Ground collapse?

At the moment of the collapse, Ronald was still puzzled as to why this situation had occurred.

After all, the enemy beneath him was completely subdued.

The opponent, whether in will or action, couldn't possibly be in a position to cast a spell for self-rescue. A spell capable of destroying the entire land couldn't possibly be cast at such close range, completely eluding his insight.

——So where did the problem occur?

After the island's surface cracked open, Ronald's feet lost contact with the ground. Looking below, he saw a massive depression suddenly appear in the sea, and he himself was plunging into the dark abyss.

During this process, Ronald's gaze pierced through the false scene below, finally resting on a location leading deeper underground.

Ronald realized where the problem lay.

It was the Caster of the Nine Commandments who remained inside the ruins, and never showed himself!

Earlier, his reconnaissance magic was sealed by the opponent.

Ronald lost his ability to detect the Caster who remained underground.

Perhaps during this time, the Caster who stayed underground sensed the fierce battle above ground, naturally initiating his actions.

Finally, just a moment ago, the enemy who had been lurking below felt the opportunity had come.

That's why he seized the chance to shatter the earth, causing Ronald and his companion to fall!

"..."

At a time like this, stubbornly demanding information would not do.

In such special circumstances, Ronald's reaction was quite decisive. He immediately swung his sword towards the Caster of Nine Commandments in front, intending to kill the opponent right there.

Boom——

However, just as the sword blade swung out, a giant rock suddenly emerged from the false illusion, smashing towards the two who were falling.

Ronald, who was making his move, found himself without leverage in the air.

Forced to endure the attack, the two originally falling vertically had to change their direction.

"It's that underground guy interfering again."

Ronald knew the source of this change, but alas, at this moment he really had no good way to handle the situation.

The drawbacks left from the previous battles were now apparent.

Having faced all five holders of Nine Commandments, Ronald had practically used most of his spells, and wasn't able to use them again just yet.

Thus, apart from simply controlling his body to maintain balance during the fall,

he truly had no spare effort to deal with the enemy moving away from him!

Thud!

Soon after, Ronald felt a shock below his feet, indicating he finally landed on the ground.

Upon reconnecting with the earth, he regained the ability to assess his surroundings.

The underground of the island was a vast cavity, with multiple man-made tunnels leading to different locations.

Nine Commandments evidently conducted extensive development here.

However, Ronald had little inclination to examine the environment carefully now.

He focused on the enemy locked by emotional perception, and charged forward.

It was a tunnel furthest to the east.

The spacious environment suited a quick escape, while the complex terrain offered some cover.

Ronald was in hot pursuit.

Upon barely reaching the mouth of the tunnel, his steps involuntarily halted.

At this moment, Ronald felt his physical abilities suddenly enhance, the spell reinforcement from "Essence Theory" returned!

In contrast, the spell from "Hell Chapter" was sealed again.

The target he was monitoring naturally vanished along with the dispersal of Hell's power.

The situation was clear now.

Those who rescued the holder of "Essence Theory" released the verbal control on the opponent. The revived enemy made the most correct choice — sealing Ronald's powerful reconnaissance ability again.

Given his severely injured state, buying time was undoubtedly the most correct and urgent choice.

"Sigh——"

"Fighting enemies with brains is really troublesome."

Ronald sighed. Though his expression was bitter, he didn't conceal his appreciation for the enemy's decisive decisions.

Then with his hand flashing the primal symbol, Ronald switched to reciting mantra:

"From the relationship between the earth and the sky, we begin to form our cognition."

The abilities of "Astronomy Master" unfolded again.

Ronald activated the star chart, starting to gather data of the surrounding terrain.

Under precise spell mapping, the underground space of the island was detailed before him.

The hidden church ruins mainly consisted of three layers.

Ronald stood on the top layer. Below were two sizable cavities, each accessed by four tunnels, one of which lay before him.

Panic-stricken enemies were likely to flee deeper underground to evade his pursuit. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Considering this, Ronald didn't immediately venture underground to seek the opponent.

Instead, he turned his attention toward the other three tunnels.

——Before going down, this part needs handling.

Ronald turned back and proceeded to destroy the other accessible tunnels leading underground.

The entire process didn't take much time.

Due to the change in spell sealing by "Essence Theory," Ronald's strength in his full state returned. It took mere minutes to crush and close these three tunnels.

"Sir, how are you?"

At this moment, a voice suddenly arrived from afar.

After the island ground shattered, a large pit formed nearby. At the edge of this area, Costate reappeared, closely watching Ronald in the pit.

Though Ronald had been battling the enemy, the maid wasn't idle.

During this time, she completely defeated the enemy they initially faced, and only now came over to support her master.

"Costate, you came at the right time!" Ronald greeted the maid but gestured for her not to come over, then loudly explained, "Two enemies have escaped underground, I'm preparing to chase them."

"You stay here, don't let anyone out!"

"Oh, there's a shapeshifter above, better watch out."

Upon hearing Ronald's orders, the maid naturally understood and immediately assured:

"Sir, leave it to me!"

"Costate guarantees no one will escape from here."

After instructing Costate,

once preventing the possibility of the opponent escaping back to the surface from other tunnels during his pursuit, thus leaving the island,

Ronald no longer lingered.

He calculated terrain data, then directly chased into the depths of the tunnel.