In the third-floor room of the underground relic, the three stood together, resting and preparing to continue their journey.
So far, they hadn't encountered any Ring Arcanists, but this was already the limit; the Silver-Eyed One couldn't possibly have failed to notice them.
If he were truly foolish enough to forget to set up extra warnings in the relic, he wouldn't have survived until now.
"But how did the Mercury Blood people get through here?"
Miss Bei Ya Si thought of this question:
"Do they also have special individuals like Detectives?"
"This mirror's effect on Ring Arcanists above Hexacle is not obvious.
Although the Silver-Eyed One's strength has fallen to Hexacle level, he is indeed still a Nine Ring Arcanist.
He can completely advance while enduring the damage, exploring the relic alone.
Perhaps when the Mercury Blood developed this relic, only a few Arcanists above Hexacle served as the main exploration members."
Miss Annette offered her guess, then added:
"Of course, it's also possible they mastered other safe methods."
"We haven't encountered the person the Detective mentioned who entered in the morning.
Does this mean that the other party is also above Hexacle, and is waiting for us inside?"
Miss Bei Ya Si asked again.
Miss Annette flipped a coin, then said to Xia De:
"Listen to the sound; you might gain something after the third time."
"No problem."
He closed his eyes, making his hearing more acute.
On the first attempt, Miss Bei Ya Si's voice was describing Xia De punching and shattering the mirror.
On the second attempt, violent gasping sounds seemed to be right beside his ear, but they quickly disappeared, and no other sounds appeared after waiting for half a minute.
On the third attempt, he heard the end of a conversation—
"...So you absolutely cannot approach that tree."
Then footsteps left the area; the footsteps were very heavy, as if carrying something weighty.
On the fourth attempt, he finally got the answer:
"I didn't expect this relic's countermeasure to be so simple.
By carrying another mirror and completely covering one's face, one can be exempt from the effect of the Mirror Behind."
This was the man with the strange accent, the Ring Arcanist from the Blood Spirit School who entered here in the morning.
"No, only those above Four Ring can use this method.
Below Four Ring, even with a mirror in front, they would be harmed by the relic... Why are you alone? Where are the others?"
This voice had never been heard before.
"Silver-Eyed One, do you think it's easy to go from the New World to the Old Continent?
The two people originally arranged by the organization should arrive in Tobesk by the weekend, probably disembarking in Coldwater Port tonight.
But the organization received your letter and knew there was that tree in the relic, so they had me risk coming here to meet you.
Do you know how important the mission I was originally performing nearby was?
My mission was related to an inconceivable-grade relic!
I hope your information is correct, and that tree in the relic really..."
Xia De opened his eyes and looked at the door on the right.
After the footsteps crossed the door, all sounds immediately disappeared.
"What's the result?"
Miss Bei Ya Si asked.
"The stranger is above Hexacle, above Four Ring."
Xia De frowned, feeling a little uneasy:
"The other party is definitely from the Blood Spirit School, but not the one originally arranged to come here.
The other party was originally carrying out another plan nearby, possibly related to the uncontrolled Document-level relic that the Church is dealing with.
Because of a tree, the stranger was urgently arranged to come here to meet the Silver-Eyed One."
"Blood Spirit School? A tree?"
Miss Annette seemed even more uneasy than Xia De:
"This is terrible.
The history of the Blood Spirit School can be traced back several epochs.
Things that such an ancient organization cares about are probably not simple."
"But what is the tree?"
Miss Bei Ya Si asked.
"I guess 'tree' refers to the relic suppressed here.
Oh, remember, absolutely do not approach any trees; that thing is very dangerous."
Xia De reminded, while Miss Annette became increasingly uneasy.
Miss Bei Ya Si still had the confidence to continue forward, while Xia De was not particularly concerned about what lay ahead in the relic.
He was concerned about what was above his head; the uneasiness he had spoken of to the maid in the carriage, he had not forgotten.
But in any case, they had no time to linger and could only continue forward.
This time, Miss Annette still walked in front.
She took out a compass to guide their direction, put on a monocle to dispel illusions, and then pushed open the stone door Xia De had pointed out.
Behind the door was a narrow corridor, with walls made of large stone bricks on the floor, ceiling, and sides.
The corridor was not long, and a fork in the road could be seen not far ahead.
This was the special illusion constructed by the Document-level relic, the labyrinth candle, which Miss Annette had foretold the Silver-Eyed One had brought into the relic.
"Follow me.
This labyrinth will change its structure at any time, and without guidance, it will be difficult to get out by luck."
The Diviner waved to the two behind her.
They maintained the formation with Xia De in the middle and Miss Bei Ya Si bringing up the rear.
"However, since the candle was brought into the relic by the Silver-Eyed One, what was the space behind this door originally used for?"
Xia De asked quietly as they set off, but his companions could not provide an answer to this question.
As they got closer to the deepest part of the relic, they all remained highly vigilant.
Miss Annette walked in front, holding the compass.
Even with the compass's guidance, she would still flip a coin to divine at each intersection before choosing a direction.
She was only a Three-Ring Arcanist, so the accuracy of her divination could not be guaranteed, but there was no harm in trying.
Xia De walked between the two ladies, theoretically being in the safest position.
Therefore, as they walked, he still had time to turn and look at Miss Bei Ya Si behind him, who looked at him with a puzzled expression:
"Is something wrong?"
"Nothing."
Xia De shook his head, sighing inwardly that the seventeen-year-old girl behind him was truly very different from her peers.
Five minutes after entering the labyrinth, the three simultaneously heard a strange sound from afar, like a young animal crying.
The sound lasted for a full thirty seconds before stopping, but it continued to Echo in the labyrinth afterward.
According to the information they had, this Document-level relic, which formed the labyrinth, was only used to create the labyrinth; there were no dangerous animals in the labyrinth to hunt intruders.
However, the sound did not seem like a collective hallucination of the three, so Miss Annette quietly reminded her two companions behind her to prepare for battle.
Eight minutes after entering the labyrinth, footsteps appeared at the fork in the road ahead.
But when the three, whose vigilance had reached its peak, arrived, they did not see any figures in the other three directions of the fork.
Miss Annette was very uneasy and flipped a coin three times on the spot, but without any result:
"The most likely scenario is that the Silver-Eyed One has discovered us."
"He finally found us."
Miss Bei Ya Si said softly.
Before her voice faded, the ground beneath their feet vibrated at that moment.
The labyrinth was trembling.