At the Aldridge Empire’s seaside resort spot, Oldrango City’s coastal region, the Meredith Artificial Ruins at the center of Phoenix Island, the Human Twelve Academies’ “Light of Dawn” event was currently being held in this area. As the designer of the venue, Empress Manya Felan of the Manasvir Empire did not conceal her identity as a transmigrator and deliberately designed many civilized buildings that could only be found on Earth.
The Meredith Artificial Ruins are divided into several areas with different buildings in each section. There was an Egyptian pyramid section, Mayan temple pyramid section, Konark Sun Temple section, and so on. They were basically all buildings from Earth’s civilizations. Bella was currently in Olsylvia Academy’s secondary team. The main team was left to President Ivy to lead while Bella brought the secondary team to action.
Other than President Ivy, Holy Swordsman Cynthia was also in the main team so as to successfully achieve the attention pulling effect without Kriss, Little sister Lisha, Assassin Noreya and Assassin Lola. Bella put all the Olsylvia Academy’s famous students from the martial department in the main team. Namely, “Dusk Knight” Daphne, “Thunder Knight” Aurora, and Dragon Knight Natasha
There were only five people at Bella’s side, making them the smallest team among the rest. Originally “Golden Knight” Princess Irene and “Retribution Knight” Princess Luce had planned to come with. Seeing that Lisha was there as well, they wanted to go as sisters. However, Bella politely rejected their kind intentions. They didn’t need too many people in the secondary team. She planned to have the main team act as cover for the “Light of Dawn” event while the secondary team captured the points.
Olyslvia Academy’s main team also had several Demon Kings hidden amongst them. Blood Demon King Eleanor, Sky Demon King Dolores, Ocean Demon King Victoria, and Dark Night Demon King Aggy were all there. Demon Kings were all basically trained in both martial and magic abilities so it wasn’t a violation for them to participate in this competition. Based on the arrangement, the main team would be heading to the Sun Temple, while the secondary team Bella is leading will head to the ancient Egyptian pyramids section.
There were relatively few teams at the ancient Egyptian pyramid section. Since the environment here is very stifling, the place where they had to light the Holy Lamps was also difficult to get to. Respectively, these were the obelisk at the top of the pyramid, the tombs of the pharaoh and the queen in the catacombs, as well as Anubis, the God of Death’s resting place deep underground in the pyramid. This was practically a tomb raiding.
Today’s contestants were basically all girls, and girls didn’t really enjoy coming to catacomb locations like these to compete. Even if the number here was very small, not many were willing to come. The Mayan Pyramids were also a region with catacombs, but there were more people there since the places that needed to be lit were all above ground unlike this place where the girls were required to go deep underground.
The pyramid zone was practically empty when Bella and the others rushed over. Based on the records, only a few teams had come here, then basically no one else came after that. At the area outside the pyramid, Bella and the girls found the men from the Manasvir Empire’s Royal Secret Guard who seemed to be waiting there on purpose for Bella and the others to arrive.
“Princess Manasviel, something is wrong with this place so it’s better if you don’t go in. The few teams of girls that went in previously lost contact with the others and we haven’t seen them come out yet. We didn’t even see any traces of the Holy Lamp being lit! Even the investigation team we just sent in earlier has yet to come out.”
“Seriously? Didn’t Manya Felan say that she didn’t add any weird beasts to the venue design?”
“They weren’t added for the girls’ events, but not long after the event began, we discovered that this place has changed to the boys’ mode. For them, Demonic Beasts will be added to the venue.”
“Is that so? Then you better not let the others enter. We’ll just go in by ourselves. Let the games continue!”
As soon as she heard that the pyramid venue had some “extra programs” added, Bella’s interest was immediately raised. She didn’t even care about the Royal Secret Guard’s persuasion and led her team into the pyramid. The one responsible for holding the Holy Lamp in their team was Assassin Noreya. If any problems arise, then this strongest assassin will be able to escape quickly and ensure that the Holy Lamp is not seized by anyone else.
