Our intelligence is garbage.
This generation’s little Swordmaster of the Holy Sword is truly arrogant.
And her tone is so annoyingly cheeky... makes one want to beat her up... The white-robed magus’s face /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ was hidden beneath the shadow of his large hood, his voice as calm as ever:
“Our Magic Academy shares intelligence with the Church and the Tribunal. Not to ntion anything else—your ho address, family mbers, your gender, age, preferences—are all transparent to us.”
He raised his palm and made a gesture. “We know everything clearly.”
“...”
Vieya’s mouth twitched. Her face darkened. “Get lost!”
“Then this one shall take his leave.”
The white-robed magus nodded slightly, then added in concern, “Rember, the reason this dungeon’s exploration has been suspended is not primarily because of the northern war, but because...”
He paused, then said seriously: “...we suspect this dungeon was left behind by the first-generation Demon King of Pride, Tártaros. You should also know that the previous Swordmaster of the Holy Sword died at the hands of the Demon King of Pride. Mm, the one who killed the last Swordmaster was the fourth-generation Demon King of Pride.”
With that—
The white-robed magus no longer lingered. With a sweep of his robe, his figure vanished elegantly.
Vieya fell silent. She knew that the “fourth-generation Demon King of Pride” he spoke of was referring to Flaviel.
Unlike the demon nas widely circulated among common folk and the demon race, the Church preferred to use the Seven Deadly Sins to designate the Seven Demon Kings.
Among them, the head of the Seven Sins was Pride.
Which referred to Flaviel’s lineage.
“Sigh...” Vieya let out a long breath, a trace of sorrow appearing between her brows.
So annoying... why did she lose control and start thinking about those fragnted mories with her again?
Rorina and Maixi exchanged a glance but did not dare to speak recklessly. Instead, their eyes drifted toward Jasmine, who was spacing out—an unspoken question in their gaze:
That is your mother. Aren’t you going to go check on her?
“...”
Being stared at, Jasmine quickly returned to herself. She hesitated, looked at her teammates, then walked to Vieya’s side and said softly, “Mom, are you tired? Let us rest for a bit?”
“Not tired...”
Vieya gestured for Jasmine to crouch down. Jasmine did not understand why, but still did so. Just as confusion rose, a small hand rested on her head. The unease in her heart instantly cald. Mother and daughter t each other’s eyes. Vieya seed to be smiling.
Jasmine, shy, whispered,
“...Mom?”
“It is fine now. You can stand.”
Vieya gave a gentle smile. As if simply touching her daughter restored her strength. “Let us continue.”
Jasmine nodded, her small face burning.
“Eh... how can you only pat Captain Jasmine’s head? Pat mine too~” Maixi shalessly leaned over like a puppy, making Jasmine show a disgusted face imdiately.
“Then... I—I want it too.”
Rorina, flustered, did not want to be the only one left out, so she thickened her skin and walked in front of Vieya, adopting the sa posture Jasmine had.
Vieya: “......”
Jasmine’s cheeks puffed like a pufferfish:
You teammates... are you here just to steal my mom from ?!
“Fine. Who wants to go first?” Vieya said helplessly, sighing inwardly that this team would fall apart without her.
“Let this pink puppy go first.” Maixi teased. Her expression seed to be laughing, yet also sohow resentful.
Rarely, Rorina—called a puppy—did not curse back. She only shyly crouched in front of Vieya, just like Jasmine before.
Half a minute later—
Rorina reluctantly moved aside. Maixi walked over unhurriedly. Just as Vieya lifted her hand, she suddenly said:
“Big sister, can I be the one to pat your head instead?”
“No.” The three answered in unison.
“...”
Vieya expressionlessly tapped Maixi’s forehead. “If you do not crouch, we will resu the dungeon.”
“I am crouching, big sister. Please make full use of .” Maixi said bashfully.
Jasmine exploded: “Do not say weird things to my mom!”
“Shaless!” Rorina fud.
Maixi blinked, then grabbed Vieya’s hand and pressed it against her own head, glaring provocatively at the other two.
The next second, Jasmine and Rorina exchanged looks and prepared to lunge forward to beat her.
Thud!
Vieya felt sothing hug her waist. She looked down—eting Maixi’s tear-brimming pleading gaze.
After a long mont—with her daughter’s two teammates cald down again—the loli squad resud their journey.
The next few layers went smoothly. Aside from the increasing strength of the monsters, no other factions ca to obstruct them.
With a forr Chief Hero as the power-leveling maniac leading them, even a pig would have grown by now.
