The studio and livestream rooms outside were still noisy, and there were endless discussions.
At this point, other than Magician and Zhuge An, all the other Level S trainees chose to forfeit and return to the live broadcast room.
This unforeseen event also left the spectators scratching their heads in confusion.
[What's going on? I remember that Zhuge An is on Magician's side?]
[I was just about to say that. Wasn't No.3 the first one to support Magician, and then formed an alliance to take everyone away from the Infinite Loop?]
[God … Look at this, could it be that they're really fighting amongst themselves?]
[I'm also suspecting this. If Magician passed the mentor test, then only the two of them would be left … If they didn't forfeit, then one of them would definitely die.]
[No, I like both Magician and Master Zhuge. I don't want any of them to die.]
Many trainees who were familiar with the relationship between No.3 and No.9 quickly looked up at the live broadcast room.
Up there, the Level S trainees didn't look any better.
Without a doubt, Zhuge An didn't come out with them. This action was enough to show his attitude.
But soon, the Exorcist was the first to break the silent and anxious atmosphere.
He laughed and turned to look at the black-clothed Ah Zan who was sitting on the throne.
"Old devil, you're awake?"
Azan, together with Messiah, Poseidon, and The Dark Wizard, seemed to have just woken up from a dream as they suddenly stood up from their thrones.
Above their heads, the puppet strings that couldn't be easily seen by the naked eye began to withdraw one by one. All the puppets who were deeply controlled woke up from their half-dream state.
Logically speaking, the devil's deep control couldn't be broken unless he was willing to withdraw the puppet strings.
But he seemed to be in a good mood, so he mercifully withdrew the puppet strings according to the agreement. The trainees who had just woken up from the deep control looked at each other in confusion.
"… Yeah."
After a while, after hearing the Exorcist's words, Azan raised his hand to his forehead and sighed.
Considering his usual calm and taciturn personality, this was already a very vexed expression.
Although they were being controlled by the puppet threads, they still retained their memories. They just couldn't think or control their bodies. Now that he recalled it, he was so ashamed that he wished he could carry the train and leave this planet overnight.
Messiah, in particular, was stunned for a long time. Even the smile on her face dimmed.
With this little interlude, the atmosphere on the throne was no longer as tense as before.
No matter what, everyone had the strength to reach S class. Although Azan didn't like Messiah in the past, he couldn't help but sympathize with her after learning how to manipulate her.
Just when everyone wanted to express how careless they were, Tokumon suddenly exclaimed.
"Look!"
His voice was full of disbelief, as if he had seen something extremely shocking.
All the S class looked up. Even Fan Zhuo, who had been silently pondering, and Messiah, who was immersed in sadness, widened their eyes.
On the dark screen of the live broadcast room, the grayish-black divinatory plate representing Zhuge An quietly dimmed.
As everyone knew, if one forfeited, a small black mark would be imprinted. But if it dimmed … it represented death.
"How is this possible?! Master Zhuge is dead? "
In the deathly silence, a trainee finally cried out in surprise.
How was this possible? The No. 3 Zhuge An, who was recognized by everyone as "If the murderer can't be found, then the murderer must be him", "The legendary ruthless three-faced spy", "I'm sorry, I didn't know he was a good person until the horror trainee competition", had died?
[This can't be true … I don't believe it. How can someone as smart as Master Zhuge die?]
[Ahhh, I'm crying. Master Zhuge saved so many people in the Super S class dungeon. Now I know that I've always misunderstood him. But now he's dead.]
[What happened? Did No. 3 really change his mind at the last minute? But how is this possible? He's good at prophecies. Didn't he predict his own death?]
The studio was also silent.
Almost half of the people here were indebted to No. 3. Now that they saw this scene, their hearts were filled with mixed feelings. They didn't know what to say.
After a long time, a trainee muttered to himself, "… I thought, actually I thought that maybe the other S class would die, but I really never thought that Master Zhuge would die."
Countless people agreed with him in silence.
"Could it be that we guessed wrong and he's actually not Guiguzi?"
Tokumon's voice was hesitant. "It's so hard for someone from so many years ago to survive. If he's Guiguzi, he's so smart and can predict the future. How could he not predict his own death?"
That's right. How could Zhuge An not predict it?
If Zhuge An could predict it, why didn't he forfeit? Why did he still stay there?
No one knew why.
.....
On the other side, after the last bit of blackness disappeared into the air, the whole space returned to the silence of rolling clouds and mist.