It was currently daytime and it was bright out as well. However, there was a very oppressive atmosphere throughout the entire pyramid section. The teams who came to participate in the event here are all martial class professions that have no knowledge about magic. If there was a priest in the team, then they would be able to sense the ominous atmosphere in the air.
“Lola, go and scout the roads ahead. Retreat if you find any danger!”
“Understood. I’m on my way!”
After receiving the order, Assassin Lola entered sneak mode and quickly disappeared. They had two assassins in the secondary team, the part-time archer Noreya that had to watch after the team’s Holy Lamp did not go forward to scout, Bella gave the task to Assassin Lola instead. Lola is Bella’s Little Sister Lisha’s best friend. After joining Bella’s camp and gaining the power of a Demon King, her strength surpassed that of the original strongest assassin in Olsylvia Academy, Student Union President Ivy of Olivia Wizard Academy, one of the academy’s branch campuses, and was competent enough for this difficult talk.
After Lola left, Bella and the girls waited in place. Bella and Lisha carefully observed the pyramid area. As strong people, they always got the feeling that this pyramid was a little strange. Bella opened a connection with Lola on her magic contact crystal to confirm her situation, but the image from the crystal was very unstable. There seems to be a very strong source of power interfering with everything in the field here at the pyramid.
“Mistress Bella, I’ve confirmed the location of the entrance. There aren’t any Demonic Beasts, come over!”
Assassin Lola sent them back a safe message very soon. Bella and the girls immediately moved towards the pyramid’s entrance. At the entrance, other than Assassin Lola who was on standby, Bella also saw a bunch of Demonic Beast’s corpses littering the ground. The Demonic Beasts that appeared here have already been cleaned up by the previous teams of girls and the Royal Secret Guards. They could tell from looking at the fatal wounds on the bodies of the Demonic Beasts. But that was strange. Since the Demonic Beasts have already been dealt with, then the girls should have lit the Holy Lamp by now. Why hasn’t anyone come out yet?
Bella and the girls walked into the pyramid with questions in their minds. As for the route to light the Holy Lamp, Bella chose to go from the bottom up. First, she will light up the three locations in the underground catacombs then square up the top. Even though this place is a replica of a pyramid and not a real tomb, Bella and the girls still encountered some trouble along the way. They couldn’t find the end of the tunnel, and after walking for a long time, Bella felt like they were walking in place.
“There’s something funny going on with this tunnel. Damn it, if I’d known then I would’ve secretly brought a mage in here.”
“Big Sister Bella, look, what are those? So scary!”
“Demonic Beasts? No, I don’t feel the aura of Demonic Cores from them. There’s no mana in them at all.”
A large group of humanoid monsters appeared in front of Bella and the girls, blocking their path. These humanoid monsters looked translucent and they were just about as tall as an ordinary human. They looked more like shadows or something similar. They shambled over to Bella and the others just like the zombies in a post-apocalyptic flick, and Dragon Knight Lisha who was standing at the forefront had already prepared a defensive posture, ready to launch an attack on those monsters.
“Lisha, wait. They aren’t monsters. They’re human…Are they from our side?”
Bella stopped Dragon Knight Lisha from attacking in time. She took out the “Tears of Truth” secret potion from her storage ring and poured it on the ground. This was a potion she had “borrowed” last night from the Augustus Academy’s President Elshelly and the beautiful alchemists, as well as many others. Since they were allowed to carry potions in the “Light of Dawn” event, Bella borrowed a large number of mysterious potions with all sorts of different functions from President Elshelly specifically to deal with the various unexpected situations that they will encounter in the competition.
The real faces of the humanoid shadows were revealed by the reflection of the “Tears of Truth” on the ground. They were the very Royal Secret Guards sent into the pyramid to search for the girls. They seemed to be under some sort of strange spell and appeared to be monsters in the eyes of Bella and the others. Perhaps Bella and the girls also looked like monsters in their eyes.
