"Hailbeth, you...?"
Ronald’s tone was sowhat conflicted as he watched the rmaid young lady in front of him disappearing.
He had guessed earlier that she was a being summoned for this incident, but having gone through three battles together as companions...
Even if they were just temporary allies, there were indeed so feelings involved.
And for Hailbeth, this turn of events was likewise quite sudden.
There was no doubt that they would defeat the giant, but the subsequent dissipation of magic power definitely exceeded her expectations.
An enemy capable of interfering with regional weather and summoning across worlds.
Was that really all there was to it?
With a slight frown, Hailbeth harbored concerns about the situation. Thus before she completely left this world, she turned to Ronald and said:
"Wandering warrior, I don’t think this matter will be resolved so easily. Be sure not to let your guard down too soon. Due to so very practical issues, I cannot offer more help, but consider this small gadget as a keepsake from our investigative journey."
As her voice trailed off, Hailbeth tossed her often-used flashlight to Ronald, her face showing the first smile of the day.
"Anyway, goodbye."
"Goodbye..."
Catching the flashlight thrown by Hailbeth, Ronald slowly bid farewell to her as she gradually faded away.
He still had many questions he wanted to ask her.
But reality was right before him, and all of this would likely beco nothing more than a regret in his mories.
In less than half a minute, the rmaid young lady in front of Ronald had completely disappeared into the air, and the flashlight she left as a keepsake imdiately returned to normal once it was no longer in her possession.
Holding the candle-sized flashlight in his hand, Ronald hadn’t even had the chance to examine its construction when he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity with the object. The silver-white tallic material was as shiny as new, just...
Wait a second!
In that mont, Ronald suddenly realized where that familiar feeling ca from.
Back in the tis of Springs, once when following Nicole to a fishing village by the sea and tasked with cleaning the battle traces on the beach, Ronald had uncovered a tal naplate.
That naplate inscribed with so peculiar words.
And the flashlight he now held in his hand, had almost the exact sa texture!
Ronald was fairly confident in his mory, and he wouldn’t likely make any obvious oversights or mistakes about sothing of significance. It was just unfortunate that the tal naplate was currently kept at his ho, making imdiate comparison impossible...
Boom—
Suddenly, the ground beneath Ronald’s feet began to shake violently.
Just a mont after Hailbeth’s complete disappearance, the magic power that had been building up on the island, the magic power that had spilled from the giant upon its death, and even the magic power from the strange plants beneath the altar behind Ronald were converging.
All this magic power, already imbued with great strength, was being gathered by so unknown force and rushing toward the center of the island at high speed.
Standing in the subterranean ruins, Ronald could even see flickering points of light directly with his eyes as the magic moved swiftly through the air.
But from his position,
the information he could gather was limited to that.
This incoming flood of magic power continued to rush into the top of the ruins and toward the surface of the island, with the thick soil acting as a barrier between the convergence point of the magic power and Ronald, preventing him from detecting more details.
Faced with such a sudden change, Ronald crisply asked through the communication spell:
"Claudia, what’s happening on the surface over there?"
"I’m now in the ruins beneath the island, unable to see what’s happening above!"
There was no imdiate response to Ronald’s reply.
It took almost five or six seconds for the voice of Her Highness the Princess to co through the communication, broken and intermittent.
"Ronald... the hunters... have retreated..."
"But there’s a... huge... void, magic power is gathering there, we’re still... typhoon... weakening... Ronald, you... take care of yourself..."
Claudia’s answer could barely be discerned.
The hunters that had besieged them above had retreated, but there seed to be sothing like a void that was drawing in the unclaid magic power.
The warning left by Helbeis before she disappeared was correct.
Aside from the hunters, giants, and the bizarre flowers beneath the ruins, there indeed was a real mastermind lurking in the background!
"..."
"Its na is Styx,
The black waters flow downwards, reaching the dim and perilous cliffs below!"
The spell from the "Divine Cody - Hell" activated imdiately.
Although the details of the situation were not yet confird, there was no longer any doubt that enemies remained. Now, Ronald had to find the path to the surface as quickly as possible.
He recited the verses proficiently, and the black fog, ford from the power of ’Fury’, rose in an instant, spreading across the earthen and stone walls surrounding the ruins.
The seawater created by Helbeis was still there.
Looking at the still and unmoving surface of the water, Ronald knew that the passage leading to other locations was unlikely to be on the ground. Spreading the black fog like a carpet along the walls was his fastest option to find an exit.
Waving his Icarus wings at his back, Ronald hovered in the air near the center of the underground ruins.
The black fog summoned by the "Divine Cody" spread continuously around him.
With each passing minute, the darkness underground grew thicker.
It didn’t take much ti at all before the vast underground ruins were completely enveloped in the fog, and even the vapor that had always emitted light above was now devoid of a single ray capable of penetrating the pitch-black power of Hell.
Splash—
During the continued search for the exit, a sound of sothing heavy falling into water ca from a distance, which Ronald’s excellent hearing imdiately detected.
"Hmm?"
Uttering a sound of confusion, Ronald instinctively wanted to fly over to see what it was. But before he could take action, a more exaggerated noise began to occur above his head.
Crack crack crack—
The first sounds to arrive were those of land and rocks fracturing terribly.
These significant noises quickly rged into a dense cluster, growing more intense by the mont. In just a dozen seconds, an even more enormous commotion spread, the sounds of fragnts breaking apart at the top of the ruins and then falling into the water becoming more and more frequent.
If it weren’t for Ronald’s hellish black fog serving as an early warning tool.
And the wings of Icarus allowing remarkably flexible flight in the air.
In this rain-like environnt of falling debris, Ronald would have likely been battered beyond recognition by now!
Faced with such changes, Ronald could only keep dodging the falling earth and rocks, then he couldn’t help but smile wryly:
"If that’s the case, it seems I don’t need to look for an exit anymore..."
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