H Tales Of A Reincarnated Elf

by Stayrr

I was a good looking prince when I was reborn, and because I could do indecent things as much as I like, I decided to make a harem while traveling with a beautiful female elf Formerly an otaku, the hero who was just reincarnated became a handsome elf prince of another world. In his previous life he was just a plain-faced man, so in this world he uses his high position as a prin

144. Abyss of Dual Cultivation : Godd (51-90)

Read Abyss of Dual Cultivation: Goddess's Lust system Chapter 51 online for free - AllNovelFull

Aurora had done it. She has successfully pulled off one of the biggest thefts in human history.

She had successfully stolen from the tower and walked away alive to tell the tale.

Aurora eyes the warm egg on her bed. The aura of contentment it gave off was getting stronger by the second.

"I just need to wait for Astoria to come back now. And then we can leave this place. But what should I do about Karan?"

Aurora was not sure how to proceed with the situation now.

It was true that she had attained their initial objective. They had successfully managed to snatch the egg.

But there was so much left to unpack as well.

Aurora did not get much further in her thoughts before the knock on the door stole her attention.

"System, scan the identity of the person outside the door."

The sealing spell caused on the door made it impossible to tell who was visiting her right now.

(Scanning identity…..

The person identified as goddess Astoria…..)

Those words caused a wave of relief to wash over Aurora. Her hand loosened her grip on this handle and yanked it open.

"Hurry up and come inside."

Aurora did not give Astoria a chance to brace herself before she yanked the elder inside.

The goddess looked a little disoriented at the suddenness of Aurora's action but she adjusted pretty quickly.

"So, did you manage to get it? Where did you put it?"

Astoria did not need to specify what she was talking about. There was only one thing she could be referring to.

"It's on the table. The tower really went through the grinder to keep it hidden. It was even under a powerful illusion."

Seeing as how powerful the dragons were as a specie, it was no wonder that the tower went through hell to keep it a secret from the world.

If this egg ever happened to hatch, then a new dominant force would be born. And the proud gods could not allow that to happen.

Astoria moved closer to the egg and reached out to it using her magic. Aurora felt the careful balance of magic shift inside the room.

Everything seemed to be going extremely well. And that meant that something bad had to happen.

Two kinds of magic clashed and sparks flew all over the room. Aurora had to hold herself strong or she would have been blown away by the shockwave as well.

"What happened?"

Aurora's question came out in a low and rasped voice. Her knees shook when she tried to stand straight and she was sure she had hurt something in her back.

It was a good thing her magic decided to accelerate her healing by quite a lot. Or the wounds on her face would have been difficult to explain in the morning.

And she was also sure that a lot of people would have taken this as an excuse and pin wrong accusations on her character.

"It rejected my magic. Dragons are quite territorial beasts so this is not a shock to see."

Astoria made it sound like an everyday occurrence.

Had it not been for magic-canceling wards, the whole tower would have known who was behind this magical explosion.

"I should try again. Maybe I should even submit to it so that the baby inside the egg doesn't see me as an enemy dragon."

Astoria's words made sense.

Sensing it again, Aurora could see why Astoria had reached that conclusion.

The stagnant magic in the air that belonged to Astoria felt similar to the unborn egg's. Both lacked the divine attribute of the gods but possessed the chaos factor of the abyss.

"Maybe you should not. The egg was not hostile to my magic so maybe I should be the one to take care of it"

Aurora's offer was genuine. She could feel the egg's annoyance every time Astoria neared it. But the same did not happen to her when she tried to approach it.

"Maybe that will be for the best. I can see that the egg is sensitive to your magic. It's very reminiscent of a high-level abyss beast. Maybe it recognizes you as a mother figure."

Aurora wanted Astoria's words to be a joke. She could not see herself as a mother figure to anyone, much less a recently hatched beast.

But it did make sense in a twisted way. Aurora had been the first magic the egg had felt outside of the tower's own.

"Let's not jump to conclusions. We have more important things to focus on."

Aurora diverted the attention from the current awkward talk to the main focus of her call.

"I agree. This egg feels like it is about to hatch any day. We should take precautions against that."

Astoria's words were true enough. Aurora could feel how close the egg was to hatching. Her instincts told her that it could hatch any moment now.

But her memory was what held her back. As far as she remembered, no dragon had been deployed under the abyss banner.

No dragon had been killed by them either. (And she would have known if the tower had killed such a mighty beast. It would have been a bragging ground for them.)

So it was only logical to think that someone had swiped this incident under the rug in her last life.

Someone high enough to know where the egg was being kept and powerful enough to shut everyone's mouth.

Someone like a god or a goddess. Or even the tower master.

"Should we leave the tower now? We have what we came here for."

Aurora made that offer.

"Not now. I cannot ditch the conference tomorrow or it would raise a lot of questions. But we are free to leave after that. So all we have to do is to keep this egg a secret for one day."

Aurora heard what Astoria was not telling.

The security was too tight for them to act right now. Guards were posted everywhere and it was impossible to even leave the room.

The explosion in the secret chamber must have caused a chain reaction. The tower would be desperate to look for traitors in their midst.

"I understand the reason. But will we be able to leave with the egg? It doesn't like to stay in pocket dimensions. We will have to carry it out."

Aurora offered the crucial information before it became too late to be of any use.

"You don't need to worry about it. I will take care of things once the time comes. For now, just focus on getting past tomorrow."

Aurora had no choice but to go with the flow. Since Astoria assured her that things would be taken care of, Aurora chose to believe her.

It was still early enough in the evening for people to be moving around. Astoria could not stay in the room any longer as well.

As a member of the cabinet, she had duties she had to see to. Aurora felt glad to not be part of such a busy world. She hated this kind of responsibility.

Astoria opened the door to leave the room but a smiling face greeted her back.

"Good evening Lady Astoria. I was not aware that you were friends with my esteemed friend here. Ah, but your relationship is something deeper right?"

Karan's grinning face stood on the other side of the door. He tried to look past Astoria's shoulder but the goddess stopped him cold.

"You need not concern yourself with my relationships, Lord Karan. Though I did happen to hear a nasty rumor about you and my dear escort. Tell me, were you bullying him?"

Lady Astoria's decent mood seemed to be going down the drain by the second.

Tension was rising in the air faster than a bird could fly. And this was the moment Aurora decided to take action.

"Excuse me."

She took Astoria's hand in one hand and yanked on Karan's hand with the other. And within seconds, the trio had disappeared from the hallway.

The guards stationed in the hallway surely got a few topics to gossip about that day.

"Hey, what's the big deal? You could have been gentler with me."

Karan complained as he rubbed his wrist in a mock of injury.

There was no way Aurora's lack of strength had left a mark on his skin.

"I would like to know what is going on here as well. Do you happen to know this person Aura?"

Lady Astoria was still trying to keep up the charade of Aurora being a guy. She was performing admirably as well.

But it was time to bring the truth to light.

"Actually, there is one thing I would like to tell you Astoria. And it concerns Lord Karan here. You don't mind if I tell her about it, right?"

Aurora asked, just to make sure that they were all on the same page. She would not want to make an enemy of a god so early.

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead. I don't care about my secret."

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For the second time in her life, Astoria wondered if she had been wrong about Aurora. Maybe the female had sold her out to the other gods

Lord Karan's grinning face would certainly indicate this fact. And it would also explain what the other good was doing in Aurora's room.

"Lord Karan and I are childhood friends. No, more importantly, he is not even Lord Karan but someone else stuck inside his body."

Aurora's explanation sounded wild and Astoria should not be believing her. But there was no aura of lie or deception around her.

Moreover, Lord Karan's aura felt clean and came across as shining to her. It was a much bigger tell than Aurora's assurance. The god had never hidden what he felt about a given situation.

"So, you mean to tell me that you are not Lord Karan. But someone else impersonating him? Then how do you have his aura around you? Is this another one of your tricks?"

Astoria did believe the pair in front of her. But she had to ask just to cover all her bases.

"The body is Lord Karan's so the magic force it emits belongs to him. But the soul inside of this body belongs to someone else. And I used to know Aurora when she was young."

Things were beginning to make sense to her now. And it also explained a lot about Lord Karan's recent behavior.

The eccentric god had always been carefree. But it was only recently that his carefreeness had begun to take an unconscious role.

Sometimes, he lashed out at the smallest of things. It indicated that he was having trouble keeping himself in check.

"I see. What name would you like for me to use? Should I call you by your older name? It would confuse but I can explain that it is a nickname for you."

As awkward as Astoria felt about calling the man another name, she would do it if it meant that he would keep her and Aurora's secret.

"There is no need to. I have gotten used to this name and form. This body is much more comfortable than my previous one anyway and I always wanted to live as a guy."

Astoria tried to understand where the man was coming from but she could not. Gender was not a big norm for gods and goddesses as it was for everyone else. Most gods and goddesses could shift between either gender but preferred a dominant form that they kept.

"I see. So was that all? You will keep our secret?"

Astoria was hurrying the god to make a decision. She needed verbal confirmation of security from the other.

"Yeah, I will keep your secret for now. I want to help Aurora in her time of need and I also do not want to give those old fools any unnecessary advantage."

Lord Karan's tone indicated that there was some beef between him and the other council. Astoria had never heard about such a thing before.

"Don't mind him. It's something from his previous life he's carrying over." Aurora assured.

"Oh, I see. In that case, I will try not to think too deeply about this issue. Though that does explain how the resistance got past the tower defense so many times."

Karan's grin was a little maniac when he looked back at the pair.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I just toss whosoever I want to in the fold and call it a day. The guard candidates do not get a choice in this matter."

Astoria just shook her head at the plausible denial the man in front of her presented her with.

He was a devilish man who hid behind a carefree exterior. She would not make the mistake of underestimating him again.

"I shall be going now as well. As much as I want to shaft my duties, that old hag will have my head. And for the love of God, do something about the egg's aura and smell. Anyone who walks in here could tell what you stole."

The man left with just as much fanfare as she had arrived. But he had presented the pair with useful advice.

"What should we do now?"

Aurora asked. If they believe Karan's words, then that made the situation much more dangerous for them.

"For now, stay here and spray the room in perfume. I will leave my magic residue behind since it is similar enough to the egg. Make sure to supply your magic to the egg in the meantime to help it hatch."

As expected of Astoria, she had a few methods ready to try.

By the time the elder goddess left, Aurora's room positively reeked of strong perfume and other kinds of smells. The magic inside the room was thick and uncomfortable as well.

And hopefully, it would be enough to get them by till they had to leave the tower.

"You all, leave this place. You are not permitted to be here."

The guards froze as soon as a powerful presence descended upon them. No one could even lift a finger in the almighty goddess's presence.

Lady Minerva was a vision of beauty and grace. Her face held an ageless beauty along with a healthy sheen. Her eyes were a captivating shade of blue, the same as her daughter's.

She was not beautiful in an aesthetic way but in an other-worldly way.

"L-Lady Minerva, allow me to make this report to you."

The guard fumbled his words when he faced the goddess. Her soul-piercing eyes were too much for a mere mortal to be able to handle.

After all, she was hailed as a half-incubus. That was the source of her magic.

Like all gods and goddesses, her magic was also a counterpart to the lord of the abyss. There were 7 main counterparts to the seven commandments of the abyss.

"You all can leave now. I do not need you any longer."

Her words were cold and the guards around her shivered. Their weakness disgusted the goddess but she did her best to not sneer at their retreating back.

The goddess inside her would not allow her to show such an undignified side of her character.

She did not need those foolish guards to tell her what happened since she had already picked up the briefing file submitted to her.

It was daring of the resistance to send their soldiers to confront her in broad daylight. But they had underestimated her security breach.

The two people they had captured might not have talked about their origins or their purpose for coming here, but there was no need to ask that of them.

After all, dead people did not talk and those two captives would not survive the night in interrogation.

They were not even aware that their thoughts were not safe inside their mind. An empath was reading their thoughts all the while and making a record.

The secret base looked almost destroyed when Lady Minerva stepped into the room. The debris made it difficult to spot where things were placed but Minerva had sorted this place out enough times to know which thing went where.

However, the more she sorted the things, the more she felt like something was missing.

The dragon egg she had stored in this room no longer laid there. It had been stolen by someone.

But how would dare steal from a goddess?

It could not have been the rebellion since their thoughts did not show that they were after it.

Unless the rebellion had found a way to counter the empaths, there was no way they would have been able to hide this information from her.

And that meant that there was someone else who had entered this room as well. Someone whom even the resistance did not have any knowledge about.

And Lady Minerva had an idea who could have down that.

Although she did not want to put Astoria under suspicion, the younger had been making pretty suspicious moves all this time. She had even been bold enough to bring a cleverly disguised female companion.

Whatever she was cooking, Minerva had turned a blind eye to it. But if she was behind this theft, then it changed things for them.

"Someone, go and get the tower master. We have a few rats to catch."

Minerva hated the thought of involving the tower master in this situation. She had no love left for that lineage since they had deteriorated every generation.

But she still could not help but hold out the hope for the youngest master of that household.

Quince was a good kid and had a sensible head on his shoulder. He would be a good leader with Clove by his side.

As for his father, he was a necessary evil she had to bear for now. And it was also something he had to know about.

Things needed to change inside the tower and a silent investigation needed to be carried out in the meantime.

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Minerva took her time observing the basement room she had taken so much pain in organizing. She had shed blood, sweat, and tears to make it as theft-proof as possible.

But in the end, it seemed to not have mattered to those who broke in here and made a mess of things.

And for that, they needed to die. Minerva would teach them a lesson as soon as she finds out who did this to her.

"Lady Minerva, the cabinet meeting is about to start. What should I tell the other members?"

Lady Minerva had forbidden anyone from entering here. But there were a few exceptions to that rule.

The shadow warriors were a huge help in all her operations. And they could not currently betray her. They had grown up only knowing one had that fed them – Minerva's.

As such, the thought of betrayal could not even cross their mind. They made much better pawns than Astoria.

And for Minerva that made all the difference.

"Tell the cabinet that I'll be there in a few minutes. I need to take care of some things before I can face them."

The shadow warrior did not even flinch when she was leveled with Minerva's hard gaze. She just bowed and left the room.

Being a soulless husk of flesh had its own advantages sometimes.

Minerva cast an illusion spell on the chamber and prepared herself to leave the place. She would not gain anything by staying here.

But she was curious about the rebel soldiers that had managed to infiltrate this deep.

It was too bad she would never get to visit them. They would be dead by the time her cabinet meeting ended.

Aurora tried not to pace around in her room. But she could not stop her nervousness from bursting and affecting her mood.

-baam

The knocking on her door was getting urgent by the second.

"Lord Aura kindly open the door. We know you are in there. We just want to check a few things."

This knocking had been going on for some time now. There was only so much time when Aurora could pretend that she was in the washroom.

She had to open the door before higher authorities got involved in her case. Aurora had to just pray that her perfume was enough to ward the people off the strange smell of the dragon egg.

-baam

The noise was particularly loud this time. The guard knocking on the door must be running out of patience.

"Lord Aura, if you don't open the door now then I will have no choice but to involve the authorities in this case. We have strict orders from the tower master to investigate every person inside the tower."

"You only have a minute to open this door."

Aurora panicked and flew toward the door. She quickly opened it to face the guard outside.

"Let's not be so hasty now. I was just trying to enjoy my free time, you know. My body has needs it needs to take care of."

Aurora cringed as she winked at the female guard standing behind the main one.

The poor girl blushed at the attention being bestowed on her by Aurora but she managed to keep her professionalism.

This seemed to be pissing off the main guard. He disliked flirty young masters who were born with a silver spoon with a passion. And that was what he labeled Aurora as at first glance.

"Enough chit-chatting. Hurry up and search the room. Do not dare and leave any spot unnoticed."

The female guard gave Aurora a side glance that said 'sorry, can't help it' before the pair forced their way in.

Aurora might be a goddess but she did not want to blow up her cover. She had no choice but to let the pair do what they wanted to in her room.

Thankfully, the guard took the right side of the room while the female walked off toward the bed.

"This place smells really strange. How much perfume did you use?"

The make guard seemed to be finding fault with anything and everything.

Aurora would have rolled her eyes at any other chance but her mind was not in the game right now.

"Well, Lady Astoria has her preferences in this matter."

Aurora tried to make her tone as suggestive as possible.

She knew she might be damaging Lady Astoria's reputation by making up such a rumor about her but she was sure the other goddess would understand.

"I did not need to know that. Anyway, Anna, I'm going to check the bathroom. Make sure you check the bedroom thoroughly."

The male guard looked a little red in the face. Aurora did not even want to imagine what he had been thinking when Aurora told him the news.

The female guard looked flushed at the sudden flash of information but she handled it much better than the male guard.

And that is to say, she did not lift her head up again as she searched beneath the bed.

And then she reached for the bed covers and tried to lift them. And Aurora panicked.

"Let's not do that. I'm sure Lady Aurora wants to keep some of her modesty intact. Let's not expose her deeds to anyone or I will need to silence you."

Aurora held the hand close to her chest but still far enough to not make her secret obvious. Her face was close enough to the female guard to make her nervous.

She could see that she was making the female guard flustered. The red-faced female was getting distracted successfully.

"Oh, is that so? I didn't know Lady Astoria was interested in intimacy. I should probably not check this in the future."

The lady guard had drawn her one conclusion. Aurora sighed in relief once she felt the burden lighten from her shoulder.

Mission successful.

-Baam

"Oi Anna, are you done yet? If so then come here and help me open this basin."

The female guard looked conflicted at his superior's order. Aurora could feel her desire to stay with her.

"Go. He needs you in there. You can always come and find me later."

Aurora lightly pushed the female toward the guard inside the bathroom. And thankfully, the female guard did not linger outside for a long time either.

It was only once they left did Aurora breathed a sigh of relief and looked beneath the cover.

The egg laid on the bed was as perfect the day as she had stolen it. And she could not help but let her dissatisfaction bleed in her voice.

"You are a real piece of work. Making me go through such hoops to protect you."

And of course, there was no answer to her question. But the egg's aura felt smug to her.

In the end, Aurora decided to pick the egg and change its location to the right side of the room.

She managed to straighten herself up right in time for the other two to come back outside.

"You are lucky we did not find anything. But that doesn't mean you are out of the suspicion lest yet. You have a weird air around you and I don't trust that."

Aurora had to give it to this guard. He had a really well-developed instinctual power. Or maybe it was his luck that was so great.

"I will remember and take your words to heart."

The guard glared at Aurora when he left. The girl behind him also gave Aurora an apologetic smile before she left.

Aurora held her breath and only released it once the pair left her vicinity.

She had managed to get away from one inspection but it was only one of the many to come. She was not sure how she would be able to survive this more than a few times.

Astoria took in a deep breath to psyche herself before she took her seat. She had to do her best to not draw any attention to herself.

She could already see the people around her taking their assigned seats but she could not see anyone's face.

The seating arrangement in the cabinet was unique. It had a curtain in-between every chair space to maintain the privacy of the gods.

It might be all for the show, but it was a long-held tradition.

Astoria's eyes moved toward the center of the stage where the seats for the major 7 gods and goddesses were located.

Among those 7, only 5 were affiliated with the cabinet and only 4 attended regularly. That number had been cut to three this year since Lady Asami could not get away from her work.

Lord Karan sat in his seat but anyone could tell that he was not interested to be there.

At his side sat Lady Me, the beautiful goddess of calamity. Her temper was legendary among the tower community and everyone knew not to anger her.

Unlike the other gods and goddesses, Lady Mei had no filter.

And everyone could feel her irritation sitting in the same room as her. She was getting impatient.

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"How boring. Why does Minerva insist on doing this every time? And she is late as well."

Karan could only shake his head at the calamity's goddess. She was too much for him to handle in this early morning.

Things could get difficult with her anytime and Karan was not in a mood to pacify her if she decided to go berserk.

"I'm sure Minerva has her reasons. Personally, I don't mind her being late. It will mean that the meeting was cut short and I like that."

Karan was not lazy by nature. He just did not like to spend effort where he did not need to. And the tower was certainly not a place he wanted to spend her effort in.

When he had been Lucy, there had been a period of time when he had admired the tower.

To conquer the abyss was not an easy task to accomplish. It required strong willpower and attitude to accomplish such a feat.

He had even argued against the rebels when they had come to his home to ask for help. But the decision had ultimately lied to his parents.

And they had decided to tower about their deeds.

In the end, they had been laid to rest by the other nobles that could not afford for the tower to lose such strong support. And Lucy had joined the rebellion.

But that was a talk of the past. Lucy was no longer that little girl but a powerful male god.

He had to get his head in the game if he did not want to give himself away. Especially not now when Aurora had gotten involved in this mess.

Karan had always kept tabs on the girl that had like a sister to him. He had seen her try and infiltrate the tower during the selection test.

And then he had lost contact when she had stormed out of the room.

Had it not been for him keeping tabs, he would not have recognized her in her adult form at all.

He did not have to question why the younger female looked like an adult. He could already smell the abyss all over her.

And staying in this community you learned not to question the abyss and its actions. Even the gods could not go against it.

"Finally, she decided to come. I was getting bored."

Karan lifted his head up at Mei's words.

And true to her words, Minerva had decided to grace the room with her presence. Her head was held high and her aura screamed power.

She was the true definition of a goddess beloved by the abyss. She was upright and tried to do the right thing.

If not for her inflexibility, Karan would have liked her as well. She was thinking of the betterment of the common people after all.

"Everyone, take a seat. It is time we start this meeting. I am sure you have a lot of questions about me and my actions. And it is time we address them all."

Minerva could see that the people were getting agitated at her delay.

But she also knew that the cabinet was made up of cowards and fools.

As high and mighty gods and goddesses tried to make themselves out to be, they were nothing more than the tower's pawn. They were given this power by the tower and even their title held no meaning.

These people might have the instincts of a divine being but that did not make them divine themselves.

Minerva's eyes fell on Astoria and her regal form.

'Perhaps not all of them were a lost cause.'

But the success of one did not make up for the failure of the others.

"Everyone, take a seat. It is time we start this meeting. I am sure you have a lot of questions about me and my actions. And it is time we address them all."

Minerva could already see the eager faces looking back at her. These people were not even trying to hide the fact that they wanted to drag her down from the main seat.

Too bad, the main seat was not a favor but a shackle. The 7 original gods would never be replaced by anyone outside the circle.

"Boo. You took your sweet time getting here. I was beginning to get bored."

Mei was the first one to greet Minerva. This was something Minerva had expected to happen.

Mei was not the most patient person in the world. And her temper was legendary even among the gods.

Karan looked more subdued to see her arrive. Generally, he tried to egg Mei on and cause as much havoc as he could.

But he looked a little lost in thoughts today.

"Lord Karan, are you bored as well? You can leave if that is the case."

It would be ideal to have Lord Karan here. The god had a presence that was strong and scary. Most people would not even dare utter a single word in his presence.

"No, I am good. I was just thinking about something."

"More like someone. Are you missing your lover already? I head about him from the gossip vines."

Minerva arched her eyebrow in surprise.

Of course, she had heard the rumors regarding Lord Karan and Astoria's escort. But she had not paid much attention to them.

Knowing the people of the tower, they could gossip about anything and everything.

"You should not believe everything you hear in the gossip Mei. My relationship with Aura cannot be explained in words."

Minerva felt shocked at the admission.

Lord Karan took extra care not to form relationships. He was a certified weirdo and someone who no one liked to mess with.

"Is that a confirmation? Are you admitting to having a lover? And a male lover at that? I never thought I would see the day."

Lady Mei broke out in laughter.

'What is going on down there?', ' Did Lord Karan tell a joke?', 'Darn these magic canceling-stones. I can't hear anything at their present volume.'

Minerva felt her temper rise at the ridiculous situation.

She could not allow rumors to rise due to this misunderstanding. She had to cut the gossip off before it could get any further.

"Ridiculous. What good would holding on to a mortal do for you? Remember, humans, are as insignificant as ants to us. They will pass in the blink of an eye."

"The only thing we need to focus on is…."

"….the continual survival of the human species. We know. You don't have to repeat it every chance you get old lady."

Mei cut Minerva off.

Minerva could tell that she had already lost the interest of the two gods in front of her. This situation was beyond salvageable.

"Lady Minerva, can we start this meeting now? It is getting late and I need to head back to my territory."

Everyone held their breath as a minor god finally decided to stand up and say his thing.

Speaking such words was akin to suicide for most. But the god that had stood up to interrupt Lady Minerva has a good pedigree.

He was also close with Lady Asami. So he knew that he would be relatively safe even if he caused a minor scene.

"You are right. We should start this meeting now."

Those words brought mixed emotions to the present party. All they could do was stare at each other and wonder if they had seen the same thing.

After all, it was unlikely for Lady Minerva to let someone behave like this and not say anything.

"So, do any of you have any questions for me?"

Lady Minerva decided to beat around the bush and ask the question.

