Chapter 234: Reunion (3)

A dark passage.

William hurried forward, relying solely on the light from a single glowstone.

His brisk pace betrayed his inner turmoil.

Finally!

It had been only a few days since he’d swallowed his pride and sought Harold’s help.

Each day had been filled with growing anxiety as he waited. Then, just hours ago, he’d received a call from Harold.

I’ve found the answer.

Of course, Harold! Thank you for your hard work.

Enough with the formalities. I didn’t find the answer myself.

What do you mean?

There were some complications. More importantly… there’s something I need to ask of you.

What is it?

I plan to publish a paper related to these issues. Would that be acceptable?

“Well, I just need the answer. Since Harold found the solution anyway, you can do whatever you want with the method. But… are you absolutely sure about the answer?”

“Absolutely. I’ve been verifying it for days.”

When I received the paper with the answer from Harold, I was so nervous I nearly fainted.

I had to break into a cold sweat just to hide my trembling hands.

With the note in hand, William wasted no time and immediately headed to the underground labyrinth.

Barely managing to calm his racing heart as he hurried down the corridor, William finally came face-to-face with the Iron Door once more.

The same Iron Door he had reached right up to before, only to be turned back.

“Hoo…”

After taking a shallow breath, he unfolded the paper Harold had given him and placed his hand on the Mana Sensing Device.

“Please… please…”

Had there ever been a moment in his life when he’d desired something so desperately?

William prayed that the answer Harold had helped him obtain was the correct one.

Scrritch-scratch…

The answer was written out, one letter at a time.

Finally, every letter was inscribed on the Mana Sensing Device.

Gugugugung—

The iron door began to vibrate.

Click.

As the door slowly swung open, a shout erupted from William’s lips.

“It worked!”

Clenching his fist, William stepped cautiously through the open doorway.

Beyond the iron door lay the place he had yearned for so desperately, and within it sat a small box.

The moment he spotted it, William’s pace quickened. His eyes lit up with joy as he recognized the writing on the box.

“It’s true… Grand Master Victor’s Legacy!”

With trembling hands, William opened the box.

As each research book was pulled from the box, William’s face flushed with excitement. When Victor’s prosthetic limb finally landed in his hands, he trembled with ecstasy.

“Ah…”

The stories of Grand Masters living with disabilities throughout their lives were legendary. Their prosthetics—legs, eyes, hands, wings—had become symbols of their status. These artifacts represented the culmination of their lifelong dedication to research, the very foundation of the Modern Transcendent era, and masterpieces no ordinary Master could ever replicate. Now, such a Grand Master’s legacy was in his grasp.

“Hehe… heh heh heh!”

Try as he might, a suppressed chuckle kept escaping him. Soon, William’s stifled mirth erupted into unrestrained laughter.

“It’s mine! Victor’s Legacy is mine! Hahahaha!”

The hardships of the past were completely washed away by this single moment of reward.

William laughed uproariously for a time, savoring his triumph, then swept the scattered items into his Aether Pocket.

It didn’t take long for Victor’s Legacy to vanish entirely into William’s possession.

Afterward, William left without a trace of regret.

Only the empty, stripped box remained, a lonely guardian of the space.

Several days later,

At a dark hour when even the moon had yet to rise,

William, his robe pulled tight against the night, slipped through the deserted streets of Syron.

His destination was a dilapidated farmhouse on the outskirts of the city.

After a quick glance around, he stepped inside.

There, seated at a table, was a lone man.

“You’re here?”

A farmer, clad in shabby clothes, greeted William as he lit the fireplace.

The man had thick, lustrous golden hair.

Despite his ragged appearance, his exposed skin was remarkably clean.

And then there was the farmer’s voice.

It was unmistakably the same voice William had heard through the communication stone earlier.

William pushed back the hood of his robe, scowling as he looked at the man.

”…Why do you look like that?”

The farmer smiled at William’s question.

“Wouldn’t it be stranger to wear fancy clothes in a place like this? So I decided to dress up a bit.”

“Then you should have gotten rid of that lingering perfume smell.”

Despite his rustic exterior, a strong scent of expensive perfume clung to him.

At William’s remark, the man scratched his cheek sheepishly.

“Ah, I hadn’t considered that. I’ll be more careful next time. Heh heh.”

