When he saw him running, Arnold smiled with relief. His little oversight had resulted in a rapier stuck in his arm, but he resisted and even counterattacked with precision.
Brandon frowned when he realized he couldn't get rid of this guy so easily and that his real target was running away.
"I originally took care of you because I thought you still had my mother's potions, but since you don't have any, it's time to die. Then I'll go after that little bastard."
Arnold laughed softly. "Dying is fine, if it's for my lords. But it seems that your true mission will not be fulfilled very well. Failing a royal edict... I wonder how you will solve that and how you will face My Lord when the Young Lord tells him about today."
CLANK*
CLANK*
The clash of swords echoed through the hallway as the fight between the two intensified. One seemed desperate, the other thoughtful. One was weakening, the other was landing decisive blows.
--
After entering the hallway next door, Ryan ran at full speed toward the dimly lit door at the end of the darkness.
His mother's healing potion had completely cured him. Although he was weak from blood loss, at least he could run.
He could cross and exit through the door in a matter of seconds.
A cold breeze hit him.
"Cold?" He looked up and was stunned to see the stars.
'Was it always outdoors?' he thought.
Besides, the night sky was... too beautiful.
He could practically see galaxies and nebulae in the distance. While this world isn't as polluted as Earth, it shouldn't be this spectacular, right?
'Or maybe it is, and I haven't noticed,' he thought.
He quickly shook his head to dispel the intrusive thoughts that wanted to distract him from his goal and decided to focus on what was important.
The open-air room had four Orbs in the ruin's characteristic colors: Blue, Green, Yellow, and Red.
These seemed to glow with the four colors on his chest, making him feel excited.
'Finally?'
The next second gave him the answer...
SHAKING*
SHAKING*
He ran to the center of the room the moment the shaking began. He thought it was his moment.
The shaking passed, and then several doors opened. Just as he came out through one of those doors, more people came out.
All those who had obtained the four orbs... nine in total.
Of the more than 200 people who entered, only nine, not counting Ryan, came out the door. Strangely, they were all ordinary people.
But there was something peculiar about their eyes.
A purple glow and bulging veins.
'Purple?'
Ryan immediately remembered Max's eyes when they were fighting. In the end, when he was about to lose, his eyes glowed the same shade of purple.
'Human puppets, there's a powerful puppeteer behind them!' He immediately summoned another shield; he only had two left of all the ones he had bought.
At the same time, several poison potions he had made and poisoned daggers were placed on his body.
They would put him through one last test, which didn't happen in the novel. Luckily for him, there weren't too many people, and they were normal people.
Unfortunately for him... their eyes glowed purple continuously. That meant they had lost their minds, and it was difficult to bring them back to rationality.
The fight was going to be to the death.
And indeed, when these nine looked at him, a spark of madness lit up in their eyes, like an unquenchable flame that wanted to devour everything.
They immediately jumped on him, all simultaneously, as if they were perfectly coordinated.
"Kill the Ninth Prince! The reward for his head will be juicy!" They roared and laughed frantically.
Ryan couldn't let them take the lead. If their movements were so perfectly coordinated, he would have to break that coordination.
He immediately threw two poisonous jars at them and jumped in the opposite direction, aiming at the two on the other side.
The poison vials struck two of his enemies. Even though they were among his last remaining enemies, they were still quite strong for normal people.
The two began writhing on the ground, screaming in agony. The corrosive poison was terrible on the body of someone who couldn't use spirituality naturally.
After breaking that synchrony, he approached the other two. One of them struck his shield firmly with his sword; he was strong and had received training. However, he was no match for Max's strength, so stepping forward, Ryan managed to deflect his attack effectively.
The sword of his other enemy was firmly trapped in his dagger, but the strength of two arms was far superior to his own, so he dislocated his wrist with that single movement. Still, it was hardly a pain to be reckoned with.
He slid the dagger along the sword, emitting a hissing sound.
SWISH*
Then he stabbed the dagger precisely into his opponent's neck and broke it with a single movement. The poison made it impossible to activate the red orb, so he couldn't recover. And although Ryan was covered in blood, he hadn't lost sight of his goals.
He knew he was in a bad position, so he jumped forward with all his strength, trying to pin down his opponent, who was still trapped in his shield. He put all his weight into the attack, dodging the attacks from those behind him and landing on top of the other man.
He seized the moment to stab his enemy in the side with a dagger, knocking him to the ground.
His muscles ached, and his bones creaked. It wasn't a difference in technique; he had to pin his opponent completely to the ground to stab him, due to his lack of strength!
Because of this, he couldn't move quickly and soon felt a sword stab him in the back, piercing his stomach. Fortunately, it missed any important vital points.
He endured the pain with determination, drew his sword, and turned, striking his opponent. Despite wounding him, he knew he didn't have enough strength to kill him, so he dropped his sword and took out all the vials of poison he had left.
The corrosive, toxic poison was sprayed throughout the open room. Given how close he was to all his enemies, Ryan did not escape unscathed.
As the corrosive poison began to take effect and made them scream in agony, the toxic substance entered their nostrils and quickly began to burn them from the inside. Their kidneys began to burn.
He had managed to knock all his opponents to the ground, but he, too, was affected.
The cold breeze was no longer felt in the room. Only an intense smell of decay and toxicity lingered.
Ryan felt his organs burning, but he got up. His enemies were screaming in agony, and someone was still waiting for help to arrive; it was time to end this.
He went through them one by one, putting an end to them all and sending them far away from the agony that tormented them.
[Congratulations, Ryan Kraham, blessed by fate. You have completed the test.]