According to the rules of the “Light of Dawn” event, they can only light up the points. Harming another or taking their lives is considered against the rules. In order to qualify for the event, Bella and the girls avoided fighting and retreated backwards. They couldn’t seem to find the end of this tunnel. After running for a while, they still never saw the entrance where they came from, while the “monsters” behind them were also chasing them at a steady pace.
“I know, Bella. Give me your hand. I’ll lead the way. You girls just close your eyes and follow. Lola, please take charge of the rear.”
“Noreya, what secret did you find?”
“There’s no time to explain, just close your eyes. There’s some sort of visual trick in here. If Lola and I use our assassin’s special closed-eye sneak mode, then we won’t be affected by the island’s visual illusions.”
Bella and the girls closed their eyes. With Noreya at the front and Lola watching at the back, the group of five successfully got out of the tunnel with the illusion magic. Noreya was turning left and right very aggressively, then she kicked down a wooden door and took Bella out of the pyramid’s catacomb tunnels. After getting out of the illusory area and opening their eyes, Bella and the girls found that their vision had returned to normal.
It turns out that the straight-looking tunnel was in fact a short sloped channel with many forks on both sides they could go into. Being confused by the visions, Bella and the girls couldn’t see the forks on both sides while the Royal Secret Guards who came in previously to look for the girls were also walking up and down in place. They didn’t realize that they weren’t going forward at all. It’s the same as how people on Earth end up walking in circles in dark areas, they can’t tell that they’ve fallen into a pit.
As for the culprit who caused all this, Bella and the girls found it in the artificial pyramid’s underground catacombs. The two coffins placed inside were now empty when the relief sculpture of the imitation of the Pharaoh himself which is supposed to serve as the Pharaoh and the Queen’s coffin in the event should have been there. Now, a huge red flower had grown there instead.
The flower belongs to the category of Demonic Beings. The flower was split into three with a miserable-looking human face on the faces of each flower. The gender of the face could not be judged, only a human outline could vaguely be seen. When Bella saw it, the faces of the flowers all looked over. Bella could feel something like a sight on her body, constantly sweeping over the girls.
Bella quickly judged based on the aura that this thing was not an Abyss Demonic Being. The type of aura the Abyss Demonic Beings gives off is purely terror, while these flowers gave off the feeling of resentment and curses. If she wasn’t wrong, then these guys are Demonic Beings from the Cursed Land, not Abyss Demonic Beings. Even though the two of them shared the same attributes as dark Demonic Beings, they still had some differences in the details.
Most Abyss Demonic Beings do not have human outlines on their faces, while the Demonic Beings from the Cursed Land basically do. The former is closer to Demonic Beings while the latter more like mutated humans. As for how this flower-shaped Demonic Being escaped from the Cursed Land, Bella had no idea. Even though there was a gate to the Cursed Land near the waters of Alan Island, according to the information she had, the Cursed Gate shouldn’t be fully open yet.
“Bella, this flower is a Hell Mandala, but it seems to be mutated…The seed underground is the real body, the flowers aren’t…Ah, be careful!”
Before Kriss could finish her warning, the Hell Mandala attacked. They saw all three heads facing Bella at the same time before it let out a piercing shriek. The Mandala’s scream was so piercing that Bella’s eardrums almost felt like they were going to shatter. In addition to that, a strange fragrance filled the air. Turns out that all the illusions were the work of these Hell Mandalas. Bella and the girls only kept the strength of the Human Race and didn’t use their demonic powers, so they accidentally got caught when they entered and nearly got wiped out.
Other than the scream, a lot of vine-like things popped out from the ground nearby. These guys clearly came straight out of a hentai, they even had the tentacles prepared and such. A set of jeweled dragon claws suddenly morphed out of Bella’s hands. It was the power she borrowed from her contract with the Gem Dragon Queen.
