Rhein nodded: "Greya is inside."
"Greya?" Esos thought for a moment, then realized: "The one from the Candy House? The golden Barbie?"
Rhein nodded.
"What is she doing in there?" Esos frowned.
"It’s a long story. Just assume there’s food in there that interests Greya." Rhein mentioned Greya with some helplessness. Originally, when the mist started to diffuse inside, Rhein had asked all the wizards to evacuate, but Greya did not leave; she was quite interested in the little fatty named Davasia inside.
After all, Greya wasn’t from the Barbarian Cave, and Rhein couldn’t force her to evacuate, so he temporarily handed her over to Ironclad Granny.
"If she wants to come out, she probably can only evacuate with Granny in the end. Because my method to reinforce the barrier is closed, unless the barrier is destroyed, she might not be able to come out for a while."
Rhein: "Since that’s the case, she can only continue to stay by Granny’s side."
During their conversation, Wallace received another transmission from Granny.
Wallace: "Another monster has appeared in the ruins. It looks like a long-haired woman, but her face is completely obscured by her hair."
Upon hearing Wallace’s description, Rhein immediately associated it with the figure’s identity: "It’s Misty Goldlady, guarding Duling Garden. Her power should rank last among the few leaders."
However, even if Misty Goldlady’s power ranks low among the monsters, she can’t be underestimated.
After all, it’s a being from the Nightmare Realm.
Rhein looked at Esos: "Looks like the consumption of the Luminous Wall is going to accelerate. I wonder how long the barrier can hold?"
Esos didn’t answer directly but sensed the barrier’s consumption before speaking: "The additional consumption isn’t too large; it should hold for another two days."
Hearing Esos say this, Wallace also breathed a sigh of relief, but to be safe, he still asked, "Are you sure the barrier won’t be destroyed?"
"Don’t worry, it won’t." After speaking, Esos explained: "Currently, there are only two ways to directly destroy the barrier. The first is to use special tools or sneak out of the barrier directly."
"Since the monsters in the ruins haven’t come out for two consecutive days and nights, it shows there aren’t any similar tools, so we can rule this out."
Wallace: "Then what’s the second method?"
"The second method..."
Just as Esos was about to speak, a loud crackling noise was heard. He quickly turned around and saw the newly reinforced Luminous Wall suddenly beginning to split open with cracks.
At the top of the barrier, a sky-piercing mist was crazily spreading.
Clearly, a hole had appeared at the top of the barrier, releasing the mist inside.
Esos and Rhein exchanged a glance and simultaneously took to the sky. In their field of vision, they could clearly see two black and white figures, like meteors, drilling into the hole above the barrier.
"It’s the black and white maids that escaped earlier!" Wallace also flew up at this moment, exclaiming.
Clearly, the barrier was destroyed by the black and white maids.
Esos looked at the breached barrier and silently said, "The second method is breaking it from the outside..."
Wallace: "Now saying this is too late."
Esos also felt helpless; how could he have known that other monsters from outside would come to destroy the barrier? He looked at Rhein, who sighed: "It’s not your fault; it’s our oversight..."
After a pause, Rhein looked at Wallace: "Notify Ironclad Granny; there’s no need to guard it anymore, prepare for... battle."
When the words fell, an invisible pressure began to diffuse around. The mist spreading from the barrier’s exit was swiftly gathered by this pressure, preventing it from spreading directly.
Wallace also sensed the aura Rhein released, he nodded with a solemn expression: "I understand."
Since preparations for battle were underway, Rhein, naturally, couldn’t just watch from the outside. As the strongest present, he would be the first to enter the Star Pond Ruins to suppress the three monsters inside.
But before that, Rhein had one more thing to do.
He looked at his old friend Esos: "This matter is unrelated to you; you should leave here first."
Esos: "I can help you."
"The situation here is very complex; you staying isn’t what I would wish to see." Rhein sighed. If he could win the battle decisively, he wouldn’t mind Esos’s assistance, but the monsters inside the Star Pond Ruins are far from just the three present. Especially Minister Nuka, if it shows up, it would be a disaster comparable to the descent of a Demon God.
Esos wanted to say something, but ultimately nodded. Since Rhein had spoken like that, as an outsider, it wasn’t a wise choice to meddle in this matter.
Just as Esos was about to leave, Wallace suddenly exclaimed, "Huh."
"Lord Rhein, Granny transmitted that all the monsters have returned to the ruins, not a single one came out."
Rhein heard Wallace say this and lowered his head in puzzlement.
The mist enveloping Star Pond Ruins had started to slowly dissipate at some unknown time, even with a layer of broken barrier obstruction, Rhein clearly saw that there were no monsters left below in the Star Pond Ruins.
Only two damaged Observation Pavilions remained, along with the one still glowing faintly that Ironclad Granny was guarding.
All the monsters had vanished.
No, actually there’s still one!
Rhein looked towards the center of the Star Pond Ruins, where the entrance to Xinnai Land was. Though there were no monsters visible above the water, under the water, at the passage entrance to the Misty Candle Corridor, sat a gigantic spherical flesh mountain, munching on a lollipop while gazing outward.
Davasia!
Though Davasia was still there, he hadn’t appeared outside the ruins. He was in the border area between Xinnai Land and Star Pond Ruins.
If Davasia stayed there and didn’t come out, Rhein wouldn’t go in; according to conventional terms, it indeed meant that the monsters of Star Pond Ruins had vanished.
But why did they disappear?
Why did they come out in the first place?
Was it because the black and white maids had finished what they wanted to do, so they all returned to Xinnai Land?
Just as Rhein was bewildered, his ear suddenly twitched.
He heard a bizarre wind sound swiftly descending from the sky, toward their location.
Rhein raised his head in confusion and focused his gaze.
A figure, silhouetted against the twilight glow, was rapidly descending from the sky.
With Rhein’s dynamic sight, he could clearly capture the true appearance of that figure. However, upon seeing the other’s face, his expression became somewhat peculiar.
"...Angel?"