"So you're saying we're in a special dimension belonging to the ship's fake owner? And the only way to escape is to kill that person?" Liora repeated, her expression serious.

"That's right." Margaret nodded slightly, folding her arms across her chest. "We're trapped here, and we won't be able to get out unless we kill the ship's fake owner."

That was the explanation she had received earlier from the man in the painting.

At first, Margaret didn't believe him. However, he convinced her by asking her to destroy the hall they were in.

When Margaret did so, she was shocked. The hall returned to its original state, as if some powerful magic were controlling it.

She tried several more times, but the result remained the same. Eventually, she began to trust the man and accepted the mission he gave her so that she and the others could escape this special dimension.

Lisa stroked her chin and carefully looked around. It wasn't that she didn't trust Margaret, but the situation still felt absurd.

She was someone who had reached the Ninth Awakening level.

A special dimension? That sounded like nothing but nonsense in the face of her power.

Suddenly, Lisa summoned her sword, raised it high, and swung it forward.

Slash!

A blade of energy shot out and struck the wall.

Boom!

The slash split the wall apart, shattering everything in its path. Strangely, only a few moments later, the broken wall began to repair itself.

Lisa was stunned, but she didn't give up. She continued launching attack after attack at the wall.

Unfortunately, the result remained the same—the wall reassembled itself.

"How is that possible? Could it be that this special dimension truly can't be destroyed by brute force alone?" Lisa swallowed hard.

That attack had been powerful enough to split a small mountain.

Yet such overwhelming power couldn't even leave the slightest damage on the special dimension trapping them all.

For the first time, Lisa felt immense pressure and a sense of looming danger. It turned out there were things even she—an expert at the Ninth Awakening level—could not accomplish.

Margaret wasn't surprised by her reaction. After all, she had done the same thing earlier.

"Let's go. We need to summon the others as soon as possible," Margaret said, brushing her hair behind her right ear.

Coincidentally, the man in the painting had given her a special card connected to every area within this special dimension.

With it, she could summon Catrine, Luna, Monica, Merlin, and the others directly to her side.

Lisa and Liora said nothing. They immediately followed Margaret out of the treasure room.

***

Srck!

Nysera stabbed a lizard monster through the head and crushed it. She pulled out her blood-soaked claws, then flicked them.

The blood clinging to them was instantly swept away, leaving her claws clean once more.

She turned to Luna and asked, "Are you done with your business?"

Luna pulled out her spear and sliced through the bodies of two two-meter-long lizard monsters.

She spun the spear in her hand and gave a small nod.

"Done. I managed to kill twenty monsters. How about you?"

Nysera glanced at the pile of monster bodies behind her and replied flatly, "More than fifty."

Luna: "…"

She hadn't expected that seemingly quiet girl to defeat her so decisively.

However, Luna wasn't angry at all. Her demeanor was far more mature than most girls her age.

What's more, the more monsters Nysera killed, the more Luna benefited.

She walked toward her, looked at the pile of monster carcasses in front of her, and thrust her spear into them.

As the Blazion Spear pierced their flesh, something surprising happened. A faint red glow appeared, and the pile of corpses began to tremble strangely.

A few moments later, the corpses dried up and crumbled into ash, which was easily swept away by the wind.

Luna looked at her spear. It now felt far stronger than before, and her eyes filled with pride.

The Blazion Spear possessed a unique ability—it could absorb the life force of any living creature.

Even if the creature were already dead, its remaining essence could still be used to strengthen the spear.

That was why Luna had been so happy to see the pile of corpses earlier. Without having to go through the trouble of defeating them herself, she could make the Blazion Spear even stronger.

"Thank you," she said softly, bowing her head slightly toward Nysera.

Nysera simply nodded. She turned and stared at the dark, silent path ahead.

"Let's go."

However, before they could even take a step, a mysterious force suddenly pulled at their bodies.

Both were startled and tried to resist, but it was useless. In the next moment, they vanished.

***

Margaret closed her eyes, a black card clenched tightly in her hand.

She channeled mana into it and called out, "Luna, Nysera, come to me!"

Suddenly, the card emitted a faint glow. A few seconds later, two portals appeared above them, and two figures stepped out.

They were Nysera and Luna.

"Nysera, Luna!" Liora called out excitedly.

The two looked dazed for a moment, their heads aching from the forced teleportation.

However, when they heard Liora's familiar voice, they froze and immediately turned toward her.

Seeing that it really was Liora, they exchanged confused glances.

"Don't worry, you two. The Liora in front of you is real—and so are Lisa and I." Margaret's playful voice snapped them out of their confusion.

Luna looked at Margaret in surprise and asked, "Did you teleport us here?"

Margaret nodded. "That's right. I summoned you."

Although she tried to stay calm, a thin, irritating smile still curled at the corner of her lips.

"How did you do it?" Luna asked again.

Moving her and Nysera should have been impossible unless Margaret had found a special artifact.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later. Right now, I need to summon the others as soon as possible," Margaret replied casually.

She closed her eyes and began summoning the rest of her friends.

Two portals appeared, and Catrine and Monica stepped out.

Both were startled and immediately looked warily at the other girls. However, after being assured that none of them were monsters in disguise, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Monica then tried to summon Merlin. Strangely, unlike the others, Merlin couldn't be summoned at all.

"Huh? What's going on? Why can't I summon him?"