Are those holy spirits all monsters?
The Gun Knight's only thought recently was this. He had been fighting with those holy spirits for three whole days and nights, in a non-stop battle.
Even though the tower spirit would restore his vitality and stamina after each battle, the Gun Knight still felt mentally exhausted.
Maybe his endurance wasn't quite up to the level of being able to fight for seven days and nights. Even worse, the abilities used by those holy spirits were truly bizarre and unpredictable.
During those three days, the Gun Knight had been bombarded by magic of various attributes, experienced swordsmanship, gun techniques, been hit in the face by giant hammers and shields, and endured strange negative statuses like poisoning, bleeding, and curses.
What really made the Gun Knight feel incredulously astonished and crazed was...those holy spirits started to crazily refresh the holy records of the first level.
When the Gun Knight was younger, he also challenged the holy records of the first level, achieving a time of forty-five minutes and thirty-seven seconds, ranking seventh.
This record had sustained for decades, becoming a bottleneck that the young elites of their world couldn't break through.
He had thought that the thirty-nine-minute holy record produced by their prince was already abnormal, but ever since these holy spirits arrived, the holy records of the first level entered a new era.
In just fifteen minutes, they completed an instance that would normally take an hour to clear.
Now, the record for the fastest clear time of the first level is thirteen minutes and twenty-seven seconds, set by the Dancing Nuclear Guild.
This record was beyond what the indigenous people could imagine. Fortunately, the first level only allowed challenges from those under the age of thirty-five, and the sacred artifacts produced there weren't particularly valuable.
But the issue was that these crazed holy spirits started to attempt to claim the holy records of the second level! This was the lifeline of the four major countries.
The sacred artifacts produced in the second and third levels were mostly vital strategic resources for each country.
The Gun Knight didn't know how the higher-ups of the country viewed this matter, but today, he could finally leave that damned arena.
He received a task personally assigned by the King, to escort Prince Segman in challenging the second level.
The second level of the Tower of Trial had an age limit of under seventy years for the indigenous challengers. The Gun Knight was forty-seven this year and had successfully challenged the second level once before.
It wasn't surprising to the Gun Knight that the competitive Prince Segman would challenge the second level now. What surprised him was another order in the escort mission.
'Absolutely, absolutely do not let Prince Segman touch an alchemy machine called the Enforcement Machine. If Prince Segman shows any intention of touching this machine, you are permitted to knock him out and bring him back to the country. This order is issued jointly by His Majesty the King, the Wise Mage, and the Sacred Artifact Storage's official. Knight receiving this order must follow it strictly, without error!'
Enforcement Machine? What on earth is that?
The Gun Knight carefully read the 'sacred decree' again. During these three days, he had been immersed in either beating the holy spirits or being beaten by them, paying little attention to national affairs and not knowing what the Enforcement Machine was.
He didn't even know what the holy spirits' purpose for taking magic stones was.
"Kermo, you waited long enough."
Segman appeared behind the Gun Knight at that moment. The Gun Knight glanced at the arena where Soral was fighting the holy spirits and then promptly saluted Segman.
"Your Highness, you are already the best among the younger generation; there's no need to rush to challenge the second level." The old mage following behind Segman tried to dissuade him anxiously.
"What about among them?" Segman pointed to the players partying in the open distance and turned his gaze back to the old mage.
"This... this... Prince Segman, they are the holy spirits, the legendary saviors; there's no need to compare yourself to them." The old mage knew the reason why Segman was frantically enhancing his strength recently. He not only wanted to be the best in the indigenous world but also wanted to be the best among the players.
"Then why can't we be our own saviors? The Flowing Water Country has never lost to anyone." Segman lowered his voice and said, "I don't think it's a given that I'm weaker than the holy spirits."
"Your Highness..." The old mage wanted to say something, but the Gun Knight stepped forward and blocked his path with his lance.
"Sage, you should go back first. I'll take care of Prince Segman."
The Gun Knight admired his own prince, Segman, because they shared the same trait— a competitive spirit that refused to lose to anyone.
"Sigh..." The old mage knew that beyond Segman's character, another reason for his stubbornness was possibly love.
