Catherine rushed forward.

Her heart was filled with the resolve to risk her life to save others.

But before she could carry out this determination, she was stopped by the scene unfolding ahead.

Because... the Sphinx began to flee.

In this unprecedentedly difficult maze challenge, this time the riddle questions naturally increased in difficulty.

But unfortunately, as a maze creature.

The Sphinx is clearly connected between the worlds altered by the "Maze Picture Book".

And Ronald, this man who had invaded multiple times and easily solved riddles multiple times, naturally became a terrifying figure among them.

Initially surrounding Ronald, the Sphinxes maintained their expected posture.

But when someone recognized Ronald's identity, the 'siege' reversed, and the Sphinxes on the scene immediately fled in panic.

These winged creatures scattered like startled flocks of birds, disappearing without a trace, not even giving Ronald a chance to speak!

"..."

"Ronald, are you familiar with them?"

Catherine walked up to the dazed Ronald and poked the completely stunned man.

"Seeing how eager they are to escape, you must have done something less favorable to them, right?"

Ronald finally came back to his senses and shook his head in denial:

"How could it be!"

"In previous mazes, I always followed their rules; you shouldn't speak nonsense."

Catherine scoffed:

"Judging from their reaction, your statement doesn't seem evident at all."

"But anyhow, Ronald, why did you rush over here, what was your real intention? Surely not just to scare away those poor 'little birds', right?"

"Calling them 'little birds' certainly underestimates them." Ronald sighed and continued to explain, "In the 'Maze Picture Book' world, the Sphinx holds significant importance."

"As long as we pass their tests, we can definitely gain help in unraveling the maze."

Upon hearing this, Catherine frowned:

"But they've all run away now."

Ronald's outlook was much more optimistic:

"Don't worry, only those outside escaped. With such a large camp stationed here, can't worry about not finding other Sphinxes."

After confirming the situation, Ronald began exploring the camp with Catherine.

The Sphinx-built homes are distinctive, showcasing many places with ancient Greek architecture, while also displaying Egyptian styled houses. They could determine if a place held a Sphinx simply by standing at the entrance and looking inside.

By doing so, they quickly made a discovery.

When Ronald reached the door of the third house, he heard heavy breathing inside.

Peeking in, sure enough, there was a Sphinx hiding.

"You..."

"I don't want to do the challenge with you!"

Just as Ronald was about to greet the Sphinx, its reaction was unusually intense. It shouted nervously, then charged out like a bull.

Ronald and Catherine at the doorway couldn't react in time.

The Sphinx ran out, and then flew into the sky, disappearing quickly.

"..."

Ronald and Catherine exchanged awkward glances.

This was their joint effort to block it, neither could escape responsibility for letting the creature run free.

In the end, they could only talk with a wry smile:

"Ronald, your reputation with them is quite significant."

"Today's situation isn't what I intended."

Afterwards, the search continued.

That fleeing Sphinx seemed to foretell Ronald's journey would not be smooth, they searched nearly half the houses on the east side of the village but didn't encounter a similar situation again.

Instead, some distant Sphinxes realized the pair's arrival.

And quickly flew and sprinted towards the sky, escaping far away.

Catherine expressed concern:

"Ronald, this isn't working."

"If we keep searching like this, the entire Sphinx tribe might be scared away by us!"

Ronald was quite helpless about it.

Normally, the Sphinx village should be extremely dangerous, other maze challengers would face life-and-death decisions at every step here.

But unfortunately, Ronald's reputation was too poor.

Creatures intended to be dangerous tests chose to flee instead.

Not only did a once terrifying test transform into a leisurely walk, but even the reward supposed to be obtained became unreachable like distant stars.

The current situation is unchangeable, options to respond remain limited.

Feeling quite helpless, Ronald proposed a simple solution:

"Catherine, run to the south of the village, I'll go to the other side of the village. We'll search quickly inside, absolutely can't let any more Sphinxes escape!"

Catherine had no objections, and immediately agreed:

"Then let's act as you said, let's start quickly!"

With the decision made, execution followed naturally. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Ronald and Catherine respectively headed to one end of the Sphinx village, then each started advancing inward.

The initial decision change hadn't brought results, they still found nothing.

But when Ronald searched the sixth house, the situation finally changed.

Looking inside the house, in the corner, he saw a shadow seated inside, unmistakably matching the typical Sphinx form.

"Over here!"

Ronald called out to Catherine, hurriedly blocking the doorway to prevent the Sphinx inside from escaping.

However, the situation turned out unexpectedly.

This time the Sphinx trapped inside by Ronald showed no intention of escaping.

Instead, after Ronald spoke, it bowed down sadly and defeated.

That look was like a human choosing to give up and lay down.

"It's you, it's you again!"

"Maze cracking is so dangerous, yet you come in time and again?"

"Human, can't you cherish your life more!"

Ronald recognized the sweet female voice.

Even the emotion in her voice was familiar.

As he stepped forward to see, it was indeed the same Sphinx he had met several times in the maze before. However, this Sphinx appeared in poor condition, even displaying a toyed and broken expression.

"..."

——No wonder the Sphinxes in this camp knew of him.

Encountering again in the "Maze Picture Book" test and trapping the fellow indoors, Ronald felt uneasy.

But the threat of the dust beast was imminent.

In such a time-pressed situation, he had no choice but to speak with a forced expression:

"Though I'm terribly sorry, it wasn't intentional."

"So – can we start asking questions now?"