The massive and weighty Spirit World Guardian hit the ground, causing the earth to tremble, and then charged towards the trio with giant steps, stretching out its jagged stone arms,

Lynn's face focused on the golem, looking for possible actions to disable it, when suddenly, a warning sounded in his mind.

[Warning... The host has engaged in serious illegal activity, suspected of using chemical weapons to carry out mass murder of an extremely malevolent nature. The crime has been recorded and, before the arrival of the Federal Police, you will have an opportunity to make an online statement...]

[Warning... No signal... Warning... Not connected to the network... Please seek a signal source promptly...]

Lynn's face was suddenly awash with surprise and delight, and upon reading the content, he couldn't help but twitch his lips.

'This artificial moron.... '

'I don't require an online narrative, deactivate the warning sound and report the remaining energy!' Lynn thought to himself in silence.

[Remaining energy: 19.5%, detection of a drastic increase in energy density nearby, expected to increase energy reserves by 1% per hour.]

'This is too fast' Lynn was somewhat taken aback, 'increasing by 1% per hour, wouldn't that mean it would be full in approximately four days? But it's already been five days since 071 shut down!'

Lynn looked at the AI's prompt once more. 'A drastic increase in energy density? is it related to the mansion? or perhaps this underground path?, no.... it could only be Monday's influence!'

"Karl!"

Lynn was in contemplation when he was interrupted by a cry from Aubrey. The three-meter-tall guardian of the spiritual world arrived and swung a stone hammer towards him.

'Enter overload mode, ten seconds!' Lynn silently recited in his mind as he did not turn around.

In the next moment, a deluge of information inundated Lynn's mind. He tensed his muscles and braced his nerves, readying himself for the impending attack. With a calculating gaze, Lynn pushed off with all his might to the side, narrowly avoiding the golem's fierce and powerful blow.

As the massive stone hammer smashed into the ground, the earth trembled with a deafening bang, sending gravel and stones flying and creating a small crater.

Lynn unsheathed the silver sword of the wizard hunter, its sharp blade glinting in the dim light of the tunnel. His eyes narrowed as he calculated the best way to strike, knowing that he had only one chance to defeat the spiritual guardian and couldn't afford to make a mistake.

With a burst of energy, he lunged forward, sword raised at eye-level in a stabbing position, while his other hand crackled with a glowing fireball spell. The stone statue seemed to sense the danger, flashing with a fierce, holy light as it moved to intercept him. But Lynn was undeterred.

As he rushed forward, Lynn's pupils constricted, a torrent of data appearing in his retina as if the world had slowed to a crawl in his perception. The moment the stone guardian shifted its feet, he released the dazzling fireball, aiming for the spot where the statue's feet were supposed to land.

"BOOM!"

Smoke, gravel, stones, and ash particles exploded, blocking the surrounding area. Inside the smoke, the spiritual guardian lost its balance and was forced to its knees, its vision hindered by the pale and dark smoke. But before the statue's knees could even hit the ground, Lynn suddenly appeared on its right, brandishing his sword. With a mighty strike, he stabbed the sword down upon the stone guardian, aiming for the precise spot where he knew it was weakest - the gap in its right knee.

"CLANG!"

A resounding sound, accompanied by a crack, rang out.

This blow, however, was clearly insufficient to completely shatter the stone statue. Lynn did not persist and, after temporarily restraining the guardian's movements, he grabbed both Aubrey and Dove by the wrists, both gaping in amazement, and continued to flee.

[Overload mode deactivated]

The auxiliary intelligence's energy was less than 20%, it had to be conserved for more crucial situations.

The group ran for over half a minute before the sound of the giant stone statue shaking the floor with its steps resounded again from afar. Dove, who was holding Aubrey's arm, quivered and quietly sobbed, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Aubrey... Karl..."

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"You knew from the beginning that Will betrayed us, didn't you?" Lynn glanced at Dove and affirmed.

Lynn had already discerned that something was amiss when they were following Will this evening, for the latter's journey to the storage room was too peculiar.

Bear in mind that Dove might have had gray crows watching over the entire castle, yet Will displayed no vigilance, not once glancing about the window or his surroundings.

This was clearly incongruous.

Unless... Will was confident that even if he were discovered by the gray crows, there would be no repercussions.

"Can you tell me the reason?" Aubrey tightly grasped Dove's slender hand, unable to believe that the other party would commit such a treacherous act.

Dove's nose twitched and, with a voice choked with tears, she began to explain.

Three nights ago, Will was on night duty, but out of caution, Dove released the usual patrol of gray crows. However, she stumbled upon Will secretly conveying the circumstances here to the Church through an alchemy array...

"Then why didn't you inform me of this?" Aubrey inquired.

