### Chapter: 292
Biolain’s Power, the Sealed Place of the Portal.
After the Kekkeshis released the barrier, the scene before them was unexpected.
What had just been an empty cliff now suddenly revealed a mansion.
Looking up at the mansion, Biolain said, “This is all a barrier.”
What appeared to be a mansion was, in reality, a barrier.
Even Biolain, who dealt with the same barrier magic, was slightly taken aback by its complexity.
“Moreover, it seems there’s spatial distortion inside.”
Aslan also evaluated the barrier and added, “A masterpiece, indeed.”
Glacius stroked her chin with an intrigued expression.
Just as she seemed ready to raise her hand, Kraush interrupted. “There’s something we need to bring out from inside. Please don’t break anything at random.”
“What do you think I am? Just looking to activate a few traps around here!” Glacius chuckled, waving her hand.
And yet, her eyes sparkled subtly.
“The little mice will start moving.”
Kraush understood her words immediately. “Ixion has set traps too.”
Once the barrier was lifted, information would head straight to them. Ixion had made preparations in advance.
“Correct. I looked quite carefully, but I couldn’t find anything. You planted them rather well.”
And that meant Ixion would soon be crashing the party.
‘So the barrier mage was ultimately caught.’
With no news for a while, this was something Kraush had considered.
Now it seemed certain.
‘He must have been waiting for Biolain to regain her powers.’
But they couldn’t just leave this place unattended.
If it was Abella, she could still pull something off even if Biolain didn’t regain her powers.
‘Considering it, there’s still a way to figure something out.’
In any case, regaining the portal was necessary.
In the meantime, shadows crawled from under Glacius’s feet and spread across the surrounding forest.
“Kid, seeing that, I think I’d better stay here.”
Glacius didn’t follow Kraush; instead, she stood firmly at the entrance.
Given that it was a maze, naturally, they would lose time in it.
Therefore, rather than leaving Ixion to wait for bait at the entrance, it was better for Glacius to stay behind herself.
“The bait won’t be left behind. You’ll be fine, right?”
Glacius showed an unusual eagerness.
Indeed, it was like the Lakradiyon family, known for hunting World Erosioners.
The Lakradiyon family was the one that abhorred World Erosioners the most in the world.
“A welcome appetite.”
Kraush entrusted the entrance to Glacius.
“Well then, our job is simple.”
He stood next to Biolain at the door, grabbing the doorknob.
“Regain power as quickly as possible and get out.”
Kraush immediately pulled the door open.
What he saw was an ordinary house interior.
Except for the fact that the hallway before him was an endless loop.
‘A maze.’
This place, created by the barrier mage, was a barrier maze.
Kraush glanced back at Aslan and Biolain.
Both nodded and stepped inside.
As soon as the three entered, bang!
The front door they just entered slammed shut.
Soon, the scene behind them unfolded again like the hallway before them.
The hallway had a warm, southern style.
A single lamp hung on the wall, and there were rooms separated at regular intervals by pillars.
There was a door on each side of the room.
Kraush decided to try opening one of the doors.
As he did, he was met with the same hallway again.
The hallway stretched on endlessly, forward and forward, never seeming to stop.
Indeed, it was a maze.
“Biolain, can you break this?”
“I could if I wanted, but…”
Biolain frowned and placed her hand on the wall.
“It’ll take a while. The barrier is just too big.”
Biolain couldn’t guarantee anything.
Even if Glacius was guarding the entrance, if it took too long, who knew what might happen.
They couldn’t afford to waste time.
Kraush turned to Aslan.
Upon making eye contact, Aslan grinned widely.
“I have to make it worthwhile to bring you along.”
Aslan suddenly whipped out a piece of chalk from his pocket.
He leisurely walked over and removed the carpet from the floor.
Then he began drawing a magic circle with the chalk.
Kraush stared at the magic circle, slowly recognizing it.
It wasn’t a modern format for a magic circle.
It was an old style that had long been forgotten.
“Hey, this is treasure hunter magic, isn’t it?”
A relic from the era when Glen used to use it.
It was magic used by treasure hunters to find these artifacts.
“You figured it out quite well.”
“I’ve seen it before.”
Kraush, who had mostly encountered curses, had traversed ruins before, hoping to find relics from that bygone era.
But he stopped when he found out that most of those relics required a price to be paid.
He was barely balancing his situation with the curse, as using a relic from ancient times would send him straight to doom.
However, he had seen this magic circle drawn on the ruins several times.
When he saw it, he’d turn back since it indicated everything had already been taken.
“This isn’t the original. I tweaked it a bit.”
Aslan began layering another magic circle on top of the existing one.
He quickly finished and then placed his hand on the magic circle, filling it with mana.
“The treasure hunter magic just points you in the right direction.”
Just as he said, treasure-hunter magic was notoriously rudimentary.
It could tell you the location of a relic but only in terms of direction.
To know the precise location, you had to keep redrawing the magic circle repeatedly.
However, Aslan’s magic was different.
As the magic he activated flowed, the chalk of the magic circle began to emit smoke.
Soon, arrows appeared on the floor, indicating where to go.
“Now it will constantly guide us to the location.”
Altering old magic formats was usually no easy task.
Especially ancient spells were even harder.
They often required a perfect construction of the magical formula.
Otherwise, most setups wouldn’t activate with just minor adjustments.
Aslan had created magic by layering a new magic circle on top of an old one.
“A genius indeed.”
“You can praise me more.”
Aslan beamed, puffing out his chest.
The future Fire King was proving to be reliable.
