Chapter 863: Choices

After entering this labyrinth that seemed simple and free of magic, Lin Yun knew that there was definitely a danger hidden within and that this place definitely contained a treacherous trap. Now, it looked like he was right.

There had been very few ruins left by Bill George, but even the least valuable ones also had some kinds of ordinary defenses that would lead to a deadly trap.

It was also because of this that at the peak of Noscent, many powerful mages thought of ways to excavate Bill George’s ruins. Most of these people ended up never leaving the ruins, and only a lucky few made it out alive.

These flaming rays before his eyes were genuine 6th Tier Spells, the strongest single-target offensive spells in the 6th Tier. They were all enchanted on the wall, and several dozen spells burst out all at once. The only dangerous section of that passage was those few meters. This extreme approach was in line with Bill George’s style.

The Mage Eyes wouldn’t notice anything amiss, and even an elemental being like the Rock Puppet triggered no reaction, but when a living creature entered the trap, it immediately tripped the mechanism. Falling into such a trap unguarded would surely lead to death. It wouldn’t be worthy of Bill George’s name if someone fell into the trap and survived.

There had been no differences in the walls, and even if one paid attention to the runes, one couldn’t carefully investigate the runes one by one.

After choosing eight entrances, even a cautious man wouldn’t be cautious to such an extreme, so there was very little chance of such a hidden trap being discovered there.

The only defensive methods available after suddenly being set upon by a few dozen Fire Bolts at such close range in such a narrow passage was a Runic Shield and a Mana Shield… Only these two spells could be released in time, but anyone under the 8th Rank of the Archmage realm without a defensive Magic Tool would definitely die!

Even Xiuban might not necessarily come out of that trap alive. These Fire Bolts contained a special power, and their burst power was close to that of the 7th Tier, but it also carried penetrative power. Even Lin Yun would have been flustered if he fell into that trap.

That sudden event startled everyone else.

Xiuban had a greenish complexion as he felt his own body while looking alarmed. He clearly felt that his body might not be able to resist the cutting power.

Wagner was as white as a sheet of paper, with drops of cold sweat dripping down his back.

‘Hell, how could it be like this? There hadn’t been any danger all along, and now there was suddenly such a dangerous trap here!

‘Is the owner of this place a nutjob? Reinforced Fire Bolts? Several dozen hitting a few-meter-wide area? Who can do such a thing?

‘The master of this place must have been a terrifying Heaven Rank powerhouse, and one that was highly skilled in spell enchantment…

‘Thankfully, Mafa Merlin was cautious… Otherwise, not only would they have died, I would have died along with them! My defensive Magic Tool has already been damaged, so if I fell into that trap, I’d be cut to pieces at the very least… No, I might have been turned to ashes.’

While the others had terrible expressions, Lin Yun’s remained the same. He even sighed in relief.

As long as the trap was discovered, the rest would be a lot easier. Since the enchantments were found out, cracking them would be very easy for Lin Yun.

He remotely controlled a crystal pen and started writing on the walls. Using the wall’s enchanted runes as a base, he quickly made some additions, and without affecting the reinforcement runes, he forcibly changed those reinforced Fire Bolts into something else.

After a short period of time, Lin Yun took back his crystal pen, and the Fire Bolts slowly stopped burning. After being extinguished, the wall’s runes rapidly turned into another kind of rune.

Exploding Runes!

In an instant, several dozen Exploding Runes shone. If these Exploding Runes were roused in such a narrow passage, their power would definitely exceed that of an 8th Tier Spell!

Even if Lin Yun’s group didn’t die, they would suffer. And Wagner, he would definitely die.

Wagner looked at those Exploding Runes in alarm. He instantly cast a Runic Shield, a Mana Shield, and an Elemental Shield on himself, before using Haste to run.

But after taking a few steps, he realized that Lin Yun’s group hadn’t moved.

‘Damn, are they courting death? A few dozen Exploding Runes would definitely collapse this place, it would be hard for anyone under the Heaven Rank to survive! Why aren’t they running?’

