Flame Fusion Pearl

"Big Brother Belrod, do you think we have any chance of fighting for the second secret realm?"

A cute and clever female wizard apprentice looked at Belrod with expectation.

When Belrod saw the girl looking at him with her face full of anticipation, his heart instantly filled with incomparable satisfaction and pride.

Back when he had been a nobody, no one in the team had cared about him at all. Forget this girl, whom the team called their radiant pearl, asking for his opinion—she would not even have spared him a second glance.

But now...

She was actually putting on such a cute, clever appearance in front of him.

"Yeah, Big Brother Belrod, do you think we have any chance of taking this second secret realm?"

Another wizard apprentice asked a second time, greatly satisfying Belrod's vanity. It was as pleasant as letting him soak in a hot spring during a freezing winter.

"Cough, cough..."

Belrod coughed lightly twice.

Every time Belrod spoke in front of his companions, he would always cough lightly twice like this, to make the others quiet down and focus their attention. At the same time, he would always put on a modest, wise smile, as if he were a perfect genius speaking words that had been deeply analyzed and were only natural.

"The second secret realm struggle is, of course, more than ten times harder than the first. For ordinary people to take part would be nothing more than moths flying into the fire. However..."

Belrod glanced at the few people beside him, and seeing the expectant looks in their eyes, he could not help smiling as he said, "However, with our team's strength, if the wizard apprentices contesting this secret realm happen to be relatively weak, we still have quite a good chance."

After speaking, Belrod once again put on a modest smile, as if he were talking about some trivial little matter.

Still, it had to be said that as the ninth of Dark Realm Academy's top ten experts, Belrod had actually long since possessed strength surpassing his own ranking.

For example... the mark value on Belrod right now had already completely exceeded ten points!

He truly did have some capital for his pride.

Under Belrod's lead, the group of five finally arrived at the nearest secret realm they had discovered through their senses.

All of a sudden, after Belrod's team approached the secret realm, they instantly sensed a terrifying fluctuation of marks. Horrified, they all looked toward the metal freak sitting silently in the far distance. Their heads, covered in cold sweat, went buzz, and the title Mechanical Heart quickly exploded in the hearts of all five at the same time.

Within a hundred meters around Mechanical Heart at this secret realm, not a single team dared to set up camp near him. This was the deterrent power of a Despairer!

In the other areas of the secret realm, there were roughly thirty or forty people scattered about and stationed here and there. Most of these people had extremely powerful auras, and at least ten of them had mark values no lower than ten points. As far as Green's team was concerned, Green, Lafi, and Robin all had mark values above ten.

Robin had first met up with Lafi earlier, and by relying on Lafi, he had gained something. Yorkris, without his younger sister's help, had only average combat power and did not dare use explosive-type sorcery.

Belrod and the others carefully controlled their footsteps, not daring to make too much noise, lest they attract the attention of that terrifying Despairer in the distance, and slowly retreated.

"Huff, huff..."

The female wizard apprentice called the radiant pearl panted heavily. Just now, facing the pressure of a Despairer had indeed given this small team quite a fright.

At this moment, the radiant pearl could not help looking at Belrod again, her eyes brimming with tears in a pitifully endearing way, and asked, "Brother Belrod, what should we do now?"

Belrod secretly gritted his teeth.

Unwilling to let his confident, wise image be ruined, Belrod worked hard to put on an expression as though he had long expected this, looking completely unconcerned.

"It doesn't matter. There are seven Despairers among the ten secret realms in total, so it's very normal for this secret realm to have one Despairer. However, even if he is a Despairer, with so many wizard apprentices here whose marks exceed ten, he wouldn't dare act recklessly. We can look for an opportunity..."

As he spoke, under the worshipful gazes of the followers behind him, Belrod led everyone toward the other end of the secret realm, moving away from this Despairer.

"Brother Belrod, this team has three wizard apprentices with mark values over ten. What should we do?"

The female wizard apprentice called the radiant pearl habitually asked Belrod.

Seeing that Belrod did not speak, she raised her head, only to suddenly discover that Belrod was currently standing blankly in place, looking as horrified as if he had seen a ghost. Even his legs were trembling slightly.

This made the faces of the people behind Belrod change. One had to know that even when he had just seen the Despairer Mechanical Heart, he had not been like this!

Of course, these people behind Belrod would not understand just how shocked and terrified Belrod felt when he saw that person wearing the Pale Mask!

