In an ancient passage, Strayer is descending step by step. Ｘ

This was one of the many passages leading to the second level in the Tower of Trials, and according to the curriculum, he should never be here.

But after being teleported to the Tower of Trials, he did not follow the principle of meeting his companions in the same group as soon as possible, but instead found an ancient entrance alone, and walked down the stairs, where the passage was not embedded with illuminated crystals in the walls like in the royal capital, but smeared on the walls with a kind of mineral mud paint, which emitted a faint light.

Except for his footsteps, the passage was as silent as a dimly lit catacomb.

Of course, Strayer had previously told his teammates that he planned to meet them after a morning of training alone, and he and Osmond had a unique way of contacting, as long as Osmond and the team members got together, even if it was a little farther away, he could find the right place to meet them, as long as he didn't encounter too much trouble on the way.

Moreover, the companions of Strayer's group were accustomed to him disappearing from time to time to act alone, and because the uncrowned king of Lothar had always been extremely self-disciplined and had all kinds of means of self-preservation, the members of the group, including Osmond, were not too worried about his behavior of leaving the team alone for a short time.

But they would never have imagined that Strayer had entered the passage leading directly to the second floor.

Similar to the passage in the royal capital, this passage also goes down first and then up, but it is much closer, and it doesn't take long for Strayer to reach the exit, but he doesn't leave the passage immediately.

The second layer looked like a desert terrain, the ground outside the passage was black sand with a heat wave, and there was still no sun in the sky, but the blazing rays that were more vicious than the sun were still mercilessly scorching the ground, as if they wanted to burn everything with flames.

As the heat approached, Strayer stood in the shadows of the exit, staring at a half-collapsed entrance temple opposite.

"Sure enough...... The exits to the second floor lead to the third floor......" he muttered.

His tone seemed to be about to go deeper into the lower levels.

I saw that he first cast two flame-like exploration eyeballs, floated and flew out, scanning the surrounding situation back and forth in the air, and after finding no obvious danger, he added a two-ring magic gallop to himself, and rushed out of the passage, rushing towards the entrance to the passage leading to the third floor on the opposite side of the sand dune in the blazing light.

But as soon as he rushed halfway to the position, Strayer's face suddenly changed.

I saw a four-winged monster bird in front of him intercepting him straight from the sky, its sharp claws shining and sharp like blades, its huge mouth full of fangs, and a huge raised meat tail, which was indescribably ugly and terrifying.

"Flying Nightmaremon...... Above the third order......" Strayer's speed increased by a point, and the pale yellow gallop card in his hand shattered directly into powder, and he dodged a flutter from the four-winged monster bird in a single stroke, and the crystal dust under the blazing light spilled out from between his fingers and fell into the hot sand.

The four-winged monster bird slammed into the ground, but was unharmed, flapped its wings twice and spun around in the sand, chasing him again. This time it didn't fly high, its huge tail dragging a trail of black dust on the black sand.

Strayer once again shattered a second-order card [Galloping Technique] in his hand.

The strange bird's fangs almost rattled against the back of his neck, and he could almost feel the nightmare beast's disgusting breath spewing on his skin like a viscous liquid, but he didn't panic or look back, a dazzling barrier formed behind him, and then it was shattered by the strange bird, maybe it slowed down a little, maybe not at all.

And a pale yellow card appeared in Strayer's hand again, and a two-ring magic [Stone Wall Technique] was cast, but the stone wall did not stand behind him, and the nightmare bird almost attached to his shadow could not be blocked by the stone wall at all.

The black wall, formed by the convergence of many pale yellow points of light, landed directly in front of Strayer.

As he ran, he leapt to his feet, and the strange bird flying close to the ground smashed headlong into the hard stone wall.

Rao was not low, but it was still crumbling this time, and the speed of the chase slowed down, and Strayer stomped on its head, and stepped on a few dazzling streaks in the air, landing at the temple-like entrance to the sand dunes.

As if suddenly losing awareness of Strayer, the nightmare beast chirped a few times in place, looked around blankly, and finally flew back into the air, hovering high nearby.

Strayer, however, didn't even rest for a moment, dissipated his magic, and walked down the dimly lit passageway.

The passage was identical to the one before, with a faint glow of mud from the walls and gaps in the pitted stone steps, the echo of footsteps clearly recognizable. The passage soon turned into an upward climb again, reaching the exit of the third floor.

A white mist shrouded the deep blue ice field, and the wind shrieked with hard ice particles.

Strayer just glanced at it, and this time he didn't step out of the aisle.

The gray pupilless mark of his palm lit up, and his figure was immediately obscured in an indiscernible shadow.

Taking out a metal box with magical runes from his robe, he pressed it against the wall and dragged it back step by step. When you come, you go down first and then go up, and when you go back, you still go down first.

There was a clicking sound in the passageway, not Strayer or anyone's footsteps, but the sound of the metal box moving against the wall, clear and rhythmic, gradually increasing as he descended.

Click-click-click...... The sound in the box became more and more rapid, and the sound almost joined together as the position moved, clicking...... But suddenly at some point in time, it slowed down, clicking...... Click......

Strayer paused for a moment, and suddenly came to his senses, he was around the corner of the passage.

Under the influence of the magical aura in the passage, he should have unconsciously stepped through this staircase, only to realize that the direction had changed from descending to ascending, but under the sound of the metal box, he came to his senses.

It was dark all around, and the perception seemed to be closed by magic, with nothing but the clicking sound in the ears.

But that click is enough. Strayer dragged the metal box around the wall little by little like a blind man, moving slightly, and soon regained the place where the sound was most urgent, clicking......

"According to the mandate holder...... This should be it......" he muttered in the darkness.

