Earth Dome is similar to the Earth Wall that Ticka proposed to use against the fire the other day in that it creates a construct of something between dirt and stone. The difference between them and the reason they are separate spells is the complexity in creating a dome that doesn't collapse in on itself immediately after construction.

That was why Nia needed to focus and someone to protect her from the unknown monster while she focused.

As Alec watched Nia focus on drawing the spell formation, he couldn't help but think that this was an awfully roundabout way of doing things just because they couldn't find the monster with their current abilities.

But it should be the safest option as long as his Simple Barriers could hold up.

Otherwise, they would have to scour the entire hall for the monster that could be the size of a finger or smaller.

Nia had failed more times than she had succeeded when practicing Earth Dome. But this wasn't practice. It was the moment she had practiced for. Victoria and Ticka were watching her. She could not fail here.

Gradually, the spell formation neared completion.

Another needle struck the barrier with a thwang. Nia couldn't help but flinch, and her spell formation flickered.

"Focus." Alec's calm voice helped ease Nia's nerves, and she completed the Earth Dome. She even managed to tricky part, which was to place it against the wall so that it shielded the wooden tags.

She exhaled a deep breath when she finished.

"Well done," Alec complimented her.

Nia just nodded.

In the time she had done that, Victoria had sealed the other four entrances to the ceremonial hall with ice that looked like it wouldn't melt even if Miteria's two suns were to appear before it.

She had a long way to go if she wanted to offer Victoria real support.

Maura started casting her Fireballs toward the far side of the room as Alec and Nia made their way back.

Victoria was specialized in ice, and Nia and Ticka were both earth mages who didn't have the leeway to learn other spells at the moment. Madelynn was a Warrior.

The only one who could help her was Alec.

Once everyone else except Victoria was behind them, they both switched to Flamethrower and poured a stream of fire onto the floor.

With nothing to burn, the flames would die out soon, but not without robbing the place of its air and filling it with heat, especially if they poured out enough fire to fill a swimming pool.

The heat was starting to become too much for them, and a lot of it was escaping through the chamber, so Victoria gave them the signal by beginning to cast her own spell.

A few moments later, an ice wall separated the group from the overwhelming inferno on the other side. The orange light flickered and danced on the blue canvas, creating moving cave paintings of a magical nature.

It was mesmerizing, but the only one who seemed to appreciate it was Maura.

The others were busy thinking.

After a while, the flames inside the hall died down.

Victoria waited a minute after it went dark before removing her ice wall. The air behind them surged forward like a tidal wave, almost knocking Nia and Ticka off their feet. The next moment, it went the other way, having expanded upon contact with the heat in the room.

'Is this what being a fish is like?' Alec asked himself, the currents pulling him back and forth, while seaweed in the form of hair slapped his face.

Slowly, they crept forward to inspect the room.

The entire floor was scorched and covered in soot. It had reached most of the walls as well.

"It has to be dead now, right?" Ticka asked, fanning her face with her hand due to the heat.

'That's a flag if I've ever heard one.' Alec looked around. Finding a burnt corpse in the charred hall would be difficult.

Alec sniffed the air like a dog.

'Is it because I ate so much last night?' He couldn't smell the scent of a barbecued monster. But then again, if it were a small insect, how much could it possibly smell in such a large room?

"I do not see anything that could be considered the monster's remains, My Lady," Madelynn said with a grim expression. But that was the same expression she had worn since Alec first saw her, so it didn't necessarily mean anything.

"Well, duh. It is nothing more than ashes now. Are we done here? Can we take our tags and leave?" Ticka said impatiently.

Alec was frowning too deeply while thinking to hear what Ticka was saying.

'What was it…?' There was something about Madelynn's words that tickled the back of his brain.

Unintentionally, he crossed his arms like Ticka.

He was so deep in thought, looking through the records in [Reader], that he didn't hear the others call his name until Maura poked his side with a sharp finger.

"Alec!"

"Yes?" He looked around and noticed the others staring at him.

"Is something wrong?" Victoria asked patiently.

Alec could tell that Ticka wanted him to say that it was nothing.

"It feels like something isn't adding up."

"What would that be?"

"The monster hiding in here killed all those spiders, but it didn't eat them. I also assumed that the stage two spider ended up on the floor because it was too heavy to remain on the ceiling, even when paralyzed, but what if that wasn't the case?

"Also, for a monster that could kill a stage two spider, didn't the needles it fired seem pretty weak? Sure, they're dangerous if they hit, but you noticed it in time, Lady Victoria. Wouldn't that stage two spider have noticed it as well?"

"Get to the point already!" Ticka urged.

"Wasn't there also a pretty significant delay between each needle?"

"A monster who relied on poison needles like that would have had more powerful attacks that didn't take several minutes to launch," Victoria said, a crease interfering with her otherwise immaculate skin on her brow.

"I think I was wrong," Alec admitted while looking around.

The floor was charred. The walls were charred. There was no place for a monster to hide in the open space.

…With one exception.

Slowly, Alec looked toward the ceiling.

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