Kotaro Fuuma asked, “What do you mean, Hebiko?”
Hebiko Nohara replied, “Erm… How should I explain… I felt that Sir Ye is hesitating…”
Kotaro Fuuma replied, “Ya, I get it. After entering the maze, Sir Ye has been hesitating in leading and making a decision.”
Shikanusuke Raiden asked, “Isn’t he giving us a chance to have more training?”
Kotaro Fuuma shook his head, “At first, I had the same thought. But after seeing the dragon’s head, I changed my mind. Sir Ye has been hiding his strength.”
Upon hearing Kotaro Fuuma’s statement, everyone was silent.
Zhu Nai, who had never joined their conversation, voiced, “Well, I think those questions are not for us to worry. Shouldn’t we follow him?”
Kotaro Fuuma, Shikanusuke Raiden, and Hebiko Nohara nodded and continued to follow Ye.
Ye, who was leading the way, knew their conversation. It’s just never mind for him. Ye indeed didn’t want to interfere with the event. For Ye, the fate couldn’t be changed. What's meant to be will be.
***
A church that had wedding decorations was where the map directed. There was no trace of battle or any guests on the outside. Ye entered the church, and a statue of God appeared in front of him.
The statue was around five meters tall. It was placed inside the wall and oriented toward the door. The design of the statue was a God embracing a group of children. What was weird was that everyone was smiling and crying at the same time. God was wearing a thorned crown and embraced the children with the thorns around it.
At the same time, Ye noticed a weird presence from the statue. Ye had a quick guess that the presence could affect the students. Furthermore, the statue may have a relation with the mutated monsters.
Ye reminded the students, “Don’t look into the statue.”
And Ye thought, ‘Is it from a celestial being? Or an artificial?’
Without giving it too much thought, Ye continued to survey the environment. The wedding was decorated with roses and white silk. What was peculiar was that both the roses and the silk had given off a faint presence of a life source.
Zhu Nai raised her voice to inform Ye, “Sir Ye, there is a pit hole here!”
Ye rushed to Zhu Nai’s location, behind the statue, “Well done. Stay there.”
The pit was huge, allowing three of them to jump down at the same time. Ye inspected the pit hole and couldn’t reach the bottom of the pit with his Yuan Li. Ye guessed that the distance was prolonged, as if something was stretching for the Yuan Li to be unable to reach it.
Ye shook his head, “My Investigation is unable to reach the bottom. I need to enter the pit hole to verify.”
Zhu Nai nodded, “Sir, I will follow you.”
Kotaro Fuuma, “Sir, count me in.”
Hebiko Nohara waved her hand, “Me too!!! Me too!!!”
Shikanusuke Raiden, “Don’t leave me here alone…”
Ye sighed, “Fine… Follow me…”
In the end, the students followed Ye to check the status in the hole. The thoughts of everyone were different. Zhu Nai wanted to assist. Kotaro Fuuma wished to prove himself. Hebiko Nohara and Shikanusuke Raiden were wary that Ye did something else.
***
After entering the pit hole, the environment was different from before. The wall was dark red. The texture of the wall was similar to raw meat but tougher. Multiple indistinct faces were stuck to the wall.
A notification appeared in front of them.
‘Congratulations, warriors.
Welcome to the true Land of Bliss.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
It is here that you can fulfill every desire you want.
All you need to do is accept the gift.
Then, complete the ritual led by the gift.
Finally, your wish will come true.’
Ye had a wicked smile on his face, “So here it is. The maze’s true face.”
Ye held his Yuan Li controller on his left, and a blade was formed.
Ye continued, “I wouldn’t slow down. There will be no rest. So be sure to keep up with me.”
The students nodded and answered, “Yes, sir.”
And followed Ye, who had run with his full speed.
As if knowing their existence, the mutated monsters swarmed to stop them. The mutated monsters in here were more humanlike. Having a humanoid body, some parts of a mutated monster, and various parts of victims. Most of the mutated monsters were naked. Their genitals were exposed. Some mutated monsters that had “shirts” on them. Their “shirts” were made by the victims.
Ye, “Well, they are just over eighteen. Doesn’t mean you should show them everywhere.”