"But Will... Will discovered me first. He said that the Church already knew of my identity and if I dared to tell you about this, my parents and siblings would all be burned to death on the stake..." The young girl's face was full of fear as she spoke with sobs.

Aubrey fell into silence, considering the plight of their exiled wizard apprentices, whose families' safety was a big problem.

For this reason, it had always been taboo to inquire about one another's identities, and they could not even confirm whether the names they used were real or assumed. Although the apprentices knew all of them possibly came from nobility but no one really asked around which family they belong to.

"It is evident that he duped you," Lynn said with equanimity. "Perhaps Will does not know your true identity, or perhaps he intends to take sole credit for this operation..."

'And she's too young and naive to even think of such possibility' Lynn thought as he look at the girl's timid, tearful and fear stricken appearance.

From Will's tendency to take matters into his own hands, it seemed likely that the man's words were meant to mislead. Had this not been the case, he might have tried to use the pigeon to further his own ends.

However, it was also possible that Will was hoping to claim all the accolades for himself, considering that the more he did, the more likely the church was to view him with favor and forgive his status as a "devil's devotee."

"Do you wish to survive, Dove?" Linen queried suddenly. "I may have a way to counter Anthruk..."

Dove, tears welling in her eyes, nodded eagerly. "Yes!"

She did not want to die...

"Very well," Lynn said with resolve. "Inform me of every spell you know, including their principles and methods of execution."

"What do you intend to do?" Aubrey inquired in shock.

"Don't you think it's not too late to start studying now?" Lynn replied earnestly.

Now that 071 has reactivated, it's time to bring an end to this!

'But... is there really enough time?' Aubrey gazed at Lynn incredulously, but after hesitating for a moment, she began to impart her knowledge to him while they keep running.

[Flame's Touch], [Liquify], [Ice Wall], [second-ring Inferno's Hand]....

As a prized apprentice of Kelu, Aubrey had mastered over a dozen single-ring spells, while Dove knew only a few, including two rare spiritual attack spells that are said to be attainable only by a select few gifted in spiritual energy.

Given the urgency of the situation, Lynn didn't attempt to learn everything, but rather chose a few spells to commit to memory and practiced them using his mental capabilities and 071.

Lynn's composed demeanor also inspired confidence in Aubrey and Dove, bolstering their belief in their ability to defeat Anthruk.

As they run, the sound of rushing water echoed in their ears and the breeze carried with it a hint of moisture, as if the very air was dripping with the essence of the nearby water source.

In the distance, they could see a rapidly flowing underground river, its turbulent waters constantly gushing forth from the ground and passing through a long tunnel on their way out of the castle....

[Divine Blast of Holy Radiance]!

Lynn and Aubrey hadn't even reached the river when a beam of white light flew towards them from behind, a brilliant, blinding flash that illuminated the entire area. It seemed to move in slow motion, the divine energy within it pulsing and shimmering with an otherworldly radiance. As it flew through the air, it left a trail of sparkling dust in its wake, the particles seeming to dance and twirl in the light.

[Ice Wall]!*2

Aubrey and Lynn looked at each other and then both raised their hands at the same time, conjuring two ice crystal shields that worked together to resist this two-ring divine spell.

The ice wall spell materialized out of thin air, a shimmering curtain of frost that rose up to block the path of the holy light. It glistened like a million tiny diamonds, the surface smooth and flawless as if it had been carved from a single, massive block of ice. The wall was thin but tall, stretching up to the very limits of the caster's vision, and it seemed to pulse with a cold, magical energy that radiated outwards and chilled the air around it. As the beam of light approached, the wall shone brighter and brighter, the frost on its surface sparkling and swirling as if alive.

When the beam struck its target, it exploded in a burst of white-hot energy, the heat and force. The two ice crystal walls instantly disintegrated, the fragments falling like hail.

"What should we do now?" Aubrey looked anxiously at Lynn, her eyes trembled slightly and one could see a sweat forming in her delicate eyebrows. The passage out was just in front of them, but if they were swept into the turbulent water and then attacked by Anthruk, they wouldn't even have the ability to resist.

"It's quite simple..." Lynn looked deeply at Aubrey and, without warning, took her sword off her belt and then, to Aubrey's surprise, shock, and anxiety, pushed her directly into the turbulent water.

The icy river water inundated Aubrey's mouth and nostrils, quickly filling her entire being. She could distinctly feel the massive inertial force of the rapids dragging her towards the exit.

Through the hazy water veil, Aubrey could barely make out Lynn's lips moving as if in a final adieu. Then a heavy object was lobbed towards her - it was the frenzied pale faced Dove.

Gazing at the two people being swept away by the water, Lynn wasn't concerned about the safety of the two witches. A wizard with the ability to control oxygen shouldn't drown in water. He silently completed the second half of his thoughts in his head...

'It's quite simple... Just don't hinder me here!'