School Transmigration: I, Chosen as the Saint by Dragons at the Start-Chapter 226 --Wish Fulfilled

Continuing northward, the magic tower began to loom into view.

From a distance, it seemed devoid of any mystical aura, yet Owen could sense the ancient mana contained within, even from afar.

The guards lining the path underwent a change beyond this point.

Previously, soldiers in military attire had manned the route, but from here to the magic tower, the guards were dressed as rangers and assassins, with a priest responsible for every short stretch.

Between the two sections of guards, there was a small gap.

Owen halted at the sight of this mere three-meter-long gap devoid of guards.

At this moment, Goden clapped Laine on the shoulder, and the two stopped, seemingly discussing something about Mithril.

Owen chuckled to himself, understanding Goden’s intentions.

One after another, the others approached this three-meter stretch.

Skes was at the forefront, followed by Hammer, then Moxis, Jolna, Elvan, with the five spies lagging slightly behind.

As Skes reached the middle of this segment, symbolizing death, a half-ghostly figure suddenly burst from the ground.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a person, but their body was covered in knife wounds.

The skin not concealed by dust had turned black.

The person’s vital channels had long been severed, and they were sustained only by some arcane power and a lingering breath.

"You, you are..."

Skes looked into the eyes of this living dead and felt an emotion of fear, yet the undead paid no heed to Skes.

Its gaze was fixed beyond Skes, on someone else.

"You, you all..."

Skes turned towards the guards at the roadside, but none of them made any move to intervene.

"We are responsible for the path beyond," a presiding priest spoke, "The soldiers manage the route before. For these few meters of the handover zone, you’re on your own."

After saying this, the priest even directed his subordinates to retreat further away.

The air among the group in the center was thick with the threat of death, leaving no one daring to act rashly.

Even Hammer, usually as wild as a lunatic, calmed down at this moment.

They might not fear the strength of the living dead but dreaded the will of this avenger.

Suddenly, the living dead let out a furious roar.

Except for Elvan, no one could make out what was shouted.

Elvan’s face turned pale as he instinctively leaped backward, not anticipating that a formation had been laid out on this stretch of road to delay intruders’ movements.

His actions were slowed by a crucial half beat—a deadly delay.

As the living dead roared, it leaped at Elvan, catching him mid-air and forcefully pinning him to the ground, biting off Elvan’s right ear with all its might.

"Ah!"

Elvan screamed in agony, desperately striking at the living dead on top of him.

While fighting, he cursed, "Oae, I will destroy your entire family!"

The living dead let out a ghastly laugh as a slight rumble came from beneath the ground.

"Retreat, quick!"

Some in the group finally reacted, swiftly jumping to the side.

The next second, a massive explosion erupted, blasting a huge crater where they had just stood.

The city lord’s and the nobles’ spies, unable to dodge in time, had their necks snapped by the blast, dying instantly.

The living dead and Elvan, being at the epicenter of the explosion, were torn to pieces.

Everyone, including Skes, was horrified, except Owen and Goden, who had anticipated such an outcome.

Owen approached Goden, whispering, "You actually managed to bribe the witch’s subordinates?"

"Money can move the gods, and gold naturally can too," Goden replied with a somber smile.

Despite knowing Oae’s inevitable demise, he felt a measure of compassion for him.

"No need for sorrow; he has fulfilled his final wish in this world."

Owen looked toward those dust-covered figures standing at the edge of the crater formed by the explosion and continued, "Watch, the real drama is yet to unfold."

Among those who had narrowly escaped the explosion, Hammer was the first to regain his senses.

Reverting to his usual madcap demeanor, he stood there, pounding his chest and laughing maniacally.

Then, Skes too regained his composure.

He first checked the pulse of his own spy, confirming the death, then turned his gaze to the city lord’s spy.

The latter’s neck and head were at a right angle, unmistakably dead, leaving no need for further confirmation.

Slowly rising to his feet, Skes drew his short sword in a flash, thrusting it into the skull of another noble family’s spy.

"Ah..." The man barely managed a half scream before his life was extinguished.

Skes pulled out his short sword with a sinister laugh and kicked the body into the pit.

