Chapter 22: Now, it’s my turn
"Personal equipment isn’t affected."
Elowen pointed at his coat, soft armor, shoes, along with his glasses.
"All of the combat suit’s functions still work normally. Our weapons can be used too."
"What about the space bracelet?"
"You can still take out food, water, and ordinary items, but the combat tools that have been sealed won’t be able to activate."
Elowen placed a Teleportation Talisman into the inner pocket of his combat suit.
"Only this isn’t affected."
"Why?"
"The Trial Space allows participants to give up. If we run into danger, we can leave immediately, but the Awakening Fruit will stop at fifty percent completeness."
Erik looked at the stone door.
Fifty percent was already enough to open the Heaven Gate.
But this opportunity was one he’d had to wait five years for.
He didn’t want to stop just because he’d lost the protection of a few tools.
"I want to continue."
Elowen wasn’t surprised. She only took Erik’s hand and earnestly said:
"You have to promise me. If the situation truly becomes dangerous, use the Teleportation Talisman immediately."
"I promise."
"You can’t say ’I’ll try.’"
Erik looked at her helplessly.
"Alright. I’ll definitely use it."
Only then did Elowen nod.
The two of them pushed open the stone door together.
The moment they stepped through, a transparent barrier immediately swept over their bodies.
The Defensive Talismans that had been glowing all dimmed at once.
Inside the space bracelet, the Detonation Beads along with the high-grade consumable items were covered by a layer of gray light, completely unable to activate.
At the same time, information about the combat suit appeared before Erik.
[Personal combat suit: Operating normally.]
[Soft armor: Operating normally.]
[Heat-detection and warning glasses: Operating normally.]
[Acceleration shoes: Operating normally.]
[Personal weapon: Operating normally.]
[Emergency Teleportation Talisman: Usable.]
Erik moved his arm, then activated the shoes.
A gentle surge of energy enveloped both legs.
No problems.
Elowen also pulled the bowstring, and an arrow of wind quickly condensed.
"Let’s go."
The sixth floor didn’t seem too dangerous at first.
The first monsters were only Echo Hunters of the eighth Black Iron grade.
Elowen shot down three of them in a very short time.
But when the fourth arrow of wind flew out, another roar immediately rang out from deep within the corridor.
Then came the sound of footsteps.
The glasses over Erik’s eyes continuously displayed warnings.
[Heat source approaching detected.]
[Number: 31.]
[Additional heat sources detected.]
[Total number: 46.]
Elowen kept shooting arrows, but each time her Wind-element mana surged, the sounds in the distance grew even denser.
Erik immediately realized the problem.
"Stop using mana!"
Elowen understood too.
"They’re attracted by mana fluctuations."
But it was already too late.
Dozens of Echo Hunters poured into the corridor.
Elowen switched to using the physical arrows in the quiver on her back. Erik stood beside her, using his sword to block the ones that got past the defensive line.
His combat suit demonstrated its effect very clearly.
A monster clawed at Erik’s chest, but the soft armor only dented slightly, and most of the impact force was absorbed.
Erik backed up two steps and immediately counterattacked.
His sword pierced through the monster’s lower jaw, stabbing straight into its brain.
He pulled the sword out and spun to kick away another one that was lunging in from the right.
Elowen watched Erik fight, her eyes holding both astonishment and worry.
She still tried to advance, using her body to shield him.
"Elowen, don’t block my way."
"You stay behind."
"I can fight."
"But you haven’t opened the Heaven Gate."
"My combat suit is enough to hold them off."
Elowen didn’t listen.
A Bronze-grade Pack Leader Hunter suddenly crawled out from a crack in the stone ceiling. Its body gave off almost no heat, so Erik’s glasses only detected it when the distance was already too close.
It didn’t lunge toward Elowen.
Its target was Erik.
The monster released its claws and came diving down from above.
Elowen barely thought, immediately shoving Erik to the side and using her body to shield in front of him.
Slash!
The claws struck hard against the soft armor at her side.
The combat suit had blocked most of the attack force, but three sharp claws still tore through the fabric and left long wounds on her fair skin.
Red blood immediately flowed out.
"Elowen!"
Erik activated the acceleration shoes.
His body shot forward, one hand grabbing the monster’s neck before slamming it into the wall with full force.
BAM!
The Pack Leader Hunter’s head crashed hard against the stone.
It wasn’t dead yet, but Erik gave it no chance to get up. The sword in his hand immediately pierced through the monster’s eye.
An ear-piercing roar rang out, then quickly fell silent.
Erik turned to Elowen.
"Can you stand?"
"I’m fine."
Elowen gritted her teeth and stood up, but the smell of blood had already quickly spread through the corridor.