Though his words suggested sincerity, the man’s voice brimmed with mischief.

This meeting is a special occasion. I’m not one to easily step into the limelight anyway.

I only came today because William requested it.

This won’t happen again.

The man asked with a smile, “Summoning me so suddenly puts me in a rather awkward position. I only came because you seemed so desperate to find me.”

“I wasn’t desperate to find you.”

“Well, whatever… if you called me, you must have achieved something significant, right?”

William nodded.

“I found it.”

”…?!”

Surprise and excitement surged across the man’s face.

The playful demeanor that had characterized the man vanished entirely.

”…Is this for real?”

“Do you think I’d joke about something like this?”

“Then… where’s the artifact?”

William pulled a book from his coat and tossed it to the man.

It was one of Victor’s Legacy artifacts that William had found in the underground labyrinth.

The man caught the book and examined it, tilting his head slightly.

“This is all?”

“Of course not. That’s just a teaser.”

The blond man frowned and asked sharply, “What are you trying to pull?”

“What makes you think I’d hand everything over to you?”

“Aw, how disappointing. I thought we’d built up quite a bit of trust between us.”

“You’re delusional. After all, we only joined forces for our mutual benefit, didn’t we?”

“Is there any bond more reliable than that?”

“A relationship built on mutual benefit is, by definition, one that can be severed the moment the advantage is gone.”

William and the man glared at each other, an unspoken battle of wills hanging in the air. It was the blond man who broke the tension first.

“Fine, fine.”

“I’ll hand over the item once you keep your promise. Oh, and you can take that.”

William gestured with his chin at the book the man was holding.

“You’ll need to verify its authenticity, after all.”

“I doubt this alone will tell us much, but since you’re offering, I’ll take it.”

The man, after carefully tucking the book into his coat, smiled again and said,

“And as you know, for our side to move… yours must move first. Don’t forget that. Our agreement comes after that.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

William smiled back at the blond man, his own smile mirroring the other’s.

“We’ll be starting soon too.”

William’s smile was brimming with murderous intent.

After exchanging a few more casual words, they ended their clandestine meeting.

As both men returned to their respective positions, dreaming of a happy future,

they remained unaware:

they were not alone.

He who does not come is not good, and he who has already come does not have good intentions.

This saying perfectly encapsulated the situation Douglas and his travel party were experiencing.

“Who the hell are you bastards!”

With only about a month’s journey remaining to Syron, Douglas’s exhausted group, as usual, settled down for the night after a long day’s travel.

However, they immediately sensed something was wrong and hastily scrambled to their feet, only to find themselves already surrounded by hooded figures in black robes.

Uninvited guests appearing with their faces concealed—how could they possibly harbor good intentions?

Douglas, Erica, and Floria swiftly adopted defensive stances.

As the three prepared with tense expressions, one of the hooded figures stepped forward.

He lowered his head toward the direction of Douglas and his travel party.

“It’s an honor to meet such renowned Grand Masters,” the grotesque leader said with a bow.

The Grand Masters’ expressions hardened at the strange man’s greeting.

These bastards… They’re not just ordinary bandits.

They came here specifically targeting us!

But how?!

Their journey was a secret known only to a select few, and only to trusted individuals.

Yet these unexpected intruders had recognized them immediately.

Moreover, the fact that they had been surrounded without warning meant the attackers had been lying in wait nearby.

The three Grand Masters felt their composure waver, but they showed no sign of it.

Instead, Douglas asked with a cheerful smile,

“Heh heh, who might you be, coming to find us in the dead of night, wearing such a grotesque disguise?”

“I’ve come to escort you.”

“Us? Oh dear… What’s to be done? We’re terribly shy, you know, and we never follow strangers whose faces we don’t recognize.”

“You needn’t worry. We’ll take care of everything and make you comfortable.”

“Huh… How dare you disregard an old man’s opinion so casually, young man?” Douglas grumbled, but the grotesque figure clamped its mouth shut, as if refusing to engage further.

Douglas clicked his tongue.

“Tsk. Listen here, let me give you some advice.”

”…”

“You’ll regret it if you underestimate us as feeble old men with little time left.”

Douglas had roamed the continent for decades.

There was no way someone like him wouldn’t have the means to defend himself.

No matter how frail and decrepit Douglas’s body had become, his years of experience couldn’t be ignored.

