[Chapter 54 Comment]
[Twin_dragon13773: Uh oh. Hopefully they'll realise they're fighting eachother.]
…
The ape was so scary that Avalon was reaching for his blade to fight this beast. Meanwhile, Haruka was looking at the zombie who was raising its stance to bite her.
However, Avalon remembered what Theo had said earlier… the two things that they needed to know at first.
They entered together.
"!!!" That was right. They entered together, so they were supposed to be with each other. Still, he couldn't be so sure about his own hypothesis and tried to check it by stepping backward.
"Hmm?" Haruka raised her eyebrows, realizing that something was weird. She didn't expect the zombie to back down as if it was trying to show her something. "Don't tell me… Avalon?"
Unfortunately, the ape in front of Avalon didn't speak the human language. Instead, it let out another roar as if showing its aggression.
Even though Avalon wanted to pull out his blade right away, he refrained himself a bit longer and moved a bit further, considering the ape hadn't taken a single step forward.
"…" Avalon became even more certain when the ape actually didn't move.
Haruka also had the tacit understanding. It seemed that they were looking at each other but for some reasons, they weren't on the same page because of what they were seeing.
"If the zombie is Avalon, this will definitely—" Before Haruka finished her words, the zombie raised his hand. Numerous rotten hands emerged from the floor and held her feet. She was dumbstruck and reflexively jumped into the air to avoid the hands.
However, for Avalon, this jump was the starting motion to pounce on him. He hurriedly raised his sword, preparing to block it.
But the ape actually stopped in mid-air, causing him to see the ape hanging on the veins coming from the ceiling.
He tried to calm down again, believing that the ape was Haruka. However, he had no way to establish a connection to her.
Haruka also wasn't someone who could hang on the ceiling like this, so it was clear that what he was seeing was not entirely correct.
As he predicted, Haruka was actually using her talisman to solidify the air underneath his foot, allowing her to stand right in the air to avoid the hands. The zombie hadn't done anything after that.
She wanted to attack him, but the previous realization made her doubt her decision. Hence, Haruka asked the ghost beside her. "Are you seeing a zombie right now?"
"Yes." The female ghost acknowledged it without hesitation after seeing the confusion on Haruka's face.
Haruka narrowed her eyes, trying to see the soul within the illusion. However, even her eyes failed to do so.
"What should we do?" Haruka asked while looking at the room. It was quite spacious, but the length of the room didn't reach fifty meters unlike the tower's size.
"If what I'm thinking is correct, that zombie is your friend. However, what you're seeing right now might have been affected by the illusion, so I think it's better to back away, giving space." The ghost suggested.
"Yeah." Haruka agreed with her. By making some distance between each other, they could still establish the fact that they were not going to harm each other. Even with the illusion, it was impossible to deny this fact.
As soon as Haruka backed away, Avalon understood her intention and maintained the distance. They were not going to attack each other, so if they returned to each other, that must be an illusion.
However, they would soon know why Baold concluded that this floor was a trial of helplessness.
After Haruka gained enough distance, she looked forward, ready to reach the other side of the room. Although she hadn't seen a single clue from the area, she had to reach the other side first as there might be some clues. If she couldn't find any, she would begin looking around.
In addition, she felt a bit weird that Theo wasn't visible here. He could see Avalon in the form of a zombie, but not Theo, as if he had been swallowed by the illusion completely.
Still, their teacher was the greatest illusionist they had seen so far. Haruka didn't believe that Theo would be defeated before them.
Haruka took a deep breath before stepping forth, ready for the challenge ahead. Unfortunately, it seemed that she wasn't prepared for it.
All of a sudden, spikes emerged from the ground, impaling her foot.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" Haruka screamed in pain as she knelt down, finding spikes piercing her right foot. The spikes were long and big, and her blood coated them, causing her immense pain and making her tear up.
Haruka didn't expect that there would be a trap like this in a ruin known for its illusion.
Haruka's scream alarmed Avalon, and his heart skipped a beat, fearing that the ape would attack him. Thankfully, it was just his worries.
Avalon tried to regain his composure, unaware that Haruka was crying from the pain. The Knight Links began to cover his body, increasing his physical abilities. He also placed his hand on his chest, summoning a full body armor that wrapped around him, protecting him from any potential threat.
After regaining his calm, he assessed the situation. Stepping forth, he wondered what would happen to him. Instead of encountering traps, Avalon faced another problem.
Creak! Creak! He heard a screeching sound coming from the other side. Focusing his eyes, he noticed a black spot emerging from the corner, gradually growing bigger. As it came closer, Avalon recognized the true identity of that black spot—hundreds, if not thousands, of centipedes were crawling out of a small hole, filling up the room.
