The Mysterious Woman

"So that is how it is. Did I die?" Torres muttered. After realizing what had happened to him, he showed an apologetic expression to Ye Chuan and Elara and said,

"Sorry, I almost hurt you guys."

"If you actually managed to do that, I would praise you instead," Ye Chuan said.

Torres opened his mouth, feeling as if an arrow had just pierced his heart!

Was he really that weak?!

Torres stood up and patted the bone fragments and dust off his armor, his face showing a mix of embarrassment and lingering fear.

"Lord Xi Xi, when you had me undergo special training in the labyrinth, I kept training with this greatsword and slowly became able to swing it. But when you left, you didn't leave a single scrap of food behind..."

"Oh?" Ye Chuan raised an eyebrow. "You could have just come back if you were hungry."

"Well... I had the resolve to stay here in the labyrinth until my training yielded results," Torres said.

"With no other choice, I had to figure out a way to hunt those monsters for food."

"Monster meat..." Elara thought for a moment.

Is that stuff even edible?

"The meat of those monsters was foul and stinky, and it contained toxins. The taste was truly awful..." Torres explained with a bitter face.

"To survive, I could only pick the low-tier monsters and roast them to barely stave off my hunger. Fortunately, the blessing on my body allowed me to withstand the toxins, but I almost threw up every time I ate it..."

Elara's eyes widened as she listened. "Sir Torres, that must have tasted terrible!"

Ye Chuan reached out and patted Torres on the shoulder.

"With your determination to eat crap, you can succeed in anything you do."

Torres: "..."

"I had no choice. To make sure my special training would allow me to help Her Highness Princess Irena, I had to persevere."

Ye Chuan asked, "So you literally starved to death?"

"No."

Torres sighed, his eyes gradually becoming solemn.

"I trained on the first and second floors of the labyrinth, and then followed the passages downward to challenge stronger monsters."

"By the end of the third floor, I noticed the monsters were becoming scarcer, and most of them looked like they had been torn to shreds by some kind of force."

He paused, seemingly recalling the scene from back then, his body unconsciously tensing up.

"I followed the trail deep into the fourth floor. It was much darker than the upper floors, and the surroundings were incredibly eerie."

"I was just looking for a monster to fight and fill my stomach when I suddenly felt a wave of cold air rush over me, making it hard to even breathe."

"And then?" Ye Chuan asked.

"And then I saw her." Torres's voice carried a hint of a tremble, deep apprehension flashing in his eyes.

"She was standing at the end of the passage with her back to me, wearing a long black robe... The most terrifying part was her back. She had a pair of pitch-black shadow wings—not physical feathers, but like they were condensed from pure darkness. Her entire body exuded a suffocating, ominous aura."

Torres swallowed hard and continued,

"I gripped my sword tightly, not wanting to get closer, but she just slowly turned her head.

I couldn't see her face clearly; I could only feel a pair of icy eyes, like an abyss. Just from her glancing at me, I felt as if my head had been smashed by a heavy hammer, and then I don't remember anything else."

"I couldn't even clearly see her attack." Torres touched the scar on his chest, his face full of disbelief.

"A woman with shadow wings?" Ye Chuan originally thought Torres had starved to death. So, this guy was killed by something powerful?

"Was the aura around her the same as those monsters disguised as humans?" Ye Chuan asked.

Torres thought back carefully and shook his head. "No, it was different. The aura of those human-skin monsters was cold and evil, but her aura was more 'ominous'."

"It felt like some kind of existence that stood far above monsters, making you feel terrified from the bottom of your heart, without even the courage to resist."

Elara turned pale as she listened. "Teacher, could that woman be really powerful? Should we tell Lord Kaiaolen?"

"No need." Ye Chuan shook his head. "Perfect timing, I also want to see exactly what that woman is."

He looked at Torres. "How do you feel right now? Can you fight?"

Torres tightly gripped the greatsword in his hand.

"Thanks to Lord Xi Xi's grace of resurrection, I am in excellent condition right now."

"Then let's go." Ye Chuan turned and walked toward the depths of the fourth floor. "Since we know our target, we might as well follow the clues and see what kind of shady business is hidden in this labyrinth."

The Miral Labyrinth had a total of five floors. Even when Ye Chuan and the others made it all the way to the bottom floor, they still hadn't found any trace of the supposed woman.

"Had she... already left back then?" Torres looked around. They had roughly searched the areas of every floor but didn't see the woman.

"Did you actually starve to death, or get pummeled to death by monsters?" Ye Chuan crossed his arms and asked Torres.

"And then you were too afraid to admit it, so you claimed you were killed by a mysterious figure."

Torres fell silent for a moment before choking out a sentence, "Lord Xi Xi, I am a Holy Knight. In the name of the Goddess, I do not lie lightly."

"Oh~~~"

However, Ye Chuan's divine sense had indeed picked up a faint, strange aura within this labyrinth, yet he couldn't locate the target's existence.

Perhaps she had left. The other party might not be an entity from the Miral Labyrinth, but just someone passing through.

And conveniently slaughtered Torres along the way?

"Alright, it seems there really is nothing here." Ye Chuan led Torres and the others back to the first floor of the labyrinth. After returning empty-handed, Ye Chuan asked Torres,

"How are you doing now?"

Torres, however, revealed a strange expression on his face. "Lord Xi Xi, I find that my strength has become terrifyingly great."

"Hmm?"

"Hold out your hand." Ye Chuan extended his hand. Seeing this, Torres immediately reached out and shook it.

"Use your full strength." As soon as Ye Chuan said this, Torres exerted all his power!

After feeling the immense force transmitted from the palm, Ye Chuan seemed a little surprised. "Oh?"

He gave Torres's hand a squeeze, and the sound of cracking bones instantly came from the latter's hand.

"Ah!!!!" Torres howled.

Ye Chuan casually tossed a healing spell onto him. "Put it on your tab."

"Your strength has indeed grown a lot. You must have worked hard during your special training. But if we're really talking about hard work..." Ye Chuan said, then seemed to realize something.

"Oh, so that's how it is?"

"Lord Xi Xi, what do you mean?"

"This weapon I gave you can increase your strength the more you swing it. After you died, your undead body kept swinging the sword, which means it automatically stacked up your strength for you."

"To think such a thing is possible..." Torres muttered, also finding it unbelievable.

The greatsword in his hands no longer felt heavy, and he realized his strength had increased by dozens of times compared to before!