“Is that…the mirror from the bottom of the maze? It has transformed into a human? That means it has self-awareness!”
An adventurer exclaimed when he saw Globe.
They did not see Globe’s transformation; they thought the World Transformation Mirror would disappear after the trial ended. It seemed like it was not the case.
“So the reward for clearing the trial is the mirror that was in charge of the trial? Does that mean those of us who didn’t clear the trial are no longer qualified to pass it in the future?” one of the adventurers asked worriedly.
He only realized the benefits of the trial after he entered the trial, where he had to defeat his clone. He did not doubt that his strength would increase by leaps and bounds if he had succeeded. If he could challenge a hundred levels continuously, he would have little difficulty raising to the next level in a short time.
“That should not be the case. Even if the reward is that mirror, that Watson person should not have been able to take it away. Otherwise, the mirror would have vanished from the underground city when the sword saint cleared the level a few decades ago! I suppose the person who cleared the level would have the right to use that mirror, not to take it,” someone consoled him.
Everyone nodded in agreement; it was a reasonable guess.
The sword saint’s strength had improved decades ago, and he had become the strongest person in the kingdom. That was probably because he had received the right to use that mirror. However, once a new victor appeared, the right to use the World Transformation Mirror would be transferred to that person. They felt that it was very reasonable.
“I’m sorry, everyone. You’ve guessed wrongly. The original reward was only part of the experience that I had accumulated over hundreds of years. I had to dedicate myself to the person who cleared the level. This time, I made the change on my own initiative.”
The World Transformation Mirror emitted a grand heavenly sound. Then, it changed back to the appearance of a young girl. She walked toward Watson’s side in a few strides and held his arm. “As for why I made such a decision? It’s all because I met my master, Watson. He has charmed me.”
Globe blushed like a young maiden, and everyone was dumbfounded.
Watson coughed awkwardly. “Everyone, please rest assured. Even though the World Transformation Mirror has acknowledged me as its master and I have eliminated all the magical beasts in the maze, I will not let everyone be without any ruins to explore in the future.”
The underground maze had become an empty shell. It no longer had the World Transformation Mirror, so there were no more trials in the labyrinth. Plus, all the magical beasts had disappeared. It was no longer possible to enter the lower level to kill magical beasts and obtain materials it dropped. Numerous adventurers were in danger of losing their jobs. The City of Steel had existed for hundreds of years and was known as the City of Adventurers; it was undoubtedly a heavy blow for them.
“Young Master Watson, I wonder if you have any way to solve that situation?”
It did not seem like Watson would leave the World Transformation Mirror behind. Under such circumstances, it was impossible to explore the maze unless he filled it with a large number of magical beasts. Was it possible to do such a thing?
“I will take the World Transformation Mirror with me. As compensation, I will leave a suitable gatekeeper here, a dragon named Charcoal. It is this dragon on my shoulder.” Watson reached out and patted Charcoal.
The dragon flapped its wings, flew from his shoulder, and gradually grew in size. It flew into the air and transformed into a giant dragon that was dozens of meters long. Its terrifying diamond-tier aura mixed, and its dragon’s might made the adventurers’ faces paled.
As a diamond-tier dragon, the Death Omen Star Dragon, Charcoal’s strength was perfect to be the gatekeeper. Furthermore, defeating a diamond-tier dragon would give one a greater sense of achievement than the trials where one had to defeat oneself. One would also receive more rewards.
“As long as someone clears the maze, I will give them a set of platinum-tier armor and weapons as a reward.”
Watson’s words caused a massive uproar in the maze.
“It’s not a problem to have that dragon as the gatekeeper, but what you said about using a few platinum-tier armor and weapons as a reward, is that true?”
“Well, a new gatekeeper solves the problem with the 100th-floor trial. But what about the other magical beasts in the maze? We can’t just come here and fight with that dragon every day, right? With our current strength, it’s not even enough to fill the gaps between its teeth.”
Then, Watson revealed a mysterious smile on his face. “Everyone, don’t be so anxious. I’ll make sure all of you are satisfied.”
He pulled his arm from Globe’s embrace and said, “Globe, I’ll have to trouble you to teleport me to Mount Creation.”
“Yes, my honorable master.”
Globe opened her arms, and a small vortex appeared in front of her. Soon, the vortex grew rapidly and turned into a gate with a radius of several meters, enveloping Watson.
