Pffft—
The Blood of the Cursed Dragon cascaded down like a waterfall, not only corroding the stone slabs but also slowly flowing toward Dean·Bruce and Nicholas·William.
Feeling the intense corrosive aura, Dean·Bruce instinctively took a few steps back.
He glanced at the ajar door, his expression grave; he never anticipated that this mechanism was designed to force them into the inner city!
This realization only strengthened his belief that there was something wrong in the inner city!
The dangers inside were undoubtedly far more terrifying than the Blood of the Cursed Dragon!
With this thought, Dean·Bruce halted, silently watching the Blood of the Cursed Dragon flow toward them.
The passage wasn't very long; if he used the Angel's Light item, he could definitely escape the area affected by the Blood of the Cursed Dragon within the item's effective time.
But the Angel's Light could only protect one person—what about Nicholas·William?
Thinking of this, Dean·Bruce turned to look at Nicholas·William.
Feeling the gaze, Nicholas·William turned back, a bitter smile on his face. "Teacher, do you have a way to take me with you?"
Dean·Bruce replied calmly, "The Blood of the Cursed Dragon is ineffective against me, but I can't guarantee your safety; you're too weak."
As soon as he spoke, fear washed over Nicholas·William's face.
[Hmm? Wait! The Blood of the Cursed Dragon... Since it is blood, it's related to liquid. If I use ice magic to freeze it, stopping its flow, or use fire magic to evaporate it completely, that should work!] Dean·Bruce's mind suddenly sparked with a solution. He felt less tense and, after a moment's thought, came up with an idea.
He said softly, "There's only one way you can survive!"]
"What way?" Nicholas·William's eyes brightened at the words.
No one could remain calm when facing a life-and-death crisis.
Dean·Bruce replied steadily, "Unless you can comprehend the magic I taught you earlier; perhaps then, there's a glimmer of hope."
After saying this, Dean·Bruce crossed his arms and added, "Do your best. The Blood of the Cursed Dragon can't harm me, but for you, it's deadly!"
"..."
Nicholas·William swallowed hard. Seeing the boiling Blood of the Cursed Dragon advancing, corroding the stones, he had no time to hesitate. He quickly sat down, closed his eyes, and focused intensely, repeatedly attempting to cast magic.
Meanwhile, Dean·Bruce prepared to unleash the Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain magic.
Pffft—
The Blood of the Cursed Dragon continued to spread, the white mist even drifting close to Dean·Bruce and Nicholas·William, carrying a foul odor.
Time passed slowly as the Blood of the Cursed Dragon encroached.
As the white mist completely engulfed Nicholas·William and the red liquid approached his feet, Dean·Bruce sighed and shook his head.
After all, he couldn't just watch his disciple die.
Earlier, he had merely wanted to use the pressure of a life-and-death crisis to see if it could help him grasp new magic.
"Ding!"
As he stepped out of the passage, the intense feeling within him faded, and his heartbeat returned to normal.
Clearly, there were dangers both in the passage and the inner city.
Nicholas·William soon followed, still in a state of shock. Fortunately, the outer city was clear of the flying insects, corpses, and bronze puppets, allowing him to safely trail behind Dean·Bruce until they reached the entrance.
The stone door remained open, prompting a sigh of relief from Dean·Bruce.
This place was far too eerie!
With his current strength, the outer city was manageable, but he absolutely couldn't enter the inner city!
At the very least, he needed to increase his power a bit more and bring along Claire·Raymond for safety.
Lost in thought, Dean·Bruce and Nicholas·William crossed the passage and stepped through the stone door.
Buzz—
Boom!
The ground trembled, jolting both Dean·Bruce and Nicholas·William back to reality. Turning to look, they saw the stone door slowly descending, quickly sealing off the entrance.
Nicholas·William finally snapped out of it and sighed, "I thought we could get some treasures from in there, but I didn't expect it to be so dangerous!"
Dean·Bruce remained silent. There was danger, but that was in the inner city. Their journey through the outer city had not been perilous at all. In fact, they had even obtained twenty bronze puppets of Magus level—an enormous gain for him!
This time, it was worth the trip!
Not to mention that Nicholas·William had comprehended magic in a life-or-death situation, which also earned Dean·Bruce system rewards.
Thinking of this, Dean·Bruce couldn't help but smile.
Nicholas·William, unsure of what Dean·Bruce was smiling about, looked up and noticed the bright moon hanging high in the sky. He spoke up, "Teacher, since we can't explore this place any further for now, should we head back to the city and go to The Kingdom of Hibiscus?"
"Yes, let's set off."
Dean·Bruce replied, nodding. Without pausing for rest, the two made their way to the stone steps, heading toward the cliff in the moonlight.
With good news boosting his spirits, Dean·Bruce felt no fatigue.
As for Nicholas·William?
He was driven by the urgency to save his fiancée!
Reaching the cliff via the stone steps, Firebolt and Nicholas·William's mount were still tied up, looking lively as ever.
The grass nearby showed little change.
Noticing this, Dean·Bruce concluded that the flow of time inside the palace matched that of the outside world—it hadn't been long at all.
Riding their steeds, the two raced back to Saint Laurent, while Dean·Bruce focused his thoughts on checking the rewards granted by the system, eager to fully absorb the tenfold understanding.
[Book of Spirits (Special Item): When the host wears this item, they become immune to mind-control type magic. After activation, it will have a recharge time of 24 hours.
If the host falls into a mind-control magic barrier, they can activate the item to break the barrier. Note: It does not affect Ultra-High-Level spells of mind control.]
[!!!]
Dean·Bruce's smile grew even brighter; it was truly a valuable item! Without hesitation, he equipped it and immersed himself in the profound understanding of magic, eagerly absorbing the tenfold increase in comprehension offered by the system.