"Are you serious?" Avalon raised his sword, contemplating his next move. Summoning his shield, he prepared to intercept the centipedes. He had no intention of allowing himself to be devoured by the insects, but the sight of so many crawling creatures filled him with disgust. His face turned pale, as he never thought insects would be this repulsive.
Raising his sword, he concentrated his energy around it, planning to attack the centipedes first to observe their reaction before using the shield to protect himself. However, before he could make a move, he remembered that Haruka was with him. Looking to the side, he saw the ape holding its foot as if injured.
Avalon felt torn. He wanted to help Haruka, but approaching her might make her think of him as the real monster. In his dilemma, a small golden light suddenly brightened the room, forming a palm-sized orb.
"Don't be afraid." The orb sent words directly into Avalon's head.
"Huh?" Avalon was shocked; it was his first experience with telepathy.
Ignoring his reaction, the orb continued, "Will a knight still protect someone who might actually harm them?"
Avalon couldn't help but hesitate, though the answer was apparent. The orb asked again, "How about corrupt officials? Are they truly worth protecting?"
"…" Avalon knew that knights were not supposed to protect corrupt officials. However, in their duty of protecting the people, corrupt officials sometimes became targets. So, Avalon understood that he had to protect the ape, knowing it might harm him. But since Haruka recognized the zombie as him, there should be some level of understanding between them without the need for words.
Without further delay, Avalon rushed to Haruka while raising his shield.
"!!!" Haruka was shocked to see the zombie charging at her. However, she was still enduring the excruciating pain from her foot and hadn't freed it from the spikes.
At the same time, Haruka also saw the appearance of the golden orb in front of her.
"It's fine." The orb reassured her and moved toward the back of her foot, lifting it up. Despite the metal and the wound rubbing against each other, Haruka didn't feel any pain.
As soon as she pulled her foot free, she watched as the golden orb enveloped it, and the wounds began to close at a speed visible to the naked eye.
She was astonished, but she remembered that the zombie was approaching her.
Yet, instead of attacking her, the zombie stood two meters away from her. This distance was not big, but it was enough to show that he didn't try to attack her.
The zombie seemed to be protecting her, even though he was looking at her. Since the other party didn't do anything harmful to her, she turned back to the golden orb. "Who are you?"
Because the orb could speak in human language, the orb should have some sort of identity. And her prediction was correct.
The golden orb introduced itself, "I am a fairy… the one who will lead you to the end of the tower."
"!!!" Haruka was shocked, but she needed to believe it because the golden orb had healed her. It seemed that the thing that she saw earlier was related to the golden orb.
Meanwhile, Avalon also received a similar response.
"I'm a fairy, who will lead you to the end of the tower. However, it seems that we're in a pinch. Young Hero, please swing your sword."
"I can't. If I swing it around, I will endanger my friend. In addition, with this many insects, it's impossible to defeat all of them." Avalon became worried as the insects were about to reach them.
"Swing with all your might and release all that energy in your sword at once." The golden orb encouraged him.
Avalon didn't know what the orb wanted to do, but it seemed that he had to trust it for the time being. He would be swarmed by these insects if he didn't do anything anyway.
He pulled back his sword and concentrated the energy.
But the orb suddenly said, "That's not right. Gather more from the handle of the blade and let it flow like liquid to the tip of the blade. Let all your essence come forth like a liquid."
Avalon frowned and tried to do it. He gathered the essence not on the blade but on the handle.
After that, he swung his sword, letting the energy flow like liquid. Once it reached the tip, the energy flew away, causing a giant crescent-shaped energy wave that expanded and killed numerous insects.
"Huh?" Avalon widened his eyes in shock. He never released his essence that smoothly.
"Go forth, Young Hero. You should have seen the path in front of you. Hurry and seal the hole."
Avalon took a deep breath. As the orb said, with this technique, he could see a small path. Instead of swinging it horizontally, Avalon slashed his blade vertically, causing the energy released to expand and clear up a path. The path was narrow, but it was a straight line.
Without hesitation, Avalon used the Knight Links to the limit to increase his speed and rushed to the corner of the room before the insects blocked the path again.
Before reaching the corner, the orb once again gave him an instruction. "Use the same technique on your shield."
"!!!" Avalon understood the instruction and concentrated the essence in the center of the shield. After that, he slammed down the shield, causing the energy to burst in all directions. The shockwave that contained the trace of energy pulverized the insects around him.
All he could see was the insects in the middle of the room, which didn't seem to be a threat anymore. After all, he used his sword to block the howl so that no more insects could crawl out.
But Avalon was shocked by what he did earlier. He couldn't believe he managed to achieve all that with some simple instructions. "What's that… Did I do all that?"
"I know a bit about swordsmanship. Your swordsmanship is quite high level, but you're too focused on it and neglect your essence. I simply asked you to release your essence while you were in the motion of your swordsmanship. This is called in-motion."