The dust danced on the street, obstructing the view.

The continuous collapse of buildings made the air in this area chaotic. The noise and subsequent impact caused by the buildings and trees falling intertwined at this moment, making it seem as if there wasn't a single safe place around.

And then it happened here.

Ronald and Catherine halted their advance together.

The two stood still, staring solemnly in the direction of the collapsing building, carefully listening to the sounds coming from there.

Amidst the rumbling, a painful cry could be faintly heard.

In the maze world, there were no other beings; the source of this sound could only be their enemy.

Ronald's expression lightened up; his calculations were spot on.

The invisible enemy, while knocking down the treehouse and preparing to move to the next location to alter the maze environment, was abruptly crushed beneath a building it had not demolished itself.

The current scream proved the success of Ronald's plan.

Catherine, who also heard the noise, had her icy expression changed:

"Listening to that sound—it seems to have been smashed quite badly?"

"If I were it, knocked down by the domino effect of things it destroyed and ultimately crushed underneath, I'd find a hidden place to bury myself!"

Things were just as Catherine described.

The direction Ronald led them in actually had a very hidden purpose.

In this area, they wandered back and forth, corresponding to the enemy continually destroying nearby buildings and trees. As the collapsed buildings became quite dense, some ruins naturally formed pocket-shaped terrains.

These could also serve as traps.

It was also the position where Ronald, by constantly changing directions, finally lured the enemy.

The invisible enemy had knocked down a building just now, not only blocking Ronald and Catherine's path.

As the building fell, it also brought down the last towering and massive treehouse nearby into this soon-to-be-sealed pocket.

At this moment, the enemy was trapped inside this pocket of ruins, with no room to escape.

Everything went exactly as Ronald had planned.

Ronald clearly understood that in the world of the "Maze Illustrations," they could not use force to deal with such an enemy. Hence, the best way to solve the problem was to utilize the maze itself.

By setting traps using the maze and the enemy's own actions, it eventually entangled itself.

This was the plan Ronald presented.

Now that the plan succeeded and the enemy was trapped in the rubble, Ronald felt encouraged, yet remained cautious, moving forward non-stop:

"Alright, Catherine, let's keep going!"

"Although the ruins crushed this thing, we can't ensure it will stay trapped, so let's hurry up and move on!"

"You're really cautious." Catherine immediately followed up, acknowledging Ronald's plan, but had some doubts, "But Ronald, there's one thing I'm curious about—when it destroyed buildings, it could move in any direction. How can you be sure it would definitely fall into this pocket-shaped trap?"

Ronald straightforwardly explained:

"Remember the key information I mentioned in the treehouse? With limited time before, I hadn't talked about the last point—that is, this thing remained hidden throughout, never confronting us directly."

Catherine suddenly understood, realizing the critical part of Ronald's plan:

"To avoid us, so when it knocked down buildings or trees, it must've been from a direction we couldn't see. By making corresponding plans, you can somewhat control its position!"

Ronald nodded in confirmation:

"That's right, that's how it was practically done."

"..." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Catherine was somewhat surprised, temporarily at a loss for words.

Although Ronald spoke lightly, she knew how difficult this operation truly was. Especially given the short time they had, coming up with and executing such a plan was not something an ordinary person could accomplish.

"Ronald, you really are..."

Crack, boom——

Suddenly, explosive sounds came from behind them.

Without turning back, Ronald and Catherine knew the sound came from the trap they just set up.

The situation was dire.

The thing underneath the rubble was attempting to escape.

As it moved, stones and broken wood flew up from the ruins, then fell back to the ground in all directions.

Despite being crushed by a massive building, severely injured,

this creature hadn't lost its ability to act. Instead, it immediately started to struggle, trying with all its might to break free, intending to stop Ronald and Catherine from getting closer to the city's center.

"Catherine, let's move quickly!"

Ronald frowned, knowing there was no time to hesitate, and dashed forward.

The trap set this time was his last plan.

Finding another effective solution right now would be quite challenging.

In his view, the only thing left was to use the distance advantage they obtained and race against the creature.

However, after running only a few steps, Ronald noticed something strange.

On the road leading to the city's center, only his own footsteps could be heard, with no sound of Catherine moving!

Ronald turned his head to look.

He noticed that the master of the astronomer's tower wasn't following him.

Catherine, holding some large wooden stick she picked up from somewhere, was walking in the opposite direction of Ronald.

That was where the constant rumbling of the creature was emanating from!

"Catherine, what are you doing?" Ronald shouted loudly.

"Can't let you hog all the glory, can I?" Catherine just turned her head, showing a fierce grin, "Honestly, I've been holding a grudge against this thing for a while now!"

"Ronald, you know what the right decision is now, don't interrupt me."

The next second, the girl's silhouette disappeared amidst the swirling dust.

"..."

Ronald was silent for a moment on the other side, then turned and ran directly toward the city's center.

Catherine was venting her emotions, but also buying them time. Based on how the creature kept destroying surrounding buildings and trees, it was clear they couldn't outrun it.

If they don't want to lose the last chance for victory,

one of them should turn back to intercept the creature, while the other hastens toward the city's center, which is clearly a more reasonable approach.

Between Ronald and Catherine,

with Catherine having clearly superior physical abilities, she was undoubtedly the right choice to delay the enemy's approach.

Ronald couldn't express what he felt in his heart at this moment.

He couldn't even tell if Catherine was genuinely unable to control her rage or if she was facing danger willingly for their ultimate victory.