It was probably at this moment that the gold necklace guy finally realized we weren't the same as the main characters he had read about in his book. Seeing that Nicola didn't deny it, his face showed a look of disbelief.
"This isn't right! Weren't you supposed to be sent back already? Why are you still in this world? Could this be because the story has changed too much?"
"Didn't I just tell you? This isn't the world from your book - you've been wrong from the start!" Nicola couldn't help but snort coldly.
"How is that possible! Aren't we in the world of 'Ethereal Ascendance: A Journal of Transformation'?"
Now it was the gold necklace guy's turn to be shocked. His eyes became unfocused as his brain was clearly working, trying to figure out what was going on.
Several minutes passed, and the gold necklace guy was still standing there, looking completely confused.
"Hmph! Looks like you people ended up in the wrong world!"
Remembering what Irene had said about the "System" allowing its carriers to travel between different worlds, Nicola quickly understood their situation.
"No wonder almost everything we encountered was completely different from the book's description. At first, I thought it was because Reider had entered early..."
The gold necklace guy wasn't stupid. After getting this hint, he immediately realized how serious the situation was. Looking panicked, he quickly begged Nicola, "This is really important! I have no ill intentions - can you let me leave? I must go inform the Captain right away!"
According to the gold necklace guy, this Captain was the leader of his team, supposedly a bald, tough-looking man. Since everyone just called him Captain, even the gold necklace guy didn't know his real name.
"You have a 'System,' don't you? Don't you have any way to communicate remotely?" I couldn't help but comment. I had thought the "System" was something really impressive. But seeing how weak this guy was, it seemed far less impressive than I'd imagined.
"But how did you know I have a 'System'?"
He was surprised to hear this, but seeing that Nicola also looked interested in knowing the answer, he quickly explained:
"Many 'System' functions need points to unlock, and I've never had many points. We usually have a mental communication between team members, but for some reason, Mamos, who acts as the hub, didn't respond, so I have to find the Captain!"
That mental communication sounded very similar to the "Spiritual Convergence" used among angels, and I was very familiar with the name Mamos! Of course, as the hub, she was probably involved by True Church knight Meredith's self-destruction.
"Does anyone else know what's in the book?"
However, Nicola still wasn't ready to let him go. After all, we had finally caught someone with a "System," so she wanted to get all the information she could. Since the gold necklace guy had clearly stated he couldn't remember the information about Adrian, there was no point pressing him about that - she had to try another approach.
"Of course! The Captain and Reider were the first ones to finish reading the whole book, and they probably still remember what happens with Adrian! Why don't you come with me to meet them?"
From what the gold necklace guy was saying, it seemed his Captain and Reider were currently hiding in a inner fortress built within the mountain. He immediately gave us directions to their location, which didn't seem too far away. Nicola immediately urged him to lead the way, walking in front of us.
"We should be careful - this might be a trap!"
For some reason, I noticed the guy's eyes had become shifty after we started moving, giving me a bad feeling. I fell behind Nicola and quietly warned her.
"Don't worry, what could he possibly do?"
As expected, Nicola dismissed my warning. However, Adrian remained cautious and took out some arrows.
Although this royal villa was officially the emperor's vacation retreat, I was certain it was planned as a military fortress, which explained why Reider chose it as his final hiding place.
"There's a shortcut behind this door. Why don't we try going this way? If none of the doors ahead are locked, we can reach the inner fortress where Reider is directly!"
The gold necklace guy made several turns and quickly led us to an old-looking large door.
"Is this really okay? Didn't we agree to go around the defense command zone?" Adrian immediately noticed something was wrong.
"What are you afraid of? I can easily break through these doors even if they're locked!"
But Nicola didn't care at all. She swung her Condensation Sword at the door, quickly turning the metal door into a mess, revealing what looked like a war room with a huge round table behind it.
"Which door should we take next?"
The war room was enormous, over a hundred square meters! There were doors in all four directions leading to other areas.
I was about to ask which way to go when suddenly the gold necklace guy broke away from us and ran toward the right exit.
"He's trying to escape, stop him!"
Thankfully, I was prepared and shouted while chasing after him. The gold necklace guy couldn't run very far at his speed, but suddenly someone blocked my path - looking closely, it was Nicola?
"What are you standing there for?"
At first, I couldn't process what was happening and instinctively urged Nicola to chase after him, but then I noticed a faint trace of light element aura coming from her head, which made my back go cold.
When Nicola was in her grey wing state, she shouldn't emit any light element aura, because during this time her body's elemental composition was completely taken over by the Wind Angel's will.
Normal magic attacks couldn't harm Nicola, but the light element aura coming from her was strangely familiar - it was the same trick Mamos had used to mentally control the church knights!
"Adrian!"
In this critical moment, I didn't have time to think and instinctively shouted while throwing myself sideways. I could clearly feel the Condensation Sword's blade, carrying an extremely distorted aura, slash past my hair. If I had hesitated for half a step, the consequences would have been unthinkable!
Nicola must have been controlled at some point. Although I had expected something might go wrong, I never thought it would become this troublesome!
Of course, whoever could control her must be a "System" expert skilled in mental attacks, like Mamos! Unfortunately, I couldn't find where the culprit was hiding. I could only keep dodging Nicola's attacks within the limited space.
Now there was good news and bad news. The good news was that probably because of being controlled, Nicola's speed and strength had decreased quite a bit, so I didn't feel too much pressure even without counterattacking. The bad news was that Adrian was also caught up fighting someone - looking carefully - it was actually that earth-style-dressed young boy fighting with palms we'd met before!
Could it be that Mamos and her group hadn't died in that destruction?
Fortunately, even in close combat without weapons, Adrian was clearly much more skilled than the palm boy. Not only did he suppress his opponent, but he also managed to shoot an arrow toward Nicola during a gap.
The effect was immediate - the arrow with the word for "Wake" written on it accurately grazed Nicola's back skin, leaving a blood mark and instantly returning her to consciousness.