The moment Noah reopened his eyes, his keen senses immediately picked up on a subtle anomaly.

Within the scope of Noah's senses, everything seemed devoid of life, imbued with the aura of ashes.

He opened his eyes.

What greeted his sight was an immensely vast and sprawling city.

Yet, it was no ordinary metropolis, but an ancient city, deeply marked by the passage of time, as if long forsaken.

The sky above was a dull, lusterless grey-black.

All around stood structures built from colossal stones, resembling ancient sacrificial temples.

Debris of stone and crumbling tiles lay piled high, like mountains of ruins.

The very ground appeared weathered and brittle, crisscrossed with cracks.

This desolate city rested amidst a forest teeming with strangely shaped trees, as if it had existed since the dawn of the world itself, its every corner permeated with an ancient aura.

And yet, within that ancient essence, not the slightest hint of vitality could be sensed.

In the Elemental Spirit Realm, Spirits were supposed to be omnipresent, thriving in every conceivable environment.

Yet, within this ruined city, Noah could not detect the aura of a single Spirit.

"No wonder this place is dubbed the 'Ruined City'," he mused, "have even the Spirits forsaken life here?"

This was an utterly astonishing anomaly.

For even in the most desolate of places, logically, Spirits ought to exist.

For instance, Poison Spirits favored residing in swamps.

Likewise, in barren deserts, Fire Spirits and those accustomed to scorching environments would also make their homes.

In the Elemental Spirit Realm, the myriad species of Spirits covered virtually every corner of existence.

The complete absence of even a single Spirit was, unequivocally, an incredibly bizarre phenomenon.

"However, I can't rule out the possibility that Spirits only appear here at night."

With that thought, Noah lightly patted his cheek.

"This is no time for archaeological musings," he declared, "it's time to execute the plan of action decided yesterday."

Having spoken, Noah raised a hand high towards the gloomy sky.

"Ohm—!"

A surge of immense magical energy instantly erupted from Noah's body, transforming into a sweeping gale that churned up dust and debris, swirling like a vortex with Noah at its epicenter.

"Clang—!"

An incredibly complex and profound geometric magic array suddenly flickered into existence before Noah's uplifted, skyward-pointing hand, radiating a faint, ethereal glow.

The immense magical energy surging from Noah's being instantly transformed into currents of power, channeling into the magic array.

Swiftly, as the vast magic power poured in, the intricate and profound geometric magic array began to expand, bit by bit, until it reached a diameter of several tens of meters.

"This should suffice," Noah murmured, then abruptly began to chant.

"Cast—!"

The colossal, swirling magic array suddenly came to a standstill.

The next instant, an enormous pillar of light erupted skyward, lancing towards the heavens. Amidst a sudden tremor in the atmosphere, it tore through the grey-black cloud cover with a thunderous roar, illuminating the entirety of the somber, ruined city.

During the Spirit Sword Dance Festival, Noah had only used his "magic cannon" technique at the very beginning, when he located the "Purgatory Apostles" and exchanged rather unfriendly greetings with their Spirit Users. After that, he hadn't used it again.

After all, in the Elemental Spirit Realm, Spirit Users could transmute Spirit Armaments and even Spirit Magic into pure divine might, striking directly at an opponent's spirit rather than inflicting physical harm.

However, Noah's magic cannon did not fall into that category.

It wasn't a Spirit Magic cannon; once unleashed, it would only cause direct physical damage.

That was why Noah had consistently refrained from using his magic cannon throughout the Spirit Sword Dance Festival.

Even in the finals, he surmised, a magic cannon would likely have been of no practical use.

But at this very moment, Noah required the magic cannon for a specific purpose.

That purpose was to illuminate the way for his companions.

In that instant, the colossal pillar of magical light, piercing the sky as if connecting heaven and earth, immediately drew the attention of every Spirit User who had been teleported into this ancient city.

"Is it there?"

