The morning air was slightly cool, and the grayish-blue sky still had a few sparse remnants of stars. Team Beautiful Heart was walking on the campus with Teacher Cat.

Winter mornings were particularly cold, and it was currently during the holidays. Almost no students could be seen along the way, only a few workers. Normally, no students would willingly get up and go out so early during the holidays. However, due to the information Dekan had received earlier

The unscrupulous merchant Mauleon would consistently enter a Shadow World at 7 a.m. on the first day of every even-numbered month to mock the Resurgence Church. So, on February 1st, Team Beautiful Heart wanted to step into the Void Gate leading to the Shadow Worlds at 7 a.m., attempting to match Mauleon in the same Shadow World.

The day was not fully bright yet, but the three, along with the cat, headed towards the gigantic building where the entrance to the Shadow Worlds was located. Although Croix still couldn't team up with Dekan and Cornelia this time, he had become accustomed to acting with the team during important events. When Dekan and the others entered the Shadow World, Croix would go to the observation hall to watch.

"After this match, I should be able to reach tier 4. Next time around, we can team up together," Dekan said with a somewhat helpless smile.

"Alright, you guys do your best!"

"Haah, I hope we can find Mauleon this time," Dekan sighed. Contacting the Rejoice Churchs missionary was one of their main goals in this Shadow World, but bumping into Mauleon was a matter of luck. It couldn't be guaranteed one hundred percent.

"Mauleon?" Croix furrowed his brows. Dekan suddenly realized that they hadn't informed Croix about Mauleon.

After obtaining information about Mauleon, Dekan hurriedly went to Tristin City. What followed was a big battle and a relaxed trip. When he returned, Dekan and Cornelia turned into conjoined twins for final exam review. Because of that, they hadn't had a chance to chat with Croix about the details of this Shadow World expedition.

"Forget to tell you, one of our main objectives in this Shadow World is to bump into a guy named Mauleon... Wait, your expression, could it be that you know Mauleon Hanover?" Dekan was surprised to find that Croix, who usually had a kind personality, was now gritting his teeth.

"That bastard! He once invited me to play in his territory before pretending to compassionately want to save an elf. In the end, I helped him cure the elf...," Croix spoke with some frustration, as if recalling someone who owed him money and ran away. "Who could have known that he would cause such a big disaster later! I was also considered an accomplice to some extent. Because of that, my father locked me in solitary confinement for a week..."

"Uh..." Dekan and Cornelia exchanged glances.

They recalled the story of Mauleon causing turmoil in his familys territory. Mauleon did find a miraculous healer who cured a severely ill elf, leading to a series of profitable operations. It turned out he had deceived Croix! Although Croix's actions in this incident could only be described as an act of kindness, but when considering the overall outcome, Croix became an accomplice to Mauleon's instigation of the turmoil.

Fortunately, Croix was unaware, so he only received symbolic punishment in the end.

"How do you know Mauleon? He disappeared a long time ago," Croix asked, puzzled. Both he and Mauleon were children of major noble families and had contact from an early age. Croix didn't know when Mauleon had started bothering Dekan.

"Heh, that unscrupulous merchant used sweet words to buy a batch of [Goblin Gangsters] from me at a price of 100 coins each." Dekan couldn't help but feel both angry and amused when thinking about it.

Croix: "Are you trying to recruit him into the team?"

Dekan: "Yeah, but if you don't agree, I can disregard that thought." For Dekan, Croix was a reliable partner and was more important than Mauleon.

"No, I don't mind. Just be careful. Even if Mauleon becomes a teammate, be cautious of him, and don't hesitate to deceive him when necessary!"

"Understood." Dekan and Cornelia both nodded. If necessary, they believed that capturing Mauleon could be handled more forcefully.

Since Mauleon had deceived both Dekan and Croix, they already stood on the moral high ground when facing him!

"Meow~" Teacher Cat lazily lay in Cornelia's arms and yawned.

"How much longer, meow." It was sleepy and, if not for catching the early bus for the tour, it wouldn't have wanted to wake up so early.

"Soon, soon. We'll wake you when we arrive," Dekan said, looking at the time.

This time, they needed to enter the Void Gate exactly at 7 a.m. to have a better chance of encountering Mauleon.

Cornelia gently stroked Teacher Cat's back, eliciting a comfortable sound from it.

...

Counting to the seconds, the two of them, along with Teacher Cat, finally stepped into the Void Gate precisely at 7 a.m.

Next was the familiar darkness and silence. Unlike usual, their visions quickly became clear and bright, indicating that they had entered the Shadow World directly. Previously, even fast matches in the Shadow World took a few seconds to enter. However, this time, it seemed like they had completed the match the moment they stepped into the Void Gate.

Sure enough, there were probably many Resurgence Church followers attempting to encounter Mauleon now. Dekan even suspected that, even if they couldn't meet Mauleon, most of the other challengers would be Resurgence Church followers. As such, it was no different from having a ticket to the Shadow Realm Express Rail.

[Shadow World: Secrets of the Declined Sacred Ritual]

[Tier: 6]

[Number of Challengers: 13]

[Everything happened in the southern border of the Holy Kingdom. This place is not only the southernmost part of the Holy Kingdom it was also known as the edge of the world. In this nation, the Holy Ritual Church is revered by most citizens. However, there are questioning voices and sounds of resistance. Unbeknownst, something seems to be brewing in this city-state and its neighboring town and is approaching a critical point.]

[Mission Objective 1: Survive for 10 days.]

[Mission Objectives 2 and 3 are in a locked state and need challengers to explore and obtain information to unlock.]

[Note: Harming the native inhabitants of the Shadow World recklessly or severely damaging their goodwill may lead to mission failure and trigger unimaginable consequences.]

[Remaining Time: 9 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes.]

[Due to the large size of this map and its open nature, the starting points may vary based on the identities assigned to the challengers.]