In the past three days, Segman had gone on two runs with the Dancing Nuclear Guild. Although the guild helped Segman break the holy record of the first level, the more Segman interacted with the holy spirits, the more he realized his own weakness.
Segman's actions now purely stemmed from the restlessness of a teenage boy wanting to show off in front of girls. In the Tower of Trial's indigenous world, it was normal for a thirty-year-old boy to just reach puberty.
But the problem was... how was the human Segman supposed to show off in front of a holy spirit 'girl'? The Enforcement Machine gave Segman the answer.
"Your Highness, are you really going to look for some Enforcement Machine?" The Gun Knight noticed Segman wasn't heading toward the Tower of Trial but towards the open party held by the holy spirits.
"Are you going to stop me too?" Segman glanced at the Gun Knight and said.
"As long as you don't tell His Majesty the King, I won't stop you. After all, I was once a disobedient kid too." The Gun Knight adopted a surprisingly laid-back approach, as long as the strange alchemy machine didn't endanger Segman's safety, he wouldn't stop him.
"Very well!"
Segman led the Gun Knight into the area where the fairy merchants were. Upon entering, the Gun Knight felt like he had walked into some sort of exotic place, full of strangely dressed characters, with holy spirits wearing peculiar mascot heads everywhere.
At first, Soral had guessed that the holy spirits were collecting magic stones to exchange them for these odd headgears, but since it was too absurd, most people in the Flowing Water Country denied it.
When Segman walked in, all the holy spirits looked at him and smiled, which puzzled the Gun Knight.
"Prince Segman! You've got another sacred artifact to blow up!" A holy spirit wearing a horse head shouted from afar.
Segman kept a straight face and didn't respond, walking quickly to the NPC called Enforcement Master Yirui instead, and cleared his throat before speaking.
"I want to use Enforcement Machine No. 3!" As he spoke, Segman took out three magic stones and placed them in Yirui's hand.
"How many pieces of equipment do you think Segman will blow up this time?"
"I bet five pieces. He's too greedy, wanting every piece to reach plus thirteen."
The surrounding holy spirits raised their volume, teasingly.
"I haven't even started enforcing! It's too rude of you to make such assumptions!" Segman refuted loudly.
"What assumptions? We saw you try to enforce five sacred artifacts to plus thirteen yesterday, and they all exploded." Another holy spirit chimed in.
Segman's face flushed instantly, veins popping on his forehead; he was clearly embarrassed and angry, struggling to suppress his emotions.
"Just... just five pieces of insignificant artifacts! You holy spirits talk about 'sacrificial items', don't you! Saying what's meant to break can't be considered an explosion!"
Segman didn't speak any more difficult words. Over the past two days, when he wasn't in the Tower of Trial, he was feeding his own sacred artifacts to the Enforcement Machine.
The enforcement effect brought by the machine was highly addictive to Segman. The staff in his hand was now a +13 Flaming Staff, tripling the destructive effect of his fire magic.
"Prince Segman, what are you going to do?" The Gun Knight listened quietly to the discussions around him, feeling a vague sense of unease.
"Shut up and watch!"
Segman had now entered a state of high focus. He took out a small statue emitting red light and carefully placed it into the Enforcement Machine.
Sacred Artifact No. 213, the Fire Gathering Statue! The Gun Knight recognized it as an important artifact of the Flowing Water Country.
The Gun Knight watched helplessly as Segman threw this artifact into the Enforcement Machine, which then shook and spat out a pile of black cinders and fragments.
"You... Your Highness, where did the sacred artifact you put in go?" The Gun Knight was dumbfounded, hesitant to believe that the exquisite Fire Gathering Statue had turned into a pile of black cinders.
"It shattered, can't you see?" Segman wasn't in a good mood either, and took out a dark blue glass sphere.
Sacred Artifact No. 327... the Magic Ball!
The Gun Knight had worked in the Sacred Artifact Storage before. He could recognize the numbers, names, and value of each sacred artifact.
Segman threw the glass sphere into the Enforcement Machine again. The Gun Knight felt a creeping fear, realizing this was just the beginning.
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