They didn't understand.
Before entering, the head had confidently stated that as long as their two families united, eliminating one Crossbridge Academy would be a piece of cake.
The students of Crossbridge Academy were nothing special.
With both families working together, they should easily be able to wipe out Crossbridge Academy.
But now, how was it that instead of launching an attack, they had to hide?
And they had to endure until the secret realm ended.
The Mistriver Realm had a time limit. They only had three days.
Once those three days passed, everyone in the secret realm would be forcibly removed.
If they could just hold out for three days, they would be able to safely escape outside.
Surely, once outside, the students of Crossbridge Academy would consider their reputation and would refrain from attacking them directly.
However, the mission entrusted to them by the head had completely failed.
Not only had they been unable to eliminate the people from Crossbridge Academy, but they also lost contact with their own family members.
Now, they could only hide in this cave and quietly wait for the secret realm to conclude.
They could even imagine that those from Crossbridge Academy were surely reaping a great deal from the secret realm, while their own gains… were zero.
Given their current predicament, what more could they say? It was already good enough to be alive.
"By the way, how did you House Lunastone find this cave?" a member from House Windwhisper asked in confusion.
They had all entered together.
In this concealed terrain, with ample internal space, their luck should have yielded greater rewards if they had been exploring the secret realm normally.
As this question was raised, a young man from House Lunastone replied in puzzlement, "Isn't it that girl from your House Windwhisper who mentioned this cave?"
"She's clearly from your House Lunastone!" the members of House Windwhisper insisted.
As the two groups faced each other, they realized something was off.
"Where is that girl who brought us here?" they simultaneously thought. If they could find her, all the truth would be revealed. But no matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find her.
"Wait, there must be something wrong! A living person can't just disappear into thin air."
"Could it be… that we were set up? The situation isn't as it seems; we've all been played by that girl!"
"Oh no, if the other side could pull off such a trick, it means one thing… the battle in the secret realm is actually at a stalemate, and the other side used this tactic to trick us into this cave!"
"This is all to quickly weaken the strength of our two families."
"Damn it, we've been tricked!"
After realizing this, the group hurriedly tried to leave the nameless cave.
"We must leave immediately; the battle may be reaching a critical point. Only we can seize Crossbridge Academy!"
This statement instantly revitalized the confidence of everyone in the cave. They became excited.
"Right! Absolutely!"
"We have to leave and defeat Crossbridge Academy!"
Then the group moved toward the cave's entrance.
At the entrance, there was no magic barrier; it was simply blocked by some vegetation and stones. With a little magical force, sunlight poured in.
The feeling of seeing sunlight again was truly delightful.
The group eagerly left the cave, wanting to join the battle. However, what they encountered next left them dumbfounded.
Outside the cave, a variety of spell beasts were resting on the ground.
At that moment, these spell beasts were lying still, seemingly asleep.
The man at the front even broke out in a cold sweat.
What the hell! Had they stumbled into a nest of spell beasts?
Why were there so many different kinds here?
There were not only those running on the ground but also some flying in the air.
Those winged spell beasts were also resting in the area.
There were gaps between the spell beasts; they weren't too close together, maintaining what looked like a safe distance.
This also gave the group a chance to escape.
As long as they were careful not to disturb the resting spell beasts, they might be able to slip through the gaps and escape.
At this moment, the group cursed the girl who had brought them there.
They couldn't understand why neither side had suspected her identity at the time and had taken her for someone trustworthy.
None of them recognized the girl, so they assumed she belonged to the other family.
Among the twenty people who had entered, they only recognized a few of the tier-silver peak experts from their own family.
They had all been grateful when she led them to the cave. But now, all they felt was endless regret and resentment.
How could there be so many spell beasts?
Why hadn't they seen this many when they arrived?
The group moved cautiously, not daring to make a sound. If there were only one spell beast, they might have been able to unite and defeat it. Worst case, they could escape.
But there were at least a dozen spell beasts in front of them. They wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between these beasts.
They tread lightly, trying to slip away from the edge of the spell beasts' resting place. But fate had other plans.
Just as they were about to leave, they spotted a girl standing between two spell beasts.
A torrent of emotions surged through them: anger, humiliation… Complex feelings flashed through their minds.
But ultimately, their fear of the spell beasts made them realize this was not the time to take revenge on the girl. Once they were safe, they would definitely kill her!
She was most likely a member of Crossbridge Academy.
So the group could only cast angry and resentful glances at the girl. If glares could kill, she would have died a thousand times.
The girl seemed completely unconcerned about waking the spell beasts. She was running back and forth in the gaps between the two spell beasts, occasionally glancing back at them with a playful grimace.
After fully provoking their emotions, she made a shushing gesture, signaling them with her hand to keep quiet. She pointed at the surrounding spell beasts, warning them that any loud noise would wake them up.
The group's emotions were again doused by the fear of the spell beasts. Gradually, they ignored the girl's taunts.
Realizing this, the girl changed her strategy and picked up a stone from the ground, throwing it toward them.
The first target was a man from House Windwhisper. He hadn't expected her to throw a stone. Caught off guard, it hit him squarely on the forehead.
In the next second, blood flowed down, obstructing his vision from one eye.
The crucial point was that he couldn't shout in pain or use magic to heal himself. Using magic amidst so many spell beasts would lead to a terrible outcome!
And now, with blood streaming down, he desperately wanted to kill that girl. Even if it meant being devoured by the spell beasts…
But considering that he was not alone and there were others behind him, the man held back.
The girl ran to another side, picked up another stone, and threw it again.
The problem was, they could only use their hands or bodies to catch the stones, preventing them from bouncing onto the spell beasts, lest they wake them up…
How could there be such a detestable person!