Volume 3 Chapter 235
by Need_More_SleepVolume 3 + Chapter 235: Exposure
Beep-beep! Beep-beep! Beep-beep! Beep-beep! Beep-beep!
The Human Sword Saint heard the piercing alarm.
The Human King Armor’s duration was only one hour. When the hour limit was about to be reached, it would begin to warn the user.
At that point, the Human King Armor would release its possessed state.
“Wright, what’s wrong? Why did you suddenly stop?” the Knight Princess asked in puzzlement.
After all, she could not see what was happening inside that golden armor.
“N-nothing, don’t mind it, let’s go together.”
Even though the situation was already critical, the Human Sword Saint knew well that the more dire the moment, the less he could panic.
If he fled right now, the Knight Princess would certainly chase him.
And then, once the Human King Armor forcibly dispelled the possessed state, his identity would be exposed.
Better to wait until the Knight Princess’s attention shifted.
The two of them stepped past the Thousand-Mile Gate and entered within.
Beyond the Thousand-Mile Gate was an entirely different sight.
In a pitch-black space floated a tall tower. Below it yawned a bottomless abyss, the end unseen, as though even light itself would be swallowed by the darkness.
At the moment they stepped onto the edge, a blue transparent road appeared, stretching straight toward the tower.
At the same time, numerous ancient characters manifested upon the road, seemingly carrying vast amounts of information.
In the language and script of the present age, it was naturally impossible to understand them.
Only an authoritative archaeologist who had explored the ruins of ancient human civilizations several times could hope to decipher them.
“Mr. Sander, can you interpret the writing above?” the Fearless Knight asked impatiently. “Is this really, as you said before, the place where a legendary holy relic exists?”
“Alright, let me see…”
Sander leaned toward the inscriptions.
Among this main exploration party was also Sander’s own archaeology team, all authoritative scholars like himself, who now gathered under his lead to interpret together.
“Unbelievable!! Truly unbelievable!!”
So excited was Sander that he could not hold his magnifying glass steady—it slipped from his hands, fell off the blue road, and dropped into the darkness below.
“Well, what is it??” the Fearless Knight pressed closer.
“Fearless Knight, within that tower there truly exists a legendary holy relic! A relic utterly unique—unlike the Holy Sword or Holy Spear! It can grant its wielder the power of a god!!”
“The power of a god?”
“Exactly!” Sander declared with certainty. “The power to wantonly annihilate the soul of any living being—”
The other archaeologists, upon reaching the same conclusion, all revealed expressions of shock, finding it hard to believe.
Every Paladin’s attention was fixed upon them.
The Knight Princess, however, calmly asked: “Wright, do you truly believe such a power exists? The power to casually erase all living souls?”
“Well… I think… perhaps, it might exist… Otherwise the Holy Sword would not have guided me here…”
The Human Sword Saint replied perfunctorily.
Inside the armor, he was almost beside himself with anxiety.
The alarm grew faster and faster—proof that the time limit for the possessed state was nearly up.
He began preparing for the worst outcome…
Without another word, the Human Sword Saint pulled out a conversion potion, uncorked it, cracked open a small part of his helmet, and poured it in through the slit.
Gulp gulp gulp…
“Wright, what are you doing?” The Knight Princess was baffled by his behavior.
“Cough, cough… Just now, I suffered a slight injury in the battle, so I’m using a healing potion to recover.”
“You should have told me earlier, I could have had someone treat you.”
“No need,” the Human Sword Saint waved her off. “If it’s something I can handle myself, I don’t like troubling others.”
The conversion potion began to take effect. A fierce dizziness assaulted him, nearly making him collapse.
But he clenched his teeth and endured.
As long as he held on, it would be fine.
After all, he had gotten through it like this before—there was no reason he could not this time.
The conversion potion required time to take hold, it was best to drink in advance.
“That is…”
The Doctor, watching from the side, narrowed her eyes. She felt that the potion the Human Sword Saint had just swallowed seemed strangely familiar.
“Let’s go have a look as well. Perhaps the legendary holy relic will truly appear,” the Knight Princess suggested.
“Of course. For the future of our people, this is of utmost importance—”
The Human Sword Saint had not even finished speaking when a figure rushed up before him.
“You are the Human Sword Saint, Wright Schubert, aren’t you??”
The Doctor suddenly blocked his path.
“Mm.”
“Wright, let me introduce myself—I am Claire of the Morrison family, and I’ve always been your fan!!” The Doctor’s smile was like that of a starstruck girl. “Today, I finally got to meet my idol!”
“Ah…?”
The Human Sword Saint was thrown into confusion. Was the Doctor really this kind of person?
But he had no time to think carefully about such things. With his consciousness battered by the potion’s side effects, even speaking was already extremely difficult.
