He didn't get a response from Erica in his heart…
But he heard a grand symphony that seemed to come from nowhere!
Like the orchestration of flutes or the roar of whales.
In an instant, everything within his field of vision began to change.
As if the cold breath of deep winter swept across a calm lake, the flowing clear water instantly froze, turning into white frost.
Everything before him also gradually changed its form.
But not into ice.
Instead…
Golden—
Dazzlingly bright gold!
Everything he could see was slowly turning gold.
The rough floor beneath his feet, the gray-white stone wall in front of him, even the faint white glow of the crystals overhead, all were covered in dazzling gold.
The vine-shaped reliefs on the walls on either side turned into flowing molten gold under some force.
"…Colin."
At this moment, Erica's faint voice finally reached him.
She explained haltingly:
"He is using the energy pool of McIntosh Wizard Tower to hasten His arrival."
"Without energy, I can no longer open the Transmission Stone Wall of the Wizard Tower for you…"
Her voice ended there, for some reason, suddenly breaking off.
Colin's heart sank sharply.
But he no longer had the luxury of contemplation,
because another anomaly had appeared before him.
The liquid that resembled golden molten rock appearing on both stone walls quietly, though seemingly slowly, rapidly intertwined and gathered before him.
Whoosh!
The next moment, a monster, seemingly made of gold, appeared before him.
The monster was humanoid, but massive, standing at three meters tall, with corners as hard as rocks.
Simultaneously, Erica's intermittent, faint voice came again, hurriedly saying:
"He has entered the second phase of His arrival, this is one of His minions."
"Take out the Crystal Ball I gave you with inscribed knowledge. It contains information about the Divine arrival and the structural map of McIntosh Wizard Tower. McIntosh Wizard Tower is long dilapidated and now has many breaks and leaks, many of which lead to the outside, located at..."
Whoosh!!
The golden monster swung its huge fist at him.
Colin imperceptibly exhaled, carefully listening to Erica's words as he tightly gripped the scepter in his hand, adorned with dark gold patterns, and shot out a specially made giant Cone Bullet.
Bang!!
The Cone Bullet, with a force far greater than what he wielded as an apprentice, struck the chest of the golden monster with ferocity.
The monster, seemingly sturdy, was instantly shattered by the Cone Bullet, breaking off a significant part.
Then, under further attacks of Cone Bullets, it burst into fragments, turning into a pool of golden rubble.
But before he could rejoice for long,
the remains of the golden monster, which had shattered and scattered everywhere, turned back into flowing molten rock.
It seemed that it might not take long before it would congeal and revive.
Colin's heart tightened involuntarily.
Although the golden monster could be readily defeated with the aid of the strange artifact Erica had given him,
it wasn't without a cost.
This scepter was called Foolishness.
It was the last of the strange artifacts that Erica had seized from Harrington.
Strange artifacts are miraculous, often possessing inexplicable and incredible powers.
Of course, they typically come with various costs, whether light or heavy.
The Foolishness Scepter originally belonged to McIntosh and, although later obtained by the Blackstone Family, McIntosh, as its first owner, naturally recorded its detailed usage.
Thus, under Erica's guidance, Colin quickly mastered the scepter and gained a preliminary understanding of it.
The effect and cost of the Foolishness Scepter are simple.
Its effect is amplification, magnifying the effects of witchcraft—an amplifier of witchcraft power.
The amplified power, theoretically, has no upper limit.
But in practice,
its cost limits its amplification ceiling.
The cost of the Foolishness Scepter is simple, as its name suggests—foolishness.
It causes the user to forget the knowledge they have already mastered.
The scope of knowledge includes everything.
However, usually starting with the knowledge of the witchcraft deployed through it.
Though his mind was crowded with thoughts, reality had only passed in an instant.
Colin glanced at the golden monster, nearly revived and taking form, unhesitatingly bolstered himself with Swift Skill, and quickly stepped away.
Engaging with this undying monster clearly wasn't a wise choice.
But he hadn't run far,
when a familiar voice suddenly came from down the path.
"Martha, be careful!" Berkeley's voice rang out.
Boom!
The next moment, a Burst Fireball erupted, mixed with the golden monster's roaring.
"Thank you, Lord Berkeley," the female apprentice's voice of gratitude followed.
"This golden monster possesses the strength of a peak Wizard Apprentice, do not engage with it, hurry and leave."
