"Since we're going to work together, I'll naturally explain everything clearly," Harriet continued, "There are three temples in this maze. Each temple is different. The only thing we know is that the second temple is the Illusion Temple."
"At least four people are required to participate together. If there are fewer than four people, the illusion can't be activated."
"So..."
"Oh, I get it!", Ethan finally understood. "So you brought me along purely to make up the numbers, right? Are you planning to kill me the moment we enter the second temple? That way, you can get back the Diamond Soft Armor you just gave me and keep all the treasure chests in the temple for yourselves?"
"Of course not!", Harriet's expression shifted slightly, but she quickly regained control and said, "Whether it's the third temple ahead or invading the Goblin Kingdom, both are extremely dangerous. Having one more person helping us can only be beneficial, so why wouldn't we want that?"
"Heh! Do you think I'd believe that?", Ethan said with a smile, "Unless you sign a Lord Contract with me!"
"Sure."
To Ethan's surprise, Harriet agreed without hesitation.
"I, Harriet, am willing to sign a Lord Contract with..."
"Ethan," Ethan added.
"I, Harriet, am willing to sign a Lord Contract with Ethan of Region A. I guarantee that I will not violate the spirit of cooperation. During our partnership, I will never betray my teammates. Otherwise, I shall die on the spot," Harriet looked at Ethan and said, "Lord Ethan, do you think that's sincere enough now?"
[Lord Contract successfully established!]
[Mask of Deception: Allows the target to believe whatever they wish to believe. This mask can only be used once per day and cannot be used for killing.]
'So that's how it is.'
The moment the so-called Lord Contract was successfully established, Ethan also noticed the red exclamation mark above Harriet's head and discovered that this woman was indeed using another trick.
But the more openly she used tricks, the more at ease Ethan felt.
Because... She clearly thought he had already fallen for it, unaware that he had already seen through her method.
So Ethan calmly asked, "Miss Harriet, since we've established a cooperative relationship, can you tell me how to enter the second temple and what we'll encounter there?"
"No problem!"
Harriet smiled and answered his question.
"According to the map, the three temples are connected. So the entrance to the second temple must be inside the first temple."
"As for how to enter it, we're not entirely sure. We have to find the entrance first."
"But I suspect the entrance is inside this stone coffin."
"After all, according to the nature of this world, you definitely have to clear the first temple before reaching the second one."
"As for the second temple, we know it's the Illusion Temple containing Illusion Stones. Based on our investigation, it seems to be some kind of game. At least four people are required to play it in order to clear it."
"As for the specific content of the game, we don't know."
"As for the third temple, it seems to be called the Guardian Temple. I don't know what's inside either. We'll have to wait until we reach the entrance and have Charlie make a prophecy to see if we can get any useful information."
"You're saying the entrance to the second temple should be inside this stone coffin?", Ethan narrowed his eyes at the coffin. Not wanting to reveal his abilities, he simply shook his head and said, "But you've seen it yourselves. Your teammate was petrified the moment he got close to it. I'm not willing to take that risk. Unless you have a way to deal with the petrification monster inside the coffin, I'll only then consider continuing this cooperation."
"That's only fair! Consider it part of our apology. Leave this matter to us."
To Ethan's surprise, Harriet agreed immediately.
After smiling at him, she turned to Charlie and said, "Charlie, make a prophecy about the situation inside the stone coffin."
"Yes, Sister Harriet."
Charlie nodded, and the crystal ball in his hands appeared once more.
The pale purple crystal ball floated strangely in midair. Charlie then swept both hands over it, looking just like one of those fortune tellers putting on a show.
Still, Ethan was quite surprised.
'There really is a profession like Prophet in this world.'
'This crystal ball seems pretty interesting.'
'I wonder if Nostradamus could make use of it.'
If it turned out useful, Ethan wouldn't mind giving it to him.
And if it wasn't useful, Ethan wanted to see whether any of his citizens could change into this profession.
Anyway, he had already claimed the crystal ball in his mind.
"Sister Harriet, there are still two Petrification Magic Stones inside the coffin. Their position is at the 12-and-a-half direction on the right side of the coffin, at a seventy-five-degree angle."
"Good!"
Harriet responded and raised her greatsword.
The next second—
BOOM!
The sword struck the stone coffin.
The massive coffin was split directly into two halves. The section struck by the blade was shattered into powder.
This was truly one sword breaking all techniques.
Ethan had spent forever digging and digging before finally dealing with Medusa's head full of snakes.
Yet this woman solved it with a single swing.
'Really impressive.'
"What about now?"
After finishing her strike, Harriet asked again.
Charlie made another prophecy.
Ethan also noticed a detail. Consecutive prophecies seemed to consume a great deal of Charlie's energy.
During the first prophecy, Charlie's complexion had still looked healthy.
But after making three prophecies in a row, his face had already become somewhat pale.
'This shows that he probably can't keep making prophecies continuously. The cost is simply too great.'
'As long as there are limits, that is fine.'
What Ethan feared most was a prophecy ability with no restrictions.
If that happened, how could he secretly scheme against anyone if the Prophet could foresee it?
"Sister Harriet, the crystal ball shows that the dan-danger... danger is gone."
After finishing the prophecy, Charlie's face had become pale, and his body was even swaying slightly.
Ethan noticed everything but pretended not to.
On the other hand, Harriet seemed to trust Charlie's prophecies completely. She simply nodded and said, "Since there's no danger, let's move out."
After speaking, Harriet put away her greatsword and took the lead toward the inside of the stone coffin.
Then, Harriet jumped into the coffin first without the slightest hesitation, as if she wasn't worried about danger at all.
Not long afterward, her voice came from inside.
"Found it! The door is underneath the statue! Come help!"
"Coming!"
"Yes, Sister Harriet!"
The other two quickly jumped into the coffin as well.
Soon, chunks of broken stone from the statue were thrown out of the coffin.
Ethan also jumped onto the edge of the coffin.
He was glad that the final sword strike had hit Medusa's statue's head and blown it apart completely, so Harriet couldn't discover the method he had used to dig out the eyes.
Only, it was a pity that the last two Petrification Magic Stones had been smashed into dust by Harriet's sword.