Chapter 368: Trap

“Muen, what do we do next?”

Liya tugged at Muen’s sleeve, glanced playfully and triumphantly at Seviel, and asked in a whisper.

Her knight was the strongest—how could anything possibly go wrong?

“Ahem, well, we should still be careful from here on.”

Muen coughed quietly, downplaying it.

Showing off was one thing, but in this kind of melee, you never knew when some stray attack might hit you out of nowhere.

From experience, the more chaotic the situation, the more cautious you had to be.

Charging ahead for no reason only got you smashed to pieces.

“We’ll try to move along the edge, keep our presence low. If we get dragged into that mess right now, it’ll be seriously—holy sh*t!”

The second half was cut short by shock.

Because before Muen could even finish speaking, a thick-browed, big-eyed ugly face suddenly emerged from the darkness, glaring at him with eyes like bronze bells.

It didn’t move, frozen like a statue.

Just as Muen was wondering if this was yet another guy captivated by his looks, that face slowly turned, its sinister gaze sweeping past Muen’s shoulder—and then its features suddenly twisted.

Like a traveler dying of thirst who’d just stumbled upon someone soaking their feet in a spring.

“I know you! You’re that pretty boy, Muen Campbell!”

“Damn it, why?! Why is your whole team full of cute girls, while a real man like me gets stuck with a bunch of sweaty guys?!”

“You even have a fiancée!”

“Just because you’re good-looking?!”

A surge of pure, unfiltered jealousy exploded from the man, bulging into throbbing veins across his forehead.

Muen froze, heartbeat stopping for a second.

Because with each deafening roar, he could feel the ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ chaos and clamor around them quieting noticeably.

Dozens of eyes, burning red with jealousy, turned toward him—the bastard who’d been flirting midair a few moments ago—and under that ugly man’s shout, all those gazes gathered on him. For a moment, Muen honestly thought he’d just disturbed a nest of bats.

“......”

Wait, what the hell? At a time like this, this is what you people care about?

Shouldn’t men be chasing after blood, glory, strength, and treasure? Why are you so fixated on whether your team has girls?

Are girls that important?

Are women that important?

Don’t you idiots know women only slow down the speed you draw your swords?

How pathetic.

Muen’s inner screams, of course, reached no one.

Worse, his composure—calm, elegant, handsome—and the adoring looks of the cute girls behind him only seemed to make things worse, twitching more nerves around him.

So, in the instant he froze, more than ten powerful spells suddenly came crashing toward him.

“Die, pretty boy!”

“Oh come on, they’re serious?!”

Not even the toughest guy could face an attack from this many people at once, and there was no room for pretense or grace. Muen’s face went pale. He grabbed Liya’s small hand, shoved the others forward, and made the only right choice—run for their lives.

“What are you standing around for?! Run!”

...

...

A few minutes later, when the mob—like a swarm of locusts—finally passed and moved deeper inside, a faint distortion of light rippled in an unremarkable corner.

Several battered figures appeared, pressed tightly against the wall.

“They... should be gone now, right?”

Muen peeked out cautiously for a while, and once he confirmed it was safe, he finally let out a long breath.

That was terrifying.

Barely even started, and he’d almost been beaten to death by an angry mob.

If not for his Lighting Spell proficiency being honed to godlike levels, he might really have been done for.

Those idiots couldn’t even handle that much envy. If he’d actually mentioned that he not only had a fiancée, but also a sexy girlfriend and a demure live-in maid—wouldn’t they have just exploded on the spot?

No composure at all. How could they call themselves strong?

Good thing he was a broad-minded man.

“Muen junior, I’m starting to think moving with you might not be such a good idea.”

Fanny pinched a few shattered scrolls between her fingers, feeling the sting of losing several priceless tools just to stay alive.

But then she remembered she’d bought those scrolls with money she’d won betting on Muen before, so her mood eased a little. Her tone was teasing.

“At this rate, we’ll all be mistaken for your scammed girlfriends.”

“Come on, they didn’t really attack us over that. Everyone here’s smart enough to know that kind of brawl is meaningless—they just needed a reason to stop fighting.”

Muen shrugged helplessly, smiling.

“And besides, to have someone as beautiful as Senior Fanny as my girlfriend, I’d—ow, ow, ow...”

He gasped sharply. Looking down, he saw Liya pinching his palm with her nails.

He’d forgotten—he was still holding her hand.

“Muen,” Liya said, glaring adorably, her tone uncharacteristically serious and puffed with anger. “All your teammates being girls seems to make you very proud.”

“......”

Muen instantly shut his mouth. Experience told him that whatever he said right now would be wrong.

...

...

After a short rest, the group continued forward.

Knowing they’d fallen behind the others, they picked up their pace, though none of them dared to lower their guard.

Muen led at the front, illuminating the path with Lighting Spell. Liya followed close behind, faint motes of light floating around her like fireflies as she carefully scanned their surroundings.

“Wait.”

Liya tugged at Muen’s sleeve again.

“Something wrong?”

“Mhm.”

She extended her hand toward a spot just ahead of him.

The moment she spoke, everyone tensed up.

Cute as she looked, even Seviel had to admit Liya’s grasp of magical theory was exceptional.

Muen patted Liya’s hand, drew Elizabeth, and stepped forward.

Carefully, he approached the spot she’d indicated, turned back to her for confirmation, then pulled a small black metal sphere from his pouch and rolled it along the floor.

Click.

A faint mechanical sound whispered through the air.

As the ball rolled, thin threads of magic began to creep across the ground—delicate glowing lines interweaving like layers of climbing ivy. It was strangely beautiful... and deeply unsettling.

Muen focused his senses, and cold sweat immediately formed on his forehead.

Who the hell laid such a vicious trap here?