“Stop screaming, it’s ungodly. Keep it down a little!”
Using the Gem Dragon Claws, Bella pierced straight through the two tentacles that approached her before quickly injecting the Gem Dragon’s energy into it. The originally green vines quickly metallized as the metal energy seeped into it. In order not to be metallized, the Hell Mandala broke off the two vines. The Hell Mandala had already suffered a loss on their first encounter. It was the first time it had encountered prey that could resist. The previous ones all ended up draining all their strength walking back and forth in the tunnel after being hit by its hallucinogenic pollen, so it was easily able to catch those humans without wasting much effort.
Without waiting for the Hell Mandala to think about whether it should withdraw or keep on fighting, Bella’s teammates reacted one after another and quickly counterattacked. Since there were only their own here, then Lisha and the girls wouldn’t have to bother hiding. Dozens of floating swords appeared from behind Kriss and they all shot towards the Hell Mandala like missiles.
The killing power of this move was even more perverse than Bella’s previous move. In the blink of an eye, all the vines that the Hell Mandala stretched out were either cut off or nailed in place. Assassin Noreya and Lola didn’t have to fight. They just had to protect their team’s “Holy Lamp”.
Dragon Knight Lisha was unwilling to lag behind and transformed her right hand into Demonic Dragon Emperor Alisha’s golden dragon claw, then she rushed over with her entire body shining with a golden light. Since the vines have already been crippled by Kriss’s swords, the Hell Mandala couldn’t find a way to protect itself in close combat and allowed Lisha to get close.
“You better run back where you came from, buddy!”
With a “Dragon Punch”, Lisha busted one of the Hell Mandala’s heads in one hit. After its head was hit, goop similar to a mess of blood and brains spilled out from the head similar to a cracked skull. Fortunately, Lisha’s whole body was protected by the Demonic Dragon Emperor’s golden energy shield and didn’t get any on her. However, it was enough to gross her out. Bella looked at the somewhat strange look on her face and knew that she was going to have nightmares tonight.
The two remaining heads of the Hell Mandala quickly went underground, leaving behind only the two empty coffins at the scene. The Hell Mandala had emerged from deeper underground. Bella and the girls arrived at the coffins where Assassin Noreya lit up the “Holy Lamp”. The competition was still going on. Only, the other possible opponents from the other academies have already been “settled” by the Hell Mandala, so Bella and the girls did not encounter any interference during the competition.
“Now we have two points. Sure enough, it’s way faster to fight a Demonic Being than a student. Uh, Lisha. What’s wrong with you?”
“Big Sister Bella, when I blew up that flower just now, it looked just like a human head. It was so…”
“Don’t think too much about it, Little Sister Lisha. It’s just a Demonic Being.”
“Lisha, it’s just an illusion. That’s a Demonic Being. Bella is right.”
Bella looked at the bloody chunks left on the ground. They really looked just like human brains. So as to prevent her little sister Lisha from feeling guilty, the other girls tacitly complied with Bella’s “performance”. Kriss may not know, but Assassin Noreya and Lola have already killed people, so they knew the answer at a glance whether they were human brains or not, but they also kept silent.
The Manasvir Empire’s Royal Secret Guards, who had woken up from the illusion, rushed over to Bella’s side at once. They all felt very ashamed at failing their duties earlier. Facing Princess Manasviel (Bella), they didn’t know what to say for a moment. The scene fell at once into a bewildering silence, but it was Bella who broke the silence first. She pointed towards a hole on the ground and asked the guards some questions.
“You did not fail your duties in any way so do not be nervous. By the way, what’s under this place?”
“Princess Manasviel, the place underneath is where the first Holy Lamp was lit, the God of Death Anubis’s burial chamber. I remember now, the team of girls that disappeared after coming in here were the first to enter that Holy Lamp lighting point.”
“Is that so? I understand. As for you, you don’t have to go down. Tell me the fastest way down there and then wait here.”