The adventurers looked at each other; they did not know what Watson had wanted to do. A few minutes later, Watson returned from the vortex, and he brought a group of angels with him. The leader had short blue hair that fluttered in the wind. The halo that symbolized the angel race above his head was shining brightly.
“So this is the City of Steel’s underground maze. After so many years, it is the first time I’ve left the border. But it doesn’t look so impressive. It bears no resemblance to the Land of the Dead beneath the Mount Creation.”
The blue-haired man was lamenting when he was interrupted by a lovely man with long green hair who emerged from behind him and said, “Of course, Captain Allen. After all, Young Master Watson was the one who constructed the Land of the Dead by fusing a huge number of ruins. I doubt any ruins in that world can surpass it. Before we discuss that, I’ll have to trouble you to complete the mission that Young Master Watson arranged for you.”
“Got it. I’m just commenting. Young Master Watson’s mission is definitely the highest priority for me.”
The two people who spoke were the captains of Mount Creation’s first and second legions—Allen and Liszt. They had brought a large group of magical beasts out of the vortex. Those magical beasts were at least gold-tier, and their bodies emitted terrifying auras. Those beasts also had items that were flashing with platinum-tier light on their backs. Those were of platinum-tier equipment.
“One, two, three…100, 200! Two hundred sets of platinum-tier armor and weapons. Am I seeing things right?” A gold-tier adventurer looked at the weapons on the backs of the magical beasts. He counted with his fingers; the more he counted, the more surprised he got.
He was a gold-tier warrior, so he knew that those items that emit platinum-tier light were genuine platinum-tier items.
“And those magical beasts, there are at least tens of thousands of them. They’re all gold-tier. Where did Young Master Watson capture so many high-quality magical beasts?”
The others also cried out in surprise.
When Watson said he had a way to solve the underground maze problem, they thought he had exaggerated. Then, they understood that he was right. However, it was still difficult for them to believe it even when they saw the tens of thousands of gold-tier magical beasts. If those magical beasts were brought there to fill the maze, then they might not even be able to see the Death Omen Star Dragon.
Then, Watson said, “Allen, Liszt, where are the people I asked you to choose?”
“Don’t worry, Young Master Watson. We’ve brought them here.”
Then, another hundred or so people walked out of the vortex. To be precise, there were more than a hundred angels. Those angels were all in their teens. Their faces were young and tender, but they were wearing the Blackmoon Knights’ standard-issue armor.
“I am from the First Legion. Greetings, Young Master Watson!”
“I am from the Second Legion. Greetings, Young Master Watson!”
Watson nodded at the men in greeting. Then, he turned around and said, “These are my subordinates. They are also platinum-tier angels. There are 100 floors in the underground maze. I have decided to set an angel on each floor so that they can be the lord of that particular floor. You can use any method against them to kill them once, and if you win, I will reward you with a set of gold-tier weapons and armor, as well as a magical beast of the same level! Of course, I’ll have them suppress any monsters on the same level as you so that you won’t get stumped.”
It turned out that Watson did not mean for those magical beasts to be rewards; he wanted to fill the dungeon.
Gold-tier magical beasts and platinum-tier armor—the reward was too tempting. Many adventurers had already begun to imagine the day they get to run through the dungeons in the future. They would be wearing platinum armor and stepping on ferocious magical beasts to gain the respect of the people.
However, they were only thinking about it. After all, they would be facing a group of angels. They did not know how they felt about that, especially when they looked at the halos above their heads. They were astonished to hear that instead of Christina, Watson was the one who cleared the level. After all, Christina was a famous elite, and she had quite a strong team under her.
Even though Watson was Antonio’s disciple, he was only an unknown child. The only thing he was famous for was that he had managed to withstand Christina’s sword head-on. They did not think he had the ability to clear the trial. However, they had changed their mind—Watson was more powerful than they had realized, and he definitely could do that.
He had hundreds of platinum-tier items and angels as his guards. How powerful was he?
They only knew of ten platinum-tier items in the entire kingdom and the fact that the angels were from an ancient race. There were rumors in the kingdom about how the border was a poor place. They had thought so as well, but their stance had wavered. It seemed like the people at the border were wealthier than most families in the kingdom. Perhaps that was why Antonio had gone to the border as well; maybe he had looked down on the families in the capital.
Compared to Watson’s strength, it seemed like most of the prominent families of the royal city were trash.