Ye swung the Yuan Li controller. The blade could be extended and bent, as if it were a whip, not a blade. Upon contacting the blade, those mutated monsters were slashed into pieces. And from pieces became dust.
Just like that, those mutated monsters were wiped out without any effort. The tunnel full of mutated monsters was cleared. Well, it was natural. Since the tunnel was narrow and the mutated monsters’ level was low. All attacks from Ye landed on the mutated monster. Furthermore, the mutated monsters pushed back and squeezed. Both damage stacks and killed them.
Kotaro Fuuma asked, “Sir, are you always this strong?”
Ye shook his head, “Nope. Those are failures. Plus, their levels and stats are the same as those above.”
Ye headed to where Asagi Hasegawa was after replying to Kotaro Fuuma’s question.
Zhu Nai informed Ye, “Sir, the bracelet still cannot be used.”
Ye nodded, “Thanks for the information.”
A roar interrupted everyone's action, “AArrgh!!!”
The roar was a mixed voice, which Ye couldn’t identify.
Ye had a bad feeling and asked, “Ming, can you verify the source of the roar?”
Ming answered, “Master, sorry to inform you that it was not possible.”
Ye, “Never mind.”
Ye continued on his march toward the direction of the roar.
***
When Ye arrived, he saw Asagi and Sakura Hasegawa’s team fighting with a monster and a female.
The monster had three heads and six arms. The mouth on each head was split, and a long, forked tongue was stuck out. It had purple scales and red fur. It used its claws as a weapon. Even though it was higher than three meters, its movement was faster than most of them.
As for the female, she had a raspberry hair color and a bob hairstyle. She used gauntlets with claws and chains as a weapon. She wore an army uniform from another country. Her role was an assassin, but her skills were otherwise.
Asagi Hasegawa commanded, “Focus on killing the monster. Xue Yue (血月) won't be a problem after it is defeated.”
Both teams were about to have a second confrontation. Ye noticed that the monster was only targeting Asagi Hasegawa and Xue Yue. Zhu Nai, Kotaro Fuuma, Hebiko Nohara, and Shikanusuke Raiden arrived next to Ye.
Zhu Nai asked while panting, “Sir… Should we… Join them?”
Ye didn’t answer Zhu Nai’s question and instantly appeared in front of the monster. Where Ye was in the middle of both teams, Asagi Hasegawa's team, Xue Yue, and the monster.
Ye released his Deterrent with no restraint. An invisible pressure was surging from Ye. Some flesh fell from the wall, and everyone was kneeling. In the five seconds, everyone had felt suffocation, blind, deaf, and mute. They were stuck in a loop. Where they had all those feelings and recovered from the suffering. Moreover, everyone had a bizarre debuff on them.
Emotions Cage, a debuff that continuously enlarged the emotion that the victim felt. Which meant the next emotion they received would double up. What made it worse was that it could stack up.
All of them were kneeling and trembling. An exception for Zhu Nai, Kotaro Fuuma, Hebiko Nohara, and Shikanusuke Raiden. They were not in Ye’s target area. They were dumbfounded and tried to read the situation.
As if all the things had nothing to do with Ye, he continued to get closer to the monster.
Ye gave an order to Ming, “Ming, hold them off.”
Ming emerged from Ye’s shadow and answered, “Master, are you intent on using that? That is your… I know, master. I will fulfill the order.”
The distance between Ye and the monster was an arm's length. Ye looked at the monster and caressed its cheek.
Ye asked in a sorrowful voice, “So this is your choice... Love indeed is sacred for you…”
Asagi Hasegawa was furious and was about to get up. An external pressure was on her body and pinned her down.
The pressure was Ming’s doing. Ming released the dragon's intimidation to pin Asagi Hasegawa down.
Asagi Hasegawa shouted, “What are you doing, Ye? Are you giving up on being a citizen of WuJi?”
Sakura Hasegawa, who had been following Asagi Hasegawa until now, stopped her action. She was puzzled and looked at Asagi Hasegawa. Even in a state of anger or impatience, her sister wouldn’t express it in public. It was even more impossible when she was in front of her students. What made her more confused was that her sister, Asagi Hasegawa, blackmailed Ye. She knew that her sister despised blackmail the most.
Xue Yue, taken by surprise, said, “What is this?”
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