It was as if no one had ever existed.
Zong Jiu stood in the same place and was silent for a long time. Suddenly, he lowered his head without saying a word.
He slowly let go of his hand.
He didn't know when it started, but the palm of his hand was covered with five crescent moon marks. Some of them were so deep that blood could be seen, and there was an indistinct dark red color.
For a magician, it was needless to say how important his hands were.
Especially for a magician like Zong Jiu who had tasted the loss of his hands. Even when he had just entered the infinite loop, the first thing he did when he suddenly woke up in the middle of the night was to make sure that his hands were fine. When he realized that he could move his fingers freely, he would sink back into the Black Sweet Dream.
But now, when he heard Zhuge An say that if the infinite loop was destroyed, the devil would cease to exist, Zong Jiu realized that he couldn't control his emotions.
Zong Jiu didn't want to think about what it meant, but at least … at least it meant that the devil could affect him, and he didn't want the devil to die.
It was a sign of danger.
But none of them would say it.
Zong Jiu closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his pupils had returned to normal.
He didn't stop as he strode forward. He walked towards the white door with roses and playing cards printed on the back.
He knew that the devil was waiting for him behind the door.
This was their final battle.
The door was easily pushed open. Zong Jiu didn't even use much strength.
In the next second, a pair of cold hands wrapped around Magician's waist, forcefully pulling him into the misty space behind him.
"Baby, you made me wait for a long time."
The black-haired devil rested his head on Zong Jiu's shoulder, his tone casual.
His fingers rested on Zong Jiu's slender neck, but he didn't have the sharp and cold murderous intent from before.
In a daze, Zong Jiu suddenly felt that everything was too unbelievable.
He didn't know when it started, but the murderous intent from before started to weaken. It weakened again and again until it returned to silence.
At the very beginning, they had genuinely wanted to kill each other.
Whether it was in the mental hospital or the barren village dungeon, they both wanted to kill each other. Even when Zong Jiu rejected the devil's invitation, the murderous intent wasn't fake.
Since when did all of this begin to change?
If this was a war, perhaps no one would emerge victorious.
"I'm here," Zong Jiu said calmly. "You may begin."
The cold mechanical voice of the main system sounded in their ears.
[1v1 dungeon starting … The dungeon will start automatically in 30 seconds.]
[Trainees in the last few seconds may choose to forfeit their right to participate. Note: Trainees who fail the test will not be forced to die, but trainees who fail the test will be disqualified.]
Solidified blocks of color started to form around them, gradually piling up and turning into a swirling flow.
No matter what, this had to end.
He had to put an end to it.
He had to win.
Countless people had placed their hopes on Guiguzi, and now, this heavy weight of hope had been transferred to Zong Jiu's shoulders.
Zhuge An also thought highly of him.
What if he lost? Then wouldn't he have died for nothing? What a loss. Even if he turned into a ghost, he would still come after him.
Zong Jiu thought as he waited for the last 30 seconds to arrive.
[10,9,8.....]
When the countdown started, the devil suddenly stuffed something cold into his hand.
Zong Jiu looked down, only to see that it was a black stone with a strange hexagram drawn on it.
"Find me."
[3,2,1.....]
Everything returned to silence.
The hand that held him intimately disappeared.
After the dungeon started, they would all be placed in different places.
Gradually, the surroundings became clear again.
The blocks of color gathered one by one, and finally turned into something Zong Jiu couldn't be more familiar with.
The light here was dim, the thick curtains blocked all the light outside, leaving only a deep and impenetrable darkness. The air was also filled with an old and damp smell.
[Final Battle Dungeon — Trainers' Test has begun.]
[Level S trainee Zong Jiu, your main mission has been issued: Find what belongs to you.]
[After completing the main mission, you are free to decide whether to exit this dungeon.]
On the other side, the black-haired devil appeared in a dark alley.
The sky outside was gloomy, a hazy drizzle fell from the sky, and pedestrians with umbrellas came and went everywhere.
The buildings and houses were reflected in the puddles of water left behind by the streets, reflecting a magical reflection of iron and steel.
A peaceful world.
This was the world of the magician. The main system successfully replicated that world and displayed it as the final dungeon.
At the same time, the devil also received a notification from the main system.
[Main mission: Obtain something that has never been possessed before.]
[Note: The winner of the 1v1 dungeon is determined by the speed at which both parties complete the main mission. The first to complete the dungeon wins.]
[For the sake of fairness, your authority as a teacher is temporarily blocked.]