You are all my wings...

In other words, the more combat experience you have, the stronger you become; the greater your reputation, the stronger you become. This is a longer-lasting benefit, much like kidney tonics.

The world has no preference for or aversion to those who establish great achievements, but the circumstances of the authors of different poems differ in the human world.

Moreover, it is even more difficult for those who obtain the Dark Verses to ascend to the Legendary Verses; the advancement is extremely difficult, and only a few who can accomplish even greater feats can break through this limitation.

Therefore, those who obtain the Dark Verses are often rarer, live more discreetly, and habitually avoid having their identities discovered.

The man before me, Andrio, possesses not only formidable strength as a fifth-rank senior alchemist, but also an exceptionally robust body resulting from life alchemy experiments.

The fact that he could withstand the remaining Holy Annihilation Light with his body even after his equipment was destroyed, with only his skin turning yellowish, shows that his physical attributes are at least stronger than those of a fourth-tier warrior class.

Andrio should still have a lot of health left.

Boom!

Brelitta also saw her opponent's condition and realized that her long-awaited ultimate move had been blocked despite her seizing the opportunity, putting her in a bad situation.

She suddenly started running and sprinted at an extremely fast speed to a distance of 100 meters.

Tatata!

Her magnificent robes, adorned with sacred colors, stood out starkly in the darkness, like a flash of light piercing through the night.

Soon, everyone heard flashes of magical light and the sound of violent magical collisions a hundred meters away.

Judging from the sheer force of the battle, both sides were unleashing intermediate-level magic at breakneck speed, making it a fight that second- or third-tier players like them could easily interfere with.

So who has the upper hand in the current situation?

However, since this place was 24 floors underground, the lighting was poor, and there was another passage and the blood-red monster in between, so the group couldn't see what was happening there for the time being.

Lyon used his Wind Probe to observe the battle between the two, wondering if Britta had anticipated the enemy's strength.

Logically speaking, Berylita and Andrio had not had any direct contact before the story began.

Their enmity likely began during the Blood School's extermination campaign, following the Paladin Selection storyline.

Lyon wondered if it was because of the butterfly effect caused by his appearance that Andrio, a fifth-level expert, ran into Berylita ahead of time?

So, did Brierita anticipate the enemy's strength?

If the situation goes beyond Berylita's expectations and control, then it will be his turn to take charge.

And the overall situation, of course, is to run away.

When it comes to running away, Lyon is second to none.

At this moment, Iris Bovary and the others looked at Leon, waiting for his instructions.

Without realizing it, they had become accustomed to being commanded by Leon.

Of course, the reason they had this free time was mainly because the blood-red monster had stopped moving and remained stationary as Berylita and the Hidden One in the distance started their battle.

However, the group did not launch a rash attack.

Because the blood energy emanating from that crimson demon has a strong effect on mental interference, once you get close, it is easy to lose your strength.

Even when gathered at the entrance of this ventilation passage, they felt somewhat uncomfortable and had difficulty breathing.

Leon drew his second-tier magic sword and whispered:

"Did you see the Saintess's powerful attack, which was almost like a high-level spell?"

Everyone nodded.

"For the Holy Maiden to unleash such a powerful attack, it's clear how formidable the enemy is. A major battle is definitely on the horizon. Do any of you have any potions that can instantly restore vitality, stamina, and mana? Use them as soon as possible, before we reach the 39th floor."

Leon spoke quickly to the four knights.

He didn't tell Iris because he knew she didn't have enough money to buy the drug.

This potion is not cheap; it is made from various high-level monster materials.

First and second-tier potions start at seventy or eighty gold coins per small bottle.

For the third tier, a small bottle starts at 150 gold coins.

The reason it's so expensive is not only because the raw materials are valuable, but also because this stuff can save lives in critical situations; drinking it can immediately restore you to a fully recovered state.

Given the wealth of the Vatican, these four people likely had one or two bottles on average, hoping to save their lives.

Upon hearing this, Bovary immediately took out two bottles and handed them to Lyon, saying:

"Your Excellency, I have a stamina potion and a life-restoring potion. Would you like them?"

"You take half of the stamina potion and half of the life potion first, and lend the other half to Karl."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Bovary showed no sign of regret over the medicine, and without hesitation tilted his head back and drank half of it, then fed it to the still unconscious Karl.

Milo was dumbfounded: "Your Excellency, I didn't bring any medicine with me."

"Then you'd better hurry up and take out the stored meat and eat it, eat it in big bites, and then pray for good fortune."

Lyon glanced at the guy speechlessly. Look at that bulbous nose and thick neck, does he often spend money on other things?

Is this guy morally completely unrelated to the title of Paladin Reserve?

On the other side, although Iris had used two ultimate spells and several basic spells, she had the help of her wand, and both ultimate spells were long chants, which saved a lot of magic power. Her total magic power consumption was only 25 points.

With her high magic reserves of 70 points and the monster meat she ate during her break, her condition has almost fully recovered.

Unlike the other knights, she always collected the monster meat that Leon had prepared beforehand, and the quantity and quality of the meat she ate were both very high.

She remained silent, quietly eating her dried meat while awaiting Lyon's new instructions, all the while keeping watch on her back.

At that moment, as Bovary fed Karl a potion of strength and vitality, he suddenly opened his eyes.

He was nearly dead before, and if it weren't for Britta's intermediate healing spell, he would have been gone long ago.

Even with powerful healing spells like Intermediate Holy Healing, which are almost like bringing the dead back to life, it's impossible to completely restore a dying person's stamina and health.

That's why Leon had Bovary give the medicine to Karl, to add a useful combatant.