“Just follow the arrows, and the place will emerge.”
“Thanks for your hard work.”
Kraush immediately began running along the arrow.
The arrows indeed continued, guiding him steadily along.
They even indicated which door to enter next.
Thanks to that, Kraush kept yanking open doors as he moved ahead.
“Biolain.”
As he moved through the rooms, he called to the Biolain, who had been closely following him.
“I think the barrier mage might have already been caught by Ixion.”
This was something Kraush had been considering all along.
Upon hearing this, Biolain glanced at Kraush.
Then, she snorted and replied, “It’s something I partially expected. I hadn’t seen your mom visit since then.”
So, Biolain had already predicted it?
Kraush looked at Biolain for a moment.
“I understand what you’re worried about.”
The barrier mage had been caught by Ixion.
That meant Ixion could potentially use the barrier mage as a hostage.
To Kraush, the barrier mage was still alive, but to Biolain, she was her only mother.
Would she really stay composed before such a situation?
“I know my mom’s personality.”
Biolain answered Kraush steadily.
“She wouldn’t wish for me to suffer because of her. She would even abandon everything just for that.”
In order to protect Biolain from the God of Creation Weapons and Ixion, the barrier mage had sealed her powers and worked to hide herself.
There was no way that she would desire Biolain to be sacrificed because of her.
“To honor my mother, I will ensure I don’t hold her back.”
Upon hearing this, Kraush fell into silence for a moment and then spoke while facing ahead.
“I will save her if I can.”
If he could save the barrier mage, Kraush would gladly do so.
If Biolain and the barrier mage combined their barrier magic, they could save many people too.
Biolain’s barrier magic that subdued even the most powerful was irreplaceable.
With the barrier mage adding her powers, it would be even more extraordinary.
“So when I say I’ll rescue her, don’t hesitate either.”
Having gained confidence, Kraush urged Biolain to remember this as she let out another snort.
“Who’s saying otherwise?”
It was truly a response befitting Biolain.
Once their conversation ended, Kraush continued to follow the arrows and left the room.
The arrows didn’t stop, but the scenery kept repeating.
One might start to question if something was off, but Kraush wasn’t the least bit hesitant as he continued to open doors.
In no time at all, as he flung open a door, he was greeted by a staircase leading down.
The seemingly endless hallway finally changed.
“Biolain.”
“Yep, this is the next barrier maze.”
As expected, Aslan’s magic performance was impressive.
There was no doubt that running without hesitation was worthwhile.
The arrows led them below.
There was no reason to delay any longer.
“I’m going down.”
The moment Kraush stepped on the stairs, the blue lights illuminating the steps turned on all at once.
Seeing the lights stream downward, Kraush began moving again.
The stairs were fundamentally identical to normal ones.
However, the more they went down, the more the steps repeated endlessly.
It was long.
The stairs precisely matched the definition of spatial distortion.
Kraush blinked sleepily.
They felt like they had descended for quite some time, but nothing seemed to change.
Stopping in his tracks, Kraush looked back at Aslan.
“The path should definitely be down.”
Aslan confirmed that the arrow was indeed pointing correctly.
“However, it seems something else is obstructing us.”
In that instant, Aslan conjured a small stone in his hand.
“Kraush, throw it down with all your might.”
Kraush caught the small stone handed to him by Aslan.
Then, obeying Aslan’s instruction, he threw the stone toward the floor.
As the stone flew down, it bounced around, continuing to descend.
After a while, they began to hear the sound of the stone fading.
Ping, thud, pingpingping!
Suddenly, the sound of the stone rolling echoed again from above.
Aslan, Biolain, and Kraush all looked up simultaneously.
Before long, what they saw was the very stone Kraush had thrown earlier.
The stone was coming down from above, and Kraush caught it casually.
“Aslan.”
Kraush turned to Aslan.
Aslan nodded confidently. “These stairs are connected above and below.”
“Is it spatial distortion?”
“Most likely. There will be specific conditions to break through.”
Kraush smashed the stone and looked around.
In that moment, his instincts tingled.
His gaze shifted upwards.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!
Something was coming down.
And it was picking up speed.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Kraush instinctively grabbed Biolain.
“Eek!”
Biolain, snugly tucked under Kraush’s side, let out a squeal, sounding now like a frightened girl.
Embarrassed by her own shriek, her ears flushed bright red.
But there was no time for Kraush to apologize as he shouted at Aslan.
“Aslan, run!”
Hearing Kraush’s shout, Aslan instantly dashed down the stairs.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
What appeared behind them was a massive steel ball.
It was so enormous that it nearly filled the corridor.
The ball was accelerating even faster as it descended.
As Kraush ran, he drew out Rain Thunder Prime.
Life never came easily.
‘Then I’ll just smash it and be done.’
He was certain of that, and so Kraush raised his sword.
The faster-approaching metal ball was indeed threatening, but they had the wrong opponent here.
Whoosh—
Kraush unleashed a blazing strike infused with black flames.
The strike hit the steel ball right in the center.
Crash!
In an instant, the steel ball split apart, passing by Kraush and Biolain on either side.
As Kraush let out a brief sigh of relief, Biolain called out to him.
“K-Kraush.”
Kthud, kthud, kthud!
Soon enough, another steel ball echoed down from above.
Upon hearing this, Kraush tensed up.
Even if he smashed one, countless others were still rolling down from above.
They were utterly trapped.
This place was like a Möbius strip.
“Damn it.”
If nothing else, he had learned one thing today.
The barrier mage had a rather twisted hobby.
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