?The moment the halo fell upon Ankurei, his entire body emitted a faint white light, frozen in place like a puppet.

“To kill Ankurei is to earn a reward, but conversely, if Ankurei kills you, I’m sorry to say, all those companions of yours related to this matter will die. As for you, you might wander to another world.”

“A countdown of ten seconds will begin before the graduation task starts. Only when one of you dies can the other leave.”

As his voice faded, Dorek and Nula’s figures had completely vanished, leaving only their voice echoing through the air.

Howard’s expression was grim.

A descendant of the Old Nobles, no one knew how many tricks he had up his sleeve.

His chances of success were slim.

He stopped two steps in front of Ankurei, a distance considered safe for both parties.

When the countdown ended, the halo around Ankurei receded, and a somber smile played on Howard’s face.

To deceive others, one must first deceive oneself.

Howard believed in this saying because every action a person takes radiates information.

If one cannot deceive oneself, those details become glaring flaws in the eyes of the observant.

But this time, Howard wanted to challenge that notion.

He was clear on what he had to do, but he wanted to see if he could deceive Ankurei.

His sharpened dagger was tucked at his waist, chosen for its quick draw and also to lower Ankurei’s guard.

Howard didn’t opt to hide it.

The twin swords on his back remained, too.

This was the vigilance of an experienced warrior; being overly secretive would actually seem less genuine.

…

Howard was gambling on the extent to which the existence of a soul could interfere with the physical world.

From the beginning, he noticed that Ankurei’s eyelids hadn’t moved in several breaths, his eyes showing no change.

If it were merely physical movements that were frozen, the eyeballs should still be able to move. 𝑖𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Therefore, the most likely possibility was that Ankurei’s time had been severed as well, frozen in that instant, unaware of the external world.

However, the existence of a soul might be an exception.

A sufficiently strong soul might be able to carve out a moment in time.

This was the biggest variable.

…

“What’s happening! Where is this?” Ankurei’s first reaction after the “pause” was lifted was to step back and quickly scan the surroundings.

“Where’s that woman and the old man!”

“They’ve disappeared, and we’re trapped here! We have to find a way out, or we might die in here!”

Howard didn’t rush to act.

He needed to ascertain whether Ankurei was playing into his hands and to find a more opportune moment.

He didn’t know if a single strike could kill Ankurei, but he had to ensure it would have the maximum effect, whether disabling limbs or injuring internal organs would be satisfactory results.

“They disappeared! I knew they couldn’t be trusted!” Ankurei cursed, his gaze landing on Howard, frowning.

“Did you just say you’re a magus? What level?” .

Howard’s mind was racing, but his mouth didn’t stop: “Level 3, certified magus.”

Ankurei had heard quite a bit, and he must have some guesses about Howard’s identity and strength, whether higher or lower was uncertain.

“Level 3?”

Ankurei frowned again, but Howard noticed his slightly tensed shoulders relax a bit.

This seemed to indicate he had lowered his guard somewhat, believing a Level 3 magus lacked the capability to harm him.

“What about Nula and Dorek? What level are they?” Howard inquired.

“I’m not sure about Master Dorek, but Nula is a regional bishop of the Dolan Church State, with the strength of at least a Level 2 magus,” Ankurei’s brows furrowed, noting the distance Howard had closed and stepping back half a step, “If it’s a trap set by the two of them, we virtually have no chance of escape.”

“Virtually no chance,” not absolutely no chance, does this imply he possesses some countermeasures specifically against mana traps?

“So what do we do, are we going to be trapped here to die?” Howard said, frowning.

“Not entirely without a way out,” Ankurei looked at Howard, something stirring in the depths of his eyes, “but the success rate of this method is not high, and it has to be based on the assumption that this is a single-layer trap. Moreover, this method would require the consumption of a Level 3 magus’s entire mana. To be honest, I don’t trust you, and you don’t trust me, right?”

Howard didn’t hide his feelings, stepping back and nodding, “If you have a way to leave on your own, go ahead and try.”

