"A Necromancer?"
Su Xuan frowned slightly at Ivsha's words.
'Is that Necromancer an Adventurer from a rival Guild?'
'And how could he influence the Oath Knight selection?'
'Wait!'
Su Xuan's eyes narrowed. Roxia had said that only an Oath Knight could enter the site of the selection ceremony.
'Then...'
'What if it's the Undead of an Oath Knight?'
If so, their means of influencing the selection would be almost identical to his own.
"Ivsha, can you find that Necromancer?" Su Xuan asked.
"I'll try!"
Ivsha nodded, then clasped her hands together, her Magic Power rippling outwards.
At the same time, Su Xuan instructed Rosaline, "Prepare yourself. There might be a tough fight coming."
He then handed her the Rare Silver Moon Longsword.
Rosaline took the sword and nodded, her hollow gaze fixed on Roxia in the distance, ready to move in for a rescue at any moment.
"Mr. Su Xuan..."
Natasha, sitting to one side, had heard Su Xuan's orders to Ivsha and Rosaline. Though she didn't understand his specific plan, his serious and conscientious attitude toward the task put her at ease, and she offered a relieved smile.
At that moment, Mero was standing on a viewing platform, a wide smile on his face as he eagerly awaited the success of his plan. He didn't intend for Roxia to die, of course; he just wanted her to lose the chance to become an Oath Knight.
Only then could he implement the next phase of his plan.
As he mused, his gaze swept over Natasha and Su Xuan, who was seated beside her. His expression instantly turned frigid.
He whispered in a voice too low for others to hear, "You meddling woman. You and your Adventurer can't stop this. There is no way Roxia will become an Oath Knight today!"
With that, his gaze shifted to a certain spot in the crowd, a smug smile playing on his lips. He could see the Necromancer he'd hired was already making his move.
The Necromancer began to whisper a guttural chant, an incantation of Undead Magic. With the entire audience captivated by the White Rose Ceremony, no one noticed him.
"Pu'er, how much longer?" a man's voice sounded in the mind of the Necromancer, Pu'er.
"About ten more minutes," Pu'er replied in a raspy voice.
"Hurry it up. Once this job is done, our Guild can get its E+ Level evaluation," said a man in a suit, smoking a cigar as he sat in the Guild headquarters.
"As you command."
The man's name was Wang Qi. He was the Guild President of the Necromancer's Guild, and he was observing the scene through his Player's eyes.
When his gaze fell upon Su Xuan, his lips curled into a smirk.
"A Player with an F+ Evaluation... looks like a newbie. What a poor bastard, running into me on this mission." Wang Qi sneered. "You can only blame this game's unfair matchmaking for pitting a new F+ like you against someone like me, who's about to hit E+!"
"Besides, my Necromancer is a Rare-quality Adventurer. You don't stand a chance, friend," Wang Qi added with a self-satisfied shrug, as if to show victory was already his.
As a veteran who had been in the game for nearly two months, Wang Qi knew full well how vast the gap between Player evaluations could be.
And since he was about to break through to E+, facing a mere F+ Player would be a complete steamroll.
His Adventurer, Pu'er, was a Rare-quality Necromancer. While his personal combat skills weren't exceptional, he could command Undead whose power far surpassed his own.
Pu'er had even reached Level 16, an absolutely crushing advantage against a player new to the game!
"My Magic is ready."
Just then, a message came from the Necromancer Pu'er.
"Excellent!" Wang Qi immediately ordered. "Begin! Let's finish this mission!"
"As you command."
Wang Qi turned his eager gaze to the screen.
In the arena for the Oath Knight selection, Roxia was brandishing her sword, locked in a fierce battle with a phantom created by the Magic Power of the White Rose.
Under Roxia's fierce assault, the phantom was steadily forced back.
The Oath Sword in her hand flashed, swiftly tearing through the Phantom Knight's body. After a few exchanges, the Phantom Knight was riddled with damage.
Finally!
Roxia accurately thrust her sword into the Phantom Knight's heart.
The fatal blow caused the Phantom Knight's body to dissolve into White Rose petals, which then quickly dissipated.
This meant she had successfully passed the first trial of the White Rose.
"Amazing!"
"Roxia is the first one to defeat a Phantom Knight!"
"She's so strong! Is this the peak strength of the Yerman Clan's younger generation?"
"The young Knights from the other families are still struggling against their phantoms, while she's already defeated hers!"
"Looks like the title of Oath Knight is hers for the taking!"
When the crowd saw Roxia so decisively defeat the phantom, the entire venue erupted in gasps of astonishment.
Her strength, far surpassing that of the other participants, made her the center of attention.
Roxia stood still, her chest heaving as she caught her breath.
Her turquoise eyes gazed at the White Rose Flower floating in the air. Although she couldn't touch it, a giant white rose petal had already fallen in the center of the arena. After passing successive trials, twelve Knights could use this petal to ascend to the White Rose Flower in the sky and accept the final trial of the White Rose Ceremony.
Her target set, she walked, sword in hand, toward the giant white rose petal.
She had only taken a single step when the countless White Rose petals scattered around her converged, forming two phantoms. They gave Roxia a knightly salute.
"The second round."
Roxia murmured, tightening her grip on her sword and preparing to face the two phantoms.
Just then, an ethereal sound echoed in Roxia's mind, causing her to tremble and nearly fall.
The Voice of the White Rose. This was another one of the White Rose's trials. It interfered with her judgment as a Knight, almost causing her to lose her way.
'Did my aunt have to go through this, too? This is a tough trial!'
Roxia let out a light breath, steadied herself, then once again launched a fierce offensive against the two phantoms.
Just as she swung her sword at one of the phantoms, suddenly!
On the grounds outside the radiant influence of the White Rose Flower's Magic Power, withered, yellowed skeletons began to burst from the earth.
Although these Skeletons wore ancient armor and held rust-spotted Iron Swords, they emanated a chilling aura. One of them, a jet-black skeleton, was especially shocking; it carried a Giant Sword on its back that was over two meters long!
"What is that?"
"They're Undead Skeletons! Someone is trying to sabotage the selection ceremony!"
"Hmph! The arena is protected by the magic of the White Rose Flower. How could a few Skeletons possibly disrupt anything?"
"I don't know who's behind this, but send people to take care of them, quick! Don't let them disrupt the proceedings."
"Wait, why does the armor on these Skeletons look so familiar..."
The crowd was confused, unable to understand why Skeletons would suddenly attack the selection ceremony, but they weren't too worried.
The Knights guarding the area rushed toward the Skeletons, attempting to quickly deal with these uninvited guests.
But the Knights had just begun to move when they were suddenly stunned by the scene before them!
To their horror, they discovered!
The Skeletons that had burst from the ground were passing, one after another, right through the Magic Barrier created by the White Rose Flower and into the selection arena...