Virt's gaze fell upon that stone, and he was gradually drawn in by the crimson blood-light leaking out from within its cracks.
That blood-light seemed to sense him as well, flickering faintly to a certain rhythm.
Under the illumination of that blood-light, Virt's eyes went wide, and deep within them a trace of crimson likewise welled up.
As the red light seeped into the depths of his eyes, the expression on his face gradually congealed.
It was as though his soul had been drawn out, already slipping free of its shell...
"Virt?"
Robert tapped Virt's shoulder, and finding that he gave no response, could not help but apply more force.
"Virt!"
"Here!" Virt suddenly came back to himself, his muscles snapping taut in an instant, and the red light deep in his eyes receded along with it.
But within the crevice of that round stone, an eerie, indistinct light still flickered.
Virt suddenly realized something, his face changing abruptly: "Don't stare at it—there's something uncanny in that blood-light!"
Robert, who had only just turned toward the stone, hastily shifted his gaze away and said cautiously, "What's going on?"
"He must have been bewitched."
Emma raised her head to glance at them, then turned to look at the stone again.
She too was looking at the stone, yet she had not been bewitched.
This led her to the notion that it was only because Virt's will was not firm enough that he had been beguiled.
And in her impression, Virt was indeed someone whose will was not firm enough—after all, he didn't even have the will to keep up his diligent studies.
So it was hardly unreasonable for her to arrive at this conclusion.
But Virt himself would not see it that way.
He averted his gaze, somewhat wary.
Emma continued to observe the stone, and then summoned out her [Magic Beast (Otter)], instructing it: "Go, see whether there's any danger."
That otter lifted its nose and sniffed, then dropped onto all fours and trotted off toward that waist-high stone.
Upon nearing the stone, it abruptly halted, gave two "squeak-squeak-squeak" cries, then shuffled two steps forward and stretched out a little paw to poke at the stone.
Seeing that the stone gave no reaction at all, it grew a touch bolder and gave it two firm smacks with its paw.
The stone still gave no reaction whatsoever.
So, under Emma's direction, the otter sidled up to the front of the round stone and gave a fierce kick straight into the gaping crevice!
With that kick, the red light spilling from the crevice gave an obvious shudder.
"It's a living thing!" Emma affirmed.
"There are many monsters of this type within the dungeon—disguising themselves as harmless creatures or objects to lure people close, then suddenly launching a sneak attack. This stone can even emit light that bewitches people. In all likelihood it's that type."
Both Virt and Robert listened carefully.
But after Virt finished listening, he always felt that something about Emma's analysis was off.
Yet his knowledge was too narrow, and he couldn't put his finger on what the problem was.
In the end, all he could say was: "Since it's a monster in disguise, why don't we just blast it to pieces right here? It might make a decent hunting target."
Emma shook her head: "For this stone to have appeared here, it very likely dropped out from that hidden space. We'd best wait for Dark and the others to arrive. The hidden space ought to have been broken open by them."
"That's true," Virt said regretfully.
But Robert suddenly cut in: "And what if Dark and the others don't come back?"
Emma shot him a glance and said nothing.
Virt, however, weighed it over: "If they don't come back, then we attack. After we obtain the materials, we'll split the spoils with them... or rather, just hand them over directly. Consider it our way of repaying them."
Robert could not help but agree: "Good idea." And so Emma felt these two weren't so bad after all.
"Wait!" Virt suddenly said. "But in that case, there'd be no problem with us just going at it directly, right? Once we've taken care of it, we just hand the materials over of our own accord?"
Robert's eyes lit up at once: "If it really is the type of monster Emma described, its own strength generally won't be especially great. Maybe we can handle it?"
Emma: "..."
...
Once this notion arose, it could no longer be suppressed.
Virt and Robert exchanged a glance, then immediately began making preparations.
The two of them had long been pent up beyond endurance during their earlier flight.
Virt especially—not only had he been utterly wretched, he'd even been swallowed once by that tentacle!.
Though the slime on his body had already dried, the sour, foul stench it left behind lingered persistently.
It was only because Emma's reason outweighed her sensibility that she stayed; otherwise, any other girl would have long since put distance between herself and him.
Moreover, deep down Virt did not want to owe Dark another debt of gratitude.
Under such circumstances, how could he give up this chance to prove himself?
Emma was not the sort of girl to nag on and on, either.
Once she'd said her piece and it wasn't taken seriously, she wouldn't say it again.
"In any case, we've got the 'Dungeon Escape Device' in hand, so the worst-case scenario won't come to pass."
