Looking around at their surroundings, Liam instinctively glanced at Seffny, hoping she could offer a reasonable explanation.
It wasn’t just Liam; Colin and the others who had caught on also looked toward Seffny, eager to understand what was going on.
After twitching the corners of her mouth several times, Seffny finally forced out a sentence: “…You guys just tell me whether this magic circle transmitted or not?”
“What exactly did you fix? Isn’t it still not working properly?”
Liam didn’t respond to Seffny’s question and only wanted to know what had happened, but Seffny’s answer left her speechless.
“Of course I fixed the problem! But I never said there was only one problem with this magic circle! I only fixed one of them!”
“Then why didn’t you fix all of them?”
At this, Seffny rolled her eyes and said angrily, “Fix all of them?! Why don’t you listen to what you’re saying? This is some ancient magic circle from who knows when! It was the first time I even saw it just now! How could I figure it all out immediately? Fixing one problem is already pretty amazing!”
Seeing this, Liam didn’t know what to say. After all, Seffny had a point. When encountering something completely unfamiliar for the first time, it’s indeed difficult to understand everything quickly. So Liam could only accept it as it was.
“…Where did all the members of the Knight Order go?”
Colin spoke up at this moment. He was worried that something might have happened to the knights.
“I don’t know.”
Seffny answered without hesitation. Colin frowned slightly but didn’t say more. In the end, he could only sigh and then ordered everyone to get up and move forward.
“Let’s keep going. Staying here isn’t going to solve anything. Maybe the Knight Order is waiting for us just ahead.”
After saying this, Colin was the first to get up and walk forward, taking on the role of scout. Liam and the others followed behind him.
The place where the magic circle had transported them was a relatively large chamber, its walls constructed from an unknown metal. The walls looked very sturdy, impossible to break through easily. There was only one exit, which also served as the entrance—exactly where Colin was now passing through.
Liam wasn’t sure if this was the maze entrance area that Captain Larian had mentioned, but regardless, they had only one choice: to keep moving forward since this was the only path.
The journey was quiet; the path seemed devoid of any living creatures. They did spot a few narrow small rooms along the way.
But when Colin cautiously entered them, he found nothing—completely empty. So they continued along the main corridor.
After an unknown amount of time—maybe an hour? Or perhaps only twenty minutes? It was hard to tell in such a place—they came upon another large chamber similar to the first.
Before Liam could even take in the layout of the room, three figures appeared at its far end.
As soon as those three figures showed up, Colin immediately went on alert. He drew the Sword of the Sanctuary, ready to attack or defend at any moment.
Liam had already melted into the shadows around them. Seffny began gathering magic power, Lavinia drew her bowstring, and Elinor quietly prayed for their safety. A thin, transparent barrier shimmered into existence around the group.
Everyone was prepared, waiting for any threatening move from the newcomers before launching a coordinated attack.
When the three figures came closer, Liam finally got a good look at them. They wore armor the color of bronze, though Liam wasn’t sure if it was actually made of bronze. Each of the three held a shield in one hand and a strange spear in the other. They looked far from weak and certainly not friendly.
Liam watched them carefully, waiting for their next move.
When they stopped at a certain distance from Colin, their footsteps halted altogether. Liam instantly gripped her “Twin Moons” tightly, and Colin began to gather his strength.
But the three armored figures showed no sign of attack. One of them stiffly lifted his strange spear and pointed it at Colin.
Just as Liam was wondering what this meant, a sudden explosive sound rang in her ears, almost causing her to leap out of the shadows in shock.
When she came to her senses, Liam realized what had happened. The spear held by the bronze-armored figure was smoking slightly, as if something inside was burning.
Meanwhile, the protection Elinor had placed on Colin was pierced through. A small round iron ball fell from Colin’s Sanctum Armor, decorated with complex patterns whose purpose was unknown. Despite its small size, it had pierced through the barrier and struck Colin’s armor, though it did not penetrate further and was stopped there.
Even so, Colin was startled. It wasn’t that he couldn’t react to the attack, but he hadn’t expected such a fast strike—far beyond anything he anticipated.
Moreover, its power was considerable, capable of breaking through Elinor’s protective prayer, which showed just how terrifying it was.
Liam was frightened too. She hadn’t even realized the explosion was an attack and had thought something had simply detonated nearby. If she had been in Colin’s place, she would likely have been pierced through by this strike.
What kind of attack was this?! It was that terrifying!
Everyone present was shocked by the attack, and it wasn’t until the remaining two bronze-armored figures also raised their spears that they fully realized what was happening.
Colin immediately formed a shield of holy light with his left hand and placed it in front of himself, blocking the bronze-armored figure’s spear. The attack was ineffective against him but could be deadly for the others.
Elinor instantly strengthened her prayers, and the protective barrier around the group thickened.
Lavinia released an arrow directly. Its speed was so fast that the opponent had no time to react, and the arrow struck one of the bronze-armored figures who was still holding his spear.
With powerful penetration, the arrow pierced through the figure’s right arm and emerged out the other side, lodging firmly in the armor. This successfully interrupted the attack, but only to that extent.
“So tough!”
Although Lavinia hadn’t aimed for a fatal spot, she had expected the arrow to fully pierce the arm, not just stick there.
It seemed their opponents were not only strong in attack but had formidable defense as well. Seeing this, everyone took the situation seriously and dropped any casual attitudes.
“Watch out! Everyone get behind me! It’s attacking again!”
Although Lavinia had interrupted one bronze-armored figure’s attack, another still had his spear raised.
As soon as Colin finished speaking, a flash of fire burst from the tip of the bronze-armored figure’s spear, shooting straight toward Colin, who was standing in the front.