For a minute, it looked as if no one would dare ask her anything. They were all too scared of any potential reparation to even open their mouth.

But then someone finally stepped ahead and raised his hand.

"If the lady doesn't mind, I would like one of my questions answered. It is regarding the recent permission you granted. Why did you allow a no-name person to open a training academy in the Rocx valley of all places?"

It was the tower master who spoke up.

Minerva felt her temper rise as he questioned her decision. How dare a human try and humiliate her like this? Did he not want to live any longer?

But then she took in deep breaths and calm herself down.

Of course, he would ask something like that. He had been trying to get an answer out of her all this time.

But Minerva had underestimated his desire to know the answer. He had taken account of this opportunity and forced her into a situation that was difficult to answer.

But she had an out as well.

"It was not my decision but a request made by Lord Karan. That was all."

Everyone's attention shifted from her to the carefree god at her side.

"What? I was just bored and wanted action. I don't care about anything else."

It was such a Karan action that no one could even say anything against him.

After all, who did not know of his weird habit of picking up strays and collecting them in the guard squad?

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Aurora was not having a good day.

She had thought that she would be safe after the first inspection had been done but she could not be more wrong.

She was sure that the guards had an agenda against her because someone kept on knocking at her door and trying to enter for inspection every few minutes.

-baam

"Open the door. It's the inspection squad."

This was the fourth time someone was at her door. They just kept on coming and Aurora had given up at this point.

"How many times are you going to check my room? You won't magically find something the fourth time you decided to go through my things."

Aurora tried not to sound as annoyed as she was but her tone could not keep up with her mind.

The guard seemed to find fault with her speech because he pushed Aurora aside and forcefully entered the room anyway.

"Make a full inspection and be thorough."

The other guards looked exhausted but they followed along anyway.

Aurora had no choice but to enter and make preparations for another game of hiding the egg. This was getting exhausted now.

"Excuse me. Once you are done, can I go out to the gardens? It is getting a little claustrophobic in here."

It was almost night. Aurora had been in her room for well over a few hours now and the lockdown was beginning to take its toll.

"You are free to do what you want to. But we will advise against roaming around in the hallways. The Cabinet meeting has started and security is at an all-time high."

Aurora almost cursed at the news.

According to Astoria's information, the cabinet meeting should not have started until much later in the day.

In fact, it should have been held the next day.

"Did the meeting get pushed ahead of time? Lady Astoria said that the meeting was tomorrow."

Aurora had to weasel out as much information as she could. She got a feeling that the tower was on to her and Lady Astoria already.

"Pushed ahead? Well, something like that. Someone broke into the tower and stole important stuff. Lady Minerva wants to get her affairs in order before she dealt with those individuals."

The guard explained. He was being too forward with presenting all this information. He must be confident in his position and Lady Minerva.

Aurora quietly positioned the egg out of his reach and toward the other side of the room.

"Sir, we did not find anything of significance. We combed through the room but nothing looks to be out of place."

The guard sighed and bowed to Aurora.

"Our apologies for taking up your precision time. We should be getting going now."

For what it was worth, Aurora did not feel any malice from the guard that had forced his way inside her room. He was just doing the work he had been assigned and nothing else.

"Have a nice day."

The guards finally left and Aurora quickly slid down to the floor in a fetal position.

This stress of keeping the egg hidden was going to kill her. She was already starting to feel the stress of the position she had been forced into.

"I can't keep doing this. I need to get fresh air."

Aurora picked the egg up and decided to flee the room. The lack of guards in the hallway helped her reach her goad – the gardens.

"You are such a trouble magnet. Just stay here for now and allow me to rest."

Aurora put the egg down for a second and went to relax. She walked toward the water fountain to quench her thirst.

But when she came back to her original bench, she found a surprise waiting for her. The egg had its shell cracked and a pair of shiny red eyes stared back at her.

The egg had hatched.

Of god, the egg had hatched.

"What are we going to do now?"

Aurora whispered as she held her hand out to the small reptile in front of her.

If things had been difficult before, they just jumped to the devastating category for her.

After all, hiding an egg was easier than hiding a small dragon cub in her arms.

"Oh god. What will I tell Astoria?"

"Lord Karan? You allowed Lord Karan to influence you into making such a crucial decision? Lady Minerva, what were you thinking."

The cabinet hall came to a halt as the tower master's outburst rang through the empty space.

First of all, no one could believe that someone had the guts to say anything to Lady Minerva. She was one at the pinnacle of power.

Did the tower master not care for his life?

Second, Lord Karan was someone who was too willful and did what he wanted to. If he got angry, then everyone would be included in his revenge.

"Huh? Do you have a problem with my decision? You can just tell me to piss off and I will never see you again. I don't care about the tower anyway."

Everyone present cringed at the crude words.

They all knew that Lord Karan held no love for them but did he have to declare it every chance he got? What face did it leave them with?

"No, this is not what I meant to say. I just wanted you to be careful and not make a mistake in the future."

The tower master was sweating at the clear provocation in the god's voice. He sounded pissed off and that did not bode well for anyone.

"Good. Know your place or you will not live long."

The tower master had no other choice but to bow his head.

In reality, Lord Karan was no better than any of the other 6. If he and Lady Minerva fought then he could be gravely injured and easy to fight off.

But this was just a hypothesis. No one had ever seen one of the top 7 ever fight against each other before.

"This is enough. I made the decision based on the information I was provided with. It would suit you well to take it into account before you make any accusations."

Lady Minerva closed the topic with her last words.

No one could say anything to her now.

"Very well then. I will drop this topic for now. But we have another topic at hand – the recent resurgence of the rebellion."

"There had been too many cases of attacks against our tower officials. What should we do about it?"

As the tower master, it was his responsibility to look after everyone's welfare. But the rebellion was not a topic he could poke around.

Especially since they had one of the 7 main gods as their head.

"Leave it be for now. We caught some rats recently and I will be taking charge of it soon. If Alan thinks he can fight against using ants then he is more than welcome to"

Lady Mei sounded confident in her victory.

It stung to see these gods and goddesses toy with human life as they pleased. They did not care for anything other than their own gain and loss.

Thye did not regard human life as important. To them, humans were just like a tool – to be sued and discarded.

"Very well then. Then it was all I wanted to ask."

The tower master had no other choice but to take a step back.

He had already offended two gods, he could not afford to poke the third one.

And not one as ill-tempered as Lady Mei. She would start causing trouble for him if she felt like she was being mocked. And that was more annoying than anything Lord Karan could do.

"Anyone else has any questions?"

Lady Minerva asked. But no one was foolish enough to ask anything else. They were too afraid of her and her sour mood.

"Cowards"

Lady Mei's provocation did nothing for the mood of the meeting. She just made the situation worse by dragging attention to Lady Minerva's mood.

Everyone could tell that the meeting had all but ended already. There was no use staying here any longer.

-baam

The cabinet door was forced open and a shadow guard hurried past the guards.

The poor guards were too stunned to even pay attention to the intruder. They could not react in time when more guards entered the room and kneeled in front of Lady Minerva.

"My lady, we have something urgent to resort to you. We felt a surge in dragon energy rise in the west tower. We are afraid that what we feared had happened."

The shadow guard kneaded with his head nearly touching the ground.

And instantly, Lady Minerva's face crumbled in shock and anger.

"This meeting is hereby dismissed. But you all will need to stay here for now. I have something I must do."

And then she left the mess of a meeting room.

All that echoed in there was Lady Mei's laughter and Lord Karan's empty smile.

And a lot of minds filled with questions about her decisions.

Report chapter

The silence inside the cabinet meeting room broke as soon as Lady Minerva left the meeting room.

The people left behind could do nothing but discuss what had happened with each other.

After all, they had no clarification about anything that had happened. And neither did the shadow guards indulge them when they asked the question.

"Heh, how interesting. It seems like the old hag has found herself in a pinch. Maybe we should go and investigate what is happening?"

Mei sounded rather amused at the turn of events.

There had only been a few moments when she had seen Lady Minerva act in such a reckless manner.

To leave the cabinet meeting without even dismissing everyone made this situation smell like a disaster pending to happen.

"I don't want to make an enemy out of her but I find myself curious as well. And I'm bored sitting in this meeting room so I'll join you as well."

Mei's smile widened at the other god's answer.

He was good at masking his emotions but Mei had better intuitions. And they told her that the god sitting at her side was worried about something.

Something was going on behind the scene and both Minerva and Karan were connected to it.

"But won't it be suspicious if only both of us disappear? Let us bring someone from the cabinet crowd as well with us. Let's see…Zenith looks like a good option right?"

Mei was making things up at this point.

Suspicious? Them?

What did it matter even if someone did find them suspicious? They would not be able to touch them anyway.

She could see that Karan was not buying her excuse.

"Ah, I remember, you had a spat with Zenith a little while ago over your lover. It's no wonder you don't want him to come with us. Then, how about Lady Astoria? She is a decent choice, right?"

Mei noticed the small shift in emotions in Karan's eyes.

Jackpot, she had hit the arrow right in the centre.

It seemed like Lady Astoria was connected to the situation as well.

"There is no need to…"

"….but I insist. Lady Astoria, can you come with us for a second."

Karan was not able to refute Lady Mei's words once they had been spoken. He had no choice but to sit back and let things play out.

"Lady Mei. Are you in need of my assistance?"

Mei could teel the tense aura surrounding her from both sides.

Everyone in the cabinet was eying the odd selection in the middle with curiosity. They were all wondering what Mei had called the other goddess to do.

It was a well-known fact that gods and goddesses of different fractions did not mix well. They were loyal to their highest authority and did not like to curry favors with others in the main cabinet.

Moreso, the gods, and goddesses in the main 7 did not like to barge into other fractions. It was beneath them to try and poach out talent in such a way.

So, to see Lady Mei call upon Lady Astoria with such ease caused more than one eyebrow to raise up.

"Oh, it's nothing. I was wondering if you could guide me somewhere. You don't mind right?"

Mei smiled her gentle smile knowing fully well that Lady Astoria could not refuse her this favor.

"Of course not. You can ask me to lead you anytime."

Karan was looking more and more green at their forced familiarity. Mei took joy in making the god lose face like this.

"Then, you won't mind leading me to the central gardens, right? I want to have some fresh air."

All three could tell that Mei was bullshitting around.

Fresh air? Such a thing did not exist on this earth any longer. The atmosphere was regulated with magic and pollution did not exist any longer in the regulated lands.

This was just an excuse to get out and find what she wanted to.

But despite knowing that no one could stop her actions. Astoria had no choice but to agree and lead the way.

-pat

The dragon took a step forward and Aurora took a step back.

It did not deter the baby dragon and he took another step forward.

Aurora could feel his curious aura as he took in the surroundings. The baby dragon was curious and healthy at birth.

But the baby dragon was also looking toward her every few seconds to check if she was still in his vicinity.

If Aurora moved, so did the dragon. The distance between them was not closing at all.

Aurora did not know what she could do. She had not expected the egg to hatch this early despite the signs of awakening being there all along.

And now she had a forearm-long dragon baby to hide while also maintaining her identity as a secret.

"Be a good boy and come here. Do not make any noise."

She was not sure if the dragon had not developed his vocal cords or if it understood her words. But his steps made no noise as came closer and closer toward Aurora.

She quickly scooped the dragon in her arms and hid in a nearby bush.ing this way. Lady Minerva said we had to seal this area. No one is allowed to come in or go out of this garden…."

The voice of the guard reached her but it contained important information. This information put a dent in her plans of escaping this place.

"…heard that it was something dangerous. She looked mad when she left those orders to us….."

So the goddess was not happy? It had to be expected.

"Oi, you both. Stop patrolling the same area and move around. We would all be executed if Lady Minerva found us loitering around."

Darn, her source of information was already gone.

Aurora would need to move around and find another chatty pair of guards.

The bundle in her arms struggled to get free but Aurora held tightly on to its small body.

Even if the nails were starting to hurt her arm, she had to endure their sting. She had to let her blood bleed out if it meant she could keep her life.

"Bad news. We need to let out of here. I saw lady Mei and Lord Karan heading this way led by Lady Astoria. We would get killed if we are found loitering about."

Aurora was not sure if this was good news or not.

Had it only been Karan and Astoria who decided to approach this area, Aurora would have risked coming out of hiding.

But she knew who Lady Mei was and her presence in that group made Aurora hesitant to leave her hiding place.

Because if Karan was a loose cannon, then Lady Mei was a storm. She was a wild card who could not be predicted.

"Well, fuck. What should we do now? We are doomed from both sides, aren't we?"

The guard complained as he started to walk away.

Aurora could tell why the guard had chosen this moment to walk away from the clearing.

It had to be because of the massive aura heading their way. Just feeling it was enough to make Aurora feel uncomfortable.

Talking about in terms of impressive, it was not the best Aurora had felt. It was nothing compared to the pressure of the lower abyss.

But to see such an aura in the open world meant that the individual was not shy about displaying their strength. Such a display could only belong to a goddess.

"What is that smell? It smells like such a strong perfume. Is this some new kind of flower the tower is experimenting with? Let me see it as well."

Aurora wanted to curse her luck. But it seemed as if she had run out of it all.

"Mei, stop fooling around. I don't want you to accidentally run into Minerva and cause us problems."

That was Karan's voice. He was here as well and he seemed to be distracting Lady Mei from focusing on the scent.

"If Minerva finds us then she finds us. But more importantly, what happened to your carefree attitude? You seemed not to care what anyone was doing? So why are you stopping me now?"

Karan looked taken aback at the question.

Aurora could only see his face but it looked slacked and troubled.

Most people would not have asked this question to Karan. But Mei was not 'most people she was someone who held the same power and status as him.

In that way, she was his equal.

But they all missed one nig fact about Lady Mei. She was older than Karan. She had much more experience with the world and other gods.

"You can't fool me. I smelled it the moment I arrived in this park. It is the smell of a juvenile dragon. And I will find it with or without your help."

Well, shit. There went any hope Aurora had of getting away successfully.

Report chapter

Aurora held her breath once she heard the accusation being made against her.

This was really bad for her.

She had accounted for someone hearing the dragon's cry but she had not thought about someone being able to smell the dragon.

And for that someone to be a goddess made things worse by a large margin.

"Mei, don't joke around. I don't find jokes about dragons funny."

Karan's voice sounded annoyed and Aurora took this distraction to try and get away. She had to get away now or her window of opportunity will no longer be available.

"Joke? Don't forget boy. I was there when we killed the last dragon emperor. It was such a thrilling battle that it still sends shivers down my spine."

"There is no way 'I' of everyone would make this mistake. The dragon I am smelling has the same scent as his sire."

Triple shit.

This goddess was crazy.

"Mei, there is no dragon here. Maybe you drank something that is making you hallucinate."

Aurora moved a few steps at a time. She had to smother the dragon in her arms so that it did not make any noise.

"Oi, is that so? Then, you won't mind me taking a look around this garden."

Aurora saw the attack coming her way.

Thankfully, her body had enough awareness to dodge out of the attack's way in time. The bush where she had been hiding previously did not have the same luxury.

Aurora looked up at two pairs of stunned and one pair of smug eyes.

"See, it is a dragon baby. And it's so small and cute. I wonder how strong it would be. And it comes with a present as well. How delightful."

"I wonder what Minerva would say if she were to see this."

Mei could only stare back at the female goddess in front of her. The dragon child in her arms growled at seeing so many new faces.

All four of them stood in a stalemate, not knowing what to do.

But that stance was finally broken by Mei's attack.

Her aura materialized in the shape of a whip that lashed out toward Aurora. Thankfully, it was not as fast as Aurora had been expecting it to be.

Having fought with many high-ranked demons in the abyss, Aurora could tell that the goddess was holding herself back and not fighting at her full power.

Aurora had no idea why the goddess chose to play with her like that, but she was thankful nonetheless.

"Aurora, run."

Astoria did not sit ideal as Aurora was being attacked.

Aurora had not expected the demi-goddess to break her stance and intercept Mei's attack. But the elder goddess did that anyway.

"Ho, so you were involved with her. It would break Minerva's heart to hear this."

Aurora only heard that much before she was out of the area.

The dragon in her arms felt agitated. The sharp nails of the dragon left bleeding impressions on Aurora's arms.

But she ignored them as she kept on running.

"Halt right there. You will not be going any further than this."

And of course, just as Aurora thought she made it out, she had to run in the worst person possible – Lady Minerva.

Aurora only realized the lady's read identity after she sampled that huge aura. It felt much more oppressive than Lady Mei's.

"You are…..

…Astoria's partner. Why do you have a dragon with you? Where did you find it?"

Aurora took in a deep breath before she opened her mouth to lie.

"I found him in the gardens. I don't know how he got there?"

"Well then, you won't mind returning him to me, right?"

"…."

"….."

"Kyuuu?"

The dragon looked back at Aurora in a confused manner. He did not seem to understand what was going around him at the current moment"

-grrrrr

"But he did seem to feel the same hostility he had felt against Mei earlier. The dragon's aura was getting more and more agitated as time passed on.

"What's wrong? You're not going to hand the dragon over?"

There was no way Aurora could hand the dragon over to Minerva. Not when she knew that the dragon would not survive past the next day.

But Aurora could not retreat from the area either without exposing her powers.

She had effectively cornered herself in a stalemate.

In front of her were Minerva and her massive power. Behind her were Mei and her destructive power.

"Aurora, get aside."

Karan's voice warned her and Aurora felt her body comply with the demand.

Before she knew it, a fast force passed her past location and collided with a stunned Minerva.

"Hurry. We need to leave this place now. Go, I will stall them for you."

Karan stepped in front of Aurora and the other two goddesses. He hunched ahead in a protective positing and Aurora felt bad for dragging him into this conflict.

"Aurora, let's leave right now. We are no match for those two. They have too much experience over us."

Astoria also made her way over.

Aurora could do nothing but comply with her demand. She had to leave Karan behind.

"Go. I will be alright. I have some things I need to talk about with Minerva anyway."

Karan gestured for the other two to leave with the baby dragon.

"Hey come back here. Minerva, I am going after them."

Karan and Minerva, both tried to stop Mei from chasing the fleeing pair. But the hot-headed goddess was too much for them to handle.

She easily dismissed their attempts to hold her in her place and fled the scene.

That left only Karan and Lady Minerva at the site of the previous battle.

In all her years of existence, Lady Minerva had never had such conflicting emotions before.

She had also never been made a fool of like that.

"Lord Karan, you have one minute to explain what you are doing aiding those thieves."

Minerva was not in a forgiving mood but she could not just take the other god on. She had to plan carefully and make sure she was on the right track before coming to any conclusions.

A fight between gods was not something she could afford to take part in.

"Well, it is exactly as how it looks. I am helping those two escape the tower with the dragon. You see, we dragons have a kinship of sorts. I feel like I have to help him survive."

Karan spoke those words with a small grin. He sounded delighted to be able to hold Minerva back.

"Kinship between dragons? Surely you jest? Dragons are unfeeling beasts of the abyss. They have no such feelings of honor or family. And besides, you are not even a real dragon. You just have the core of one. Now step aside and let me correct your wrong behavior."

Every god had a core that gave them power. The more powerful the core, the more powerful the god.

Only the top 7 gods had the mythical cores and were worthy of the title of 'natural gods.'

Still, having a core did not make them the beast itself.

"How cold of you to say that. Just for that, I won't step aside and let you pass. You'll have to remove me by force if you want to pass me."

Karan was being a stubborn idiot.

Initially, Lady Minerva had no intention of using hostile force to solve this situation. But there seemed to no longer be a choice available to her.

"Fine, have it your way."

Lady Minerva was no longer going to hesitate. Her power was no longer going to hold itself back.

She was already at the pinnacle of her patience. And she was going to show this imprudent younger god why no one messed with her.

Her bow materialized out of thin air just as Karan realized that he no longer held the upper hand in this situation.

Aurora held her breath once she heard the accusation being made against her.

This was really bad for her.

She had accounted for someone hearing the dragon's cry but she had not thought about someone being able to smell the dragon.

And for that someone to be a goddess made things worse by a large margin.

"Mei, don't joke around. I don't find jokes about dragons funny."

Karan's voice sounded annoyed and Aurora took this distraction to try and get away. She had to get away now or her window of opportunity will no longer be available.

"Joke? Don't forget boy. I was there when we killed the last dragon emperor. It was such a thrilling battle that it still sends shivers down my spine."

"There is no way 'I' of everyone would make this mistake. The dragon I am smelling has the same scent as his sire."

Triple shit.

This goddess was crazy.

"Mei, there is no dragon here. Maybe you drank something that is making you hallucinate."

Aurora moved a few steps at a time. She had to smother the dragon in her arms so that it did not make any noise.

"Oi, is that so? Then, you won't mind me taking a look around this garden."

Aurora saw the attack coming her way.

Thankfully, her body had enough awareness to dodge out of the attack's way in time. The bush where she had been hiding previously did not have the same luxury.

Aurora looked up at two pairs of stunned and one pair of smug eyes.

"See, it is a dragon baby. And it's so small and cute. I wonder how strong it would be. And it comes with a present as well. How delightful."

"I wonder what Minerva would say if she were to see this."

Mei could only stare back at the female goddess in front of her. The dragon child in her arms growled at seeing so many new faces.

All four of them stood in a stalemate, not knowing what to do.

But that stance was finally broken by Mei's attack.

Her aura materialized in the shape of a whip that lashed out toward Aurora. Thankfully, it was not as fast as Aurora had been expecting it to be.

Having fought with many high-ranked demons in the abyss, Aurora could tell that the goddess was holding herself back and not fighting at her full power.

Aurora had no idea why the goddess chose to play with her like that, but she was thankful nonetheless.

"Aurora, run."

Astoria did not sit ideal as Aurora was being attacked.

Aurora had not expected the demi-goddess to break her stance and intercept Mei's attack. But the elder goddess did that anyway.

"Ho, so you were involved with her. It would break Minerva's heart to hear this."

Aurora only heard that much before she was out of the area.

The dragon in her arms felt agitated. The sharp nails of the dragon left bleeding impressions on Aurora's arms.

But she ignored them as she kept on running.

"Halt right there. You will not be going any further than this."

And of course, just as Aurora thought she made it out, she had to run in the worst person possible – Lady Minerva.

Aurora only realized the lady's read identity after she sampled that huge aura. It felt much more oppressive than Lady Mei's.

"You are…..

…Astoria's partner. Why do you have a dragon with you? Where did you find it?"

Aurora took in a deep breath before she opened her mouth to lie.

"I found him in the gardens. I don't know how he got there?"

"Well then, you won't mind returning him to me, right?"

"…."

"….."

"Kyuuu?"

The dragon looked back at Aurora in a confused manner. He did not seem to understand what was going around him at the current moment"

-grrrrr

"But he did seem to feel the same hostility he had felt against Mei earlier. The dragon's aura was getting more and more agitated as time passed on.

"What's wrong? You're not going to hand the dragon over?"

There was no way Aurora could hand the dragon over to Minerva. Not when she knew that the dragon would not survive past the next day.

But Aurora could not retreat from the area either without exposing her powers.

She had effectively cornered herself in a stalemate.

In front of her were Minerva and her massive power. Behind her were Mei and her destructive power.

"Aurora, get aside."

Karan's voice warned her and Aurora felt her body comply with the demand.

Before she knew it, a fast force passed her past location and collided with a stunned Minerva.

"Hurry. We need to leave this place now. Go, I will stall them for you."

Karan stepped in front of Aurora and the other two goddesses. He hunched ahead in a protective positing and Aurora felt bad for dragging him into this conflict.

"Aurora, let's leave right now. We are no match for those two. They have too much experience over us."

Astoria also made her way over.

Aurora could do nothing but comply with her demand. She had to leave Karan behind.

"Go. I will be alright. I have some things I need to talk about with Minerva anyway."

Karan gestured for the other two to leave with the baby dragon.

"Hey come back here. Minerva, I am going after them."

Karan and Minerva, both tried to stop Mei from chasing the fleeing pair. But the hot-headed goddess was too much for them to handle.

She easily dismissed their attempts to hold her in her place and fled the scene.

That left only Karan and Lady Minerva at the site of the previous battle.

In all her years of existence, Lady Minerva had never had such conflicting emotions before.

She had also never been made a fool of like that.

"Lord Karan, you have one minute to explain what you are doing aiding those thieves."

Minerva was not in a forgiving mood but she could not just take the other god on. She had to plan carefully and make sure she was on the right track before coming to any conclusions.

A fight between gods was not something she could afford to take part in.

"Well, it is exactly as how it looks. I am helping those two escape the tower with the dragon. You see, we dragons have a kinship of sorts. I feel like I have to help him survive."

Karan spoke those words with a small grin. He sounded delighted to be able to hold Minerva back.

"Kinship between dragons? Surely you jest? Dragons are unfeeling beasts of the abyss. They have no such feelings of honor or family. And besides, you are not even a real dragon. You just have the core of one. Now step aside and let me correct your wrong behavior."