“Wright, I have so many things I want to say to you!”
The Doctor seemed intent on pulling him aside for a private talk.
Seeing this, the Knight Princess immediately grabbed Claire’s shoulder.
“Doctor, mind your behavior. This isn’t the time to chase idols. Remember the situation—we are in a dangerous ruin.”
“Knight Princess, why do you have to meddle so much?”
“Wright is my fiance. Please show some restraint.” The Knight Princess at last lost her patience.
“…Oh, fine.”
Surprisingly, the Doctor yielded this time, releasing the Human Sword Saint’s hand without further quarrel.
“Wright, let’s keep moving forward together.”
The Knight Princess once again took the Human Sword Saint’s hand and hurried ahead.
The Fearless Knight greeted them joyfully, reporting to the Knight Princess, “Your Highness, this time our Paladin Order’s harvest will surpass even when we obtained the Holy Sword Balumk—”
Boom!
From the tower at the center burst a pale-blue light, accompanied by a spreading wave that shook the very space itself.
The archaeologists, weaker than the knights, could not withstand the shockwave and fell unconscious.
“Danger! Mr. Sander!”
Seeing the scholars about to be flung from the road into the abyss, the Knight Princess rushed forward and caught him.
The other Paladins reacted swiftly too, working together in the emergency to seize the others.
Fortunately, no one fell.
“Whew… scared me to death…”
The Fearless Knight exhaled in relief.
“If Mr. Sander and the others had fallen here, the trouble would have been immense.”
“Fearless Knight, use holy arts to awaken them,” the Knight Princess ordered.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Together, the Fearless Knight and the Knight Princess cast awakening spells upon the archaeologists.
Under the embrace of holy light, Sander and the others slowly regained consciousness.
“What just happened…”
Sander sat up, cleared his thoughts, and rubbed his head.
“The central tower suddenly released a shockwave. You couldn’t endure it and fainted. We just woke you up,” the Knight Princess explained.
“Oh… yes, that must be it. We were too excited, not noticing our actions may have triggered the ruin…”
“In any case, it’s fine now.”
The Knight Princess let out a breath of relief, then turned back.
“Wright—”
But strangely, the Human Sword Saint who had been at her side was gone.
She looked around, but found no trace of him anywhere.
“Wright!!”
The Knight Princess called loudly, but received no reply.
Her heart grew anxious. She could not understand why the Human Sword Saint had vanished again without a word.
“As I thought, he ran away.”
A cheerful voice reached her. Turning, she saw it was the Doctor.
The Doctor’s finger pointed to a butterfly.
That was no ordinary butterfly, but an alchemical creature of her own creation.
“Want to know where the Human Sword Saint escaped to~?”
The Doctor curved her lips into a smile at the Knight Princess.
…
…
“Huff… huff…”
The golden-armored swordsman leaned against a wall.
While the Knight Princess and the Paladins had been using holy arts to revive the archaeologists, Xia Yi had made a snap decision, seizing the chance to dash out of the Thousand-Mile Gate at full speed.
She did not know how far she had run before she finally found a deserted place to stop.
The conversion potion’s side effects had passed, its power should have taken hold, disguising her.
Together with the little fox’s illusion…
She should be fine.
The Human King Armor finally reached its limit and began to release the possessed state.
So tightly strung was her spirit that she did not notice one thing: a butterfly had flown beside her…
“The next thing to consider is how to explain myself once I return.”
Xia Yi began thinking.
Overall, it had truly been a narrow escape, much like before.
Surely she must have the blessing of the God of Luck?
Every time, she always managed to narrowly avoid disaster—
At that moment, a figure appeared before her.
She froze.
It was the Doctor, staring at her with astonished eyes.
“No way…”
The lollipop fell from the Doctor’s mouth. For the first time since entering the ruin, she showed an expression of shock and doubt.
“Did I just hit the jackpot?”
Xia Yi was horrified. She did not understand how the Doctor had managed to chase her here.
Calm down, calm down—I’m still disguised, don’t expose myself!
Heart like a clear mirror, still as water!
Xia Yi steadied her mind, ready to play dumb, to deflect as before, confident she could somehow talk her way out.
“Hm?”
But she instantly sensed something wrong—something was resting on her tail…
Her tail?
Xia Yi turned her head and saw behind her the great draconic tail—upon which perched a butterfly.
She grabbed at her hair—it was entirely silver.
The conversion potion had failed. The illusion had dissipated.
“I-I…”
Xia Yi’s eyes grew frantic. She turned, instinctively trying to flee, but after only a few steps another figure appeared before her.
It was the Knight Princess.
“……”
Xia Yi’s mind went blank.
The Knight Princess stared at her in a daze. After a full ten seconds, the girl beneath the armor spoke, voice trembling with tears.
“…Why?”