[All members of Party 6 have fallen into the state of panic. All stats reduced by 50%!]
[All members of Party 7 have fallen into the state of fear. All stats reduced by 30%!]
[All members of Party 8 have fallen into the state of panic. All stats reduced by 50%!]
[All members of Party 9 have fallen into the state of fear. All stats reduced by 30%!]
[All members of Party 10 have fallen into the state of panic. All stats reduced by 50%!]
A series of notification windows suddenly burst forth in front of me.
Something happened in the Quintal Trial to the point that the entire Fourth Advanced Scouts were frightened.
I doubted this was supposed to happen.
The mission was proceeding quite stably so far.
That peculiar wave…
That resonance my seal sensed earlier must had something to do with this phenomenon.
Just what did it do to the mission?
What was happening?!
['Endro (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Domaro (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Pruiss (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Gretna (★★★)' has activated the Healing Stone!]
['Katrin (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Liesl (★★)' is on the brink of death. Her life is in danger!]
['Marinne (★★★)' has activated the Healing Stone!]
['Tsaruyan (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Himnel (★★★)' has activated the Healing Stone!]
['Himnel (★★★)' has activated the Portal Stone!]
Death notifications rapidly emerged before me.
The situation had drastically turned for the worse with the Fourth Advanced Scouts.
What was going on in there?
Even for a Quintal Trial, this did not make any sense!
[Summoning 'Advanced Health Potion (A)' x20!]
['Raiven (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
[Summoning 'Power Potion (B+)' x30!]
['Felliz (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
[Summoning 'Antidote (B+)' x25!]
['Liesl (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Hallu (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
Master tried to aid the distressed scouts by sending more supplies.
But the death notifications kept on appearing.
The Fourth Advanced Scouts dwindled down by the minute.
[Unified Grand Magic 'Tornado Stream (★★★★)' has been activated!]
[Caster - 'Jafar (★★★)']
['Jafar (★★★)' has fallen to the state of mana overflow!]
['Livian (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
[Unified Grand Magic 'Scorching Earth (★★★★)' has been activated!]
[Caster - 'Anaiya (★★★)']
['Anaiya (★★★)' has fallen to the state of mana overflow!]
The elemental mages had casted Fourth Circle spells.
They probably did not have time to cast a Fifth Circle one. Or they no longer had the mana to cast it.
Unfortunately, Jafar and Anaiya would be incapacitated now that they had spent most of their mana.
I was more worried for Party 6, the vanguard.
Only two members were left in that group.
With Anaiya incapacitated, Rizarde was the only one fighting on that front.
['Andor (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Weirui (★★★)' has fallen to the state of mana overflow!]
['Annalie (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Zekhiel (★★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
We had lost all of the 2-stars in the Fourth Advanced Scouts.
The first death among the 3-stars had emerged as well in Party 8. Only their party leader was left in that group.
Considering Jafar and Weirui had also been incapacitated, Party 7 and 10 were also practically left with only one able member.
['Castro (★★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Gretna (★★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
[Party 8 has been annihilated.]
['Anaiya (★★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
We lost one party.
Anaiya of Party 6 had perished as well.
Rizarde was the last one standing in the vanguard group.
['Marinne (★★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Jafar (★★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
[Party 7 has been annihilated.]
['Weirui (★★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
As long as one vanguard member was still alive, the trial went on.
I could not even begin to imagine how desperate Rizarde was fighting for his life right now.
['Himnel (★★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
[Party 9 has been annihilated.]
['Ruana (★★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
[Party 10 has been annihilated.]
The knight was now the last surviving hero of the Fourth Advanced Scouts.
Rizarde had my full respect for persevering this long.
Unfortunately, his fate was already sealed.
The twentieth floor was not meant to be challenged by only one person.
Only a god could single-handedly overcome the tremendous challenge of a Quintal Trial.
['Rizarde (★★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
[Party 6 has been annihilated.]
[The vanguard has been eliminated.]
[Mission Failed!]
[You Lose!]
Another failed attempt.
We had now lost 80 raiders to the fourth Quintal Trial. Even more if we counted the scouts from the Evaluation Center.
This would be the first time a floor claimed so many heroes from the lobby.
The twentieth floor redefined what it meant to climb the tower. What it meant to try saving our world.
[Wahh! I can't believe they failed! We were so close too!]
Alam suddenly appeared before me with saddened face.
She was genuinely upset by this loss.
And something suggested me that this was not supposed to happen.
"That peculiar wave earlier. It made things worse in the mission, wasn't it, Alam? It caused the scouts to lose, right?"
I asked her.
Alam simply shook her head indifferently.
[Just forget it, Serafina. It's one of the things that I can't tell you about. And even if you know what it was, there's nothing you can do about it. Believe me.]
"In that case, will it happen again?"
[Pray that it won't. If you want to live, that is.]
She said with a sigh.
The forged land never ceased to surprise and confuse me. In a terrible way this time.
Alam tried to keep the truth about the weird phenomenon from me. But I knew it involved something fundamental to the forged land.
The power that made everything in this place. From the tower, the missions, the lobby, and even Master.
I was surprised that my feeble seal was able to sense something so transcendent.
Thump!
Another resonance.
It was different from the one earlier.
This one felt weak.
There was also a slight sense of pain and…sadness?
I also did not feel the wave resonating with my seal, which was concentrated somewhere in my heart, under my chest.
Instead, this wave resonated with my entire being. It resonated with my ownself instead of my seal.
Moreover, I could trace where this new wave originated from.
It came from…
Hm…
Sigyn?
I turned to the window inside the Tactical Post building and stared at the lobby's peculiar ceiling.
The sky outside had turned gray.
Master had left.
But somehow I could still feel that sensation. That mixture of pain, sadness, and waning strength.
[Serafina? What's the matter?]
Alam asked with confused face.
The fairy did not seem to feel the resonance, unlike earlier.
Interesting.
"Something seems to be wrong with Master."
I stated.
[What?!]
It was odd that I was able to say that with confidence.
But that weird resonance seemed to be connected with Sigyn for some obscure reason, which led to my statement.
"The loss of the Fourth Advanced Scouts must had taken a huge toll on Master. I'm not sure they'll re-attempt the Quintal Trial anytime soon."
[Oh no! What if Master never comes back because of this?!]
The fairy shouted hysterically.
I did not know it was possible for Master to not ever return.
And why did that possibility frightened Alam morethan when that dangerous wave earlier occurred?
"Nevertheless, the heroes of the forged land must carry on with their duties."
I told the fairy.
The loss of the Fourth Advanced Scouts would leave a significant wound on the Raid Team and the lobby as a whole.
But we must not let this bitter failure stop us.
The twentieth floor still remained to be overcome.
Doubtless, the fourth Quintal Trial had turned to be our biggest obstacle yet.
And it was now the Main Forces' turn to challenge it.