Chapter 264 - 263 : A Silk Maiden’s Body

Chapter 264: Chapter 263 : A Silk Maiden’s Body

The explosion shook the entire dungeon.

A powerful shockwave tore through the corridor, sending smoke, dust, shattered stone, and burning fragments of mana flying in every direction.

Rubina, who had been running toward Arthur, was caught in the blast.

"Arthur!"

Her body was thrown backward through the air. For a moment, she completely lost control as the stone floor rushed toward her.

Just before she could crash into it, a figure suddenly appeared beside her.

Victor.

His body became a blur as he rushed forward and caught Rubina in mid-air. One arm supported her back while the other held her beneath her legs.

He landed safely and gently placed her on the ground.

Rubina’s face immediately turned red.

Her blue eyes widened as she looked at him.

"Th-thank you."

Victor said nothing.

His attention remained fixed on the massive cloud of smoke ahead.

"Did that guy really get eliminated?"

His voice was low.

Everyone looked toward the crater where Arthur had been standing.

There was no elimination announcement.

But the explosion had been enormous, and Arthur had been directly at its center.

Victor’s gaze suddenly shifted toward the place where Christopher and the remaining Black Star Academy students had been standing.

They were gone.

Christopher had escaped.

His remaining teammates had escaped with him.

Victor clicked his tongue.

"Cowards."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Not far from the battlefield, 2 figures watched from inside a narrow side passage.

Eva and Ava.

The twins from Glacier Peak Academy.

They had arrived just as Arthur began beating a student with his sheathed katana.

At first, they had planned to attack. Several academies had gathered in one place, making it the perfect opportunity to launch a surprise attack, steal a treasure, and eliminate several competitors before anyone could react.

But then they saw Arthur.

They watched him cut off a student’s hand.

They watched him beat that student until his body disappeared from the Virtual Subspace.

Then they saw Evangline’s modified bullets tear through the corridor.

They watched Victor turn the ground beneath the fleeing students into sand.

And finally, they witnessed Jasmine eliminate several opponents with terrifying precision.

The twins never made their move.

Neither did the other academy hiding nearby.

Everyone had been waiting.

Watching.

Hoping someone else would deal with Celestias Academy first.

Now, smoke continued to rise from the crater.

Arthur was nowhere to be seen.

And Christopher had fled.

A slow smile appeared on Eva’s face.

"Their biggest obstacle is gone."

Ava nodded.

"He forced Christopher to run."

Eva glanced toward the crater.

"He knew we were here, right, Sister?"

Ava kept her eyes on the battlefield.

"Yeah. I believe so."

The twins exchanged a glance.

Then they smiled.

For the first time since entering the dungeon, Celestias Academy looked vulnerable.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Inside Celestias Academy’s meeting room, dozens of students watched the battle through a massive holographic screen.

The screen showed the smoke-filled corridor.

No one spoke.

Then Liana finally broke the silence.

"After all that cocky attitude, he got himself eliminated."

Her voice was cold.

"What a loser."

Isabella suddenly stood, her chair scraping against the floor.

Her eyes burned as she glared at Liana.

But she said nothing.

Because deep down, a small part of her feared that Liana might be right.

Damian clenched his fists.

"What now?"

His eyes remained fixed on the screen.

"The strongest among them just got eliminated."

Arion, the leader of the 2nd years, stood as well.

His expression remained calm, though concern was visible in his eyes.

"We can do nothing but trust Victor and the other first years."

Then Diana stood.

Unlike the others, she did not look worried.

Instead, she seemed strangely confident.

"You all missed something."

Everyone looked at her.

Layla frowned.

"What?"

Diana pointed toward the screen.

"Look carefully."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Inside the VIP box reserved for the 10 academy heads, Joseph burst into laughter.

"The cocky brat finally got himself eliminated."

The headmaster of Martial Star Academy leaned back with a satisfied smile.

"Too bad for you, Athena."

He then looked toward Jenos, the headmaster of Black Star Academy.

"It looks like your student Christopher’s team can still come out on top, Jenos."

Jenos gave a small smile.

"It will be difficult."

His tired eyes remained fixed on the screen.

"We lost 2 students, after all."

Despite his calm expression, Jenos was pleased.

Christopher had survived.

His team had escaped.

And Arthur, Celestias Academy’s troublesome representative, appeared to have been eliminated.

Then Athena spoke.

"Do not count your chickens before they hatch."

Every headmaster turned toward her.

Athena calmly pointed toward the screen.

"Just look."

The others frowned.

Then they turned their attention back to the holographic display.

The smoke was beginning to clear.

Something was visible inside the crater.

Joseph’s eyes widened.

His expression changed instantly.

"Impossible!"

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The smoke finally cleared.

A massive crater had been left in the middle of the corridor.

