This time, I won't be the devil.

While Wright was narrating, Frey was flipping through the map of the maze and writing and drawing with a pen.

Seeing this scene, Wright and Palu, who had been in despair, cheered up again.

Through this period of time together, they have full confidence in Frey's abilities.

After a series of analyses and calculations, Frey came up with a feasible solution.

The strata and rock walls of the second layer are much thicker than those of the third layer, which also poses an obstacle to the sandworms.

According to calculations, it would take the sandworm about five hours to destroy the passage above the second level.

In other words, the location of the sandworm can be predicted in the next few hours, which gives Frey and his team the opportunity to snipe it.

"I named this plan the Sword of Damocles."

"To realize this plan, the success rate is still too low if it depends on only the three of us."

"The most urgent task is to unite all forces that can be united..."

……

After the sandworm issued the order, it was not just Wright and Palu who were attacked by the monster.

On the 20th floor, those copper-level and silver-level adventurers who were not qualified to participate in the expedition were still exploring the maze normally.

After noticing the change, the adventurers retreated to the main road, and then they found that the main road had been occupied by monsters.

The monsters that were originally scattered throughout the maze have now all gathered together, which is far beyond the limits of what the adventurers can cope with.

Groups of monsters chased the fleeing adventurers, and adventurers kept dying in the process.

Now two hours have passed, and a group of adventurers who gathered together because of the monster's pursuit have been completely surrounded.

Panic and anxiety continued to spread, and many people began to yell and scream in panic.

Just as everyone was falling into despair, a voice suddenly came from above their heads:

"To be or not to be, that is the question."

Chapter 88 Darkest Night

On the other side, in the training ground in the northern part of the labyrinth city, the battle between Noelle and Van Dam has also entered a white-hot stage.

The two swords kept colliding, playing a rapid melody.

At first glance, this looks like a fierce battle where both sides fight each other, but it is not the case.

Despite the sword's speed, it was still controllable for Van Dam.

He wanted to use this real-life confrontation to help Noelle integrate the knowledge he had learned so far.

Vertical slash, diagonal cut, horizontal swing, downward slash, and thrust, under Van Dam's deliberate guidance, Noel displayed all the sword skills he had mastered in the past few days.

Although her movements were not perfect, she already possessed the skills necessary to become a swordsman.

Not only that, during the battle, her sword skills became more and more proficient, and her fighting spirit and momentum became more and more high.

In Van Dam's view, the usually weak and frail girl had disappeared, replaced by a proud and confident swordsman.

At this point, the purpose of training has been achieved. After she goes back and digests today's experience, she should be able to successfully reach the level of swordsmanship Lv1.

But Van Damme has one last thing to do, which is to give Noel a warning.

This was also Frey's request to Van Dam before he went into seclusion.

Frey, who lived under the same roof with Noel, naturally knew about the results of Noel's training. Van Dam also told him that Noel was likely to reach Level 1 in swordsmanship during his retreat.

Frey expressed the hope that Van Damme could dampen Noelle's confidence a little during the official competition so that she wouldn't be too proud.

In Van Dam's opinion, Noelle had indeed become a little conceited because of her rapid improvement in swordsmanship, and a sense of pride emerged from her.

But this is not necessarily a bad thing for swordsmen.

To be precise, this pride is a double-edged sword. It can inspire people to move forward, but it can also bring danger.

Different schools have different understandings of this. Some sword skills are as passionate as fire, while others are as calm as water. The core difference lies in the attitude towards the sword.

Should I eliminate unnecessary emotions and concentrate on honing my skills, or should I carry this pride and challenge higher goals?

Which path to take depends mainly on the swordsman's own choice.

Van Dam felt that Frey's attempt to forcibly thwart Noelle's spirit was somewhat overprotective.

Frey hopes that Noelle will only use swordsmanship as a means of self-protection and to improve his combat power.

To put it bluntly, he didn't seem to want to see Noelle become "independent".

But Van Damme doesn't think Frey's actions are wrong. It's human nature not to want the people you care about to do dangerous things.

Van Dam couldn't decide which option was better for Noelle.

What he could do was to use his strongest ability to test the child and see if she could overcome the difficulties.

After making up his mind, Van Dam's aura was no longer concealed and revealed.