The same held true for Floria and Erica.

Their title of Grand Master wasn’t merely for show.

In response to Douglas’s warning, the aberration smiled with a hint of mockery in its eyes.

“Thank you for your concern… but how could we possibly ignore the great Grand Masters? We’ve prepared thoroughly. You won’t be disappointed.”

“Is that so?”

The smile vanished from Douglas’s face.

And then.

“Then let’s put that claim to the test.”

Click.

Douglas’s prosthetic arm twisted with a grotesque metallic screech, its form shifting in an instant.

If Louis had witnessed this, he would have shouted:

“A Vulcan!”

Douglas’s arm had transformed into a compact Vulcan cannon.

The rotary barrel at the front began spinning, spitting out chunks of brown matter.

Tututututututu!

In an instant, small spheres of energy rained down.

They were the signal flare.

“Scatter!”

At the terse command, the ghouls dispersed at lightning speed. Several were directly hit by the small brown spheres, sending them tumbling across the ground.

Meanwhile, behind Douglas, Floria raised her Mana Stick, and azure streams of water surged around her.

Swish!

The slender water streams shot out like whips, lashing across the ghouls. As the fallen ghouls writhed, Douglas unleashed a barrage of Vulcan fire upon them.

Rat-tat-tat!

Even as Douglas and Floria fought, Erica had been far from idle.

“Hap!”

With a sharp cry, Erica tore off her wings and soared into the sky in her new form.

Whoosh!

Erica’s newly transformed body plummeted from the sky, unleashing a violent gale as it hurtled toward the ground.

She halted mere inches above the earth, hovering and sweeping across the terrain.

Monstrous figures crumpled like dominoes as her metallic wings struck them.

Though the situation appeared favorable for the Grand Masters, Floria’s face remained grim, her resolve unyielding.

They… they’re completely unfazed!

At first glance, it seemed the monsters were being brutally overwhelmed, but they suffered no real damage. Even those who fell rose immediately, their movements unhindered.

Suddenly, Floria’s gaze caught a glimpse inside a monster’s robe.

That…!

A suit of armor gleamed with a dark crimson luster.

Recognizing it instantly, Floria shouted:

“Magic Resistance Armor!”

It was an object unlike any they had ever seen before, one they had believed lost forever.

It was only natural that Floria recognized it.

But she wasn’t the only one.

Douglas and Erica also identified the Magic Resistance Armor.

After all, they were the ones who had created and researched it.

How could that thing…?!

The Magic Resistance Armor possessed high mana resistance, but it had been abandoned because its efficiency couldn’t be improved. Pouring the equivalent of a third-tier Transcendent technique into it yielded barely 30 minutes of magic resistance, making it disastrously inefficient.

Yet, during those critical 30 minutes, its resistance was so formidable it could withstand even second-tier attribute power.

Now, the sudden reappearance of this discarded armor meant…

These must be connected to the Labyrinth!

The only place to retrieve the Magic Resistance Armor—a research project that had already been abandoned—was the Tower of Wishes, where it had been discarded.

Who could possibly be behind this?!

As Floria struggled to make sense of the situation, the monstrous beings, who had been steadily retreating, launched a counterattack.

And their first sacrifice was Erica.

“Throw it!”

At their leader’s command, the monsters hurled black spheres toward Erica.

“Hmph! Child’s play!”

Erica watched the sphere hurtling toward her head and prepared to leap away.

But the moment she moved, the black sphere exploded.

Boom!

With a thick cloud of smoke, something erupted from the sphere and engulfed Erica completely.

“Ugh!”

What ensnared Erica wasn’t something; it was a net.

And that net was no ordinary thing.

The moment it enshrouded Erica, the net crackled with electricity.

“Aaaah!”

Erica screamed as the lightning coursed through her body, slamming her into the ground.

“Birdbrain!” Douglas roared.

“Erica!” Floria shouted in alarm, but neither could move to help her.

“You bastards!” Douglas snarled.

“Combine!” came the command.

With Erica neutralized, the grotesque beings hurled black spheres at the two of them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Douglas and Floria desperately scrambled to evade the onslaught after witnessing Erica’s fate, but they were no match for the relentless barrage.

“Gah!”

“Argh!”

