Angor would like to say something just because he knew how dangerous they currently were. If for some reason, their plane passageway failed or carried them into the center of monsters, the apprentices would all die faster than everyone else.
He had a new idea in mind.
When he met Toby for the first time and received a “golden VIP card” from Toby, he ordered a serving of Greya’s special dish, which was the Section Ephemera. He had yet to put it to use.
As one of Greya’s new inventions, this special “living food” allowed them to open up a two-way passage between two places or even different planes, on condition that the user knew the exact coordinate of their destination. And unlike a hastily-made plane passageway with an unknown exit, a two-way passageway with “preset coordinates” was not affected by turbulent dimensional energy.
Angor had no idea of how to fix the destination of the tunnel as an apprentice, so the Section Ephemera was pointless in his hand. But the wizards in the team should be able to do it.
This was why he decided to offer the precious item—his own life was at risk.
However, as he reached his spirit power into his bracelet and was going to take it out, he suddenly found a strange thing.
He saw an object in there that was glowing unnaturally in red.
“What’s wrong?” Madelyne noticed Angor’s strange look.
Sennefer also urged by saying, “Speak already if you have something important to tell! We’re in a hurry!”
Angor considered and took out the glowing object instead, which immediately attracted everyone’s attention with its intense aura of a truth-finder.
“That’s—” Sennefer’s pupils constricted in shock. “Sunders’ blood?!”
Angor nodded. “My professor gave it to me. But this is the first time I saw it becoming active.”
Sennefer gave Angor’s a serious stare and tried to inspect the red sphere.
“Sunders is... attempting to locate you. Usually, Sunders is known as a cold-blooded wizard who doesn’t care about what happened to his students whatsoever. Guess this has changed.”
Sunders was currently staying at level 3, which meant it was easier for him to find Angor. But if what Sennefer claimed was true, that the strange pub was protected by someone way more powerful, then Sunders wouldn’t make a difference to the situation by coming.
Upon hearing Angor’s concern, Madelyne shook her head and explained, “Mister Phantom might not help us defeat the enemies, but he’s sure to provide a chance of escaping. If he knows where we are and stays outside this alien dimension, we can try to join our strength and create a short-range passageway while avoiding the risks of using a one-way plane passageway.”
“Then we shall wait and see.” Sennefer grew calm upon seeing a new hole. “I believe that man can reach us in time.”
“Phew. That’s a pleasant surprise.” Brofen gave Angor a curious glance. None of the wizards would have believed that it was an apprentice that provided a better solution.
The sound of heavy footsteps suggested that the Grave Knights were closing in fast.
“Let’s keep them off for as long as we can,” Madelyne spoke as she summoned vicious-looking plants around Dokibell, creating a green barrier.
Vifet nodded. “These undead can’t do anything to us as long as that woman doesn’t come out.”
Now the question was, would she stay behind and watch?
To make sure, they kept their original formation by asking Brofen to watch over the chapel along with all the apprentices inside. If the woman suddenly decided to attack them directly, they would gamble their lives by diving into a plane passageway.
The other wizards would remain outside and deal with the lesser enemies.
Meanwhile, Angor held the blood sphere in his hand and warily waited.
The battle continued on. Occasionally, a wizard who spent too much mana would come back and swap positions with Brofen. The most important job right now was to stall, so they did not concentrate on killing enemies.
When Madelyne’s plants successfully dragged another Grave Knight into the ground, the pub door was pushed open, causing everyone to jump out of alert.
At the same time, Brofen prepared a pile of materials for building a plane passageway.
People were relieved to see that it was the armored knight who just came out of the house, but not the woman they were worrying about.
Compared to the other ones, this one looked a lot more “chill” for some reason. He wasn’t holding his weapon, and his eyes weren’t glowing.
Slowly, he moved to the center of the battlefield.
The wizards didn’t mind him at first. But they changed their mind when they saw all the other skeletons and Grave Knights giving way as if they were welcoming their commander.
Instead of leading his men into another assault, the knight stopped moving and spoke loudly using the universal tongue, “It was our choice to travel far and die far. Unlike humans, we do not think it necessary to return home as corpses. To be buried along the path of our great mission is our honor.”
This was the second person in these parts that talked normally, even though his language didn’t sound well-practiced.
Those words clearly meant to deny Sennefer’s excuse of “retrieving the remains of the brigade”.
Sennefer retorted, “My decision was reckless, yes. But is it enough to cause us such hostility?”
“Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against you.” The knight reached a hand behind and grasped the greatsword on his back. “Unfortunately, she hates humans dearly. I’m afraid I must abide by her decision and invite all of you to an eternal rest here at the necropolis, together with us.”
He raised the sword over his head and slashed in front of him, instantly unleashing the power of a truth-finder, when he just appeared harmless a second ago.
It was possible for Sennefer to evade the attack, but she couldn’t since this would expose Dokibell and the “passengers” to danger.
She covered her body in flames and used herself as a shield. She was sturdy enough to endure it thanks to her Bloodline enhancement.
However, the strange knight did not intend to let her catch any breath. What was worse, his power level was increasing. As Sennefer deflected a flurry of sword attacks, the next ones grew deadlier until they almost equaled the might of a level-2 truth-finder.
Losing her balance, Sennefer was finally blown away.
Madelyne and Vifet watched anxiously. There was nothing they could do to help a truth-finder right now.
Sennefer climbed out of a pile of rubbles with a cruel look.
Her body grew bigger. A pair of membranous wings spread out behind her back. Her forehead became hollowed and gave birth to another eye. Her arms disappeared and were replaced by two sharp scythes.
She flew into the air and gazed at the knight in her new form. For a brief moment, those watching the fight couldn’t tell which one was the “villain”.
On top of Dokibell, Angor finally heard something from Sunders’ sphere after such a long wait.
“Angor? Can you hear me?”
Angor suddenly found himself brimming with excitement when hearing the simple question.
“Yes, professor.”
“... How did you end up in the Abyss?”