Riley Robert the enemy who had wanted to take him down from the very first day he joined the Furnace was now finally dead before him.
Lynn looked at the lifeless figure lying at his feet. His emotions remained as still as an ancient well, without the slightest ripple.
"How does it feel, Lynn? We finally took care of Riley. Any thoughts?"
At that moment, Colin stepped forward, checking Riley's corpse as he spoke.
Lynn stood still, hearing Colin's question, but his expression remained indifferent.
For him, killing Riley didn't bring the kind of satisfaction that Colin had imagined.
After all, he was no longer the rookie of the Furnace who could have been crushed by Riley with one hand. He was now a Third-Level Apprentice, armed with puppets, enchanted artifacts, and multiple spells.
To him, Riley had posed no real threat. There had been no pressure in this fight, so naturally, there was no sense of relief or exhilaration afterward.
As for killing a Third-Level Apprentice, it wasn't even his first time. So there was no sense of achievement, either.
If he had felt anything at all, it was the awkward limitations of his Life Seed. He had assumed that as his spiritual power grew, its restrictions would lessen.
But even in a battle against someone of the same level, the Life Seed still significantly hindered his full strength.
Take this fight against Riley, for example. If it had been two elemental apprentices at Third-Level attacking together, they probably could have instantly killed him.
Yet even with Lynn and Colin, plus Little Green restraining Riley, it had still taken some time to bring him down.
The reason they had managed to take out that Third-Level Apprentice from the Nightshadow Fortress so easily before was mainly due to their ability to ambush from up close.
"I need to find a way to deal with the limitations of the Life Seed..."
Lynn exhaled lightly, muttering to himself.
Just as Lynn and Colin were about to turn and leave, a deafening dragon roar shook the heavens and earth.
"ROAR!"
The roar was filled with terrifying intimidation, instantly sending shockwaves through the entire valley.
A crushing dragon's aura followed, pressing down like an invisible mountain. All the apprentices present turned pale, their bodies frozen under the immense pressure.
This was the Dragon's Might of a Black Dragon so overwhelming that even a Third-Level Wizard would have to take it seriously. For mere apprentices, resistance was futile.
"Aestry! Why is she here? Could it be..."
Lynn's brows furrowed, and a sense of alarm rose in his heart.
He felt an invisible force binding him in place, his body completely immobilized. Even his thoughts seemed to slow down.
Yet deep within his spiritual field, the glow of the Life Seed flickered faintly, allowing him to barely maintain conscious thought.
"She must have placed some sort of surveillance spell on all the apprentices. The moment someone died, she noticed!"
Lynn quickly pieced it together his guess was almost certainly correct!
That first dragon roar had already shaken the entire valley, meaning Aestry had arrived.
What would happen if she found them?
Lynn didn't know. But he didn't want to find out. He had already witnessed Aestry's methods during the Nightshadow Fortress battle.
"Yfgríd!"
With most of his abilities sealed by the Dragon's Might, Lynn knew he had only one option left.
If not for the Life Seed helping him maintain his clarity, he might have been stuck standing there, helpless until Aestry arrived.
At that moment, Lynn activated his hidden trump card Yfgríd.
Greenlight surged forth, transforming into armor that wrapped around his entire body.
Colin, noticing Lynn's movements, instantly activated his own Life Seed ability.
In a flash of light, Colin's entire figure vanished, disappearing without a trace.
"Escape!"
Lynn bit his tongue, forcing himself to stay conscious. In his mind, he willed himself to flee.
The next instant, a burst of radiance enveloped him, and his figure disappeared from the spot as if he had never been there at all.
Barely a heartbeat after his escape, a majestic Black Dragon descended from the sky, crashing down violently on the very spot where he had stood.
The dragon's massive form landed with a thunderous impact, sending shockwaves through the ground.
On the dragon's back, Aestry scanned the scene with piercing eyes, instantly noticing the faint trace of a departing shadow.
"Just a moment too late! If I had been a second faster, I could have caught him!"
Aestry muttered under her breath, a trace of annoyance in her voice.
She knew whoever had escaped must have known something important. Otherwise, they wouldn't have reacted so hastily upon sensing her approach.
With an elegant posture, Aestry remained atop the Black Dragon. Her amethyst eyes gleamed coldly as she scrutinized the ground below.
"An apprentice has died in this space. And that person was the killer!"
Her voice was laced with certainty and intensity.
"That person also passed the third level of the maze. That means they must have a secret related to this space!"
Aestry's thoughts raced as she continued,
"All of the apprentices here are wearing tracking wristbands. Those bands not only record their battle achievements but can also be used to track them!"
Each apprentice in this space had been given a wristband, which functioned as both a combat score tracker and a locator.
Aestry immediately realized since so few apprentices had passed the third level of the maze, it would be easy to track them down.
"To be able to kill within this space… that means they have a way to manipulate its rules!"
Aestry's amethyst pupils gleamed with excitement.
She knew well that this mystic realm was strange and unique. Anyone who died within it could be revived due to its spatial resurrection mechanism.
Even she and two other Third-Level Wizards could return to life even if their brains were obliterated.
But now, something had changed.
The one who escaped had broken the rules!
"That person must have an artifact or knowledge capable of overriding this space's mechanisms!"
"If I can catch them, I can escape this damned realm!"
"They must know secrets that even outsiders don't understand just like the Lionheart Knights!"
Aestry ran a gentle hand along the Black Dragon's slender and elegant neck. Her lips curved slightly, but her tone was ice-cold, tinged with deep desire.
"If I capture him, I'll uncover all the secrets."
Her sharp gaze swept across the surrounding apprentices.
"None of you will escape!"
Her voice was as frigid as winter frost, carrying an undeniable pressure. Then, the Black Dragon's wings unfurled, swiftly soaring into the sky.
"All Furnace apprentices assemble! I have questions for you!"
Her command echoed through the entire valley, sending a chill through the hearts of every apprentice present.
One by one, they froze in place, their eyes instinctively turning toward the sky.
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