Chapter 130: Just Clinging to a Powerful Backer

Wright was relieved to see that Byron hadn’t acted foolishly. Without hesitation, he caught up and asked the key question.

“The Landship Sail's people are likely waiting for us outside. What’s the plan? Are we going to force our way through?”

The three of them moved swiftly, and the exit was already within sight.

“As soon as we step out, I will release a vision-obscuring mist while also sending out the signal for the Wizard Tower. If the Landship Sail people don’t want to go against the Wizard Tower, they should know to back off.”

“What if they keep attacking us?” Wright clenched his fists. From Saul’s description, there were likely many enemies outside. “Do we fight our way out? There’s a three-masted ship from Landship Sail out there.”

“We can’t afford to be delayed,” Bill disagreed. “The spirits won’t come out under the sunlight, but it’s already late. We must leave Hanging Valley as soon as possible and can’t afford to be blocked outside. Once we get out, we’ll use my mist to find a weak spot and break through immediately.”

Wright clenched his fists. A three-masted ship typically wouldn’t have a full-fledged wizard on board. As long as they were careful of Herman, they still had a good chance of working together to escape.

Byron, leading the way, remained silent.

He seemed to still be grappling with the situation regarding Saul.

Wright believed there was no way Saul could have survived.

That spirits had been relentlessly trying to devour their souls. If it had caught up with Saul…

His fate was already sealed.

Soon, the three of them could see sunlight streaming through the cave entrance.

Suddenly, Byron reached into his mouth and pulled out three vials.

Before stepping out of the cave, he threw them forward.

The fragile glass vials shattered against the rocks, releasing a thick cloud of white smoke that instantly engulfed the entire cave entrance.

Bill glanced at Byron, recognizing his lack of trust.

Naturally, he didn’t trust Byron completely either.

Bill stopped at the entrance and opened his mouth. A similar white mist poured out.

However, just as his mist began to spread, something suddenly slammed into the entrance.

“Boom—”

The ground trembled violently, and the cave entrance collapsed, sending rubble tumbling down.

Dust and debris swallowed everything.

The Landship Sail people had fired a cannon.

Wright quickly crouched behind the other two, pressing his hands against the ground. A massive earthen wall sprang up.

The cave entrance had been bombarded into collapse, but in doing so, a large portion of the underground structure was now exposed.

As the ground continued to cave in, even more mist gushed from below, covering a vast area and obscuring its true source.

Suddenly, a dark mass shot into the sky, exploding into a massive black rose against the brilliant blue backdrop.

As the petals unfurled, they drifted downward, releasing eerie, laughter-like whispers as they rubbed against the air.

It was the signal from the Wizard Tower.

However, the external assault didn’t cease with this identification signal. Instead, the attacks became even fiercer and more urgent.

One cannonball after another rained down from the cliffs, and the valley floor was soon riddled with craters.

But amidst the bombardment, three figures suddenly emerged from a crevice and dashed forward.

Bill was surrounded by mist, his figure flickering in and out of view. Within moments, his silhouette split into two, then multiple identical forms, making it impossible to distinguish the real one.

Another cannonball flew toward him, and a glint of killing intent flashed in Bill’s eyes.

The mist around him, which had seemed insubstantial, transformed into a soft foam the moment it came into contact with the projectile.

Although the cannonball sank into the foam, its destructive power was nullified.

By the time it punched through the mist and landed on the ground, it was nothing more than a lump of metal, making a dull thud as it left a small indentation.

The Landship Sail people were fewer in number than they had anticipated.

To avoid their own cannon fire, they had positioned themselves far from the exit, preventing them from forming an encirclement.

That actually made their escape easier.

Bill glanced at the others.

Wright wasn’t a concern—his earth-based wizardry was excellent for defense.

But what surprised Bill was that Byron wasn’t running away.

Instead, he broke away from the group and ran toward the tunnel they had initially used to enter the underground.

The tunnel that Saul had pointed out—perched on the cliffside.

“What is he doing?” Bill’s pupils shrank as an unthinkable realization dawned on him.

Byron ignored everyone’s thoughts. Carrying Nick on his back, he dashed into the cliffside tunnel.

He ventured deep inside, then casually picked a fork in the passage and set Nick down.

Taking several small bottles from his mouth, he placed them beside Nick.

“Sealing yourself off won’t solve the real problem.”

Leaving only those words, Byron abandoned Nick there and continued down the passage leading further underground.

After Byron left, Nick—who had been unconscious all this time—slowly opened his eyes.

Confusion, fear, pain, sorrow… A whirlwind of negative emotions flashed across his face, twisting his features into something almost monstrous.

But after a moment, he struggled to his feet and stared at the passage before him.

“Is Byron going to save Saul?” He forced himself to suppress his turbulent emotions. “What’s the point now? Does he really think Saul could still be alive?”

Nick pressed his palm against the rough stone wall and dug his nails into it, causing blood to drip from his fingertips.

The pain cleared his mind slightly. “Bill must have acted against Saul. The power struggles between mentors are not something a mere Level 2 apprentice like me can interfere with. Sending Saul to Grindstone Town was already a dangerous gamble.”

He hesitated in the cave, repeatedly telling himself to keep a low profile.

Yet, his feet moved involuntarily.

Step by step, he followed Byron into the underground passage.

“I’m just clinging to the Tower Master’s influence, that’s all.”

Repeating Saul’s old words, Nick tried to convince himself.

---

The bombardment had continued for some time, but physical attacks alone had limited effectiveness against a group of Level 3 wizard apprentices.

Among the Landship Sail crew, a restless apprentice finally lost patience. He stepped up to a man clad in silver armor—Herman—and spoke loudly,

“Lord Herman, we’ve already used up a lot of ammunition. At this rate, we’ll run out of stock. Should we stop the shelling and send people in instead?”

Herman shot him a cold glance.

“Do you have any idea who they are? They’re Level 3 apprentices from the Wizard Tower. Send people in? With you worthless grunts?”

“Keep bombarding them. Exhaust their mana and magical tools!”

Herman flexed his right hand, where a freshly healed wound remained.

Earlier underground, he had briefly clashed with two members of the Wizard Tower group, leaving him with that wound.

Herman was confident that he was no weaker than any of them, but taking on multiple opponents at once was another matter.

The few other Level 3 apprentices under his command were nothing more than obedient but useless subordinates.

Since he couldn’t gauge how many opponents the Wizard Tower had, his best bet was to wear them down as much as possible.

Given the circumstances, ranged bombardment was the best option.

“It’s a shame about that boy, though…”

Herman narrowed his eyes.

When the boy had fled earlier, he had seemed uncannily aware of which tunnels were safe and which were deadly.

Was he simply familiar with the terrain? Or did he possess an extraordinary danger-sensing ability?

Either way, Herman found him intriguing.

He no longer wanted to kill the boy.

If possible, he’d rather capture him.

Cut open every inch of his skin.

Excavate his brain.

And uncover the secret behind his uncanny ability to escape death.

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