Chapter 678: Maybe A Deal with the Judge?

At that moment, the second Withered attacked him from the left.

Rindo made a short turn, placed the shaft of his spear in front of the attack, and pushed the creature backward.

Then, with a direct strike, he split its skull.

Near them, Noah opened his umbrella to defend himself.

One of the Withered jumped toward him.

But before the creature could reach him, a huge shadow passed over the passage.

Two.

The Eight-Disaster Wolf jumped down from the high platform and brought his right claw down onto the Withered’s back.

The creature was slammed into the ground, and the wolf’s claws passed through its body, causing the stone beneath it to crack.

Noah let out a sigh of relief.

"That was amazing! Really amazing!"

Two turned his head toward him.

"I swear, when we get back from here, I’ll build a statue of you!"

The wolf only moved his ear.

Lian, who was fighting farther away, saw this scene and laughed briefly.

But at that moment, a long creature jumped out from the crowd and attacked One from behind.

The huge ant was still busy holding down a large Withered, two of his hands were wrapped around the enemy’s body, and with his third hand, he was holding its neck.

The new attacker had approached from behind and was only a few meters away.

But before its claws could reach One’s body, a short growl echoed through the passage.

Two jumped from the nearby platform, and his huge body passed over the heads of several Withered, while his left claw struck directly into the attacker’s side.

The creature was slammed against the stone wall, the sound of its bones breaking could be heard, and its body fell to the ground.

One turned his head toward the wolf for a moment.

Two glanced at him.

Then he went back toward the remaining enemies.

No words were exchanged between them, but Lian, who had seen the entire scene, nodded with satisfaction.

’They’re getting better at working together.’

He was not so foolish that he couldn’t notice the feelings of his colony members.

During the first days after he obtained Two, One had not been very happy and had shown a lot of jealousy, worried that he might lose his place in his master’s heart.

But now it seemed they had finally learned to get along, especially since there were two members more powerful than them.

He looked toward the last group of Withered.

Several creatures were still moving along the central path, but about ten others had approached the group.

Lian looked at the ground beneath their feet for a moment, thin cracks had appeared in the stone.

’Better finish this quickly.’

He let out a short breath and then focused his mana into his right arm.

[ Disaster Suppression Fist ]

His body took one step forward, and his fist struck the chest of the first Withered, the force of the blow passed through the creature’s back and compressed the air between it and the enemies behind it.

Six more Withered standing behind it were instantly turned into a mist of blood.

[ You Have Killed a Level 40 Withered ]

[ You Have Killed a Level 32 Withered ]

[ You Have Killed a Level 43 Withered ]

[ You Have Killed a Level 39 Withered ]

[ You Have... ]

The sounds of battle gradually faded.

Lian stood among the corpses and looked at the passage for a moment.

There were still some Withered farther away moving toward the center, but none of them intended to approach the group anymore.

At that moment, the familiar sound of the system echoed in his mind.

[ Level Up! ]

[ Level: 34 → 35 ]

Lian smiled.

Finally.

He had reached level thirty-five.

Then he looked at his two colony members and checked their status.

[ Special Member One ]

[ Level: 23 ]

[ Special Member Two ]

[ Level: 41 ]

His smile grew a little wider, One had gained three levels, and Two had now reached level forty-one.

Not bad.

He knew that the power of his colony members was not limited to their levels, but increasing their levels could still be very useful in future battles.

Especially if he was forced to face more powerful prisoners.

He also wanted to see their next evolutions and whether it was possible for both of them to evolve their ranks again.

Wouldn’t it be great if both of them could become Unholy?

At that time, he might be the only human in the world with four Unholy subordinates, although even now, with two of them, he still held the record.

God knew how the people of the world would react if they discovered his true possessions and powers.

He raised his right hand.

"Good work."

One lowered his huge head slightly, and Two looked at him for a moment before turning his head toward the path ahead.

Noah, who was standing beside the wolf, laughed.

"I did a good job too, right?"

"Yeah. Especially the part where you were promising to build a statue instead of actually doing something." Lian looked at him.

Rindo laughed.

The young Frenchman placed his hand on his chest.

"Sometimes emotional support is more important than fighting!"

Young Vorhelm nodded.

"Of course."

But before continuing their journey, his gaze remained on the bloodstains and broken stones of the passage for a moment.

