"It really is."
Ethan narrowed his eyes and carefully looked at the spot Harriet was pointing at.
He found that what she described matched the staircase almost exactly.
'That means...'
'We really have run into a ghost wall.'
'Or rather, we have entered an illusion.'
"Do you have any way to break it?", Ethan asked directly when he didn't understand something.
"Not yet," After speaking, Harriet looked toward Charlie and said, "Charlie, make another prediction. See where the key to breaking this Illusion Temple is."
"Y-Yes, Sister Harriet."
After walking through the long passage, Charlie's complexion had improved quite a bit.
But the moment he heard that he had to make another prediction, his face became even paler. It seemed repeated predictions placed a heavy burden on him.
But it was obvious that they had no choice now.
They couldn't just keep walking downward forever.
The crystal ball appeared again.
This time, the crystal ball, which had originally been purple, turned gray-black.
Charlie, however, seemed completely used to it.
He closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath, as if reciting words to the crystal ball.
Very soon, a faint white mist appeared inside the crystal ball.
Charlie opened his eyes again and made a motion with both hands as though pushing aside clouds.
Something seemed to flash through the crystal ball.
"Hm?"
The moment Charlie made the cloud-parting motion, Ethan really saw an extremely faint strand of black smoke quickly enter the crystal ball.
But neither Charlie nor Harriet seemed to notice it.
'Could it be... that this is simply part of the crystal ball's prediction process?'
Although Ethan had doubts, he wasn't going to interrupt Charlie's prediction at this moment.
After all, it concerned whether they could get out of here.
He could always ask after the prediction was finished.
"Sister Harriet, the crystal ball... the crystal ball showed things very clearly this time," Charlie's face turned several shades paler as he spoke, "You must reach the one hundredth step within thirty seconds. There's an illusion monster there. As long as we kill it, we can leave this place."
"It's that simple?", Harriet asked. Then she quickly calculated, "To rush down a hundred steps in thirty seconds means covering about ten steps every three seconds while avoiding traps. I should be able to do it."
As she spoke, Harriet tied up the flaxen hair hanging over her shoulders with a hair tie.
She immediately looked much more efficient and ready.
"Harriet, let me go instead!", Kaleb suddenly said, "I have a shield. If I run into traps below, I can block them in time."
"You're not fast enough, and your reactions aren't good enough."
However, Harriet cut him off immediately.
A trace of anger flashed through Kaleb's eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.
"Sister Harriet, be careful," In the end, Charlie spoke up and eased the tension, "The crystal ball was gray just now. That means there may be some danger."
"Don't worry. My super memory isn't just for show," Harriet smiled, "I won't forget a path I've already walked. Even if new traps appear, I trust my reaction speed."
"Uh...", Ethan had just started speaking, "I wanted to ask about your crystal ball..."
"I'm going! Say it when I get back."
As soon as Harriet finished speaking, she leaped down the stairs like a hunting leopard.
Before Ethan could finish his question, she had already charged down.
It had to be said, she really was fast.
Ethan also saw that when she passed the twenty-first step, she swung her sword to the left, knocking down all the arrows that shot out from the wall.
And she never slowed down at all.
She was almost like a machine following a preset program.
Defending against all kinds of traps coming out of the walls while running.
Yet her speed remained so fast that it seemed beyond what a normal body should be capable of.
"Charlie, when you make predictions, do black strands enter the crystal ball?", Taking advantage of Harriet's charge down the stairs, Ethan quickly asked.
"Talk to me later. I'm really nervous right now... What?"
At first, Charlie was staring fixedly at Harriet rushing down the stairs.
But the instant he heard about black strands entering the crystal ball, his expression changed drastically.
He immediately fumbled around and took out the crystal ball again to make another prediction.
But Ethan no longer needed to ask.
He already had his answer.
It seemed... this was very likely the malice of the illusion world itself.
If it could directly alter Charlie's prediction results and turn a trap into the key to escaping, then that meant... the one hundredth step Harriet was about to reach was very likely a dangerous trap.
And because she was trying to save time, she definitely wouldn't have the chance to examine it carefully while rushing forward.
At that point... Ethan's eyes narrowed.
The Illusion Temple was planning to kill someone.
Although Ethan didn't particularly want to save Harriet, inside this Illusion Temple, he still needed this group if he wanted to get through.
Otherwise, he would be the one leading the way next.
Save her first.