Now, thanks to the sword demon who helped me block that sneak attack, not only was I not seriously injured, but the spell was also successfully released, and the final result was as expected. Although the magic power in my body was consumed by nearly half in order to control and stack the auxiliary spells... but there shouldn't be anything else I need to worry about.
Compared to my own injury, I seem to be unexpectedly unable to honestly accept that others are being hurt in front of me, even those I was previously hostile to.
Rather than having someone take a knife for me and get injured, I'd rather take the fall and send him on his way; that would feel much more satisfying.
I shook my head and changed the subject: "Let's talk about what we'll encounter next."
Sheng looked at me suspiciously and nodded: "The third exhibition hall is actually the stage for the final BOSS battle, and it is also the largest exhibition hall in this dungeon."
"But don't worry, before we face the BOSS, we'll have some free time to explore the surrounding environment and obtain some of the items that were originally on display. The golden apple I'm looking for is also placed on one of the display stands; I just need to find the corresponding painting."
"As for what the final boss is... it's hard to say, because it has a certain degree of uncontrollable randomness. It could be a charred painting like in the first exhibition hall, a statue like in the second exhibition hall, or something else entirely. In addition, considering the unexpected increase in difficulty, there might even be something I have no idea about, so please be extra careful."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Just then, a loud knocking sound suddenly came from ahead.
Turning my head, I saw a man in a black trench coat clutching his abdomen, gripping a sword sheath, and pounding hard on the archway separating the second and third exhibition halls, creating a deafening roar.
He hadn't even entered the third exhibition hall yet.
The other three and I exchanged shocked glances, then moved over and called out, "What happened?"
"...Hmph, see for yourselves."
As the sword demon spoke, he stepped aside.
The frosted glass is exactly the same as the first and second arches we saw before, with faint water ripples slowly spreading and undulating within it, making it almost impossible to see what's behind it.
I accepted the sapphire that Sheng had secretly picked up, stepped forward, and after confirming that the sword demon didn't seem to have any ulterior motives, I walked past him and tentatively reached my hand slowly toward the archway in front of me.
It didn't go smoothly.
It was like touching a hard solid; a cold and hard sensation traveled from between the fingers, revealing a clear sense of resistance. Even trying to penetrate deeper with one's senses only yielded a silent void, unlike the lively and dynamic flow of the surrounding magically rich dungeon air.
It was as if magic did not exist at all, or that its internal capacity was almost infinite. Even when I tried to infuse it with magic, I did not get any response.
Even walking in the void feels much better than this.
I frowned and shook my head, meeting several questioning gazes.
"I didn't expect another surprise after another." Sheng sighed, then looked curiously at me as I put away the sapphire shoulder bag, and whispered, "Could it be related to our choice to keep this? After all, in previous playthroughs, my choice to clear the game was to destroy it instead of keeping it."
"Maybe?" I tried to introduce a trace of magic to sense the engraved spell, and quickly rejected the conjecture. "The engraving on this gem is only a very basic [attribute amplification], and it does not have the function of opening and closing doors."
Sheng looked a bit out of breath: "Could it be that we missed some clues?" he said, pressing his index finger against the sides of his head and turning it as he murmured in thought.
I ordered Shan to quickly return to the back to check the other archway. The conclusion was that it was still the same as the one we came in with, and it was obviously not like this dungeon had a trap mechanism that would automatically close the two sides of the room and trap the people inside.
Xiaoxi, who volunteered to quickly survey every corner of the hall, came to the same conclusion as my perception: there were no additional mechanisms or hidden elements. Even under the broken floor tiles from the continuous battles and inside the pillars, there were no additional hidden objects.
The situation suddenly reached a stalemate.
I glanced at the sword demon, who was resting on one knee with his straight sword.
He looked much worse than before; his breathing was heavy, cold sweat trickled down his forehead, and even his sword-wielding hand trembled slightly. His overall aura had weakened considerably. Sensing the magical energy embedded in his body, I could also confirm multiple bruises and slight bleeding in his bones and internal organs. Although his martial artist's powerful physique allowed him to hold on for now, waiting any longer would likely result in his death.
It seems that not receiving timely help from the [liquid life form] has had a significant impact on his physical condition. His injuries are not as insignificant as he himself claims.
Now, perhaps there is still one other way.
Since I haven't tried it here before, I'm still a bit apprehensive. I'm not sure if I can do it, or what will happen.
Come to think of it, this was actually a backdoor cheat that my mentor commissioned the creator to give me, right? Is it really useful in a place like this? Can it even be summoned? And I have absolutely no idea what the other item, [The Fool's Curtain], is supposed to mean.
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