Every god had a core that gave them power. The more powerful the core, the more powerful the god.

Only the top 7 gods had the mythical cores and were worthy of the title of 'natural gods.'

Still, having a core did not make them the beast itself.

"How cold of you to say that. Just for that, I won't step aside and let you pass. You'll have to remove me by force if you want to pass me."

Karan was being a stubborn idiot.

Initially, Lady Minerva had no intention of using hostile force to solve this situation. But there seemed to no longer be a choice available to her.

"Fine, have it your way."

Lady Minerva was no longer going to hesitate. Her power was no longer going to hold itself back.

She was already at the pinnacle of her patience. And she was going to show this imprudent younger god why no one messed with her.

Her bow materialized out of thin air just as Karan realized that he no longer held the upper hand in this situation.

Minerva pulled her bowstring back and released the stored energy toward the sky.

Arrows rained down toward Karan's location with a velocity no one could see with naked eyes.

But Karan was not a normal human. He was a god as well and his reputation was well-earned as well.

"Bring it on old hag. I am sick and tired of your bullshit anyway. I want in on some action as well."

Karan and a sword in his hands in second and parried away the arrows raining down on him.

The clashing auras of the two gods were enough to cause damage to the surrounding gardens. The soldiers passing by could not even take a single step.

It was all too much for them.

On the other side of the clearing, Aurora and Astoria found themselves at the edge of the tower. The only way out was to either fall or get past the angry goddess in front of them.

"Are you both done running away? Then, let's get to business, shall we?"

Mei had caught up to the pair and now blacked their way out.

Minerva pulled her bowstring back and released the stored energy toward the sky.

Arrows rained down toward Karan's location with a velocity no one could see with naked eyes.

But Karan was not a normal human. He was a god as well and his reputation was well-earned as well.

"Bring it on old hag. I am sick and tired of your bullshit anyway. I want in on some action as well."

Karan and a sword in his hands in second and parried away the arrows raining down on him.

The clashing auras of the two gods were enough to cause damage to the surrounding gardens. The soldiers passing by could not even take a single step.

It was all too much for them.

On the other side of the clearing, Aurora and Astoria found themselves at the edge of the tower. The only way out was to either fall or get past the angry goddess in front of them.

"Are you both done running away? Then, let's get to business, shall we?"

Mei had caught up to the pair and now blacked their way out.

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"Are you both done running away? Then, let's get to business, shall we?"

Mei was getting annoyed with all the chasing around she had to do. The pair in front of her was slippery.

If not for the dragon in their arms she would have simply ended their lives the first chance she got. (Even if it meant hearing Minerva's nagging all the time.)

"There are only two ways out of here for you. Either you jump out of the tower window or try to get past me. But both will result in your death."

Mei watched as emotions flashed on the other two's faces.

Well, their choice had already been made the second Mei had decided to chase them. They had to jump and take the chance with the fall damage.

If they were lucky and had not consumed the magic-suppressing food, then they could use their magic to cushion their fall.

If not, then they were as good as done.

"Astoria, you can't take Mei on in raw power, right?"

Mei watched amused as the girl dressed as the guy spoke.

She was a curious one who had dared walk in the tower by hiding her gender.

And she had been good. Well, more than good enough to get away with hiding her secret as well. Even Mei had to take a second look to spot the charms on her body.

"Don't be ridiculous Aurora. She's a full-blooded goddess and I'm a half-goddess. My magic may be dragon-bound but using it is as likely to harm us as it is her."

Astoria was an intelligent girl.

Mei had mostly seen her use her light magic and not her natural affinity. That was because dragon magic harmed the goddess. (Most Abyss magic tended to do that)

"What about your plant tricks?"

"Won't work on her. She's too strong for that kind of magic."

Mei felt elated to see that the other two knew their place in the hierarchy.

"You both can't defeat me anyway, so why don't you give up? I swear to make your death as painless and gentle as I can."

Mei proposed but her proposal was met with hostile glances.

"A pity that you both are not going to cooperate with me. Then, I will take the dragon from you by force."

Mei was not going to give the other side any time to gather themselves.

Her magic lashed out toward the other in the form of a fire snake. It was too hot to bear and it would melt anyone's skin on contact.

No person in the overworld could survive this attack without external help.

She aimed the attack more toward the female carrying the dragon than Astoria.

Astoria was a goddess and had the dragon's blood inside her body. She would not be affected by the magic much.

But the other female felt like a human to Mei. And she knew from experience that humans were naturally frail.

A little push from her would be enough to make the human female cave in and give up.

Mei was not ahead to killing the human but she would do that if that was what it took.

She would have the dragon under her control.

"Aurora. Shit, I'll come and help you out."

Astoria turned around to help Aurora out but Mei was not going to let that happen.

She used her superb speed to place herself between the two other females

"Why don't you pay attention to me? Your companion is as good as dead. But you can still come back to us."

Mei purposed to the younger goddess.

One casualty should be enough to make the other party realize what kind of situation they had found themselves to be in.

"And what If I refuse? Will you kill me as well?"

Mei frowned at the sharp tone Astoria was using on her.

She had been very lenient with the younger female this far but her patience was reaching its end.

Mei was not someone who was known for her patience in the first place. So the fact that she had not killed the other two yet was a miracle in itself.

"You know what? I am done with you and your bullshit. Forget Minerva and her feelings. That old hag is a block of ice. She won't even care if you die right here and now.

But I will care if I did not kill you right now."

Mei's aura lashed out again.

The aura transformed into another fire creature and lept at Astoria.

The resulting collision was enough to make anyone pale. There was no way any ordinary god or goddess would be alive by the end of that attack.

But Mei had a feeling things were far from over.

She had felt the barest hint of a dragon's power when her aura had been about to hit Astoria.

It was entirely possible that the younger goddess had used her destructive properties to her advantage and nullified Mei's power.

"Y-You can't overpower me with fire. My sire was a fire dragon and his fire lives on through me."

Astoria was injured after Mei's attack but she showed no sign of backing down.

Mei felt a thrill go through her as her challenge was properly answered for the first time in a few centuries.

"The fire live's on you say? Then show me that fire of yours. I will make sure to extinguish it this time."

Mei held her hand up and gathered her aura in it.

It instantly burst out in an orange flame made up of pure mana. This was the flame of a goddess.

Astoria tried to do something similar with her arm but her flame was much weaker and had a bluish tint to it.

The two flamed collided but neither seemed to want to give way to the other.

The two were in a stalemate now with no winner emerging.

But Mei knew that this was a battle of endurance, not power. The flames were canceling each other out but this status-quo will not last forever.

Astoria's flame was already weakening by the second and her body would start to break down soon.

After all, a goddess's body was not meant to house a dragon's flame. It had a bad reaction when those two things met.

"You are a few years too young to think of challenging me. What kind of foolishness were you thinking by opposing the cabinet?"

Minerva felt agitated at everything that was happening.

Taking down Karan had been easy enough since he had not been fighting for real.

To Minerva, it felt more like he was trying to buy time for the other two to escape.

"Foolish? Challenge? That was never my intention. I was just doing what I wanted to do. But what about you? What will you do with me now? Will you kill me? Banish me out of the Cabinet?"

Karan's question was loaded.

Minerva felt a headache overcome her as she thought back to what she could do.

Karan could not be allowed to leave the cabinet. He was one of the 7 major gods and the cabinet could not afford to lose another one of them.

Karan could not be killed either because of his godly status. The backlash would not be worth it.

Besides, the fraction was backing Karan up. They would not be happy with the tower and cause problems for them in the future.

But maybe Minerva still had an ace up her sleeve.

"That female, I recognize her now. Isn't she the one who wanted to start an academy in the Rocx valley? So you knew her after all."

Minerva wanted to probe into Karna's mind. Maybe bait him out a little as well.

She had not expected the god to jerk in her direction with serious eyes.

"Leave her out of this. This has nothing to do with us. This all is your daughter's fault in the first place."

Minerva wanted to smile at getting one up over Karan. But she did not because she could not afford to show that weakness.

Instead, she looked the other god straight in the eye.

"I know it is Astoria's fault and I am not going to let her get away. But she's not the one who's got the most to lose by doing this. I can take away that permission I gave for the academy."

"Since it had not started operating yet and the first inspection is still pending, even a small incident can cause its reputation to fall."

Karan looked like he was about to growl in warning but held himself back.

"Are you threatening me?"

Karan sounded pissed off and Minerva tried to play his concerns off.

"No, of course not. I am merely suggesting you choose your next actions carefully."

Minerva had successfully passed the ball over while still remaining in control.

"I…my decision.."

Karan wanted to speak but a burst of powerful aura stopped him.

Minerva felt her eye pop open as soon as she felt that presence. It felt like the tower's presence.

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"It is your loss. You have failed to overcome me and my flames. But I will still give you the last chance to save your life."

Mei closed in on the defeated goddess.

Astoria was tired and her body was burning. Prolong exposure to her dragon flamed and made her body weak. She would have no choice but to yield to Mei.

But Mei would not kill her like that.

No, she would let the younger female live and then take her time hunting the half-goddess down. She would squeeze the last amount of enjoyment she could from the female in front of her.

And then she would move on to the juvenile baby dragon.

Astoria's human toy might have perished in the fire but Mei could still feel the abyssal tint in her fire.

The dragon was likely alive and well within her flames.

"I c-can't give up."

Mei had no idea why Astoria was being so stubborn over this topic. She had never seen the younger goddess this passionate about anything.

"I am not asking you to give up because that is a luxury for the strong. You, Astoria, are weak against me. You have no right to choose to do anything."

Mei could feel the half-goddess's frustration rise up.

Losing her companions must have blazed some kind of fire inside Astoria because her aura was getting more and more fired up by the second.

She would reach her blazing point soon.

The blazing point was a phenomenon only shown by abyssal beasts. It was when they pushed past a normal body's limit and enhanced their everything with the power of the abyss.

It was a point of no return for a beast.

Mei was sure Astoria had inherited this power along with her flames from her dragon sire.

The half-goddess was not even speaking now. Her words had been reduced to growls of pain and anger.

And her attacks had gotten more and more ferocious. Magic was running rampant.

'It's fun. I want this feeling to last.' It had been a long time since Mei had let loose like that. She could not help but embrace that feeling of joy.

It was so much fun for her that she did not even notice getting closer and closer to her fire.

And then she stepped into the area near her fire.

"F-Finally."

Astoria panted, forcing herself out of her blazing point.

Mei felt annoyed to be treated like a low-level mob. Was she not even worth it for Astoria to fight properly?

Did Astoria think that she could get away half-assing their fight? Mei would show her why no one messed with her.

"You little bug? Why did you undo your blazing point? Your body is done for anyway. Face me properly."

Mei roared.

She could feel the smaller dragon closing on her space but she did not care for it.

The dragon was not a threat to Mei and would not be for a long time to come. She could crush it anytime.

But for now, she needed to take care of the goddess that had pissed her off. Astoria needed to die to satisfy Mei's anger.

"Little bug? Me? But you are the one who is currently in danger."

Mei only got a second of warning before she felt something erupt at her side.

The magic she felt was like nothing she had felt before. It resonated with something ancient in her core and rooted her in the spot.

Why did it feel familiar to her?

'Don't move. Don't look at it. It's a disaster that will pass soon. All you need to do is to stay out of its way. There is no need to engage in similar power.'

It had been a while since Mei's inner goddess had done anything but get angry at the world. The main reason for this was a lack of challenge available to a goddess.

But now this! This looked to be out of even her control. This energy sends shivers down Mei's spine. It made her excited in a way nothing had for a long time.

"What kind of trick did you pull?"

Mei forced her quarry out despite her inner goddess's warning. She felt like she had to ask before she was consumed by this power.

"Trick? I did not pull any. I just got lucky to find a good partner to share my burdens with."

Mei watched in disbelief as Astoria walked around her and toward the burning piece of human.

Mei recognized the human form in front of her but it did not register inside her head. Her whole frame shook with caution.

"Y-You? What are you?"

Mei asked with a shiver of something in her voice but no one answered her.

It started with caution but it was quickly developing into something else. It was developing into interest.

The fire burned.

Aurora had never felt agony like this in her life. The fire was attacking her very core and Aurora could feel her body trying to keep up with the magic demand.

It was all an unconscious process and the healing was taking its toll.

Mainly because Aurora was still keeping a tight grasp on her goddess powers and suppressing them.

'Let it go. Let the magic run its course. You will feel much better once you do.'

The voice was like a siren inside Aurora's mind. She had to actively stop herself from letting go.

But she could also feel her life force vanishing from her body. She would not be able to keep up with the burning soon enough.

'Let it go. Let the abyss in and let it help you out.'

Aurora did not want to let the tower know of her existence but she also felt like she had no other option.

She could feel Mei's magic and Astoria's flames crashing.

And she could also feel Astoria's lifeforce depleting at a fast rate. The half-goddess was not doing so hot at the moment.

Then there was the small dragon body curled up on top of Aurora.

The dragon's aura felt worried and its small nose poked Aurora constantly.

Aurora could not die right now. She had to survive this and make the best of her life. She had to focus.

'Let your magic flow. Don't fear your magic.'

Aurora did not fear her magic but she did fear the effect the abyss could have on her. She feared the changes it would bring inside her.

Because Aurora was a goddess but she had not used her magic or charm actively.

Somewhere it had not sunk inside her brain yet that she was a goddess. But now it was forcing her to admit that fact.

Aurora saw her dividing line as a red ribbon inside her mind. It felt like it was holding something back on the other side of the cabinet.

And she reached out to yank it open.

Magic filled her entire being as she did so.

And Aurora finally felt her conscious rise up to face the world.

"Y-You? What are you?"

The goddess of calamity asked. Aurora could recognize that firey presence inside her mind.

The one who inhabited the traits of a phoenix and rose up from the ashes. That was who Mei had been before her rise in fame.

Aurora could not even tell where her mind was pulling all this information from, but she had it.

Aurora saw the flame heading her way but she did not feel afraid.

The energy in those flames felt familiar and mouldable. Aurora felt like she could reach out toward that energy and change its course.

But knowing you could do something and actually doing it were different things.

Despite Aurora's new awakening, she was no match for the raw power and experience Mei had. Aurora could only manipulate the flames to not let them hit her.

"You're not a normal human, are you? No human can match my flamed like this. Are you perhaps…"

"…A goddess?"

Aurora did not grace Mei with an answer. She used that time to maneuver herself toward Astoria's direction.

"Astoria, we are escaping. Brace yourself for the fall."

"Huh?"

"No, wait…"

A lot of things happened at once.

Aurora held Astoria from her waist and held her hand out at the same time. The baby dragon jumped in her arms at the last second before Aurora fell through the window.

Mei also reached out to catch Aurora's hand but she was not able to.

All she could do was watch the trio fall down into the depths of the abyss before snapping out of her shock.

"Well, fuck it. You don't get to escape me like that. I will follow after you for my match."

Mei was about to jump down but she never got a chance to do so.

All because of the tight grip someone had on her shirt.

"That is enough damage you caused. We can't afford to lose you right now Lady Mei. You need to calm down and listen to me."

It was Minerva who walked in with a grave expression. She had Lord Karan following behind her with a solemn look as well.

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"I…my decision.."

Karan wanted to curse himself out for being this oblivious. Of course, Minerva had found out about his connections.

First of all, Minerva was a shrewd lady. It would be foolish of Karan to think of her as anything but cunning.

Then there was the fact that Minerva was the oldest goddess.

Being the oldest, she held a great advantage over everyone else. She had practically seen all the other gods and goddesses grow up and embrace their powers.

And then there was her intuition. It was unlike anything Karan had ever seen. She could just look at you and know your deepest, darkest desire.

Karan was about to answer her when he felt that happen.

The abyss erupted with power beneath their feet.

But that was not all. Somewhere in this tower, a great surge of power was converging. It felt like a curious mixture of the abyssal and bestial energy.

It almost felt like a divine power. But it was much stronger than Karan had ever felt before.

Had it not been for the small ray of familiar magic mixed in it, he would not even have known who that power belonged.

"That power? A new goddess? But there is something familiar about it? Was it the young woman who Astoria brought with her?"

It did not surprise Karan to know that Minerva had found out Aurora's secret with just one glance.

But it did surprise him to know that Minerva remembered Aurora's magic signature in just the first meeting.

"Did you know about it beforehand? Is that why you helped vouched for her?"

Minerva was asking questions now. Questions that made it hard for Karan to keep up with the conversation.

Did he know about Aurora's power beforehand? Of course not.

In-face, he had not even known that it was Aurora that wanted to set up the academy. The resistance had not provided him with any such information.

Karan had just decided to help on a whim because he had seen Rex's name on the report. That was all there was to it.

"Maybe I knew that about her. But why does it matter? Will you take the permission back now that you know about Aurora's real nature?"

Karan had to be careful about his words and actions now.

Aurora was in a delicate situation and he did not want to make it any worse.

"If you want to lie, the at least practice your skills. I can see through your words easily enough."

The jab hurt Karan. But Lady Minerva was not finished with her words.

"As for permission? I will have to think about that topic. But frankly speaking, I do not want to make an enemy of her if I can help it. Her power level looks to be on a similar scale to a high-goddess."

This was good. It was better than good.

Since Minerva was conscious of Aurora and her power, she would not take any hasty decision. She would also not cause any problems for the academy.

"We need to stop Mei before she does something drastic."

Now that one problem was dealt with, Karan could focus on the other side of things.

Mei was a powerful force of nature but she was not without flaws. She was hot-headed and easy to distract.

Karan had to believe that Aurora could take care of herself and had somehow gotten away from the calamity goddess.

"That we shall do. But we are not done with you yet. Whatever your reasons were, you still tried to help traitors. We need to take action so that the news doesn't spread."

Karen cursed his twisted fate and Lady Minerva's insight.

He would not have minded getting his reputation tarnished. It was something he was used to in a normal situation.

But now the situation involved the tower and Minerva's subordinates. She would be a bitch about everything being proper.

It was better to indulge her and to be on her good side.

After all, the resistance was counting on Karan to get the inside information and plant their moles. He could not leave the resistance hanging on his end.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

Karan already had an idea of what he would be asked to do. It could not be anything public since it would defeat the whole purpose of keeping things quiet.

But it would not be something small this time either.

"Take a voe to be on the tower's side for the next sixth months I won't ask any more of you but this much you will have to do."

Minerva's words caused Karan to groan in irritation.

Six months was not a lot of time in terms of gods and goddesses. But it was enough to reinforce the image Minerva was trying to set up.

Taking a voe would mean that Karan would be powerless against Minerva's and the tower's orders.

But not taking it would also put him at odds with Minerva and the tower.

And while he did not care about what happened to himself, he did care about what happened to his fellow clan members and those under his command.

"Fine. But only six months. And I will not take any action against that new academy or the resistance. Do not try to use me to deal with them."

Karan laid his terms down.

Under natural scenarios, there was no way a god would be called down to handle such matters. It fell to the soldiers.

But Karan was not going to take any risks.

"Alright. I understand. And I was not going to ask you to do ant's works anyway. Now let go and find Mei."

Lady Minerva was a hard lady to please. But Karan could not help but feel like he had gotten away with something huge.

The pair found Lady Mei almost about to jump down the broken window.

"Well, fuck it. You don't get to escape me like that. I will follow after you for my match."

But before the goddess could make her decisive jump, Lady Minerva interfered and stopped her actions.

"That is enough damage you caused. We can't afford to lose you right now Lady Mei. You need to calm down and listen to me."

Lady Mei looked like she was pouting. It felt wrong to see that expression on the face of someone so old. (That was all in his mind. Lady Mei looked 21 in age.)

"B-But they got away. I need to pay them back for this humiliation."

Lady Mei looked pissed but so did Lady Minerva.

"Mei, don't cause problems. You will get your chance to face that goddess and dragon in the future once we secure them as allies. Don't make matters worse for us. We can't give Lord Alan such a strong ally."

Lord Alan was the god who had deserted the cabinet and formed the resistance. He had been too in disgust to see where the tower was headed and had made his decision.

Karan had never actually seen him but he was the second oldest god alive.

Legends said that his power was unbeatable but he had suffered an injury that made him unable to fight.

"You should understand this. There are 4 of us and three deserters in the cabinet. We cannot make the odds 4 vs 4."

Lady Mei finally calmed down.

Lady Minerva did have a point in her words. And if she suspected Karan as well, it would be even worse odds stacked against her.

"But the other three don't get along while we do. Won't we win if we attack them now?"

Lady Mei pouted as she spoke those words.

Karan took a step away from Minerva. The eldest looked like she was about to explode.

"Mei, behave and don't make things difficult for me. The damage control I will need to do is massive enough as it is."

And there went all the chances of peace Karan could have. Now he had to deal with an angry and annoyed Minerva on top of all the questions his subordinates would ask.

'I am so fucked. Why did I think helping the resistance was a good choice?'

They were falling down.

They were falling down fast and would hit the ground at any moment.

Astoria had already lost consciousness due to her lack of energy and Aurora was no better at the moment.

Aurora's magic was all over the place. It was lashing out and she could not even control it to slow her fall.

They were about to hit the ground and the fall would hurt, if not outright kill them.

Aurora wanted to live. She wanted to live and bring Astoria back home.

She wanted to live and make the tower suffer for all it had done to her and her previous life.

She wanted to live and come back to those who loved her. She still had things left to do after all.

And her magic responded to her honest wishes and slowed her fall.

It still hurt when Aurora touched the ground but she did not break her spine.

But Aurora could not stop her consciousness from fading.

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NovelAbyss of Dual Cultivation: Goddess's Lust systemChapter 61

ABYSS OF DUAL CULTIVATION: GODDESS'S LUST SYSTEM

C61

"L-Leader. The sky is falling. W-What should we do?"

Reptilian grey eyes watched the fast-descending meteorite fall toward the earth. The small shapes around the leader hopped around in panic.

"Don't worry. That thing is not the sky, but a human. You all head back for now and I will check those people."

"B-But leader…"

The small subordinate had no way of opposing her leader.

Even if she did happen to say something sensible, chances were that the leader would just refuse to listen to her words.

In the end, the smaller figure could only order her people to leave.

"Be a careful leader. Those humans might not be our friends. I don't want to see you dead."

The leader just rolled her eyes at the obvious worry her subordinate was showing.

It was sweet of the smaller rabbit to care about her like that. But there was no need to be so cautious of the humans.

"Don't worry. I can take care of myself. After all, I am stronger than I look."

The female licked her claws in a show of her strength. Her nails looked vicious, stopping at a few inches short of skinning anyone.

The female kept guard till her tribe disappeared.

And once she was done, she finally turned around to start moving toward the falling bodies.

She could feel the magic surrounding the metros calling her like a siren. It was a powerful bewitchment that called out to her.

The leader had not initially wanted to care about the magic at all. She had convinced herself to walk away from the scene.

If not for the familiar scent emitting from their direction, she would have decided not to involve herself in this mess.

"My lord. Why are you with those wrenched humans? They were the ones who killed you?"

The female Viera could not figure out why the reincarnated dragon-lord had chosen the humans as its caretakers. But she decided not to question it.

Higher beings of the abyss had their reasons for doing things. And trying to understand it was only something a fool would do.

The Viera leader hopped around on her four paws. Her unique body shape and sharp moment made it very easy to navigate the rocky space of the surrounding hills.

And she was near the crash site mere moments after the crash.

"My Lord, are you alright?"

The Viera leader asked in a small voice. She did not want to cause unnecessary distress to her lord's new body.

-Grrrr

The small black form of a baby dragon growled in warning toward her.

The Viera leader took an unconscious step back at the warning. The small form of the dragon looked far from satisfied though.

The more she stepped back, the further the dragon walked in her direction.

"My lord, there is no need to be hostile to me. I am here to help you out."

The Viera beast called out in hopes of being understood.

But the dragon was not in a forgiving mood. It was closing in on the female warrior with a ferocity she had seldom seen in any abyssal beast.

"H-Huh?"

The growling almost stopped at the weak voice.

The dragon baby ignored the Viera leader completely and coiled around the semi-unconscious human.

"W-Who's there?"

The voice was really weak when it asked the question. It did not belong to someone who could survive such heavy injuries.

The Viera leader had no intention of stepping out to help the unconscious human pair initially. But her lord was attached to these humans.

And helping their lord was one of the primary functions bestowed upon their clan by the abyss.

"Do not be alarmed. I am the loyal soldier of My Lord and my name is Ely. The dragon you have with you is the reincarnated form of my lord and I have to help them out."

"And since you are my Lord's precious people, I shall help you out as well."

The dragon decided he did not like those words.

There was no way the tiny dragon could harm Ely in his current state. The small dragon lacked its blazing point activation and he did not seem to have developed his magical core as well.

All in all, he was in a vulnerable state and must be protected.

"No, don't attack her. Come here."

Ely tried not to gasp as she watched the human interaction with the dragon. The human female in front of her looked unafraid of the dragon.