Ten days ago, on the first day Belrod had descended into the trial ground, he had originally thought this place would be the paradise of his rise, where he could earn a massive amount of magic stones through a round of great slaughter, and then...

But all those dreams had been mercilessly destroyed by the mysterious wizard apprentice before his eyes, and had been trampled on fiercely.

Not only had he viciously trampled over Belrod's dreams, he had also beaten Belrod back into cruel reality during his flight, leaving behind a string of nightmare-like memories in his heart from then on.

Belrod did not know how pale his face was right now, nor how frightening his cold sweat was. He merely stretched out one uncontrollable, constantly trembling hand and said in a shaking voice, "Le... leave this place!"

His voice allowed no questioning.

The five people slunk away from this secret realm, just like many overconfident wizard apprentices who had come before them.

On the other side, Green, wearing the Pale Mask, happened to see Belrod. Of course Green had some impression of the wizard apprentice who had escaped from him on the first day of the trial.

He shook his head and smiled, not paying the matter any mind. Green continued "unintentionally" tossing things like stones into the confinement magic array, "testing" the situation inside.

Three days later, late at night, hazy moonlight spilled over the earth.

At the secret realm where Green was, aside from a few occasional frictions, because the many wizard apprentices truly had no way to deal with this secret realm, some wizard apprentices could not help leaving in disappointment. At this moment, the wizard apprentices still gathered at the secret realm numbered only about a dozen.

Green silently observed the Void Worm inside the secret realm, whose body was already less than one percent of its original volume, and silently nodded to Lafi, Yorkris, and the others beside him.

Afterward, several of them, carrying large amounts of stones, branches, and other materials, actually charged directly into the confinement magic array, heading straight for the altar at the center of the magic array.

At the same time, outside the magic array, Mechanical Heart suddenly opened his eyes and said coldly, "Hmph! Has a wizard apprentice who can crack the guardian inside finally appeared?"

Then his figure flashed, and he actually charged into the magic array without the slightest hesitation as well.

As for the other squads, aside from the sentries, most were still in meditative sleep.

Inside the magic array, as Green, Lafi, and the others hurled the bulky materials in their hands toward the invisible Void Worm, Green sensed the Void Worm shrinking at an astonishing speed. In just a few more breaths, it would vanish completely.

Green and the others could no longer suppress the joy in their hearts.

As long as they obtained that one-use, high-powered treasure at the center of the altar, then even the despairing Mechanical Heart would never dare start a dispute with Green's squad again!

As for the treasure on the altar, its deterrent power far exceeded its practical use. It could even be said that as long as they obtained the treasure on the altar, and as long as they did not go fight over the Third Secret Realm and simply waited until the trial ended, then if they did not do anything too outrageous, they could generally pass through this trial safely.

"Heh heh! Sorry, but this Flame Fusion Pearl doesn't belong to you."

Along with a cold voice, Mechanical Heart appeared in Green and the others' field of vision. At the same time, a huge spinning compass shot over at high speed.

"Careful!"

Yorkris shouted, completing his werewolf transformation and the eruption of the sorcery within his body almost instantly. He stamped against the ground, his body turning into an afterimage, and his battleaxe chopped fiercely onto the incoming spinning compass.

With a boom!

The tremendous force Yorkris unleashed in an instant actually held back the spinning compass.

After a slight flicker of surprise, Mechanical Heart seemed to have seen something amusing again. With a muttered "idiot," he did not even spare Yorkris another glance.

At that moment, seven or eight mechanical beetles actually flew out from his body and toward the altar, where Binhanson was only a few final steps from the top.

On one side, Yorkris's expression changed drastically in an instant. He only felt an irresistible, powerful magnetic force coming from the spinning disc. Not only the battleaxe in his hand, but even the metal claws that had once been his pride and joy, embedded in his body, dragged his body with a bang as they were sucked over, instead becoming a burden.

This compass was no lightweight. For the moment, Yorkris had already lost the ability to fight in coordination.

On the other side, a chain of explosions suddenly erupted around Binhanson, who was only a few steps from the altar. Shocked, Binhanson's body instantly transformed into a streak of black mist and shot dozens of meters away to the edge of the magic array.

Lafi closed one eye, while the other turned into an eagle pupil. Her exquisite, mature face was now filled with coldness. The Bow of Life, drawn into a full moon, went twang, and a phantom image condensed with terrifying wind elemental energy and life energy flashed away, shooting toward Mechanical Heart as she gave a cold laugh.

"It's over!"

Boom!