Thinking thus, Emma tightly squeezed the Magic Guide Card in her hand, and then called her [Magic Beast (Otter)] back.
The otter returned to her side and sat down obediently.
Meanwhile, Virt and Robert had already swung into action.
Virt's "Troll" had not yet recovered, and his "Holy Sword" was still on cooldown, so the strongest Magic Guide Spirit in his hand was that "Shining Giant Python."
And among Robert's Magic Guide Spirits, only the "Blood Mother Bat" left behind by Vlad was passable among three-star Magic Guide Spirits, so after a brief discussion, the two of them each summoned out their respective Magic Guide Spirits!
The snow-white, gracefully-postured Shining Giant Python descended amid white light, flicking its tongue at that round sphere with a "hiss-hiss" sound.
And the "Blood Mother Bat," which Robert had spent more time and mana to summon, was a giant bat with a pair of crimson eyes.
The "Blood Mother Bat," as its name suggests, was the mother-body of the Blood Bats.
Its Ultimate Move was "Blood Source Self-Destruct"!
It killed and wounded enemies by self-detonating, while it itself could transform after the self-destruction into a number of Blood Bats.
As for how many Blood Bats it transformed into, that depended on the quality of blood it had absorbed before using its Ultimate Move.
Thus, each Blood Bat thereby born could be regarded as a one-star Magic Guide Spirit.
A corresponding number of Blood Bats could then be used in Sacrificial Summoning to summon a "Blood-type" Magic Guide Spirit of the corresponding star rank.
Vampire Vlad had once used this as a foundation to Sacrificially Summon a five-star Magic Guide Spirit—the "Blood Beast."
And then, using his own fresh blood as a catalyst, after the dark night fell he could sacrifice the "Blood Beast," trigger the Secret Ritual Card, and perform Ritual Summoning of the "Vampire Count"!
Robert at this moment could not—and did not have nearly enough mana to—trigger the Secret Ritual Card, so the most he could do was use Sacrificial Summoning to summon the five-star Magic Guide Spirit—the "Blood Beast."
This was his greatest reliance at this moment.
Of course, at this time he had no need to summon the "Blood Beast."
...
"Shining Giant Python" and "Blood Mother Bat."
The two Magic Guide Spirits of light and dark, under Virt and Robert's command, charged simultaneously at that round boulder in the clearing.
The mutual repulsion of their attributes made the two Magic Guide Spirits instinctively separate, but their masters' orders drove them forward to converge together once more.
The Shining Giant Python's crawling speed was extremely fast, but the Blood Mother Bat's flight speed was even faster.
In the span of mere breaths, that hideous, ferocious Blood Mother Bat, under Robert's command, flew to the front of the round boulder and then slammed headlong into the crevice in the middle of the boulder.
"Bang!"
A thunderous report.
That boulder was actually sent rolling by the impact without the slightest resistance!
This was truly beyond the two of them's expectations.
A look of astonishment showed in Virt's eyes, and he hurriedly said: "Shining Giant Python, entangle it!"
The Shining Giant Python, which had already crawled up close, suddenly accelerated, transforming into a bolt of white lightning, and—setting out later yet arriving first—caught up to the backward-tumbling round stone, then with a coil of its serpent body wrapped it up.
Almost on instinct, after wrapping up the round stone, the Shining Giant Python—just as when killing prey—violently contracted its serpent body, attempting to strangle it.
However, this boulder's body was exceedingly hard, stubbornly enduring its strangulation without cracking at all.
"Blood Mother Bat, keep attacking its crevice!"
Without realizing it, Robert had walked out from the passage, shouting with a touch of excitement.
Up until now, he had always remained at Virt's side in the role of a "supporting character"—whether in activities, competitions, or encounters, he had always been a "bystander."
This time, it could be said, was a round in which he truly participated, commanding a Magic Guide Spirit in battle.
It was a pity that the round stone never resisted at all, which made it somewhat less than satisfying.
The Shining Giant Python's serpent body parted slightly, opening up a space for the Blood Mother Bat to attack into.
The Blood Mother Bat then attacked, again and again, at that red-light-emitting crevice.
Under its onslaught of ramming, wings, and claw-strikes, the red light within the crevice flickered frequently—so it could be said to have a reaction at last.
But two minutes later.
That round boulder still bore no wound whatsoever.
The Shining Giant Python's strangulation was like giving it a massage.
And the Blood Mother Bat's attacks were utterly useless.
Virt and Robert exchanged a glance, both with somewhat awkward expressions.
Emma, with a touch of worry, said: "A three-star Magic Guide Spirit actually can't break through its defense..."
