43: We—no, you—are surrounded.

After the three from the Arcane Arts Society called out to Ronan, they immediately followed.

[Remember this site's domain; reading Taiwan novels in your spare time is super cozy.]

This escaping Polluter would likely point the way to the missing personnel.

Ronan was also well aware of this and followed straight into the depths of the passage.

The passage as a whole extended underground, becoming wider the deeper they went.

From time to time, additional forks appeared.

Fortunately, none of them were novices; they all knew to leave their own marks at the junctions.

As Ronan went down, he had already seen several different marks.

There were scorched flame marks burned by the Vice Commander with Black Flame, a few scattered spots of glowing liquid left by Red Star... and two parallel height lines carved into the wall by Evil Axe with his twin axes.

Due to their differing speeds, as the group gave chase, they began to lose sight of those ahead.

Never mind the Vice Commander, even the three from the Arcane Arts Society were no longer within his field of vision.

If Ronan hadn't reminded Evil Axe to slow down and wait for him, he probably wouldn't see anyone at this point either.

Ronan was panting; he thought mages had relatively weak constitutions, so Red Star shouldn't have been able to leave him so far behind.

"So I'm the only one with insufficient stamina, huh..." Drill Mouse caught up from the very back, his ear pressed against the wall as he said, "Captain, did you hear that?"

Evil Axe followed suit, lying directly on the ground to listen. "The sounds feel very chaotic."

At this moment, Ronan seemed to see some light sources appearing ahead and spoke up.

"There's something happening ahead, let's go check it out."

Sure enough, before they had gone far, a circular plaza space appeared before the three of them.

The stones on the plaza floor were extremely flat, seemingly arranged according to some pattern.

Several glowing gems were embedded in the surrounding stone walls, lighting up the plaza like daylight.

At this time,

The Mercenary Vice Commander was floating in the air, quickly dealing with the escaping Polluter.

The three from the Arcane Arts Society were looking excited, studying a high platform built of stone in the center of the plaza.

"This is an Altar..."

The discussion of the three from the Arcane Arts Society drifted over, but Ronan's attention was drawn to the high platform.

He looked up and saw Ash Leaf and Red Hammer lying unconscious upon this Altar.

"Found them!" Evil Axe shouted, immediately rushing into the plaza and towards the Altar.

Ronan followed closely behind, but unfortunately lacked stamina; by the time Evil Axe had almost climbed onto the Altar, he had only just reached the center of the plaza.

The Mercenary Vice Commander, suspended in mid-air, drifted above the Altar and looked down at the two of them, muttering, "Wait..."

"Ladies, you..."

Bang.

Just as Evil Axe's front foot stepped onto the Altar, he was repelled by an invisible force, and his whole body rolled straight down from the high platform.

Fortunately, he was thick-skinned and sturdy; after getting up and bouncing a couple of times, he continued to climb back up.

"Mr. Dwarf, a Defense Array has been applied to the Altar; anyone who goes up will be repelled."

Red Star and the two Arcane Apprentices stood to one side of the Altar, kindly offering a reminder.

The Mercenary said with a half-smile, "Shorty, do you want me to step in and help you burn this damn array?"

Evil Axe didn't bother with him and turned to look at Red Star. "Is there any way to turn off that Defense Array?"

Even as he asked, he continued to climb up himself.

"There's something here that looks like a switch..."

Red Star hesitated, "But..."

Bang.

Evil Axe was repelled again and cursed under his breath.

He simply walked up to Red Star and shouted,

"Then what the hell are you hesitating for? Turn it off for me!"

"This switch is like a Verification Platform; it requires enough Spiritual Power to be input in a short period to open. We alone aren't enough..."

At this point, Annual Ring turned his gaze toward Ronan, his meaning self-evident.

"I'll do it."

Ronan walked directly to the switch and placed his hand on the platform.

Upon hearing this, Evil Axe hurriedly began to climb the Altar again.

Annual Ring and Red Star glanced at each other, then also reached out their hands and placed them on the platform.

Wait, why isn't your other person joining in?

Just as Ronan was about to ask, a sensation of Spiritual Power being drained followed immediately.

The expressions of all three changed in unison.

Ronan felt his own Spiritual Power about to slip out of control and begin to drain away.

But then, the Godhead within his soul suddenly exerted its power, and a high-level pressure instantly crushed the external influence invading his soul.

The extraction of his Spiritual Power was immediately interrupted.

Instead, Annual Ring and Red Star suddenly felt the extraction force surge.

Annual Ring even spat out a mouthful of blood, nearly collapsing to the ground.

The same share had changed from being split among three to being split between two; of course it would suddenly intensify and become unbearable.

But there was no helping it; who told them to leave one person idle and insist on dragging him into it?

Ronan didn't feel a trace of guilt in his heart.

Not long after, just as Annual Ring and Red Star were almost unable to hold on, there was a crisp 'click' at the switch.

The invisible Defense Array on the Altar vanished completely, revealing the figures of Ash Leaf and Red Hammer.

Evil Axe didn't delay for a second, rushing up to gently pick up Red Hammer.

"Ladies..."

After shaking them a few times and finding that both were in a coma,

He simply changed his posture, slinging both of them onto his shoulders and slowly walking down from the Altar.

After having their Spiritual Power heavily drained, Annual Ring and Red Star collapsed onto the ground.

To avoid being found out, Ronan also pretended to be like them, lying powerlessly on the ground and panting.

"Captain, the objective is achieved. Isn't it time to go?"

Evil Axe didn't seem to struggle at all while carrying two people. From his eyes, Ronan saw that he seemed to be considering what posture to use to carry him as well.

"Call... call Drill Mouse, let's leave here quickly." Ronan said while panting, putting on a full performance.

"How are you guys? Can you still walk?" he turned and asked Annual Ring and Red Star.

To his surprise, Annual Ring and Red Star were expressionless, indifferent to his concern.

Faros walked over coldly, bent down to pick up Annual Ring on his back, and actually began to slowly climb toward the Altar.

"You go, White Night. We have more important things to do." Red Star shook her head, somewhat drained of strength.

"What things?" Ronan asked, puzzled. "Haven't the people already been rescued?"

"You came to save people."

Red Star smiled tiredly, her gaze turning toward the Vice Commander who had remained suspended in mid-air.

"Neither we nor that mercenary are here for that."

"Kid, if you have business, go do it. Don't drag me into it."

The Vice Commander in mid-air heard the conversation over here and pointed at himself. "This lord really did come to find someone."

"Mr. Kane, you shouldn't know these two ladies, right?" Red Star asked back, somewhat surprised.

"Moreover, are you sure the Mercenary Blood Pact has no interest in the Original Pollution Information?"

"Just a side task... oh, aren't they here now?"

The Vice Commander made a smooth turn in the air, counting the large group of Polluters that had suddenly appeared around them.

"We—oh, no, you—are surrounded."

Polluters swarmed in from all directions, covering the plaza in an instant.

"Vice Commander Kane, at a time like this, let's not distinguish between 'us' and 'you', shall we?"

Ronan stood up, no longer looking weak as before.

He pressed his hands together, activating the magic "Elemental Ice Arrow".

In an instant, a row of chilling ice arrows appeared out of thin air, suspended neatly between his palms.