Goddess Kaleidoscope

Fortunately, although the saintess's team consisted of young people, they were all true elites with both strength and equipment. The traps and mechanisms that could torment adventurers were just "a little difficult" for them.

After the assault team entered the hall and started their attack, the group, equipped with pre-added buffs, constantly maneuvered against the four golems, while Lud and Selica and others crouched at the door to observe.

Of the five who went down, Hume's performance was undoubtedly the most eye-catching. The others were a little strained, but she looked relaxed and was able to deal with the siege of several golems at the same time. Her agile movements, which were like ghosts, were as if she were dancing in front of her enemies.

Hume has now fully recovered all his divine power as a fourth-order god, but perhaps because he was a mortal for more than three hundred years, he couldn't change many of his habits in a short time.

So Hume simply did the same as Aina and the others, giving Ludwig complete access to divine power and letting him exercise divine authority on her behalf, while she happily continued to play the role of a "female warrior with terrifying strength." She enjoyed this feeling of showing off her disguise.

With Hume's strength, these four golems were naturally no match for her. However, in order to cooperate with Lud's plan, she could only pretend to be "barely even" for the time being. Even so, it surprised Celica and her group. They wondered how such skills could only be Silver-level.

Soon, with Lude's "reminder," Celica keenly noticed that the fountain sprayed continuously in rhythm with the music, and that there was a "charge" of about a second before it sprayed, during which surging bubbles could be clearly seen churning beneath the surface.

The water columns imbued with magical elements can stun the golems, giving them an opportunity to deliver a powerful blow.

Having figured out the attack methods of the golems and the fountain, Celica did not recall her assault team teammates. Instead, she drew her sword and charged forward, intending to destroy the four golems in one fell swoop.

Celica's confidence was not arrogance, but based on her own strength. As the Holy Maiden of Light, she received power from the great god Lord of Light that was on par with the Pope. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that although she is a mortal, the power she currently possesses may be stronger than that of many lower gods!

Furthermore, Celica noticed that the relatively limited space in the hall was not suitable for too many people to take the field. Therefore, rather than retreating to call for reinforcements, it would be more appropriate for her and a few elite warriors like Li Wei to take the field.

Seeing the Holy Maiden personally take to the battlefield, the morale of the group soared. They stopped merely dodging and probing, and instead launched their own attacks, trying to create as many opportunities as possible for Selica to break through the golem's core. The once fearsome Dog Brothers F4, who had struck fear into the hearts of countless adventurers, were thus defeated one by one.

In less than twenty minutes, the second level was defeated. When the teammates who rushed back arrived, they saw the radiant Saintess Celica standing atop a fallen golem, holding two holy swords, her figure resembling a Valkyrie from mythology.

After the final boss of the second level was defeated, the murderous fountain in the hall stopped spraying, and the floating golden harp turned to dust in the wind. Immediately afterwards, the water on the ground quickly receded and drained away, revealing a huge carving and the entrance to a spiral staircase leading to the lower level of the maze.

A giant hourglass hangs directly above the entrance, seemingly reminding everyone that the gates are only open for a limited time.

Thanks to Lud's guidance and reminders, Celica and the others no longer ignored the various murals and texts that appeared in the labyrinth. The group gathered in front of the carvings and carefully examined the patterns on them.

"Three monsters guarding the ball... what does that mean?"

"They should tell us to find these three items on the third floor of the maze. Each item is guarded by a monster, and we need to collect them all to open the door to the next floor."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's set off now!"

It only took them half a day to connect the two layers of the maze. The team's morale was high, and even the fear from their previous encounter with the evil spirits had faded considerably. Everyone felt that as long as the Holy Maiden was there, there was nothing to be afraid of in the maze.

But Celica frowned. She had participated in the final battles of the first and second levels, and had been the main attacker, so she could clearly feel how much the difficulty had increased. She could still manage now, but the third level might not be as easy.

