70: Chapter 70: Opportunity to Clear the Maze

The biggest trouble had resolved itself, but the crisis was not yet fully over.

The remaining three Lava Beasts came from the far end of the hall; they had plenty of space to reach maximum speed, running like a landslide of rolling stones.

Snapping back to his senses, Zhang Mu and Frederica quickly dodged to the right, while Alice was dragged to the left by the arriving Saldari.

The three Lava Beasts charged through the spot where they had been standing, crashing heavily into the cave wall and sending up a thick cloud of dust.

"Retreat into the tunnel!"

Vag rushed over, shouting for them to go first.

Disregarding gentleness, Saldari threw Alice directly into the tunnel entrance, then ran to stand beside Vag, preparing to wait for Zhang Mu and Frederica to run over before retreating.

To their astonishment, however, once the dust was blown away by the gale created by the Lava Beasts' movement, Zhang Mu and Frederica had vanished without a trace.

Where were they?

The two elves looked at each other, seeing only confusion and shock in each other's eyes.

"Die!"

Only the two of them remained in the hall. Unsurprisingly, the Lava Beasts attacked them, their massive forms trampling toward them as they stepped forward.

They didn't understand what had happened, but they had clearly seen the two of them dodge the attack, so they had to be fine.

"Let's go!"

With two of their main damage dealers suddenly missing, they couldn't possibly defeat three Lava Beasts. They decisively retreated into the tunnel to regroup with Alice.

The Lava Beasts were too tall to enter the tunnel, so they ran for several hundred meters and stopped after turning a corner.

"Where are Her Highness and Mr. Zhang Mu?" Alice asked, looking at the two of them.

Vag recounted what had happened. Saldari frowned. "I'm certain Her Highness and Mr. Zhang Mu completely dodged the attack."

"So why are they gone?"

"Is there a secret passage nearby?"

"No, I didn't see any entrance on the floor, walls, or ceiling."

"Then..." Alice said in a panic, "what should we do?"

After bowing his head in thought for a moment, Saldari said, "No matter where they were taken, all paths in the labyrinth lead to the final treasure hoard."

"I believe that with the abilities of Her Highness and Mr. Zhang Mu, they will be fine. Let's first search the hall for a secret entrance."

"If we find nothing, we'll head to the final destination to find them!"

Vag's expression was somewhat grim.

Finding an entrance wasn't hard; once the Lava Beasts calmed down, they could search the hall openly.

But going to the final destination... with just the three of us?

"Then it's settled." Alice agreed with Saldari's plan, and the two of them began jogging back toward the hall.

Seeing this, Vag shut his mouth and followed them in silence.

...

"Zhang Mu, are you okay?"

In the pitch-black surroundings, Zhang Mu heard Frederica's voice coming from the right. "I'm fine, what about you?"

"I'm good, but I don't know where my Storage Pouch fell." Her voice drew closer. "Did you bring a lighting crystal?"

A lighting crystal? I don't have one of those, but I have something else.

He summoned his inventory and took out an item.

A second later, a beam of blinding light illuminated the surroundings.

Frederica's delicate face, even under the harsh angle of the light beam, remained stunningly beautiful.

Using the light, she saw that she was in a tunnel. After looking around for a moment, she found her Storage Pouch lying by the wall.

Picking it up and returning to Zhang Mu's side, she curiously examined the cylindrical object in his hand that emitted the beam of light. "What kind of magic tool is this?" she asked.

"A tool," Zhang Mu replied, his gaze fixed on the ground.

Looking at the ground, he saw a small section of a wooden wheel mostly buried in the dirt. His eyes were filled with confusion.

A wheel of this shape...

"What are you looking at?"

Zhang Mu snapped out of it and shook his head. "Nothing."

As he spoke, he turned the flashlight, the beam sweeping across the surroundings. "Where is this?"

"The most precious treasure of the labyrinth, which only top-tier Adventurer Groups have a chance to obtain—we might have a chance now too."

"I think we're the lucky ones." Frederica smiled. "I'd only heard rumors before that labyrinths have secret passages leading directly to the final treasure hoard."

