Just as Li Ang was earnestly talking nonsense, a new situation arose at the front of the staircase.

A large number of those who vanished in the form of Buddha fell smiling peacefully, without a sound, collapsing on the steps.

Upon examination, it was found that they were almost breathless, their God Soul was weak, and they were extremely feeble.

"The Stone Cave is increasing the extraction of Power of Faith to counter Mikael’s Blaze Sword Strike."

Side Truth, knowledgeable and hoarse, said, "If Mikael keeps slashing, these people will be rapidly dried to human jerky."

Just as he said, Mikael glanced at the ordinary people below who fell like harvested wheat, paused, and slowly extinguished the eternal flame on his longsword,

his four wings at the back also gathered back into two.

"All these present have become hostages..."

Up front, Nebula rubbed her temples in frustration, commanding several other companions to lift those ordinary people off the ground and give them diluted energy-restoring potions.

Her peripheral vision subtly scanned the calm-faced Transcendents below the steps, sighing silently in her heart.

Most Transcendents are relatively utilitarian and self-centered; the lives of hundreds of thousands of Indian civilians might not be more valuable to them than ten thousand Game Currency,

Even their own compatriots aren’t worth risking their lives to rescue—at this point, they’d rather shout "Transcendent lives matter too" and "Reject oppression for freedom and equality", rather than "With great power comes great responsibility".

This is precisely the black humor of the killing arena game,

Compassionate and responsible good people, willing to sacrifice themselves for others, have a harder time surviving in the early stages of the game,

While those who abandon their conscience, morals, and bottom lines early on, believing solely in social Darwinism, actually have a higher chance of survival.

Nebula was calm in her heart; she realized this long ago and wouldn’t, like the naïve kind-hearted girls in some literary works,

criticize others for this "selfish" behavior—everyone is just a small pawn struggling to survive in the killing arena game, surviving on their own is already quite difficult without the energy to blame others for their treatment of ordinary people.

"Still not feasible..."

Mikael planted the longsword in the ground, pondering for a moment before retreating several steps,

letting Nebula and other Global Occult Coalition companions advance several steps, standing at the front of the Stone Cave.

Oddly enough, when Mikael retreated and Nebula et al. stepped forward,

the Stone Cave stopped rapidly changing shapes and fixed itself into a stone archway reminiscent of the Ancient Roman Colosseum style.

If more people were added at the front, the Stone Cave would start changing again.

After several tests and discussions, the player team finally confirmed that,

the Stone Cave resembles the mystical concept of a [Maze Lock],

which is a wide-ranging powerful barrier with a certain degree of consciousness, intelligence, or instinct,

mainly aiming to protect a specific thing within the area and repel intruders.

Barrier spell isn’t rare,

The simplest barrier, like [Idle Retreat], can be used to disperse ordinary people,

Advanced ones are used by the Clock Tower Mage Association at their London headquarters—the building stands in London’s busy district, yet London residents and tourists, no matter how many times they pass by, never realize a building exists,

Only rare individuals born with mage talent can see the building,

and they are swiftly discovered and taken as apprentices by the Clock Tower Mage Association.

[Maze Lock], however, is the deepest, most profound, rarest barrier spell,

Most Maze Locks have been buried in history’s tide,

only leaving vague descriptions in some incomplete ancient texts—in a sense, even the Demon Prison counts as a Maze Lock.

The effects of the Maze Lock barrier vary greatly,

Some are punishing types, killing intruders without mercy,

Others are concealing types, for hiding kingdoms, abodes, treasures,

There are also curse types, sealing types.

The former curses a race or family to long-term misfortune,

The latter seals extremely dangerous creatures or supernatural items.

This Ajanta Stone Cave before us is evidently a protective type of Maze Lock,

Its effect is straightforward,

Upon detecting high-energy reactions, the Maze Lock automatically activates, changing shapes constantly to form mazes, preventing intrusion,

Yet some targets with relatively low power levels, whose energy reactions aren’t intense, can stealthily cross into the Maze Lock barrier.

Only guarding against the strong but not the weak,

This setup seems blatantly strategic at first glance,

Entering it without understanding might lead to encountering weird special situations in the Stone Cave, dying inexplicably.

But for now, there indeed seems to be no better solution.

Gathered players discussed for a while and quickly formulated a plan.

Sixty-plus people divided into six groups, entering the Ajanta Stone Cave in batches, communicating through walkie-talkies.

Hoenhem, with the deepest knowledge in mysticism within the team, has confirmed that this Maze Lock has transformation capabilities, 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

But lacks space expansion, time slowing, or illusion creation abilities.

That is, those venturing into the Maze Lock are very likely to get caught in a complex terrain maze,

But such a maze is just a maze, with no fatal factors.

The teams entering consecutively will explore their regions,

Communicating via walkie-talkies to collectively map out the Ajanta Stone Cave.

If they find the body of Sibi King along the maze, all the better,

If, after the stipulated time, they haven’t found Sibi King,

They’ll implement the backup plan, everyone starts regrouping regardless of the disappearances’ survival outside,

Proceed with internal brute-force disassembly of the Maze Lock, ultimately locating Sibi King.

The Power of Faith provided by tens of thousands of shallow believers seems massive,

But if truly exhausted, a player team well-equipped with siege mechanics and supplies can definitely outlast it, if needed, even call for an air raid bombardment.

After coordinating two plans, players began grouping according to their power systems and trust familiarity levels.

The first group composed mainly of European Heavy Industry Group and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Supernatural Accident Place members, led by David, Dawn, Abel, among others.

The second group composed mainly of official organizations and civilian guild members from East Asia, led by Wang Bu Liuxing, Xing Hechou, Life-Killing Hospital, among others.

The third group composed mainly of Global Occult Coalition agents, led by Nebula.

The fourth group composed mainly of Lone Wolf Players, led by Lose Control, Side Truth.

The fifth group comprises Clock Tower, Royal National Church Knight Group, and the Tribunal members, containing Hoenhem, Li Ang, and Tribunal’s Urieur—Li Ang originally should be with Lone Wolf Players,

But since the fourth group already has Lose Control and Side Truth,

Adding him would exceed energy response standards, triggering the Maze Lock’s automatic defense.

Moreover, his Divine Power system also relatively aligns with Vatican’s Tribunal, so staying together prevents activating the Maze Lock’s transformation mechanics, hence decided thus.

The sixth group consists only of Mikael,

Mikael will stay outside the Stone Cave solo. If a team encounters unsolvable troubles, then He will forcibly attack the Maze Lock, offering support.

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