"Putting it to sleep without killing it, and the longer, the better?"

"..."

"Ronald, you've certainly taken on quite the task for yourself!"

Upon hearing the situation.

Even Nicole, who always maintained an open mind, now showed an expression of unease.

"We can't kill it, and we need to keep it in a state of slumber. And we only have two weeks to accomplish all of this?"

"Oh my gosh!"

"This creature is huge—that's beside the point—but in just two weeks, where on earth can we find a sealing magician capable of executing such a task?"

Despite her expression seeming somewhat close to despair, every concern Nicole voiced needed addressing.

Facing the worries of the investigator girl at this moment.

Ronald responded with a somewhat subtle expression.

Before setting off, he had assessed the condition of this dusty giant beast, but he hadn't expected the situation at the actual location to be his worst-case scenario.

The situation indeed posed challenges, but thankfully they were solvable.

"Wait a minute!"

Nicole was already constantly watching Ronald's expression.

When she saw him unfazed by the circumstances, the investigator girl immediately realized a possibility.

"Ronald, your expression... does it mean you already have a solution to this problem?"

At this point, Nicole was both surprised and incredulous.

The answer to the problem in front of them naturally involved the sealing skill.

But it must be noted—on the mysterious side, sealing spells have always been synonymous with rarity and sophistication because many original scriptures do not provide such types of techniques at all.

Even some well-known large schools are also constrained under such conditions, leading to deficiencies in this area. Under this scenario, some people might even think of some compromise methods to make spells that don't inherently have a sealing effect achieve a similar effect in specific situations.

And Ronald?

Nicole was quite familiar with this man's situation.

In Berenwitch, he was still a newcomer on the mysterious side, and after more than half a year, Nicole could completely acknowledge Ronald's rapid progress in strength.

But to say within such a short time,

not only did his strength improve rapidly to such an extent, but he also solved his and the investigation bureau's difficult constitution issue, and now he can even casually use such rare sealing spells...

Nicole found it truly incomprehensible.

At the same time, Ronald clearly sensed Nicole's astonishment.

But... how should he put it?

Ronald's experience in this area was very nuanced, too.

Under normal circumstances, dealing with this dusty giant beast would indeed be quite challenging.

But due to some curious actions on his part previously,

he unexpectedly had something in his possession today that, while dangerous, was quite useful in tackling the current situation!

With this in mind, a glow symbolizing an original scripture flashed across the back of Ronald's hand.

After a book-like mark disappeared, he took hold of a rarely-used original scripture.

—"Maze Picture Book"

At the beginning of Spring Night's decisive battle, when Ronald and Patricia were chasing the caster of the "Nine Commandments Meeting," the opponent activated the Complete Technique of this original scripture, trapping both parties in a maze created by the "Maze Picture Book."

From the essence of the results achieved,

the magical capabilities of this scripture truly belong to the type of sealing skill.

The only issue is, if the caster sets the game's victory reward—the duration of the seal—to be extremely long, then the difficulty of the game would correspondingly increase, accompanied by inherent dangers.

Back then, the caster of the "Nine Commandments Meeting" set the spell's duration to twenty-four hours just to delay Ronald and Patricia's pursuit.

And now, facing the dusty giant beast...

Ronald naturally intended to ramp up the game's difficulty and stretch the seal's duration to a very high extent.

"..."

The man's actions in taking out the original scripture were incredibly smooth.

And in Ronald's embrace, seeing this scene, Nicole's expression went blank:

"What? What is this now?"

"Ronald, don't tell me you have other original scriptures on you?"

"..."

"This was acquired after defeating the caster of the 'Nine Commandments Meeting,'" Ronald casually dodged a topic that might send Nicole spiraling emotionally, then went on to introduce the origin and function of the scripture.

"Nicole, let me clarify something first."

"The spells in this original scripture can't guarantee our 100% safety. If we fail, we might end up sealing ourselves instead."

"It's extremely dangerous!"

Nicole answered Ronald's inquiry with a smile:

"Ronald, do you think I'm someone who would back down at a time like this!"

"Come on, I never carry fear with me!"

"..."

"Let me summarize quickly."

"Afterwards, we'll be locked out of normal martial measures and engage in a maze chase game here."

"The winner takes all. It's that simple."

Receiving such a response, Ronald briefly reminded Nicole of the principles of the "Maze Picture Book."

Then, he no longer hesitated, generously flipping open the original scripture before the investigator girl and, like the caster from the "Nine Commandments Meeting," chanted the brief and convenient incantation on it:

"Catch me if you can, detective!"

"..."

Whish—

In an instant, the immense Magic Power of the Complete Technique expanded swiftly inside this underground space.

Ronald could see the 'white lake' below them react intensely at this moment. Clearly, the sudden emergence of such a powerful Magic Power source nearby prompted the dormant dusty giant beast to soon react.

But it was all too late.

Before the dusty giant beast could awaken, the original scripture's capability was deployed at lightning speed.

The scene before them quickly transformed.

The familiar game start prompt also sounded in the ears of Ronald and Nicole:

"The fun maze game is officially underway—"

"A maze prohibiting all violent actions based on the target's location is established. We wish everyone showcases their wisdom and observational skills to enjoy this puzzle-solving adventure game."

"Escape Objective:

—Successfully escape the Arctic continent before being caught by the pursuer."

Success Reward:

—After the game concludes, the pursuer returns to the starting position, losing action ability for one hundred years."

"Pursuer Objective:

—Catch up to the escapee before they leave the Arctic continent."

Success Reward:

—After the game concludes, both pursuer and escapee return to the starting position, with the escapee losing action ability for one hundred years."