The team continued their descent, having already passed the midpoint of the magnificent spiral tower's structure.
Ansu quickly checked the time. There were less than ten hours left before they would return to reality.
"We need to go faster..."
"Even faster?" Celia looked at Ansu with a mix of exhaustion and helplessness.
"We're already under the influence of wind magic... if you want to go any faster, we might as well just jump..."
To speed up their journey, the team had been moving under Celia's group buff, making their bodies feel as light and swift as if they were being pushed by the wind.
But the cost was a rapid depletion of Celia's mana. After only a short rest, her spirit was flagging again, and she had yawned several times along the way.
Ansu looked down into the pitch-black abyss that seemed like a bottomless pit after hearing her suggestion.
Jumping would indeed be faster, but in Celia's current state, jumping would likely result in three mangled corpses and one semi-invalid...
He should have brought Radish down with them.
Only the winding corridors of the upper levels were narrow; the circular stairs of the lower levels were wide throughout. Moreover, Radish had incredible endurance; Ansu had never seen that horse get tired...
Ansu already had a new plan for a speedrun.
When they returned to reality and reached the spiral tower again, he would have Celia set up magic coordinates and then head back to bring Radish down.
Teleportation magic was a high-level spell with significant risks. Mages could not travel freely to every corner of the world as people imagined; instead, they had to meet several strict conditions.
First, the spell consumed a massive amount of mana. Very few mages could cast it using only their own power. For instance, during the academy brawl, Samantha had only managed to escape by using the mana stored within a magic magic circle.
Another prerequisite was that teleportation magic was point-to-point. One had to set magic coordinates at the destination in advance to achieve long-distance travel. Furthermore, the more recent the coordinates were set, the better, otherwise the success rate would drop.
There were many infamous examples of this going wrong. Ansu had heard Celia tell jokes about things that had happened within the cult.
Mages had accidentally teleported themselves into the center of a mountain, merging with the rock, or ended up at the bottom of the ocean or inside lava... all sorts of bizarre places.
Celia became even more helpless when she saw Ansu staring down with a thoughtful expression.
"Wait, you're not actually thinking of jumping, are you?"
"Why do you seem more anxious than any of us... have you been affected by that voice too and gone crazy?"
"Of course not." Ansu frowned deeply. "Time is running out..."
"What do you mean time is running out?" Celia looked confused. "Isn't there plenty of time?"
"Even if there are pursuers behind us, I don't think those death-fearing old fogeys in the Council of Elders would dare to act rashly. They're all terrified of me..."
Just as she finished speaking, both of them felt a powerful surge of mana.
Celia and Ansu immediately looked up.
Ansu noticed that at a height of about sixty or seventy stories above them, clusters of faint firelight had suddenly appeared. A large group from the Council of Elders was chasing them from the upper levels.
"I think it's best not to throw around flags so casually..." Ansu muttered, seeing the surprised look in Celia's eyes.
"How dare they..." A flash of murderous intent crossed Celia's eyes. "But it's just as well. Ansu... why don't we turn back and strike? I'll chop off that old geezer John's head first!"
"Let's not..." Ansu gripped Celia's hand tightly, practically dragging her forward.
"Time really is short! Let's hurry... don't let those old fogeys waste our time!"
Celia was helplessly led by Ansu as they sprinted along, the two of them even leaving Eddie and Professor Duncan far behind.
"Ansu... Junior Ansu! Wait for me!"
Eddie was chasing after them, completely out of breath.
"Why does it feel... like the two of us are eloping?" Celia broke into a smile, appearing even happier as she ran. "Now that Samantha and the cult elders are all hunting us, it's like we're taking on the whole world~"
"Is this the plot where a poor boy from the slums runs off with a young lady from a wealthy family?" Ansu laughed along, speaking as they ran. "I didn't expect the witch would also long for the plots of knight novels. It seems you read them quite often?"
The novel market in Benalu City was very prosperous, and those knight novels were much like old-school webnovels...
"When I don't have missions from Samantha, I just stay home reading and doing research... of course I've seen everything." Celia watched as he led her along, a constant smile on her face.
Although it differed slightly from the plots of knight novels, she really did like this feeling of someone standing against everyone else for her sake. At this moment, she felt like she was the only thing in Ansu's eyes.
However, the atmosphere didn't last long, as the monster in the darkness appeared once again, haunting them like a lingering ghost.
Thick black tentacles surged up rapidly from beneath the railing diagonally opposite them. Although its full form wasn't revealed, a shivering wave of mental pollution spread quickly as those densely packed eyeballs stared at the two of them.
Celia's eyes glazed over for a moment, but as a warm power flowed from Ansu's palm, she immediately snapped out of it. Her gaze sharpened as she blasted a massive fireball at the monster.
The moment the fire exploded, the monster's twisted form coiled below was illuminated. The searing flames caused it to let out a piercing shriek, and several sharp black tentacles immediately lunged toward the team.
Ansu still didn't let go of Celia's hand. Using the agility boost from the wind magic, they narrowly dodged the tentacle attacks.
Seeing the monster quickly crawling toward the corridor ahead to block them, he immediately condensed his mana and cast the highest-level spell he currently mastered.
A great sword of mana radiating a faint blue glow manifested in his hand. He charged it continuously until the magic light flared brilliantly, and the great sword pierced forward with an unstoppable momentum.
【Academy Magic - Radial Pierce (4th Circle)】
This 4th Circle mid-tier spell made the space dozens of meters ahead look as if it had been sliced open. A massive hole tore through the monster's body, which was covered in severed limbs and flesh, continuing all the way to the wall of the circular corridor, where stones shattered and flew everywhere with a loud bang.
Celia couldn't help but glance at the focused Ansu, surprised that he could master a 4th Circle spell in such a short time.
But surprise aside, Ansu's magical proficiency was still nothing compared to hers. Celia let out a light chuckle and, as if intentionally giving Ansu a demonstration, she also cast the same 【Academy Magic - Radial Pierce】.
"Orthodox academy magic is the ultimate test of a caster's understanding of magical theory." As Celia spoke, a mana sword far more spectacular than Ansu's shot forward.
With this strike, the magical light was as blinding as an Illumination spell. The terrifying magical power even caused the ground to tremble slightly.
The massive, twisted monster was instantly annihilated by Celia's spell, leaving behind only the smell of charred flesh and many small, black bits of meat writhing on the ground.
Ansu saw the vile witch beside him wearing a boastful smile and thought to himself, why is this ridiculously overpowered witch comparing herself to a beginner like me...
But he still played along and praised her.
"Impressive, impressive. The young witch is truly terrifying..."
Celia curled her lips into a satisfied smile.
"Hmph, of course I am~"
Rate on N.U.