Before a crumbling structure, Ellis gazed at the immense pillar of magical light soaring skyward, gripping the Spirit Armament in her hand, and promptly headed in a specific direction.

"That fellow, he really did something so extravagant."

In a deserted alleyway, Claire, wielding her flame whip, likewise set off in the same direction.

"Among everyone, I possess the weakest combat prowess; I must quickly reunite with my companions."

Along a path enshrouded by shadows of trees, Fianna, her expression tense yet resolute, hastened forward.

Upon closer observation, one would discover.

The direction the three young women were heading was precisely the same.

It was precisely Noah's predetermined course of action.

After being teleported into the ruined city, Noah would immediately unleash his most conspicuous technique skyward, ensuring everyone could witness it.

At that point, everyone was to proceed to a location two hundred meters north of this beacon.

There, with the exception of Noah, the young women would regroup and act collectively.

As for why they weren't to converge directly at the pillar of light, but rather two hundred meters north, the reason was exceedingly simple.

Using such an obvious method of guidance, the alerted individuals would certainly not be limited to Claire, Rinslet, Fianna, and Ellis alone.

All Spirit Users who witnessed the colossal pillar of light piercing the heavens, after a moment's hesitation, either headed directly for its source or, feeling apprehensive, chose to bypass it.

In such a scenario, if the young women were to head straight for the beacon, they would surely encounter other Spirit User teams and be drawn into battle.

Hence, they could not directly approach the pillar's origin point.

This was the meticulously crafted plan of action Noah had devised.

It was precisely because of these specific details that the group of young women had deemed the method reckless and dangerous.

However, Noah possessed strength far surpassing that of ordinary individuals.

Even if a Spirit User were to track the colossal pillar of light and arrive at his location, they would merely be delivering magic stones to Noah.

There was, however, only one thing Noah had miscalculated.

And that was, not everyone could actually witness the immense pillar of magical energy that seemed to connect heaven and earth.

Deep within an underground labyrinth, Rinslet stared blankly at the stone walls surrounding her on all sides and the intricate, winding paths before her. After a moment, she let out a groan.

"Where *is* this place?!"

...

"Ohm..."

Amidst the gradually fading hum of vibrating air, the colossal pillar of magical light that had pierced the sky began to dim, little by little. Finally, it condensed into a single streak of light, vanishing into thin air.

Concurrently, the immense geometric magic array also slowly retracted, until it too vanished without a trace.

"Hoo..."

Noah let out a soft sigh, murmuring to himself.

"So, for now, there shouldn't be any issues, should there?"

By now, the Spirit Users within his team should have all proceeded to their predetermined meeting point.

As for the Spirit Users from other teams, there would certainly be some heading in this direction as well.

According to the plan, Noah was the only one who wasn't required to move to the rallying point.

This was because Noah could simply stand his ground, awaiting others to deliver magic stones directly to him.

"However, those wary of this being a trap should be numerous; it's unlikely many will come directly here," Noah mumbled aloud.

"Except for a select few."

No sooner had these words left Noah's lips than the sound of wings beating against the air resonated high above.

Noah looked up, gazing into the sky.

There, a colossal, jet-black dragon soared into view, halting only when it hovered directly before Noah.

"It appears my luck is exceptionally good."

As that voice rang out, from the back of the jet-black dragon, the Princess of the Dracunia Dragon Duchy, Leonora, fixed her gaze upon Noah, her eyes burning with fervent battle intent.

"Is this, perhaps, the Dragon King's blessing?"

"Is it?" Noah replied with an indifferent smile.

"Are you certain your luck isn't, in fact, the worst?"

"If by 'bad luck' you refer to encountering *you*..." Leonora's exquisite and lovely face broke into a subtly valiant smile.

"My apologies, but I believe my luck is quite good."

As her words concluded, the jet-black dragon hovering mid-air instantly opened its fearsome maw, within which a surge of immense, dark flames abruptly swelled.

Immediately thereafter, the dark flames transformed into a descending torrent of fiery breath, streaking towards Noah like a burning meteor.

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