Chapter 680: Chapter 327: Narros, Truth, Clues, and the Labyrinth’s Treasure!
Ronan watched the approaching silhouette.
Underneath the wet, seaweed-like black hair was a rather handsome face.
His gaze was exceptionally clean.
No murderous intent, no resentment, no disdain or contempt, and no sense of superiority.
Just a trace of weariness accumulated over countless years.
"It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a young person as outstanding as you."
The man walked up to Ronan and spoke.
His voice was magnetic, his eyes gentle and tranquil, as if he were a traveler emerging from the morning mist, adorned with morning dew, and with lingering vestiges of night and starlight.
"What is your name?"
He inquired of Ronan.
Ronan looked at him, supporting himself with his hands, slowly getting up from the ground.
"Misha."
Ronan answered, a grotesquely displaced and penetrating wound on his chest, off-center from his heart, was granulating and slowly healing.
He breathed evenly for a while, and his complexion seemed less ghastly.
"Misha."
The man whispered the name, his gaze warm, nodding, "I will remember it."
"Swish—"
A petite figure suddenly descended, tossing a silver key to Ronan, then directly standing in front of him, coldly staring at the handsome man who had approached.
The man gave Molli’er a plain glance, indifferent to the unconcealed coldness and hostility emanating from her, even nodding with considerable politeness.
"And what is your name?"
Ronan, seemingly almost fully recovered, pressed Molli’er’s shoulder and gently nudged her aside.
"You can call me Narros."
The man smiled at Ronan, revealing his name with unusual candor.
"Then, Narros."
Ronan pondered briefly, then spoke: "Do you have any Demon Crystals?"
"Uh...."
Everyone present, including Molli’er, was taken aback.
But the man named Narros seemed quite serious, and after pondering, he slowly removed a uniquely shaped Ruby Ring from his right ring finger. Letting it float gently before Ronan.
"A few, but not many."
Ronan’s eyes flickered momentarily, reached out, and lightly grasped the man’s ring.
"Thank you."
Ronan spoke, then picked up the Space Key that Molli’er had just tossed him, and casually thrust toward the air beside him.
"Buzz—"
A faint space fluctuation emanated, light patterns grew in the void, quickly weaving into the outline of a small door.
The Level 5 Wizard Monsters at the scene tightened their eyes and instinctively stirred, but quickly calmed under a glance from the leading man.
The man known as Narros watched Ronan calmly, raising his hand to gently catch the Space Key that Ronan tossed next.
"This key can be used only one last time..."
Ronan’s gaze swept over the Level 5 Monsters present one by one, saying calmly: "Use it to open an exit, or continue chasing me... you choose."
Having said that, Ronan looked at the man before him as if friends parting amicably.
"Well then. Goodbye, Narros."
Finishing his words, he turned with Molli’er and stepped into the Light Gate.
Some time later, the Light Gate began to blur gradually.
The man named Narros continued to observe silently until the Light Gate vanished entirely, then slowly withdrew his gaze.
"What an outstanding young man."
He looked at the Space Key in his hand, muttering to himself again.
Raising his head again, a mysterious aura started emanating from the man.
He squinted slightly, his gaze crossing over the distant Minotaur Babli, beyond the blue small door on the cliff... as if penetrating layers of void, seeing much farther and higher.
Murmuring softly.
"We have all endured long, agonizing trials, wasting our precious lives here..."
"Now, it is time to see the daylight again."
.....
"Whoosh—"
In the quiet passage, Ronan and Molli’er emerged from the Light Gate.
Seeing the white small door shut anew, Molli’er couldn’t help but speak: "Without a key, we’re utterly stuck now."
Ronan remained unusually calm, taking out a few Healing Potions from the Space Ring and drinking them, then glancing at the Ruby Ring he obtained from the man named Narros, casually storing it away, finally speaking slowly: "I never intended to exit from there."
"Hmm?!"
Molli’er’s expression froze, suddenly realizing, "So that wasn’t the true exit?"
"No."
Ronan shook his head, "It was an exit."
"What do you mean?"
Molli’er frowned, utterly bewildered.
"Do you remember what you said? About this maze..."
Ronan walked forward slowly, gently caressing the wall with his hand as he walked, "A wizard named Minotaur constructed the greatest maze in the world, and he buried treasure within it..."
Ronan stopped, looked at the tall wall shrouded in gray mist before him, and murmured, "Now, nothing can interrupt us from seeking the treasure left by Minotaur."
At this moment, it seemed as if an invisible cloak was gently shed from Ronan’s body, revealing the truly dazzling brilliance beneath.
