Alsen was completely terrified out of his wits.

He fully believed that whether it was Charlotte or Margaret, they could torture him in various creative ways.

Moreover, they had plenty of methods to make him shut up afterward, so if he really suffered torture, he could only accept it.

"I swear to the goddess, I really saw where Sophia moved the flag!"

For devout believers of the goddess, swearing to the deity was quite a serious matter.

"Is that so?"

Charlotte lifted Alsen's chin with the tip of her knife, still looking unconvinced.

"Really!" Alsen was going crazy. "What exactly do I need to do for you to believe me?"

Charlotte finally put away her dagger and looked back at Margaret.

"I think this is about enough. What do you think, Margaret?"

Margaret finally nodded and said to Charlotte: "Let him down."

Alsen's limbs had lost all strength from fear. As the ropes were cut by the dagger and his body was freed from restraint, he fell to his knees with a thud beside Margaret's feet.

"Get up, you spineless fool!"

Margaret angrily kicked Alsen again.

"Stop dawdling and lead the way quickly!"

If this dragged on any longer, it would be getting dark.

"Yes!!"

Knowing he had finally passed the test, Alsen scrambled to the front of the formation.

"Please follow me!"

Under Alsen's guidance, the red team headed deeper into the mountain forest, gradually arriving at a forested area with more complex terrain.

"Stop!"

Margaret suddenly raised her hand, calling for the team behind her to halt.

She squinted her eyes, looking ahead.

Through the sparse grove of trees, Margaret saw a blue flagpole planted in the center with a flag flying, as if beckoning to her.

Beside the flagpole sat a waist-high stone, and a girl with light ash-gray long hair sat alone on the stone, hands resting on her knees, legs crossed, leisurely enjoying the nearby scenery.

Noticing the red team's approach, Celitia turned her head and smiled at Margaret from afar:

"Welcome, Margaret. I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Margaret's brow instantly furrowed.

"Test whether that flag is real or fake!"

Without Margaret needing to say more, Charlotte had already raised her magic wand and cast a detection spell.

White light fell on the flag, and Celitia made no movement, allowing Charlotte to perform an illusion check on the flag.

"Margaret, there are no traces of illusion. This time it seems to be real."

After the detection ended, Charlotte could hardly believe the results herself.

"How is that possible?"

Margaret was also incredulous.

Beside the flag, there was no one except Celitia.

That is to say, Celitia was alone with the real flag, waiting for them here?

Margaret grabbed Alsen by the collar and roared at him:

"You're in cahoots with them, aren't you? What trap have you arranged for us this time?!"

With his neck constricted by the collar, Alsen couldn't breathe and tried to explain with rolling eyes:

"I... don't know... but the flag... is real... absolutely real..."

Knowing that pressing Alsen further wouldn't yield anything, Margaret threw him roughly to the ground and kicked him far away.

Carefully observing the surrounding situation, Margaret hesitated to send anyone to attack.

The terrain here was more complex, with dense bushes all around, scattered strange rocks, and unknown depths.

Margaret didn't know if there was another bunch of people hiding around, waiting for them to fall into a trap.

Having already suffered once, Margaret was now extremely cautious.

"What's wrong?"

The girl's voice drifted over with the wind from afar.

"I've been waiting here for you so long, yet you don't even dare to come over?"

"Who says we don't dare come over?"

Charlotte got angry just seeing Celitia's "smug" face and turned to Margaret:

"Margaret, we have more people. Even if they have an ambush, as long as that flag is real, we have a complete chance to seize it!"

"Wait, don't act rashly!"

Margaret was truly traumatized by being trapped.

She now suspected that Alsen was deliberately released by Celitia, with the purpose of luring them here.

If so, this place definitely had something fishy about it.

Moreover, the terrain here looked even more suitable for setting traps than the previous location.

Adding in the time spent resting and traveling, there might be even more complete ambushes waiting for them than before.

Margaret's suspicion reached its peak at this moment.

Only a fool would step into a trap knowing it was there.

After thinking for a while, Margaret waved her hand:

"Retreat first! We'll regroup in open terrain. I don't believe they can hide there forever!"

Charlotte was extremely unwilling:

"Look at that woman, sitting so arrogantly alone under the flag, and you're telling me to retreat?!"

"That's exactly why there's a problem!" Margaret said. "I know you want to slap her face, but we can't be hasty now!"

"Once we win, won't we be able to make her pack up and get lost?"

Hearing this, Charlotte felt Margaret made some sense and could only shut her mouth in great anger.

The red team retreated to open ground behind them, maintaining a safe distance from the blue flag.

Celitia just smiled and watched them from afar, occasionally looking up at the sky.

Not long after, suddenly someone rushed over from the distance and ran to Margaret's side.

"Lady Margaret! The rear, the rear is under attack!"

This red team member ran breathlessly, with several wounds on his body and clothes torn by branches and bushes.

"What happened?"

Margaret suddenly stood up and supported the team member. "Don't rush, explain slowly!"

While saying not to rush, Margaret was actually very anxious, with an increasingly ominous premonition in her heart.

"There's a spy in the team who leaked our stronghold's location!"

The team member took a sharp breath and said hurriedly, "Princess Sophia brought four people to raid our stronghold. Their combat ability is very strong, we can't match them and can only barely hold on!"

"I knew it!"

Margaret's voice tore through the sky, shrill to the point of changing pitch.

Sending Celitia as bait, setting up ambushes around, dragging them here, while actually sending the most elite people to attack her rear!

Fortunately she hadn't fallen for it, otherwise if they had really been held up here by Celitia, there would have been no chance for rescue!

Margaret gritted her teeth, thinking that while Sophia usually appeared to lack schemes, she was actually so cunning!

"Go, everyone return to defend the stronghold!"

Margaret ordered all team members, "As long as we can capture Sophia, we'll have won most of this battle!"

The red team members hurried back to their stronghold along the path they came.

They could already see the red flag flying and hear the sounds of battle not far away, and Margaret's heart was mostly at ease.

"Listen up, capture Sophia—huh?!"

Light yellow glow rose from beneath their feet, and a familiar gravitational restraint bound their entire bodies.

"Damn it!!"

Completely forgetting noble demeanor, Margaret swore for the first time in a while.

They had fallen into another trap!!