You are all my wings!

Were you just attacked by Iris at night?

And it just went right in?

Lyon looked up and saw a face that was a mixture of shock, tension, blushing, shyness, fear, and bewilderment.

So she didn't expect herself to wake up so quickly during her meditation practice?

It seems she was unaware that Leon had already mastered deep meditation and could freely enter and exit this state.

If it were a normal deep meditation session, it would be difficult to disturb the person unless there was a high risk involved.

"Iris, it seems I just had a nice dream."

Lyon grinned sheepishly.

He decided to cover it up.

Not proactive, not responsible, and not willing to refuse.

There are many side quests and main quests waiting for you in the future, and a vast forest to explore, so don't rush!

As for deep fluid exchange, you can't exactly do that in a cave, it would look like a field battle.

We still need to go outside and let the atmosphere build up a bit...

"Oh yes, so Leon, you were dreaming just now. No wonder your complexion looked different from your usual meditative state."

Iris pretended to be clueless.

"Then I wish you sweet dreams. I also need to go meditate and practice, and try to master intermediate healing magic and intermediate purification magic as soon as possible!"

She was in a very good mood, and happily jumped onto the rock in the corner. She stared blankly for a moment, then took a deep breath and began to meditate.

Lyon turned his head and saw someone standing guard at the entrance of the passage, not looking into the cave.

The only one who didn't rest was Machiru.

So was Iris's night raid instigated by Machiru?

She used to be sarcastic and sarcastic towards Iris, so why is she suddenly being so considerate now?

What exactly is she planning?

"Magical, come here."

Lyon waved.

Maggie didn't move.

"My dear master, I also need to replenish my magic power. Please contact me again in six hours if you need anything."

She moved to a corner with a gentle and frail appearance and entered a meditative state.

Meditation can concentrate the mind and improve the body's energy recovery efficiency, thus indirectly accelerating the recovery of magic power.

Leon narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, and then remained silent.

Continue your meditation practice.

Anyway, I just made a profit.

……

In the blink of an eye, nearly seven hours of Lyon's rare and pleasant rest time since the 41st floor had passed.

Whether it was thanks to the stimulation from Iris or not, he was in excellent condition throughout this meditation exercise, and his efficiency in replicating the imagery of the Ice Reduction Magic improved considerably.

That night, progress reached 71% in one go, very close to completely replicating the surface image and being able to cast the initial slowing spell.

After that, he should shift his focus of training to other intermediate magic.

Because he also has to consider advancing to the third or fourth tier.

The minimum requirement for advancing to the fourth rank is mastering an intermediate-level spell.

To increase your chances of promotion and avoid failure, the more you learn and the more proficient you are, the better.

The increase in strength after such a promotion will be stronger than that after a normal promotion.

After the fourth tier, there's still the formidable obstacle of higher-level magic.

A super magic that many people could never learn even after a lifetime of studying.

Only those who have mastered and can regularly use advanced magic can be considered to have even slightly joined the ranks of skilled spellcasters.

If Britta hadn't been limited by her magic power, she could have used advanced magic regularly at the fourth rank, which is a real shame.

Human beings still have too many flaws.

"Sir, let's discuss the next steps. After some discussion, we've decided to abandon our attempt to conquer the pseudo-Wisdom Tree. What do you think?"

Rent walked over.

After a night's rest, everyone was in good condition and looked quite well.

"Give up?"

Lyon said calmly:

"It really surprises me. I thought you would be determined to take revenge. After all, one of your teammates died at the hands of the Pseudo-Wisdom Tree, and you almost perished as well, didn't you? And judging from the results of the last battle, we have already severely damaged the core of the Pseudo-Wisdom Tree."

"Your Excellency, I have a question for you. The Saintess's extremely powerful intermediate combination spell failed, which was unexpected, wasn't it?"

Reynder's smile remained, but his eyes were noticeably sharper, and his tone carried a hint of questioning.

Yesterday he acted like a nice guy, but today he suddenly changed his tune?

Standing nearby, Bovary, unable to contain his anger, suddenly stood up:

"Friend, what do you mean by that? Are you trying to accuse me of making a mistake in command?"

"No, no, you misunderstand. I just want to prevent any further casualties on my team. That's a perfectly reasonable concern, isn't it?"

Renette smiled and waved, then met Lyon's gaze, a barely perceptible sharpness flashing in his eyes:

"Then, Your Excellency Lyon, could you provide a proper explanation for my question?"

Leon shook his head: "I have nothing to explain. There are always unexpected events in battle, and our mission is to suppress them. After all, our teammates are at least saved because of this, aren't they?"

"So you think you can cover up your mistake with such a vague and simple sentence?"

Rent asked in a low voice.

Carl rushed over, met Reynt's gaze, and said in an icy voice:

"What's wrong with you? Is this how you treat your savior?"

“Our entire team is very grateful for your life-saving grace, but one thing is one thing. I cannot let my teammates be in danger for unknown reasons. If possible, I only hope to get out of the 41st and 40th floors safely and return to the relatively safe 39th floor.”

Renette sighed and spread his hands helplessly:

"Lord Karl, I ask you, are you willing to let your teammates sacrifice themselves in vain for a single act of revenge? We can always wait until we're stronger before coming back, can't we?"

Karl was speechless.

Lyon waved his hand to stop Bovary from speaking, and calmly said:

"So, you've been rambling on and on with all that pretense, just wanting to leave and break up with our temporary team, right?"

