The boundless desert stretched endlessly from the border, and the eternal sun shone high above, eclipsing the already bright midday.
Gray and yellow became the new base colors, and the Palace of Gold and Silver had already risen in the scorching desert within a few breaths.
Vaguely discernible triangular structures flickered in and out of sight at the horizon.
A Secret Realm is a second world that overlaps with the Earth Star, existing as another world.
The second collision between the Earth and the Moon gave birth to tens of thousands of Secret Realms; they are distributed across the Earth Star's surface, either dormant or awakened.
Human Card Masters can travel to Secret Realms through real-world anchor points, and similarly, a very small number of Secret Realms can projectively invade the main world in reverse.
If these Secret Realm projections, which are the dungeons about to occur, are not cleared in time, then a world that completely rewrites human civilization will manifest on the Earth Star.
The extremist Card Master organizations “Tower of Babel” and “Eden” refer to this phenomenon as the “New Age.”
However, the orthodox Card Master Association and the Federation classify it as a malignant disaster that threatens the foundation of humanity, and the aristocratic families also view it as one of the manifestations of the ever-growing disaster moon will.
And for the Golden Iris Academy, this was the first crisis of its kind since its establishment.
The Golden Iris itself is the area with the highest Card Master density in Heimlia City, and as an academy, it is heavily protected by the Federation, so even monsters that infiltrate the city usually avoid it.
Initiating the New Age here would undoubtedly be met with extremely intense resistance.
Ya Xi pondered for a moment; he still lacked too much crucial information to make a rash judgment.
The problem now was how he would get out alive.
Given the scope of the dungeon's appearance, it would be absolutely impossible to escape on foot alone.
The sand outside had already begun to pour into the academy, and it was estimated that the entire Palace of Gold and Silver would be covered by yellow sand within half a day.
By then, it would probably be mealtime for the monsters.
Judging by the boundless desert covering the entire Palace of Gold and Silver, this was undoubtedly a large-scale Secret Realm.
And high-level dungeons are very prone to appearing in large-scale Secret Realms, with the BOSS being at least a Lord-level monster.
He wondered if this academy, which once brought glory to human Card Masters, could withstand such a dungeon's attack.
“What’s wrong?”
Veronica’s voice suddenly appeared behind him.
Fortunately, this time she gave Ya Xi time to react; he turned his head, almost brushing past her tender pink lips, and could even feel her breath carrying a faint rose scent.
He hadn't expected the young girl to be so close to him, and his heart couldn't stop pounding.
Parts of the original body's emotions still influenced Ya Xi; very few people wouldn't be moved when treated so gently by such a person.
Ya Xi didn't know if this young lady truly didn't care, or if in her heart, she felt no need for such boundaries with him.
His reaction made Veronica let out a giggle.
“You're really at leisure. This is the first time the academy has been attacked by a dungeon. Even nobles might not get out unscathed.”
Ya Xi took a step back and quickly steadied himself; the young girl in front of him was like a tempting, corrupting vortex, and if he wasn't careful, he might lose his rationality.
Ya Xi didn't agree that the original body had poor self-control; his efforts could be seen from his exquisite painting skills and his usual frugality.
To have such a strong reaction, it could only be said that Miss Veronica's charm was still too high.
Like a white-gold rose blooming towards the sun.
“Anyway, we can’t get out. Won’t your loyal Ya Xi protect me?”
Veronica’s eyes curved into green crescent moons.
Indeed, whether for emotional or debt considerations, Ya Xi would never want his creditor to be someone else from Saint Cecilia.
As long as he could help Veronica in this dungeon, Ya Xi would spare no effort and give his all.
“My pleasure.”
...
Although the entire North Campus was trapped, it didn't cause much panic.
After all, Golden Iris was an academy where nobles made up the vast majority, and they had been familiar with dungeons from their parents' words since childhood.
Instead of being afraid like ordinary people, they were eager to try.
“After detection by multiple archeological Card Masters, the activation of this dungeon is incomplete. Someone deliberately placed the anchor object in the Garden Plaza, and it will detach from reality in at most seven days.”
A teacher shouted in the hall; beside them was a floating glowing card, amplifying their voice throughout the venue like a microphone.
“The academy has connected to the alumni forum via Card technology. New students who haven't joined the forum should do so as soon as possible, reduce outdoor activities, and report any monster groups to the academy immediately.”
The teachers in the North Campus generally had the standard of Elite Card Masters, meaning Card Masters whose core deck consists of more than three blue-grade cards and whose deck has built two bonus bonds.
Professors, on the other hand, had richer experience, having entered Secret Realms multiple times, explored ruins, and participated in the work of restoring myths.
Their card richness was naturally far superior to students, making them the first line of defense against dungeons.
Ya Xi took out his magic crystal; since the forum was restored, he naturally wanted to find that administrator and get a clear explanation.
The other party was able to predict the dungeon invasion so accurately, so they probably knew a lot of inside information.
However, this time his message didn't receive an immediate reply.
It was still relatively safe for now, so Ya Xi wasn't in a hurry for an answer.
But he harbored great doubts about the teacher's claim that they could escape in seven days; the mastermind, who dared to take such a huge risk to send the anchor point into the academy, couldn't possibly just want to trap them.
There must be some other scheme.
This dungeon was undoubtedly based on Egyptian mythology, but he didn't know who the protagonist was.
Among the four ancient civilizations—Ancient Egypt, Ancient Babylon, Ancient India, and Ancient Huaxia—Ancient Egypt was the earliest civilization to appear.
Since the Nile River, which runs through the world, did not appear in this dungeon, it would at least not involve overly powerful gods, such as the Ennead from the Sun God Ra to the Underworld God Osiris.
However, their derivative divine objects could still be the focus of this dungeon, or perhaps the person behind it came precisely for that.
Anubis, the jackal-headed god, was also not impossible...
“It's you again, you guy. Do you have nothing else to do besides following Vera around?”
Ya Xi was met with a tap on the head by a graceful white figure, pulling him directly out of his thoughts.
The newcomer's eyes were an extremely rare crimson, like two brilliant agates, glaring angrily at Ya Xi.
Unlike Veronica's long hair that fell on both sides, Milena's silver hair was simply tied with a single hair tie, the rest cascading down like a waterfall, looking bright and striking.
Indeed, when one's luck turns bad, it stays bad.
Ya Xi squeezed his fist, his head aching; he couldn't beat this silver-haired, red-eyed woman right now.