Ignatia hugged Flor closely and looked at the group that appeared from the portal. They were the second-to-last group to leave and one of the only two groups to choose the easiest difficulty.
The had, to their surprise, all 30 people. However, seven of them were barely hanging on by a thread.
Among them, Ashylle and Kaelen, the two leaders, looked extrely sorry. Both crowkin had their wings missing, their fleas sliced and chewed up in several locations. The other five heavily injured participants could walk by themselves, but their phoers reserves were lowered to 20%.
Arven couldn't believe it. "You… didn't your group enter the easiest difficulty? How did you end up in such a sorry state?"
Glasira spoke up, her face complicated. "The difficulty is not that great. The gimmick of the first realm took us by surprise and heavily injured most of us. We managed to beat the first wave, but barely healed back to a healthy state. Only then did we decide to leave the . After all, with proper preparation is more than possible to overco it. Risking more would not be sothing we should do."
Arven crossed his arms and sighed. "Understood. Tell now how your wing functioned. It seems that it will be the one that we will be entering from now on."
Glasira nodded and proceeded to explain while the healers and Life Trees recovered the heavily injured group back up to health.
She described everything, from the very beginning. No one interrupted in case she ford any personal ideas that the rest didn't share.
There was nothing as such, and soon, she arrived at the at of the matter. "...and after settling down in the lesser replica of the Golden Sap Forest, we gathered so information. Soon, however, the first wave arrived. The monsters in the first portal are not that powerful, ranging from Level 100 to Level 120."
Here, she paused. "The scary thing is the actual portals."
Arven frowned. "The portals?"
Glasira nodded, her spiritual body flowing ethereally. "The has the ability to create portals that attack the mind. These portals show dear people in your life in danger, and even when you know that they are just illusions, they tempt you." Glasira frowned, recalled the uncomfortable feeling. "It's as if the knows your most secret fear and shows it there, pulling you in like the song of an alluring ."
When she said that, she recalled Liu Shu's family and smiled apologetically at Verdantia, Flor, and the others. "I ant it figuratively. Sorry if that offended you."
Verdantia chuckled. "There is no need to apologize; you are right to use that comparison like that." Still, Verdantia couldn't help but ask. "You said you saw a smaller Liu'er inside?"
"Not only a smaller one, but also a larger one." Glasira sighed, recalling the World Tree outside the cathedral. "I think that World Tree is sohow connected with Lady Heavenly Willow. It's a hunch, but I am not sure as well."
Everyone got thoughtful. Arven spoke up. "Since the Verdant Pathfinders are still inside, they probably managed to properly resist the pull of those portals. They might be the only group that successfully defeats a Boss Monster. I just hope they don't get greedy and try to challenge the next ones. Their preparations are insufficient."
Glasira and the others were confused for a mont before it clicked, and they looked at their companions. Seeing so many friends missing, their eyes widened. Glasira asked, her voice laced with a touch of anger. "You lot… Did you challenge greater difficulties in your first run?"
At first, those from the Azure Horizon Expedition thought that the missing people were those carried by the dics. Now, though, they knew that they were very wrong.
Flor shook her head and spoke to Arven. "Inform of what happens when the Verdant Pathfinder group returns. I need to go and check the new portal that appeared on top of Liu Shu."
Her way of speaking and resolute eyes made Arven hesitate. "Are you thinking of entering yourself?"
Flor nodded lightly. "Otherwise? I can't let a portal appear on top of Liu Shu and not check it."
Arven tried to convince her otherwise. "We don't know what type of it is. Even if it is the sa one, the location might be different. If you appear outside the cathedral, you might die before you even have a chance to use the escape scroll."
Flor paused for a second, but she still flew away. Almost everyone from Liu Shu's family and friends followed, Cael staying behind to hear what the Verdant Pathfinders had to say personally.
While they flew up toward Liu Shu, taking a while due to her absolutely ridiculous height, Ignatia spoke with a soft but stern tone. "Flor, we are not entering that ."
Flor bit her lip. "Why not? We are stronger than those explorers by a large chunk. Nothing will happen to us."
"That's exactly the reason." Ignatia sighed. "So have the ability to throw challengers to 'appropriate' instances. If we enter and are thrown elsewhere due to our strength, we will be exploring an unknown location. You know that the has Liu Shu's special attribute."
When Ignatia finally voiced it, everyone beca silent. Ignatia noticed the heaviness around them and spoke. "Liu Shu's new attribute is probably called attribute. It is likely one that's tightly bound with ti itself. Liu Shu has shown powers that slow down things and accelerate them. It is not a slow like a curse, but one that changes the very fabric of ti-flow."
