Chapter 178 Decision
"This secret plane has been such a learning experience for me," Atiel spoke cheerfully, her eyes shining brightly. "It is so enjoyable!"
"Hmph!" Another elf, a male, who shared the same appearance as her harrumphed in annoyance. "Easy for you to say when I'm the one taking care of all the menial tasks."
Atiel glanced at her twin brother and teased, "But brother, you're the elder sibling, aren't you? So isn't it your duty to take care of me?"
"Yeah right!" Daneli rolled his eyes and walked away. "A difference of one minute isn't all that big."
Atiel simply laughed at Daneli's comment and then hurried after him. It had been a year since they had arrived at the secret plane. They had been fortunate to find each other early on.
Since then they'd been traveling together. Although they had found some opportunities on their way here, nothing could compare to the one they were heading toward.
"How far do you think it is, brother?" Atiel asked in a sweet voice, her eyes darting around at the cherry blossom forest they found themselves in.
Unlike his sister, Daneli had a solemn expression on his face and was constantly vigilant of his surroundings. "Once we exit this forest, that place should be within our sights. If we pick up speed, we can reach that place in the next few hours."
"Yay!" Atiel clapped her hands excitedly and her eyes flashed with anticipation. "I can't wait to see that place."
"Yeah, me too." Daneli too couldn't help but get excited as well.
The twins vigilantly walked through the pink forest and before long they appeared at the precipice of a cliff.
In front of them, a lush green forest came into view. And at the center of this forest was a wide clearing where a colossal pyramid stood majestically.
When the twins laid their eyes on it, they were stunned.
"This… It's beautiful!" Atiel was mesmerized.
Daneli, on the other hand, was speechless for a moment. But then, he grinned. "I can't believe it!"
At the center of the Soaring Rivers Secret Plane was a pyramid of massive proportions. Its height was close to 150 meters and the length of the base on each of the four sides was about 230 meters.
However, its size wasn't the most shocking thing, but the material it was made out of. It wasn't made of iron or bricks.
It was entirely made out of playing cards!
"So this is why it's called the House of Cards…" Daneli muttered in realization. "I never thought it would literally be made out of cards."
"Let's go! Let's go!" Atiel jumped in excitement. Then, without waiting for her brother, she jumped off the cliff.
Seeing this, Daneli could only shake his head with a sigh and follow after her.
…
Edward and Lisa ran side by side as they gradually approached the House of Cards. As they made their way through the verdant forest, the presence of other Magi became more and more prominent in the distance.
"How many do you think have made it till here?" Edward asked curiously.
Lisa thought for a while and then muttered solemnly, "I don't think more than two-thirds would have made it out here."
Edward's eyebrows rose in surprise. "That less?!"
"Of course." Lisa nodded. "This secret plane is filled with all sorts of dangers. The Magi knew very well what they were getting themselves into before entering this plane."
"But a third of the Magi dying already is a bit…" Edward didn't finish his sentence, but Lisa knew what he meant.
"And that's just for now." She suddenly stopped running and deeply looked at Edward. "How many do you think will die from here on out?"
The youth gulped in nervousness. He had read in his family records left by his ancestors that the fighting was the most intense around the House of Cards.
Magi would gather around the structure of this giant pyramid and try to get rid of as many participants as possible. After all, according to them, the fewer of them there are, the more opportunities they would have inside the pyramid.
Edward asked, "Shall we wait for Adam and the twins?"
Lisa was silent for a while, deep in thought. "Ideally, we should. But the area around the pyramid is so huge, what are the chances they would appear anywhere near us?"
She paused for a while before continuing, "Besides, the more we delay the worse the situation might become for us."
Finding herself in such a dilemma where their lives were at stake, Lisa hesitated to make her next decision. Edward also knew this, but he too didn't know what to do.
Suddenly…
"Lisa! Edward!" A cheerful and familiar voice called out to them from behind.
The couple turned around and saw the elven twins running toward them. Seeing this, they were pleasantly surprised.
Lisa greeted Atiel with a warm hug. "I'm happy that you're safe."
"Me too! Me too! Hehe." Atiel giggled without a care in the world.
While the two girls were catching up, Daneli approached Edward and the two simply nodded at each other.
The elf was quite surprised to see Edward's striking transformation. "You seemed to have come across some fortuitous encounter."
Edward smiled mysteriously. "That I have."
"Where's that drunkard? Have you seen him yet?" The elven youth asked.
"Nope."
"I see…"
Lisa approached them and advised, "Now that most of us have gathered, how about we walk toward the clearing?"
Edward chimed in, his expression adamant, "But we must wait for Adam. It doesn't matter if we get delayed in entering the pyramid."
"That goes without saying," Lisa said with an assuring smile. She then looked at the twins and asked for their opinions, "What do you guys think?"
"Of course, we should wait for Adam," Atiel said with a wide smile. "He's very fun to be around, tee-hee!"
"Tsk, I guess we have no choice but to wait for that clown." Daneli crossed his arms and looked away.
Lisa beamed. "Alright then, let's get going."
The group of four quickly traversed through the green forest. However, when they stepped out into the clearing, the sight that greeted their eyes made their skin turn cold.
Atiel, who had always been bright and sunny, suddenly had the color drained out of her face. Her body shuddered at what she was seeing.
"W-Who did this?!"
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