Mystic Overlord: Reading Gives Strength-Chapter 1215 - 1209: The First Rule

"..."

"Obviously, we cannot be caught by the searchlights above."

"Indeed."

At the edge of the fortress wall, Ronald and Patricia exchanged glances.

They certainly knew they had to tread carefully when entering the fortress, and they hadn't considered the watchtowers above as mere decorations.

They simply hadn't expected the obstacles in this maze to come so quickly.

They'd only taken a few steps before the light from the watchtowers caught them, and they were immediately sent back to the starting point by the maze's rules.

"We can't rush now, let's observe the structure inside carefully."

Ronald calmed himself, then rationally analyzed:

"Especially the watchtowers above. If we can discern their lighting patterns, this maze will be much easier to navigate."

Patricia nodded slightly.

Then the two of them, without saying another word, stood in unison at the gap in the fortress wall and began to carefully observe the changes in this maze.

The ground part of the fortress maze was still very much rule-oriented.

The military training grounds and equipment, the supplies parked in the square, and the traces left by the casters practicing spells were all tangible elements that could be found in the fortress, but under the maze's rules, they became obstacles to progress, fueling the maze's inception.

Frankly speaking, such a simple maze construction was only a trivial test for Ronald and Patricia, who had already conquered several mazes in succession.

It was only those few watchtowers standing tall within the fortress that presented a real challenge.

After Ronald and Patricia figured out the general structure of the maze and even formed a plan in their minds, they looked up at the towering watchtowers and found that the previously decided path was unusable.

If they followed the normal maze route for the strategy.

Then nearly a dozen key nodes on the route would be in the places where the watchtower lights most easily shone.

With their current ordinary person level of speed.

As soon as they got close to the lights, it would be almost impossible to escape their tracking range.

"..."

"Ronald, these watchtowers completely block all key access points to the interior of the fortress."

After five minutes had passed, Patricia couldn't help but speak to Ronald:

"With my abilities, I probably can't find a way through here in a short time."

Ronald nodded gravely, acknowledging Patricia's statement:

"Actually, it's not just you. The outcome I see is the same."

"Especially the lighting of these watchtowers. Apart from confining the lights within a certain radius, they follow no pattern, like the operator above is shaking the searchlight unconsciously while yawning!"

The current situation was just as Ronald described.

Even though he and Patricia were observing seriously, they couldn't discern any pattern in the lights from the watchtowers.

And without identifying this pattern...

Through a maze covered so densely by these watchtowers, how could they possibly pass through easily?

Time ticked by in their fruitless observations. Ronald realized they were only wasting time in vain and made a rather bold decision:

"Time cannot be wasted any longer!"

"Patricia, let's enter the maze now and start strategizing!"

"If we can't figure it out by observing from here, then we'll have to venture in ourselves. Just standing here won't solve anything!"

Patricia obviously didn't expect Ronald to make such a decision.

A glint of surprise flashed across her face, but she quickly steadied herself, then nodded firmly:

"Let's go, Ronald, I believe in you!"

After making the decision, Ronald and Patricia immediately began to take action.

Equipped with the experience from their first intrusion, they cautiously watched out for the 'ambush' by the watchtowers' lights and managed to advance smoothly for a while.

Yet, when they reached about one-third of the maze.

The first crisis emerged.

From the direction they were coming from and the correct path they intended to take, two beams of light came shining over from front and rear, completely blocking the path. There was no gap to squeeze through at all!

Forward or backward, their only fate was to be sent back to the starting point!

"..."

"Patricia, follow me!"

In this situation, Ronald unhesitantly grabbed Patricia by the wrist and led her into an adjacent dead-end path with no way to the exit.

The path led to a dead-end and endless loops.

To avoid being sent back to the entrance, Ronald had to make such a sidestep.

"Ronald, look behind us!"

It was then that Patricia loudly alerted Ronald from behind.

He turned to look.

A more pressing scene immediately entered his view.

The lights from the two watchtowers, instead of following their original trajectory to draw circles on the ground, suddenly changed direction midway and headed directly toward where Ronald and Patricia were!

Such a change, defying inertia, implied only one thing.

——The lights were targeting Ronald and Patricia specifically!

"Damn it!"

Ronald couldn't help but curse.

However, he didn't give up. Instead, he exerted all his strength to continue sprinting forward, racing against the obviously faster lights!

"Patricia, keep up with me!"

"I want to verify something!"

Ronald shouted while running, and the swordswoman following him immediately responded:

"Alright, I'll stick with you!"

"..." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The thrilling chase didn't last long.

While taking the detours, Ronald also took the opportunity to observe the positions of the two watchtowers.

Then, when they had escaped about fifty meters within the maze.

Ronald suddenly stopped, then gazed solemnly at the traced path of the approaching lights behind him.

Patricia, who was also halted suddenly, hadn't yet comprehended, so she voiced her confusion:

"Ronald, why aren't we moving?"

Ronald calmly raised a finger and replied to Patricia:

"Hold on, the most crucial moment is now."

Almost in sync with Ronald's words, the two intertwined beams of searchlight reached them.

The next second, the lights were supposed to engulf them.

And directly throw them back to the entrance.

But that didn't happen.

Because right before Ronald, the beams abruptly stopped their forward movement, like hounds on a tight leash, only able to bite within a limited range.

Beyond the constraint of the leash, the lights could only linger at the extreme position, howling fruitlessly.

It was then Patricia understood everything:

"Ronald, this is the limit of their lighting distance!"

Ronald nodded in agreement, further explaining:

"Now it seems, though they actively pursue those entering the maze, they cannot break the distance constraint."