The dungeon, the twentieth floor.
The scenery here was completely different from the previous floor, yet it was still a palace constructed by intelligent beings.
It was entirely silver-white, standing perfectly straight on a rugged pitch-black rocky ground, extrely eye-catching.
“Mama, there’s only one building here. Compared to the whole city on the previous floor, the difference is huge. It’s like one apple versus a whole pile of apples...”
The smooth and unobstructed journey, coupled with their far-ahead score, made Jasmine’s face glow with the joy and excitent of overachieving the mission.
Although at the beginning, when it was just the three of them, they had struggled even against the slis on the first floor. But once Mama ca, everything changed; they went straight down to the twentieth floor, charged through the Academy’s forbidden zone, and moved forward unhindered as easily as breathing or drinking water.
Overall, this dungeon expedition was a success. Jasmine could genuinely feel her own growth.
Vieya nodded. “The difference is indeed huge. This must be the Hall of Honesty that the demon ntioned... but where are Anna and the others?”
“They might have gone inside already. It’s been almost four or five hours after all.” Maixi guessed cautiously.
Suddenly!
“Ah—!”
Rorina let out a sharp scream, hopping and running toward Vieya as if she had seen a ghost. “S-sothing just fell on my head!”
“W-what fell?!” Jasmine imdiately tensed up, her lively eyes scanning all around, but she didn’t spot anything unusual. Even with Mama at her side, she couldn’t help swallowing nervously.
“Maybe it’s a ghost?” Maixi said in a dark tone. “In our village, there’s a legend about a head-tapping ghost. When children walk alone at night and hear soone calling their na, they absolutely must not answer. If they answer, a ghost will tap them on the head and try to drag them away. And once a child gets tapped on the head, their death isn’t far away!”
“That’s fake... right...” Jasmine frowned and subconsciously looked at the top of Rorina’s head. It looked normal—only one pink ahoge stood upright.
Jasmine said, “And there’s no ghost behind Rorina either.”
“Wuwu... don’t say things like that to scare ! I really felt sothing on my head just now!” Rorina’s little face turned pale. “It was even bouncing... like a toad!”
“But there’s nothing on your head.” Jasmine comforted her gently. “Be brave. Don’t cause trouble for Mama.”
“Then... okay...?”
Pa!
The always-silent Vieya suddenly extended her hand, grabbed the top of Rorina’s head, and a sharp smack rang out.
Rorina froze all over, and then Vieya’s calm voice slowly sounded. “There really was a little creature on your head just now.”
Vieya withdrew her hand. Resting in her palm, a squeaking bat was flapping its wings wildly as if trying to escape, but its legs were pinched between Vieya’s fingers. She looked at the fluttering bat and asked,
“Silly-White? What are you doing this ti?”
“Squeak squeak!”
The bat beat its wings with effort, pointing toward the white palace in the distance, then pecked lightly at the sli lady’s soft pale palm.
This bat... did not seem to be Elizabeth herself.
A tickling sensation ca again from her palm, and Vieya finally understood what the bat ant. Her erald-green eyes grew gradually serious.
“You’re saying your Silly-White master went into that palace and hasn’t co out, and you lost contact with her?”
“Squeak squeak!” The little bat cried out affirmatively.
“So she left you outside to wait for to rescue her?” Vieya raised a brow.
The little bat nodded, then shook its head. “Squeak, squeak.”
Yes, and no.
Vieya released the bat, keeping vigilance in her heart while walking toward the white palace ahead.
Terrified of encountering sothing unlucky again, Rorina followed first, afraid that leaving Vieya’s protective aura would bring more misfortune.
Jasmine quickly reacted and followed close behind.
The path to the white palace was fairly smooth, but Vieya didn’t walk too fast, giving Jasmine and the others plenty of ti to keep up.
As the atmosphere quieted down, Maixi couldn’t hold back her curiosity. She jogged up next to Jasmine and whispered,
“Hey, your mama was talking to a bat just now!”
She leaned close to Jasmine’s ear, her voice deliberately lowered. “Is that bat your mama’s scouting monster?”
Jasmine glanced at her but didn’t answer.
“Or is your mama not only [N O V E L I G H T] good at fighting and support, but also skilled at beast-taming? She can ta a strange monster the mont she sees it?” Maixi continued.
“...No.”
Jasmine felt helpless toward this teammate who always showed excessive curiosity in places other than studying. She said irritably,
“That’s Elizabeth-sis’s pet. And now Elizabeth-sis is the full-ti maid my mama hired.”
“Oooh, no wonder. A rich family’s maid can even ta beasts.” Maixi felt her narrow worldview expanding again.
“And this Elizabeth-sis you ntioned... is she strong? Is she like the omnipotent maid from the novel ‘The Noble Lady’s Personal Expert’?”
At that point Jasmine didn’t want to answer anymore.
Because judging by Mama’s conversation earlier... Elizabeth-sis seed to be in trouble? Together with Teacher Anna?
Seeing Jasmine stop responding, Maixi had no choice but to fall back one step behind, curiously observing this place repeatedly emphasized by the magic academy before they entered the dungeon: “No mage is allowed to go beyond the fifth floor.”
And they were now sowhere many, many tis deeper... Maixi’s math was terrible—if she didn’t have auxiliary tools, she could only count on her fingers.
“We’re here.”
Vieya stopped walking and turned back to check the three little ones. One, two, three—no problem. After confirming no one was missing, she reached out to push the great door of the palace.
Jasmine and the others stared unblinkingly at Vieya, full of curiosity and anticipation.
“......”
But Vieya didn’t manage to push it open in one go. A nonexistent bead of cold sweat appeared on the sli lady’s forehead.
Under her daughter’s expectant gaze, unwilling to accept failure, she imdiately activated her Second Authority’s power-amplification effect.
Ten-fold amplification. Hundred-fold amplification...
Crack!
The white marble beneath her feet shattered with a sound, dust spraying up. Jasmine and the others were all forced to cover their mouths and cough as the powdery dust billowed.
The door still didn’t open.
More cold sweat gathered on the sli lady’s forehead.
“Eh...” Vieya suddenly let out a small exclamation.
Jasmine coughed twice while covering her nose and mouth. “Mama, is it really not opening?”
“No... it’s that I saw the key.”
Vieya bent down and, under everyone’s eyes, touched the carpet she had smashed a hole through, then picked up a key.
Aligning it with the keyhole, she calmly inserted it.
Click.
The door opened.
Vieya finally exhaled in relief.
“Uwagh, I just knew you would co save us, Master!”
Suddenly!
A black shadow flew over, accompanied by a faint pogranate-sweet scent. The unprepared sli lady was knocked to the ground with a thump.
Thud!
Elizabeth sprawled atop the dazed sli lady, then lifted her head and stared at Jasmine and the other two in surprise.
“Big-white-hair, how many days has it been? How did you give birth to this many daughters again... Who did you breed with? Let count—”
“......”
Vieya’s face went from clear skies to thunderclouds. Whatever joy she had from being reunited evaporated instantly.
She raised her hand and punched Elizabeth’s soft belly, a muffled thump! It forcibly knocked all of Elizabeth’s nonsense back into her stomach before she could spit it out!
“Hiss... you actually hit !! You damn white-fur...” Elizabeth curled up in pain, cold sweat dripping from her forehead, clutching her stomach, almost rolling on the ground.
“......”
Pushing aside the little shrimp-curled Elizabeth, Vieya got up from the floor, tidied her ssy clothes slightly, and ignored the strange looks from Jasmine and the others.
While brushing dust off her body, her face expressionless, she asked:
“Where are Anna and the others?”
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