Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst-Chapter 152: VOL 2 - 97: Under attack.

The runic language was an ancient written language used by the Boreal League, though it has fallen into disuse in modern times. It was based on runes that were very similar to those used to create magical artifacts or spells. Although there were some differences, it was common for practitioners of the Aegis System, who were sorcerers, to have some knowledge of this language.

Suddenly finding himself the center of attention, Ethan pretended to cough a couple of times to clear his throat, straightened his posture slightly, and then took a step forward to speak with a serious expression.

"Indeed, it is the runic language. A well-thought-out choice for the test, as, although it is now a disused language, it was very popular in ancient times, and we may encounter it in the ruins. Fortunately, I have learned a bit and can translate it."

"Then we will rely on you, Disciple Williams." Zoe remarked in a calm tone, to which Ethan quickly nodded and focused his gaze on the holograms, adding.

"I will do my best."

With a serious and concentrated expression, Ethan reviewed the runes on the holographic screens, then brought his hand to his chin, thinking about how to adapt the meaning to the galactic language while preserving the nuances. After a few seconds, he nodded in satisfaction and began to speak again.

"...The written message goes something like this:

'In hands of sages, warriors bold, true power lies.

He who walks with wisdom, history as his guide,

The shrouded path shall rise, unveiled to wise eyes.

Reflect the past, wield the key, and knowledge gates swing wide.'

"It's a bit complicated to translate this kind of ancient poetry into the galactic language, but that's more or less what it says."

After reciting the poem, Ethan added in a pensive tone, which led everyone present to sink into their thoughts, pondering its meaning. After a few seconds, Elara was the first to speak, her tone thoughtful, her hand on her chin, deeply immersed in her thoughts.

"I suppose 'the key' refers to the staff..."

"That makes sense, but what does 'reflect the past' mean? Could it have something to do with the light affinity?" Zoe added shortly after, looking thoughtfully at Liliana.

"I doubt it. Although [Past's Reflection] is indeed a light affinity spell, it's something of a much higher level, something only possible for Arcane-level mages. I don't think they expect us to perform that spell. Besides, the light affinity is too rare for the riddle to be related to it." Liliana disagreed, convincing everyone, who quickly returned to their thoughts.

"Liliana is right. 'Reflect the past' must refer to something more metaphorical..." Elara murmured softly, still pensive, while Ethan continued to examine the runes carved into the door, trying to find any useful clues but finding nothing that particularly caught his attention.

After giving up on the door, Ethan turned his gaze to the staff at Zoe's waist. After examining each of its runes, he noticed something strange. Despite being slightly illuminated, the surface of the staff seemed to faintly reflect the image of the door. But what was truly odd was that, through the staff's reflection, a faint figure of what appeared to be a hand could be seen carved into the door.

Noticing this detail, Ethan's eyes lit up like lanterns, and he quickly turned to look at the door again, where he could see nothing resembling what the staff's reflection showed. This brought a huge smile to his face, and he soon announced, absolutely convinced, that this was the key to solving the riddle.

"It's the staff's reflection!! 'Reflect the past' refers to the staff's reflection!!"

Ethan's words caught the attention of everyone present, who looked at the staff with curiosity. Indeed, after staring at it for a while, they found the faint figure of an arm carved into the door reflected in it. Zoe quickly took the staff and began to move it, revealing that the figure was actually a mage fighting a knight.

"You're right. The door's reflection in the staff shows 'a scene from the past'." Elara commented delightedly, while Zoe, with a smile on her face, began to change the staff's position, trying to provoke some reaction, but nothing happened.

"Is it a matter of the angle or the distance?" Zoe asked, confused, as she stepped forward and backward. At that moment, Liliana softly commented after a moment of consideration.

"Maybe it's both. Try taking a few steps back and adjust the angle so that the images of the mage and the warrior appear simultaneously in the staff's reflection."

After nodding in agreement, Zoe took several steps back until she reached the perfect spot where the figures of the mage and the knight appeared together in the staff's reflection. This quickly confirmed that it was the correct answer, as both the staff and the door began to glow brightly.

"It seems that was the correct answer." Zoe commented with a charming smile, which spread to the other two girls, causing the men in the team to swallow heavily, mesmerized by the almost hypnotic beauty the young women exuded.

While the young men were nearly hypnotized by the beauty of the direct disciples, the massive wooden doors opened, revealing a descending spiral staircase of stone steps on the other side. At that moment, Zoe quickly ordered, placing her right hand on the hilt of her sheathed katana.

"Everyone, stay alert. We'll descend in defensive formation. Be ready for combat. Magni, with me."

"Understood."

Zoe's voice snapped the young men out of their trance, and they quickly formed up while Magni stepped forward, announcing firmly. At that moment, Zoe summoned the beautiful nine-tailed fox once more, which appeared in a trail of fire, then offered the staff while speaking in a tone full of respect.

"Hiyori-sama, I will be in your care once again."

"Trust me, little Zoe."

The beautiful fox responded in a sweet, melodious voice, taking the staff in its teeth, then positioning itself in the middle of the formation. Zoe turned to look at her companions and announced firmly.

"Let's go!"

Passing through the enormous doors, the group encountered a long spiral staircase illuminated by pale blue torches. They descended with their weapons ready and barriers up, prepared for any attack or trap. Soon, however, the group reached the bottom, where they found a massive cavern supported by gigantic pillars that made them feel like ants.

