After searching every room on the first floor, the puppets' thorough search finally yielded results: they found a seemingly ordinary mirror in the alchemy laboratory.
Talo is the steward of the Mage Tower, and he has a detailed memory of every object in the entire tower. The sudden appearance of the mirror in the alchemy room seems somewhat abrupt to him.
Unas leaned closer to examine it. Apart from a slight crack in one corner, the mirror was just like any other ordinary household mirror, completely unremarkable.
"This is Gunsel's magical Arcane Artifacts; destroying it will break the Maze Spell."
Talo explained, then broke the mirror into several pieces. A black light flashed suddenly and vanished into the ceiling in an instant.
What is that?
"That must be some kind of magical communication. Arcane Artifacts usually have a mental connection with their owners, so Gunsel would know immediately that the Maze Spell has been broken."
Gunsel is likely to return soon, but Unas isn't afraid at all. The spider army can't get in, and Gunsel going into the tower himself would be exactly what he wanted.
The Lich's Phylactery is still in his hands. If Gunsel dares to fight head-on, Unas will destroy the Phylactery and severely injure the Lich on the spot. Then it will be easy to capture him.
The puppet trapped in the labyrinth, along with the Argent Dawn and the Night Elves, appeared one by one in the document room, the last being Qingshui, who was in charge of teaching the secret orders.
After the Maze Spell was dispelled, they were all teleported to various corners of the second floor. Following the marks left by Qingshui, they found the portals, learned the secret commands, and were able to descend the stairs.
After wandering aimlessly in the helpless and dark environment for so long, most of them were exhausted both mentally and physically, but there was no time to rest now, as the puppets had begun to enter the underground level.
"This is almost the final battle, everyone! Perseverance is victory!" Unas shouted, boosting morale and giving everyone a full buff, which improved everyone's spirits.
To reach the underground level, one must pass through another magical portal. However, the original secret code had been altered by Gunsel, Talo deciphered in a short time. Now, the authority steward in the Mage Tower is higher than that of the Lich.
This time, it didn't dare go downstairs alone, and obediently taught the deciphered secret code to everyone, because it needed the strength of these intruders.
"There's an 82% chance we'll encounter enemies below; they're experiments left behind by Gunsel Arcanus."
"Understood," Unas said, turning around. "Everyone, be on guard and don't fall behind!"
Even when there were enemies, he insisted on going down first, always on guard against the puppet's tricks.
Reciting the secret command, Unas passed through the portal of light and found himself in an extremely long corridor with rows of iron doors on either side stretching to the end.
Suddenly, a series of clanging sounds rang out as both rows of iron gates were opened, and all sorts of ugly and deformed mutated Giant Spiders rushed out, instantly filling the corridor.
Unas quickly raised his shield to create space for the people behind him; he couldn't retreat.
He breathed a sigh of relief after a brief engagement. These spiders were only intimidating in appearance; their strength and defense were far inferior to the Mutant Spider swarm outside. He killed one with just his shield.
However, this place is called the Spider Research Institute by Gunsel, so those that are left behind are probably all defective products. The powerful and successful Mutant Spiders have probably been taken to the Forest for actual combat.
As more and more comrades followed behind, the group quickly advanced and eliminated all the enemies in the corridor in just half an hour.
Unas looked at Natasha and asked, "In which room is the Spider God?"
"I don't know, it seems that Gunsel's memory of this event has been deliberately obscured."
He then asked Haikesi and Rosebayne, "So, can you sense the Spider God?"
Both of them shook their heads. Unas sighed; it seemed they would have no choice but to search room by room.
As soon as the battle ended, Talo divided the puppet into three teams and rushed into the three rooms to find its master—it had only received its master's distress signal and knew the general direction, but did not know Merlin's exact location.
Unas asked in a low voice, "Where's Merlin?"
Natasha whispered back, "Merlin should be in a secret room on the second basement level."
This information must not be given to the puppets; let them help find Shadra first. The group split into two teams and searched separately.
The rooms here are like a spider museum, with all sorts of spiders and their body parts made into specimens and displayed in each room.
The facility has a greenhouse storing hundreds of spider eggs waiting to hatch, a freezer holding layers of spider corpses, a pharmaceutical laboratory collecting thousands of bottles of venom, as well as an autopsy room, a dissection room, an assembly room... It has all kinds of facilities, making it almost like a medical research institute.
It would be very difficult for one person to operate such a large space. Even with his clones helping him, Gunsel couldn't manage it. I wonder how he usually "works".
The answer soon became clear: the puppets found five or six huddled, trembling humans in a small compartment; they were likely Gunsel's assistants.
By this time, they had searched every room, but the puppets couldn't find Merlin, Unas and his group couldn't find Shadra either.
"Archmage Merlin Firestone, where is my master?" The puppets surrounded the captives, and the butler pressed him for an answer.
"I don't know! We don't know anything! I've been kidnapped!" an elderly man with a thick white beard cried out in panic. "Are you here to rescue us?"
"No." Talo's cold, mechanical answer greatly disappointed the prisoners.
Just then, a sharp-eyed fellow spotted Unas, who had come to check on him after hearing the news, and shouted, "Paladin, save us!"
The Judgement Armor has a very obvious Church of the Holy Light style, and Unas is also holding Silver Hammer symbolizing his identity as a Paladin, wearing a dark blue cloak with silver trim belonging to the Order of the Silver Hand. It's not surprising that he was recognized.
Paladins were originally a war profession invented to fight against Orcs, born for killing. However, in peacetime, Priest have been given more responsibilities, such as healing the wounded and saving lives.
Unas seized the opportunity to step forward, shoved aside the puppet blocking his way, and pulled the middle-aged man who had called out to him to his feet. "I am the Holy Knight Unas Laugard. In the name of the Holy Light, if you have not committed unforgivable sins, you are all redeemed."
Having been trained in the Monastery, he could rattle off such platitudes effortlessly, which greatly excited the prisoners. The middle-aged man exclaimed excitedly, "Lord Laugard, my name is Gerard. I'm just a low-ranking family mage. I was kidnapped and brought to this dark and dreary place simply because I have some research on using poison to concoct medicines. I'm forced to experiment with various poisons every day. I haven't committed any crimes!"
Family-based dharma masters are those who practice alone within their families. Due to limited resources, they rarely make progress and are far less likely to achieve the same level of advancement as dharma masters in Dalaran, who have a systematic path to advancement.