“It looks like we're getting close to the core,” Ilu murmured to herself, looking at the tiger's carcass in her hands.
“What core?” Li Xiuman asked.
“The center of this labyrinth. I came here specifically for the object located at its center.”
Li Xiuman tactfully remained quiet.
“It seems we don't have time to dillydally. That guy Keith has probably gotten ahead of us.”
“Keith?”
“That damn missionary who just won't die.”
“Are you ready?”
“Eh?”
Before Li Xiuman could voice his confusion, he realized he had already been tucked under her arm.
When did that happen?!
It was so fast he couldn't even see her move!
Feeling her soft flesh... yeah, right.
He could only feel her hard armor clashing against his own hard bones.
“You're so skinny.” Ilu hefted Li Xiuman a bit.
“...”
“Yeah.”
What exactly do you expect from a skeleton?
Then, the scenery on both sides retreated at breakneck speed. To Li Xiuman, she was practically the Flash.
So fast!
Was this the speed of a top-tier Warrior?
Li Xiuman gripped his staff tightly. At this moment, he was completely functioning as a humanoid magic lantern, held by Ilu for illumination.
Ilu sped through the passageways like lightning, the surrounding sights blurring into nothingness.
By the time they came to a halt and he was set back on the ground, his legs felt a bit weak.
“We're here,” Ilu said.
Li Xiuman looked up and raised his staff. Under the shining light, a magnificent crystal palace appeared before them.
“This is the center of the labyrinth?”
“Yes. Let's go in.”
Standing beside Li Xiuman to protect him, Ilu pushed open the palace's massive double doors.
A blast of cold wind rushed out.
Lurking behind the cold wind was a crystal monster.
It looked like a crystal golem.
And there wasn't just one, but a massive horde of crystal golems, rushing at them all at once.
Li Xiuman could sense that any single one of these golems could easily chop him to pieces.
“Provide light!” Ilu took a step forward, blocking him from the front. She put on her helmet, concealing her breathtakingly beautiful face.
Li Xiuman hastily raised his staff high and funneled mana into it, illuminating the entire crystal palace with brilliant light.
And Ilu moved as well.
In an instant, she vanished from sight.
Only a purple phantom could be seen weaving through the crystal golems.
Wherever the phantom flashed past, the crystal golems shattered into piles of debris.
“Keep up!” Ilu shouted.
A path paved with the fragments of crystal golems had already been carved out in front of Li Xiuman.
He hurriedly followed.
Continuing forward, they finally reached the exact center of the palace.
There stood a throne crafted entirely from a single massive piece of crystal.
Thrust into the throne was a massive greatsword that looked as though it were made of ice.
Still tightly gripping the hilt of the greatsword was a skeletal arm.
Ilu, as a purple shadow, dashed toward the greatsword.
It was obvious that the greatsword was her target.
However, just as she was about to touch it, the skeletal hand gripping the ice sword suddenly let go and lunged toward Ilu.
Ilu apparently hadn't expected the skeletal arm to suddenly move either.
Instead of dodging, she swung her own greatsword with immense force, cleaving at the skeletal arm.
With a loud clack, the skeletal arm was knocked flying.
Ilu stood firmly before the throne. She took off her helmet, staring at the ice sword thrust into the crystal throne.
“Is it finally mine?”
Ilu thrust her own greatsword into the ground beside her and reached out, gripping the hilt of the ice sword.
A blast of freezing wind instantly erupted from the ice sword, howling outward in all directions.
A layer of frost immediately covered Ilu's gauntlets, and her purple hair whipped around in the icy gale.
The frost crept up her gauntlets, quickly blanketing her entire armor.
Yet Ilu did not let go. Instead, she tightened her grip on the hilt and began to pull the ice sword out, inch by inch.
“Not bad, not bad.”
“Just a little more effort.”
A golden figure slowly descended, floating beside the throne and clapping.
It was none other than the missionary, Keith.
The freezing wind swept toward Keith, only to be deflected to either side by the protective golden holy light surrounding him.