Both she and the unconscious human lying at her side had no energy to speak of. Even still, she held enough courage to get the dragon to interact with her.

And the most amazing thing of all was – the dragon was complying with her request.

"Lady Ely was it? I want to take your offer but I don't think I can move right now. Do you think you can get someone to take us to a safe space?"

Would surprises never cease to exist?

Ely had thought that she would have to pull some kind of trick to get her lord and his humans to come with her.

"I understand. But I don't think my lord likes that idea very much."

Ely looked at the small dragon who eyes her with distrust. He seemed to be fighting with his instincts to like her.

"It's alright. Wait, have I named you yet? Ely, you called him your lord, right? So, do you know his name?"

Ely tried not to judge the human for her lack of knowledge but it was hard.

After all, what kind of human decided to keep a creature as mighty as a dragon with them and not even research their kind?

It was not like there were a lot of dragon lords that lived.

But Ely did not show her thoughts on her face.

"My lord was named Ur. I hope the name will be bestowed upon our lord once again."

Ely hoped the human was not foolish enough to name the dragon anything else. After all, the name 'Ur' held importance for her people.

"Ur? I guess it is fine if the dragon likes it? What do you say?"

Her lord looked offended at the name but he did not reject it at once. Ely could only take it as a good sign.

"Hey, do you think you can take Ur back to your place while I help my other companion out? I need you to promise that you'll come back for us and keep Ur safe."

Once again, a thing out of the norm had happened.

A human was asking someone from the abyss for a favor.

Was the human not afraid that Ely would kill her once she had the chance? Where did that confidence come from?

But whatever had prompted that confidence, Ely was thankful for that. She could take this opportunity to wrestle her lord's favor and divert him from the human's side.

"Ur, be good and go with her for now. And If Ely doesn't come back with the troops, you have my permission to cause as much hard as you want to."

Ely wanted to scoff at the threat.

There was no way her lord would cause the Viera harm. It was because of him that the Viera race was even alive right now.

"I voe to take care of my lord and send some people back for you as soon as I can."

Ely vowed before pressing her lips against the conscious human. To show her sincerity, she even used her magic to exchange the voe.

As per abyss rules, the exchange of energy solidified the contract.

Since it was such a short-term contract, all it required was a small press of surface area and an exchange of energy.

The deed was done just in time for Ely to avoid a pair of dangerous claws aiming for her throat

"Yeah. Send for help but tell them to take a little more time than necessary. And also have some medicinal supplied readily."

Ely's reptilian eyes met another reptilian pair. But unlike Ely, the other one had no sense of recognition or even human intelligence.

One had to wonder if the owner of those eyes was even a human, to begin with. Those familiar eyes looked at Ely in a haunting manner.

"Now hurry up before Astoria decided to skin you alive."

It was only after Ely left the clearing did she realized what had been missing in the exchange she just had.

The unconscious female had never been a human at all. Her lord's presence had distracted Ely from the real truth of the matter.

And at first, she had thought that the scent she had been smelling was the dragon in her arms.

But it had been that other female that had given out that dragons-scent of the blaze.

That woman had the blood of their lord flowing inside her veins as well. She was their lord as well in the sense of the abyss.

So what did that mean for the Viera race now?

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NovelAbyss of Dual Cultivation: Goddess's Lust systemChapter 62

ABYSS OF DUAL CULTIVATION: GODDESS'S LUST SYSTEM

C62

It was cold. It was so cold that her body was not able to keep up.

Astoria felt like all her energy had left her body. The only thing that was left behind was the feeling of ice inside her chest.

The only source of warmth was outside of her body. It was lying at Astoria's side and she had to consume it.

Her instincts screamed at her to secure her treasure before the intruder took it away from her.

The intruder already had one of Astoria's treasures in her hand. Astoria could not allow her to take another one from her hoard.

"Go. I will keep her stalled."

The voice brought a wave of cool with it. Astoria chased it unconsciously with her lips.

Her lips landed on something soft and cool. The feeling of magic brought calmness to her mind. The calmness of the likes Astoria had never felt before.

She wanted more. She needed more.

She needed to be surrounded by that coolness and make it her own.

So that was what she did. She leaned in and started consuming whatever energy she could get her hands on.

Aurora expected the attack coming her way.

Astoria had not exactly hidden her intentions toward Aurora. More so, her aura had given her excitement away to Aurora.

"Don't hurry to devour me. I am not going anywhere. Come, have your fill."

Aurora braced herself for the flash of pain that was about to come. She could sense Astoria's intention of biting her nape.

Astoria was more beast than human right now. As such, her body was responding in kind and making her act out.

Aurora also knew that the use of blaze point had deprived Astoria of any common sense she held before. The lack of energy in the goddess's body contributed to her wild nature.

There were only two ways to knock Astoria out of her current condition.

Either let her gather her energy or to dual cultivate with her and restore her power.

Aurora chose the more time-efficient one from the bunch.

"Calm down. Match your breath with mine."

Aurora cupped the elder's face with her hands. It was an attempt to snatch the elder goddess's attention back on her.

But Astoria did not pay any attention to the soft command. The elder forced her lips out of Aurora's neck and reached toward her breasts.

But of course, things were not that easy for the pair.

Astoria pawed at Aurora's shirt in an attempt to get it off. But the lack of sense was getting in the way.

There was no other way now.

Aurora pressed her lips against Astoria's with a brutal force. Being nice and soft was not going to work against a beast.

Astoria did not play around either. She forced her body back against Aurora's in a violent clash of tongues.

Two pairs of lips moved against each other before Aurora broke the kiss.

Astoria followed the saliva string held between the teeth and licked across Aurora's face.

"Give me some space to work."

Aurora tried to push Astoria's heavier body off her but the half-goddess did not seem to be in the mood for that.

The more Aurora pushed back, the more Astoria pushed ahead.

In the end, Aurora had no choice but to give up and allow Astoria to have her way with her body.

Astoria's hard penis was rubbing against Aurora's belly but the hands-on her breasts distracted Aurora more.

Astoria was playing with her nipples and fondling her breast like a baby who had found a new toy.

"Astoria, pay attention to.."

A hiss was forced out of Aurora's mouth as Astoria decided to bite her. The soft flesh of Aurora's breast held the teeth imprint.

But Astoria looked far from satisfied and intensified her attempts to mark Aurora.

Pain mixed with pleasure inside Aurora's mind. Her skin blossomed a pretty pink at being handled in such a way.

"A-Astoria, C-Come here."

Aurora branched herself before she pulled Astoria's body on top of her own.

She made sure to move around so that her pussy would rub against Astoria's hard penis. The contact made Aurora hiss out in pleasure.

And it distracted Astoria from her ruthless assault on Aurora's neck as well.

The half-goddess finally seemed to be paying attention to Aurora and her lower half. Astoria's penis rubbed against Aurora's wetness resulting in a bolt of pleasure.

"That's right. That is where you need to go. Don't be shy and touch it."

Aurora was not sure if Astoria understood her words or not. But the elder did reach out with a hesitant touch and lightly touched Aurora's pussy.

The pleasure was intense on Aurora's side but Astoria seemed to find her exploration fun.

The fingers disappeared quickly from Aurora's pussy and were replaced by a hard penis.

Astoria seemed contented to rub her penis against the wet pussy in front of her. The goddess was not even interested in penetration.

Or, it was more likely that the thought of being inside Aurora had not even crossed her mind.

Aurora cursed her fate and got ready to take things in her hand.

Since Astoria looked inexperienced, Aurora decided she needed to pull her weight and ride that hard cock.

That was the only way things would work out for the pair.

"Sorry for the delay."

Aurora apologized before she finally turned the tables.

Astoria melted once Aurora put her hands on the elder. The hard penis throbbed in Aurora's hand and Astoria all but collapsed on herself.

Aurora easily manhandled Astoria on her back while she reached for that hard cock in front of her.

It was impressive and relatively human-shaped.

However, Aurora could also feel something new at the bottom of the cock. Something not relatively human-like.

'I am in for it. She's going to knot.'

Aurora knew being half-beast came with such a territory but she had never experienced this phenomenon before. Being knotted was not on her list of priorities.

But now it looked like she would have to face the beast head-on.

Aurora pumped the cock in front of her before deciding to take a lick. The lack of lubrication only left Aurora with so many options.

Aurora needed to be wet to be able to take Astoria without pain. And the only way to do that was to play with herself.

Since Astoria was out of her mind, Aurora could not even count on her for preparation. All Aurora could do was distract Astoria and pray that her mere preparation would be enough.

Aurora's hand entered her pussy as she played with Astoria's cock. Her mouth made quick work of lubricating the well-sized cock in front of her.

Aurora finally decided to such the cock head to prepare Astoria for the sensation of sinking in a tight wet heat.

But the plan backfired on herself.

Somehow, Astoria gathered enough brainpower to catch Aurora's head and force her to take in the whole cock.

Aurora's new body lacked a gag reflex but the penetration still hurt her throat.

Aurora wanted to pull back but Astoria did not allow Aurora to do that. Aurora had to fight against Astoria's stronghold to get free.

A pair of teary eyes looked back at Astoria and it seemed to have excited Astoria even more because she pushed harder against Aurora's head.

Aurora had to do her best not to use her strength.

Though she did use her magic to calm down Astoria and to free her mouth.

Her pussy was more than ready to take Astoria's cock and she had to pull back to get to the main course.

Thankfully, Astoria finally got the clue and let Aurora's throat go free.

Aurora gulped in the unneeded oxygen and quickly straddled the elder half-goddess.

"You better appreciate my sacrifice. I don't think I'll be able to use my voice tomorrow."

Aurora complained before she sank on Astoria's cock and took it in deep.

The penetration caused a hiss of pleasure to escape both parties. But no one even slowed down to take time and adjust the position.

Aurora held herself back from actually moving once she had sunk balls-deep on top of Astoria's cock. She wanted to catch her breath before the next big event.

But Astoria's instincts finally kicked in and she decided to take charge of the operation. Her hips moved aggressively against Aurora's and the position allowed Astoria to reach down into the deepest part of Aurora.

It was hard and fast action that caused both parties to not give in.

Aurora tried to take control of the situation but Astoria did not seem ready to give the control up.

Astoria seemed more than ready to take advantage of her new position and her thrust picked up speed.

Aurora was losing ground faster and faster. It was Astoria that was in control of their coupling.

But before Astoria could release, Aurora tried one last try to get the control back in her hands.

She held Astoria's hand tightly and kissed her before the half-goddess could move.

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Astoria felt her mind getting lost in pleasure as the warm and tight place on her cock sucked her in.

She had never felt pleasure like this before and the half-goddess doubted if anything would ever feel this pleasing again.

But she wanted more of that mind-melding feeling.

So that was why she hurried up her thrusts and ramped into that wet pussy. Her instincts roared at Astoria to chase that heat.

She needed to release herself inside that heat and leave her claim. She needed to mark that space.

But the magic flowing inside her also felt relaxing. It was the only thing that contained this crazy lust inside Astoria's mind.

The first thing Astoria became aware of was her wet cock being stuck in a divine heat.

The second thing she became aware of was a flushed looking back at her.

"Finally back with me? Don't move around or you'll hurt me."

Astoria tried to move despite the fact warning and instantly felt a small burn on her penis.

"Haney. We're still locked together so be a little gentle with me."

Aurora tried to warn but her voice sounded pained.

Astoria only needed one guess to know why that was so. It was because of her penis being stuck inside the other female.

"Ah. Did this happen because of my blaze point? I was supposed to die, right?"

Astoria was sure she should be dead right now.

Utilizing blaze point was something monsters of the abyss did when they had no other choice.

And even though Astoria had the same protection as the abyssal beasts, she did not have the same mentality as them.

Not to mention, the goddess part of her body still suffered from the draconic magic.

"Think about dying some other time. I need you alive for now to make my dream come true."

Aurora sounded calm. Astoria also settled down in her former position.

Now that the blaze of energy deprivation no longer colored her vision, Astoria could easily make out how she felt.

First, her breasts were squished while she pressed against Aurora's body.

Since both she and Aurora were well-developed in the size department, there was no space left between their bodies.

And then there was the unnatural amount of sweat that had built up between them.

Not to mention, the release that was still sealed inside Aurora.

"By the way. Where is the baby dragon? You didn't name it yet, right?"

Despite the hundred questions Astoria had, this one slipped out.

"Out of everything you could have asked me, this is what you chose? But I guess it does oddly make sense. Now, don't panic about my next words. I did name the dragon."

Astoria felt an odd sense of detachment as Aurora confirmed those words.

It was not Aurora's fault that she did not know about dragon customs. If she did then she would not have named the dragon kid.

Only family members or significant others were allowed to name the dragon. And only if the dragon accept it did the name gain significance.

"Did the kid accept his name?"

"Yes. A Viera arrived not long after we crashed and proclaimed the dragon kid as her lord. I asked Ur to go with that Viera so that I could cure you."

"A team of Viera should be here soon to retrieve us."

Aurora explained and Astoria felt her nerves calm down. If the specie that had found them was Viera then things would turn out to be alright.

Astoria knew about the history of her sire and Viera. And like most Abyssial beasts, Viera were also bound to serve their family line through magical means.

"I see. I guess we got lucky then."

Astoria felt her knot swell down. It finally allowed her to pull out of the wet heat she had been enjoying.

And once she had the luxury, Astoria did not wait around and pulled back.

"I can feel the Viera soldiers heading this way. They will be here in about 15 minutes. I think we should get cleaned up. Is there a water source nearby? I am too tired to make water using magic."

Aurora did look to be tired.

Astoria tried to ignore her throbbing cock as she took in the various flesh marks she had left behind. Now was not the time to think about those things.

"This place is quite dry. I don't think there is a water source nearby."

Aurora groaned at Astoria's words. It was a cute sound and Astoria felt her lips move up unconsciously.

"Then what should we do? I feel like everything will slip out if I stand up now."

Astoria didn't want to tell Aurora that their release was already making its way out of Aurora's body.

The translucent-white material mixed with a honey-gold was making Aurora's skin shine.

And there was something hypnotic about it. Astoria could say for sure that it was because of her instincts but she decided to do something about that leaking fluid.

"H-Hey, we just finished. What are you doing?"

Astoria did not even know she had such beastly instincts inside her. But Aurora's words did not stop her from leaning down and taking a swipe out of her release.

But one lick was far from enough. Astoria wanted more. No, she needed more.

So Astoria quickly got to work and ate that pussy out.

"S-Stop it. Enough."

Astoria must be really good at her work or Aurora must be really sensitive, because her cries were getting louder and louder by the second.

The flow of magic was happening unconsciously between them. Astoria could not stop herself from licking into that delicious treat in front of her.

And Aurora did not seem to want her to stop either.

Despite Aurora's complaints, the younger goddess had a tight grip on Astoria's hair and was urging her to go faster.

The sounds of pleasure escaping Aurora's lips also encourage Astoria to keep on going faster and faster.

The release build up faster this time and Astoria made sure to lick it all off.

"You could have warned me before doing that. I don't even think I can walk right now."

Aurora's complaints were unfounded since the younger goddess pushed herself up on shaky legs and started to pull her clothes back up.

Astoria felt an odd sense of accomplishment at seeing the other struggle to even stand up right now.

That accomplishment turned to glee as Aurora's legs buckled and she almost slid down to the ground.

Astoria could still feel her body protest against having anything pressed against it. The beast inside her did not like to feel restricted.

But Astoria knew how to control herself.

Despite her inner need to mark Aurora's neck even more and to leave visible signs of possessiveness behind, Astoria pulled herself back and got dressed.

She could not allow herself to give in right now.

"Should we go and find those Viera guards? Or should we allow them to find us?"

Aurora looked conflicted in her decision. It was not a good look on her face. So Astoria decided to take matters into her own hand.

Before Aurora could ask any more questions, Astoria picked her up and dashed toward the Viera guard's location.

Since she also had the blood of Ur, there was a small connection between her and the Viera race.

That connection made it easy for Astoria to be able to find the hidden guards.

Poor bunny looked confused to see Astoria stand in front of them. Many even took a step back in fright at seeing her aura for the first time.

"Take me back to your leader. Angering me won't leave a good outcome for you."

Astoria did not want to be mean but she had to maintain her status right now.

Since she had the bestial instincts inside herself as well, she knew the best way to get someone to agree with you was fear.

Strong ruled the weak in the abyss and for Astoria to get her way, she had to show her superiority above the other race.

M-My lord. Of course. We were looking around for you. Kindly follow us to our base."

A timid guard finally stepped ahead and threw her body in a full-blown bow. The poor girl's body shook at every breath she took but Astoria did not ask her to stand up.

Seeing how one of their own was bowing to this new deity, the other followed suit.

They could all feel their lord Ur's aura emitting from the female in front of them. That aura screamed the world 'heir' to them.

Their lord had a successor in the form of this female and she even held enough power to make them all bow.

The only thought that still created doubt in their mind was the arrival of the small black dragon Lady Ely had brought back.

That dragon had a similar aura but was weaker.

But dragons only had one offspring in their life. So which one was their true lord?

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Ely tried to calm her racing heart down as she heard the guard's report.

She had sent some well-trained people to retrieve back Lord Ur's people but she could not help but feel like she was missing something big.

She remembered how close to her Lord's aura that silver-haired human had given out. It almost felt like her lord was standing before Ely once again.

But surely that could not be true.

Since her lord had already reincarnated in the form of his offspring, Ely was curious to know that human imposter's identity.

And that curiosity made her heart pound more and more.

"Lady Ely, we have brought those humans back to the base. But are you sure about it? That silver-haired female is bizarre. She…"

"…makes you think of our lord. Her aura is similar to our lord, right? Don't worry, I will provide you all with an explanation soon enough."

The guard still looked hesitant to take Ely on her words.

Ely smiled her charming smile as she stood up from her throne. The black dragon opened his eyes to give her a stare before curling back to sleep.

"Don't question my words. Have I ever led you all astray? Don't worry. I won't abandon the duty our Lord bestowed upon me."

The guard finally looked relieved at Ely's words. His expression conveyed his uttermost trust and adoration toward his leader.

"Of course. If Lady Ely is saying this then it must be true. Then, I will look forward to the good news. Oh, and the guests we brought back are being kept in the central quarters."

Ely's smile widened at those words. Finally, she could start getting answers to her questions.

"Very well. You all are dismissed for today. But prepare for a grand feast in our lord's name soon."

The guard bowed and left, her long ears twitching in happiness and contentment.

Ely picked up the heavy body of her lord lying on the cushion at her side and almost received a lethal bite mark.

Lord Ur did not appreciate Ely's attempt at disturbing him. He had curled up into a ball as soon as he had been placed on the cushion and decided not to let anyone approach him while in this state.

Many court officials who had felt his aura had already decided to try and visit him. But the dragon had paid them no attention.

"Lord Ur, your humans are in our guest quarters. Should we go and meet them?"

The dragon finally paid attention to Ely, his wings flapping in impatience. That was his signal to say 'hurry up and move.'

And Ely followed the issued command without any delay.

The room Aurora had found herself in was not too shabby. It could be called luxurious by beast standards.

"Astoria, I'm going to take a bath now. Will you be alright here on your own?"

Astoria did not say anything at Aurora's words. She just leapt on the bed and relaxed her body.

Aurora decided to leave the half-goddess alone for now. The female had done a lot today and deserved her rest.

"Then, I'll be going now."

Aurora hesitated only a few more seconds before she entered the bathroom.

It followed a similar luxurious style of architecture as the room outside. Stones line the walls and the floor, giving it a non-skidding texture.

While the water was not a luxury in the abyss or nearby areas, it was a precious resource to be had.

Most bestial species did not even use water for their bodily functions. Thankfully, Vieras were not like that.

They had a considerably good plumbing facility going on and Aurora enjoyed the gentle spray of water on her head.

It also helped her clean off the residue of body fluids inside her body.

But once Aurora was done, she felt much better and ready to face the day.

She opened the bathroom just in time to feel something solid jump into her arms and nuzzle her neck.

"I see that our Lord found you. It is my honor to meet you once again."

The black ball in Aurora's arms purred and only then did Aurora realize that it was the small baby dragon she was holding on to.

Ely, the Viera leader, stood in front of Aurora. But as soon as their eyes met, the elder kneeled down on the ground.

"Pardon my rude behavior. I was not aware that esteemed lady was someone precious to our lord. May I know your names?"

The Viera leader asked as Aurora took a seat on the bed.

Astoria seemed to have woken up from her nap as well and Aurora could feel her aura press all around the room to mark her territory.

Since Astoria was still not fully out of the blaze's after effects, this must be an unconscious action on her part.

"Astoria, you can calm down. You are making poor Ely nervous."

Aurora made her way toward the elder half-goddess. The dragon in her arms seemed to not like that direction but he did not put up any fuzz about it either.

"Sorry. This was my first time using blaze and my sire's power. I am still getting the hang of things."

Astoria apologized but her voice did not convey her apology.

Aurora still chose to accept that fake apology since it was the best she was going to get. And Ely would just have to bear with this uncomfortable feeling for the time being.

Ely could feel the power oozing out of the silver-haired female in front of her.

It was just as she had expected, it was her lord's power she was feeling. Even the blood tie she had with lord Ur seemed to be present.

Whoever this female was, she was similar to the baby black dragon who was Lord Ur's successor.

"What happened? Are you confused about my aura and power? It is exactly as you are thinking it to be."

The lady with her lord's power explained.

She sounded so sure about her claim that Ely felt her doubts rise again. How could it even be possible? Didn't the dragons only have one offspring throughout their life?

"Astoria, don't confuse her any further. We should tell her the truth."

The human carrying Lord Ur seemed much more sensible and likable. There was something about her aura that put Ely at ease.

She oozed the abyssal energy as well. And it was a comfort for Ely to feel that.

"No, you are right. I should not let my irritation at this situation take over my head. Listen, Ely, the reason you are feeling your lord's aura coming out of me is that I was created using his blood."

"The tower created me using the dragon lord Ur and goddess Minerva's essence. I am both a beast and a goddess. You are free to believe me or not to believe me."

"But it won't change the fact that I have your lord's blood inside my veins."

Ely wanted to say that she was surprised but she could not even bring herself to muster the energy.

Of course, she had heard about the tower and the cabinet of goddesses. It had been a decent organization at the start which used to corporate with the abyssal beasts and keep balance.

But things had changed from ancient times and that respect had changed into hate.

The tower had even assassinated their Lord Ur and stolen his egg. It had been one of the first conflicts ever recorded between the goddess and one of the abyss Lords.

"I will like some time to think over this matter and decide who our next lord should be. As per our customs, we can only serve one lord at a time. Both you and Lord Ur carry our master's aura and blood."

"But we can only choose one. And the choice is not that easy to make."

Lord Ur, the junior one, did not seem to care about her words. He just curled even deeper in her human's chest.

"Do what you want to. But you might find yourself at the same endpoint anyway."

Ely had a feeling that was going to happen.

Both the dragons seemed to be gravitating toward the human sitting in the middle of their heap. And Ely had a feeling that the female in the middle would be the real key point in future events.

"I understand. I would also like to ask what your next course of action will be. If possible, I would like you both to extend your stay here for a few years."

Since they have just gotten their lord, Ely could not their lord to be separated from them.

As such, she was ready to use any method to keep her lord with them. Even if it meant keeping their humans along with them and looking after them.

"That we cannot do. We have to be somewhere in a few days. We need to return to the Rocx valley as soon as possible."

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"Your highness, are you sure about this? Won't it be better for us to negotiate these terms?"

Ely ignored the councilwoman talking around her. She had already made up her mind about this issue.

"We don't have any other choice. I'm afraid that we won't be able to control the other one. And even if we did decide to keep our lord here, I am not sure we would benefit that much from it."

The council fell quiet at Ely's words.

In retrospect, they all knew Ely was right. They all trusted their queen to keep them safe and sound.

"So it is decided. I will ask the humans to lend us our lord for the time being."

Ely left the council room with a heavy heart.

Even though the decision had been made, Ely could not help but feel like she was not going to be successful in keeping Lord Ur here.

"Should we be waiting around here? The tower will not sit back quietly after the humiliation we pulled off."

Astoria's words were true but Aurora could not help but consider their current situation.

Had they been in their usual form, it would not have been difficult for the pair to break away from the Viera establishment and head for home.

But both Astoria and Aurora were drained of their power. And Ur was still a kid with no way of being able to protect himself.

Besides, Aurora was interested in the solution Viera people would be able to come up with.

Ely have given off a weird aura when she left for the council meeting. Aurora could not help but be intrigued about the answer she would be able to come up with.

"We should wait around for now. Getting one more ally would be a good choice. Besides, I don't know how to take care of a baby dragon."

Aurora admitted her reasons for wanting to say here.

While it had a lot of personal reasons, a big reason for wanting to stay back was because of Ur.

"That's true. I am more of a goddess than a dragon so I don't know the needs of the abyssal beasts. I guess we are going to wait around here."