Putting everything else aside, he is at least a very capable meat shield.

Without him withstanding the most crucial attacks, the only difference between the four knights' fate and that of the knights who perished on the 25th floor was that they didn't die as tragically.

Chapter Seventy: Contingency Plan

"Is the battle over? Did the Holy Maiden witness my heroic feat?"

When Karl woke up, he first looked confused, then suddenly jumped up, sword in hand, on guard.

“Milo, explain to Karl what happened in three sentences.”

Lyon gave the instructions.

Milo, having no other choice, quickly explained the situation to Carl.

"What! The Holy Maiden is fighting the enemy all by herself? Why don't we go and help her?"

Carl was furious and took a step to rush over to help.

Lyon stopped Carl:

"Going to a battlefield where intermediate-level magic can be used at will is just courting death. You'll only distract the Holy Maiden, making things worse, and you'll waste the potion Bovary lent you. As a knight, the most important thing is not recklessness, but calmly making the best choice."

Carl scoffed, "I certainly won't make things worse!"

Despite saying that, he stopped and did not continue rushing forward.

The reason for this is that, apart from the fact that what Lyon said makes sense.

On the other hand, he had only taken two or three steps when he sensed the powerful blood energy emanating from the crimson demon in front of him, which made him feel vaguely exhausted.

He had just recovered, and even the strongest body cannot immediately return to its previous 100% condition.

"Shouldn't we take advantage of the time while the Holy Maiden is holding off the enemy and eliminate this blood-red monster in front of us?"

"No, this is for the best."

Lyon shook his head and explained:

“The monster standing there will deplete the spellcaster’s sustaining magic power. If we take it down, the enemy will have no extra burden and can focus all their efforts on the Saintess.”

"Then why don't we wage guerrilla warfare against the crimson monster? Wouldn't that both increase the consumption of the enemy's magic power and weaken the monster?"

Carl, however, was persistent.

"No, don't do anything reckless. This alchemical monster must have a basic magic built-in for automatic counterattack. If it counterattacks, it will only consume the magic power originally in the Water Devouring Ape's body, not the enemy's sustaining magic power. This would be counterproductive and waste the stamina and magic power that we have finally recovered."

Leon explained as he used the Quick Monster Meat skill, a core skill of elemental mages, Rapid Mana Regeneration, to accelerate the recovery of his mana.

"Also, everyone, don't just stand there! Use all the food you can to replenish your stamina and magic. In just a minute or two, the battle ahead will take a dramatic turn, so be prepared to respond at any time!"

Sure enough, just two and a half minutes later, the magical radiance a hundred meters away stopped abruptly.

“Elise, now begin chanting your radiant magic.”

"Karl, be prepared to fight the enemy at any time."

"Bovary and Miro gathered up all the spoils, including that big tail."

Lyon quickly issued a series of combat orders.

The place grew quieter, the fluorescent light from the dome illuminating the dark cave, and the beautiful, rapid chanting echoed throughout the cave.

Tick.

The water droplets fell from the dome, heading towards the crimson monster, but were instantly evaporated by the scorching blood energy emanating from it halfway down.

BOOM!!!

The abrupt noise grew louder and louder as it approached.

A magnificent and dazzling figure flew backward at high speed from afar, about to collide with the blood-red monster that remained motionless.

Leon had already sensed the anomaly using his wind detection magic and quickly activated Shadow Leap!

call out! ! !

A shadowy figure darted across the ground, circling within a seven- or eight-meter radius of the crimson monster before leaping up in front of it, grabbing Burelita, and halting her backward flight.

Lyon looked down and saw that Britta looked really bad; blood was seeping from the corner of her mouth, her face was slightly pale, and her breathing was labored, clearly indicating that she was seriously injured.

"Your Holiness, it seems your plan has failed."

"Sorry, I miscalculated. I didn't expect that the Holy Annihilation Magic wouldn't be enough to win. It's kind of you to cover for me."

It was Brierita who apologized.

But Leon also silently apologized in his heart.

In theory, according to the original plot, there were no surprises in Breretta's training this time, and her plan to lure out the remnants of the Holy Blood School should have succeeded.

Unexpectedly, this caused a butterfly effect-like change, and the one who appeared was Andrio, a powerful figure who had been a fifth-order expert for at least thirty years and was about to obtain the Dark Odyssey.

Not only did he master a variety of bizarre and evil life alchemy techniques, but his body was also transformed into a humanoid monster, making him ridiculously powerful.

Aside from his rather ugly face, he really doesn't have many flaws.

Moreover, his extremely calm fighting style and formidable combat experience allowed him to defeat Berylita, the protector of the gods, even after being seriously injured by a combination of secret Papal magic spells.

Many of the advantages that Berylita had created in advance were neutralized by Andrio.

There's a reason this guy can be a mid-game boss.

"Does the Holy Maiden have any backup plans?"

"There's a magic circle I prepared in advance on the ninth branch of the 30th floor. I originally planned to deal with the remnants of the school who were lying in ambush there, but unexpectedly, he managed to summon the Water-Swallowing Ape, which forced the battlefield to be moved to this location. As you can see, the result was as you saw. Moreover, the intelligence also went wrong. Logically speaking, Andrio shouldn't be here right now."

"How much magic power is left?"

"About one-sixth."

It's terrible. Our strongest fighter now only has ten points of magic left.

"And what about the enemy?"

"He's not much better than me, but he has a physical condition. His magic and injury recovery speed are very fast, and his unarmed strength is comparable to that of a fifth-tier warrior."

"Since the Holy Maiden's plan is no longer needed, it's time to activate my backup plan."