A Strange Sneer

Chapter 44 A Strange Sneer

"Hmph, the hidden despairers of Blacksota Wizarding Academy, huh?"

The mechanical heart looked horribly mangled; the parts that hadn't been mechanized were covered in blood, with almost no part intact. Yet it didn't seem to care at all, simply staring intently at Green and calmly asking.

Green remained silent and did not speak.

Bang!

The Mechanical Heart seemed to have halted some of the vibrating attacks of its mechanical right arm; the ear-piercing spinning sawing sound disappeared, and a faint chuckle appeared on its lips as it said, "Or perhaps... this protective shield is just rather special?"

"You can try again."

Beneath the mask, Green spoke coldly.

With several teammates working together, Green had nothing to fear from this so-called mechanical heart.

Mechanical Heart glanced at Raffi, who was locked on from behind Grimm, then at Robin holding the Flame Fission Orb atop the altar. After a brief silence, it turned around and left without looking back.

Prior to this, the other wizard apprentices who knew they had missed the chance to seize the treasure had already left.

"Hmph... Interesting. I look forward to your appearance when the third secret realm opens. Pale Mask, I will tell your information to the other desperate ones."

The voice of the Mechanical Heart came from afar. With a hum, the highly magnetic rotating compass detached from Yokris and flew away. Then, the Mechanical Heart's figure completely disappeared into the forest at night.

"call……"

Raffi breathed a sigh of relief, slowly put the Hurricane Arrow back on his back, and took the Flame Fusion Ball from Robin.

Feeling the terrifying energy fluctuations contained within, Raffi was overjoyed for a moment, then said to the others, "Now we are completely safe. We don't have to worry about those desperate people anymore."

Yorkis, Yorkriana, Robin, Binghamson, and Green gathered around, sensing the terrifying energy fluctuations condensed within the Flame Fusion Bead. Although they hadn't attempted to detonate it, they conservatively estimated that the temperature would definitely be above 100 degrees Celsius.

With such an intensity of attack, even the most desperate would back down unless too much interest was involved.

Bingham slapped Green on the shoulder and laughed loudly, "Hey, Green, that 'You can try it' thing you said to Mechanical Heart just now was absolutely awesome! Haha... It's a pity you already have Sister Raffi, otherwise I would definitely introduce you to some nice girls in the academy, haha... Ouch, ouch, that hurts..."

Meanwhile, Robin twisted Bingham's ear and said fiercely, "You know a lot of girls, don't you, huh?"

Yorkriana looked at Green with stars in her eyes, her admiration reaching its peak.

Yoris, standing nearby, felt a pang of resentment and tapped his sister on the head, saying, "What are you looking at? Don't you think your brother has his moments of glory? Hmph, that damned Mechanical Heart, just now..."

The next day, Green and his group of six gathered together to discuss their next steps.

Raffi leaned lazily against Green and sighed, "I originally planned to participate in the third secret realm, but after thinking about it carefully last night, it's still too much of a stretch."

Robin held the Flame Fusion Orb in her hands, which shone brightly in the sunlight. Without turning her head, she said with sparkling eyes, "Big Sister Raffi, I actually think the Third Secret Realm might have been designed by the academy's higher-ups specifically for those in despair. It's the right choice for us not to participate..."

Suddenly, Robin seemed to realize something and looked at Grimm: "Grimm, you..."

Green knew exactly what Robin wanted to say, and frowned, saying, "I want to go take a look."

For a moment, the other five people looked at Green, and the atmosphere became somewhat quiet and tense.

Raffi said with difficulty, "Green, the third secret realm is too dangerous. Although you deserve credit for obtaining this Flame Fusion Bead, it is, after all, a treasure shared by the team. I cannot hand it over to you for your own benefit."

Joklis interrupted Raffi, "Big Sister, what are you talking about? Of our team, only Green is capable of attempting the third level of the secret realm. A treasure like the Flame Fusion Orb will be more effective on him. Does that mean our team won't survive the remaining twenty days without it?"

Binghamson, Robin, and Yorkriana followed suit, saying, "Yes."

Raffi's face darkened, and he said coldly, "Although Green is my lover, the interests of the entire team cannot be jeopardized because of him alone. As the captain, I must make this clear. He has indeed made great contributions to the team, but that doesn't mean everyone here should give up the opportunity to spend the next twenty days peacefully!"

Raffi's resolute and uncompromising words made the others look embarrassed, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a moment.

Green knew Raffi's predicament and said nonchalantly, "It's alright, I'm just going to give it a try. If it really doesn't work out, I won't force myself. After all, a wizard apprentice like me who relies on magical artifacts is still far behind those truly trained by wizards..."

Raffi bit his fingertips, leaning stiffly against Green, seemingly deep in thought and contemplating something.

A moment later, Raffi took out a leaf radiating rich life energy from the cloth bag at his waist, handed it to Green, and whispered, "This is a leaf of life. The five of us saved up magic stones for a long time to buy this one. Although it is only the lowest grade of life leaf, it should still be of some use to you at certain crucial times."

Green hesitated, unsure whether he should accept the leaf of life.