"Then summon a five-star Magic Guide Spirit!" Robert's gaze flashed as he suddenly spoke.
Emma then closed her mouth.
Virt, on the other hand, was suddenly stunned, and then silently lowered the Magic Guide Card in his hand.
It seemed that only at this moment did he suddenly realize that the strength of Robert's deck had already surpassed his own.
Still lacking any second-tier [Magic Guide Spirit Card], he was gradually being overtaken by others—even being left further and further behind.
Originally, he had pinned his hopes on this dungeon's free activity, partly in order to find materials capable of refining a second-tier Magic Guide Spirit.
He also knew that the Magic Guide Spirits he refined mostly leaned toward the dungeon-monster series, and the materials dropped by these dungeon monsters ought to have good compatibility with his.
A pity that even now, he had not hunted down any decent material.
His gaze could not help but fall onto that round boulder.
He wondered whether, after a successful hunt, he might be able to scrape a little off the core material of this stone monster?
...
Just as Virt was sunk in hesitation, Robert loudly said: "Virt, have your Shining Giant Python come back."
Virt: "Huh? Oh."
He did as told.
And once the Shining Giant Python had released its coils and crawled back, Robert too called the Blood Mother Bat back, then stretched out a finger and closed his eyes.
The Blood Mother Bat at once shot over with mouth agape and gave a tiny peck on his fingertip, sucking up a little bit of blood.
"That's enough, that's enough!" Robert hurriedly said.
The Blood Mother Bat lifted its head, still wanting more, and then immediately flew toward that round stone.
It was also thanks to the fact that the round stone simply did not move—otherwise, if they were this slow and dithering when facing a normal monster, they could probably just have been knocked into a GG outright.
"Ultimate Move—Blood Source Self-Destruct!"
The Blood Mother Bat took aim at the stone's crevice, rammed into it once more, and then immediately self-detonated.
"BOOM!"
The self-destruct attack of a three-star Magic Guide Spirit—its power was beyond doubt.
This blast was earth-shattering, making even the ground underfoot tremble faintly.
The surging blood-light released from within the Blood Mother Bat's body lit up the entire passage.
Yet under the cover of the red light, the crevice of that round boulder actually opened soundlessly—just like opening an eye!
It stubbornly fixed its stare upon the Blood Mother Bat's self-destruct impact, drawing the blood-energy it released into the crevice, and the red light shining from within its eye grew gradually stronger.
Only when the explosion ended did it abruptly close its eyelid.
This time it shut completely, not leaving even a sliver of a gap.
Robert, who had been staring intently at it, suddenly grew excited: "It closed! Its crevice closed! It must be because it couldn't withstand the damage from the self-destruction! Once I Sacrificially Summon the 'Blood Beast,' I'll definitely be able to smash open its shell!"
The words had scarcely fallen when Robert swiftly composed his expression and, in utmost earnest, began to perform "Sacrificial Summoning."
He had only experimented with it once before, and deep down he was still a little unsure, dreading that his "Sacrificial Summoning" might fail.
That Blood Mother Bat, after self-detonating, had given birth to five Blood Bats.
No more, no fewer—just enough for him to summon the "Blood Beast."
But the speed at which he performed "Sacrificial Summoning" was truly too slow.
It took a full half-minute before he successfully completed the "Sacrificial Summoning."
Half a minute—that was a full turn.
In a dueling match, by then the dish would have gone cold!
Even within the dungeon, it would probably be hard ever again to find a monster that would let him perform Sacrificial Summoning the way he was now, wouldn't it?
...
Accompanied by the emergence of the Sacrificial Summoning circle, a Blood Beast with a ferocious visage slowly surfaced.
This Blood Beast stood some two meters tall, its whole body red as flowing blood, its overall form resembling a tiger or leopard, with a maw-bearing tentacle on each shoulder, and a long tail behind its rump like half a python lashing at the ground.
Compared to the Blood Beast summoned by Vlad, the Blood Beast Robert summoned lacked a measure of savagery, but was equally ferocious.
"Hsss!"
The Shining Giant Python reacted the instant the Blood Beast appeared, repelling it even more than it had the earlier Blood Mother Bat.
Virt hurriedly spoke to soothe it, while Robert excitedly commanded the Blood Beast to launch an attack on that round boulder.
But as the Blood Beast pounced fiercely upon it, the round boulder—concealed by the Blood Beast's silhouette—had its front-facing crevice abruptly tear open, like eyelids being pried apart, finally revealing a crimson pupil shimmering with intense blood-light!
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