In the end, Douglas and Floria were also ensnared by the net, collapsing to the ground.

The leader of the monsters, witnessing this, muttered to himself, “Situation neutralized. Erase all traces and prepare for Chulsoo.”

At his command, some of the monsters swiftly dispersed, while the rest began gathering the three Grand Masters, still entangled in the net, into one place.

“Y-you bastards!”

Erica flapped her wings in defiance, but each time she did, an electric current surged through the net, forcing her back to the ground.

In the end, Erica was dragged to where Douglas and Floria lay.

Flattened against the floor, she glared at the monsters surrounding her, gritting her teeth.

“What the hell’s going on? How did they get Magic Resistance Armor?!”

“It seems… there’s a traitor within the Labyrinth.”

“This is impossible!”

“If it weren’t true, they wouldn’t have that discarded Magic Resistance Armor.”

“That rat must have leaked our travel plans… Cough!”

“Are you alright, Douglas?!”

”…I’m f-fine.”

But Douglas’s face didn’t look fine at all.

His already aged body had been pushed to its limit during the fierce battle, leaving him strained.

Seeing this, Floria’s face hardened with resolve.

She shifted slightly and reached out her hand toward Erica.

Each movement sent a faint electric current through the net, stiffening Floria’s muscles.

Yet she stubbornly persisted, finally managing to extend her hand toward Erica.

Huff…

She took a small, deep breath and muttered quietly, ”…Erica.”

Erica’s gaze turned toward the voice calling her name.

“You only have one chance.”

Those words were the signal.

Immediately, a blue vine sprouted from Floria’s hand, reaching out to touch the net encasing Erica.

“Now! Cut it apart!”

Erica’s wings spread wide at Floria’s command.

As the net surged with electricity, the current flowed through the blue energy, directing itself toward Floria instead of Erica.

“Agh!”

Floria convulsed in agony from the powerful shock, then collapsed into unconsciousness.

In that moment, Erica’s blade-like wings tore through the net.

At the same time, Erica’s new form shot into the sky.

It all happened in an instant.

The kidnappers hadn’t reacted because they had become complacent, thinking their objective was achieved. This momentary lapse in vigilance allowed Erica to seize her opportunity.

“You bastards!”

Erica, now high above, was about to dive down to rescue her comrades when—

“Don’t come back! Fly higher!” Douglas’s gruff voice boomed across the battlefield.

“Douglas!”

“I told you not to come back!”

Douglas instantly understood why Floria had sacrificed herself to free Erica.

“Go to Syron immediately! If that traitor from the Labyrinth intends to capture all of us, at least you must reach the tower! Find someone trustworthy there and tell them we’ve been taken!”

“B-but…”

“Go! Your mission is to get help now! Summon the Labyrinth’s support troops!”

Erica bit her lip at Douglas’s shout.

She soared even higher, toward the sky. Another net was already hurtling toward her.

Climbing to a height where the net couldn’t reach her, Erica called down to her comrade on the ground:

“Just a little longer… just a little longer! I’ll be right back!”

“Go without worry!”

“If you die, I’ll kill you all over again!”

With those words, Erica streaked across the azure sky at breakneck speed.

Meanwhile, the leader of the monstrous beings watched her from below, his expression turning vicious.

Grind.

The sound of teeth grinding could be heard from beneath his robe. He kicked one of his subordinate’s stomachs, the brute who had failed to capture her.

“You worthless bastard! You let her slip away when we had her?!”

Thud.

“Guh…!”

As the kicked monster coughed up blood, the leader barked an order to his waiting subordinate:

“Pass the word. We’ve lost a bird. Expand the encirclement.”

“Understood!”

The subordinate, his head bowed, replied and pulled a communication stone from his inner pocket.

“Ugh, how annoying.”

Leaving his subordinate to urgently initiate communication, the leader stared in the direction Erica had flown. Within the shadows of his concealed robe, a murderous glint flashed in his eyes.

“At least the weather is on our side.”

His glinting gaze settled upward.

Rumble-

An ominous sound echoed from the sky where Erica had vanished.

Moments later:

Plink- plink-

A few raindrops began to fall, quickly escalating into a fierce storm.

Before long, the raging tempest had completely erased all traces of the monster and the Grand Masters.

This occurred five days before the start of Transcendence Academy’s winter break.