Chapter 59: Taking Flight

Chapter 59: Taking Flight Under her stunned gaze, a pair of absolutely stunning crimson-gold bone wings shot out from Carlos’s back! Crimson-gold shimmer! Beautiful bone structure! A deep, ancient aura that seemed to come from the dawn of time! All of this completely mesmerized the half-elf referee. "Wings... wings?!" She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, unable to trust what she was seeing. A Death Herald actually sprouted a pair of wings that, in theory, only seasoned Rangers might possibly develop through a stroke of luck? And in a never-before-seen bone wing form? This immediately sent the whole venue into an uproar, with the crowd gasping in amazement: "Holy smokes! Am I seeing things! What’s that on little Carlos’s back! A pair of wings? A pair of bone wings?" "Absolutely mind-blowing! How is this even possible! Isn’t he a Death Herald?" "..." Beyond the confusion, more people were blown away by the wings’ sheer magnificence. "Sweet mercy, look at that gorgeous bone color! Those perfectly balanced bone structures! That hypnotic aura!" "Oh! Those are definitely wings blessed by the gods themselves!" "I bet those bone wings can really fly!" "..." In Maze Passage #1, facing the current situation, the half-elf referee suddenly caught on to Carlos’s plan, saying with mixed emotions: "You... you wouldn’t dare..." Before she could finish her sentence, Carlos flapped his wings and took to the sky. "Catch you at Exit #1!" Looking down from above, he gave the half-elf referee a cheerful wave goodbye. Without waiting for the referee’s reaction, his bone wings beat gently with storm enhancement, and his whole body became a streak of light, soaring toward Exit #1! "He actually flew... flew away???" The half-elf referee stood there like a statue. The referee handbook sure didn’t cover contestants who could take flight! "He flew off—what am I supposed to do now?" She suddenly remembered she still had protection duties and frantically shouted: "Little Carlos, you... wait up!" Spiritual energy burst from her body as her legs became a blur, zipping past dark mist monsters and chasing after him as fast as she could. But the Crimson Maze was way too complicated. Even with her mid-tier strength, she could only watch Carlos’s airborne figure get smaller and smaller. She couldn’t help yelling frantically: "Fly! Fly slower!" ... Carlos’s one-of-a-kind approach, soaring freely through the air and making a beeline for the exit, suddenly made the crowd understand: "So that’s how you beat this thing! Little Carlos is a real brain!" "Is this about being smart? This is pure raw talent! If the others could fly, they’d be airborne too!" "I bet the organizers never figured there’d be someone who could fly among these youngsters. I’m dying to know how they’ll handle this?" The ladies in the crowd immediately got their backs up: "Handle what? Isn’t rare flight ability part of Young Master Carlos’s natural gifts? Are they going to call it cheating?" "..." Meanwhile, up on the viewing platform, the leadership was having a field day discussing Carlos’s out-of-the-box approach. "Do any of you see a problem with this young man’s way of getting through the round?" High Priest Aulina, with her full head of silver hair and very gentle manner, kicked off the discussion. "What problem could there possibly be? The rules don’t say anything about no flying! In other words, little Carlos soaring all the way through is totally within the competition rules. There’s not a thing wrong with it!" Sabina jumped in first, backing Carlos’s method. "But this is completely unfair to those kids who can’t fly!" Grand Disciplinarian Yade’s face, hard as iron, wore a dead serious expression as he voiced his objection. "I think we should make the little guy land right now and put him on the same level playing field as everyone else." The moment those words left his mouth, Sabina’s temper flared, her beautiful phoenix eyes flashing with anger: "Yade, wouldn’t forcing little Carlos to give up his flight ability be unfair to him?" Facing Sabina’s challenge, Yade didn’t budge an inch, his tone carrying a strange edge. "Doing this would at least be fair to everyone except him!" Hearing this, Sabina felt her blood boil as wisps of blood energy swirled around her body, and the pressure on the viewing platform suddenly dropped like a rock. "Are you still holding a grudge about what happened back then?" "Fairness is what I live by!" Disciplinarian Yade showed no signs of backing down as his bronze armor gave off a golden glow, his terrifying presence going toe-to-toe with Sabina’s. Just then, a clear, commanding voice cut through their standoff. "Enough! The past was settled long ago!" "Bringing it up now—are you questioning the system our predecessors put in place?" The speaker was a woman decked out in light blue ice armor. Between her strong brows was a blooming, magnificent ice flower mark that could freeze your very soul. With those words, bone-chilling cold air crashed down like thunder, instantly crushing the spreading blood energy and blinding golden light. Sabina shot the woman a look, snorted with disdain, pulled back her blood energy, and clammed up. Disciplinarian Yade simultaneously cooled his spiritual energy and hung his head in silence. This woman was none other than the half-elf Guard Captain-General, Constance! Seeing both pull back their auras, Constance withdrew her cold air and once again became like an ice sculpture, cut off from the world, silent and still. At this point, High Priest Aulina smiled warmly: "Since you all have different takes on this, let’s go with the usual seven-person vote!" "Those who think the young man’s action is perfectly fine, raise your left hand. Those who think the young man’s action is unfair, raise your right hand." "I think there’s nothing wrong with it!" Sabina immediately shot up her left hand. "I think it’s unfair!" Almost at the same time, Disciplinarian Yade raised his right hand. The tension between them cranked up another notch! High Priest Aulina turned her attention to the others, nudging them along. "What about the rest of you?" Seeing this, Sabina cleared her throat quietly, with a white card ’accidentally’ flicking from her fingertips to land in front of Raskin. The white card flashed by, showing a green-dressed woman holding a cute kid. Garrison Commander-in-Chief Raskin’s eyes were sharp and his hands were quick. The second he got a good look, his face went beet red as he hurriedly tucked away the white card. Then, without missing a beat, he raised his left hand. Now it was 2:1. Disciplinarian Yade sensed he was in hot water and slightly turned his body, quietly holding up two fingers toward Warden Clementine. Warden Clementine half-closed her eyes, shook her head, and held up five skinny finger bones. Disciplinarian Yade’s eye twitched as he held up three fingers with steely determination—this was his final offer. Warden Clementine outwardly acted reluctant but nodded in agreement, while inwardly she was doing cartwheels with joy. She could actually get three hundred human traitors—this was highway robbery in her favor. Without hesitation, she raised her right hand. 2:2 deadlock! Before Disciplinarian Yade could catch his breath, he saw Sabina calmly pull out a black card and ’casually’ show it to Marcellus. It showed a small bat with eight heads. Monster Research Institute Director Marcellus’s alchemical eye whirred as it spun. He pretended to mull it over for a moment, then righteously raised his left hand. 3:2! This was bad news! Disciplinarian Yade immediately started horse-trading with Covert Operations Chief Warner. They finally struck a deal at three fingers. Covert Operations Chief Warner, a little old guy hidden under a black robe, stuck out his right hand. 3:3, deadlocked again!