In addition, Celica also noticed that the adventurers who volunteered to join her team were likely to become a burden once they entered the third level. They were of little help, and her team had to spare a significant portion of its combat power to protect them.

Therefore, Celica felt that instead of continuing to lead them down, it would be better to part ways here, which would be better for both sides. It wasn't that she thought the adventurers were too weak, but rather that she worried they would needlessly lose their lives due to their lack of strength. So Celica personally summoned all the adventurers, explained the current situation to them, and hoped they would turn back to the surface.

But the adventurers looked at each other in bewilderment, and finally one of them stepped forward and asked a very crucial question.

"What if we go our separate ways and turn back, and encounter those evil spirits?"

In terms of strength, these adventurers who voluntarily followed the saintess into the labyrinth could indeed be considered top-tier in the industry, but compared to Celica and her teammates, they were simply not worth mentioning!

These adventurers, who had witnessed two boss battles, knew in their hearts that the Holy Maiden didn't need their help at all. If they continued to go deeper into the more difficult third level, they would find it hard to even avoid being a burden. Therefore, they had long been considering giving up.

The problem now is that, because of the presence of the evil spirit, these adventurers dare not leave the saintess's team, which is protected by a large number of high-ranking priests, so this situation is very awkward.

Fortunately, it was Lude who stepped forward again, offering Selica a suggestion: why not draw some men from the main team to escort the adventurers back and, incidentally, send messages back to the ground? They also needed to keep an eye on resource consumption beforehand.

The team is indeed progressing very quickly. They cleared the first floor in less than three hours and the second floor in about ten hours. However, as the maze progresses, each floor becomes larger and more difficult.

Before entering the maze, each member of the team carried enough dry rations to last seven days, while drinking water was mainly handcrafted by the team's mages using water-making magic. This amount of reserves sounds substantial, but the consumption on the return journey must be taken into account. Therefore, theoretically, they could only advance for about five days on this deep dive into the maze, and then they had to reserve two days' worth for the return trip.

Therefore, Ludwig astutely pointed out that food and water were the key factors that truly limited how far they could go.

The previous team was too large, which slowed down the advance. It would be better to take this opportunity to streamline the team and concentrate the food supplies. All returning personnel only need half a day's rations, and the excess supplies can be given to the main force.

Following Lude's advice, Selica selected six companions to escort the adventurers back, while also gathering food and water. She then led the reduced team to continue towards the third level.

As Lude said, the speed of progress did increase significantly with fewer people, but she didn't know that all of this was part of Lude's plan.

Lude made full use of the adventurers he encountered in the labyrinth, silently observing as they asked to join his party, allowing Selica to make a wrong decision.

Lud, who watched their various bizarre actions every day through his Peeping Eyes, was well aware of the adventurers' skill level. They might be useful in the first two levels, but later on they would only serve as "atmosphere support" and would become the weak link in the team.

Fortunately, after breaking through the second layer, Celica finally realized that she had made a mistake. But when she tried to make amends, Rudd took advantage of her compassion and made her make another mistake: splitting up her forces. This is a major taboo in horror movies, but the young saint was unaware of it.

After everyone split up, Celica led the team to continue forward. There were still twenty-five people left in the team. The team consisted of the saintess and her sixteen teammates, Lud and his four disciples, and four guides. The proportion of traitors in the entire team had been reduced to nearly one-third without anyone noticing!

Lud's real big move began after he entered the third level.

Upon entering the third level of the maze, everyone's first impression was that it was cold, and the cold was extremely damp. Most people would find it unbearable after a short time in such an environment.

Fortunately, Selica was in the team, and she immediately cast a divine barrier to keep the whole team warm, which prevented everyone from feeling uncomfortable.

The group continued to proceed cautiously. They discovered that the traps and mechanisms on the third level of the maze were not as dense as those on the first two levels, with only one set appearing every so often. However, the passageway was much larger, and they could clearly feel the wind flowing through it. In some areas, the wind was even quite fierce, and if it weren't for the barriers, the wind would have been strong enough to make people lose their footing.

