Hilia hadn’t felt this tense in ages.
It wasn’t the nerves of facing a strong enemy, though—what made her anxious was the bunch of elite Holy Court Knights, school tutors, and the principal lurking behind the scenes, watching her every move. Even if they weren’t showing their faces, the pressure was real.
Right now, she was following Eric on the way to another base.
"Mr. Rose, do you think we’re about to get busted all at once?"
"You lot, not ," Rose corrected her.
"Well, with the principal holding the fort, we probably won’t—wait, nope! Not going to jinx it." Hilia took back her flag, then raised a new one: "Honestly, I’m more worried about Deep Red Spring. Everyone’s run over here, so isn’t that place left unguarded now?"
Rose laughed, "That dump really isn’t worth worrying about. Guarding it is aningless—it’s just bait to distract folks."
"So, it’s the sa kind of bait as the array traces found around the school?"
"Pretty much. Your tutors probably figured it out, so they couldn’t be bothered to stick around."
This ti, Hilia didn’t hide her magic puppet. She just let it follow her and carry her stuff.
Considering Eric didn’t have a flying device and only had basic Tier One combat strength, their pace was slow.
If they weren’t headed into the deep mountains, Hilia would’ve rented the guy a carriage already.
So, they plodded along all day; it wasn’t until night fell that they finally got near the base Eric had ntioned.
Nothing happened along the way.
She didn’t even spot a single low-tier magical beast.
Maybe everyone lurking behind the scenes scared things off... or sothing else was up.
No attacks, nothing out of the ordinary—seriously peaceful.
It was so quiet it felt creepy.
Here, there was no Star Spirit Network, so Hilia couldn’t contact Mr. Blake or the others with her wristband. She never saw them show up, so honestly, she had no idea if they were even here.
"Or maybe they got bored, ran back for dinner?" Hilia guessed in her heart.
She hesitated, then decided to ask Rose, "Lord Rose, are Mr. Blake and Ms. Alina nearby?"
"They’re scattered within a kiloter around you, searching the base and for heretics. It’s normal you don’t see them."
"How many people actually?"
"Twelve. All Tier Four and up."
"Huh? That many?"
Three question marks popped up over Hilia’s head.
"???"
Why send so many big shots? Just to smash mosquitoes with a cannon?
Don’t they risk all getting wiped out?
Hilia grumbled internally, while Eric had located the base entrance.
This ti, it wasn’t under rocks, but at the base of a massive tree—so big ten people couldn’t wrap their arms around it.
The tree was the tallest and largest around, totally conspicuous. Hilia couldn’t help but complain, "With a tree this obvious, how did it stay hidden for so long? What exactly are the Holy Court Knights doing?"
Thinking about twelve powerful knights in the area, yet none of them found the heretic base—it all relied on her, this rookie mage. Hilia felt absurd.
She wanted to say, "Are they just here for free food?" But she was afraid they’d hear, so she muttered to herself instead.
"The base entrance is already open. I hope you’ll keep your promise and take back for a look."
"Don’t worry, I will."
Hilia stopped at the tree hollow’s entrance.
She didn’t rush in.
She was waiting for Blake and the others, and for Rose to scout around the area.
"Too smooth... Lord Rose, do you think this is a trap?"
"It’s definitely a trap," Rose said. "The base’s array has a self-destruct rune embedded, and it’s already prid—just waiting for the final trigger."
"Final trigger? What’s that?"
"Fighting inside the array. The chaotic magic power will instantly set off the self-destruct rune, burying everyone underground."
Hilia, scanning the area, narrowed her eyes. "So Eric told on purpose, so I’d lead Mr. Blake and the others in, and bury us all?"
"Nope, not quite. This brat’s just a pure fifty thousand—cough, pure traitor. The self-destruct array was set off by that shark who bailed—he ran fast. Once one base was found, all the others got abandoned."
Even Rose couldn’t help but sigh.
With soone this cautious, why be a heretic?
Just as Hilia was undecided about entering, Blake and the others noticed their status and rushed over.
"Where’s that shark? Why hasn’t he shown up?" Alina peered at Eric behind Hilia, confused.
"I don’t know," Eric answered honestly.
"You don’t know?" Alina frowned, stretching out her hand to press his head from afar.
After a while, she dropped her hand. "The pollution’s seeped into the bone—no saving him. He’s done for."
"That bastard, doesn’t even seize such a good opportunity. No choice, we’ll just go inside and drag him out." Principal Blake prepared a Holy Light Skill, eyeing the tree hollow entrance.
Hilia quickly said, "Wait! That shark already activated the self-destruct rune in the base’s array. If we go in, we’ll be buried."
"What?" The knights and Eric were startled.
"That bastard’s way too slippery... Did they already know we were coming?"
"Maybe there’s a traitor among us?"
"Seriously? I don’t buy it—how could a cave self-destruct? I’m going in for a look."
"..."
Blake turned back, sizing up Hilia, "How do you know?"
"I... I know a bit about arrays."
Hilia lowered her head a little.
Saying "I know a bit about arrays" in front of a group of Tier Four bigwigs... Hilia’s face was scarlet.
So embarrassing. They’re definitely going to laugh at , right?
But Blake didn’t say anything, and none of the knights objected. They exchanged silent glances, lost in thought.
Finally, Blake spoke, "So none of you specializes in arrays?"
The knights bowed their heads in sha.
As knights, they only trusted their swords—who’d waste ti studying arrays?
Forget arrays; even magic puppets, they only knew how to use, not the principles or how to make one.
Which made sense. It was like they all knew how to code, but not a single one could build a computer.
The higher-tier runes were so complex—unless you were a Puppet Master, Curse Master, or Array Master, most people couldn’t interpret magic arrays.
In the end, Blake turned back to Hilia.
"Looks like our Miss Saintess has to handle it. You said the base’s array activated its self-destruct rune—so, can you get rid of it?"
Hilia was silent for a long ti, doing who knows what.
But everyone present was very patient; nobody hurried her.
Knights, who only ever fight, always respected support mages—since their armor, swords, puppets, even magic, all relied on those professionals.
After a while, Hilia finally looked up, having gotten Rose to agree to help deal with the self-destruct rune, and forced a tired smile.
"Whew~ I prayed to the God for a way to sort out the self-destruct rune. Leave it to ’’!"
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