Aurora breathed out the air she had been holding back inside her.

Not that she had not expected Astoria to agree with her. Astoria was a level-headed female and she also understood the necessity of information.

But Aurora had expected Astoria to feel a little odd staying between the people her sire protected.

"Here she comes."

Aurora felt Ely's aura after Astoria directed her toward the source.

As expected, Astoria's connection to the Viera race allowed her to pinpoint them anywhere within her vicinity.

"So, what's the verdict? What have you decided on your side?"

Aurora asked before Ely could greet them. Since Ur was asleep at Aurora's side, Aurora took this chance to get the conversation over with.

"We have indeed come to a decision that was not easy to reach. We wish to travel with you and be a part of your society."

"If my lady would permit it, we would like to come with you to your lands."

Ely held herself in a low bow to convey her sincerity. Aurora could only look on in shock and wonder as that happened.

It was unheard of for a beast tribe to leave their lives in the abyss and relocate. They were territorial beasts that prided themselves on their territories.

For the Viera tribe to arrive at such a conclusion was a big shock to Aurora.

"Are you sure about leaving this land? Your ancestors used to rule here and live here. Would you even be able to survive outside the abyss?"

Aurora had several questions about this.

First of all, the overworld was not favorable for the abyssal beasts. Many lost their rationality once they arrived in the overworld.

Even places like Rocx valley that were filled with such energy could not save the mental capabilities of the beasts.

Secondly, most beasts adhered to the territory rule. To leave their territory and enter a new one would be a huge blow to the Viera tribe.

And if the new territory owner took offense to their presence, they would be killed without mercy.

The Viera knew all that and they were still risking this move?

"We are quite sure about this. As you know, we are linked to our lord through a magic contract. We don't have any other choice but to follow them if they chose to leave our humble abode."

Aurora did not miss the use of the word 'them.' It looked like even the Viera could not decide who their true Lord was.

Still, Aurora had to do her best to warn them before they decided to pull something outrageous.

"Since you have decided to make this move, I will tell you who the Lord of Rocx valley is. It is the goddess of Victory. She has not been seen or heard from in a long time. But she will be a vicious opponent should she take offense."

Ideally, Aurora would want to avoid coming in contact with another goddess so soon. But the goddess of Victory had already taken account of Aurora.

It was high time Aurora visited her and announced her intentions about her land and her people.

"We understand. But this decision is no longer in our control. We shall brave the goddess's anger and cross the border."

Ely sounded determined in her decision.

It was not something Aurora could talk them out of. Nor did she want to talk the other race out of this.

Having Viera as allies would help her academy grow in terms of physical strength. Since Viera were abyssal beasts gifted with an adequate amount of physical strength, they would make for great trainers.

"If that's the case, I understand. I do have a proposal for you. I can talk with the Lord of the Rocx valley and explain your situation. But in turn, you must help us out at our new academy."

Aurora was not sure how much Ely understood her words, but she decided not to deceive the other party.

Taking advantage of someone's desperation was something Aurora was willing to do but she was not going to be a scum about it.

"Academy? Like the tower? And our Lord agreed to your proposal?"

Ely sounded special about Aurora's claim. It was not hard for someone as old as Ely to put two on two together and come to this conclusion.

"I already agreed to help Aurora. You can trust her in this regard."

The hesitating look Ely had disappeared from her face at Astoria's words. Instead, her eyes shined with a new light and understanding.

"I understand. How soon do you need us to start moving toward the Rocx valley?"

Ely was diligent in her work but Aurora needed to take her next few steps carefully.

She needed to inform the Outlanders of what had happened here and about the changes that were about to be made.

Aurora also needed to invest in a better security protocol and make her system be able to cover a wider area for defense.

"Wait around for a bit. I will send you the signal to start moving. For now, I will go back alone and make preparations for your arrival. Astoria, I'll leave Ur in your care."

Ur decided to wake up at this exact time and decided he did not like Aurora's decision.

But Aurora had made up her mind about what to do next. She had to take care of things before they become a problem for everyone involved with her.

"So, when will you be leaving the settlement? And how long should we wait before deciding to take action?"

Astoria caught on to Aurora's words quickly. But she also decided to put her safeguards in place.

"Three days. It should all be done within three days. If not, then contact me with this system. I will register you in its database."

Aurora held her hand out and a screen popped up in front of her.

Registering: System user 06 – Astoria

Welcome to the user interface.

"Get yourself acquainted with it. I will see you once you return to the academy. I won't be much help to you since I will leave at the earliest available time."

"And when will that time come?"

"In a few hours. The earlier we start our task, the earlier we can relax and begin our true offense."

No one else seemed to agree with Aurora's enthusiasm. But they did not try to hold her back either.

And Aurora the Viera settlement that evening toward the Rocx valley.

She had a few tasks to finish along the way which she could not tell anyone about. Those tasks were something she had discovered in her past life but no one should know about them.

And Aurora was about to head toward those dangerous places all on her own. She just hoped that things would be alright in the end.

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Traversing through the rocky parts of the abyss was not something Aurora had thought she would do again.

But being somewhere on the first floor of the abyss did amount to a lot of irregular architecture.

The abyss was like a maze with different levels corresponding to different places. That was what made it so difficult to navigate.

But that was a conversation for another time. Right now, Aurora needed to get out of the first floor of the abyss and get to her designated location.

The most important task of all was to find a girl who would become extremely important in the future. And the name of that girl was Emilia Rose.

Right now, Emilia was an ordinary girl with nothing to her name. She had no family and no money to her name.

The village she lived in took care of her as a pity case but it would not last long. She would soon be outcasted for her phenomenal powers and taken under the tower's wing.

And later on, she would become the second 'goddess of victory.'

A well-known fact about the gods and goddesses was that they could not be killed. No matter how hard one tried, one would not be able to end a goddess's life.

But that did not mean that the divine race was immortal.

Just like any other race, even they had a definite lifespan that was tied to their power and the abyss. Every divine member had a death date and the one etched in the soul of the goddess of victory would be arriving soon.

Had Aurora not been from the future, she would not have known this face at all. Only Lady Minerva knew the truth.

But Aurora had no idea how the eldest goddess knew this fact, or how she even tricked down Emilia in her last life.

Aurora just knew that she could not allow the tower to have Emilia. It would pose to be too big of a threat if they did manage to do so.

The goddess of victory would not die for quite some time. Aurora had almost 2 years to prepare Emilia to take up this role.

But the difficult part of this all was to convince Emilia to come with her.

From what Aurora remembered of the child, Emilia was really timid when she had been young. Her current age should be around 12 and she should be housed in the Horax village.

But Aurora had no idea where the Horax village was exactly. She knew the vague location she could search for clues about the same.

"System, load the location map for the place from here to the Rocx valley"

[Affermitive. Loading the system map]

Aurora had taken the liberty to load some more location maps in her system for such a task. And now it was coming in handy.

It was because of this that Aurora was able to narrow the location of the Horax village.

But the main problem this time would be to get away from the guardian. Exiting the abyss became ten times more difficult this way.

Since Aurora did not have Ava with her, she did not have the authority to command the guardian beasts out of the way. That only left Aurora with one option – to fight.

"Alright. This is it. It should not be too hard since it's only the first floor."

Aurora opened the guardian door of the hidden chamber and entered the room.

Her opponent was the goblin king – an elite of the first floor of the abyss.

As per his name, he commanded the smaller hoards of goblins and was responsible for a lot of injuries to the newcomers. His size also intimidated a lot of first-timers who attempted this chamber.

But that was all he had going for him – the number of his smaller soldiers and his huge body. He was not particularly dangerous if you took away those advantages from him.

-fweet

Aurora's whistle gathered the attention of the smaller monsters near her. The hoard attacked her without mercy.

But as Aurora had expected, they did not last long against her lance. The hoard fell in one swoop as Aurora swung her weapon.

But that did not seem to deter the hoard from attacking even harder. New ranks replaced the fallen soldiers and Aurora found herself surrounded by the mob.

The goblin king had not even moved from his throne. He was contented to sit there and observe his subjects die.

Unlike Viera or other higher races, Goblins did not have higher brain function. They were not able to access emotions or rational thinking.

They were truly animals in that sense and would show survival behavior at all times.

That made it easier and difficult to work with all around.

Aurora's body was not used to her godly powers but it was in prime physical condition. As such, it should be able to channel her power in the form of a small spell.

One might say that performing your best in the physical aspect was enough to overcome one's lack of magic in the tower. But it only held true for the main course.

For fights such as this, it was better to go with the magical part of one's kit.

Aurora fired a shot of lightning and cleared out the way to the goblin king. Smaller goblins died even before the magic hit them.

It was a pitiful existence to be a goblin and live such a meaningless life. Aurora did pity them to have been born as such.

But that pity did not mean she was going to go easy on them. She had her own life and ideals to deal with and saving a doomed race was not in her plans.

Besides, mobs like goblins would be respawned by the abyss in due time. Their population would also restock once the abyss decided that they were needed again.

"Your life ends here."

If Aurora hoped for the goblin king to stand up and fight, then she was sorely mistaken. The goblin king died soon after Aurora served his head from the body.

His throne which housed the goblin king's body split apart as soon as the goblin king's blood touched its surface.

And it revealed a hidden door behind the throne.

Had Aurora not known about this door's existence from her previous life, she would have been hesitant to even enter the door.

But Aurora did know about the door and she knew that it was safe to go through the door. So Aurora did not hesitate to enter the door.

White light eclipsed Aurora's form and made it impossible to tell where she was going. Aurora tried to force her eyes open but the light made it impossible to see ahead.

Aurora pressed ahead with everything she had. Stopping here would make Aurora a sitting duck and she would be stuck in this light forever.

-Aurora, come back here. It is alright, I am here.

Aurora shook her head as she heard Clove's familiar voice.

The tower was trying to pull the same shit Ava had pulled in her chamber. Since the first floor was Ava's domain, it held a similar power to her.

And just as Ava had failed, so did this illusion as well. Aurora was easily able to shave off this feeling and press ahead.

The tower did not give up trying to stop Aurora from advancing.

Since Aurora had not stopped for the voice, it decided to use physical violence instead.

The shadows in the cave grew in size and solidified in the form of small beasts with sharp claws. Their eyes glowed with malice as they eyes Aurora with hunger.

Had it been anyone else, they would have tried to defend themselves against the goblin. But Aurora knew better than to do something this foolish.

These monsters were not real but a part of the illusion created by the abyss to keep Aurora inside.

The abyss was greedy and did not want to part away from its prey. It would hold on to your soul once you entered.

Entry was easy in the domain but exiting it was next to impossible.

The tower had to also clear out a way and maintain it with a goddess's power to make it safe for people to enter and exit without losing one's souls.

But Aurora pressed ahead without any problems. She did not allow the surroundings to slow her down or deter her from her goal.

And finally, the light dimmed and the white was replaced by the natural glow of the sun. Aurora had managed to finally make out outside on the other part of the continent.

And now she could start looking around to find the Horax village.

"E-Excuse me, are you lost?"

Aurora almost jumped at the voice coming from behind her. She had not expected anyone to be standing behind her.

But once she did turn around, Aurora could not help but pat her back. She found the person she was looking for.

Standing in front of her was the next goddess of victory – Emilia Rose.

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"E-Excuse me, are you lost?"

Aurora shook her head to get it back to the present moment. She could not afford to be distracted now and make a bad first impression.

"Yeah, I am kind of lost. I just exited the tower and somehow ended up here. Can you take me to the nearest village?"

Aurora had not meant to deceive anyone for her benefit. But she had no other choice but to pretend to be ignorant about her whereabouts.

"The abyss? Really? Are you someone from the tower as well? Are you here to help us out with our beast problem?"

Aurora took a step back at the rapid influx of questions being thrown out at her. She had no idea how she should reply back to those inquiries.

Telling the truth was out of the equation. Aurora did not want to complicate her stay in the Horax village. If someone from the tower did show up and did not recognize Aurora, it would be disastrous.

And if they did recognize her, then it would be even worse.

No matter how Aurora look at her, it was a lose-lose situation.

"Wait, you said 'as well?' Is there someone else from the tower here?"

It struck Aurora a little too late but her alert level jumped from 1 – 10 in a single second.

It really would be the worst-case scenario if someone else from the tower was here and could recognize Aurora.

"Yeah. Village elders reported to the tower about our increasing monster problem and the tower send us to help in the form of two of their soldiers. But our village is not safe even with the added help."

"That is why I am really glad to see you arrive here for help as well."

Aurora wanted to curse her luck but she had no opportunity to do so. She could not show her discomfort at being classified as one of the 'tower's people.'

"This is all good but I am not someone from the tower. I was just trying to clear the abyss but somehow ended up here."

Emilia's face told Aurora that she did not believe Aurora's words.

Under normal circumstances, Aurora should not have recognized Emilia right away. There was no power or aura that denoted Emilia as a different being from other kids around her.

If not for her eyes, Emilia would have been no different from a normal kid. Her long brown hair was held up in pigtails and her clothes were ordinary.

But her pupils held a unique shape hidden behind a glamour. The star-like shape of her grey eyes was hidden beneath a dull brown cloak of magic.

The famous theory back home had been that Emilia's mother cast the spell on her for protection and sealed her magic. The previous goddess of victory, Emilia's mother did not want to involve her in the world of the abyss.

But fates could not be changed and no one could verify the truth any longer.

"So, you are not here to help us out? But why?"

Oh God, Emilia looked like she was about to cry. Aurora was not good at handling such kids and she had no idea what to do.

Generally, Aurora left these matters up to Quince since he was the only one who had any real experience with the kids. But Aurora did not have him with her.

"H-Hey, I will help out as long as I can. But I cannot stay here for long. Though, I do know of a way to take care of your monster problem."

Aurora's proposal caused Emilia to finally stop crying. However, the suspicious look did not vanish from the teen's eyes.

"Y-You swear to help? You are not trying to s-scam me, are you?"

The weight of those grey eyes felt heavy on Aurora's soul. If possible, she did not want to answer that question.

But she had no other choice but to answer the female in front of her.

"I'm not here to scam you. But we should go back to the Horax village since it is going to get dark soon. By the way, what were you doing out here?"

Aurora quickly scouted the surroundings for danger as she held Emilia's hand.

She could not feel any monster in the vicinity but that did not mean that there were no dangers here.

"Oh right, I was here to lead those two elders from the tower around to hunt for monsters but I got lost. Help me find them please?"

Aurora wanted to decline that request but the weight of those grey eyes did not allow her that luxury.

"Alright. Let's find those people from the abyss and then help them out. Then we should go back to the Horax village and relax."

Emilia seemed to agree with Aurora. Her aura seemed content and hummed with a silent power which made Aurora relax as well.

Emilia gave off a familiar feeling of the abyssal energy which only a goddess could do.

"Take a right turn and you should be able to see them."

Aurora did as the teen suggested. Not that she needed the help since she could feel the faint power being used in the forest's vicinity.

But now that she thought back to it, there was something familiar about that power. It seemed as if she knew the people she had heading toward.

Aurora cleared the forest, only to see two familiar people being attacked by an elite-mob tiger cat.

It was a monster found on the first floor of the abyss and was equivalent to the goblin king.

But unlike the goblin kind, this mob had a better body condition and sharper moment speed. It made up for its lack of subordinates with a better power level.

"Quince, dodge."

Aurora wanted to turn around and abandon the pair in front of her. She did not have the time or energy to deal with Quince and Clove right now.

Just seeing the pair put Aurora in a weird mood.

"Hurry, you should help them out."

Emilia have Aurora a small shove once aurora put her down. The teen looked worried and afraid for their life.

"They will be alright. The tiger king is not their opponent yet. I do not need to interfere in this fight."

Aurora knew her former party's level and powers. Such a small boss should not be a problem for Clove or Quince to take care of.

But Aurora had a bad feeling about this fight. She knew that Quince alone should be able to kill off the tiger-king.

Then why were those two being pushed around like prey? Why were they not attacking the tiger-king back with everything they had?

Aurora decided to finally help the pair out. She could not sit back and see her former party being toyed around with like this.

"Clove, dodge, or you'll die."

Aurora barely made it in time to stop the claws from ripping Clove apart. The younger female had been knocked back due to a heavy blow of the monster's claw.

"Y-You! Why are you here?"

Aurora ignored Quince's wonder-filled voice. The monster in front of her eyed Aurora's new addition with interest.

But too bad for him, this was his last moment to be able to live in peace.

"Disappear."

Aurora had not wanted to use her magic initially. But she did not want to drag this fight out either.

That was why she decided to end this face with a flash and utilize her lightning spell.

The poor tiger-king did not even stand a chance against Aurora. He was too weak to be able to stand up against such a mid-level spell.

Had it been an elite boss from a higher floor, this trick would not have worked at all. But Aurora had just fought the goblin king and she had adjusted to the power level of the first-floor mobs.

They were no longer going to be a problem to her.

"HEY, ANSWER ME! Did you follow us here? What is your objective in being here?"

Quince looked equal parts mad and frustrated to see Aurora. But Aurora was more focused on Clove.

The poor girl looked flushed and a little out of it. Her face was red and full of sweat as well.

Aurora quickly noted her temperature and it was high for a human body. Clove was likely running a fever but she had still decided to venture out into the woods and help clear the area out.

"We can talk our differences out later. For now, we should start heading back to the Horax village and set up a security front. I will take care of the monster problem for them."

Aurora offered as she picked up Clove.

But like every other time, Quince stepped ahead to stop her from having any time with her wife.

"No need to do that. I can carry my party member. And if you are telling the truth, then carrying Clove will slow you down. Here, give her to me."

The man held his arms out and Aurora's grip tightened around the body in her arms.

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Quince wanted to curse his luck at running into that familiar face.

And it also had to happen at the worst possible time for him. Clove was running a small fever and her body was lacking her usual power.

Under normal circumstances, Clove should not be out there fighting the monsters. Quince was more than enough to take care of these monsters on his own.

But Clove had been stubborn and had wanted to clear this place out as soon as possible. She wanted to return to the tower and help the security team out.

And Quince did not want to disappoint her because Clove could get scary when she wanted to.

"Clove, you should rest for a bit. Rushing out like that is not good for your body."

Quince could only advise his childhood friend as she slaughtered the low-level beasts like they were made up of butter.

She was having too much fun clearing out the mobs but Quince could tell that she was getting distracted as well.

Clove was dragging her fights out and her attack speed was slower than her usual one. It had not become a problem yet but he could not help but feel that it would come back to bite them soon.

"Don't worry about me. You focus on protecting the young girl who led us here. You did keep an eye on her, right?"

Clove asked and Quince felt his heart skip a beat.

"I thought I asked you to keep a look on her and take a step back? Don't tell me that you lost her?"

Quince questioned but he was awarded an angry look that made him calm down.

"I mean, I will find her right now. She could not have gone very far, right?"

Clove did not say anything but her attitude screamed her unhappiness. All Quince could do was swallow his unhappiness and back down from the fight.

It was not worth it to anger Clove any further.

"I can still feel her magic. Let's follow it and find that girl."

Clove's voice sounded rougher than before. The physical work must be tiring her out and Quince wanted to ask her to take a rest.

But Clove was stubborn and she was not someone who liked to listen to him either.

So he had no choice but to follow behind her and protect her back. That was the only option he was left with since his father would not allow Clove to take a rest from the abyss exploration team.

He saw potential in Clove and he wanted to cultivate it at any cost.

"Quince, brace yourself. Guard your left side."

Quince followed the command unconsciously as he picked up his spear. A heavy claw collided with his side and almost send him flying.

But Quince had cast his barrier at the right time to defend himself against the attack so he was only pushed back a little.

Once he got away from the attack, he finally paid attention to the beast that had been attacking him.

"It's a tiger-lord. An elite mob of the first abyss level. It is not something the people of Horax village would be able to take care of."

Clove summed up the situation pretty quickly. And she was spot-on in her analysis of the village's condition.

The villagers had no protection and no magic to save themselves. Such an elite boss would kill them all in a single swoop.

But it was not a problem for Clove or Quince. They had already surpassed the first level of the abyss and we're well past the second half as well.

Such a small elite boss should have been no problem under normal circumstances. But the conditions were far from favorable for the pair.

Clove was in a delicate situation and her body had no energy. Quince had been using his energy to protect her all this while so he lacked in the strength department as well.

Besides, for a mob to appear outside the abyss was a seldom phenomenon. This mob must be much more powerful than a normal soldier to be able to get past the abyss's defense.

"We will need to deal with this first. Can you still fight Clove?"

Quince hated to put Clove in danger like this but she was the better fought out of the tow.

Initially, their party was supposed to have three people but the magician chosen for the party had run away.

Rita had abandoned them and no one else had the time or skill to join them. His father had tried to buy others but Clove had ultimately ended up rejecting most of the applications.

Clove's gaze often looked at the space on her right with a haunted look. It almost felt like she was looking at the ghost of someone who should be there.

But every time Quince tried to probe into that problem, he came up empty-handed.

So he had stopped trying to ask her that question and he had also accepted their party to forever be a 2 personal party.

And now that was coming back to bite him.

"Quince, dodge."

He did dodge the attack of the beast and tried to retaliate but the beast decided to change the targets.

It did not help that a familiar presence was standing on the edge of the forest and it was distracting Quince from the fight.

He looked at the periphery of the forest, only to see a familiar lady standing with their guide.

Quince wanted to say something but he forcefully shoved his attention back into his fight. And right in time to see Clove on the verge of her death.

The beast was right on top of her and Quince would not make it in-between them in time.

"Clove, dodge, or you'll die."

He tried to move but his speed was too slow.

Luckily for the pair, someone else managed to save Clove in time. The familiar blue hair mocked Quince in his incompetence and also made him glad to have the female on his team.

"Y-You! Why are you here?"

Quince knew he had no right to be angry at someone who had just saved Clove's life but he could not accept the female's help.

There was something about her that disturbed him greatly.

"Disappear."

With a single attack, the elite mob was dispatched and the female proceeded to ignore all his questions till it was time to head back.

She picked up Clove and Quince felt worried about something. He could not explain the feeling he had but he knew he could not allow Clove to see the female or something bad would happen.

"No need to do that. I can carry my party member. And if you are telling the truth, then carrying Clove will slow you down. Here, give her to me.

He asked the female to hand Clove over but he had a feeling the female would fight him on this.

He tensed up to fight the more powerful female but things did not come to that.

"Fine, you carry her. I have something much more important to do right now anyway."

Clove had lost consciousness due to her fever so she was out of the count. And it stung Quince to let Aurora go like that.

But he had to prioritize Clove's health and welfare above anything else.

"I understand. We will be leaving this place in a week so you can come to claim your favor anytime. It is the second time you've saved our lives and our debt is too huge."

Quince did not want to own this female anything. She was an enemy who was going against the tower and he had to be vigilant.

But it also did not feel right to not repay her for all she had done for them.

"I will tell you if I think of something. Now head back and make sure your partner stays alive."

Her words were spoken softly. Quince knew that the female was speaking more for her partner's well-being than his own but he could not help but be grateful to her.

He did not answer when he turned around to leave but he also felt like their party and this female were linked in some way.

But for now, he would keep this meeting to himself and wait a while to report to the tower with an omitted report.

Quince had a feeling that Horax village's problem with the beasts was about to be solved. And the tower would lose its ground to operate here.

But Quince did not want to make assumptions beforehand and he did not want to risk lives unnecessarily.

If Aurora did have a solution for Horax's problem, she was more than welcome to work it out and save this village.

Quince would not become an obstacle for Aurora when she was trying to achieve the same thing he wanted.

-Mnnn

"Clove, sleep for now. Things will be over once you recover."

Quince hoped that things would be alright once Clove woke up and for some reason, he had faith in Aurora.

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It stung to let Quince take Clove away like that but I could not let my emotions sway me away from what was important.

And I knew that if Clove had been in front of me, she would have understood my choice and not hesitated to agree with my decision.

"Hey, do you know those tower people? That man seemed like he was not happy to see you."

Aurora held back a chuckle at the question. Now that she looked back at it, Quince did look older than his age.

But maybe it was that Emilia looked younger than she was. Their maturity gap was too much to make any accurate guesses as well.

"I guess you can say that I know them. I helped them out once but they misunderstood my intentions. Also, Quince is only two years older than you so you should not call him a 'man' yet."

"Only two? But he talks like an adult already."

"Sometimes, people have to grow up much earlier than they are supposed to. But let's not talk about unimportant stuff. Lead me to your village entrance and I'll see what I can do for you."

Aurora did not want to waste precious time thinking about Quince and his unfortunate circumstances. Everyone had problems they wanted to get saved from.

And in terms of Quince, Aurora had personally witnessed the problems he was going to face. Even more so once he came of age and took up a permanent position in the Cabinet.

"Alright. If you say so then I will trust you. The village is this way."

Initially, Aurora wanted to hurry past the monsters in the forest and quickly establish security around the village.

