Chapter 1374: 132. A Certain-Kill Trap

"Teacher, I'm so bored......"

Inside the dilapidated classroom, Ariel completed her thirteenth magic experiment of the day, then shoved the instruments away with force and slumped half-dead across the table and chairs like a salted fish.

"What kind of lousy place is this? There isn't even a place to practice martial techniques, so all I can do is conduct magic experiments. But the instruments aren't even complete, so I can only do the most basic experiments......I could do these when I was five!"

"You couldn't even use magic when you were five."

Wisps of green smoke drifted out from the bronze ring on Ariel's finger, quickly outlining a graceful figure.

Peles leaned against the side and helplessly waved her jade-like hand, righting all the overturned instruments.

Although Ariel complained constantly, if these instruments she looked down on were actually damaged, this disciple of hers would definitely still feel heartbroken.

Thanks to a certain yellow-haired young master, she had become considerably wealthier lately, but some habits in life were not so easy to change.

"Hmph, what does what age I learned magic have to do with anything? I'm just trying to say that staying here is way too boring and completely doesn't suit my personality!"

Ariel pouted, revealing the girlish demeanor that she would only show in front of her teacher......and a certain yellow-haired man.

"Teacher, my dearest teacher, can I really not go out exploring?"

Where was this?"

This was the Origin Tower!

The famous Origin Tower!

The Origin Tower that hid who knew how many secrets and treasures!

Muen had already been gone for several days without coming back. Although supposedly he had been locked up because of what happened earlier, based on what she knew of him, there was no way that bastard would obediently stay put during his confinement.

He had definitely slipped out halfway through to cause trouble.

But even he could go out and cause trouble, while she could only stay in this broken place gathering mold, either chatting nonsense with that lunatic or teaching that newcomer school knowledge that even she herself did not understand.

It was......extremely irritating.

"It's not that I'm deliberately keeping you locked in here. It's that without that yellow-haired brat's school crest concealing you, you really would be in great danger here."

"Danger? When have I ever been afraid of danger? Why is this time......"

"This time......is different."

Peles turned around. On the face formed from green smoke was an incomparably clear look of gravity:

"Anywhere else, I would trust in your ability to overcome difficulties. But in the Origin Tower, if you're alone, you'll be in great danger. For example, under the influence of a certain authority, the entire Tower could become your enemy. Would you still think you could easily overcome that?"

"The entire Tower?"

Ariel was startled. "Is......is it really that exaggerated?"

"I'm not sure how high that bastard has climbed by now, but with his unscrupulous nature, it definitely won't be low."

Peles murmured in a low voice, "That's why I told you to act together with that yellow-haired brat in the end. Before we understand the situation, it is extremely dangerous for you to move alone."

"Is......that so?"

Ariel's eagerness to go out exploring gradually faded under her teacher's warning......but very quickly, heartfelt curiosity completely replaced it.

She blinked and asked seriously, "Teacher, who exactly is the person you're talking about?"

"You......still don't understand what I'm saying?" Peles was rarely this irritated.

"I understood perfectly. It's precisely because I understood that I'm asking."

Ariel said with complete seriousness, "Someone who makes Teacher this cautious must be extremely dangerous. But Teacher also knows him this well......which means he's someone Teacher is very familiar with too, right?"

"......"

Sunlight seeped through the broken cracks in the wall and passed through the green smoke, giving the figure an indescribably hazy quality.

Peles's lips parted slightly.

She stood there blankly for a long while, as though countless complicated thoughts were flowing through her eyes at that moment......traces that even time had been unable to erase.

"You win."

She sighed helplessly. "Why are you always so sharp when it comes to things like this?"

"Hehe, because I'm your most, most beloved disciple!"

Ariel leaned closer and rubbed affectionately against her.

"......"

Peles gently stroked Ariel's head, and a trace of emotion rose in her heart as well.

That yellow-haired brat had thoroughly rooted up the cabbage she had raised herself. Sometimes Ariel no longer even looked like the girl she had once cultivated.

But in a certain sense, that was not necessarily a bad thing.

The Ariel of the past had filled her head entirely with cultivation and beautiful girls for her Crystal Palace. How could she ever have shown such an adorable side back then?

"Actually......in a certain sense, that bastard can be considered your senior brother."

"Senior brother?"

Ariel froze.

She had never expected an answer like that.

"My judgment has always been quite good......at least when it comes to talent."

Peles stood up. Her ethereal figure moved gracefully, and her translucent fingers carefully traced across the mottled wall.

She lowered her head.

Every place that had once been so familiar now felt so strange.

How many years did it take for something to go from prosperity to complete ruin?

"But talent does not represent everything. The first student I devoted myself to teaching was equally outstandingly gifted and raced forward continuously along the path of magic. I once thought he would completely inherit my mantle, but I never expected that at the most critical moment, he would betray me in the most decisive manner imaginable."

"Betray?"

Ariel immediately sprang to her feet, killing intent covering her little face. "Where is that bastard? I'll go kill him!"

