I Want to Play a Game

Beckford spread his hands slightly, and more figures gradually appeared above him. But unlike Beckford’s near-lifelike illusion, these were clearly projections.

Dense crowds of figures kept shifting through the air above Beckford. As the one who had gathered the adventurers and brought them here, Brent recognized most of them.

"The situation is bad."

While Brent identified those people, Yinsen noticed something else.

"These people don’t seem to be imprisoned together. They appear to be held in completely different places."

Beckford lowered his spread hands, and the illusions above him vanished. He then personally confirmed that Yinsen’s guess was correct. "They’re all being held in different parts of the castle. If you attack any part of the castle, innocent people may be killed or injured."

Yinsen curled his lip. He had known Beckford was planning something like this. Clearly, the man did not want Yinsen to blow up the castle in one shot. He wanted them to go inside.

"What exactly do you want?"

Beckford suddenly smiled. It was the first expression that had appeared on his face since he showed up—a very friendly smile. Yet everyone who saw it felt a chill run through their bodies.

"I want to play a game."

"…"

Yinsen was suddenly speechless. That line was just too awful. He had no desire to respond.

But Yinsen was not the only one standing there. Besides, the one who truly cared about the adventurers’ lives was not Yinsen, but Brent, who had brought everyone here.

Brent felt that since he had brought everyone here, he had the obligation and responsibility to bring them all back safely.

"What game?"

"The game is simple. Rescue everyone, find the Magic Heart of this island, and you win."

Beckford did not say what counted as his victory, because it was obvious.

No one asked what would happen if they failed. Brent and Blade already knew what Beckford had been doing in secret. If they failed, they would be trapped in that castle as well. In the end, they would either become Undead Creatures or die.

Considering that becoming Undead Creatures meant being controlled and enslaved by Beckford, perhaps dying outright would be the better outcome.

"Why turn this into something like a game?"

Yinsen was curious why Beckford was doing this. Why suddenly play some kind of game?

If Beckford considered them a threat, why not simply appear and destroy them directly? Could it be that he was not on this island?

"Because I want to." Beckford nodded at Yinsen. "That’s all."

After saying that, Beckford’s illusion vanished directly. He had made his attitude clear: come play this game. If they won, the imprisoned adventurers could be saved, the island’s Magic Heart would be found, and whether they dealt with it by some means or simply destroyed it, this "giant island" blocking the entire route would disappear, restoring the sea lane to normal.

If they failed… no one needed to think about that. Everyone knew the consequences of failure.

"I’m going in."

Brent was the first to state his position.

"I’ll go in alone. I have the responsibility to rescue them all. But I can’t ask you to enter such a dangerous place with me."

Yinsen really wanted to tell Brent that he had a point, but the question was whether Beckford would truly let them leave if he did not go in. Yinsen had serious doubts about that.

"Is he trying to split us up?"

It was not impossible. A concentrated force was always harder to deal with than one that had been scattered, and Yinsen could not possibly let Brent enter alone.

If Brent ended up trapped in the castle because of this, and Beckford threw him out as bait and asked whether Yinsen would save him, what would Yinsen do? Abandon this place and retreat?

Yinsen did not consider himself particularly moral, but he could not do something like that.

"Even though we know this is a trap, I won’t let you go in alone." Yinsen looked at Brent and Blade. "Only by staying together can we bring out our greatest Combat Power. Even if we really run into a trap, I believe we have the ability to handle it."

But if they scattered…

Everyone understood the reasoning. It was just that when many people faced danger, they would not make that choice.

Yinsen was different. He had enough trump cards and ways out. There was nothing wrong with taking the risk together.

"Since he wants to play a game, then let’s play along with him."

Blade might still have had some doubts, but with both Yinsen and Brent determined to enter the castle, he did not seem to have much room to object.

Blade exchanged a glance with Liz beside him. He could clearly see Liz giving him meaningful looks, but after hesitating for a moment, Blade still decided to act together with everyone.