"I never expected to encounter one in this labyrinth."

There's such a thing?

Zhang Mu pulled out another flashlight, switched it on, and handed it to her. "Why didn't I hear you mention this before we came in?"

"Because it's just a rumor. It's not a good thing to harbor expectations for such highly uncertain information during an adventure."

"So which way do we go now?" Zhang Mu looked at both sides of the tunnel.

"This way." Frederica stepped onto the damp mud and, holding the flashlight, headed toward the wider right side. "In any labyrinth,"

the passages always get wider and wider."

Recalling the path they had taken earlier, Zhang Mu realized that did seem to be the case.

Quickening his pace to keep up with her, Zhang Mu remained silent, his thoughts entirely on that strangely familiar wooden wheel.

Frederica didn't speak either, silently walking as the light beam illuminated the path ahead.

For a moment, the tunnel was incredibly quiet, save for the sound of footsteps and water droplets dripping from the ceiling into puddles on the floor.

"Zhang Mu."

"Yeah?"

"Are you not afraid of death?"

Zhang Mu turned his head and looked at her profile for a moment, understanding why she was asking.

"From the day I was born until today, I've lived a busy life just to stay alive. So, yes, I am afraid of death."

"Then," Frederica stopped walking, "why did you stand in front of Alice and me without a second thought?"

"You should know very well what would happen if you were hit head-on by a Lava Beast."

Zhang Mu also stopped and explained with a smile, "Traveling to Kas Town overnight regardless of the cost to face a monster tide that even humans themselves didn't want to deal with,"

"and losing the chance to enter the labyrinth because of it... You're a good elf, so I wanted to save you. It's as simple as that."

"You could have died."

"I will die, but definitely not at the hands of a monster."

Mistaking this for overconfidence in his own strength, Frederica became a bit upset. "Mr. Zhang Mu, please learn to cherish life."

"Both others' and your own."

"I will."

After saying that, seeing her about to speak again, Zhang Mu waved his hand to cut off the topic and asked as he walked forward, "What is usually in the labyrinth's final treasure hoard?"

"Very precious treasures," Frederica replied, catching up.

She answered, but not really.

Fortunately, Zhang Mu's main goal was just to change the subject, so he didn't mind and continued chatting.

When the conversation turned to the kind human couple Frederica had seen outside Bala City who had adopted demi-humans, Zhang Mu's flashlight beam flickered a few times.

"They were forced to return to Kas Town?!"

"Yes."

"They had no food, no weapons for self-defense, let alone a carriage for the journey."

"Who ordered it?"

"I only saw that it was the Fanatics who escorted them out of the city."

Then Haige did it.

Zhang Mu's pace quickened. "Let's hurry to the final treasure hoard."

"What's wrong?"

"I have some things to take care of once we get out."

Keeping up with his faster pace, Frederica thought of something and asked curiously, "You said you didn't care about the people of Kas Town."

"Of course."

"They haven't done anything for me, so naturally, I have no reason to do anything for them."

Then why are you suddenly in such a hurry?

Sensing that Zhang Mu was a bit irritable, she didn't ask that. Hoping to ease his mood, she looked for a random topic. "Speaking of which,"

Zhang Mu, where did your senior go?"

"She had some business and went back to the Royal Capital first."

"The Royal Capital?"

I heard recently that the Resistance Army is active throughout the Kingdom of Lake, especially near the capital. Why would she go there now?"

Resistance Army?

Hearing this, Zhang Mu was completely bewildered.

On the Saul Continent, where great power belongs to the individual and the world is ruled by divine and royal authority, there was actually such a thing as a Resistance Army?

"What are they resisting?"

"I don't know," Frederica replied softly. "I overheard it from the Guards' chatter when I passed through the city."

"I only know that the Guards call them the Resistance Army."

Zhang Mu pondered for a while but couldn't make any sense of it.

I'll ask the Guards in Bala City once we're out.

With that thought, his already fast pace unconsciously turned into a jog.