"I already told you. He's extremely dangerous now."

Peles looked at Ariel with some helplessness, but even more than that......with emotion.

At least this time, she had not misjudged someone.

"How dangerous could he possibly be? Has he already taken control of the Origin Tower or something?"

"That shouldn't be the case. It's just......he has always been the most dangerous kind of person."

Peles lifted her head slightly as scenes from the past surfaced in her mind.

Now, as an outsider, she could see that danger extremely clearly. But back when she had been caught in the middle of it, she had been completely unaware of many things.

"He is meticulous, sinister, and ruthless. Against an enemy, unless he has absolute certainty, he will never make a move......and once he does make a move, it will be with the force of thunder, never leaving behind future trouble."

"Back then, even I, his teacher, fell into his hands like that."

"If I hadn't still had a few trump cards that I hadn't yet had time to teach him, I might not even have been able to escape."

Peles sighed.

The pain of the past surfaced again.

Even after so many years, she still could not view it calmly.

"He's that despicable?"

Ariel angrily smashed the table in front of her apart with one palm......the instruments ultimately failed to escape their fate.

But she could no longer spare any thought for feeling heartbroken over them.

"How does a filthy, disgusting bastard like that have the nerve to keep living in this world?"

"That's exactly why I don't want you encountering him too early."

Peles turned around and said with great seriousness:

"A bastard like him is the most troublesome kind to deal with. He's like a poisonous snake hidden in the shadows, always pursuing a single lethal strike. So unless someone even more despicable, shameless, and thick-skinned than he is can lure him out, defeating him will be extremely difficult......but [N O V E L I G H T] where are we supposed to find someone like that?"

"Is that so?"

Ariel scratched her head.

Someone like that really did sound difficult to find.

But for some reason......the words despicable, shameless, and thick-skinned sounded strangely familiar to her.

......

......

"Brother, you're the first person I've ever met who dares describe her like that."

On the other side, Muen, still reeling from the shock, could not help giving the man in front of him a thumbs-up.

"You're way too brave. You're practically a role model for men like us. I really want to record what you just said and let her hear it too."

"Hmph. It's not that I'm brave. It's that all of you place her far too high above yourselves. No matter how you look at it, she's nothing more than an old woman whose brain doesn't work very well."

Huggins sneered. "All I need is a little scheme, and that's enough to make her suffer."

"Make her suffer?"

Muen frowned.

Something was not right.

That old loli could suffer a loss?

And to someone of this caliber?

That sounded about as unreliable as Pink Bear overturning the natural order and beating up the Former Saintess.

"Anyway, enough nonsense. What's important right now isn't her. It's you......"

The staff moved, and a cold aura spread outward like the gaze of a poisonous snake.

"I will never allow her legacy to continue. I will completely erase you, just as I once threw down that final handful of earth!"

"You hate her that much? What exactly did she do to you? Don't tell me she performed some inhumane modification experiment on you too...... Fine, looks like this fight can't be avoided. But let me say this first—I am not that easy to kill."

Muen swept open his mage robe and took out the thick staff he had previously had specially made with great care.

A battle between pure mages was always enough to make one's blood boil......he was already fired up.

"I know. As that bitch's disciple, you certainly aren't some simple character. Your talent......especially your talent in magic, must be terrifyingly high for you to have been chosen as her successor."

"But......for you, I have already prepared an inescapable net!"

"An inescapable net?"

Muen sucked in a cold breath.

"Exactly!"

Huggins wore an expression that seemed determined to let him die knowing exactly why, and said:

"Look. First is the Void Eye I mentioned earlier. It has exiled the two of us here and completely isolated us from the outside world. Therefore, you cannot receive any outside assistance! If she is outside, she absolutely cannot come save you."

Muen raised his head.

That strange eye was still staring at him, and so far, he truly had not found any way to leave this place.

"Second, I prepared a formation here in advance that blocks magical devices. If she is currently on your person, then she absolutely cannot come out to help you either!"

Muen glanced to the side and discovered that an intricate formation had begun operating at some unknown point.

He tried to reach Elizabeth inside his spatial magical device, but there was no response whatsoever.

"Finally......and this is the most important point!"

Huggins gradually began to laugh, his expression becoming more and more exaggerated, as though he were looking at a clown onstage who was about to perform something ridiculous:

"I know......as her successor, your Enhancement Magic must already have reached an extraordinary level. After so many years, perhaps you've even reached the point where you can threaten those at the Truth Rank.

But!

Unfortunately!

In this world......I also understand Enhancement Magic extremely well!

Therefore, here, I have prepared a special measure specifically designed to counter Enhancement Magic!"

Muen lowered his head.

As magic surged around Huggins, he sensed an invisible aura rapidly spreading outward......the fluctuation resembled some kind of special magnetic field, interfering with the circulation of magic inside his body.

"Exactly!"

Seeing that Muen had noticed it, Huggins could finally hold himself back no longer and burst into loud laughter:

"From this point onward......the Enhancement Magic you rely on most will become completely unusable!"