But she had no other choice but to go slow for Emilia's sake. The poor girl looked exhausted and would not be able to keep up.

Aurora did not want to push her luck and suggest to carry Emilia either. She was not sure how much pride the goddess-to-be had. (Though it did not look like much.)

But staying with Emilia, Aurora quickly came to know a little about the teen.

First, the child was a scaredy-cat. She jumped at the slightest noise and couldn't even walk straight for the most part once the sun went down.

She was sticking awfully close to Aurora when they were walking back and Aurora could feel the small shivers wrecking Emilia's frame.

Secondly, Emilia had no idea what kind of presence she was giving off. Her aura was fluctuation with fear and power.

It was a tempting combination for the lower-end abyssal beasts. Aurora had already spotted a few trying to close in on the pair.

But thankfully, Aurora's aura was a little too strong for them to bear and they turned tails as soon as Aurora glared in their direction.

Lastly, the child was clumsy. She had just about tripped five times in the last fifteen minutes. That was a new record if Aurora had ever seen one.

The sixth time it happened, Aurora finally decided to do something about it.

"Emilia, do you need me to pick you up and hurry back to the village? You are going to hurt yourself at this rate."

The teen looked back at Aurora with a blank face. It made Aurora doubt her actions.

Had she made a mistake by offering to carry the child? Had she offended Emilia's pride and alienated her even before she had made any progress?

But then the empty jewels in front of her were filled with hope and expectations and Aurora breathed a sigh of relief.

"Please carry me. I heard that it is fun when someone does it for you. It's totally not because I'm scared or anything."

Aurora could not stop her chuckle from forcing its way out of her throat. It was funny to see the child this excited at being carried by Aurora.

"Come here. I'll take care of the monsters for you."

Aurora extended her hand toward the small teen in front of her. And Emilia jumped into her arms without any delay.

Aurora could feel the girl's emotions and aura blazing on her face and the magic was vibrating with excitement,

Aurora braced herself for the impact. But she had not expected the tingle of magic that rushed through her body.

That was not something Aurora had felt before and she had no idea what that even meant.

"Wow, what was that? Can we try that again?"

Aurora felt her breath leave her lips as she tried to gather her thoughts back inside her head.

That had been magic resonance she had just experienced. She had never expected herself to ever be able to experience that in her life.

Magic resonance was a rare but harmless phenomenon that happened when two types of magics were compatible and could be used to further one another's recovery.

Besides that, it had no other practical function. But it requires a huge amount of trust and reliance to pull off.

For Aurora to experience this right now, she had to wonder just what she did to get Emilia to trust her.

"I don't think it will work again right now. But, are you interested in learning how to do that again? I can take you to a place that can teach you about your magic and how to control it."

Aurora offered, finally getting a chance to talk to the teen about this topic.

Initially, Aurora had wanted to breach this subject carefully and not frighten the teen about what the future had in store for her.

But now it looked like she had no other choice but to bring this topic up prematurely.

"H-How did you know? I did not tell anyone about my magic because then I would have been sent away. No, I m-mean, I don't have any magic. I am a normal and average girl and…"

"…I'm sorry. Please don't send me away to the abyss. I don't want to die."

Aurora almost panicked but she took in a deep breath to calm herself down.

Emilia had not started crying yet but it was a close thing. Aurora could see the drops of tears starting to appear in her eyes.

"I won't tell anyone. And why would I when I can do magic as well? I know how the world can be to those who are different and the abyss is no place for someone like you."

"And that is why I offered to teach you how to control your magic. You won't be able to control it forever but you can learn how to hide it once you have enough control."

Emilia still did not look convinced but she did not start to cry at the first chance she got.

Aurora could see the conflict written all over her face. The girl really did not want anything to do with magic.

But she had been saddled with the responsibility and it would come back to bite her if Emilia did not do anything about it.

"But I don't want to leave this place. I love everyone in this village and I want to stay with them."

Aurora knew this was going to happen. But the girl needed to understand how the world worked and what she needed to do for her future.

"You can stay here for as long as you like but your magic will expose itself one day. Aren't you finding it hard to control already? That is why it resonated with me."

"Besides, I never said you could not return once you have enough control over yourself."

The girl looked hopeful at Aurora's words. Her eyes sparkled with hope and trust which made Aurora weak in her heart.

Unlike everyone else in her party, this child would be reliant on her for protection and other things. No one else had that kind of relationship with Aurora and it made her somewhat afraid.

"I don't think I am ready for something like that but I want to try. I don't want my magic to hurt someone but it seems difficult sometimes. Not being able to control my magic is scary."

The teen sounded scared and Aurora had to sigh to get her emotions under control.

If possible, she did not want to look at Emilia's display of emotions. It was eerily similar to something she had once felt a long time ago.

But reverting her eyes was no longer an option for Aurora. She had made this decision and she had to stick with it.

No more children were going to fall in the tower's hand and become their tools.

"If your magic scares you then learn to control it. It is in your hands what you make of it. Though I do know of someone who has magic really similar to you and could help you.

"I know where your mother is and how to reach her. Are you interested in meeting her?"

It was a gamble but Aurora was banking on it paying off.

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"I know where your mother is and how to reach her. Are you interested in meeting her?"

Aurora asked this question knowing what it meant for Emilia. No matter how much older she got, she was but a child right now.

And every child had an innate longing to meet the one who birthed them. In that case, Emilia was no different from a normal child.

Aurora should have been disgusted to use such a weakness to her advantage but she could not back down. If she took her words back now, then her reputation was as good as gone in Emilia's eyes.

"My mother? She's still alive?"

Emilia sounded like a lost child. Aurora could see how much her words were eating away at Emilia's heart.

"Your mother is alive but in a complicated situation. I am in no place to tell you why you were left behind by your mother. But I can offer you a chance to find out why you were left behind."

In retrospect, what Aurora was doing was no better than dangling a carrot in front of a hungry horse.

From the second Aurora had decided to deploy this tactic, she knew she had Emilia in the palm of her hand.

"I want to take your offer. I can talk to the people who look after me and tell them that I want to go with you."

Hook, line, and sinker. She had the teen on her side now.

"Of course. But it would be better to let me talk with the adults. They will take it much better if they heard the truth from me."

Aurora was not concerned about the objections people would pose toward her taking Emilia.

Emilia was an orphan child and no one in the Horax village had enough resources to take care of her and still maintain the household.

As such, Emilia was as good as a charity case as one could see. And no one would object if Aurora did take her away.

The real problem was the tower and its twisted ways. They could pose a serious threat to Aurora in a political sense if she did not have appropriate permission to keep Emilia with her.

That was why Aurora needed to get written confirmation about what she was purposing and what it meant for the people involved. She had to draw the line between legal and illegal means.

And if Aurora could transfer Emilia's guardianship over to her, then it would be the best-case scenario.

"Alright. I will let you take charge. Let's go back now."

Emilia looked relieved and Aurora wanted to chuckle. What an amusing child Emilia was, scared but not willing to show it.

"Yes, let's go back. The faster I set up the protective barrier, the faster we can head back toward your mother's location."

"Yeah, Yeah. Let's go."

Horax village was just as primitive as Aurora had thought it to be. Their homes were not even lined up properly with protection and the village did not have a single magical enhancement lined up.

It was a pitiful sight to see in current times but it did not surprise Aurora to see such depravity in such a backward land.

Since this village could provide neither precious resources nor magical supplies, there had been no need to invest in such a place.

For the tower, it would have been better if this place did not exist at all.

But even saying this, they had sent some of their best rookies to this place which emphasized that they knew this palace had some importance to the tower.

So, did it mean that Minerva knew about Emilia's existence? It was entirely possible but Aurora knew it was too late for the tower to interfere now.

"I'll go back home for now. Come and find me once you are done."

"Sure. Get some rest since we'll be departing tomorrow for our new home."

The child cheered at her words before leaving toward a shabby hut. It had seen better days in its lifecycle and Aurora was sure it would collapse any day now.

It was lucky for Emilia that Aurora had arrived when she had. Things would have ended up as a disaster otherwise.

"Now, let's see. System, check the perimeter and find the most optimal security solution."

Aurora could have done the check herself but she felt too lazy to do that. Her system was more than capable of keeping up with her requirements.

[Affirmative. Checking for appropriate solutions.

Checking…

…Solutions found…..

…Implementing security protocol…

…Connecting to natural power source…

……Security protocol completed]

Aurora felt the second the magic barrier went up. It was powerful but nothing a high-level beast would not be able to breach.

But the barrier was good enough to keep the village safe for a long time. Higher-level beasts did not leave the abyss. Nor were they mindless creatures hell-bent on killing and revenge.

This village was as safe as it was going to be without a permanent guard in place.

Aurora breathed a sigh of relief once she was done with her work. The barrier was up and the village was safe.

That should have been the end of things but her luck was not that good. She was soon found by the last person she wanted to see in the village.

"What are you planning? Why did you come here? Are you following us?"

Quince seemed to have a lot of questions about her work and her habits. He did not hold back anything once he started firing off questions.

Aurora wanted him to slow down but even she knew it would be impossible to change Quince's mind once he had decided on something.

"Would it matter if I said that me being here right now is a coincidence? And I have no intention of staying here for longer than necessary."

"I will be leaving this place tomorrow so treat my presence here as a hoax and forget about it."

Aurora did not want her whereabouts to reach the tower's ears. Especially Minerva was a big no-no in her book.

"I can't do that. I will have to report what happened back to the tower. You are too suspicious to not be taken care of."

Aurora flinched at the brutal words Quince let out. Even at fourteen years old, he had a sharp tongue and an even sharper temper.

Aurora was just glad that the teen seemed to not run dry on his emotions like in his last life.

"Well, if you can't accept my words, how about a trade? I will give you a special grade healing potion and in turn, you do not speak of my involvement in anything."

Aurora's proposal was met with a keen eye. Highest-grade potions were rare to come by, especially the healing kinds.

They were expensive and well-sought after.

Had Aurora not had a trump card, she would not even have gambled with those words. The funds needed to procure even one of these potions were out of this world.

Especially since there were only two ways to get this potion- by a goddess and by clearing the high-level bosses of the abyss.

Both were something no ordinary human could do.

In this way, Aurora was telling the kid that she was dangerous and had the backing of a goddess behind her. He would not tread so recklessly now.

"So this is how it is. I understand why you are so confident now. Fine, I agree to your trade but I have a condition of my own."

Quince was willing to negotiate which was a rarity to see. Aurora did not know if she should be impressed or amused at such a turn of events.

"Sure. I'll see if I want to help you out once you speak your mind."

"Tell me what you know about the tower and its secrets. I won't spend my life as a puppet for an origination I can't even see through. Since you decided to go against the tower, there must be a deep dark secret it must be hiding"

"And what will you do once you learn of this secret? Will you leave the tower?"

"This…I will decide once I know its secret."

Quince looked to be in doubt. There was something that was bothering him for sure.

Aurora had not expected to be at this crossroad with Quince this early in life. The last time she had been here, she had been dying and Quince had been the one behind most of the planning.

The poor fool had been controlled like a puppet his whole life and he had not been able to escape even after knowing the truth.

But it no longer had anything to do with Aurora.

"There is nothing like that with the tower. My reasons for going against it are because of my personal feelings and nothing more than that."

Though, I won't trust the tower 100% if I was in your place. Just be careful and protect Clove for me."

With those confusing and parting words, Aurora left the teen with more questions than answers.

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Read Abyss of Dual Cultivation: Goddess's Lust system Chapter 71 online for free - AllNovelFull

"Hey, wait a minute. What do you mean by those words? Explain it all to me. HEY!"

Quince felt his temper rise as the blue-haired woman left him with more questions than answers.

He had never been treated like this before. Nor had he ever been humiliated to such a degree.

Most people did not shy away from answering when he asked them a question but here this female was, pretending as if she could not hear what Quince was asking.

There was a time in life Quince had trusted every single word his father had said. But lately, he could not help but feel like something was missing in the tower. It was changing at a rate Quince had never seen before.

"Thinking over nothing will not help anyone. I better head back and take a look at Clove. This potion looks authentic as well but I'll have a healer check it for me."

Quince had already sent a signal for help. Someone will arrive here from the tower tomorrow to help clean their mess.

It was lucky for him that Aurora was in a mood to leave before the help from the tower arrives. Otherwise, things would have gotten complicated fast for Quince.

"Clove, how are you feeling?"

The house Quince and Clove had been stationed in was not too shabby. It was well-furnished and easy to live in.

"I'm alright now. By the way, did someone save us from that monster? I can't remember clearly what happened there."

Quince deliberated about telling Clove the truth for a second. He did not want to keep her in the dark if he could help it.

But thinking back over what had happened and Clove's weird obsession with that blue-haired elder, Quince decided to keep quiet for the time being.

It was better if Clove did not know how close Aurora was to them.

"No, nothing happened. I used the emergency attack supply we were granted and we managed to get away. But the backup from the tower will be arriving tomorrow so that is no need for us to worry."

Besides, Quince had already felt the magical barrier go up around the village. It was strong enough to keep the smaller monsters out of the village.

"Quince, learn to lie better. But I will choose to believe you this time. I am too tired to go out right now anyway."

Clove seemed to be out of energy. Her fever had yet to break and Quince felt bad to see her in this condition.

Despite how Clove behaved with him, she was his childhood friend and he did have feelings for her.

Quince knew he had a solution for her problem in his hand. If what Aurora had said was true, then the potion he had could cure Clove in an instant.

But in the end, he decided not to use the potion unnecessarily.

"Yeah. Rest for now and tomorrow will be a better day."

Once her talk with Quince was over, Aurora did not hesitate to knock on the door of the village elder couple. She had an important thing to talk about with them.

The door was opened by a well-aged lady. Her white-haired head looked right through Aurora and into the distance.

"Hello. Is someone there? I'm sorry but I cannot see very well."

The milky-white eyes of the elder did look to be empty. Aurora should have noticed her sightlessness way before being told about it.

"Good evening miss. I am someone from a magic academy. I was hoping to talk to you about one of your children and a chance for free education. May I enter the house?"

"Of course. Please come in."

The old lady did not hesitate in inviting Aurora inside. The lack of defense irritated Aurora but she decided not to let it bother her.

"Honey, someone from the tower is here to offer our child a chance."

It snubbed Aurora's pride to be taken as one of the tower's lackeys but she chose not to correct the old lady yet.

It was better to lay her cards out once she had everyone important gathered in front of her.

"What did you say? Why did you not tell me before? Ying, come down with your wife right now. Our young one's future is at stake here."

Once the old man got news of Aurora's arrival, he quickly gathered his whole family down except the child of the house.

This degree of double-standards disgusted Aurora a lot.

When it came to Emilia and her magic, the village had treated her as an outcast and actively tried to break her. But when it came to their child, they could not help but be overjoyed.

"Miss, please continue with your offer."

Aurora had a lot of words to say to these greedy people. But she chose to calm herself down and focus on her main reason for being here.

"I recently discovered a child in your village with a good amount of potential. And I would like to offer her a chance to learn magic. Though I am not from the tower, I know a fair share of magic myself."

"I have also covered your village with a protective spell as an offer of goodwill. Small monsters and beasts will not bother you any longer."

Aurora poured a tone of information over the family in one go. It was a tactic to confuse the family and not give them time to think on their own.

"T-That's wonderful news. S-So how soon can my grandson leave…."

"I was not talking about your grandson but the small orphan girl in your village. I would like to take her under my wing."

Even if Aurora was not from the tower, most of the magical academies were affiliated with the tower. It was natural for the couple to doubt her words even if Aurora did make it clear that she had nothing to do with the tower.

Not that it mattered much to her now. It was better that these people believe Aurora had connections with the tower.

"So, you are saying that you want to take the child away with you to train her in magic? Are you sure you are talking about the right child?"

The younger leader's wife asked with a hopeful look.

"I am quite sure it is that young girl I want. I am not doing it just for her, but for you all as well. Her magic is extremely powerful and will explode if she does not learn to control it."

"Won't it be better for her to leave with me? As for your grandson, some officials from the tower will be arriving tomorrow. You can try your luck with them."

The family looked relieved to hear Aurora's news.

Aurora could see that they had already made their decision but were hesitating just for the sake of showing that they cared.

"B-But we have taken care of Emilia for so long. W-we can't just let her leave like this?"

"R-Right. She is like my own daughter. How can we let you take her away."

Aurora could not help but scoff at the duality of this family. They were very good at lip service. Even their expressions seemed to be genuine.

But their aura gave their real intention away. It was time to pull the real big guns.

"I am well aware of how much you care for Emilia. And that's why I am willing to show my sincerity to you as well. Here, a token of my goodwill, a mana stone for your son."

Aurora held out a small glowing stone toward the family.

Manastones were a precious resource that allowed a normal human to be able to perform magic for a short while.

But it was only a temporary solution to one's problem.

"I-I see how sincere madam is about Emilia. Of course, Emilia should go with madam."

"Yeah, Madam knowns the best."

Aurora smiled a charming smile but she also knew that her aura was working on this family.

Refusing a goddess was impossible for a human in the first place. Ones without any magic like this family were even worse.

"Then, please sign on these custody papers and we'll be done here for now."

"O-Of course. But c-can I ask m-madam a favor? Can madam take a look at my son real quick?"

The man of the house (the younger one) asked. This was the first time he had opened his mouth to say something.

Aurora wanted to ignore him but she felt she had to oblige that man. Something in her was telling her she should heed his words carefully.

"Alright, I am willing to take a look. But no one else comes inside with me when I do so except this gentleman."

Aurora made her conditions clear. The family did not look happy but the man who had asked Aurora to have a look did.

After all, he was the only one Aurora was allowed to accompany herself.

She was sure there was nothing left that could have surprised her like this, but Aurora found herself taking her words back once she looked at the kid in front of her.

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"This child, has he always been like this?"

Aurora found those words difficult to speak. She had not expected to see this kid after her re-birth.

His existence was an unaccounted factor for Aurora and she could not even compute how this had happened. Where had this child come from when Emilia was supposed to be an only child?

"Y-Yes. S-o, what do you think? What should I do with this kid?"

Aurora looked the man in the eye. The man was taking a huge risk by telling Aurora about the truth behind this child.

"First of all, calm down and tell me the truth. Is this child and Emilia related? They look to be about the same age as each other."

If thighs were really as Aurora had suspected them to be, then she would have to change her approach toward this topic.

She also had to be careful to not let the tower find out about the existence of this teen.

"Emilia? Ah, yes. So you saw through their connection as well. Nothing less than I would have expected from an expert such as you. And since I decided to trust you miss, I will tell you what I know."

"It all started when that woman, no, that goddess stepped inside our village all those years ago…"

The day started as ordinarily as it could. The sky was clear and the monsters were choosing to keep away from the village.

It was a perfectly ordinary day to enjoy an outing with the family.

The day was even more special for Mr. Rose since his wife was pregnant and on the verge of giving birth. His family was about to be complete soon.

"Mr. Rose, a woman is standing outside the village doors. How should we deal with her?"

A guard hurriedly made his way toward Mr. Rose. His voice sounded as if it was panicking so Mr. Rose decided to console him.

"Oh, so what's the problem? Let her in and get her set up in the guest accommodations. It's not in the best condition but I am sure the lady won't mind."

Mr. Rose was not a cruel man and decided to invite the lady to the village.

The guest accommodation had been built by the tower long ago when Horax village had been relevant to them. But it had been a long time since that building had been maintained.

Still, it was holding up well enough to house a traveler for a day or two.

"Ah, the thing is…Umm, it would be better for Mr. Rose to see for yourself."

Contrary to his belief, the guard did not head back right that second to convey Mr. Rose's message.

That was when Mr. Rose felt his curiosity peak and he decided to entertain the lady at the village entrance.

"Fine. I will come with you to greet the lady. Let me see what the problem is."

Mr. Rose had a simple plan – to go out and welcome the lady in the village. And then he could wash his hands off this case for real.

That had been his initial plan.

But as soon as he saw the lady, he understood the guard's hesitation in putting the lady in the guest quarters.

"Are you the village chief here? I would like to ask a favor of you. I will surely repay you for this favor in form of protection from the wild beasts roaming around this place."

Mr. Rose did not have any experience with magic or the tower, but the second he saw her he understood what kind of creature she was.

To call the temptation in front of him a 'human' would be an insult to her overwhelming might. She was a goddess that had descended on this village to bless them all.

The only thing that broke that illusion was the dented belly the goddess had.

"Miss, are you by any chance, pregnant? My wife is in a similar condition as you. And as such, I would like to extend my hand to you and ask you to stay with us for the duration of your child's birth."

Mr. Rose had no intention of allowing the lady in his home at first but he could not stop himself from offering after he saw her.

His mouth seemed like it had a will of its own and it made that offer to the goddess.

"Mr. Rose, what are you saying? What would your wife say if she heard you?"

The guard that had asked Mr. Rose to come there asked. He sounded terrified but intrigued by the beauty in front of him as well.

"My wife would understand. After all, how could we turn down a lady in need of our help? And what if she's from the tower? We will all get killed if we refused her?"

As much as the lady attracted Mr. Rose, something was terrifying about her presence. She felt far too much like a predator to him.

"Ara~ How can I refuse such a kind offer? Of course, I will take Mr. Rose up on his offer."

The lady walked slowly but each step she took was hypnotic. There was a bell sound as she walked and Mr. Rose found himself falling hard.

"By the way, I don't see your husband around? How dare he abandon such a beauty like you?"

Mr. Rose might be getting in on his years but he had not lost his charm for flirting.

"You're bold. How did you conclude that my husband abandoned me? That he did not die?"

Mr. Rose felt his saliva get stuck in his throat as the goddess questioned his back. Her easy-going tone hid the hard intonation of her actions.

And for some reason, Mr. Rose was convinced that this lady had not lost her husband in an accident but a murder case. A murder she might very well have carried out.

"Y-YOU! How can you be so shameless to walk arms-in-arms with another lady when your wife is pregnant and about to give birth?"

Mr. Rose felt his soul return to his body when he heard the angry cry of his wife.

"Ah, you must be this lovely gentleman's wife. Miss is much more beautiful in real life. Your husband was kind enough to offer me lodging until I can birth to my kids. He is such a kind man."

Mr. Rose tried to hide his eyes from his wife's vengeful glare. His wife had always been a jealous woman.

"Oh, I see. He's a kind man, huh? Well, I won't take back the offer he gave you but that doesn't mean I have accepted you into our lives. You will go away as soon as you are done with childbirth."

Mr. Rose flinched at his wife's harsh words. In his option, she was making a big deal out of nothing.

But he had never been able to say anything to her in all his life. His mother had liked his wife enough to sell Mr. Rose out to her family.

And now he was all but the village head in the name.

"Of course. I would have never dared to step foot in this village if not for my unborn children. And I am grateful for all the kindness you are showing me this day."

Mr. Rose did find the situation a bit odd but he chose not to say anything about it. Keeping quiet and letting things play out was the best source of action he could take right now.

His wife glared at him yet again and Mr. Rose realized with a jolt that he was in a compromised position with the new female in front of him.

He quickly let go of her arm and gave her a small bow.

"Hope you enjoy our hospitality Mrs.."

"Shinobu. My name is Shinobu."

"Ah, yes Mrs. Shinobu, it is nice to meet you. Now if you excuse me and my husband, we have something important to talk about."

This was how Mr. Rose found himself in his new predicament. This was also the cause of the first fight between him and his wife.

But nothing came out of it and Shinobu stayed in the same house as the couple.

Mr. Rose had been spectacle about her claim of being a mage but when no monster attacked the village for a few days, he could not help but believe the female's claim of providing protection.

A few days passed away in such bliss and the day of heavy rainfall, it finally happened.

Both his wife and Mrs. Shinobu went into labor and gave birth.

One gave birth to a pair of twins with unique eyes while the other gave birth to a dead son. It was a heavy day for the family.

But Mr. Rose still decided to fulfill his duty as the host and visit the other woman in his house.

After all, she had just birthed a pair of healthy children and she deserved to have someone stand beside her in such a difficult time of her life.

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"Your son died, right? Are you looking for a replacement? How about taking my son in as yours?"

The exhausted goddess asked as she held her children close. Mr. Rose wanted to say something to her but his mouth could not move.

His body was betraying him in the worst way possible and Mr. Rose was terrified of what that meant for him. Was this going to be something permanent?

Whatever this goddess had done, it had affected Mr. Rose on a psychological level.

"I-If I take the boy, then what will happen to your girl? I can't take both of them in since my mother knows that a boy was born. B-Besides, these kids look inhuman. T-Their eyes…"

"You do not need to worry about that. Here, now it is alright, right?"

The goddess placed her hand on the boy's head and Mr. Rose watched in wonder as his features changed to match his own. In a matter of seconds, it was impossible to tell if the child was his or not.

It could only be called a miracle to see such a sight in front of his eyes.