Everyone winced when they heard Ignatia spell it out to leave no signs of doubt about what she was saying. The Humanoid Ant Queen didn't stop here. "Ti is a forbidden power. Anyone who has even tried to get a hold of it has received severe backlash throughout history. That's at least what my inherited mories tell and what you, Elyne and the others, should know."
Unable to keep deluding themselves, they finally accepted this heavy news. Elyne was the first who spoke. "If this gets out, it will be a big problem. I can bet that no one will doubt it. However, Liu Shu has probably enveloped her domain in a temporal field that accelerates ti."
Veyra, with the ntal block undone, also connected dots extrely quickly. She wasn't called the most intelligent among the envoys for nothing. "Even when Liu Shu has shown ti manipulation, I think that the focus of her new attribute is focused on permanence. Didn't you feel it when we fought? Her over-ti effect attacks were basically permanent debuffs."
"Her feats until now have shown us that she can stop, accelerate, and slow ti," Lysara spoke up. Then, she asked hesitantly. "Did she show… ti reversal?"
Everyone got thoughtful, and finally, Cinderielle spoke up. "Yes, she has."
These four Sylvans knew perfectly well how Liu Shu's powers functioned, but they were not going to reveal it. While everyone present was an ally and soone who would most certainly never betray Liu Shu, nothing was ever set in stone.
Therefore, she spoke with a speculative tone rather than certainty. "That ti when Liu Shu received the attacks of the Moon- and World-Types, and back then when she fought Orwen. The way Liu Shu healed was odd. I think that she has a life-saving skill that can reverse ti onto herself at least once."
Everyone got thoughtful and accepted it. Veyra frowned. "If that's the case, we might want to start annihilating all that cos from the next attack onward. The risk of being discovered will only increase if we let stragglers."
Flor snorted. "Perhaps Cael was wrong."
She was not pleased with that decision. After all, she saw many of her grandbabies slaughtered by Altherion. At that ti, she, together with everyone else, almost lost control and slaughtered the .
Veyra sighed. "I know you are not satisfied, but believe us, that was the best course of action. If they all died, we might've received a knock already from the Nexus."
The Flower Fairy didn't answer, and while her head said she understood, her body didn't. So, she knew that the best course of action was to remain silent.
"We are here."
Tempestria spoke, landing on Liu Shu's human crown and looking up. Of course, once she let her body fall, Tempestria slipped past Liu Shu's head. She quickly flew again. Harmonixia laughed lodiously. "Did you forget that Liu Shu is now translucent?"
Tempestrai gave the woman a side-eye, which made her laugh even louder.
The portal in front of them was different from the green, violet, and red ones below. Instead, the portal shifted between golden and white colors, looking divine in nature. Analyzing it gave the sa result as analyzing the one below, though.
***
Dungeon Na: Eternal Trial Domain
Dungeon Level: 100 ~ 199.
Difficulty Rating: Normal~Corrupt Nightmare.
Unique Traits: , , , .
***
Cinderielle asked, confused. "Is it normal for a to have two different portals?"
Veyra answered, her purple eyes gleaming softly as her white hair flowed elegantly behind her. "It's not normal, but it's not unique. So encompass too many concepts, sotis becoming a whole functional world inside." She smiled wryly. "There are so crazy people who think our own cosmos is inside a ."
Everyone glanced speechlessly at the woman. "Thank you for giving us a hefty dose of existential crisis. We appreciate it, really."
Veyra laughed at Mariane's tone. The mothkin turned to look at the portal again with curious eyes. "Those explorers said that there were inside, right? I wonder if I can one day enter and investigate?"
So rolled their eyes. 'This workaholic.'
"What's the plan, then?" Flor asked, her arms folded under her modest breasts. Her body clearly gave off the 'I am upset and want to go inside to check' vibe.
Ignatia found her utterly adorable and hugged the fairy into her arms, raining kisses on her petite face.
With the Flower Fairy appeased by her lover, the others began pondering what to do. Eventually, the best answer they ca up with was a boring one.
Veyra spoke. "We'll leave this one to the Explorer Association as well. Let Arven gather a new group to enter this place and investigate."
Flor harrumphed. Even when she was squeezed between her two most preferred soft mountains, she was still not happy!
After sighing, the Flower Fairy got a bit more serious. "Alright, we will do that. However, the aura that this one portal gives is different from the one below. I find it tar, and more full of life."
Everyone felt that, so they were not too preoccupied.
anwhile, Liu Shu was getting accustod to the changes ongoing in her body, her mind focused on the next big step in her ascension: the .
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