Chapter 375: Chapter 373: Dead Weight Removed, Speedrun Begins
"Congratulations, you all have successfully passed my test."
The beautiful woman’s phantom gazed at everyone and spoke slowly.
Her voice was as ethereal as the night sky.
"My name is Alina. Because of disaster, I’ve been slumbering here..."
Hilia was drawn in by this name, and just as she was about to listen to the introduction, Rose’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind—
"Not Alina."
Hilia saw Rose not far away, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes.
He stretched out his hand, and a point of light appeared in his palm.
But the light point did not erupt.
Rose suddenly lowered his hand, calmly watching ’Alina’ introduce herself.
Hilia was curious, but she knew this was not the time to ask, so she suppressed her curiosity and listened closely to ’Alina’s introduction.
"...Slumber has made me unable to control my own power. The Abyss took the chance to invade my body, so I cannot awaken. My power is escaping..."
"...Thanks to your correction, I am now able to regain control of myself. Step forward, brave outsiders. You deserve to be thanked with something precious."
No one stepped forward; instead, they looked to Xiluo.
Though Hilia didn’t stand out much in this team, her reliability in several moments still made the others choose to trust her, taking her as their backbone.
Rose’s voice sounded in Hilia’s mind.
"This is the ruins manager created by the relic’s creator, using Alina’s image. There’s nothing wrong with what she says. The part she didn’t mention is that, after you receive her ’thank you gift,’ you will be teleported out and marked by Dream Magic Power. For a period, you won’t be able to enter until the mark fades away."
Hilia was slightly taken aback.
Could this be the sect’s way of dealing with mercenaries?
Rose said, "Let them go and claim the gift. Next, we need to accelerate—others are a burden, let them leave."
"Alright. Oh, can I take it?"
"You can."
"Got it!"
A plan formed in Hilia’s mind. She stepped forward proactively and took ’Alina’s thank you gift: a gift box adorned with stars.
The others followed suit and each claimed theirs.
Hilia took out a piece of paper and quickly scribbled a message, then grabbed Pamisha’s hand and handed it to her.
Next second, Pamisha and the others were instantly teleported out, appearing at the entrance to the ruins.
Pamisha froze for a moment, quickly checking the entrance, only to find that the original door had become ordinary earth. Only the icy entrance behind them indicated this wasn’t just normal ground.
She understood immediately: "So, as soon as you receive the ruins master’s gift, you get teleported out?"
She looked at the others and suddenly paused.
"Wait, where’s Miss Xiluo?"
The others shook their heads, indicating they didn’t know.
Pamisha was about to say something when she suddenly remembered the paper Hilia had given her at the end. She opened it and looked.
{The journey ahead is too dangerous. Being teleported out means you’re not meant for it. Head back first.}
{(〃’▽’〃)}
Pamisha fell silent, then crumpled the paper and tore it up.
Goriff asked, "Did Miss Xiluo say anything?"
"She told us to go back first. She already figured out that taking the gift would teleport us out. She did it on purpose."
Anthony said, "We’ve already reached our limits in coming this far, and only Miss Xiluo remains calm as ever. We really are dead weight—no point in her risking herself for a 10 gold coins commission..."
"You talk too much!" Pamisha gave him a fierce kick.
...
Inside the ruins.
Hilia and ’Alina’ were staring each other down.
’Alina’ clearly hadn’t encountered this situation before, staring blankly at Hilia.
"Brave outsider, why haven’t you left yet?"
She asked.
Hilia giggled, "I haven’t controlled you yet. How can I just walk away?"
"Control... me?" As if hearing a joke, ’Alina’ smiled, "Outsider, your courage is recognized. But, controlling me isn’t so easy—pass my test first, then talk."
After speaking, ’Alina’s phantom vanished.
But the stars and auroras remained.
The aurora began to move, swirling under the starry sky.
A horde of demons refreshed into the scene.
Hilia curved her lips into a sly grin.
"I’ve received enlightenment from the gods—there’s still not enough demons!"
The magic staff lifted—Ice Rain Skill, as always.
But this time, every ice rain skill was linked to Mage’s Hand, striking at devious angles and ruthlessly piercing a specific spot on every demon.
"Boom." Hilia whispered.
In the next second, every demon pierced by the ice rain exploded on the spot, shattered, turning into tiny bits of ice.
"These demons’ defense has been massively increased, making magic barely hurt them. Such impossible defense for Tier Three demons must’ve sacrificed something else—namely—"
"They each have a spot with infinitely weak defense. The stronger the overall defense, the weaker that spot is. So weak—a single kick could kill them."
Rose’s words emerged in Hilia’s mind.
Together with his words, the weak points of all demons appeared, marked distinctly.
Their defense is as if the defense of one point is spread across the body—usually, the defense at that point can drop at most to zero.
But this is a dream, so that point’s defense can be negative—a hundred attack could deal tens of thousands damage with negative defense.
This explains why ice rain blasts can instantly wipe out these demons.
"Normally, dreams can accomplish anything, utterly fantastical, but when dreams blend into reality, most real-world rules apply. That forces a weakness."
Hilia nodded, marveled, "The designer of these demons is still impressive. Since there must be a weak spot, he hid it in eyes, armpits, even... inside the asshole. Why not just put the weakness in the organs? Then the outside would be flawless."
Rose laughed, "This dream is just a clumsy imitation. The designer probably wanted to, but lacked the ability to know how."
The refresh rate of demons was already twice what it was before, and speeding up.
If Rose hadn’t instantly marked their weak spots, even the Holy Maiden Squad would have found it tough.
Under the dream’s influence, these demons’ defenses are far too high. The previous Lost Lighthouse can’t even compare.
Thankfully, there’s a weak spot.
Makes it easier than Lost Lighthouse.
Slowly, Hilia approached the expanse of stars and aurora.
She ignored the endless spawning demons, reaching out to touch the stars and aurora.
At her fingertip, a drop of blood whirled rapidly.
When the blood contacted the stars and aurora, it was like fire igniting cotton—the starlit sky rapidly disintegrated.
Next was the entire Ice Sculpture Castle.
Finally, ’Alina’ appeared in front of Hilia, utterly baffled.
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