Had Mr. Rose not seen it happen, he would not be able to tell that this child was not his. His wife and his family will surely be tricked by this.

"This child, hand him over once someone comes to this village to help you out. You will understand when the time comes. As for the girl, leave her be. She needs to bear her fate."

The goddess whispered in a monotonous voice. It felt more like an order than a piece of advice.

"B-But it should not be right. What if I make a mistake and the child is found out to be not mine? I will be killed off. And what about equality?"

Mr. Rose was trying to find excuses at this point but the goddess was not going to give him an out.

"You either follow my words or you all die. Do not test my patience human, you won't like it. After all, you humans are such fragile creatures."

For the first time, Mr. Rose thought of the goddess as scary. She was just sitting there, smiling at him and he felt his soul shiver in fear.

Had Mr. Rose been a good man, he would have argued against such a treatment being given to the girl.

But Mr. Rose was a coward and all he could do was agree with the goddess and take care of the boy while leaving the girl once she grew old enough to look after herself.

As for the goddess, one day she walked toward the forest and was never seen again. The village forgot such a woman existed and her memory faded away from the village.

Only Mr. Rose remembered those unique eyes of the female. The star-shaped grey eyes were inherited by her children.

Everyone lived on happily from that date on, unaware of what had happened in the village or the identity of those kids they adored.

"…And that was all that transpired. Since we never saw that woman again, I did not wonder too much about things. But now that you are here, I cannot help but wonder if you were the one she was talking about."

"So, I would like you to ask for a favor. Take this kid with you as well. Joseph is a good kid and he won't cause you too much problem."

Mr. Rose pleaded with a passion Aurora had not expected from the meek man. Guilt was oozing out of the man in abundance and it was clear to see why he was behaving in this manner.

"I understand what you want me to do. But this kid should stay with you. Despite him being a goddess's kid, he has no magic inside him. He would become a burden to me."

"Even so, you have to take him with you. Please, I beg of you."

The man was adamant about getting Aurora to take the kid away from this village.

Perhaps, he knew of the fate that was about to fall on the village and wanted to do one last good task to ensure someone's survival.

"Alright. I will take both kids and leave in the morning. Be prepared and meet me at the village gate when the sun rises."

Aurora would curse her soft heart for her decisions later. For now, she had a lot of planning to do and a letter to send to the Rocx valley about their new members.

The night was still young when Aurora exited the village leader's house so she decided to do some more groundwork and strengthen the defenses.

She wanted to go and visit Clove but Aurora held herself back.

Now was not the time to visit her former wife. Aurora could not be allowed that luxury as long as she had not taken care of things on her end and made sure she had Clove's soul with her.

When the morning came it felt all too soon and too far away.

"Are we going to leave now? When will we be leaving?"

Emilia's hyper voice called out and the energy in it exhausted Aurora even more. Had it not been for necessity, Aurora would have delayed this encounter.

"We're waiting for one more person to join us. Then we can leave."

Emilia looked confused but she did not question Aurora's decision. And Mr. Rose did not take long in arriving with Joseph either.

"Joseph, this is Miss Aurora. She will be in charge of you starting tomorrow."

The kid looked shy. He could not even look Aurora in the eye and Aurora felt worried for him. Knowing Damian, the kid would eat this shy one alive.

"H-Hello"

The teen bowed to Aurora with some hesitation but she decided to wave her hand and ask him to stand.

The teen followed without delay.

"We shall be going now. Take care of yourself and your family."

With the last bow, the Aurora parted from the village with two kids at her side. It was all quiet till they hit the forest.

And then Emilia started firing questions at the nervous teen.

"Soooooo, why are you here? Can you do magic as well? Are you strong? What can you do?"

The more Emilia questioned, the more withdrawn Jospeh became. Aurora could spot his nervousness from a mile away.

And the glamour his mother had cast on the teen should be getting uncomfortable as well. Aurora decided to help him out by removing that cast.

"Emilia, keep quiet for a minute. The circumstances for Joseph being here are special, just like your case. But he is not like you in the magical department. You will understand in a minute why that is so."

Aurora waved her hand over the magic seal and it disappeared in a single second.

Normal features bent and then disappeared into the unusual look only a divine being could give off.

Emilia's gasp of wonder sounded far too loud in Aurora's ear. But Joseph did not look shocked to see his face in the small pond nearby.

"He looks just like me. How is it possible? Is he a g-ghost?"

It looked like Emilia had a far more vivid imagination than Aurora had first given her credit for. Really, to see this and think about ghosts.

Where did this girl borrow her imagination from?

"F-Father said it was because we share a mother. He also said that I was not his real son."

This was the first time Aurora had heard Josphe's voice and it was far colder than she had expected from such a small kid.

Now that she paid attention to the kid, his body temperature was lower than Aurora expected as well.

Was it a side-effect of the spell being cast on him or something else? Aurora had never heard of such a case before?

"Oh. So you got adopted? Well, I don't care about it. I'm just happy I have a family now. Also, did you know that we have a mother? I mean, an alive mother. Aurora is taking us to see her."

"Is it true?"

"Yeah, she said that she would do it."

Initially, Aurora had wanted to wait to see the goddess of victory. She had no idea how to approach this subject with two kids with her.

It would have been difficult to defend a single kid had the goddess taken offense, but defending two of them would be a nightmare.

But the choice had been taken out of Aurora's hand by two twelve years old. Their expecting eyes looked at Aurora and she knew she could not say no now.

She could not dash the hopes of two innocent kids in front of her.

Especially not the ones she was hoping to work to the bone later on and convert into her helpers.

"Alright. Buckle tight because it is going to be a long trip from here."

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The Horax village was in an uproar the next day. And the main reason for such an uproar was the arrival of a single figure.

"L-Lady Minerva, what are you doing here yourself? There was no need for my lady to take up such a task herself when…."

"I came here because I had business here. Do not flatter yourself by thinking it is for you. Now, where is the couple that was stationed here? Bring me to them."

Meanwhile, Quince was thankful for the support team and their quick response to his inquiry.

It was all thanks to them that Clove was recovering at a rapid rate and her fever had finally broken as well.

As soon as Clove stabilized, Quince handed the healing potion vile over to the doctor who had cured Clove. He was a highly-learned man whom Quince trusted.

And he also wanted to get his doubts cleared as soon as possible.

"M-Master Quince, where did you get this potion vile? The one who gave this to you did not lie at all. It is the highest-quality healing potion one could find."

The doctor looked to be in awe of the vile. But Quince was just relieved to not be ripped off in such a blunt manner.

It looked like Aurora had been telling the truth about her having high connections. And Quince would need to exercise caution with her.

And also keep Aurora and Clove as far away as possible.

"What is all this commotion about? I would like to participate in this talk as well."

Quince had just started to relax but he tensed as soon as he heard that voice. It was such an iconic voice that he could not help but get whiplash as soon as he heard it.

"L-Lady Minerva, it is incredible. This potion is potent and it is undiluted. Here, have a look."

Had Quince known about Lady Minerva's arrival, he would have never dared to hand the healing potion over for inquiry in Horax village.

He would also have prepared an excuse to account for his vile's presence in his inventory.

"Oh, let me have a look. Give that vile here."

Quince wanted to stop the exchange from happening but there was no way for him to do that anymore.

He watched with a heavy heart as Lady Minerva held the vile and opened it to take a sniff.

Her face did not change even a single bit as she observed the contents inside the veil before handing it back to the doctor.

"It is indeed the real deal. The potency of it tells me that a goddess made it. So, Quince, where did you get this potion from? And do try not to lie to me."

Quince cursed his luck but he could no longer lie. He had to tell them what happened in Horax village before they arrived.

But although he could not lie, Quince could omit the truth to suit his needs. And that was what he was counting on doing.

"While out hunting beasts, I met someone who saved me and my companion. They took pity on me and handed me this potion and then left for the village."

"I arrived back with Clove to allow her to recover but by the time I checked for that person, they were gone from this village. This is all I know."

Lady Minerva's eyes did not change at his answer. Quince had no idea if the goddess believed his words or not.

"You did not know this person you speak of? Is it the same one who put up this barrier around Horax village?"

"Yes."

"I see. I suppose I cannot blame you for not being able to look through such a tough illusion. You are far too green right now. Now, rest here while I go and investigate this matter further."

Quince held his breath till Lady Minerva left the room.

He was more than aware that his words had not been believed by the goddess at all but he was happy to have gotten this time.

Now if only Quince never runs into Aurora again, it would be the best-case scenario.

But he had a feeling that he would run into Aurora far sooner than he would have liked to.

Minerva exited the room with a dark expression on her face. Anyone who saw her quickly escaped out of her way.

It was not just her expression but her magic as well that was lashing out.

"My lady, you are scaring away our people. Kindly calm down a bit."

Thankfully, not everyone in her guards was a coward and quickly established what needed to be done.

"Quince dared to lie to me. He might say that he never met the owner of that vile but his aura gave him away. If not for my fondness for him, I would have ended him there and then."

It was not like Minerva could not understand why Quince had lied to her. It was clear as a day that only a goddess could have produced such a potent healing potion.

But to hide it from Minerva was a grave sin in her eyes.

"My lady, Quince is still a child. He will learn in due time and will understand what needs to be done. Meanwhile, we looked around for the kid you mentioned but it seems as if we were too late."

"What did you say?"

"We looked around and it seems like someone took that girl away…"

Minerva had managed to calm down a bit but the news send her temper flying again. Minerva had never felt such peeved before.

It was like she was playing chess with an invisible enemy and she was always two steps behind her enemy.

She had been feeling the same ever since Astoria had managed to escape the tower with her guest.

"Who dared to do such a thing?"

Had someone discovered who that girl had been? Or had it been a coincidence? Minerva was no longer sure what to think about this situation.

"Let's head to the village elder's house and have a talk. Hopefully, the situation is not beyond our control just yet."

Although Minerva said that, she could not help but feel like she had already lost this hand.

The leader couple looked nervous to see her. The man could not even look Minerva in the eye while the female tried everything to flatter her.

"No more. I just want to know who took the girl away."

"It was someone named Aurora. She said she was from an institute and saw talent in that girl, Emilia, and our son. D-Did we make a mistake? But she could do magic?"

Lady Rose looked a little annoyed at being tricked but Lady Minerva already knew she had lost this gamble.

Now that she knew the name of the one who had taken away her prize, she could not help but remember the one person who had defied the tower and lived to tell the tale.

"Don't worry. The one who took your kids away was not lying. Your kids are in safe hands."

It hurt to say but Lady Minerva did not lie to the couple. She saw no benefit in lying and she also did not want to anger Karan right now.

Whatever beef Lady Minerva had with Astoria and Aurora would have to be settled during the first investigation report. Doing anything before that would cause the tower's reputation to take a downfall.

"By the way, I am interested in one more topic. The main shrine in the village, can I possibly see it?"

With the major topic out of the way, Lady Minerva decided to focus on the one topic that was itching her.

There was weird energy coming out from the center of the village and the seal protecting it felt familiar to her.

Unlike the barrier that covered the village, this one was designed to keep something in and had a goddess's power embedded inside it.

It made Minerva curious to look at the thing Goddess of Victory could have stored in this village.

"O-Of course. My lady, come and follow behind me."

Lady Rose jumped at the chance to show her worth. Minerva had dealt with too many people having the same temperament so she was not surprised to face such an extreme reaction.

"Are you not going to follow us, Mr. Rose?"

The man looked startled at being called out but he shook his head as soon as he realized that he was being called upon.

"Let him be. My husband is such a shy person and he'll hold us back if we take him with us."

Lady Rose left her husband with no face when she criticized him. But it was not Lady Minerva's place to say anything to them.

They had their own pace to follow and their problem to solve. Minerva will not interfere in their mess and leave the village be.

She had far more important things to take care of.

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The trip to Rocx valley was not as long as Aurora had thought it to be. Before he knew it, she was standing at the entrance of the famous Rocx valley with her two charges behind her.

"So, this is where our mother is? Are you sure someone can live in such a desert-like area?"

Emilia's question stemmed from her child-like innocence. For someone who had never faced many hardships and lived in a relatively safe village, it was hard to imagine living in such a place.

"Some people don't have a choice about their home. But the condition of this place will get better in the future."

Rocx valley might be an uncultivatable desert right now, but it would soon turn into a lush land where people would be able to live out their lives in peace.

"And what about our mother? Is she here as well? Is she going to meet us here?"

Joseph's question sounded equally innocent but this was a heavier topic than the one Emilia had chosen to take up.

It had taken some time for the children to get used to each other's presence and familial relationship with each other. But once they had gotten used to each other, they got along like oil and fire.

In other words, their innocent actions were making Aurora's life much more painful.

"We'll head toward your mother's location to meet her. I did not tell her I was bringing you two so it will be a surprise for her as well."

Not that it would be that much of a surprise.

Aurora could already feel the familiar magic of a goddess check her out. As soon as she stepped into the Rocx valley, the goddess would know that Aurora was not alone.

Whether the goddess cared enough to investigate this topic or not, that was not something Aurora could say for certain.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go and meet mother."

Emilia hurried past the boundary line without hesitation. For someone scared of her own shadow, this was a big step to take.

Did the child trust Aurora this much to even take such a big risk?

"Let us go in as well, Joseph. Or we will lose Emilia in this forest."

Aurora had put a tracker on both children so she was unlikely to lose them in such a huge place. But it never hurt anyone to be cautious in such a big place.

The only stroke of luck the trio had once they stepped into the valley was a lack of monster encounters.

Aurora had released a small portion of her power to keep the low-level monsters away from the trio.

She did not want to risk getting one of the children accidentally hurt in the process of taking them to see their mother.

"When will get to our mother? How far away is she? Is she beautiful? Does she look like us?"

Emilia's questions were getting more and more frequent. Aurora did not have an answer for her since she had never seen the goddess of victory.

All she knew about the current goddess of victory was that she did not agree with the tower and she had gone independent a long time ago.

"You will know once we get there. Asking questions will not make our destination arrive early."

Although Aurora said those words, she had no idea how far away the goddess of victory's abode was.

Since the goddess's power was far beyond Aurora's control, her system could not mark down a location for the said goddess.

It would be up to the Goddess of victory to lead the trio to her. And if she did not want to be found, then it would be nearly impossible to find her.

"Uh, excuse me. But is the desert supposed to have birds in it?"

Joseph pulled at Aurora's clothes and pointed toward a small red, white and black bird. It was a Tanager bird which was not a desert bird at all.

In the modern world, normal animals were a novelty not everyone could see. The lack of resources had made the small animals go extinct.

And those who were left were either mutated by the abyss or had developed magical properties of their own in the process of survival.

But this small bird did not seem to possess any magical aura around its small body. It was a normal bird.

"Good observation. We need to follow the bird from this point on."

Since such a unique bird had arrived in front of them, Aurora could only take it as a sign from the goddess of victory.

Whether the goddess wanted to doom them or help them, Aurora could not even begin to guess at this point.

"It's such a pretty bird. Do you think I can touch it? Animals back home are huge and they try to kill you if you touch them."

Emilia's voice was filled with longing as she looked at the bird.

But the bird did not seem to exist to come down and allow a human to pet it. Every time Emilia started to step toward the bird, it seemed like it would fly away.

The only way to know what it wanted for sure was to wait around and allow it to fly away on its own.

-achoo

"Sorry, I could not stop myself."

Emilia apologized but the bird had already taken flight. It stopped a few meters away from the trio and looked back.

This time, the look in its eyes seemed a little intelligent to Aurora. It beckoned the trio to follow after it and the trio did.

They followed the bird as far as they could and ended up in front of a small cave.

"Where did the bird go? I don't see it anywhere."

Emilia's observation was cut short when Aurora pulled her and Jospeh behind her. Something huge was inside the cave and the aura it portrayed was unlike anything Aurora had seen before.

She would have compared it to Lady Mei's had the lady gone all out in her spar against Astoria and Aurora.

That power could have only belonged to a goddess.

"Your mother is inside there. Don't take everything she says to heart."

Aurora reminded the kids before she braced herself and walked inside the cave. The darkness caused the children to cling to her for support.

But Aurora did not push them away. Instead, she cast a small spell on their body to keep them protected against the heavy aura of a goddess.

"And who dared to enter my abode uninvited? I did not want to have company right now. Whosoever you are, kindly go back."

The voice of the goddess sounded melodic but also a little tired.

Had Aurora not known that her opponent was a goddess, she would have thought of the other as a sick person.

But then again, the goddess of victory was at the end of her life span. She did not have much time to live so it was not far-fetched to think that it was affecting her physical manifestation.

"Are you our mother?"

Aurora had not expected the children to take a stand against such power. But Joseph gulped down his fear and asked that question.

"Mother? Ah, so that's why you feel familiar to me. Did the new goddess bring you two to me?"

Aurora felt a brief touch on her shoulder and she tensed up.

A huge surge of power was gathering behind her but Aurora felt like she could not turn toward it. If she did then she would surely be attacked.

"Come closer. Let me have a look at your face."

Emilia was shaking at Aurora's side but Joseph decided to be brave and take a step ahead. The presence behind Aurora also disappeared and she felt the magic gather in front of her.

The fiery-orange hair of the goddess was the first thing Aurora saw emerge from the magical flame followed by a young body.

Her age seemed to be almost similar to the boy in front of her.

Had Aurora not known just what the goddess power was capable of, she would have never believed Joseph to be the goddess of victory's child.

Not when he looked both taller and older than the goddess.

"You come forward as well girl. I need to see you both to confirm something."

Emilia's shaking got worse. She must be feeling that heavy aura of the goddess press up against her own and it should be making her condition pick up.

As much as Aurora wanted to help her, she knew she could not do that. This was something the kids had to face on their own.

"Hurry up girl. I do not have the whole day to waste with you. Do not make this game any more difficult than it needs to be."

Aurora patted the young girl on her head but she did give Emilia a small push to move forward. The child needed to overcome her fear right here and now.

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"So only one of you retained by magic? It is better than I expected. Seems like my gamble paid off after all."

The goddess of victory sounded pleased as she observed the twins in front of her.

She had not touched the kids yet but Aurora knew it was only a matter of time before the elder goddess made a move.

"It's a pity that only one of you will survive and inherit my powers once I die. I wonder which one of you it is going to be."

The goddess's words caused a wave of discomfort to build up inside Aurora. Just what did the goddess mean by those words?

Emilia looked like she was about to faint. The poor girl was white in the face but Jospeh looked determined.

"Ah, you did realize what I am talking about. You are a smart boy, aren't you? A pity you did not inherit my powers as well. You would have been a certain candidate as the next god."

The goddess commented and Aurora finally felt it click what she was saying.

Since the goddess had given birth to twins, her powers had been divided between the pair. Unlike the birth of a natural goddess where all the power was given to a single person, this time it was divided.

So once the current goddess of Victory dies, her power would have a hard time deciding which vessel to choose next.

And if Aurora was correct in her assumption, the tower would try to kill one of the twins to gather up in a single vessel.

"Is there a way to save them both? They are kids and should not be subjected to this treatment."

Aurora felt pity for the kids who were stuck in this kind of fucked up world.

Had she known this would happen, she would have never taken Joseph with her. Then she would not have such a burden on her mind.

Aurora never promised to be a saint but seeing someone she knew die was not something she was comfortable with her either.

She would have preferred not to have known the dead person at all to ease her conscious.

"I'm afraid the play has progressed far too much to stop it now. But you still have time to figure out a solution if you want to. My responsibility is already over."

The goddess of victory did not seem like she cared much about this topic or her children.

Once she was done observing the kids, she turned away and did not pay attention to them again.

Ths kids still looked interested in knowing more about her and Aurora felt uncomfortable to be standing in such a gathering.

"Ask your questions now. I will answer them since I am in a good mood."

The goddess seemed to be in an agreeable mood so she offered to answer the question.

"Why did you abandon us? I thought you were dead or something."

Emilia seemed to finally gather some courage and ask the question that was weighing on everyone's mind. Aurora was curious whether the goddess would answer this question or not.

"Your birth was never my choice. I was just fulfilling my duty as dictated to me. Why do I need to care about you once I was finished?"

Contrary to what Aurora expected, the goddess's answer was cold and detached. But the goddess continued her verbal assault anyway.

"The tower forced me to have a replacement before I die but I did not want to do that. In the end, I was forced to fulfill my job. It was a game which I could not escape so I decided to stop playing."

Surprisingly enough, Aurora found the goddess of Victory to be a little childish. But not childish in a good way.

Her thoughts, and her pattern of behaviors, all pointed toward a child who refused to grow up and take responsibility for her actions.

"And you decided to abandon children to their fate when they couldn't even walk? Did you not feel any attachment to them at all?"

Aurora had decided not to speak anything. She had wanted to stay out of this mess.

But she could no longer stay out of the verbal abuse she was hearing about. No child deserved to hear that they were not needed.

"That's right. I do not feel any sort of emotions for them except fulfillment. Now you can leave if this was all you came here for."

Aurora felt angry at the outcome of her talk but she also felt like something was missing from this whole exchange.

The lack of aura and emotions she was feeling from the goddess was concerning. It made Aurora suspicious about the exchange she was having.

"Emilia, Joseph, can you go and wait in the next hallway while I have a serious talk with your mother?"

The kids nodded without looking up and left the hallway.

Aurora could still feel them typing to listen in on the conversation that was taking place between aura and their mother but Aurora decided not to shield them.

In her opinion, they were old enough to hear the truth.

"Did you mean what you said? About your feelings?"

Aurora spoke with purpose so that her words could not be misunderstood.

"My feelings do not matter. The abyss has a will of its own and I do not want to be a puppet in its schemes. As for my feelings for my children? Who could remain unaffected after carrying around a life inside them for nine months?"

"I care about them as much as I can care about anything. But my will to break free of the abyss's chains is much more solid. So I made my choice."

That made sense to Aurora. Even for her, if things came between her desire to collect Clove's soul and her desire for vengeance, Aurora was sure she would be able to choose Clove above the other.

Some feelings were just too deep-rooted to allow others to replace them.

And in the end, even goddesses were creatures with desires and emotions.

"So you do love the children in your way, huh."

"I guess so. But I do hope this was not all you wanted to ask from me."

This was the moment of truth. This was where Aurora's plan would make or break.

"No, of course not. I had another request to ask of you. Do you know about the academy I am about to set up in Rocx valley I am thinking about locating Viera in your territory? I hope you do not mind."

"I do not mind. I am in no condition to be making such decisions anyway. I will not live long to see the outcome anyway."

Aurora wanted to pity the goddess in front of her but she could not bring herself to feel the emotions she wanted to.

The goddess might be under the influence of her own emotions, but the decisions she had made were not something Aurora could respect.

"I will take care of your kids. I will make sure they both live to their fullest potential."

Aurora knew she might be making an empty promise to the goddess but she was doing this for herself.

"Do what you want to. You have my support in everything you do since you are helping the outcast people I took under my wing."

That was at least one problem solved. But still, this talk brought forth a new question in Aurora's mind.

"By the way, why did you not leave your kids with the outcasts? Surely it would have been an option for you."

"What makes you think I did not want to? But the tower would not have left the outcasts alone if I did that. I am a bird bound in the abyss's cage."

Aurora decided she could not take any more of this atmosphere.

The goddess of victory was too far-gone in her thoughts and emotions to be making much sense. Aurora was not good at dealing with these kinds of people.

"Then, I shall take my leave now. Hopefully, we won't meet again."

The goddess of victory did not stop Aurora from leaving. Aurora did not look behind herself either.

"Did you both hear everything? I'm sorry that this was not the ideal meeting you expected to have with your mother."

Aurora regretted bringing the kids here the most. This was unnecessary emotional baggage she had saddled the kids with.

"No. I am glad we came here today."

"The meeting might not have been the ideal one we expected but at least we know for certain that our mother loves us in her way. And this is enough for us."

"Thank you for giving us this opportunity."

For the first time, Aurora felt she had underestimated someone. She had expected the kids to feel sorrow or even criticize Aurora for her decision.

But they chose to thank her instead.

Now she needed to find a way to make sure both kids lived their lives to the fullest.

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Although Auror felt that the incident with the goddess of victory had been handled safely, she could still feel the burden of her decisions.

The kids might have taken the news gracefully but the aura of hurt around them was still potent.

"Kids, come here. This will be a one-time thing so do not get used to it."

Aurora pulled the kids in a hug as soon as they were near to her. The tight embrace caused the kids to finally let loose their emotions and start crying.

And as if a dam had broken, the tears did not stop once they had started falling down the kid's face. Their soft hiccups and shivers wrecked their small frame, causing Aurora to feel their emotions.

"It's alright. You both are not alone. Soon you will have more people who will love you."

Aurora was certain that these children would be cherished by the outsiders and the Viera clan. They were good kids who knew how to behave.

"I-It hurts."

"I know. But things will be alright."

No matter how strong a child was mental, such things were bound to take their toll on them.