Except for Owen and Goden, who watched from a distance, the oblivious Laine, and Hammer, who seemed madder in his normal state, everyone else was shocked, drawing their swords.

"What are you doing, Skes?"

The most enraged was naturally Jolna, since it was his man who had been killed.

His large sword pointed at Skes, he was ready to strike at any moment.

"Hmph, what do you mean ’what am I doing’? My man is dead."

"And that justifies killing mine?"

"With my man dead, there’s no one to send back information to our family about how I fare in the magic tower. Without knowing whether I’ve succeeded or not, my family can’t make any moves against the other three families."

"What moves are you talking about?" Moxis interjected, cutting off Skes.

"What moves? At this point, why play dumb?"

"If I win, our family will stand firm, waiting for me to return with the witch, seizing greater territories, even taking over City of Two."

Skes paused before continuing, "If I lose and one of you wins, naturally you would band together with the other two families to preemptively eliminate the winning family. You’re telling me your families didn’t prepare for such contingencies?"

For a moment, everyone was silent, their devious family strategies indeed aligning.

"Still, you shouldn’t have killed my man!" Jolna broke the silence.

"True, from your perspective, I shouldn’t have."

Skes said, "But from mine, it was necessary. I had to drag someone down with me, right? Now that your man is also dead, what will you do?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"What will I do? I’ll cut down..."

Mid-sentence, Jolna seemed to realize something, his blade’s direction shifted, now pointing at Moxis and his family’s spy.

Skes also moved a few steps forward to stand with Jolna, immediately putting Moxis under immense pressure.

"So, you’re aiming to create a situation of balance, making my family also lose the means to communicate within the city."

Moxis drew his sword.

"Exactly, that’s the point."

"I’ll settle scores with that snake Skes later," Jolna said emotionlessly.

"But now, your spy must die too. If you disagree, I’m afraid you might end up dead as well. Do you really think you stand a chance against the two of us together?"

"There’s still a chance."

Moxis raised his sword, and his family’s spy prepared for battle, weapons in hand.

However, the anticipated fight did not commence.

Instead of swinging his sword towards Skes and Jolna, Moxis executed his own spy with a sword aura so fierce it severed the man’s neck.

The murderous tension that had escalated among the three vanished instantly, replaced by mutual chuckles as if they were old friends.

"Oh, right."

As if suddenly remembering something, Jolna walked over to the noble family’s spy, who stood frozen to the side.

He patted the man’s neck and asked, "Why didn’t you run?"

"I... I couldn’t escape. With Elvan dead, I’m just a lackey, not part of the main family. Please, don’t kill me, my lord."

"Alright, I won’t kill you."

Relief washed over the man upon hearing Jolna’s assurance, but before he could express his gratitude, he found himself gasping for air.

Jolna tightened his grip around the man’s neck, speaking leisurely, "Sometimes, even if you can’t escape, you must try. Because not trying guarantees death."

"And you should never trust the words of us nobles. Even if I say I won’t kill you, these two might. So, it’s better if I do the deed myself. After all, each of us killing one makes things fair, don’t you agree?"

With increased force, Jolna snapped the man’s neck, the victim paying the price for his naivety.

Jolna then tossed the body into the pit, concluding this multi-faceted drama.

The group continued forward as if nothing had happened, with only Laine occasionally shaking his head in reflection.

Soon, the remaining seven individuals arrived in front of the magic tower, where the witch’s high priest awaited them.

"Welcome, victors of the preliminaries," the high priest spoke slowly.

"The time has come to challenge the magic tower."

"Decide among yourselves who will go first and who will follow. The only requirement is that each level can have only one challenger at a time. While one person is taking on a level, the next challenger must wait on the level below, understood?"

Of the seven, only Hammer laughed boisterously, while the rest remained silent.

"Oh, and one more thing," the high priest added.

"On each level, your strength will be restricted by the magic tower, the lower the level, the greater the restriction."

"This is because the guardians of the lower levels are weaker, and without such limitations, the contest would lose its excitement."

The high priest paused for a moment, then added with a smile, "Additionally, those who fail in their challenge will be thrown out from the corresponding level. Please be prepared for that. Now, please proceed as you wish."