Holding the metal box in one hand, he fumbled against the cold wall with the other, and he pushed hard.

The center of gravity of his body slammed forward, as if pushing open a door, and he fell into another mysterious hallway.

……

There was no light here, not even the mud that could emit a faint glow, so Strayer had to cast a light spell, and the milky white light spread out in all directions, faintly illuminating the huge space around him.

Unlike the passage that had just been closed, it was a suspended staircase that extended downward, and with each step there were many stairs from the darkness, like a stream flowing into a river, and the hanging staircase became wider and wider.

Strayer didn't remove the camouflage magic, but made the orb of light that followed him brighter.

He was carrying out the tasks of the organization, or rather, the tasks given to him by the leader of the four of them.

He didn't know how the man had determined his identity, and in the first two meetings, he had used the disguise effect of the rune of the mission throughout the whole meeting, and his words were careful enough to hide the information about his identity as much as possible, but the person in charge still knew that he was a second-year student of Iluvita, otherwise it would not have been possible to specify the time and place of this mission so precisely.

Maybe the other party can see his disguise, or maybe the other party learned about him from that organization.

"But it doesn't really make a difference......" he muttered softly.

The asymmetry of information and the gap in authority, he can only choose to obey, and even at this moment, he doesn't know what the goal of their mission this time is, only that the person in charge handed him this box, told him something to do, and then let him come here, and the person in charge said that this is the fourth layer of the trial tower, and it is also the real last layer.

In any case, he had to complete the task at hand, and the tasks that might continue to be given to him in the future.

Yes, this operation is only a part of the mission, and it is the only link that he has some information about, although he doesn't know what the purpose of the person in charge is, but he knows the purpose of his operation. He knows.

With the light of illumination, Strayer descended the suspended staircase.

A door like the one just now, the door leading to the so-called fourth floor, he guessed, actually existed in the passage from the second floor to the third floor in the Trial Tower, and it was a hanging staircase like this, merging with each other, and in the end there might be only one left.

He guessed correctly, and gradually as the suspended staircase became wider and wider, and no other stairs merged, he walked down the stairs into a long and narrow space, and finally stepped on the flat ground, and he did not know how deep it was.

Compared to the huge and deep space where the light could not reach the edge when I first stepped on the suspended staircase, it was much narrower, like the bottom of a huge funnel, forming a slightly more spacious and not too long corridor.

The air here seemed to have not flowed for a thousand years, and it was full of rotten smells, and the rusty triangular doors at the end of the corridors, with no handles all over, were embedded in the ancient stone faces, shimmering with a small metallic hue in the faint light.

"You're coming so slowly!" a disgruntled voice sounded from the side.

……

"There are five mils left before the appointed time, and I am not late. Strayer replied calmly.

He saw the dissatisfied Andrew teaching assistant next to him and nodded at the other man, but did not remove his disguise.

Andrew in front of him is still not disguised, he is almost half as thin as a month ago, the original slightly chubby figure can clearly see the wide skeleton supporting the empty robe at this moment, the eye sockets are deeply sunken, and the cruel triangular eyes have also become hollow round eyes, but the fierceness in the eyes has not decreased at all, like a skeleton that hates everything.

"Hmph. Andrew snorted coldly: "What a big move, what about the things?"

"Brought it, but you have to open the door before I can hand it over to you. Strayer said without humility or arrogance: "We follow the planned process, and I don't want to make a fuss." ”

"You just listen to the person in charge!" Andrew took a sip and sneered, "You're a sophomore, aren't you? Because it's a group entry, the guards won't search you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Strayer replied calmly.

"You think his plan is good? Let me tell you, the guards of this trial tower have long been slack, and the inspection is not strict at all, even if I am directly brought in, it will be the same! This plan does not require the two of you to connect with the support people! What kind of good intentions do you think he has when he pulls you in?!" Andrew said indignantly.

"According to the rules of the organization, I have to act according to the plan of the person in charge. Strayer said coldly: "It's almost time, the task is prioritized, and it is good for everyone to finish it early." ”

"Oh, I'm the executor!I'm the main performer!" Andrew cursed, flicking his hand and walking to the triangular door at the end of the corridor, Strayer following behind, still holding the metal box in his hand.

"Do you know why I'm the master?!Because that lord only taught me that magic!You don't, and you can't carry out the key to this task!You know?!You can't!Neither can that sneaky person in charge!"Andrew said arrogantly, his right fingers spread open and taped to the triangular door.

Ancient space, dark magic surging from all directions, Strayer took a step back, and saw the scrawny Andrew, with a fanatical smile on his face, whispering a forbidden incantation, and then spewing out a large mouthful of blood mist. In the light of the illumination, the dark red mist of blood stuck to Andrew's outstretched right hand like a life, turning into tiny chains that connected his fingers to the rusty door.

Andrew let out a loud shout and slowly pulled the triangular door out of the masonry wall.

A low grinding sound followed, as if the huge gears of the old were being turned again, the sound of dragging countless huge chains, the scorching air gushing out from the cracks in the door, and the blinding light.

The triangular door that had been pulled down became less heavy, and Andrew casually moved it aside and stepped in.

Struggling to adjust to the blinding light, Strayer activated a protective spell and stood in front of the entrance.

He saw that there was a huge circular space inside, the incomparably tall dome was as high as the sky, and the curved walls were full of incomparably complex magical pathways, extending from the dome to the endless abyss under his feet, and in front of him was a raging rootless sea of fire, floating above the abyss, the raging incandescent flames were like a thousand dragons spitting out breath at the same time, and only a rock trestle with pitted holes and cracks led to the center of the sea of fire, connecting the circular stone platform on that side.

There seems to be an ancient altar on the stone platform.

"Where's the thing!!" Andrew said stiffly, "You're outside!