"Miss Alisa, although you come from a Noble family, based on your actions along the way, I can feel that you are a rare true Knight, always upholding the principles of justice in your heart!"
Staring at the somewhat shaken young female Knight, Mondolo slowly rose from the stone pillar, his expression sincere.
"So, I wonder if you are willing to temporarily set aside your noble identity and see another side of the Empire with your own eyes?"
"I... I don’t know... But you can’t possibly win, you... you just don’t understand how powerful the Empire is!"
The heart of the young female Knight was already somewhat perturbed, and although she knew that the people before her were ’dangerous’ members of the Resistance Army, Mondolo’s words made her start to waver in her original beliefs.
Defying the strong to protect the weak, this was the path of justice that Alisa has always adhered to. But at this moment, it conflicted with her own identity.
"On the contrary, Miss Alisa, we are well aware of what we are facing. The Empire is indeed very strong, but it’s not as invincible as imagined."
As he mentioned this, Mondolo gently waved his hand.
"Those corrupt Nobles have long hollowed out the foundation of the Empire. Like an old Giant stricken with disease, its surface strength is merely a fog that blinds the eyes."
"I’ve seen small Noble descendants relying on their power to seize the treasures and lovers of civilian Professionals, and City Guard Armies masquerading as bandits, plundering merchants and travelers.
Even in the black market, I’ve seen border guards secretly selling city defense supplies. And the high ranks of the Empire have never noticed what happens at the lower levels."
"I know, you might want to say facing a Ninth Rank powerhouse, countless Low Rank Professionals are useless."
As he spoke, Mondolo suddenly blinked.
"But since we dare to stand up, naturally we also have ways to deal with High Rank Professionals. As for the specifics, it’s inconvenient to disclose."
"I understand, the enemy we face is very strong, so strong that they could easily crush our Resistance. But Miss Alisa, in the spirit of a Knight that you follow, when faced with a formidable foe, should you really retreat and not advance?
In the face of the rough thorns ahead, someone must stand up, pave the way for those who follow, and leave behind a spark.
Even if we ultimately fail, our successors can learn from our failures and proceed on the correct path!"
His words made Alisa’s heart waver even more.
At that moment, however, the main entrance of the cave suddenly echoed with intense running and sounds reminiscent of a huge mollusk moving.
"Help! Is anyone there?! Help!"
Momentarily, the panicked figure of Pei Zi, running alone, appeared at the entrance of the cave.
A low-ranking Wind Element Spell’s radiant effect swirled around him, boosting his running speed.
Behind him in the cave, a wall covered with large, oozing blisters that shone black-green like grease and metal closed up the entire passage tightly.
Seeing the four people still inside the cave, a strong desire to survive suddenly shone in Pei Zi’s eyes.
"Hurry, save me! It’s catching up to me ahhh!"
Screaming in panic at the four people, Pei Zi suddenly tripped, nearly falling over, inevitably slowing him for a moment, which dramatically decreased his distance from the pursuing flesh wall.
At the same time, a long tentacle suddenly extended from the flesh wall, quickly coiling towards Pei Zi.
"Pei Zi?! What is that? Where is Ex?"
Witnessing this perilous scene, the four were startled and immediately ceased their prior conversation. Alisa and Mondolo together took action, using Force Field Magic to pull him to their side, temporarily away from the menacing flesh wall behind him.
"I don’t know! It just appeared all of a sudden! Ex, he, he’s inside there! It swallowed him!!"
After being rescued, Pei Zi desperately pointed his fingers at the meat wall behind him, his words becoming somewhat incoherent.
Upon entering the hall, the ’meat wall’ slightly slowed its advance, its body’s material spreading out like a wave of black-green slime, sliding past the sides of the columns.
Everyone could clearly see that it was actually something akin to a giant amoeba, which had taken on the appearance of a meat wall due to the narrow passageway compared to its size.
Alisa tried to mobilize her bloodline strength, launching a giant Half Moon Slash that blazed with golden-red flames at it.
However, this Magic Slash, approaching the power of a Third Rank peak, merely punctured one of its blisters and then quietly disappeared into its body, unable to even slightly slow it down.
Given the continuous formation of blisters on its body, that probably could not even be considered as damage.
Seeing this result, everyone immediately turned to run.
The only entrance to the cave was now blocked by the ’amoeba,’ leaving their only possible escape route through the black stone gate they had previously been reluctant to explore.
But now, they had no other choice.
They quickly rushed into the gate, everyone using their last resort methods to escape. At this moment, the overall strength of each individual was apparent.
Leading the way without a doubt was Alisa, while Roche’s speed was surprisingly comparable to Mondolo’s, with Matt slightly slower than them, and Pei Zi still lagging behind.
Seeing himself falling further behind the others, especially the previously scorned Roche, who now had speed matching that of the leader, a hint of jealousy flashed in Pei Zi’s eyes.
Just a novice below Third Rank, how could he run faster than me? He must be using some high-level Magic Equipment!
And despite being stronger and more talented than that lucky guy, was he supposed to fall behind just because his equipment was inferior?
Thinking this, a sinister look crossed Pei Zi’s eyes.
During the previous escape, he had been running together with Ex, who unfortunately tripped at a corner and was caught by the monster.
He remembered clearly, at the moment Ex was swallowed, there was a brief pause in the monsters’ movement behind him.
Now, as everyone was running at full speed, the gate at the other end of the corridor could vaguely be seen.
Inside the gate, Anvis and others also noticed the strange sounds in the passage.
"That’s the group from earlier, something filling the entire passage is chasing them!"
Seeing the scene in the corridor, Anvis’s heart sank. The thing chasing them reminded him instinctively of the giant ’amoeba’ he had once seen in historical records.
This creature could not even be killed outright by the Light of Purification of the High Elves.
"Not good! This space is sealed off, there are no other exits in this hall. If it gets here, we won’t be able to escape either!"
Realizing the urgency of the situation, Claire quickly turned her gaze, focusing intently on the two gates at the entrance.
"This gate seems sturdy enough; it should buy us some time. Anvis, can your scepter control the gate to close?"
There was no time to delay, Anvis took out the scepter again, focusing his mind on closing the gate.
The idea indeed worked; as he willed it, the two gates began to slowly close, leaving only a gap wide enough for one person to pass, allowing everyone to escape through the gate and close it as quickly as possible.
Seeing Anvis at the door controlling the gate, the people inside the corridor understood his intentions and immediately sped up again, intending to rush through the distance as quickly as possible.
But as everyone surged forward, Pei Zi was once again abruptly left behind, and he was soon about to be caught up by the meat wall behind him.
Seeing the changes at the distant gate and worried about being abandoned, Pei Zi, anxious in his heart, no longer hesitated and directly aimed a ring on his left hand at Roche’s back.