Soon, the Venerable One's voice echoed in Soren's mind again: "It's a bit far. I'll rush over immediately to see if I can negotiate with them."
These words, entering Soren's ears, immediately chilled him to the bone.
He understood that the Venerable One's words meant that the Upper Realm forces involved in the palace labyrinth were far from ordinary.
For the Venerable One to consider negotiation rather than direct forceful action, the interests and forces involved must be intricate, deeply rooted, and possibly far beyond his imagination.
Soren frowned, a deep sense of worry washing over him. He knew that once Upper Realm forces were involved, the matter would become increasingly thorny. But now, the arrow was on the string, and there was no turning back. He could only hope that the Venerable One could turn the tide at the crucial moment, stopping Lebar and preventing the royal family from falling into the great vortex of Upper Realm power struggles.
The reality was as Soren had predicted: the underground labyrinth within the palace concealed an eighth layer of space.
This meant that the level of this underground labyrinth, even if it wasn't advanced, was definitely intermediate. One should know that intermediate and advanced labyrinths were often associated with powerful forces or mysterious inheritances, and the secrets and dangers hidden within were far from ordinary.
Sure enough, as soon as Soren stepped into the eighth layer of space, the surrounding tranquil air seemed to freeze instantly, followed by a surge of intense magical fluctuations.
Before everyone could react, two swift attacks came like ghosts from the shadows, a sneak attack launched by two Saint-level experts.
Fortunately, Soren hadn't brought just anyone this time. These two Saint-level experts were only in their initial stages.
Although even an initial-stage Saint-level expert's strength shouldn't be underestimated, it would still take considerable time to capture an experienced, agile, and stealthy expert like Shadow.
Moreover, there was also Ada in the team, whose strength had reached the mid-stage of a Necromantic Puppet. It emanated a sinister aura, unafraid of the enemy's attacks, quickly assuming a defensive posture and blocking many attacks for the others.
While Shadow deftly dodged the attacks, his sharp eyes looked at the attackers.
When his gaze fell on one of them, his expression changed slightly, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Prince Arenel! Didn't you die of illness twenty years ago?" His voice echoed in the somewhat empty eighth layer of space, with a hint of trembling, as if seeing a ghost return from the dead.
Hearing Shadow's exclamation, Soren's heart tightened, and a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
He understood that Lebar had indeed orchestrated a huge conspiracy. Prince Arenel's appearance was no accident. He had probably colluded with Lebar secretly twenty years ago, and faking his death was just a disguise to wait for the opportunity in this underground labyrinth, cooperating with Lebar to implement their unspeakable plan.
Soren knew that the situation was becoming increasingly dangerous and complex. They not only had to deal with the attacks of these two Saint-level experts but also had to find Lebar as soon as possible, stop him from delving deeper into the labyrinth, and uncover the full picture of his conspiracy.
Otherwise, the royal family would fall into an irreversible disaster.
Soren's eyes sharpened, and he took a deep breath, shouting to the wary crowd around him: "Everyone, be careful! We must not let them succeed! We must not be held back!"
With that, his slender and agile figure darted out like a cheetah, taking the lead to attack one of the Saint-level experts—Prince Arenel.
The Sword of Seven Sins Redemption, radiating a mysterious and majestic aura in his hand, instantly burst out with a dazzling light that was almost blinding, as if a small sun had suddenly lit up in the eighth layer of this underground labyrinth.
Soren roared, his entire body's magic power, like a surging river, poured unreservedly into the sword.
He raised the long sword high, drawing a perfect arc in the air, and slashed fiercely at Prince Arenel.
This sword contained the profound magic power he had cultivated for many years. Wherever the blade passed, the space was slightly distorted, and the air was cut like by a sharp blade, making a sharp whistling sound. That whistling sound seemed to be mixed with roars from the depths of hell, and also like the sound of judgment from heaven, which was chilling.
Now Soren, wearing a full set of legendary equipment, each piece shining with a unique and powerful magical radiance, these equipment echoed each other, forming a powerful magical amplification system.
They not only greatly increased Soren's strength, speed, and defense but also gave him some special abilities and magic resistance.
With the blessing of this legendary equipment, Soren's strength had undergone a qualitative leap. Even when facing Saint-level experts, he had the confidence and strength to fight head-on.
Prince Arenel felt the powerful force of Soren's sword, and a solemn expression appeared on his face.
He didn't dare to be careless, quickly mobilizing the magic power in his body, his hands forming seals quickly in front of his chest, and layers of holy power shields appeared in front of him, the shields like golden glaze, exuding a sacred and indestructible aura.
At the same time, a long sword emitting a holy light appeared in his hand, ancient runes engraved on the sword, the runes flickering with a mysterious light, seemingly telling its extraordinary origin.
Just as Soren's sword was about to strike Prince Arenel, Prince Arenel shouted loudly, and the long sword in his hand thrust forward, a thick golden beam of light spewing out from the tip of the sword, colliding with Soren's blade.
In an instant, a deafening roar resounded in the labyrinth, and powerful energy fluctuations, like a surging tsunami, spread wildly around.
The surrounding walls were cracked with dense cracks under the impact of this energy, and some smaller stones fell from the ceiling, hitting the ground and raising a cloud of dust.
Soren was blasted dozens of meters away by this reaction force, but he quickly stabilized his figure, stomping hard on the ground with his feet, and rushed towards Prince Arenel again like an arrow from a bow.
He displayed the royal family's secret exquisite swordsmanship, his sword moves as smooth as flowing water, each sword carrying a fatal threat. Sometimes he thrust out a quick sword like a viper spitting its tongue, sometimes he slashed out a heavy sword like Mount Tai pressing down, making Prince Arenel exhausted to cope.
At this time, Shadow and Ada were also engaged in a fierce battle with another Saint-level expert.
Shadow relied on his ghostly speed and superb assassination skills, shuttling through the gaps in the enemy's attacks, launching unexpected counterattacks from time to time. Although he couldn't cause fatal damage to the opponent, he effectively contained the enemy.
