Brand New Life Online: Rise Of The Goddess Of Harvest

"The Hall of Torture?!" Rita panicked. "I-It really looks like it will be a torture for my ankles…"

"It looks like a playground, but everything's filled with deadly traps!" Laughed Laplace, very proud of his own creation. "Aren't you amazed?! Aren't you terrified?! Lady Dorothea never recognizes my genius designing talent! But you seem surprised!"

"I-It really does look quite dangerous." Mark sighed. "So we have to cross this? Maybe if we just fly using the broom…"

"No flying!" Laplace said. "That is the one and only rule! You cannot fly across any traps, you must go through them, however you can, but you MUST! Kukuku~!" The little Jester began to laugh maniacally.

"That's the only rule? To not fly?" Elayne asked, her eyes showing clear horror and fear!

"That's right! Hehehe! I can see you're terrified!" Laplace laughed.

However, the mood of Elayne quickly changed, smiling confidently.

"I see, so the only rule is not flying, you cannot disobey the rules you already set, isn't it?" Elayne smiled.

"H-Huh? What?" Laplace was confused. "Well… I can't. It is already set in stone!"

"Good." Elayne nodded, hitting the floor with her shovel. "[Wooden Shield]!"

FLUOOOSH!

Suddenly, Elayne conjured a large quantity of Wooden Shields, which she rearranged across the entire area, the deep pit below, covered on sharp spikes was covered on this wood, generating a huge and safe bridge to the other side.

There were huge Teddy Bears named Teddy Bear Sentinels, but they were completely ignored as Elayne set up a bridge. Looking at her friends.

"Let's go then! No flying as he said." She smiled confidently.

"T-That's right, that was the only rule." Mark smiled.

"Heh, serves you right dumbass." Rita smiled, pointing her gun at the Teddy Bear Sentinels. "I'll shoot down these guys for the Magic Crystals!"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

While leisurely walking across the bridge, Rita shoot down the bear sentinels from far away, who were completely incapable of fighting back from such a long distance, and brought them over by using long, Shadow Tentacles. Elayne quickly stored the magic crystals.

"We're here!" Lily smiled. "Phew, that was easy."

The entire group reached the other side in just five minutes and were already in front of the door leading to the next trial. Although they were incapable of seeing what face Laplace was making, the sound of his clenching fists and his legs hitting the ceiling could be heard very clearly.

"Y-You cheaters! That's not FAIR! You can't just ignore the traps!" Laplace started to complain like a little child.

"You didn't specify the rules." Said Elayne. "You only said: "Do not fly"… We didn't fly, and we crossed over, we played alongside your own rules."

"T-That's…!" Laplace suddenly stopped complaining and sighed.

It seemed he was indeed chained to his own self-made rules, as if the entire dungeon was like a playground, whenever he set a rule, it had to be obeyed, but also his lack of insight made it so there were many loopholes one could abuse if they played with words well enough.

Or so, this was Elayne's idea to win against someone that could turn them into dolls…

"I guess you won fair and square…" Laplace sighed, crossing his arms. "I admit your damn wits! But that doesn't mean the next trial will be easy either! A-And I've decided to change the rules a bit, it will be made of three different trials!"

"You can't do that though." Elayne stopped him. "You would be violating your already preset rules of saying that there are only three trials."

"Yeah, she's right." Mark nodded. "You're ignoring your own rules by changing the third trial to be composed of three more trials, that would make it five trials in total! You did not set a rule regarding this."

"T-That's right…!" Laplace was shocked that he couldn't fool them. "T-Then…!"

"But how about a deal?" Elayne giggled. "Right, Mark?"

"Yeah." Mark nodded. "Let's see… We'll do your three trials, and then let's make a fourth one. You like them, right? So let's make a fourth trial. In this trial, it will be a battle. We'll fight against one another. You cannot use tricks like turning people into dolls, and you'll be putting your life on the line, just like us."

"Eh?! A fourth trial… a battle?!" Laplace started to laugh. "You are too arrogant to think you can win against me in a battle! But fine, let's do that! I abide to your rules as well, and through our agreement, the previous rules have been changed!"

FLAAAASH!

A flash of pink light spread across the entire space, as if the rules of reality themselves changed. The Great Spirit was right all along, Laplace was some sort of Spirit of Dreams, and this entire reality could be considered a dream he manipulated, but somehow, perhaps to control him, Dorothea had forced him to obey "rules".

"The Rules have changed…" Laplace laughed. "Now, my dear guests, step into the next three trials if you're brave enough! Haahahahahah!"

"Uwaah! So smart, Elayne! I never thought this could be abused like that!" Lily said. "But I'm a bit worried… Won't he get ahead of himself and give us something insane as a trial?"

"We have to just bear through it, however we can." Elayne sighed. "Let's go, together!"

"Alright, fine…" Rita sighed. "You better invite me to a cold beer and some nachos later! Once we get your girl and the rest of the girls trapped here to safety."

"I-I don't think this is the time to talk about this…" Mark sighed. "Let's concentrate in the next trial, everyone."

"Yeah Rita, stop thinking about beer, let's go." Elayne said.

"Eh?! It's my way of coping! I mean look at this place! We're in an insane clown castle of nightmares!" Rita cried. "You better promise me that beer!"

"Fine, fine…" Elayne sighed, as they stepped into the next door.

And what greeted them was… a huge pitch-black hole, and the other door to the end of this hole.

"Welcome to the true third trial! The rules are… You can't fly, nor you can make bridges!" Laughed Laplace. "Hahaha! I got you now! Fall to your demise!"