Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

The situation didn't look bright for the tertiary team, every second dozens of people were getting killed in the backlines. Crushed underneath the hooves of the stampeding warhorses. It felt like everything had spiralled out of their hand when the [Wall of Fire] encapsulating the Andromedas and the geniuses of the twenty guilds, came down.

"What?!"...

The moment the wall of fire was released, everybody had a surprised look on their face. Of course, the destroyed Andromedas in the centre played a large part in it. However, the real shock came from that ridiculous fluctuation of mana that flooded out right after the wall came down and almost covered half of the floor.

The amount of mana was so immense that it caused the mystical energy around the entire floor to become turbulent.

Following this turbulence, a voice that seemed like it was singing, penetrated through every space of this floor and reached the ears of every living being present. Inadvertently, they all stopped doing whatever they were occupied with and turned their attention towards the source of this song.

"What? That!! Not good, that girl… she is capable of casting Mutation Magic" Bea who was similarly attracted by that song, immediately realised what it was as her eyes focused on the girl, the caster of this magic.

Seeing that the verses were taking shape and the magic was about to be completed, Bea tried to intervene. But the persistent assassin who was hanging by the thread of his life, found some strength all of sudden and grabbed onto her legs stopping her from teleporting away.

"Your… opponent is meee!!!" Alvin who was lacerating severely from the rupture that was dealt to his body, smiled in a last death struggle.

"You… let go of me" Bea tried to free herself; however, her opponent refused to budge and stuck to her like a maggot no matter how severely he got hurt in the process.

'Gallio, this must be your doing right? I don't know what kind of possibility you have seen, but at the very least allow me to aid you in your efforts'.

Alvin's mind wandered and he remembered a conversation he had with his guild master, Cassius Grey when he decided to take Gallio as his student and successor.

"But Sir Cassius, that boy's potential isn't very high. He lacks talent, his aptitude is lower than most of his peers and most of all, he lacks the drive to become the strongest. If not for his special physique, he would be average. Guild master, please reconsider. That boy will never be able to compete with the monstrous talents of the other top guilds".

At that time, Alvin believed that Gallio had no potential, he assumed that it was a bad judgement on his guild leader's part to declare such a boy as his successor.

"Alvin, you might be right about the boy lacking the talent and all, but you are mistaken about certain things. That boy by no means is lacking in the drive to become stronger. In fact, I have seen him work harder than even some of the senior members of our guild".

"It is not that he is not trying, it's just that he is fully aware that he is not a genius and cannot compare to them on even grounds. That is why, he is diverting his efforts to other places to make up for it".

"You have asked me once where I found that boy right? Let me tell you hat boy's origin. Gallio had lost his parents and his family in a bandit attack while travelling across the northern outlaw forest. Can you imagine a boy who was only eight or nine years old around that time making it out alive all alone?"

"He was almost killed by the bandits, became the food of monsters or was sold as a slave after getting tricked by a slave trader in the black town. Nevertheless, he survived all that and managed to come out of that forest while keeping his sanity intact".

"I ask you Alvin, would you be able to do the same at his age? Don't give me the crap that he has [Mystic Eyes] and all. A skill is a skill, after all, even they have their limits. It is his wits, his ability to absorb all information around him and spun it into a plan is what makes him special. In my eyes, he is a genius. A genius who is always looking ahead, hungry for knowledge and power. The assassin class is a dangerous one, you need to have the right knowledge and mindset to go on any quest or expedition. A dangerous place is where his ability will shine the brightest".

At that time, the reply that Alvin got from Cassius, forced him to have a renewed look at the boy. Though he still had his doubts, the successive events later proved that his guild master was right.

With his dim eyes, Alvin saw a huge magic circle form above their enemies and laughed. It formed on top of the demonic warhorses in the backlines and on top of the maids. Soon after, a wide beam of light poured out of that, drowning any and every sound.

The entire floor trembled, the might of the magic was powerful enough to even give goosebumps to all the onlooking veteran adventurers.

The geniuses of the twenty guilds rejoiced at the perfect execution of the plan but their joy was cut short with a yell.

"Now!!" Gallio bellowed, he rushed faster than anyone towards the veteran adventurers who were restrained by the strings. The other followed behind him and started freeing the seniors from their guilds.

Thanks to that magic earlier targeting all their enemies, the strings have started becoming loose and visible that anyone could cut them now.

"Haa… Haa… " Hallie huffed, her expression quickly turning pale white as she poured all of her mana into her magic. Her body shuddered and she was just about to fall down when Tiana from the side supported her.

"Are you alright? The magic puts too much strain on you after all" She asked in concern.

"Un… big sister I'm alright. I'm just a little tired" Hallie answered with a small smile.

Tiana caressed the adorable face of her little sister and nodded "You have done your part, leave everything to us now and rest"...

"Un… but that guy… what was his name?"…

"Hm? You mean Gallio Stallard? He is the future successor of the Assassin Guild. That guy is quite something, even I'm amazed that he could come up with such a plan" Tiana commented.

Hallie's magic was something that was kept a secret from all the other guilds. She had only mentioned it once to Gallio when they were against the odds facing the unending monster horde inside the mysterious ruins.

She had revealed that it was a powerful magic that Hallie could only use once a day and had a long casting drawback. She never imagined that Gallio would even incorporate that information and come up with such a plan on the spot.

The wall of fire and the constant casting of magic of other mages around her provided a perfect cover for her to cast her powerful magic without worrying about being interrupted. Perhaps If it was someone else in his place, it would have been impossible for them to devise such a plan on the spot.

With the veteran adventurers free from their restraining, they now stood a chance. The tertiary team had turned the tables around.

"Everybody… the transmission conch should be working now, please send a transmission to your guild explaining our situation" Gallio instructed. He looked at the transmission conch in his hand that had turned back to the colour of gold in his eyes once again.

This meant that his plan had worked. Gallio released a deep breath of relief, when formulating the plan, he was not entirely sure that it would work. Although his eyes showed him a possibility, it was not omnipotent after all.

The [Mystic eyes] of his had shown Hallie in the colour of gold. Although it took him a second or two, but he finally understood what it was trying to hint at. Scrounging all of the information he had collected over the years on these geniuses, Galiio had come up with that makeshift plan.

'I wonder if I was able to stay in her sight for a few seconds' Gallio wondered.

Everybody was congratulating Marcus, the Lantz brothers, Tiana, Hallie and the others. They had all, performed extremely well and were able to provide the veterans with the chance to be freed once again. If not for them performing to their very best, none of this would have gone as he had planned. On the contrary, all he did was come up with the plan.

'As I thought so, I can't compare with monstrous geniuses like Marcus, the third prince or you. But I at least wanted you to see me in a different light, I wanted to stay in your sight even for a second'.

'From the start of the exploration, you have always been looking at Marcus. But that cannot be helped, my presence is that low after all, I'm an assassin that cannot shine in the light. Ah how envious, if only I had talent like them' Gallio smiled at his inner soliloquy.

His eyes inadvertently turned to look at the girl who was being supported by her senior sister. Although it was embarrassing for him to admit, she had always shined a bright gold in his eyes. Yeah, he had feelings for her but his circumstances always made him suppress that feeling deep in his heart .