Ankurei averted his gaze, pulling out something that looked like a compass, sprinkling some unknown powder over it, and under the control of mana, forming a small blue vortex.

As mana was infused, the vortex’s rotation speed increased, emitting a low “whoosh” sound.

Observing Ankurei’s full concentration, Howard’s hands subtly moved, gradually nearing.

The distance between them was initially not far, merely two meters, yet Howard took several minutes to close it, aiming not to draw Ankurei’s attention.

Finally, it seemed the compass’s control reached a critical moment, the blue vortex detaching from the compass and hovering mid-air under mana’s guidance.

Ankurei’s eyes were fixed on the vortex, his mana outputting in large quantities.

Opportunity!

The mana flux of any magus has its limits; the more that is allocated to one task, the less available for others.

Howard didn’t know his current speed, but he knew if he couldn’t be faster, he would stand no chance.

One step, two steps.

Ankurei’s gaze fell on Howard’s face, capturing his intent to kill.

The distance silently shrank to zero, Howard stood in front of Ankurei, thrusting forward with the dagger in his hand.

There was no sensation of cutting through flesh.

Though Howard was not yet proficient, he could distinguish the feel of striking air from striking a body.

He caught a glimpse of a long sword cleaving through the air towards him, wielded by Ankurei.

Simultaneously, the Ankurei before Howard began to fade, his form distorting.

Howard’s mana-filled strike, though missing, disrupted the mana balance of the illusion before him.

Worthy of being Red Eye’s boss, it’s possible that half of Red Eye’s techniques were learned from him.

Clang—

The dagger deflected the long sword from the side, Howard retreated, but Ankurei did not pursue the attack.

Instead, he caught the long sword with one hand and held the compass with the other, the crystalline blue vortex slowly rotating atop the compass.

“At first, I was wondering how long you could hold back. I didn’t expect you to act on a mere probe, making this a bit dull for me. Otherwise, watching you play dumb was somewhat entertaining.”

A malicious smile spread across Ankurei’s face as he glanced at the compass and vortex in his hand, tilting his chin up, “Howard, you missed something. That was your biggest flaw, also the dumbest one!”

“You shouldn’t have gotten close to me at the start.” Ankurei sneered, “You wanted to close the distance between us, placing us both in the victim’s position to gain trust. But you forgot, I was never on their side from the beginning! So, no matter what you did, the moment you showed you had interacted with Nula, I already considered you an enemy!”

Howard slowly drew his left-hand blade, not speaking, only circulating mana throughout his body.

Since the surprise attack failed, he had no choice but to engage in direct combat.

“Let me guess the request from Dorek? That old man wouldn’t lead you to a dead end but would give you a task that seems impossible because that’s more interesting.” Ankurei deduced aloud, “Among the two of us, one must die, right?”

“You don’t know my strength, but Dorek does.”

“That’s how despicable he is, offering you a seemingly viable path to survival. But do you believe in probabilities?”

A blue light suddenly shot out from the vortex, enveloping Ankurei within.

“Now, your probability of survival is zero!”

Ankurei did not launch an attack, yet Howard sensed a dangerous aura emanating from him.

What to do?

Observing Ankurei, who stood with an easeful demeanor, Howard found himself at a loss for a moment.

His lack of knowledge about this world was his greatest weakness; hence, despite having mana flux and mana capacity, his combat effectiveness was significantly lower.

This was because he was almost entirely ignorant of the spells that further utilized mana.

He couldn’t determine the capabilities of the blue shield surrounding Ankurei’s body.

Was it purely defensive? Or did it possess counter-attack abilities? Or was it simply an amplifying aura?

The last guess seemed unlikely, considering Ankurei had not initiated an attack, suggesting the shield’s defensive role was more prominent.

However, Howard couldn’t afford to make attempts lightly.

Once his fatal flaw of lacking mana knowledge was exposed, Ankurei would undoubtedly target it, leaving Howard with no chance to counterattack.

He had to make the right judgment within limited probing and then respond accordingly.

If the shield had a retaliatory nature, then any attack must be approached with even greater caution.

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