Molli’er was momentarily stunned, looking at Ronan, who was not too far from her, and murmured, "So your original intention wasn’t to use their power to open the maze’s exit, but to trick them all into a room and lock them in, so they wouldn’t obstruct you anymore...
From the very start, your goal was the treasure within this maze?!"
In this instant, some of the doubts in Molli’er’s mind finally seemed to resolve themselves.
Why did she "set up" Ronan to enter the legendary Minotaur Maze, which no one was supposed to exit, yet Ronan wasn’t particularly angry, since he had been planning to look for the treasure from the beginning.
Why did Ronan risk luring all the Level 5 Wizard Monsters he encountered along the way together, because he wanted to clear the path for the formal exploration ahead.
Why did Ronan specifically open the cell door that held Narros at the last moment of entering the room; the phrase "for safety’s sake" didn’t mean he thought the Level 5 Monsters were inadequately experienced against Minotaur Babli.
He had calculated the number of uses of the Space Key precisely, deliberately depleting part of the key’s energy, so that when leaving it for the monsters in the room, there would only be one use left.
At this moment, countless thoughts rolled in Molli’er’s mind, and Ronan before her seemed to become infinitely distant all of a sudden.
Yet still, some new doubts emerged, seeking answers.
"No, since your initial plan was to lock them in, once they entered the room, we could have just opened the door, tossed the key in, and left, why fight them?"
Molli’er frowned, moving closer to Ronan.
Ronan placed a hand on his barely healed chest wound and calmly said, "You are oversimplifying things.
If I didn’t stake my life, how could they truly believe that the door behind Babli was the exit, that the key we held really was the true key, and that bypassing Babli to use the key on that door was the only way to escape alive?!
If there were a rule that all wrong answers would prompt Minotaur Babli to eject us from the room, then everything I did would be for naught.
Moreover..."
Ronan glanced at Molli’er, saying plainly, "I truly had the intention of offering you a chance to leave.
That way, no one would share the treasure Minotaur left with me."
"What would have happened if I had truly opened the door and left?"
"The key would have returned to me, and then I would have taken advantage of the chaos when everyone rushed toward the exit to slip out from the room."
Ronan paused, then continued, "In fact, things didn’t go exactly as I anticipated; I was waiting for Narros to make a move, expecting him to act early against Babli or you.
But unexpectedly, he remained hidden for so long; his late appearance almost made me think he hadn’t entered at all...
Luckily, the final result was still the same."
"You almost died!"
Molli’er glared at him with gritted teeth.
"Some risks must be taken."
Ronan removed his hand from his chest casually, saying, "I’m accustomed to it."
"No."
Molli’er suddenly came to a realization, "Why are you so confident that you’ll definitely find the treasure?
We don’t even have the only key left that can open any door."
Ronan was silent for a while, then gently sighed and said, "Why am I so confident?
Because this treasure... is specifically prepared for me."
"Uh...."
Molli’er was momentarily stunned.
Ronan continued on his own.
"Long ago, in the Secret Realm of an ancient wizard’s private residence, I acquired that Space Key... and something else."
Ronan extended an open hand, revealing in his palm a mysterious rune emanating a strong spatial aura, continuously shattering and reforming.
"This Space Rune, back when I was at Level 3, I attempted many times to refine it as a Soul Seal, all to no avail.
Do you know why?"
"Because it keeps changing?"
Molli’er thought for a moment and frowned.
"Indeed."
Ronan nodded, "Each time it shattered and reassembled, the internal rune pattern would differ; I tried many times, always getting it wrong.
Later, I discovered that once it shattered and reformed ten thousand times, a repeated pattern would appear once.
I attempted to refine this pattern as a rune, and it succeeded smoothly..."
"At that time, I didn’t understand the significance of hiding the correct rune shape among countless wrong patterns.
Until I entered this maze...."
"You mean...."
Molli’er seemed to have finally thought of something, her bright eyes revealing an incredible light.
"Yes."
Ronan nodded, "A map.
It corresponds to the ever-changing maze, the interval of shattering and reformation matches exactly with the maze’s shifting times, acting as a real-time map."
"No wonder you could accurately know the location of each Level 5 Monster’s path beforehand...."
Molli’er muttered.
"If, even with all this, I can’t find the treasure hidden within the maze..."
Ronan looked up at the sky, dark as if covered in black mist, and murmured, "If Minotaur knew, he’d probably lift the coffin lid, jump up, and knock me on the head fiercely..."
...
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