Wagner’s mind rapidly spun as his movements slightly slowed, and this time, he noticed that those bright runes were shining and that the pattern they formed looked like an array.

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In an instant, those Exploding Runes turned into a source of mana that powered up an array, and the power of those runes was rapidly drained.

The array turned into rays of light stuck to the walls, rapidly spreading through the passage, giving a metallic luster to all the reinforced walls.

“This is… a reinforcement array?”

Wagner stood there awkwardly and slowly scattered the power around his body. He hadn’t even noticed such a simple array.

That array was mostly used in construction. As long as there was enough power, they could keep strengthening the city walls. It was possible to make walls as hard as diamonds. The city walls left behind by the 3rd Dynasty had been strengthened over the years.

Xiuban turned around and disdainfully looked at Wagner like a higher-ranked lifeform would look at an idiot.

“Moron, the person that could trap the great Sir Merlin hasn’t been born yet. Look at you, you aren’t even as smart as Lord Xiuban…”

Wagner awkwardly glanced at Xiuban, but didn’t dare to say anything. This really was too embarrassing. No one had tried to run except him, this was very shameful.

Lin Yun watched expectantly as the array’s effect was activated.

‘That Bill George is truly insidious enough… Even his trap was layered, one layer more sinister than the other.

‘If I hadn’t directed the power into the array, it would have truly blown up this passage. I had a feeling that those runes would change into Exploding Runes, and sure enough, I was right.’

With the power of the Exploding Runes being slowly absorbed, the surrounding walls were continuously strengthened. Looking at the stabilizing area, Lin Yun casually summoned a Rock Puppet and an Imp to continue pathfinding.

After confirming that there was no danger, Lin Yun led everyone forward.

After continuing for a while, there were another three passages spreading before them, but there was something different this time.

Above the left path was written Path of Life in Nesser Language, above the right path was written Path of Death, and in the middle was written Path of Departure.

“Sir Merlin, the owner of this path is so treacherous, the Path of Life must be the Path of Death, and the Path of Death shouldn’t be that dangerous!”

Xiuban looked as if he had seen through everything.

“Merlin, which one do we choose? Both the Path of Life and Path of Death should be dangerous… No, that Path of Life might not be dangerous, the master of that place should have thought that no one would pick the Path of Life here!” Enderfa’s three faces were at a loss as he looked at the three passages.

As for Wagner, he was a bit pale and couldn’t help saying a few words of his own. “Mafa Merlin, shouldn’t we leave? This place is too strange, let’s leave through that Path of Departure…”

At this time, Lin Yun finished his calculations and a strange smile appeared on his face.

“Okay, let’s go through the Path of Departure.”

His calculations showed that the Path of Departure was the true path to the ruins, while the other two paths led to some unknown place.

By this time, Lin Yun was already certain that they were heading for Bill George’s ruins, as only his ruins would have such treacherous defensive methods.

Even if someone came, only powerhouses would be able to reach this place, and those with staunch resolve wouldn’t choose to leave. Regardless of whether that Path of Departure was real or fake, they would immediately rule it out.

No matter how intelligent they were, they would only choose between the Life and Death Paths by this point because of the ruins, because everything that happened before was enough to make them determined to reach the end.

Thus, the powerhouses who were unafraid of death would choose between the left and right paths, and if someone was afraid of death, they wouldn’t have made it here. Only those who chose to leave through the middle path would truly find the ruins.

But it was impossible for the ruins to not be guarded. That was the time for those who relied on strength to shine. Thus, regardless of who found it, the probability of coming out of the ruins alive was extremely small.

Those who researched Bill George’s ruins would say this: Not the most powerful, but definitely the most treacherous and dangerous.

The mortality rate in the explorations of Bill George’s ruins far exceeded the ruins of other powerhouses.

Lin Yun still sent out two Rock Puppets as pathfinders while he followed behind.

Enderfa and the others looked at each other in dismay, not understanding why Lin Yun chose the middle path, but they still followed.

After entering that path, they clearly felt that they were going up as the passage sloped uphill.