Chapter 117 I was just bluffing him.

The smile on Reinhardt's face vanished.

"Sir, please don't put it so harshly. I was only doing this for my teammates."

"Is it unpleasant to hear? Good words or bad words, aren't they all essentially the same thing?"

Lyon's voice was calm:

"Since you're doing this, don't be afraid of what people say. But if you're afraid of what people say, it means you know it's wrong, doesn't it?"

Reint narrowed his eyes: "It seems you don't want to make friends with us."

Milo stood up, looking annoyed. "I think you've got it backwards. You're the ones who didn't want to be friends with us first, aren't you?"

Although he's a bit of a slacker, he still has a strong sense of belonging to the team.

"It seems we can't continue this conversation, gentlemen. Your commander doesn't seem to value your lives at all. He clearly isn't entirely confident in the battle, yet he's dragging you into a desperate fight to the death! He's either foolish or malicious. I suggest you think it over carefully. That's all I have to say. Let's go!"

Reynard left behind these clearly provocative words, flicked his hand, and prepared to leave.

Mark moved sideways, blocking Reynolds' path, and said:

"Your Excellency is mistaken. The problem now is not about sacrifice, but that you clearly had the ability to win and could have gained a great opportunity to improve the team's strength, yet you deliberately gave that opportunity away and hijacked the team's will, telling yourselves that running away was not a problem under the pretext of safety first. This is essentially cowardice! It is completely different from the tactical retreat that Lord Lyon arranged before!"

"If we can't see eye to eye, what's the point of talking? Friend, you're only at level three, and I'm at level four. Have you considered the consequences of blocking my way like this?"

"I, Mark, as a knight, never fear battle, never fear death! Even if you are a fourth-rank knight! If you dare to fight, I will fight you to the death, so what?"

Mark gripped the sword hilt tightly, adopting a crouching, bowed posture, ready to draw his sword at any moment.

“Mark, you can never wake someone who’s pretending to be asleep. Let them go. It’s better to know their stance sooner rather than later, so they don’t cause us any trouble.”

Lyon waved his hand to stop Mark.

This cave isn't very big. If we make a big fuss and attract monsters, they'll be able to flank us from both sides, which would be the most foolish way to die.

As for killing them over a disagreement, that's not the case, since such a move would have serious repercussions.

Of course, just in case, Lyon decided to take precautions, saying:

“Rente, I know why you turned against us. It’s because your boss is from the royal family and is about to take a series of actions against the Papacy. In order to show your loyalty, you decided to clarify your position and avoid too much communication with us to arouse suspicion, right?”

Renette paused in his tracks.

"Hmph! What kind of story are you making up?"

"You don't need to deny anything. Someone quietly left last night. You don't think I can't see that, do you? The reason you're so confident that you can get out of the 41st floor without us is because other teammates have found you, right? Isn't that great? You don't have to scheme against us, and you don't have to think about how to repay our life-saving grace. Ah, that's wonderful."

As soon as Lyon uttered those sarcastic words, the others, except for Reinte, immediately showed signs of wavering.

The change in expression was most noticeable in the third-tier spellcaster couple, after all, they were still too young.

As for Qiercha and Heshier, their eyes also flickered.

But they quickly backed down.

Everyone witnessed this scene.

Reynard didn't say anything more and quickly left with his teammates.

“Rente, I hope you remember one more thing: you have offended not only His Excellency Lyon, but also us, the future Holy Knights and pillars of the Holy See! If you dare to do anything dirty when you get back, don’t blame us for being ruthless.”

Carl watched Reynolds and his companions walk away and shouted angrily.

Leon patted Carl on the shoulder and said:

"That's enough. I'm sure you all know that the Horshah royal family has long wanted to overthrow the Papacy's rule. Although they seem to be on good terms now, their positions are clear, and conflict is inevitable. Be more careful in the future."

"Your Excellency, you let them go too easily."

Mark complained, "I've wanted to teach that seemingly enthusiastic but actually hypocritical bald guy a lesson for a long time. He kept trying to get close to Carl and ask for information, which really annoyed me."

Milo said speechlessly, "Come on, Mark. Although your line 'I'm not afraid of death' was very cool, it's nothing but coolness. Do you really think you can beat the other guy? Just putting on a show is enough."

Mark: "Hmph, even if I can't beat him, it's only a temporary problem. Once I successfully become a Paladin, I'll make sure he can beat me with one hand!"

"There's no need to fight in this small cave. It would cause a lot of trouble later. Besides, they definitely have teammates on the outside. We can't give them any openings. Although they certainly won't dare to attack us now, we can't guarantee that nothing will happen."

Leon shook his head, indicating that he wanted the group to calm down.

Bovary looked at Lyon with adoration and said admiringly:

"How did you figure out that the other party was from the royal family? And how did you even know that someone went out last night? I kept watch all night yesterday, but I didn't find anything."

"I was just bluffing him. I didn't know at first whether any of them left last night."

Leon shrugged:

"However, judging from their reaction, someone did secretly go out to exchange intelligence with other teams. I guess the person who got away with it is that scout named Qiercha. His stealth skills are quite good, so we should be wary of him."

"Kielcha? Speaking of which, I found a note on Kielcha's seat. Please take a look."

Bovary respectfully handed over a crumpled piece of paper.