But even more impressive was the beautiful palace visible at the center, which seemed to have come straight out of a fairy tale. Seeing the palace in the distance, the group nearly jumped with excitement, but they managed to keep their emotions in check and approached the place cautiously, maintaining their formation.

The group continued their journey toward the palace, alert and increasingly excited to see their objective up close. Their steps grew lighter, but suddenly, a massive fireball struck the barriers protecting them from the side, causing the barriers to tremble violently and crack like glass, while the ground shook slightly.

"We're under attack! Reinforce the barriers and fall back!!!"

Zoe shouted quickly, extending her ethereal projection to its maximum to identify the attackers. This prompted the entire group to spring into action, with the mages rapidly conjuring new barriers at full speed while retreating in an organized manner, also extending their ethereal projections to the maximum in all directions.

Almost simultaneously, several spells came hurtling toward them, impacting the new barriers and unleashing furious explosions that released brutal shockwaves capable of destroying the barriers. The group had to rebuild them, consuming enormous amounts of mana while retreating hastily. Despite having fallen back quite a bit, the group continued to be attacked, so Zoe quickly turned and shouted.

"We need to change tactics. Disciple Williams, conceal us. Liliana, do your best to identify the enemy. In the meantime, let's keep moving."

Without saying a word, Ethan pulled out a beautifully crafted crystal vial containing a luxurious blue liquid—a mana recovery potion—but he didn't drink it. Instead, he held it between his teeth, then, with his staff in hand, conjured a large number of runes around the group.

"Cloak of Fog."

Quickly, the runes conjured vast amounts of whitish Fog that completely concealed the group, to which he added several illusions to make them harder to detect. Meanwhile, Liliana quickly deactivated the light barrier she had been maintaining to protect the team. Her staff began to glow softly, and a large, complex magical circle slowly formed in front of her.

While Liliana concentrated on the magical circle, Zoe guided the group to move erratically within the dense fog. The attacks kept coming, but thanks to the mist and the illusions, the enemy couldn't pinpoint their location and was essentially attacking blindly. This allowed the group to catch their breath, giving the mages a chance to drink mana recovery potions with a bit more calm.

Almost two minutes later, Liliana's magical circle was complete, and a holographic projection formed above it, depicting a group of ten people in an attack formation, with mages in the rear casting spells and drinking potions like water. But the girls' eyes focused on a beautiful young woman at the center of the group.

The young woman, with delicate and symmetrical features, pale skin, blue hair, and eyes of the same color, had an appearance that could only be described as seductive. Her voluptuous and curvaceous body was something she seemed unafraid to show off, wearing what appeared to be a modified version of the university uniform—a super short, tight dress that left her long, toned legs exposed and teased with a plunging neckline that emphasized her ample bust.

Meanwhile, in her right hand, the beautiful young woman held the tournament staff, while in her left she carried another staff, this one black as jet, with an elegant and stylish design adorned with golden metal decorations at the top—a clear indication that she was a mage.

"It's that bitch Christine! Damn it!!"

With Liliana's angry exclamation, the girls immediately raised their alert level to the maximum. Meanwhile, Zoe turned to look at the boys in the group and spoke with a dark expression, her tone laden with threat and murderous intent.

"I'm only going to say this once, so listen very carefully. If any of you dare to betray us for that bitch, I swear I will hunt you down and make sure you regret it for the rest of your lives. You won't find a single place in the University where you can hide from us."

Along with Zoe's icy words came the murderous intent of Liliana and Elara, who scrutinized the faces of each of the men present, engraving their features into their minds. This sent a shiver down their spines, and they immediately nodded in understanding like frightened chickens, utterly terrified by the distorted expressions of the girls, who just moments ago had exuded a warm, hypnotic beauty.

"We need to make sure we enter the palace first, though, it would be best to eliminate that bitch here and now."

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After glancing at the men in her own group, Liliana commented with visible resentment. Then she turned to look at the hologram, where she began to study the group composed exclusively of men, except for the beautiful lady with seductive features and a sensual body.

"Let's go with a full-power attack. Let's take advantage of the fact that we can see her, and she can't see us."

Elara quickly added with a Machiavellian smile, as a large magical circle began to form in front of her. Liliana quickly followed suit, and Zoe turned to look at Ethan, speaking in a cold tone.

"Disciple Williams, I expect you to do your best to keep us undetectable. The other side must have some method of staying hidden, and we'll be in trouble if we're discovered."

Seeing Zoe's aggressive expression, Ethan quickly swallowed the potion he had in his mouth and spat out the glass vial, then spoke with firmness and confidence.

"You can count on it, Disciple Laverne."

As if to demonstrate his intentions, the runes around the group increased in number, while Ethan quickly pulled out two recovery potions from his storage ring and placed them in his mouth. This made Zoe nod in satisfaction, and she quickly turned to the students, ordering with authority.

"Everyone, prepare to attack following Disciple Faye. Hiyori-sama, I beg for your assistance in the attack."

"Don't worry, little Zoe. I will coordinate perfectly with everyone." The fox responded in a calm voice, without moving its mouth, but without using telepathy. Zoe quickly bowed slightly in gratitude.

"That is a relief. Thank you very much, Hiyori-sama."

***

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