Just as Yinsen had said, what if the other side deliberately wanted to split them up? Once Yinsen and Brent entered the castle, only Liz would remain outside. Blade did not believe staying outside the castle would be any safer.

"Let’s go. Let’s see what is so special about this castle. That madman seems to think that once we enter it, he has already won."

Everyone began moving again. This time, they were all especially cautious, and they had already drawn their weapons.

Logan still walked at the very front, even putting a little distance between himself and the others so that he could give them time to react if he discovered anything.

But they encountered no trouble all the way to the castle walls, where they stood before the open gates.

With rain pattering down from the dark clouds overhead, the place looked like nothing more than an old castle on an ordinary desolate island.

"If it weren’t for those wandering Undead Creatures, this castle would actually be pretty nice."

After living aboard a ship for so long, Yinsen wanted a "home" on land. During his free time, he had considered many possibilities, and a castle was naturally one of them.

But not this one. Looking at the zombies that had noticed them and were beginning to approach, Yinsen had no desire to live somewhere covered in traces of such things.

"Clear out these zombies first."

Under normal circumstances, they would have quickly broken through the zombies’ blockade and entered the castle directly. Once the gates were shut, these things would not be able to get in. Their movements made it clear that these low-level Undead Creatures had no intelligence, so naturally they would not know how to open doors.

But Yinsen considered that if these things continued wandering outside, they might block the gates. They had come to rescue people. It would be awkward if a whole group tried to leave later and could not get out.

He was used to eliminating potential threats in advance. Even if it seemed like a waste of time, Yinsen did not care.

"We also need to consider that we’re rescuing a lot of people this time. Some of them may not be willing to act with us and might want to leave directly for the shore. We can’t go through all that trouble to rescue them, only for them to be ambushed and killed by zombies blocking the gates the moment they step outside, can we?"

Once everyone imagined that scene, they were left utterly speechless. It was better to clear them out. It would not take much effort anyway.

After ensuring that the front courtyard was safe, everyone pushed open the castle gates and entered one after another.

At the exact moment George, who was at the rear, stepped into the castle last, the open gates slammed shut. George turned around and tried to open them, only to find that they were sealed tight. They would not budge, as though they were part of the wall.

"Not surprising at all."

Yinsen was the only one who had not looked back from beginning to end. He was not surprised this had happened. He was currently examining the structure of the castle.

There was no complicated layout in front of him. A staircase led upward to a landing, then extended diagonally upward toward both sides. As for what lay at the top of the stairs, it could not be seen from where he stood.

There were also several doors on either side of where he stood, though it was unclear what lay behind them.

"This castle is huge. Finding the adventurers scattered throughout it probably won’t be easy."

"That’s not even the main issue." Blade, who had remained silent, suddenly interrupted Brent and Yinsen. "I just tested it. The Combat Suit’s effects have been greatly weakened, and Magic Stone weapons can’t display their proper abilities either."

To prove his point, Blade deliberately swung his longsword. "When I slash with my sword, it normally produces an extremely sharp transparent blade, greatly extending my attack range. But now, it’s no different from an ordinary longsword."

Hearing that, Brent immediately drew his greatsword and swung it hard. The dazzling flames that had appeared during previous battles did not show up in the slightest.

"What’s going on?"

Brent had never encountered such a situation before, nor had he even heard of it. He could only turn his gaze toward Blade, hoping that this adventurer from the Sea of Miracles could answer his question.

"I’m not entirely sure either, but I’ve heard some rumors. There really are islands in the Sea of Miracles that can disable Magic Stone Equipment, though I’ve never encountered one myself… Perhaps Beckford figured out and mastered the secret, then used it against us?"

With their Magic Stone Equipment restricted, their Combat Power had practically been cut to the bottom. Now they were inside Beckford’s "carefully prepared" castle. No matter how they looked at it, they had run into serious trouble.

Under such circumstances, Brent found that Yinsen and his companions were all remarkably calm, as though they did not care about this at all.

Of course Yinsen did not care. None of them relied on Magic Stone Equipment to get by. This strange restriction was completely useless against them.