The night faded into dawn.
A dull, gray light smeared across the sky like the final brushstrokes of an oil painting, casting a quiet desolation over the volcanic belt.
Thick plumes of smoke rumbled from the crater, rising like giant hands, lifting the pale-gray sky.
"Alright."
Bisky took dainty steps forward, clapping her hands softly.
Her gaze burned like fire as she stared at the two captives, interrogator-like.
"Tell me everything you know—everything—about my crystal gem."
She put extra emphasis on my crystal gem and everything, making it absolutely clear.
Pariston remained silent.
Last night, he and Saiyu had officially fallen into the hands of Germain's group.
They were now captives, to be taken back to the New Continent, where they would face judgment and punishment on behalf of Beyond's exploration team.
Pariston had still been scheming.
His final trump card was the Poor Man's Rose, bound to his heart.
He knew it likely wouldn't be enough to kill Germain—
But killing Germain's companions? That might just work.
It was leverage.
Leverage that could force Germain into submission.
But Germain didn't give him the chance to speak.
Nor the chance to move.
The moment they faced off, Germain pulled out a card.
Greed Island Card: Breath of the Archangel
Pariston watched, stunned, as a beautiful archangel appeared and instantly healed all his injuries.
Then, the angel vanished.
At the same time, the foreign object bound to his heart—the Poor Man's Rose—was removed.
"I can hear your thoughts."
Germain spoke bluntly, his eyes unflinching.
"The Poor Man's Rose is gone. So save those twisted little ideas of yours."
The smile on Pariston's face vanished completely.
No ripple of emotion remained.
His throat felt a little dry and itchy.
"Germain, you're no fun like this..." Pariston said teasingly.
"I have always been on the same side as Beyond," Germain replied calmly. "Do you know why I broke off with him?"
"Because his hairstyle is terrible?" Pariston couldn't help but joke.
"I don't accept his threats," Germain said firmly.
"It doesn't matter what you think in your heart. But if you actually threaten us, I won't hold back anymore. Am I clear enough?"
Pariston pursed his lips. Then, raising his eyebrows, he said, "Crystal clear."
After that, Pariston stayed silent. To him, everything suddenly felt dull and meaningless.
Saiyu waited a long time but didn't see Germain use that magical card to heal his injuries.
Only Morel threw him some powder, potions, and bandages, leaving him to treat himself.
He didn't understand why he was treated differently, but since he was a captive now, he had no choice but to accept it.
As a result, the Beyond exploration team of 25 members now had only two confirmed survivors.
The missing ones were never found later and were presumed dead.
The group camped nearby for a night to rest, then arrived at the volcanic zone at dawn.
When Bisky asked a question, Pariston remained silent.
So Saiyu had to answer.
"The strongest dragons in the volcanic area were killed by Germain last night. In theory, the biggest threat is gone."
"Without a leader..." Bisky paced back and forth, thinking hard, then asked, "How many dragons are left inside?"
"When we entered the volcanic zone, we encountered about twenty dragons. The actual number should be even higher."
Bisky nodded.
"Twenty or thirty dragons... I understand. For creatures that large, they don't usually gather in huge numbers."
"And then, where is the crystal?" Bisky eagerly asked the most important question.
She had actually already learned some information about the volcanic zone from Chairman Netero.
However, that was information from over half a century ago, far less fresh than what Saiyu was talking about.
"In the lava inside the volcano crater," Saiyu said.
"Those crystals were born from the lava itself, so they aren't afraid of high temperatures."
Bisky listened to the information, which wasn't much different from what Chairman Netero had told her.
Then she glanced at Germain, the "human lie detector."
Germain nodded.
This meant that what Saiyu said was true—unless he could lie in his thoughts.
Bisky became excited.
"Then let's go in together and rescue my crystals from those evil giant dragons!"
—
Half an hour later.
Saiyu watched the group of giant dragons, which both he and the other members of the Beyond exploration team found quite troublesome, fall one by one.
Doing all this, of course, were Germain, Bisky, Morel, and Shizuku.
Saiyu only helped from the sidelines, and Pariston was basically just goofing off, barely doing anything.
The four-person team worked together flawlessly, crushing everything in their path.
It was as if working together to kill monsters like this was an everyday routine for them.
Saiyu was confused by this.
Although Pariston didn't say a word, his eyes kept darting around the four of them.
The two of them exchanged a glance.
They realized that they had underestimated not only Germain's strength but also many other things they didn't know about.
This group might not be struggling to survive on the Dark Continent, constantly avoiding powerful enemies as they had thought.
It might be the exact opposite—and they had succeeded.
They had completely adapted to the harshness of the Dark Continent and perfectly blended into its ecological chain.
Long after, when Pariston and Saiyu learned that this group had obtained the four "hopes" and deeply rooted themselves in the ancient labyrinth of the Dark Continent, they finally understood everything that had happened that day.
That level of skill was the difference—the experience...
"Pull!" Bisky stood at the edge of the lava-filled cave, pointing at it, and said to Shizuku, "Use your 'Blinky' to draw all my crystals up! Hurry, hurry!"
"Okay." Shizuku responded and used her 'Blinky' like a water pump.
Soon, she had sucked up the targeted crystals.
The crystals, at first, shone with a dazzling red light.
After being placed on the ground to cool for a while, the red glow faded, revealing their true colors.
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet... Almost every color appeared here, as if a dreamy rainbow had solidified into crystal form.
Bisky stared at the crystals, her breathing growing heavier.
Because they were just too beautiful—more beautiful than the "Seven Great Beauties of the Six Continents!"
Saiyu also looked at the crystals, which belonged to their exploration team, and swallowed nervously.
He dared not imagine how much these crystals could sell for if they succeeded in bringing them back to the Six Continents, and how many nobles and elites would scramble for them.
Sadly, all of this could become a mere illusion. It was normal that losers lost everything, and winners took all.
Everyone present wore different expressions. Even Shizuku, influenced by Bisky, became interested in the beautiful crystals and squatted down to look closely.
Only Germain touched the crystals briefly before losing interest.
Even though the crystals possessed beauty surpassing the Seven Great Beauties, to Germain they were useless things.
They were not among the Five Great Hopes, so it made sense.
While thinking this, Bisky, who should have been guarding these crystals carefully, secretly slipped a red crystal to Germain and looked around cautiously.
"What are you doing?" Germain didn't understand why Bisky was acting so sneaky by handing him a crystal.
"From my experience, this is the most stunning crystal," Bisky nodded toward Shizuku and said with some reluctance, "Don't be so dull, you bastard."
*******
Support me on my patreon and read upto 20 early chapters.
https://www.patreon.com/c/Unique_Writer