NOVPUBWithout any hesitation, the Great Love Poet weaved through the all too familiar Void Teleport Gate. Like immersing himself back into the water, his body gradually disappeared in the deep purple glow.
With a peculiar and magical sense of weightlessness, his body and spirit seemed to be pulling away from the real world.
This state of rapid falling did not last too long. After a sudden bout of dizziness, the Great Love Poet felt the icy and hard ground beneath him.
He fell flat on his face again.
After lying on the ground for several seconds without anyone coming to help him, he finally began to push himself up.
The Great Love Poet, supporting himself on the floor that felt like a mix of metal and stone, staggered to his feet and gently smoothed out his hair, which had become a bit dishevelled due to the fall.
Looking around, he discovered that he was the only person in the vast entrance teleport hall.
Everyone else was nowhere to be seen.
Looking forward from the hall in which he was currently standing, streams of mist kept falling from the ceiling of the wide corridor, settling in this unfamiliar and mysterious space.
It appeared to be the starting point of a maze. The towering walls of the prison’s internal corridors were covered with bizarre symbols and twinkling lights, while the floor was emanating a soft, deep blue glow that flowed like the milky way in dreams, or like the distant and profound universe.
This was remarkably similar to the ground structure of Herram Station. Once you stepped onto it, certain Barrier Formulas would be triggered.
The fifth basement level was incredibly spacious, and according to the map displayed on the hall’s screen, it seemed to be a gigantic maze.
Its structure constantly shifted - like the entire level was in a state similar to Herram’s distorted old block, where reaching certain places would immediately teleport you somewhere else.
Out of the five trainee prison guards who reached the fifth basement level, the fifth and eighth-orders seemed unable to teleport completely accurately and ended up in random locations in the fifth level prison. Only the first-order Great Love Poet successfully reached the entrance teleportation hall.
After all, the Great Love Poet was much weaker than the Cat Boss; there was basically no burden for him to teleport.
"So now I have to make my way to the exit hall all by myself... Where on earth are you, Milian?"
The lonely figure with black hair and green eyes, his gaze carrying a touch of bewildering fatigue, muttered to himself.
Lanci had grown accustomed to being led around by Hyperion in this prison, and most of the time, he didn’t need to pay attention to the happenings within Herram Prison.
Now, however, he would need to be utterly focused, chatting with Warden Bacas while directing the actions of the Great Love Poet.
With a sigh, he lowered his head, looking at the deep red hologram on his bracelet.
[On the fifth floor of Herram Prison, survival and duty will earn you a large amount of service points.]
[Service points can be exchanged for resources in the prison. All conditions for proceeding to the next level must be met before the option to trade service points opens for the current level.]
[Current Location: Herram Prison, fifth level basement, entrance hall.]
[Job Description: Cleaning up phantoms.]
[Note: Once you step into the fifth level, your phantom will appear within a hundred meters of you. The phantom will replicate everything about you, including wisdom, personality, all tools, and combat experience, and it will be stronger than you.]
[Note: The phantom can lock onto you. Its sole aim is to hunt your real self and seize your existence.]
[Note: Each person will only summon a phantom once per day. Upon reaching the teleportation hall, office area, or inside a cell, the phantom will temporarily disappear. The phantom of others will not attack you unless you initiate an attack first, at which point, it will change targets.]
[Conditions for proceeding to the sixth basement: Clear all phantoms at the current level, accumulate over 5000 team service points, and get permission and assessment from the prison officer of the fifth basement level.]
"..."
Lanci quickly flipped through the pages. The difference between this and the fourth basement level was not significant. The unique feature was just the "phantom".
With earlier reminders from Selena, the prison officer of the fourth basement level, and the information that Hyperion had given him, he could basically understand what the Great Demon Clan trial was about on this level.
Legend had it that an ancient Great Demon Race member from tens of thousands of years ago was named Sathya of Despair. His innate magic’s ultimate form was to summon replicas named phantoms of one’s opponent.
When facing this Ninth-order Great Demon, one would be preemptively summoned a stronger replica if they harboured any war intentions or even hatred. This replica was capped at the strength of the eighth-order.
In a legion battle, Sathya of Despair, a Ninth-order Great Demon, proved to be an adversary that was impossible for any amount of eighth-orders to defeat.
He was the ultimate bully.
In the end, his life concluded leaving only a Great Demon Trials represented by him — the Hopeless Extinction War.
The intensity of one’s phantom would be determined by their war intentions.
When at a low war intention, the phantom would be of similar strength to oneself, but if one was to push their war intentions to the limit, the phantom would not only be stronger than oneself but even reach eighth-order.
In other words, as long as one is willing, they could even meet an eighth-order limit version of themselves in the Hopeless Extinction War.
If someone could not control their war intentions properly, they could unintentionally summon an extremely terrifying phantom and be eradicated instantly.
The prison officers on this level must continuously evade the phantoms that were hunting them and promptly reach safe areas.
For most of the time when one was separated, they would be in a survival state, being singled out as the opponent by their strengthened phantom.
The job detail for trainee prison guards, however, could involve working together with a few fellow trainee prison guards to defeat the phantoms and clean them all up.
"Wait, my opponent is..."
Lanci rested his chin on his hand, pondering. He looked at his current body in Herram Prison and tentatively stepped onto the ground outside the teleportation hall.
The prison officer’s office should be located not too far from the entrance teleportation hall. He needs to go find the prison officer and get permission.
Normally, the vicinity of the teleportation hall is an extremely safe area. One could retreat back here as soon as they sensed something wrong, but correspondingly, the phantom might block them off at the entrance, leaving them waiting for rescue.
Nonetheless, Lanci’s stride grew longer, and he gradually quickened his pace as if he had no worries.
On both sides of the corridor, rows of massive prison cell doors were irregularly arranged. The figure with black hair and green eyes pressed forward as the metallic floor let out faint echoes. 𝘯𝘰𝑣𝘱𝑢𝘣.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Each step he took aroused the magic power in the surroundings. The silence was broken by the slight sound of the barrier operating, as if welcoming, or warning, a newcomer.
Undoubtedly, his phantom had already been born and started hunting within the maze.
Yet Lanci was not scared at all. He began to search for the route to the prison officer’s office based on the dynamic map shown on his bracelet.
After all, this cage was duplicated based on the body, not the consciousness.
So does that mean he just needs to beat up the Great Love Poet, and then he can easily and leisurely find the exit teleportation hall?
"Lan Fu, it’s not that I want to beat you up, but this is something that can’t be avoided. I just have to challenge your phantom..."
Lanci murmured to himself, impatient to continue on his journey!