He couldn’t cast magic himself, but after cramming a lot of theory lately, he could tell this was a complex multi-layered array hidden underground.

Extremely subtle, so its power wasn’t particularly high—but its effects...

Dizziness, hallucination, sleep, arousal, frenzy, mana collapse... and even fabric dissolution for good measure.

In short, stepping on it wouldn’t just mean disqualification—it’d leave a lifetime of psychological trauma.

“Can you disarm it?”

Muen looked back. Liya had been studying the magic threads intently, lips moving as she calculated something.

Soon, her face lit up with a charming smile, and she nodded firmly. “I can.”

Everyone exhaled in relief.

Forcibly breaking it was possible, but that would drain too much mana—and who knew how many other traps lay hidden nearby?

Muen stepped aside and watched as Liya worked. After some delicate adjustments, she stood up and carefully stepped forward.

“You all need to follow exactly in my footsteps,” she said, turning back to extend her hand to Muen, cheeks glowing like sunset clouds—adorable to a dangerous degree. “But... just to be safe, Muen should come with me first. To test it.”

“Then I’ll go third!” Seviel rushed up, eager to grab Muen’s hand too.

“No.”

Liya glared at her. “We’ll go first to test it. You can follow our footprints afterward.”

“Why does he have to go with you?” Seviel pouted.

“Muen can protect me. Can you?” Liya replied boldly.

And then, flustered by her own words, she turned her head away.

Muen saw the blush spread from her cheeks down her slender neck, even tinting the tips of her small ears pink.

Too cute.

“Tch.”

Seviel clicked her tongue in annoyance but said nothing. In terms of strength, she couldn’t argue.

Naturally, Muen took Liya’s small hand.

He’d held it more than once already—even during their earlier escape—but somehow, each time he felt that soft, cool touch, his heartbeat quickened, mouth going dry.

He could feel Liya tense up too, her body stiff and nervous—but that delicate sensation was still dangerously addictive.

If only those meaningful looks from behind weren’t so irritating.

They’d clearly said this was just for testing—so why was everyone staring like that?

He and Liya were innocent!

It was simply a Knight and the Saintess he served. Nothing more.

“Let’s go.”

Liya’s voice trembled slightly as she led him forward, both of them stepping carefully.

Beneath their feet, threads of magic still squirmed faintly—the trap hadn’t been truly neutralized, only bypassed through Liya’s precise manipulations.

So they were cautious, moving slowly.

The ten-meter stretch of passage felt longer than any of the dark tunnels before.

Only when Seviel finally yelled impatiently, asking if they were done testing, did the two of them pull their hands apart like they’d been shocked.

“All right, it’s safe now. Follow our steps.”

“Great!”

Liya brushed her palm secretly, feeling the fading warmth there. Her eyes flicked toward the eager Seviel stepping onto the path—and sure enough, that woman was so annoying.

Seviel suddenly shivered, feeling a strange chill creep up her back...

...

Once everyone had crossed safely and prepared to move on, Muen noticed Liya still staring at the trap, hand under her chin, clearly thinking.

“What is it?”

“N-nothing. Just... an idea.”

“Idea?”

“Mhm.”

Liya crouched and started drawing symbols over the trap.

“What are you doing?”

Muen could only tell she was layering another magic array over the original.

“Put simply,” Liya explained, “arrays this complex are nearly impossible to cancel completely. To prevent accidents, the caster usually leaves a ‘backdoor’—a safe condition that won’t trigger the trap. I’m just making a small modification to that.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, when the caster comes back here, the trap will turn on them.”

“Not only that, I’ve extended the trigger range forward by a meter, so even the ‘safe’ distance will now catch them...”

“And, I’ve also simplified a few conflicting effects so that it’s... stronger overall!”

“......”

Watching Liya talk excitedly while tinkering with the trap, both Muen and the others—Fanny and Vicki—swallowed hard.

Seviel even stepped back a few paces, suddenly wondering if she’d ever done anything to offend this seemingly sweet, soft-faced girl she sometimes wanted to pinch and bite.

For some reason... she was scary.

...

After crossing several more traps and mechanisms, the journey became a long, dull stretch of exploration.

Maybe their route was too remote—or maybe they’d just fallen too far behind—but they didn’t encounter a single other team.

They rested several times to conserve strength.

Muen checked his pocket watch. It had already been over eight daylight hours—deep into the night.

“Still... no signs of decay, and no monsters either.”

He picked up a handful of sand and let it run through his fingers. Dry. Ordinary. Nothing unusual.

“So... either the corruption hasn’t reached here, or maybe, as that diary said, the ‘Wall’ really can block it?”

“Muen, Muen—look over here!”

Just as he was pondering, Liya’s excited voice called out.

Following that bright, lovely figure ahead, Muen watched as the light spread outward—and the narrow passage suddenly opened up into a vast chamber.

They’d finally emerged into a huge open space.

But the relief didn’t last.

As the light widened, rows of towering shadows appeared in their vision. The oppressive pressure made even Muen—who’d seen plenty—pause to catch his breath.

All around them stood colossal statues, arranged in perfect formations, filling the entire chamber.

They weren’t human-shaped, but fierce, muscular hounds poised to pounce—each more than three meters tall, carved with lifelike muscle that radiated explosive strength.

Muen was reminded of the Terracotta Army, but these statues were infinitely more menacing, enough to make his scalp prickle.

“Don’t tell me... these are some kind of mechanism,” Seviel muttered, her voice trembling.

She remembered the automaton guardians commonly found in ancient ruins.

Those constructs were nightmares to deal with—ancient magical technology granting them terrifying, undiminished power even after centuries. Each one was a disaster to face.

And here... there were too many to count.

Seviel could already picture herself being shredded to pieces by an army of them.