Chapter 299

"To eliminate him by the swiftest means is precisely our duty!"

Esdeath wore an icy expression.

She showed no arrogance from Najenda's words, acting as if she had merely accomplished something trivial.

On the field.

Only Locke could notice that on her icy face, her eyes narrowed slightly, her gaze softening for an instant as if warmed by a smile, yet that hint of amusement vanished immediately, lasting only a fleeting moment.

Heh~

Locke chuckled inwardly.

He took in every subtle shift within his harem with his own eyes.

Yet he did not voluntarily say anything more.

He simply pretended not to see the subtle expressions exchanged secretly among the few women.

"Enough!"

"Having dealt with this fellow wasted quite some time; we should continue forward now!"

"I can feel it... ahead... lies our destination!"

Locke lifted his head.

On his arrogant and unyielding face, anticipation had already reached its peak.

"Understood~ Your Highness~"

The few women hurriedly followed behind Locke, striding forward; having crushed the hidden mastermind within the Mirror Space, their relaxed movements now carried a few degrees more of reality.

Unlike before, when their postures carried a deliberate air of 'fishing.'

——

"Th-this, here!?"

"Wh-what is that..."

"Hiss... Is this our destination?!"

"It's too, too exaggerated! How could something like this be built underground?!!"

"Hey, hey, hey, Stupid Cat, pinch me; am I dreaming? Or perhaps the mirror illusion from earlier hasn't completely shattered, and what lies before us is merely a phantom..."

"..."

Shock!

Astonishment!

Horror!

Indescribably complex expressions flashed across the faces of the few women.

Even though they were all well-traveled and experienced.

Suddenly witnessing everything before their eyes still made their complexions change drastically, their hearts surging with shock.

"It seems we have discovered someone extraordinary this time!"

Even Locke, who could usually keep his composure.

Could not help but change his expression, his voice carrying a tone of surprised awe.

Before their eyes!

A towering pagoda stood majestic.

If it were only that, of course, it could not have shocked the several Teigu users beside Locke.

But—

If this towering pagoda was hanging upside down in mid-air.

Then it was entirely different!

Standing majestic and tall.

Layer upon layer of tiles.

Originally shaped to narrow continuously from bottom to top, resembling the legendary Tower of Babel, its surface was faintly carved with complex and exaggerated reliefs, akin to some ancient mythological sacrifice, yet due to the extreme blurriness and the radiance emanating from the tower's body, it remained indistinct to the eye.

Especially after the entire towering pagoda was inverted and suspended.

Top and bottom swapped.

High and low suspended.

Like a massive inverted pyramid, except the difference in area between top and bottom was not so exaggerated.

Moreover!

The entire pagoda was lifted off the ground.

Let alone a foundation; it did not even touch the earth's surface.

Floating in mid-air, shimmering with a hazy radiance, from inside out exuding an extraordinary aura.

One glance!

Was enough to know this was no simple existence.

Not to mention.

This was underground.

The majestic pagoda directly occupied the limited space of the underground realm.

As Locke and the others looked out.

Their entire field of vision was dominated by its majestic form, overwhelmingly domineering and supremely magnificent, nothing like a creation that should exist in the mortal world, but rather something belonging to a deity.

Even if someone pointed at it and claimed this was the Celestial Dragons' national treasure, the 'Heaven King Uranus,' Locke might, for that one instant, find himself unable to resist nodding in belief.

There was no help for it!

It was simply too miraculous!

Even the several Teigu Users beside her, Najenda and the others, had looks of astonishment on their faces.

Lei Lei Ounai, whose personality was flighty and growing ever more capricious, gaped in shock, her little mouth unable to close, as she pointed at the tower before her, her eyes flashing with extraordinary light.

Even the aloof Esdeath could not help but change her expression slightly, an unusual brilliance rising within her cold gaze.

Clearly, she too had her attention captured by the scene before her.

Moreover...

Faintly!

Esdeath even sensed a faint power of time emanating from within it.

It was not her kind of temporal power, formed by relying on extreme cold currents to freeze molecular motion and create an alternative time stop, but rather pure temporal power connected to the very origin of time itself.

Had she not recently used 'Mahapadma' multiple times, leaving remnants of frozen time lingering on her person, at any other moment, even standing right beside it, she might not have detected that strange sense of spatial and temporal disarray above.

"Above!"

"The power on the tower is strange!"

"It seems to be some special kind of spatial-temporal force; be careful, do not touch it recklessly!"

Esdeath frowned.

She spoke the warning aloud.

However...

Unfortunately, her warning came just a tiny bit too late.

"Huh?"

"Eh?!"

Lei Lei Ounai's dazed voice rang out from not far away.

Driven by instinct,

she had already curiously leaned over beside the tower, her outstretched claw merely an instant away from it.

The moment Esdeath's voice fell,

she, reacting on reflex,

directly extended the sharp claws on her hand, bridging that final missing inch.

She made complete contact with the tower.