That was the voice of peak apprentice Fina.
Colin's expression remained unchanged as he continued to run forward.
Soon, the figures of five apprentices came into view.
"Who!"
Colin's appearance made all the apprentices turn their heads in astonishment.
"Colin..." Flower on the far right was the first to recognize him and exclaimed in surprise, "You survived too?"
His mind was full of doubts.
After all, whether it was among the remaining nine people after the latter part of the ritual, or when they woke up from their nightmarish thirst and escaped following the guidance in their hearts, Colin's figure was never seen!
Colin nodded imperceptibly without seeming too surprised at their presence.
According to what Erica said last—
To delay His arrival, she created as much time for escape as possible.
She had let out all the Wizard Apprentices who should have served as kindling for His arrival during the last remnants of the ritual.
Then, at that moment, a golden beast attacked them again.
"Roar!!"
Boom!!
Berkeley, without hesitation, fired another fireball, blocking the attack from the golden beast!
He then said in a deep voice,
"Quick, let's go!"
Without any hesitation, he chose the passage on the left and sprinted.
The other four apprentices did not hesitate either, following closely behind.
Just a second later, Berkeley glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Colin still standing still, he paused and urgently turned back, "Colin! Hurry up and follow!"
Upon hearing this, Colin's indifferent expression slightly softened, and his pace towards the correct path hesitated.
After pausing, he was about to turn back and call Berkeley and the others.
Roar!!
But suddenly, another golden beast appeared in front of Berkeley and the others.
"No good!" Berkeley's face turned pale, stopping in his tracks.
But before he could think of a strategy,
Roar!
Another golden beast appeared behind them.
No!
There were three!
Including the original one, there were now five golden beasts surrounding them altogether.
Each of them was at least as strong as a peak-rank apprentice.
The hearts of Berkeley and the others sank.
After hesitating for a moment, taking advantage of the golden beasts not yet attacking, he said in a deep voice:
"Fina! I'll hold them off, you take the other apprentices and get out of here!"
After saying this, he paused slightly, saying softly:
"Find a new place to settle down, rebuild the Lap School if possible.
If not... just survive well."
After speaking, a hint of confusion flashed in Berkeley's eyes.
When they woke up, all that was left in the Gray-White Cave Hall was the continuously surging, soon-to-be-near golden liquid.
Nothing else was present.
And under the threat of the approaching golden liquid, they didn't think too much and had to flee in panic.
But before they could catch their breath, they faced such a desperate situation...
"Berkeley…" Fina looked at him, her expression complex.
She took a deep breath, her lips trembled:
"I promise..."
Suddenly.
Bang!!
Before she could finish her sentence, the golden beast in front of them suddenly exploded.
Boom!!
The next second, the remaining four golden beasts also shattered into pieces.
Berkeley turned back, looking at Colin who had launched the attack, his expression incredibly shocked!
"Colin, you..." Nidham next to him mumbled unconsciously.
Fina, who had been caught up in emotion and preparing to lead everyone to escape desperately, looked baffled.
The unbearable life and death crisis seemed to burst like a bubble?!
"The golden beasts will revive."
Colin stated calmly without intending to explain, he simply continued succinctly:
"I know the way out, follow me."
Since they had met on the way,
As members of the same School, it was only right to lend a hand.
Moreover, if Berkeley and the others, who had taken the Magic Potion, were devoured by the Divine again,
Then Erica's efforts would be wasted.
It was wise to take them along and escape.
Tap tap tap—
Colin and the others dashed along, constantly encountering the invasive golden flow.
A subdued oppressive force accumulated and condensed in the air.
Colin continued silently, leading the others as they rushed through the now radiant golden corridor.
Perhaps because the golden beasts had been shattered and hadn't revived yet,
They didn't encounter any golden beasts in the latter half.
In a short while.
He arrived at a gray-white wall, still untainted by the golden hue.
Inside the wall was a room for cultivating McIntosh's specially bred Golden Four-leaf Clovers, the place where he had accidentally acquired that Golden Four-leaf Clover.
Without hesitation, Colin stopped two meters from the wall, lightly waving his dark gold-patterned black scepter.
Teng!!
A huge fireball shot from the top of the scepter, hitting the wall, which had lost its energy and caused the defense Witch Array to fail, blasting a huge hole.
Then everyone followed him in, leaping into the pool.