Chapter 131 part 1: The Price of Saving a City (1)

Ella’s voice came from all directions, carrying a piercing laugh.

“I said it before—I am the key.”

“And you are the sacrifice.”

The gray liquid hardened rapidly, turning into solid crystals that locked Klein’s right hand firmly in mid-air.

The ground of the entire underground catacomb began to vibrate violently.

The obscure patterns originally carved into the floor all lit up with a blinding red light.

This was actually a massive sacrificial array!

And the eye of the array was precisely where Klein was currently standing.

This woman had used herself as bait to lead Klein into the heart of the array!

Klein tried to pull his hand back, but he found that the mana within his body was being frantically drained by those gray crystals.

It was a restraint specifically designed for mages—a Mana Backflow Lock.

The more he struggled, the faster the mana drained away.

Ella’s form recoalesced at the other end of the array.

Her face was pale, and the bloody hole in her brow remained, but it did not bleed; instead, it leaked a gray, deathly aura.

“My Lord’s arrangement within my dear husband is finally complete.”

“The mana of an Eighth-Circle mage, plus the life essence of over ten high-ranking apostles.”

Ella opened her arms, her voice fanatical.

“It is enough.”

“The channel for the Lord’s advent has been opened.”

As her voice fell, the dome of the catacomb began to crack and crumble.

But this wasn’t due to the vibrations.

It was because above that dome, an illusory moon had appeared.

A weeping waning moon.

Icy moonlight poured down, penetrating the thick layers of soil and shining directly into this deep underground catacomb.

Under the radiance of this moonlight, Klein felt the mana within his body spiral out of control.

Dammit, he had been played.

From the beginning, Ella had been waiting for him to get close.

Waiting for him to erupt with his strongest power, then using that power to activate the array.

From behind the ice wall, Lia saw the reversal of the situation clearly.

Dammit.

These lunatics didn’t care about winning or losing; they only cared about that so-called ritual.

Klein was trapped.

That array was draining his power to feed that monstrosity in the sky.

If they didn’t do something, the two of them—along with that half-dead Count on the floor—would all be finished here today.

Lia forced herself to calm down.

Her gaze swept rapidly through the catacomb.

The array, Ella, Klein, the gray crystals, the moon in the sky, and Count Valerius.

This was a closed-loop energy system.

To break this system, one link had to be cut.

Klein was currently the energy source; cutting him off was equivalent to killing him.

Ella was the control terminal, but she was currently in some kind of invincible energy state; physical attacks were useless.

And as for Valerius… though she didn’t know his role, she certainly couldn’t move against him.

That only left…

Lia’s gaze fell upon those red-glowing patterns on the floor.

Those were the transmission channels.

As long as the channels were destroyed, the energy could not be transmitted.

But she was inside the ice wall; she couldn’t get out at all.

And even if she did get out, in her current state, she had no way to destroy those array circuits carved into the stone.

Unless…

Lia’s hand touched the spatial ring in her pocket.

Dozens of black scrolls lay quietly inside.

Those were the life-saving trump cards Klein had given her.

Attack magic scrolls starting from the Seventh Circle.

Though she didn’t have the mana to guide or control them, as long as she tore them open, the magic sealed within would be released indiscriminately.

While releasing a high-circle spell in this narrow underground space was practically suicide.

The situation was already a dead end.

Lia bit her lip.

She looked at Klein, trapped in the array.

He seemed to sense her gaze and turned his head.

There was no trace of panic in those blue eyes, only a certain suggestion directed at her.

He was looking at the ring on her hand.

He seemed to have counted on this from the very beginning.

Klein’s lips moved.

There was no sound.

But Lia understood the mouthed words.

‘Do it.’

Lia took a deep breath.

She pulled a black scroll from the ring.

The sealing runes upon it emitted an aura of destruction.

[Ninth-Circle: Geocore Blasting].

Truly an appropriate name for the occasion.

Lia did not hesitate for a second; she tore the seal on the scroll.

Then, using every last ounce of her strength, she hurled the scroll toward the densest area of the array.

“Jump!”

She screamed at Klein, then curled her entire body into a ball, hiding in the furthest corner of the ice wall.

The scroll disintegrated in the air.

Violent earth-element energy instantly filled the entire catacomb.

In the next second—

The world went silent.

Immediately following was a deafening roar.

The ground heaved like ocean waves.

A massive shockwave from the explosion swept through everything.

Ella’s fanatical laughter stopped abruptly.

Those gray crystals shattered inch by inch under the violent elemental impact.

The patterns of the array were completely erased.

The entire underground catacomb began to collapse; countless giant stones fell from overhead, and dust swallowed all visibility.

Lia felt like she had been thrown into a drum washing machine.

Though protected by the Heart of the Guardian’s light curtain, the violent tremors still made her nearly vomit.

She didn’t know how much time had passed.

The vibrations stopped.

The surroundings were pitch black.

Lia tried to move her body.

She was still alive.

The light curtain was still there, emitting a faint glow that illuminated the narrow space around her.

She was buried under a pile of rubble.

“Klein?”

She tried calling out.

Her voice was raspy, echoing in the enclosed space.

No one responded.

Lia’s heart sank.

“Klein!”

She raised her volume, a trace of trembling entering her voice.

Just then.

The rubble overhead shifted.

A massive stone slab was pushed aside by a hand, allowing a sliver of light to filter in.

That hand reached down; though covered in dust and blood, it was still steady and strong.

“Here.”

The familiar voice arrived.

Steady, cold, yet it made Lia nearly burst into tears.

She reached out and grabbed that hand.

A powerful force pulled her out from the rubble.

Klein stood upon the ruins.

His robes were tattered, several wounds on his body were bleeding, and his handsome face was covered in dust.

But he still stood tall and straight.

Like a tower that would never fall.

At his feet, Ella’s body was mangled and incomplete, lying in a pool of blood, having completely lost its life force.

The moon emblem was shattered in half, lying on the ground, having lost all its luster.

Not far away, Valerius’s leg was pinned by a rock; though he was unconscious, his chest was still rising and falling.

It seemed the people who were supposed to live were still alive.

Lia let out a long breath, her legs going weak as she sat directly on the ground.

“How do I feel like I’ve landed in quite a lot of trouble?”

She pointed at the vast expanse of ruins around them, asking with a bitter smile.

Klein looked down at her.

He didn’t answer; he simply knelt down to check the light curtain on her body.

Only after confirming she was unharmed did he speak.

“Mm. Therefore, the price has to go up.”

Lia froze for a moment, then burst into laughter.

“Fine, raise the price.”

She looked at this man who still maintained a strange persistence amidst the ruins.

“When I get back, I’ll have the butler empty out the City Lord’s manor.”

Klein nodded, appearing quite satisfied with this proposal.

He stood up and looked toward the large hole blasted in the ceiling.

The sky outside was already dark.

A normal, bright moon hung in the treetops.

That eerie phantom had vanished.

At least for tonight, Leo City was still safe.

“Let’s go.”

Klein leaned over and picked Lia up once more.

This time, Lia did not struggle.

She was too tired.

And this embrace truly made her feel quite safe right now.

“What about that Count?”

Lia pointed toward Valerius.

Klein spared a glance at the unconscious City Lord.

“He’s fine; he won’t die.”

He spoke indifferently, then gave a wave of his hand.

Valerius’s body floated up, following behind them.

Like a sack of grain.

Lia silently lit a candle in her heart for the Count.

Hopefully, it could be added to the invoice.