Clearly! The difficulty of the third level does not lie in the traps and mechanisms, but in the harsher overall environment. Without warm clothes or divine magic to block the cold wind like Serica, most adventurers would probably freeze to death after only ten or twenty minutes.

After walking for a while, the group first compared the surrounding terrain with a simplified map of the maze to roughly determine their location, and then deduced the location of the three level bosses.

The saintess's team is now considered a "pioneer group." They are the first group of prepared and organized adventurers to enter the third level of the maze. The information they had gathered beforehand did not include anything about this place, so everything would depend on their own ability to make on-the-spot judgments.

In times like these, the experienced Lud becomes increasingly valued by Celica and his teammates, and before they know it, he has become the "vice-captain" of the team, playing the role of strategist.

Soon, the group passed through a long corridor with a chilly breeze and arrived at an area where there was no wind and the temperature was significantly higher than in other places.

The group thought they had reached a place to rest, but at that moment, the room, which had been pitch black, suddenly lit up with a pale blue light, and a large group of figures suddenly appeared all around. Everyone instinctively thought they were surrounded and drew their weapons without saying a word, ready to fight.

However, after being on guard for a long time, the "enemies" around them did not launch an attack. When they looked closely, they realized that the walls around them were made up of a large area of ​​mirrors, and the figures were their own reflections in the mirrors.

"What...what kind of place is this?"

Seeing that it was not an enemy but his own reflection in the mirror, Prince Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief. He then stepped forward with his longsword and gently touched the mirror surface twice with the tip of the sword, producing a crisp metallic clang.

"Iron?"

"It must be steel, top-grade dwarf steel (stainless steel), with a polished surface to create this mirror-like effect. It seems the walls of the entire area in front are made of this; it's a veritable mirror maze."

After being reminded by Lu De, everyone realized that not only the entire wall in front of them, but also the floor and ceiling were made of steel mirrors, pieced together from irregularly shaped mirrors.

Thanks to this huge pile of mirrors, everyone looked around and saw that there were shadows everywhere. It was impossible to count how many shadows were reflected, making it both lively and subtly eerie.

Furthermore, whether it's just a feeling or not, everyone felt that among the vast number of reflections, there were several slightly different "selves" mixed in, but upon closer inspection, they couldn't find them at all.

What appeared before everyone was a maze made of mirrors. Once inside, you could see shadowy figures all around you, and their voices would inexplicably produce a fat tone, making it extremely eerie.

After looking at the map, the group realized that the mirror maze was located at a key point. No matter where they wanted to go, this was an insurmountable obstacle. Even if they had to grit their teeth, they had to go through it.

Before entering, Ludwig told everyone a trick for navigating the maze: stay as close to the walls as possible, and use ropes to link one another together, making sure not to stray from the group. So everyone followed Ludwig's advice and prepared, entering the maze one by one.

Upon entering the mirror maze, everyone's first reaction is novelty. The numerous mirrors cause people's images to be constantly reflected. If a person stands between two opposing mirrors, countless images will immediately appear. However, after seeing this strange scene many times, it is inevitable that people will feel a little dizzy.

Furthermore, everyone quickly confirmed that the faint singing they had heard earlier was not a hallucination, but that someone was actually singing. The singing was plaintive and had a slightly distorted tone, which was rather eerie.

The group walked for half a day without encountering any traps, but the eerie environment kept everyone on edge.

Li Wei hated this environment. He felt that even facing thousands of troops on the battlefield was better than staying in this godforsaken place and living in fear. But in order to follow the "lovely girl" who was walking ahead of him and who was becoming more and more fascinated by him, Li Wei believed that he could endure any torment.

"Damn it! What the hell is this maze? If you ask me, that demon named Hedtaka is a spineless coward. If he's so tough, come out and fight me!"

“Weishead, if you’re scared, just say so. There’s no need to make a scene here to bolster your courage.”

"Who are you calling scared!?"