A berserk wind sphere swept up countless leaves of life energy, cutting layer upon layer at Mechanical Heart trapped within it. Having personally experienced the terror of Lafi's sorcery, the corner of Green's eye could not help twitching.

At the same time, another Hurricane Arrow on Lafi's back disappeared. Three remained.

Green did not dare move carelessly, staring fixedly at the huge wind sphere not far away.

Yorklianna panicked and ran to Yorkris's side, wanting to help him separate from the magnetic compass.

Finally, Robin quickly ran toward the altar to seize the powerful consumable sorcerer weapon Mechanical Heart had called the Flame Fusion Pearl.

Suddenly, from within the violent wind sphere, a beam of golden light shot toward Lafi. The terrifying energy fluctuations contained within it made everyone's expression change!

Almost at the same time, a nearly completely naked figure rushed out of the wind sphere, attacking Robin at astonishing speed. One metal arm actually emitted the grinding sound of a rotating saw.

Lafi had just fired a Hurricane Arrow, and her body was almost at its weakest. Now, feeling the golden beam shooting toward her, her face turned incomparably pale. A trace of despair from her soul's instincts made her tremble uncontrollably.

At this final moment, some wondrous change seemed to occur in Lafi's eagle pupil. In her perception, that beam of light had actually slowed down by a great deal.

However, although Lafi could sense that the beam of light had indeed slowed by a lot, her body somehow seemed unable to move at all. She could only watch helplessly as the deadly beam struck toward her.

No! No! Move! Move already!

Lafi shouted desperately inside.

Just then, all of a sudden, a figure stepped across and steadily blocked in front of her. After Lafi's pupils shrank in despair, she suddenly smiled for no apparent reason.

As expected, had she always been someone who only believed in herself?

Beneath the Pale Mask, Green's eyes sensed the terrifying power of the golden beam.

No wonder Mechanical Heart had not even looked after shooting this terrifying beam toward Lafi, and had instead charged toward Robin. It seemed he had extreme confidence in this sorcery of his.

His long golden hair was blown by the dispersing wind sphere in the distance, fluttering in the wind. The robe on his body rustled and shook. Green was like someone bracing against a level-twelve gale, calmly stretching one hand toward the golden beam, instantly stimulating all the magic power in his body and gathering it upon the Pale Mask.

Buzz!

A mark-value fluctuation surpassing thirty points erupted soundlessly. Mechanical Heart, who was attacking Robin, suddenly halted, actually stopping his blur-fast figure, and slowly turned to look at Green.

Boom!

The golden beam landed on Green's protective barrier. After a dazzling flash of light, the protective barrier actually began to show astonishing deformation, sinking inward bit by bit, as if it would shatter in the very next moment.

Green remained calm.

Whether that calm came from confidence in himself, or because the mask covered his deathly pale face, or because there was someone behind him he had to protect, leaving him unable to retreat and able only to stand there with absolute confidence, no one knew.

Boom!

After a final instant of dazzling light that was almost impossible to look at directly, Green still stood steadily where he was. As the wind sphere in the distance dispersed, his long golden hair slowly fell back down.

At this moment, Green was like an ancient, unfallen mountain, blocking any attack.

Under Lafi's eagle pupil, she once again drew the Bow of Life into a full moon. A Hurricane Arrow gathered energy fluctuations that made hearts tremble, but this time, the Hurricane Arrow was not released, seemingly used only as a deterrent.

"Got it!"

At the top of the altar, Robin held the radiant Flame Fusion Pearl and shouted excitedly.

The entire battle sounded long when described, but in truth, it had only lasted a few short breaths. Only now did the other wizard apprentices outside the magic array react, each sprinting madly into the magic array, but everything was already over.

With the deterrence of the Flame Fusion Pearl, not a single wizard apprentice dared rush up to snatch it.

At this moment, because of Lafi's previous attack, not only had all of Mechanical Heart's clothing vanished, but even the metal tail behind him seemed to have suffered considerable damage, dragging weakly along the ground.

Beneath his right rib, sparks faintly emerged from within his body, as if some mechanical damage had occurred. Large patches of flesh and skin were a sight too horrible to endure.

Mechanical Heart looked at the mysterious man not far away, who was erupting with mark fluctuations of the same intensity as his own. Looking at the calm eyes beneath the pale mask on his face, Mechanical Heart knew that this person was absolutely not any of the despairers in his information!

The faint standoff between Mechanical Heart and Green seemed to become the focal point of every gaze, and a hidden yet intense aura slowly spread outward.