The sudden change caused Noelle to pause for a moment, and Van Dam took the opportunity to swing his sword with all his strength, knocking her back.

Just as Noelle steadied herself and readjusted her stance, she noticed that the lights in the entire training ground had dimmed a bit.

Van Dam raised the heavy sword in his hand above his head and shouted:

"Domain expansion—[Darkest Night]."

Like Reynard, Van Damme is also able to use the special ability of field expansion.

The moment the domain unfolded, all the surrounding light disappeared as if out of thin air, and Noelle's vision was immediately shrouded in darkness.

Seeing this scene, people watching outside the training ground exclaimed, but their voices soon disappeared.

As thick darkness pressed in from all directions, the audience's voices and the sound of air flowing were instantly swallowed up.

Unlike ordinary night, the darkness in the area seems to affect people's five senses.

What's even more fatal is that this dark environment directly aroused Noelle's psychological shadow.

Although her fear of the dark has improved a lot during the past few months of exploring the maze, it has not completely disappeared.

Noelle didn't know why he was afraid of the dark, but whenever the surrounding environment became pitch black, an inexplicable fear would arise.

She seemed to have spent a long and desperate time in the empty darkness.

Before Noelle could experience the fear in his heart, Van Dam had already released a murderous aura that was even more terrifying than before.

At this time, Van Damme had merged with the darkness, and Noelle had no idea where he was.

As her senses became dulled, Noelle could no longer control her body properly.

She breathed rapidly, but found that the sound of her breathing seemed to come from far away underground.

Noelle gripped the hilt of the sword with trembling hands, feeling the cold touch at her fingertips. This was the only anchor she could use to prove her existence.

But the next second, a heavy blow came, and although Noelle blocked it with the sword in his hand, he was still knocked away.

Noelle didn’t understand where the attack came from until she fell heavily to the ground.

At this moment, every inch of space in this darkness is shrouded in danger.

Darkness and the unknown are the most primitive fears that are engraved deep in the genes of all living things.

Moreover, the existence of this field seemed to further amplify the negative emotions in her heart.

Faced with this overwhelming disparity in strength, Noelle's pride and confidence were instantly shattered.

She was so scared now that she wanted to run away, and tears even welled up in her eyes unconsciously.

Van Dam could clearly see Noelle's expression at this moment.

He has not yet unleashed the true power of this domain. It seems that Noelle has some kind of inner fear of darkness, which is why he has lost his ability to move simply because of the passive effect of the domain.

Van Dam realized his goal had been achieved. Continuing to maintain the domain might exacerbate Noelle's psychological trauma, so he offered a way out.

"If you don't want to continue suffering, just admit defeat."

However, contrary to Van Dam's expectations, Noelle still did not give up. With tears in her eyes, she tried her best to endure.

"I'll give you 10 seconds to choose. If you still don't give up after 10 seconds, I'll attack with all my strength."

Noelle knew very well that in this situation, retreating was the only reasonable option.

But at the same time, a strong will erupted in her heart, as if urging her.

Can't escape, can't escape, can't escape...

This emotion allowed her to temporarily overcome her fear of the dark.

But even after regaining control of her body, she still had no means of resisting the attack.

Noelle tried to open her eyes wide, but could see nothing.

If you don't even know where the enemy is, you have no idea where to start.

Just when Noelle was at a loss, a somewhat cold female voice suddenly broke through the barrier of the field and reached her ears.

“Don’t see with your eyes, feel with your heart.”

It was just a simple sentence, but it inspired Noelle.

Since she could feel the murderous aura in the darkness, she could use it to deduce Van Dam's location.

As Noelle realized this, a wisp of sword energy surrounded her.

At this moment, Noelle suddenly felt that his thinking seemed to speed up.

The originally dull senses became extremely sharp, and even the slightest vibration could be detected.

This feeling is very strange, like entering some special state.

Finally, just before Van Dam's slash was about to fall, Noelle caught sight of him.

Van Dam's heavy sword came down with the force of thunder, and Noelle met it with an upward thrust.

At the moment the swords clashed, Noelle realized that a certain transformation had taken place within her.

That was proof of breaking through swordsmanship level 1.

But even if Noelle successfully blocked it, her strength would not be enough to dissipate Van Dam's full-strength attack.