"Hehe, who's afraid of whom knows it in their own heart."

"Alright! Everyone, please calm down, okay? It's true that this kind of environment can make people anxious. Shouting it out is actually a great way to regulate your emotions. How about I tell you two jokes?"

Seeing that someone was getting agitated and about to argue, Lud, who was walking in the middle of the group, stepped forward to smooth things over. But at that moment, the guide who was at the front of the group and responsible for scouting the way suddenly raised his fist to signal the people behind him to stop, then lay down on the ground and listened intently to the vibrations.

Soon, everyone noticed the increasingly strong tremors, and then they were shocked to see a large amount of bright red "blood" gushing out from the front of the passage, rushing towards them like a flood bursting its banks.

Seeing this, Celica immediately controlled the Holy Light Barrier to completely block the passage in front, trying to stop the impact of the blood. However, the surging tide unexpectedly passed through the barrier directly under everyone's gaze, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

But just as everyone screamed in alarm, thinking they were about to be swallowed by blood, the expected shock and suffocation did not occur. They then realized that the terrifying "blood tide" was just a realistic illusion that disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Everyone looked at each other, completely bewildered.

"What's going on? Is it fake?"

"Damn! No wonder the Holy Light Barrier didn't stop it, it was just an illusion!"

"The devil's basest pleasures... Wait, where's Annie? Wasn't she just here?"

"And Suka and Bure, they're gone too!"

After the blood surge subsided, the still-shaken group quickly discovered that, in the blink of an eye, eight people had disappeared from the group following the impact of the illusion. These included the saintess's teammates, the hired guides, and even Aina, one of Rude's female disciples.

No one expected that the demon could abduct so many teammates right under their noses! Selica's expression immediately turned serious.

At this moment, Lude stepped forward and spoke loudly to his somewhat confused teammates.

"Everyone, stay calm and don't panic!"

"Master, have you encountered this situation before?"

"I used to fight all by myself, how could I abandon my teammates! Remember what I said before? This maze is alive, it will upgrade and evolve on its own, this must be a new move."

"Those teammates who disappeared... are they still alive?"

“He’s definitely alive. Hedtaka is a suffering demon that feeds on the negative emotions of humans. He won’t kill his prey easily. I’ve been fighting him for so many years, and although I’ve lost more often than I’ve won, at least I’ve figured out his temperament… He wants to play games with us.”

"Then, what do we do now?"

Before anyone knew it, the experienced Lud had become the backbone of the entire team, and even Celica cast questioning glances at him.

Lude looked around and pointed to a mirror in front of him. Everyone then noticed a line of blood-red words on the mirror: "I'll chase you, and if I catch you, I'll...hehehe!"

What does this mean?

Gazing at the blood-red words on the mirror, before anyone could grasp their meaning, the ground trembled again. But this time, it wasn't a blood illusion; the mirror maze itself was changing, the walls and floor flipping, separating the unsuspecting group.

In the midst of the chaos, Prince Reeves tried to hold onto Celica, thinking that he couldn't be separated from her at all, but he wasn't the only one with the same thought; Prince Duran Weshead thought the same thing.

So the two princes, who reached out at the same time, grabbed each other and were immediately taken aback. Before they could make another move, a wall suddenly rose up from the ground, blocking them and Serica. Then the ground suddenly tilted and turned into a slide, and the two brothers rolled together in a heap, pulling each other.

They rolled for an unknown distance, and when they finally came to a stop, they found themselves in a completely unfamiliar place, with no other teammates in sight.

The two immediately realized that the demon wanted to break up their group, which was exactly the important thing that Master Lud had repeatedly emphasized to them along the way.

Be careful not to get alone, and if you do get alone, don't easily trust anyone!

The two bewildered individuals were both regretting why they had grabbed the wrong person and ended up with this idiot. Staring at each other, about to exchange their usual barbs, a soft sobbing sound suddenly rang out, causing them to turn in the direction of the sound simultaneously.

Could he be a teammate?