Party A, led by Edward, had gathered together at the periphery of the secret plane.
All six of them had tense looks on their faces as they scanned the bloody marsh that lay before them.
Michael Isaac, the towering middle-aged man, couldn’t help but voice out his opinion, "Are all secret planes like this? It feels suffocating. Almost as if... it has been ravaged by a war."
Lisa thought of the Soaring River Secret Plane as well as the one operated by the Tower of Daybreak, and slowly shook her head.
"No, sothing’s wrong here," she said.
Chris Cloud stepped forward, standing side by side with Edward, and asked, "We’ve to make our way through these marshes and reach the center of the secret plane. But... you feel it, don’t you?"
Edward solemnly nodded, his gaze never leaving the dozens of crimson sludge that were positioned between ridges of bones and trees in front of him.
"We’ve to first make it past them," he said grimly.
As soon as those words escaped his lips, a shapeless mass consisting of flesh, eyes, and mouths erged from the crimson marshes.
Dozens of toothy maws opened and closed at random, drooling acidic saliva. Its unblinking eyes darted in every direction until they finally focused on the group of humans before it.
Overco by sheer instinct to devour, the blood beast crawled towards Party A at inhumane speed, leaving behind trails of blood, spittle, and fragnts of devoured prey.
However, before it could even move another inch forward, a bolt of blue lightning streaked through the air and ruthlessly struck the creature.
The impact sent it crashing backward as crackling arcs of energy danced across its body. A blood-curdling shriek tore from its countless mouths as smoke rose from its scorched flesh.
It desperately struggled for another second before finally perishing.
From atop the ridge, Edward’s towering and muscular figure lowered his outstretched hand, his fingertips still glowing with residual blue light.
Despite defeating the opponent in a single strike, his expression had twisted into a dark scowl.
Not just him, the rest were the sa as well.
Chris Cloud suppressed his shock at discovering that Edward had effortlessly killed the creature of such strength with a single spell.
He then asked in a grim voice, "What is that thing doing here... in the periter?"
The blood beast that had just attacked them went against everything they knew about the secret plane.
They were told that the periphery of this dinsion would consist of blood beasts that were no stronger than the Mana Foundation-level.
Yet the reality was vastly different.
After all, the blood beast that Edward had killed just now... was at the Mana Liquefaction Rank!
***
Kahn’s gray pupils constricted as he saw the card hurtle toward him with unnatural speed. He knew for a fact that if the card so much as touched him, he would receive a ghastly injury.
He was so stunned by the sudden turn of events that, for a mont, he did not even know how to react.
And that mont of indecision was all it took for the card to arrive before him.
Kahn’s heart sank, and that next mont...
The mana-coated card whizzed past him and plunged into the bloody marsh right behind him.
For a few monts, everyone remained silent. They were completely shocked by what had just transpired.
Kahn’s back was drenched in a layer of cold sweat. His grey eyes flashed with several emotions - fear, shock, relief... and finally wrath.
He strode toward rlin, who was still smiling like a simpleton, and viciously grabbed his collar. "What the fuck were you thinking?!" He roared.
rlin remained silent, his smile turning deeper.
Seeing the look of ridicule in the youth’s pale blue eyes, Kahn was utterly furious. "You bastard!"
He raised his hand, balled it into a fist, and was about to strike him when suddenly, soone grabbed his hand.
Kahn turned to his side and saw a familiar face. He muttered coldly, "Let go of . This clown thinks he can do whatever he wishes. I’ll show him—"
Charlie Smith cut him off. "Kahn, look behind you."
Kahn frowned. Then, he gazed at everyone else and noticed that they were looking at the spot behind him with petrified gazes.
Sothing wasn’t right.
He imdiately let go of rlin and turned around. Then, his pupils dilated.
A shapeless mass of flesh, eyes, and mouths was erging... no, it was more precise to say that it was erging from the crimson marsh, but it ca to an abrupt stop.
Dozens of maws filled with razor-sharp teeth drooled with poisonous saliva. The bloodshot eyes scattered all across the mass of flesh had lost their luster.
And at the centre of the mass of flesh was an aperture. It was clean and precise, as if made for a card to fit perfectly within.
Right at that mont, rlin’s eccentric laughter echoed around the party, causing the mbers to flinch.
"Fafafa!" rlin flicked his hand, causing the corpse of the blood beast to shudder.
Then, an ivory card, etched with the image of a jester, shot out from within the beast and landed cleanly between rlin’s fingertips.
With a flick of his wrist, he wiped the blood from its surface with effortless grace.
"You asked what I thought of this place, yes?" said the crazy Magus as he walked towards the corpse of the abomination.
He crouched before it, then viciously thrust his hand inside, piercing through flesh and muscle with unsettling ease. The others grimaced at this sight.
"Now, where is it?" lrin licked his lips, trying to find sothing.
"Ah, there you are!" His pale blue eyes lit up.
Then, he retrieved an item—no, two items—from deep within the corpse of the blood beast. He stood, turned around, and then handed them over to Eleiney.
Two blood cores!
The others stared in astonishnt, not just because the blood beast was at the Mana Liquefaction Rank, but because rlin had killed it with such effortless ease.
Eleiney grasped the blood cores with slightly trembling hands. "How is this possible?" she murmured, her eyes flashing with disbelief.
"Here’s what I think," said rlin, his lips curling upwards.
He adjusted his round crystal glasses up his nose bridge and added:
"Soone... has tampered with the Second Trial."
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