His level had increased, and his colony members had also become stronger, but the closer they got to the center, the more prisoners appeared along their path.

And if his theory about White Oblivion was correct, this gathering was not a coincidence, whatever that Calamity wanted to do, it had something to do with gathering so many Withered.

Could it be planning to sacrifice them in some way?

After the battle ended, the group stopped beside the passage for a few minutes to recover their strength.

Rindo was cleaning the blade of his spear, and Alicia was checking her armor to make sure the enemies’ attacks had not damaged its joints.

But something else had caught Noah’s attention.

Among the corpses of the Withered, several pieces of old equipment could be seen.

Armor with golden patterns, a dagger with a black handle, and a metal piece that still released weak mana even after an unknown amount of time.

The young Frenchman took a few steps toward them.

"By the way, there’s something I don’t understand."

Rindo raised his head.

"What?"

"We went through so much competition just to enter this land."

He pointed toward the old dagger.

"But now we’re passing by almost every treasure we see, weren’t we supposed to get rich here?"

Lian gave a short smile, finally someone had mentioned it.

"Things were different before the Judge woke up." Rindo looked toward the Hollow Sun.

Noah looked at the sky.

"Do you think even picking up a dagger counts as a crime?"

"I don’t know, that’s exactly the problem."

Rindo put his spear aside.

"We still don’t know all the rules of this prison, taking the prisoners’ belongings might be allowed, or it might be considered a crime."

Alicia also approached.

"And if the Judge decides to punish us, there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to defend ourselves."

"Exactly, of course, if you want to pick something up, no one’s going to stop you." The Student Council President nodded.

Noah looked at the dagger for a moment and then pulled back the hand he had reached toward it.

"Alright, I don’t think I’ve enjoyed life enough yet to gamble it away over a dagger."

Lian looked at the dagger.

Despite his interest in treasures, even he had no intention of taking unnecessary risks this time.

He had already collected some valuable resources and samples of the Withered, but the situation was different now.

The closer they got to the center, the greater the chance of encountering unknown prison rules became, and the Judge was not a creature whose decision could be changed with a few words of apology after passing judgment.

Of course, that’s assuming it’s even possible to talk to it.

He looked at the sun again.

The system’s Main Quest required him to prevent this creature’s death.

The rewards were valuable, but the Judge itself had not shown the slightest sign of cooperation so far.

’I have to save your life, but you won’t even let me take a few treasures?’

Young Vorhelm sighed in his mind.

At least we could make some kind of deal.

If negotiation was possible, he could probably get permission to collect more treasures in exchange for helping protect the prison.

He might even find a way to clear the group’s charges.

But the main problem still remained.

He did not know whether the Hollow Sun was truly a conscious being or simply an ancient system that followed commands set long ago.

The Judge could identify prisoners, pass judgments, and carry out punishments.

But did it also have the ability to understand offers, negotiate, and make independent decisions?

Lian had no evidence to answer that question.

’I hope you can at least talk.’

If he was going to go through so much trouble to save the Judge, it would not be bad if the Judge itself at least realized who had come to help it.

Of course, he did not expect much gratitude from a huge and merciless eye.

"Lian?"

Rindo’s voice interrupted his thoughts, and young Vorhelm turned his head.

"Hmm?"

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah. Let’s go."

The group continued their journey along the eastern passage.

After a while, the path became wider again, and the tall cliffs were replaced by a series of stone platforms.

One and Two moved at a suitable distance from each other, Lian and Rindo were sitting on One’s back, while Noah and Alicia were riding the huge wolf.

The air had become warmer than a few hours earlier, and in some places, red lines of lava could be seen through the cracks in the ground.

Lian looked at Noah for a moment, their conversation from the previous day was still in his mind.

Especially his friend’s strange answer about the future.

He had said that after graduation, he wanted to serve someone he had dreamed of serving his entire life.

Young Vorhelm usually did not like putting pressure on others about their personal matters.

But this time, his curiosity had grown stronger, especially because this boy was also considered a prodigy, and it was rare for prodigies to willingly dedicate their lives to others.

"By the way, Noah."

The young Frenchman turned his head.

"Yes, Lord Vorhelm?"

"That person you said you wanted to serve after graduation... who exactly is it?"