237 Cheater (1/2)

The treasury suddenly reeked with a strong smell of blood after the two entered the Hell Gates. Roars and snarls echoed alongside the surging mana fluctuations, and from the flickering light of the Hell Gates, everyone saw the sinister Hellish creatures within. Devils made of flames and blood, young monsters spurting thick smoke from their mouths, ugly and sinister Yakshas.

All they could see was a sea of Evil Spirits and Ghouls. No one knew which corner of Hell those Hell Gates were linked to, but just by seeing these creatures, everyone knew that this wouldn't be a simple battle. Even the lowest Evil Spirit was at least level 20. But now, there were dozens of them, not to mention the scattered juvenile monsters and Yakshas, as well as Cerberus and Hell Horses appearing. Even an Archmage might not be able to survive in those conditions.

But no one could tell the exact situation within the two Hell Gates, so they could only worry outside, waiting for the outcome.

Time passed, seeming extremely slow to the others. None of the twenty members of the joint exploration team said anything. Nothing could be heard besides their breaths and heartbeats.

They were all waiting anxiously.

They didn't know how long they had been waiting, it could have been one hour, or maybe two.

But this stifling wait made them lose their minds. Lys was the first to find out that one of the Hell Gates suddenly flickered.

Then, he froze.

He felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

Fran walked out of the Hell Gate...

'It's over, it's Fran. After Fran became an Archmage, Lin Yun could no longer compete with him. Even with his unfathomable power, when faced with a genuine Archmage, he truly couldn't win.'

Although he had already prepared himself to some extent, seeing Fran walking out of the Hell Gate by himself was very disappointing.

'Fran indeed won…'

Fran was the final victor of the struggle over loot priority. It was the first time he felt so powerful after becoming a Master Alchemist.

After forcibly shaking his head, Lys slowly walked forward.

But just as Lys was about to speak, the other Hell Gate flickered.

It was followed by Lin Yun walking out of the Hell Gate while cutting a sorry figure.

”High Mage Fran, you let me win.”

”Ah?” When Lys heard that, his mind shook. 'What was this? Didn't Fran come out of the Hell Gate?

'Hold on… There must be something wrong…' Lys composed himself before raising his eyes to look at Fran. At that time, Lys suddenly realized that Fran didn't look too good. Fran had left the Hell Gate first, and even if he didn't say anything to ridicule everyone, he would still have had the arrogant smile of a victor.

But Fran's face was ashen.

Especially after Merlin left the Hell Gate and thanked Fran for ”letting him win”, Fran acted just like a cat whose tail was being stepped on as he stood straight and shouted, ”Mafa Merlin, you cheater!”

”High Mage Fran, you can't speak nonsense. You are accusing me of cheating in front of so many people?” Lin Yun coldly snorted.

”If you say you didn't cheat, then why was there no Hell Core in my Hell Gate?” The pale Fran stood there, pointing at Lin Yun with one finger while shaking.

Lys finally understood a bit of what had happened from this exchange.

It turned out that Fran, who left the Hell Gate first, hadn't actually destroyed it. It seemed that Fran never found the Hell Core after entering the Hell Gate. In other words, Fran went on a wild goose chase.

But...

How could a Hell Gate have no core?

As a Master Alchemist, although Lys hadn't grasped Hell Gates, he still had some understanding of Artisan rank arrays.

The so-called Hell Gate actually borrowed the force of an array to cut out an area of Hell, and the creatures within that area would become the guards of the array's source. And this was all accomplished through the Hell Core. To some degree, the Hell Core was both a mana source and the actual core of the array.

Even an Apprentice Alchemist who just started treading on that path knew something as basic as the fact that a Hell Array would stop functioning without its Hell Core.

How could Fran fail to find it?

Lys wasn't the only one with that question, because Fran also wanted to understand.

Thus, Fran promptly decided, ”No way, this didn't count!”

”...”

When these words came out, let alone Lin Yun and Lys, the entire joint exploration team was shocked. At that time, everyone looked at Fran with contempt, and William even let out a derisive snort.