?
Lin Mo, with great interest, continued stepping forward, carefully observing the plants of this world.
They seemed no different from the outside main world, even giving Lin Mo the momentary illusion that he had left the Secret Realm and returned to the Silent Forest.
This space was more expansive than imagined. In the forest, traces of magical creature activity could often be seen, and there were even many ordinary animals.
Like wild rabbits, pheasants, wild boars, and so on.
But Lin Mo didn't encounter any magical creatures.
Until a roar sounded from the distance.
Lin Mo looked in the direction of the sound. Over there, something seemed to be fighting; he could sense fluctuations of Qi and Blood.
Were there other people in this Secret Realm?
He quickly rushed towards the place where the battle was erupting. When he arrived, the fight had already ended.
It was very fast, taking only a few seconds from start to finish.
Ahead, a familiar figure sheathed the thin sword in her hand. She seemed to sense something and turned her head, revealing a dirty face. Her armor was damaged in multiple places, and her clothes were stained with blood.
Even in such a disheveled state, that cool, pretty face remained charming. Her eyes were very sharp, like a female general who remained tough and unyielding even after defeat.
However, upon seeing Lin Mo, that sharp, imposing aura softened considerably. After a brief moment of confusion, a hint of vulnerability, hard to detect, even flashed in her eyes.
"Eve?"