"Surprise?"

Ronald turned his head for a look and immediately understood what Catherine meant.

To find a way out of the complex maze, Ronald had climbed to the top of the canopy, and his gaze roamed around without ever coming back.

But right behind them, this tall tree held something quite special.

Thanks to Catherine's attentiveness, they weren't overlooked.

[Look! What has the adventurer's assistant discovered?]

[On this towering tree, there is actually a small mechanism.]

[The way to leave the canopy maze is not downward; instead, it goes upward!]

[But they must hurry!]

[For while the adventurer and his assistant are searching for a path, danger from afar is approaching!]

"Screech——!"

No sooner had the narrator's voice fallen than the sound of a giant eagle echoed high above.

These dangerous creatures were back, now circling in the sky, with a hint of confusion in their cries.

They did not understand where Ronald and Catherine, placed in the nest, had run off to.

Still, with eagle-like vision, it wouldn't take them long to spot the duo on the other side of the canopy.

"Time is running out!"

Understanding the severity of the situation, Ronald promptly examined Catherine's discovery.

Embedded in the trunk, a line of five sliders appeared, resembling a suitcase's combination lock, right before them.

Ronald tried to slide them.

The patterns on these five sliding locks were identical and could be fixed on one of the following: [Eye], [Palm], [Footprint], [Tree], and [Lips].

As Ronald pondered, Catherine quickly explained the situation:

"Each of the five positions has five possible results, and to solve this puzzle by brute force, there are a total of 3,125 permutations. Even if we were extremely lucky, it would take us thousands of tries to break it!"

"Then let's think if there's any logic here." With the deadly giant eagles circling and searching for them, Ronald couldn't possibly try all 3,000 permutations. "Think about it; [Tree] probably refers to this forest."

"Though this maze is challenging, the riddle can't be too difficult!"

Ronald's mind had already worked out the scenario.

With the idea of reaching a high point to observe the maze's structure, he and Catherine hadn't wasted time going downhill but had instead come all the way up here, taking the correct path.

Yet at this precise moment, the giant eagles had returned, with the threat of death trailing just behind them.

This maze, though tough, was absolutely not an impossible task.

Therefore, the lock before them could not be a test that required wasting vast amounts of time to pass.

After all, that would be a trap of malicious murder and not a maze truly meant to be completed!

"Screech——"

Suddenly, the giant eagle's call rang out once again.

The sound drew closer to their position, bringing the deciding moment between life and death to the brink!

"Ronald, move aside!"

Catherine shoved Ronald to the side.

Then, her fingers rapidly slid over the lock, adjusting the sequence to [Palm]—[Tree]—[Lips]—[Eye]—[Footprint].

Click—

Catherine had just completed the change.

The sound of wood twisting echoed from the tree trunk before them.

Soon, the lock shimmered with a beautiful blue light, and a curved archway suddenly appeared from the tree.

——Catherine had successfully cracked the test!

"Quickly!"

Exchanging a glance, Ronald and Catherine could already hear the sound of the giant eagle's wings flapping behind them!

No time to worry about the order or manner of opening the door.

They pushed the arched door open together, revealing a stairway leading downward. As expected, they tumbled in and rolled together, sliding all the way down!

Soon, they thudded heavily against the ground.

Tangled together, their voices were both resentful and relieved in their interaction:

"Ronald, get your hand off me!"

"I'd love to, but could you get off me first?"

"You've poked me in the eye, I'm going to kill you!"

"Why don't you see where you're grabbing me now?"

Bam—!

Suddenly, a crash resounded from above.

Ronald and Catherine instantly fell silent.

The dense canopy obstructed the view above, but hearing that sound, along with the rubbing noise of wings and talons, they understood the giant eagles were atop the canopy, venting their fury at losing their meal.

A few giant eagles clattered around for a while.

After venting their anger, unable to reclaim their meal, they finally departed with screeching cries echoing through the skies.

"..."

In the silence, Ronald and Catherine gazed at each other.

They breathed out in unison with mutual relief, then Ronald stood up and extended a hand to Catherine:

"Catherine, we're fortunate to have you this time."

"Had I not come up with the answer then, had we been a little later, we probably wouldn't be standing here talking right now."

Catherine took Ronald's hand and stood.

Yet, she did not boast, responding in a calm tone instead:

"Ronald, you confirmed the right path going upward, preventing us from going astray; and I cracked the final code, opening the door to descend to the ground."

"This maze was a victory achieved by our teamwork and not the result of individual effort."

"Maintaining this cooperation is key to winning the game."

Catherine's calm and correct attitude eased Ronald's tension considerably.

They resumed their journey with a shared smile.

All was understood without words.

After walking nearly a hundred meters further, Ronald's puzzled voice rang out again:

"But Catherine, honestly, I still haven't figured out the riddle. What exactly was going on?"

"It's quite simple!" Catherine immediately shared her thought process, "Those five patterns correspond to our experiences since entering this world; just lay them out chronologically."

"First is [Palm], symbolizing the giant eagles grabbing us in the air; next is [Tree], indicating our descent to the forest, which is the easiest part to identify in the riddle; then [Lips], signifying the voiceover we heard; [Eye] refers to the choice we made to observe the maze structure after the narration ended; and the final [Footprint]..."

At this moment, all doubts were cleared.

So Ronald directly revealed the final truth:

"The last [Footprint] represents our action to solve the maze."