“What do you want?” Ilu spoke.
“We agreed before—a fair competition.”
“So, I'm waiting for you to pull the sword out, and then we can compete fairly.”
“After all, not everyone possesses monstrous stamina and strength like you.”
“With these frail arms and legs of mine, I'd probably freeze to death the moment I touched it.”
As Keith spoke, he rolled up his sleeve to show off his pale, slender arm.
Of course, Li Xiuman's arm was much paler and more slender.
Ilu snorted coldly. “Humpf, once I pull this sword out, you are more than welcome to try.”
“Haha, this sword isn't that simple.”
“Do you feel your strength slowly draining away?”
Ilu didn't say anything, but her expression grew grave.
“The Glacial Seal Sword, a famous sword of the Lantes United Kingdom. It was once the personal sword of the Lantes King, later bestowed upon the founding knight, Albert.”
“It possesses the power of sealing, gradually locking away the strength of anyone who touches it.”
“By the time you pull the sword free, your power will probably be completely sealed.”
“Though it might not be a very honorable victory, the Church is determined to obtain this sword.”
Watching Keith converse with Ilu from the throne,
Li Xiuman kept muttering under his breath, “Can't see me, can't see me, can't see me.”
At the same time, he carefully crept closer to the skeletal arm that Ilu had knocked away.
Fortunately, the skeletal arm wasn't far from him.
Soon, Li Xiuman made his way to the skeletal arm. With a slight hook of his foot, he flipped it into his hand.
This was a right arm bone.
Li Xiuman carefully detached his own right arm bone.
Just then, Keith looked in Li Xiuman's direction.
“We really are destined, aren't we?”
“Since we share such fate, how about believing in the Goddess of Light?”
“Let him leave. He only fell into this hidden labyrinth by accident.” Ilu, still pulling the sword, finally spoke.
“Oh!”
“No way. Ilu, have you fallen so low that you've developed an interest in a lad like this?”
Keith looked as if he had discovered something amusing, scanning Li Xiuman from head to toe.
“Since that's the case, kid, you can go.”
Li Xiuman did not leave. Instead, he walked toward Ilu.
“A mutual pursuit? Goddess of Light above, would you mind if I officiated your wedding?”
However, nobody paid him any attention.
“You should have left. His goal is only the Glacial Seal Sword, he won't do anything to me.”
Flecks of ice crystals had already begun to form on Ilu's purple hair, making it look even more dazzling.
“Bone Manipulation.”
Li Xiuman took a deep breath and connected the arm bone to his own skeletal frame.
In an instant, a tearing force filled his entire body, and his bones issued groans of being overloaded.
“What's wrong with you?!” Ilu looked at Li Xiuman, who had collapsed onto his knees beside her, a hint of panic entering her voice.
Li Xiuman didn't speak. In truth, he couldn't speak even if he wanted to, as the bone plates of his throat had shattered.
“Allocate points to Constitution!”
With great difficulty, Li Xiuman opened his panel and dumped his life-saving points into Constitution.
Instantly, a surge of power erupted from deep within his body, healing his fractured bones.
Only then did he barely manage to keep himself from collapsing completely.
Li Xiuman wobbled to his feet and stretched out his hands, placing them over Ilu's.
Then, he spoke:
“Pull.”
As both of them exerted their strength simultaneously, the power of the frost became even more violent, intensifying several times over in an instant.
And the Glacial Seal Sword was suddenly pulled out by a significant portion.
“Goddess of Light above, what is happening?”
“A miracle of love?”
Keith was dumbfounded.
Ilu didn't understand what was happening either, but she knew Li Xiuman was there to help her.
The energy in the skeletal arm finally found an outlet, ceasing its destruction of Li Xiuman's body.
But immediately after, the oncoming freezing wind blanketed Li Xiuman's body and hands in another layer of frost.
His bones felt as if they were about to shatter from the cold.
Like a mother hen protecting her chick, Ilu pulled Li Xiuman into her embrace to shield him from the freezing wind, which made him feel slightly better.
Rate on N.U.