"Take it. This is the team's compensation to you. With this Flame Fusion Bead, we shouldn't need this Leaf of Life in this trial. It's worth it for you to take it."

Lafite's tone left no room for argument.

Seeing that the others seemed to be urging him on, Green nodded and accepted the leaf of life.

Over the next few days, Green and his group simply set up a temporary camp on the flat ground of this secret realm. With the Flame Fusion Bead and their own strength, they had nothing to fear from anyone in the secret realm.

As for the altar and six rune pillars of this secret realm, they disappeared along with the room in the first secret realm, just like the one in the first realm, due to some kind of force that distorts space over a large area, after the Flame Fusion Orb was taken away.

Green and his companions lost their appetite for hunting and seemed to only want to spend the rest of their trial time in peace. For a time, this small camp became a secluded paradise in the entire trial field.

……

a few days later.

On this day, with a surge of magical energy sweeping across the entire training ground, seven strange, enormous totem pillars slowly rose from the ground in the very center of the training ground map.

These totem poles are over ten meters tall and three or four meters thick, and seem to contain some special energy.

The seven desperate individuals—Undying, Twisted, Golden Eyes, Son of the Sun, Enchantress, Mechanical Heart, and Ghost Thief—seemed to have known all along that this was the location of the third secret realm's opening, and had already gathered here.

The Son of the Sun radiated astonishing flames and heat, seemingly the most arrogant and domineering of the seven.

Surprisingly, this Son of the Sun was a stunningly beautiful woman, with very little clothing covering her body; it seemed that any ordinary clothing would have been reduced to ashes by the flames and heat emanating from her.

The Son of the Sun glanced at Bibi Leona. Due to their previous clashes, the two had long since stopped looking at each other, but now they both gave each other a strange, cold smile. It was unclear what the meaning of this cold smile was.

After exchanging glances, the seven seemed to have already reached some kind of unspoken rule. They dispersed in several directions, each based on their own academy, and then unabashedly released their astonishing signature fluctuations.

As the mark fluctuations spread, the other six were fine, all with mark values ​​above 30.

Only the Son of the Sun, with the release of his mark value, instantly unleashed a terrifyingly powerful wave, reaching a mark value of one hundred points, sweeping across a radius of three hundred meters.

At this moment, all the other despairers seemed to have become supporting characters to the Son of the Sun!

Bibi Leona's face was extremely ugly. She glanced fiercely at the smug, domineering, and arrogant Son of the Sun in the distant sky, and whispered to Yunli, "Brother Yunli, that Grimm you mentioned, the one the Pale Mask that Mechanical Heart talked about before, can he really reach the level of us Desperate Ones?"

Unconsciously, faced with the flattery and fear of others, these "desperate ones," who were themselves just wizard apprentices, began to like their title of "desperate ones" and got used to calling each other that.

Yun Li was gently teasing the ears of the white mouse in her hand with her fingers, and the mouse was playing along. So Yun Li didn't look up and replied, "Didn't I tell you? In terms of defense, even the Son of the Sun shouldn't be able to do anything to that guy in a short time."

"Then...doesn't that mean there will be one more opponent in the academy's qualifying rounds seventeen years from now?"

Bibi Leona's face was grim, and she hesitated before saying, "If that's the case, I'd rather swallow this insult now..."

Yun Li said, "Don't worry, the reason why Green is so strong now is only because of that magic mask."

Yunli let out a cold laugh.

"This kind of magical artifact is already the highest level of magical artifact for a wizard apprentice. It's impossible for him to obtain a stronger magical artifact. And if he wants to rely on this mask artifact, he won't be qualified for the Holy Tower qualifiers seventeen years later. And do you think he'll be safe and sound after returning to the academy?"

A flicker of regret crossed Solang's previously indifferent eyes.

"If what you say is true, that Green's mentor secretly bestowed such a powerful magical artifact upon him, and that he used it so openly, the punishment he will face upon returning to the academy will be no joke. Even his mentor will find it difficult to bear."

Hearing their words, Bibi Leona finally smiled with relief and said, "If that's the case, then I'm relieved. Hehe, let's stick to the previous plan and have Green take that woman's place. Let's see if she still dares to challenge our Black Tower Wizarding Academy and call herself the number one wizarding apprentice in this world, hmph..."

Yun Li shook her head, saying indifferently, "She just has the highest attack energy intensity. Not to mention Solangm's immortality, even over there..."

Yunli pointed to the ghostly thief on the far horizon: "Even with his bizarre abilities, he is absolutely capable of fighting the Son of the Sun to the death."

On the other side, the Son of the Sun chuckled coldly in a low voice.

"Golden eyes? Hmph, a mere innate revealer with no potential for growth can only bully wizard apprentices and newcomers here. I suppose that pale mask is your trump card for later, isn't it? Hmph..."

As he said this, the Son of the Sun suddenly produced two Flame Fusion Orbs and casually played with them!

In the distance, at the heart of the machine and the place of enchantment, a considerable energy fluctuation was occurring, seemingly killing other wizard apprentices who dared to come and compete for the third secret realm.

(End of this chapter)