Jose and the others stood at the foremost position with their respective subordinates. In front of them, over ten men littered the ground, all seemingly dead. “What happened here?” Verner questioned in puzzlement, eyeing those who had collapsed and died on the ground.
Jose’s face was as black as thunder, and he said nothing. Instead, Marcelo cursed, “D*mn it! It turned out that there’s a Mountain Defense Formation here, causing us to lose so many of our men!”
As soon as Verner heard that, understanding dawned upon him. Ah, these people were from the families of Jose and the others. They probably wanted to enter first, so they neglected to check out the situation and ended up getting killed by the arcane array.
Thanks to Jose and the others’ precedent, all those behind them did not dare act rashly. No one was willing to risk their lives in the face of such a powerful arcane array.
At that moment, the thousands of people gathered there could only watch helplessly, none daring to attempt to deactivate it. After all, it took tremendous strength to deactivate an arcane array, and one might even lose his life. If that happened, the sacrifice would benefit others instead.
Therefore, they merely stood around and watched. Not a single one of them stepped forward to deactivate the arcane array. The atmosphere promptly turned awkward.
Everyone stared at each other. No one spoke or moved, and the only audible sounds were the harsh breathing of the crowd.
Bursts of light kept flashing from around the hill. It was the Mountain Defense Formation, and one could only enter after deactivating the arcane array. With such a massive arcane array in place, everyone was convinced there must be tons of treasures in the ancient ruins.
As everyone remained stationary and waited silently, Jared swept his gaze around in search of Skylar and also Claus, whom he met in the tavern. In his opinion, they posed the greatest threat to him.
Unfortunately, he saw no signs of them both even after scanning the entire place. Hmm, perhaps they aren’t here or hiding in some corner!
“Sir, since we want all these people to enter the fake secret realm, why would we set up such a powerful arcane array on the outside of it? No one dares to go in now,” Skylar mused in perplexity. He did not quite understand the reason for setting up an obstacle when they wanted to trick everyone in.
At that question, the spirit within him chuckled softly. “What do you know? The more: formidable the arcane array outside, the greater their curiosity about whatever is on the inside. At that time, they’d undoubtedly swarm in.. Someone will certainly deactivate this arcane array. Just wait patiently.”
Time ticked by, yet no one moved. None of them left, but neither did they make a move to attempt to deactivate the arcane array. At long last, a bearded elderly man from one of the families headed toward the hill at a steady. pace.
The instant the crowd saw that someone had taken the first move, they all trained their gazes on the elderly man. Jared could tell that the elderly man was an advanced-phase Greater Martial Arts Marquis, so he knew the latter must be an elder from one of the families..
“Can he deactivate the arcane array, Mr. Chance?” Verner asked in a whisper when he saw the elderly man walking out.
“I’m not sure either. If the arcane array is deactivated later and we gain entry, don’t act recklessly, let alone get physical with others. Wait for my command,” Jared instructed Godrick, Fernando, and Verner.
All three men bobbed their heads in acknowledgment, for they all looked to Jared for guidance. Right then, the elderly man had reached the arcane array. Just after a burst of light flared, he abruptly let out a roar so resounding that it resembled the rumble of thunder.
A wild gust of wind kicked up. On the heels of that, a faint white mist manifested from his hand before it began spinning, forming a vortex. None among the crowd had an inkling of the technique he was using and could only watch silently.
“Shatter!” He shot his palm out, upon which a majestic aura burst forth. Most of the crowd quickly backed away. Sensing the terrifying surge of energy, everyone felt that the arcane array would definitely be broken.
