Chapter 989: Fierce Battle for Ziyan (Twenty-Three)

At the same time (?), the East African plateau, the Jilimanjaro volcanic underground palace, in the center of the earth's labyrinth.

"Whew, take a break. "Palamides, who had turned into a great black panther, ran on the wall of the cliff, because of the weight of one more person, he would still be tired after all.

He leaped onto a protruding rock platform on the cliff and fell to the ground like a real big cat, gasping for breath.

Ivan untied the harness and jumped from the panther's back onto the platform. The moment his iron boots touched the hard volcanic rock of the platform, there was a discordant crashing sound.

The sound of the collision echoed in the cave, and the silence around was surprising, and the small sound was surprisingly harsh.

"Whew... Ivan made an embarrassed look [messed up]: "It's weird, it's so quiet here." "Silence is a matter of course, isn't it?" Palamides looked around, but found no sign of any enemy, and then he relented slightly:

"We're all running against the wall, so there's no enemy who can do the same thing as we do. They can't catch up, so they can't trouble us. "Theoretically, yes. Ivan also cautiously scanned the situation in the cave: "I hope so." "This huge cave is really very high and unimaginably wide, and the whole cave is in an irregular hemispherical shape, just enough to "cover" people in it. Although the pillars of purple flame on the ground were bright and sky-high, the further up the cave became, the more irregular and uneven rocky platforms filled it, and they blocked out a lot of light, making more than half of the cave dark and dark, and it was impossible to see what danger was hidden inside.

The rocky platform on which Palamides and Ivan are currently located is located on the inner wall of the eastern side of the cave. About five hundred yards from their starting point. The height of the platform is also about half of the overall height of the cave, and the distance from the ground and ceiling is comparable.

From a distance, the thousands of pillars of purple flame on the ground were magnificent, like a forest composed of pillars of fire, in stark contrast to the dark grotto on the top of the cave. But it was precisely because of the density and complexity of the Purple Flame Pillar that it was almost impossible for Evan to find the Albert team and the Bediville team in the gap between the Fire Pillar Forest. It seems that it is impossible to look down on the people on the ground from this height and observe the situation of the other candidates.

However, there seems to be only one exit from the cave, and as long as they keep running in the direction of the exit, they will always reach it. Even worrying about other people's situations doesn't help, it's better to take care of your own affairs.

"Have you rested enough, should you go?" Ivan urged.

"Uh, can I ask you one thing before I go?" Palamides narrowed his amber cat eyes and looked at the half-dragon youth with a sly look.

"Oh, what's the matter?" said Ivan was wary of what Palamides would make of an overly plea.

The big cat pretended to be embarrassed and smiled: "Actually, it's like this...... Your armor is really dead, heavier than I expected. Running with you and your armor on your back, especially against a wall, is tiring. Can you please take it off?" Ivan replied in a low voice.

"Uh, that's great, you're so reasonable—" Palamides thought Ivan would agree, and was happy for half a second:

"-Uh, what?!no?" Ivan's answer was far beyond the big cat's expectations, and the big cat was immediately upset: "Why not! Wasn't you very obedient before?!" "What are you talking nonsense, Palamidadis?" Evan smiled viciously: "The past is the past, and you can't generalize. Seven years have passed, and I am still the same as when I was a child, wouldn't it be a great loss to live?" Ivan glared at Palamides, as if to tell the big cat that he was no longer a good man and a woman, and he was no longer as good at talking as before.

"This armor has been won back by my own efforts, in other words, it is a status symbol, the only proof to distinguish a chief like me from you crane tails. How can it be said that if you abandon it, you will abandon it? "You-" The green tendon popped out of Palamides's forehead, and the big cat almost wanted to scold, but considering that he would have to continue to cooperate with the half-dragon youth in the future, he reluctantly held back: "Isn't your armor already tattered*? If you still wear something impractical, you won't be afraid of being laughed at? Take it off, at least the cuirass and helmet, so that I can lighten my burden. (*Note: Ivan's armor was heavily damaged during the last battle with the Ice Hydra.) "If you don't take it off, you won't take it off, why are you entangled. The half-dragon youth also looked displeased: "I also packed the ticket before and said that I had no problem running for as long as I wanted, and he could carry me through this cave." Is it just now?" The big cat complained dissatisfied, and indeed, it was he who said that there was no problem first. Can you only carry this heavy armored youth on your back and run down hard?