Much less Jasmine and the other two—they were not pigs, but outstanding young human cubs. Just still young.
However, all the way to the tenth floor—the deepest humans had ever developed—Vieya still did not see any sign of Anna and the others.
Did they go straight down to deeper layers?
Makes sense. With the forr Second-Ranked Hero plus two Demon Kings, such a luxurious lineup would not waste ti on shallow floors already stripped of treasure.
Seems... I will have to descend deeper to find them. Vieya pondered seriously. Her current strength was at the peak of her sli-girl period, though still inferior to her Hero days.
Most importantly, she had once been a pure close-combat master—almost all her experience and techniques were for lee and swordsmanship. Authority arts were sothing she only began using after becoming a sli-girl, but they were more than enough to protect Jasmine and the others.
“Never mind. Let us go down to et Anna and the others first.”
Vieya looked toward the entrance to the eleventh floor. It was a bottomless cave, with a broken spiral staircase descending into darkness, jagged black stalactites hanging from above, the damp walls covered in slippery moss.
“Be careful, these moss patches are very slippery.” Vieya reminded them, raising the torch and walking inside.
Jasmine nodded seriously. She knew her mother’s words were directed at her.
When she was young, she had often slipped in the bath, and her mother always waited outside the door.
Her mother’s comforting skills were terrible, but she always stayed with her. Jasmine liked that.
Fortunately, the journey was uneventful. After more than ten minutes of descending the old stone steps, their vision suddenly opened.
A massive subterranean palace appeared before them. Mushroom stalks like lighthouses glowed with eerie blue light. A gigantic stone stele stood before them.
Several large characters were carved on the stele. Vieya could not read them, but she felt instinctively that the reason humans abandoned further exploration was inseparable from what was written there.
An ominous premonition.
“So beautiful...” Jasmine said with excitent, her bright eyes looking everywhere as if wanting to carve every bit of this fantastical scenery into mory.
“The more beautiful it is, the more dangerous!” Rorina warned cautiously.
“Let us keep going. From this floor onward, we will not have a map or compass.”
Vieya added softly, “aning—we can only rely on ourselves to determine directions and positions.”
“That is way too dangerous... Big sister, how about we go back? Our little team is obviously the first-place winner anyway.” Maixi wavered.
“Hey, you useless straggler!”
Rorina beca upset. It was rare to cling to a strong teammate and experience such a legendary forbidden place. Even risking her life was worth it. She pouted,
“It is so hard to get a chance to personally visit a legendary forbidden zone. Do not ruin it for .”
“And you still know it is a forbidden zone.”
Maixi rolled her eyes, then looked at Vieya anxiously. “I am not doubting big sister’s strength... I just think the three of us are burdens. If sothing happens, we cannot help at all.”
One had to admit—Maixi thought things through thoroughly.
But Vieya simply shook her head with a smile, speaking gently, “With here, do not be afraid. Besides, Jasmine’s teacher is also here. She is very strong too.”
“Jasmine’s teacher... that top-ranked magus of the Academy?”
Rorina gasped, her eyes lighting up. She explained eagerly,
“Before eting my own teacher, that magus was my idol! So many people at the Academy dream of becoming her student. Of course, I am no exception... haha. But aside from the occasional public lecture, we rarely see her.”
After speaking, she pinched the pink braid by her ear shyly and sighed,
“So enviable. Such a good teacher, such a good mother... how do all the good things end up with you?”
“Mm-hm~” Jasmine curved her brows proudly. “Because I am my mom’s daughter.”
“ Tch, who asked you.” Rorina muttered, falling behind with a sulky pace, secretly peeking at loli Vieya’s back.
After a long mont, she could not hold back the sorrow in her heart—
Where am I ever going to find such a good mother...
...
The four-person squad walked for about twenty minutes.
Leading the way, Vieya suddenly stopped. Jasmine and the other two, who had been chattering noisily, imdiately fell silent.
Like startled chicks sensing danger, the three rushed to Vieya’s side, squeezing close for safety.
Though their bodies were all about the sa size loli-wise, after everything they had gone through, this loli body of Vieya’s provided overwhelming security.
Among platforms covered in giant blue-capped mushrooms, a violent wind suddenly howled. In the wind ca black feathers—and laughter like a black crow.
“Do you know why the seraphs never play poker?”
Before the words fully settled, a thin, lanky demon with a thick gold chain around his neck and black wings on his back descended from the sky.
He landed before Vieya, hunching over, pressing his head close to hers—so close their breaths touched.
The demon whispered softly:
“Because gambling is forbidden in Heaven.”
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