Second World
chapter-1323

The instant he flew through the doorway, the whole place changed. He fell to the ground and rolled. By the time he stopped rolling, the place had transformed into one similar to the safe room where he first started.

The difference was, there was a large pedestal at the center of the room. Dina was lying on that pedestal, bounded with leather strappings.

A huge man very much like the farmer was standing beside her. This farmer also had a huge maul and the maul was lifted above Dina. This farmer was like a statue, though. He just stood there unmoving, except for its arms. The maul it was holding was ticking up slowly.

In that short instant, Jack registered two things.

The maul's aim was at Dina's head. When the ten minutes deadline ended, which was a few seconds more according to the clock inside Jack's mind, Jack was sure the maul would be brought down with full force.

The second thing Jack noticed was a silver dagger on a small table next to the pedestal.

Jack's body acted instinctively. There was simply no time to think. He dashed to the small table and snatched the dagger. Even though he couldn't use mana manipulation, he could still perform his sword art.

The dagger in his hand turned into a blur as it accurately slashed the leather strappings binding Dina without hurting her.

Time's up! He heard a click from the farmer. At the same time, the maul dropped.

While Jack slashed Dina's strappings, his other hand was grabbing Dina's shirt. That hand yanked Dina away once the strappings were cut.

The maul smashed into the pedestal just as Dina's head moved away a second ago. She was still wide eyes when she fell onto the floor with Jack.

They stayed frozen on the floor for some time. They only responded when Aglea's voice came from behind them.

"I must say. The game this time is filled with fascinating participants, but I think you are our favorite participant. We hope we can keep you for eternity."

Jack turned and faced Aglea with an irritated expression. The woman simply gazed back at him with her statue-like smile.

"Well, congratulations on saving the sacrifice. Try to do the same tomorrow."

They were then back again at the dungeon where they were chained.

Jack sighed. If his mana sense and mana manipulation weren't sealed, perhaps he was already in the nexus world by now searching for the main exit.

"Thank you, Mister Storm Wind. I owe you my life," Dina finally recovered from her shock and could properly thank Jack.

"You are welcome," Jack replied to her with a smile.

He now wondered. If his mana abilities weren't sealed, could he truly abandon these people? Of course, he could go and look for the divines after escaping to ask them to help these people, but could he find those divine beings? He only knew the location of Serenity's faction and Greed's sanctum, but there was no guarantee they were there, and he had no sure way of contacting those beings.

Even if he could find them, there was also no guarantee they were willing to help. Serenity was not in a good mood the last time Jack saw her, while Greed was… unpredictable. Additionally, Euphosine might have relocated this base again by then.

So, if he left. It was the same as abandoning them. He couldn't do that. Especially when Grace should also be inside here. This was different from the time when Grace was at Greed's sanctum. He was already here with her. He would leave when he was sure he could at least take Grace with her.

Since Jack couldn't do his incorporeal state, he didn't pretend to sleep like yesterday. He chatted with the others about the event today.

As expected, Master didn't set foot outside the safe room. Most of the others also did the same, Stefan, Winson, Glover, and Kerry. Jack didn't blame them. When people were alone, it was more difficult to be brave. In Master's case, it had nothing to do with being brave. He just didn't think the reward outweigh the risk.

Two persons showed bravery, Naomi and Kramer. However, they couldn't figure out what they should be doing. They used all their twenty slingshot bullets on the farmer. After that, they just run around the first maze avoiding the farmer until time ran out.

Jack wondered how the team where Grace was in was doing.

"It is frustrating that he is never the sacrifice," Spring Crown said to Grace.

Grace didn't need to ask who was the 'he' Spring Crown was referring to.

They were just back from the sacrificial round. They had again managed to save the sacrifice from their team. In fact, they had not lost any sacrifice, so their record beat Jack's team. But unlike Jack who did most of the saving alone, these two worked together.

On the second day, they quickly identified the items to open the green gas tunnel. Spring Crown went in first but he only reached halfway before running back due to low HP, but he memorized all the turns despite his pain. Armed with that knowledge and her mana sense, Grace went next and successfully reached the end of the tunnel and solved the sliding puzzle. She only had a sliver of HP left when she stopped the circular saw.

On the third day, the two went into the pool together while the others used the meat to lure the black shark. With the two of them scouring the pool's base, they quickly found the fluorescence trail and followed it to the key. They freed the sacrifice before the meat ran out.

Today, Spring Crown managed to get to the sacrifice's room by spotting all the targets using his exceptional perception. Grace was still at the eighth maze when Spring Crown reached the sacrificial room.

"He is unexpectedly quite athletic," Grace replied to Spring Crown. "Perhaps tomorrow will be our lucky day,"

"Grace my dear, every day with you is my lucky day," Grace heard the annoying voice again from her other side. Grace didn't deign the guy a glance.

"You feign indifference, but I know sooner or later, your heart will open to my warmth. I know what you need, my dear. You just need someone who can give all of himself to you, something that I'm sure your past boyfriends were unable to provide. Well, you don't need to look any further, 'cause I got what you need, so come with me and take the ride."

Spring Crown facepalmed himself. "Sigh… I don't even want to comment now. That's The Other Side. You are quoting a movie's soundtrack now."

Grace finally turned to Evan. She tried not to look too disgusted at him. She asked, "Evan, do you have a sport you are bad at?"

"Bad at? That is something alien to me. I dare to say I excel at everything. That's how I have so many girl fans. But do not worry, my dear. My heart belongs only to you."

Grace tried her best to not land a fist on Evan's face.

"Surely, you have something you are not so good at, my friend," Spring Crown tried to help Grace.

Evan showed an effort of hard contemplation. He then said, "Well, if you insist. I guess it is wrestling or any of those sports where you need to do violence. I always thought those sports are just too vulgar."

"I want to sleep now," Grace said. She closed her eyes and prayed that tomorrow's match would be one of those vulgar and violent sports.