The stone floor was shattered, and cracks covered the surrounding walls. Dust still hung heavily in the air.

And at the center of it all...

Arthur was lying inside the crater.

His clothes were torn.

Mud covered his body, while bruises marked his face and arms. Burns covered parts of his uniform, and his black hair was a complete mess.

He looked as though he had been thrown into the middle of a battlefield.

But he was alive.

Arthur slowly opened one eye.

Then he weakly raised a hand.

"Hello?"

His voice echoed through the ruined corridor.

"I am dying here, you bastards. Cast some healing."

Victor, Jasmine, Rubina, and Evangline stared at him.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Rubina’s eyes widened.

"Did he really take that explosion head-on and survive?"

She stared at Arthur in disbelief.

"Is he even human?"

Victor was the first to react.

He jumped into the crater and picked Arthur up.

Arthur winced.

"Go easy, dude."

His voice was weak, but his usual attitude was still there.

"My body is like a silk maiden’s. Don’t hurt it. Be gentle."

Victor’s mouth twitched.

For a moment, he looked as though he genuinely wanted to throw Arthur back into the crater.

Instead, he ignored him and jumped back out.

Jasmine immediately raised one hand.

Ice spread across the nearby passages.

Thick walls of ice rose from the ground, blocking the surrounding paths.

"That should keep anyone from surprising us for a while."

Rubina immediately ran toward Arthur.

Her hands began glowing with soft green mana.

"Move aside."

Victor carefully placed Arthur on the ground.

Rubina knelt beside him and placed both hands over his body.

"Restoration."

A warm healing light spread from her palms.

Green and white energy flowed across Arthur’s body.

His bruises faded.

His burns disappeared.

His wounds closed.

Within moments, most of his injuries were completely healed.

Arthur looked down at his body.

"Wow."

He turned toward Rubina.

"You have to teach me that later."

Rubina smiled softly.

"I have barely used any mana because of you 4."

Her face became slightly red.

"This much is nothing."

Evangline walked toward Arthur with narrowed eyes.

"Dude."

Arthur looked at her.

"How the hell did you survive that?"

She pointed toward the crater.

"If anyone else had taken that explosion directly, they would have been eliminated."

Arthur stretched his sore shoulders.

"Oh, that?"

He raised one finger.

"I used Thermokinesis."

Evangline frowned.

"I don’t understand."

Arthur looked toward the crater.

"An explosion produces several things at once."

He began counting on his fingers.

"Heat. Pressure. And a shockwave."

The others listened carefully.

"I couldn’t stop the explosion."

Arthur held up his hand.

"But I could control one part of it."

He looked at his palm.

"The heat."

Evangline’s expression changed.

Arthur continued.

"When the explosion happened, I used Thermokinesis to pull most of the heat away from my body."

He gestured toward the surrounding walls.

"Then I redirected that heat into the area around me."

Evangline’s eyes widened.

"So you removed the heat before it could burn you?"

"Exactly."

Arthur nodded.

"But I couldn’t stop the shockwave."

He pointed toward the crater.

"That’s why I still got thrown around and injured."

Arthur looked down at his torn uniform.

"The explosion still hit me."

He paused.

"I just removed the part that would have burned me alive."

Rubina stared at him.

"So you didn’t survive because you were strong enough to ignore the explosion..."

She slowly understood.

"You survived because you changed how the explosion affected you."

Arthur smiled.

"Exactly."

His crimson eyes gleamed.

"I don’t control the explosion."

He raised his hand.

"I control the thermal energy inside it."

Rubina’s eyes sparkled.

"That is so cool, Arthur."

Arthur placed a hand on her head and gently patted her.

"Is it now?"

He laughed.

"Then I guess I am amazing. Hahaha."

Jasmine glanced toward Victor and Evangline.

"He did that while his abilities are heavily restricted."

Her eyes shifted toward Arthur.

"Imagine what he could have done with his original strength."

Evangline sighed.

"Let’s not praise him anymore."

She crossed her arms.

"His ego is already big enough."

Victor nodded.

Jasmine nodded as well.

Arthur looked between them.

"Did you guys say something?"

Jasmine looked at him without expression.

"Yes."

She pointed toward the crater.

"That you are useless for almost getting yourself killed."

Arthur’s mouth twitched.

Before he could reply, Evangline turned toward the path ahead.

"Let’s keep moving."

She pointed toward the massive stone entrance.

"We already found the gateway where the crystals are."

The group started moving again.

Arthur and Rubina followed behind them.

After several minutes, they finally reached the massive entrance.

The ancient stone door stood before them.

Then, without anyone touching it—

Creak...

The door slowly opened.

The sound echoed through the dungeon.

Beyond it was an enormous chamber.

At the far end were 4 cave-like entrances.

Each one disappeared into darkness.

Each seemed to lead deeper into the dungeon.