While Ryoma was silently sighing over Yami's decision, Luck, who was beside him, suddenly stopped.
The battle maniac, who always wore an innocent smile, had a change in his expression. It was the extreme excitement of a hunter discovering prey.
"Found them."
Luck grinned, his smile brighter and more dangerous than ever before.
"Found what?" Asta asked curiously.
However, Luck did not answer. Crackling electricity erupted from his entire body, and his magic power instantly boiled.
"Lightning Creation Magic –"
He let out a low growl, and his feet were enveloped in dazzling lightning, forming a pair of lightning boots.
"Lightning God's Boots!"
The next second, Luck's figure transformed into a bolt of lightning, instantly vanishing from his original spot.
Boom!
That flash of lightning, at an incredible speed, rushed towards a certain opening in the distorted space, heading deeper into the dungeon, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Only a dumbfounded Asta and Noelle remained on the spot.
And Ryoma, who was completely unfazed and even felt like laughing.
"..."
"..."
"What on earth is he thinking?!"
She looked in the direction Luck had disappeared, utterly disbelieving what had happened.
"Are you kidding me?!"
"He left us here and ran off by himself?!"
"He's the leader, isn't he? Captain Yami clearly told him to take good care of the rookies." Noelle frantically scratched her head with both hands, constantly accusing him.
"Seriously, it's unbelievable."
In stark contrast to her anger was Asta. He looked up, gazing at the lightning flash that had long since vanished, his eyes sparkling with stars of admiration.
"Wow... so fast... so cool!"
"Cool your head! Idiot Asta!"
Noelle's fury instantly shifted target, roaring at Asta.
"Is this the time to be saying that! We've been abandoned!"
Ryoma watched all of this silently, unable to say anything.
Sure enough, it would be like this.
Luck's magic power sensing ability was top-notch. He must have detected the magic power fluctuations of those from the Diamond Kingdom.
Then, the only thought left in this battle maniac's mind was "fighting."
Teammates? Mission?
What are those?
Ryoma shook his head.
Relying on this guy as a leader was less reliable than expecting Asta to manifest magic power.
"That guy... he really ran fast." Ryoma grumbled inwardly, "My sensing range isn't that wide, so I can't catch up even if I wanted to now."
What's more, he was still carrying two burdens.
No, one and a half. Asta's combat power was decent, but for Noelle, he could only pray that she manages to cast defensive magic successfully.
"I hope he doesn't mess it up." Ryoma recalled the plot.
The person sent by the Diamond Kingdom this time was Lotus, who used smoke magic, a cunning and troublesome fellow.
While Luck was strong, he was sometimes too single-minded and too easily ambushed.
Forget it, thinking about these things now was useless.
"Stop complaining, Noelle." Ryoma spoke, interrupting her incessant nagging, "Let's keep going."
Noelle was still fuming, but seeing Ryoma's calm face, she could only swallow the rest of her words.
"Hmph!" She let out a heavy snort, which counted as acquiescence.
Asta, on the other hand, was full of enthusiasm. "Okay! We can find the treasure ourselves!"
Thus, this three-person team, abandoned by their leader, could only continue exploring deeper into the dungeon under Ryoma's guidance.
Ryoma walked in front, his brow slightly furrowed.
Without sensing magic, it was very troublesome in a place like this.
The spatial structure here was distorted. The paths seen with the naked eye were not necessarily real, and it was full of traps and disguises everywhere. They could only probe slowly, step by step.
Ryoma pondered. If all else failed, he would just blast a path with Ice Magic. But he wasn't sure if any problems would arise.
After passing through the area with floating rocks, they entered a new passage. The sight of this passage surprised everyone.
It looked like a corridor made of countless smooth mirrors.
Walls, ceilings, floors, all were made of mirror-like material.
Countless reflections of Asta, Noelle, and Ryoma appeared in all directions, and light refracted endlessly between the mirrors, making them dizzy and even a little nauseous.