"It can be," the big cat blinked slyly, "but running on your back is more physically expensive than expected." In this way, I can only stop and rest every distance I run to save my body. I don't know what kind of battle I'll have to face after that, and if I don't keep my body for fighting... "Wait—" The half-dragon youth seemed to think of something, and immediately waited angrily for the leopard warrior: "I finally understand! Are you deliberately delaying time?!" The big black panther was silent.

"Are you planning to do this?—— slow down our progress so that your two unsuccessful sons can reach the location of the treasure first?!" Ivan scolded angrily, "Are you crazy?, do you plan to cooperate with me?!" The big black panther looked at the half-dragon youth with a little grievance: "No, there is no such thing, I have always worked hard to catch up." It's nice that Zhalfir and Segrade can catch up with us, but I'm definitely not going to deliberately let water out - well... No way. "You'd better be serious!" Ivan was more like an elder at this time, teaching a "junior" like Paramidis: "The passing rate of the Round Table Trial is less than one in a thousand every year. No one has passed the round table test for several years in a row, and everyone has gambled their lives to take the exam every year, don't think it's a game! You dare to try this kind of strict exam as child's play? I'll be the first to cut you!" "I really didn't-" "Long-winded! If you release water again, it will not only cause me trouble, but also an insult to your sons!" Evan yelled: "Why don't you want to think about it, your eldest son was even knocked out of his kidney last year, and he almost died, and he still gritted his teeth and took the exam-" "Wait, what!? What did you say about Zhalfir?!" Ivan knew that he had leaked his mouth, and hurriedly defended: "... Fortunately, the medical skills of the exam organizer were very high, and he could not die. I guess it's just a matter of a month's recuperation - I want to say that this is such a dangerous candidate, everyone is risking their lives to participate. If you think this is a child's game, I advise you to hurry up and go home!" The leopard warrior's face became very ugly, and he also felt that the round table trial was very dangerous along the way, but it was not so dangerous. Maybe Evan is alarmist, or maybe the exam has just begun, and the real horror has not yet been touched.

"If I knew it would be so dangerous, I wouldn't have let those two imps participate—" Ivan glared at Palamides with contempt, "Don't be stupid. What can you do? They're grown-ups, so they won't listen to your naïve dad. Those two boys were not good at their strength, but they still persevered in the exams for several years, and this is the only thing that I admire them very much. Palamides fell silent. He originally thought that just dragging Evan, a "fierce rival", could help his two sons move towards success. Now that I think about it, maybe not.

Perhaps, as Evan said, Zhalfir and Segrade are not strong enough to be knights of the Round Table. Doing it reluctantly will only hurt them.

In this case, why don't you just defeat them and let these two boys do their best to ...... this heart?

"Okay. Seeing that Palamides was also hesitating, Ivan compromised, "I'll remove the helmet and cuirass to make it easier for you to run." But on the other hand, you have to help me and help us win this exam. Don't drag me back any longer, okay, or the next time I see your sons, I'll probably shoot them in the head. "You can do it. The big cat stared at the half-dragon youth.

"Don't force me to do it. Ivan glared at Palamides, too.

While the two of them were concentrating on arguing, a group of dark shadows was gradually approaching.

"Tsk, I can't tell you. Whatever you like. Palamides snorted, got up from the ground, and pointed his cat butt at the half-dragon youth: "It's time to hurry, hurry up." "Wait. "Ivan seems to be fiddling with something. He really wanted to get rid of the cuirass and helmet, but he wanted to get a little more out of the discarded armor, so he removed the armor plates on the front and back of the cuirass and knocked something like a handshake from the helmet to combine the accessories.

Turned into a medium-sized shield.

"Is that okay?" said Palamides, looking at the combined shield with incredulous eyes.

"This is a design that has become popular in Great Britain in recent years, combined armor. Even if the armor is no longer usable, various parts can be removed from it to create lightweight armor. The half-dragon youth explained: "In the fierce battles in the future, it will be used in actual combat." "Uh-" Palamides glanced at the shield, "but it didn't lose much weight... "I'll take off the cuirass, and you should be thankful!" Ivan grumbled angrily, not forgetting to tie himself to the back of the big panther with a safety rope, "Now, can you go?!" "Okay, go-" Pound! Something suddenly shot at the cliff platform where the two of them were, and there was a powerful explosion!