Published: July 4, 2025
Among the seven levels, the walls surrounding the arena extend up to the third level from the ground, while the fourth to seventh levels serve as spectator seating.
The four descended to the sixth level first.
They believed that if they drew a magic circle on the ceiling of the sixth level or affixed a paper with a magic circle, they could extract the magical power from those seated on the seventh level.
However... after looking around briefly, they found nothing.
"There’s nothing here..."
"Yeah, nothing..."
Ryo muttered, and Eto replied in a similarly subdued tone.
Nils and Amon were on high alert, watching their surroundings.
"Let’s check the fifth level just in case."
Ryo suggested, and the four moved down to the fifth level to look around.
"Just as I thought, nothing here either..."
"Yeah, nothing..."
Both Ryo and Eto nodded.
This confirmed their suspicion.
"It’s not a magic circle; it must be alchemy tools. They must be quite complex, but Cardinal Sakarias is said to be an impressive alchemist. If it’s someone like him, it could be..."
At that point, Ryo’s voice trailed off.
"Ryo?"
Eto asked suspiciously.
Ryo frowned.
After a moment, he finally spoke up.
"Right now, my [Passive Sonar] has picked up that person..."
"That person?"
The three didn’t know who he was referring to.
"Yes. The alchemist, Neil Anderson."
They finally found Neil Anderson, who had gone missing!
Yet, despite having found the person they had been searching for, Ryo’s expression remained clouded.
"Ryo, is there a problem?"
Nils inquired.
"Probably. I’ll investigate a bit more thoroughly."
With that, Ryo paused, then began to chant.
"[Active Sonar]"
[Passive Sonar] is passive.
It receives and analyzes the movements of the target through the water vapor in the air.
Let’s say there’s a fish that jumps in a still pond. Ripples spread out from the spot where the fish jumped.
The fish is the target, and Ryo is envisioning himself as being in the path of the spreading ripples.
In contrast, [Active Sonar] is active.
The 'stimulus' emitted from Ryo travels through the water vapor in the air to strike the target and bounces back, which he then analyzes.
Due to its nature, [Passive Sonar] struggles to capture static objects.
However, with [Active Sonar], he can capture everything, whether it’s moving or not.
The downside is that the amount of information coming in becomes overwhelming, so even Ryo would get headaches at first...
"Indeed... There is a space open from the first to third levels. There’s a three-meter tall golem beside it. Neil is next to a box that appears to be an alchemy tool, big enough for one person to fit inside. He has something on his head... something like a knight's helmet."
"The golem is troublesome."
Nils grimaced at Ryo's explanation.
That said, they had no choice but to proceed.
"Are there any enemies on the way?"
"No. There was no one who looked like that."
"Alright. Then let’s head to that open space."
Nils ordered, and the three nodded in agreement.
Two minutes to arrival.
Indeed, without any interruptions, the four reached near the open space.
"That’s definitely... a heavy knight’s helmet..."
Nils muttered as he observed Neil from a distance.
In both the Central Nations and the Western Nations, the style of the heavy knight’s helmet that covers the entire head with full plate armor is not mainstream.
Certainly, knights have thicker armor compared to adventurers, but it doesn’t completely obscure their skin.
For that reason, heavy knight helmets are rarely seen on the battlefield.
Nils thought for a moment and issued instructions.
"Amon and I will engage the golem. Ryo and Eto, head to Neil Anderson. If that alchemy box is indeed a magical power extraction device, stop it."
"Understood."
Ryo responded as Amon and Eto nodded.
They didn’t question whether two people could handle the golem.
The leader, Nils, had made his decision.
From here on, they would just follow the orders.
Even Ryo, who often had something to say about Nils, would unconditionally follow when a decision was made as leader.