Erik’s glasses continuously issued warnings.
[Large number of heat sources approaching detected.]
[Number: 73.]
[Distance: 164 meters.]
[Distance decreasing rapidly.]
Erik immediately pulled Elowen into a retreat.
The two of them fought while running through many corridors. Thanks to the acceleration shoes along with the heat detection, Erik continuously avoided the paths that had monsters.
In the end, he found a small stone alcove behind a collapsed wall.
Inside there were magic runes that concealed one’s aura, but the space was only enough for one person.
Erik pulled Elowen inside.
"Sit down."
"The wound isn’t serious."
"I know. But you’re still bleeding."
Erik took out ordinary bandages along with disinfectant from the space bracelet. Items that carried no magical energy could still be used.
He carefully pulled the torn part of the combat suit aside.
Three wounds stretched from below her ribs to near her waist. Red blood had already soaked a large area of her fair skin along with the fabric beneath.
Erik used a cloth to wipe the blood clean, then applied medicine to the wounds.
Each time his fingertips touched her soft skin, Elowen’s body trembled slightly.
Erik knitted his brows.
"I told you you didn’t need to shield in front of me."
"I can’t watch you get hurt."
"My combat suit is better than you think."
"I still can’t take the gamble."
Erik looked at her slightly pale face and in the end didn’t keep reproaching her.
After finishing bandaging her, he checked the magic runes in the stone alcove and quickly made a decision.
"You stay here."
Elowen immediately grabbed his hand.
"No."
"Listen to me."
"We can use the Teleportation Talisman."
"I know."
Erik looked straight into her eyes.
"If there’s no other way, I’ll use it."
"Then what do you intend to do?"
"Lead them away from here."
Elowen’s expression immediately changed.
"That’s too dangerous! I’ll go with you."
"You’re bleeding. The monster pack will always chase after you."
"I can still fight."
"And then keep using your body to shield in front of me?"
Elowen froze.
Erik gently pried her fingers off.
"You protected me for five whole floors."
He placed the Teleportation Talisman in Elowen’s hand.
"Now it’s my turn."
Elowen shook her head over and over.
"You can’t."
Erik suddenly bent down and lightly kissed her forehead.
The movement was so abrupt that it stunned Elowen.
He seized that moment to move her into the stone alcove and pull down the magic barrier.
A thin layer of light immediately enveloped the entrance, completely concealing the aura inside.
"Elowen."
Erik placed his hand on the barrier, opposite her hand on the other side.
"Trust me."
He turned around.
Erik took the cloth still stained with Elowen’s blood and tied it to his belt. Then he drew his sword and struck the stone wall hard with the blade.
CLANG!
The metallic sound echoed throughout the corridor.
Dozens of roars immediately came from the distance.
Outside the Trial Space, the secret group chat went completely silent.
No one was discussing Erik’s sweat-drenched body anymore.
No one was teasing Meira anymore.
All of them just watched the man using himself as bait to protect a wounded Succubus.
Meira gripped her phone tight, her green eyes not leaving the screen at all.
A man actively walking into danger.
Not because he was forced to.
Nor because he wanted to show off.
He only wanted to protect Elowen.
In the sixth-floor corridor, Erik activated the acceleration shoes.
His body shot off through the faint blue light, carrying Elowen’s blood scent along with the entire monster pack behind him.
The glasses continuously displayed the terrain and distances.
Erik didn’t run blindly.
He chose a narrow corridor only wide enough for three monsters to charge up at once, then continued leading the monster pack more than three hundred meters away from the stone alcove.
Only when he was certain they couldn’t turn back to find Elowen did Erik stop.
He slowly turned around.
The first three Echo Hunters lunged at the same time.
The glasses immediately marked the trajectories of their claws.
Erik tilted his body to dodge the first one, using his shoulder to slam hard into its chest. The fivefold strength sent the monster’s body flying backward, crashing into the other two.
The three bodies immediately tumbled into a heap.
Erik stepped forward.
His sword pierced through the first one’s eye.
He pulled the sword out and spun to kick hard at the second one’s neck.
Crack!
The neck bone immediately snapped.
The third one had just stood up when Erik grabbed the skin at the back of its neck and slammed it into the wall with full force.
BAM!
Black blood splattered across the stone.
In just a few seconds, three eighth-grade Black Iron monsters had been killed.
The madams watching almost forgot to breathe.
Erik stood in the middle of the corridor, his hair drenched with sweat, his combat suit stained with black blood, the hand holding his sword still incredibly steady.
Ahead of him were still dozens of red eyes glowing in the darkness.
But there was no fear in Erik’s eyes.
He had led them far enough away from Elowen.
Right now, he no longer needed to keep running.
Erik raised his sword.
"Come."