Vale, who had defeated two puppet knights, went with Brenda to help Yor and Colbert. Although they were enemies, for now, Vale intended to continue working with them. Moreover, there was a possibility that the two of them would slowly change their opinion about Vale. Furthermore, Vale could now use magic, so he felt safe enough.
Upon reaching the intersection of corridors, Vale noticed the hole in the ceiling was still open. Despite the four puppet knights that fell from there, Vale was convinced that the way out of this maze was through that hole. However, before exploring the unknown above, he needed to find Colbert and Yor.
With Brenda by his side, Vale scoured the corridor where Yor had fled. After a while, they had yet to hear any sound. Vale couldn't help but wonder if the puppet knight had destroyed the noble girl.
Moments later, they found the puppet knight ripped to pieces. Vale scanned the area, trying to find a small glass ball that belonged to the puppet knight.
"You won't find anything. I took it first," a voice spoke.
Vale looked up to find Colbert and Yor approaching them. From Colbert's response, Vale understood what had occurred.
"So, you know the secret too?" Vale asked.
Colbert smirked, "Of course. Don't assume that you're the only intelligent one here."
"Great. Let's get going. Although the hole may lead to another maze, it brings us one step closer to escaping this place," Vale declared.
"Agreed," Colbert nodded.
Together, the four of them headed towards the opening that led upwards. However, as they progressed, the atmosphere suddenly shifted.
Vale's instinct kicked in, prompting him to use the magic technique [Spider Dance]. He pulled Brenda and him up to the ceiling just as Yor, who was chanting a spell, attacked them with the magic technique [Wind Claw].
"Do you want to fight right now?" Vale asked, his expression serious. The attack had been life-threatening, and Vale knew it was only his quick reaction that had saved their lives.
Colbert's expression changed instantly. "Wait! We don't need to fight right now. Hey, Yor, what are you doing?! Give back that glass ball!"
Without waiting for Yor's protest, Colbert immediately took the small glass ball from the girl's hand.
"What are you doing, Colbert? Give it back! This is a great opportunity to kill those two. We're enough to get out of this maze. We can kill them here." Yor jumped and attacked Colbert while still trying to take the small glass ball back from his hand.
"I said stop!" Colbert raised his voice slightly. Yor heard him and immediately stopped, but the angry and upset expression could still be seen on her face.
Colbert breathed a sigh of relief. Since his first encounter with Vale, when Vale killed Fidelis and Sabine, Colbert understood that Vale was a formidable opponent.
Of course, if he and Yor worked together, they might have a chance to kill Vale, given that Brenda's presence was only a burden for Vale. However, Vale might be able to kill one of them if he was in a desperate situation. Despite his surface attitude, the reality was that Colbert had feelings for Yor. So, he didn't want one of them, either Yor or himself, to die.
After the brief altercation ended, the four of them climbed through the hole in the ceiling and prepared for a new challenge.
***
"Is she really a human? How could she still not run out of mana and after fighting for so long, how could she not be tired?" Alex couldn't help but complain. At this point, he began to doubt that the person in front of him was really Frida.
Alex turned his attention to the figure of Laura, who had been cut to pieces and died. He whispered, "I have to use that technique, or I might die here."
Going back a few moments before Laura's death.
The cooperation between Alex and Laura seemed to be able to match Frida. With a strong physique, great swordsmanship, a variety of amazing magic techniques, there was no doubt that Frida was able to kill one of them quickly. But when one of them was in danger, the other would quickly help. Using that strategy, Alex and Laura could always stop Frida's deadly attack.
The fight went fiercely. Alex and Laura maintained the thought that it was the matter of time for them to beat Frida. Time slowly passed, exhaustion began to attack the two Midvalley Academy students. Even so, they continued to fight relentlessly, trying to defeat the Impersonator.
Until Alex and Laura then realized that the Impersonator was never exhausted or out of mana. This fake Frida also never made the slightest mistake.
Up to a point, Laura couldn't fight anymore. Both hands were too heavy to move. Her mana had also been dried. She really couldn't fight anymore. On the other side, Alex also felt the same way, that he could only fall silent watching the Impersonator slowly walk up to Laura.
"Damn it, just watch out. Next time I will definitely kill you!" Laura grinds her teeth and activated the mechanisms to swap her position with Dinodas. After a few seconds, Laura found that the mechanism couldn't work.
She began to panic.
"W-wait Frida, we're friends, aren't we? I'm sorry, I promise to always support you from this moment on. Help! Please don't kill me!" Tears welled up on Laura's cheeks. She continued to persuade the fake Frida aka the Impersonator to spare her life. But the reaction that she got was just an expressionless, flat look.
The Impersonator raised its sword high. It dropped the sword.
"Aahh!" Her eyes fixated on the terror on her left hand that was cut off by the Impersonator. The blood was rushing while Laura was on the brink of madness.
"Help me! Alex help me!"
Her right hand was then cut off.
"Mommy save me! Patriarch, why are you giving me this mission?" Laura's cried and scream grew louder.
Her left leg was severed.
"Holman, Alex, Dinodas, I hate you all!"
The Impersonator's sword then separated Laura's right leg.
She's going to die here. Laura knew that this was something she couldn't avoid. At her last moment, she stopped her crying and smiled,"I'm sorry, Frida. I am a bad friend."
The beautiful girl's head was then separated from her body.
With a cold gaze, the Impersonator then turned the attention to Alex.