"This... what is this place?"
Noelle subconsciously clutched her grimoire, vigilantly looking around.
"So many of me!"
Asta, on the other hand, curiously waved at his reflection in the mirror.
Ryoma didn't speak. He felt that the magic power flow here was somewhat abnormal. These mirrors were probably not just simple decorations.
"Be careful." He reminded.
However, the warning came a step too late.
Noelle, somewhat distracted by this, stepped down without noticing that the mirror floor tile beneath her foot was slightly looser than the surrounding ones.
Click.
Noelle's body stiffened.
"Oh no!"
Almost at the instant her thought arose, the mirrors of the entire corridor suddenly lit up with magical light.
Buzz!
Countless magic circles appeared on the mirrors, and a large amount of magic power began to gather, aimed at the three people in the center of the corridor.
The next second, destructive magic power beams were about to shoot out from all directions.
"Whoa!"
Asta was greatly alarmed, instinctively about to raise his demon-slayer sword but it was a little too late.
The trap's activation speed was too fast, and its range too wide.
Just at this critical moment, a bone-chilling cold instantly erupted.
"Frost Sleet Prison."
Ryoma's voice was calm, and he pressed one hand forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In an instant, several giant ice walls, as thick as city walls, rose from the ground out of thin air. These ice walls, centered around the three, were erected between them and the glowing mirrors, forming an impenetrable ice barrier.
The next moment, countless scorching magic power beams fiercely struck the ice walls.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dull thuds resounded incessantly, the ice walls vibrated violently, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared where they were struck, yet not a single beam could penetrate.
Hot steam rose on the outer side of the ice walls, and the temperature of the entire corridor seemed to be divided into two extremes of ice and fire.
A few seconds later, the beam attacks stopped, and there were no other sounds around. Only then did Ryoma dissipate the ice walls.
Outside, the ground and walls were covered with scorched pits blasted by the beams, a shocking sight.
Asta looked at the surroundings, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.
"That... that was close..."
If it weren't for Ryoma, they would probably have been shot full of holes just now.
Noelle's face was a little pale, with a hint of lingering fear.
Ryoma turned around and glanced at the two still in a daze.
"Try to be careful." He said calmly, "In this area, your eyes might not be very useful."
Noelle's cheeks flushed slightly. She bit her lip, recovering from the embarrassment of almost making a huge mistake.
She looked at Ryoma's back, her eyes somewhat complex.
This guy, who usually seemed so lazy... was actually so reliable at a crucial moment.
But her pride as royalty prevented her from speaking words of thanks.
She turned her head away and mumbled in a very low voice, "...Hmph, at least he was timely."
Asta, on the other hand, expressed his shock and admiration without reservation. "Wow! Ryoma, you're amazing! So quick to react!"
Ryoma ignored Asta's flattery, his attention returned to the mirrors.
"So that's it, deceiving vision through physical means and linked traps?"
This corridor was itself a giant trap. It used mirror refraction to disrupt the intruder's sense of direction and distance, and then triggered an inescapable attack through hidden pressure mechanisms.
And it couldn't be violently destroyed, otherwise, it could easily cause a more powerful explosion, making Asta's demon-slayer sword not very useful. Removing magic from one spot would immediately trigger others.
Ryoma's lips curved into an almost imperceptible arc.
"Interesting."
He extended a finger, and a wisp of ice-blue magic power gathered at its tip. Soon, a lifelike ice crystal butterfly fluttered up from his fingertip.
"Go."
The ice butterfly flapped its wings, silently flying deeper into the corridor. It did not follow the seemingly safe central path but rather moved slowly along one wall.
After flying a dozen meters, the ice butterfly's wing inadvertently touched a certain mirror surface.
Buzz!
Several mirrors in front lit up again, and several beams instantly shot out, shattering the fragile ice butterfly.
"Just as I thought."
Ryoma understood.
He said to the two behind him, "Follow me, don't step randomly."
(End of Chapter)
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