Aurora could feel the elder goddess keep an eye on the trio but the goddess of victory did not come out to confront the crying children.

The message she was trying to send was clear – I am washing my hands off this case. It is your responsibility now.

And since this was the case, Aurora decided to take her responsibility seriously.

The children calmed down around an hour or half, finally allowing Aurora the peace of mind she wanted.

"Do you need to rest some more? Or are you ready to finally head out now?"

Aurora did not mind spending a few more hours consoling the children but they did need to start heading out now.

They might be in the Rocx valley but the academy was still on the opposite side. It would take at least a day for Aurora to reach the settlement and then some to check up on the progress.

"No, we don't need any more time. We are alright now."

As expected, Joseph was the first one to calm down and accept the situation. He was also the one who helped Emilia realize that their situation was not so bad.

It was nice to see such a bond form between siblings.

Aurora had been brought up as an only child but she had her friends who were almost like siblings to her.

Still, this display made her wonder how different blood-related siblings were when compared to sworn siblings.

Maybe if Aurora had stayed behind, she might have gotten a chance to find out. After all, she was not an only child.

But the time of regret had already passed a lifetime ago.

"From here on, be careful and don't wander off on your own. I don't want to see you in trouble with the monsters."

The children agreed without hesitation.

Aurora crossed the valley far slower than her original pace. Since she had kids with her, she had to walk at their pace.

She also took the initiative to teach Emilia some easy magic but she could not do the same for Joseph.

But what he lacked in magic, he more than made up for in intelligence.

"Emilia, practice this spell. I have something to give to Joseph."

The girl agreed without much probing. It was a nice thing to see – the lack of jealousy.

Maybe it was because they had grown up in different households and under different conditions, but the sibling pair did not compete with each other for resources.

"Do you feel left out while Emilia is practicing magic?"

Aurora could see the longing look Joseph cast toward Emilia's magic. There was a yearning in his gaze that Aurora recognized.

"Not really. I have accepted that I will never be able to practice magic. And it's not like I'm the only one."

Joseph was trying to be rational but his voice shook when he spoke. It was tragic to see a child go through this dilemma.

"Your condition is not unique but it's not beyond help either. And there are ways for you to be able to keep up with Emilia without even magic. I know some people who can help you out."

Aurora was talking about outlanders.

Their technology required intense practice and concentration to use but it was universal enough to be used by anyone.

"Help me? Then there must be a catch to it all."

"Of course. You will need to put in much more effort than Emilia and you will also need to condition your body. But you're young enough to adjust. So you should think about it."

"…."

The kid did not answer Aurora at once as she had hoped him to. Joseph proved to be wiser than Aurora had expected him to be.

"You can take your time thinking over your choices. Now let's get up. Someone will be here to pick us up soon."

Aurora had sent a message over her system a long time ago and she could finally see Rita's signal on her map.

The younger was close by.

"AURORA, THIS WAY."

The redhead waved her hand over the small cliff she was standing at. Aurora waved back at her in greeting.

The children at her side looked intrigued but quickly took a step back as they watched a huge shadow approach Rita from behind.

"Look out…"

Emilia did not get to finish the sentence before a small wolf left the huge shadow and electricity filled the background.

The huge monster was charred within seconds with not even a body remaining intact.

"You should not worry about Rita. She's trained for such circumstances."

Aurora pointed but even she was impressed by the advancement Rita had made in such a short time.

The power Rita's summon had shown was much more impressive than Aurora had seen before she left. The result of a week-long training was clear in Aurora's eyes.

"So you did come back. And here I thought you abandoned us here."

Rita was not alone. Damina had decided to tag along with her. The kid had a sour expression on his face but his aura felt satisfied.

"Yo. I am back and I have gifts with me. You both can come out now."

Joseph looked intrigued to see Damian and his armor. Aurora was sure it was his first time seeing someone fight without magic and still be able to keep up with the monsters.

"What the hell? You are younger than us? Who allowed you to go out and fight?"

Emilia did not have a filter and asked a rude question. Damian's sour expression froze at the question and Aurora felt laughter build up inside her chest.

"Emilia, don't be rude. I think he was cool."

Joseph tried to dispel the awkward air that had filled the space but he was too late. Rita had already broken out in laughter at Emilia's words and Damian was red in the face.

"Y-Y-YOU! HOW DARE YOU MOCK ME? FACE ME IN A CHALLENGE."

"You brat got owned."

Rita was not helping the situation with her comments and Aurora tried to hold back her incoming headache.

Why could the children not make an agreeable first impression?

"Emilia, don't be rude. Damian will be your senior once you start. Joseph, you can have a talk with him about the specifics of their tech and then decide if it is something you want to pursue."

Aurora tried to dispel the hostile air around the group but it was going to be a problem. Damian and Emilia were not even looking at each other after that confrontation.

"Will it be alright to leave the kids alone? The air feels tense here."

Rita was not complaining but Aurora could not find it in herself to be worried. Looking at the trio, it did seem familiar to her.

"They'll be alright. They'll be too busy to bother each other once the academy starters and their classes begin for real. For now, I will leave them in the outlander's care. I need to start preparing for the inauguration."

Aurora had a few plans in place to start the academy.

Mainly, she needed to have a talk with the selected board and make things clear to them.

Rex had helped Aurora with this by providing high-ranking people from the resistance to act as the board members. They were puppet leaders that just needed to stand there and look pretty.

But if they got any ideas in the future, Aurora would not stand for that. She needed to make this clear as soon as possible.

"I understand. The building is ready and Ava has already started her work. We will have no problem once we began to start running the academy."

Aurora felt a smile itch on her face at the news. Things were finally going according to her plan. Now she only needed to watch out for the sneak attack planned on the academy by releasing the abyssal beasts.

But it should not be that big of a problem for their side.

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The tower had fallen into a state of quiet for the past few hours. Ever since Lady Minerva had arrived back from the Horax village, she had been in a strange mood.

The rumor in the tower was that she lost something important in the village she could not talk about.

Everyone was curious about her present state but no one had the guts to be able to ask her what happened openly.

"Maybe it's because she wants to get laid but cannot. No man is good enough for her."

"Maybe she prefers women but is too shy? Should I take my chances with her? Lady Minerva is cold but beautiful, you know."

"I know. She is that kind of beauty."

"Keep your voice down. You never know who might be listening in on you."

"You are right. I don't want to get in trouble but maybe it is worth it if the punisher is as beautiful as Lady Minerva."

"Oh! Is that what you all think of Lady Minerva? I had no idea she was so famous in you young people."

The guards jumped back at the arrival of the tower master. His gentle smile reassured no one.

"A-AH, tower master. We did not see you there."

As soon as the new presence was detected in the hallway, no one dare to open their mouth and make a comment.

It was alright to discuss a fantasy among the people of qual standard and like-mindedness. But as soon as a foreign factor was introduced into the mix, no one dared to even open their mouth.

No one was delusional enough to think that their talk had not been heard and understood by the tower master.

He was far too powerful to be fooled by mere guards.

"W-We should get going now. Otherwise, we will be late for our work."

One by one, the guards dismissed until the hallway was empty of any presence. Only then did the smile fade away from the tower master's face and was replaced by indifference.

His face did not give away any glimpse of his thoughts and any passerby that looked at him could not stop their shiver of fear.

The sheer aura the tower master excluded was enough to put many people to shame.

Only once the tower master reached Lady Minerva's room did he stop. His impassive face was schooled into an easy-going smile and a soft knock greeted the room door.

"Come inside, Charles. I do not have time for your games."

The tower master opened the door and quickly stepped inside the familiar room. He was here often enough to not be surprised by the grand decore of the inside.

Instead of a room, it was more appropriate to call the accommodation a hall with a high ceiling and carved pillars.

"Lady Minerva, I am here as promised. As always, I have a solution to your problems. I heard that you encountered a roadblock even you cannot handle."

Charles gave a small bow in greeting. His straightforward nature was what had compelled him into becoming the tower master.

Or that was what everyone thought. But in reality, this nature was nothing more than a facade he put up in front of everyone.

He only ever said the truth when he knew he could get away with it.

"And where did you get this news from? Are you trying to keep tabs on me?"

"Of course not. But a magician doesn't reveal his hand. But rest assured, because I have taken the first step toward our victory already."

"And how do you know what I am worried about?"

"Is it not about the new academy? Don't worry, I will take care of it. By tomorrow, it will be all but history for us. And if not, rest assured that it will not be tracked back to us. And it will also help us root out the outlanders."

Charles smiled a small grin as he exposed his plan. His plan was finally bearing fruits.

Not only would the new threat be neutralized, but he would also get the slaves he needed to bribe the other members of the board and keep them under his thumb.

And the best thing about this was that even if most people knew what he was doing, they will not be able to stop him due to the support he had.

"Charles, what did you do?"

"Nothing much. I just send them a goodwill gift. A huge goodwill gift my best hunters managed to capture alive. Nothing that can be traced back to us."

Charles's smile widened just a little bit more and Lady Minerva's face faltered for just a single second. Yup, he had her on his side even after all this.

Lady Minerva observed the human in front of her with a blank face.

The more he spoke, the more worried Lady Minerva became. In the end, she could not even keep her face straight.

'Nothing much. I just send them a goodwill gift. A huge goodwill gift my best hunters managed to capture alive. Nothing that can be traced back to us.'

The words echoed inside Lady Minerva's mind with a vengeance. They mocked her for her incompetence in being able to keep her subordinate in check.

Had it been anyone else Charles had targeted, Minerva would not have been this nervous.

But he had to go ahead and target the only other person in the world who had divinity backing them.

Not to mention, Aurora had a dragon's ward and a likely future goddess with her. And then the whole matter of the academy being situated in the Rocx valley.

It was the domain of the goddess of victory. And as her domain, she had full power there. Even Minerva was not sure she would be able to defeat the goddess there if a fight did break out.

"Why did you not discuss this with me before proceeding ahead? You might cause serious damage to our reputation."

Lady Minerva already knew that she would not be able to talk Charles out of his foolishness. And the man was also smart enough to come to Lady Minerva this late in his plan.

Even if Lady Minerva wanted to wash her hands off this case, she no longer could.

Nor could she make the tower master disappear in such a short amount of time.

"But I did come to you before the plan went live. Now we are accomplices in this crime. Won't you help me cover my tracks, my lady? I am one of your most devoted followers after all."

The man was taking advantage of Lady Minerva's nature and her coldness.

Contrary to popular belief, the gods and goddesses were not omnipotent. They were limited to what they could and could not do.

Most people did not think that way and were content to follow the will of the divine. But people like Charles were different.

They were ambitious and did not fear anything. Their brain just made them that much more terrifying.

Lady Minerva had not expected to end up in such a position when she had first established the tower. But in the end, she had ended up under a human's control.

Maybe it was inevitable in the end but she had no other choice but to comply.

"I understand. I will help you cover your tracks this time so don't you dare make this mistake again in the future."

Lady Minerva had been foolish enough to develop feelings for the tower master. She had brought the child up and she had seen him grow.

This child was the closest thing to a son she had and she could not help but feel like this feeling was going to be her downfall.

"Of course, I will tell you before I do anything else. After all, Lady Minerva is my mother in all but blood. As a son, I have to look after her."

Lady Minerva was disgusted at being called a mother by Tower master. Her feelings for him were conflicted and it was difficult to say what she felt for him.

Maybe it was because she felt guilty for how she treated Astoria in her past, she had latched on to the young flame she had felt almost half a decade ago.

"If you are done, then leave me here to think. I don't want to see you until the next week."

The man left without any hesitation and lady Minerva felt her emotions calm down.

She needed to get to work and make sure to cover the tower's bases. Whatever Charles had planned must not come to bite the tower back.

It must especially not cause a problem for Quince and his generation. And if the general public never found out about this, the better.

'I have no other choice but to prepare a sacrificial platoon to slow down the 'surprise'. Hopefully, Astoria and her partner will find a way to deal with their problem in time.'

Minerva will help as much as she could afford to but even she had her hands tied up.

It would be up to the people of the Rocx valley to take care of this mess.

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After going through so much in her past life, Aurora had thought she had conquered the feeling of nervousness.

But the aura around the hall was making her nervous. The chosen board members were not going to accept Aurora easily.

At least she had Rex on her side during the meeting. Her adopted brother had arrived not too long ago and had taken charge of things.

"Don't worry so much. I will take care of things if anyone goes overboard. You just focus on maintaining your composure."

That was not the main issue Aurora was facing. Her nervousness stemmed from the fact that her inner goddess found the lack of faith satisfying.

It wanted to fry these small flies and be down with this meeting. That way, no one would be able to oppose Aurora's decision.

"No, I am alright. I need to solidify my position right now or these members will never accept me."

Aurora knew why her goddess was provoked so much by the presence of this new company.

It was because these followers belonged to another god and help no respect for Aurora inside their minds. Their aura was a ticking time bomb for Aurora's aggression.

"When did you become this wise? You still feel like you were that young child I and Lucy used to play with. And now look at you. Lucy would have been proud of you."

Rex sounded equal part reminiscent and sad.

It suddenly drew on Aurora that she had never told him about Karana and his connection to Lucy. But in Aurora's defense, she had no time to contact him for a leisure talk.

She had been too busy.

"Hey, Rex. Stay here after the meeting. I have something important to tell you regarding Lucy."

Rex looked a little confused at Aurora's words but he did not make much fuss. Instead, his face had a knowing smile.

"I know what you want to tell me? You got me the thing I wanted, right? The Elixir of life is with you, right? You don't need to tell me about it."

"Well, yes. But that is not what I…"

"You don't have to be shy and considerate. Even if the elixir does not work, you did your part. Don't worry, I will not go back on my words as well."

"Anyway, just stay back after the meeting."

Aurora gave up explaining her side of the story. It was clear that Rex was not going to listen to her anyway.

The elder didn't even look ashamed to interrupt Aurora as she tried to convey something important to him.

The room felt stiffening to Aurora. The people inside were making it easy on her as well. Their suspicion and hostility were visible on their face.

"Rex, you are finally here. Is this our chairwoman and principal? Isn't she too young for this post?"

Aurora had not expected to get a nice greeting. But she was taken aback by the quick question thrown her way.

The elderly who had asked this didn't even have the decency to question her. Instead, the question went to Rex.

"Don't be like that Donna. Aurora is more than capable of handling her post."

Rex's smile was impeccable when he countered the woman's claim. His lack of hesitation gave Aurora hope that the others would accept her based on his words alone.

But then her hopes were dashed as the others in the council started to show their true colors.

"No, I agree with Donna. She's too green for her role. I would also prefer someone older and more mature than her to take the job. Why don't you take this job, Rex?"

"That's true. I will feel much more comfortable having Rex as the one in charge than this woman. Rex is also a public figure so it'll be good for us."

"Rex will be better in this post as well."

"I feel so too."

"Rex…"

"Too young…"

The talks continued without any input from the main pair. Aurora felt her temper loosen at the accusation but she did not say anything just yet.

She had to bide her time and not lash out.

"That is impossible. I am not the right person for this job, but Aurora is. She did all the work of convincing the people to build this place and scouting the teachers. I will not take her right."

Rex was exaggerating a lot. If one looked at the things Aurora had done for the academy, there was nothing much that came to mind.

Most of the things in the academy had been finalized by Rex. Even the permission had been acquired by his connections.

So Aurora could see why the resistance was so up in the arms about this topic.

"But still, you need our support to finalize this place. We will only give it to you if Rex is the one to take charge and not Aurora. Frankly speaking, I cannot trust an outsider with our resources."

"Right, it's not about you but our stability in the long run."

Aurora wanted to rage at the injustice but life had taught her that some fights were unwinnable if you also wanted to win the war.

Compromises were very important in the grand scheme of things and Aurora would have to make one right here and now.

"I won't take…"

"It's alright Rex. They are not wrong to say you will be a better public face than me when it comes to the academy. You might also get to reconnect with your family if you become the ringleader now."

"Besides, I need to be in the shadows to do most of my work. If I become a public face then it will complicate things for me."

Now that Aurora thought back to it, quite a few people knew her face. It could be disastrous if they recognized her while she was out on a mission.

"You cannot say that all of a sudden. How am I supposed to cope with a sudden leadership I am not even prepared for? How is that fair to me?"

Rex looked equal part scared and hopeful.

Aurora knew the man wanted to take this opportunity and establish his position in the resistance.

As much as resistance tried to be a liberal group, it was not immune from the in-fights and sabotaging strategies. It was very much like an organization one needed to climb up in.

Even Rex, who had a solid footing, needed fundamental establishment to solidify his role in the group. And his position would be needed by Aurora in the long run.

Aurora had not planned this outcome but it might turn out to be a better alternative than the original thing Aurora had thought.

"So, if we are all in agreement, let's solidify the deal. I have the papers ready to stamp. And it's not like we will ignore Lady Aurora either. She can still be a share-holder on our board."

Aurora knew those were empty words to make it seem like she had power. But she didn't mind playing the puppet in their hands for now.

This academy was a means to the end, not Aurora's end goal. As such, it was fortunate that Aurora would not have to bound herself to this place forever.

She wanted to explore the abyss and find Clove's soul. And then she wanted her wife back with her in this life.

"Did you all plan this? I have a feeling like I'm being set up right now. Can I quit?"

Rex sounded uncertain but Aurora could feel his happy aura radiating out of him.

No matter what these people said to him, they did care about him a lot. Rex was lucky to have such people at his side.

Aurora wanted to give Rex a little more time to come to terms with what he had accepted but she did not get a chance to do that.

A small earthquake shook the building they were in and caused several objects to fall and break.

"W-What happened? An earthquake? Isn't Rocx valley a protected place?"

What Donna said was the truth. The Rocx valley was a goddess's domain. Natural disasters like earthquakes should not be happening without the goddess's permission.

Unless this earthquake was magical, its existence should not be possible at all.

"Aurora, come out now. You need to see what is happening."

The council room door opened with a bang and Rita ran past it in a hurry. Her expression did not look assuring to Aurora and she felt a headache from behind her temple.

"Is it something important? Is it related to the earthquake?"

Aurora just had a feeling that it might be. Whatever could cause such a panic in Rita had to be something massive.

"Of course it is. There is a chaos-level threat heading this way. There is no way to take it out before it reaches us."

Aurora wanted to curse the tower for their interference but she could not even find it in herself to do that.

A chaos-level threat on the surface? How did the tower even manage that?

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Chaos ensued as the dust cloud neared the Rocx valley. It was emerging from the side where the abyss was situated.

Had Aurora not already known about the tower and its tricks, she might have genuinely believed that this was a weird coincidence.

"Oi, what should we do now? Can we even take that thing down ourselves?"

Rita's question made sense. Aurora was not sure she could take care of the giant chaos beast herself.

Monsters in the abyss had different levels. It was a well-known fact. They ranged from NormalEliteSwarmChaosLegendaryMyth.

Out of them all, Legendary level monsters could only be found on the lowest floors. Even Aurora, who had ventured down as far as level 50 had only seen 3-4 of them.

Legendary level monsters were akin to minor gods and goddesses while Myths went beyond that and had the will of the abyss behind them.

In terms of power, Ava was close to the myth level of the monster but Aurora knew she could not count on Ava to help her out. The abyss would not let Ava use her powers outside the abyss.

"What should we do now? Our abyssal defenses would not last out for long. And fighting the beast can lead to huge losses on the outside."

Although Rita said losses, Aurora knew it was about human lives at this point. The cloud of magic the chaos beast was bringing with it was too huge to contain.

Once it died, its residual magic would explode and cause the surroundings to get damaged.

They would lose this battle no matter what they did.-.

"We need to divert the beast toward the other side of the Rocx valley. Currently, we are not in a condition to deal with the beast. We need external help."

Aurora could only think of one way to get rid of this problem and that solution involved getting a goddess to help.

There was no doubt in Aurora's mind that the goddess of victory would notice such a huge presence entering her lands. But Aurora was not sure if the goddess would help them out or not.

A goddess's temper was fickle and unpredictable.

Especially for the goddess of victory, this statement could not hold any more truth.

"You say that so easily but executing the order would not be easy. I can already make out the shape of the beast. It's a whale and the only Chaos beast I can think of is Mobi Dick."

Rex had arrived outside by this time as well. Aurora soared him a single glance before she diverted her attention to the real threat in front of her.

"Ok, listen everyone. Here is the plan for our next course of action."

"I will go and divert Mobi Dick's attention. I'll also think of some way to lead it toward the other side of the valley. Rita, and Rex, help out the others to set up a barrier around this place. We cannot allow it to fall."

Aurora did think about taking backup with her but anyone she took would prove to be a hindrance at this point.

Rita would have been the safest choice to take with her but Aurora did need someone to stay behind and take care of this academy business.

"Are you an idiot? You are just asking to get killed out there. We cannot lose you right now."

Rita's voice was shaking with emotions. Aurora had never seen the girl this desperate before and it touched her.

But it did not shake her resolve to do what was right.

"Hey, say something. Do you want to see her die out there?"

Seeing as how Aurora was not agreeing with her, Rita changed her target to Rex. But the elder also chose not to answer her.

Rex had already realized Aurora's thought process and Aurora could see that he did not agree with her. But he still chose to believe in her which warmed her heart.

"Am I the only one who could see a flaw with this plan? Why are you all so quiet right now?"

Rita was not going to be on Aurora's side but Aurora also could not afford for Rita to follow behind her.

"Rita, listen to me now and I'll spend a night with you once I come back. And I do promise to come back so don't follow after me.

That was the last gamble Aurora had in her aisle. Her whisper words were only for Rita's ears. Her arms tightened around Rita in a hug to hide her face.

She could see the female looking torn up at Aurora's promise. There was longing and desire in Rita's eyes but there was also defeat. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ

"Fine. But it's a promise you will have to keep. I will not go soft on you even if you get injured out there."

Aurora tried not to stare at the hardness poking her in her stomach as she separated from the younger.

How Rita found the time or energy to get hard right now was beyond Aurora's understanding.

Aurora quickly separated from the group before someone else could come up with another stupid idea to make her stay behind.

[System alert. Viera tribe is about to enter Rocx valley.

Would the user like to send them a message?]

What impeccable timing. It could only be called a stroke of luck for Astoria and Ryu to have arrived at this time.

And suddenly, the situation did not look as grim as it had before. There was a ray of hope outside this tricky situation without getting the goddess of victory involved.

"System, send Astoria and Rex a message for me. Tell them to get ready for the next main event."

Aurora had no confidence that she would be able to kill Mobi Dick alone. Not without making the Rocx valley her victim as well.

But Astoria was different. She had much more control and she could help Aurora weaken the beast enough to land the final hit.

The Viera leader, Ely was also an accomplished fighter. She could also help Aurora out a lot.

And then there was Ryu. He was young and small but he was an excellent source of defense for the institute. His rank alone could do wonders for the magical resources the academy had.

But the success of Aurora's plan still depended on her. Her being able to lead Mobi Dick away from the academy and toward the more open side would decide what course of action the outlanders would have to take.

As Aurora neared the huge cloud of dust, she began to see the iconic fins and other animal-like characteristics of the Mobi Dick.

It was a creature worth its Chaos status. Everywhere it touched, things started to melt away from its acidic aura.

The huge mass of the whale was made up of magic and extremely light. It floated upon the sea of corrupted abyssal magic underneath it.

The monster itself had no conscious thought about where it was headed. It was a slave of its magic and would go where the magic to it.

And this was what Aurora was counting on to save her.

The root of all her problems was the wave of magic beneath the huge whale. If Aurora could influence it, then she could divert the huge mass toward where she wanted it to go.

But it would deplete Aurora of her magic for a long time. It might also cause some lasting after-effects but that was something Aurora could think about later.

"System began diverting my magic and create a link with the abyssal magic beneath Mobi Dick"

[Affirmative]

Aurora felt the first burn of the abyss magic touch her. It was worse than anything she had ever experienced before and it ate away at her magic.

The more time Aurora spend connected to the magic, the more she got used to it. But the burn did not lessen at all. It just kept on growing and growing by the second.

"System, take control of my moments and lead us away."

Aurora had not meant to use her system this much. It had been a last resort she had programmed inside its commands but it looked like she had no other choice.

The more magic that flowed out of Aurora, the more her control over her limbs loosened.

At this point, Aurora was moving through sheer will-force and determination. Aurora knew she was forcing her body to move in unnatural ways.

But she decided to keep on pushing ahead just a bit more. All because of the solid presence she could feel behind her.

Astoria was finally here.

"How dare you step outside your domain. Go back to where you belong."

Aurora felt her connection with Mobi Dick snap and her legs give out as the huge magic blast overtook her senses.

Familiar silver hairs covered her vision as Aurora looked up toward blue eyes.

"Why are you always in trouble? You make me question my decision of following you sometimes."

Finally, Aurora could rest. Astoria was here.

But Mobi Dick was not done at all. Its loud roar cut through the surrounding valley and shook the earth. The beast was angry.

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"All that magic and not even a single scratch on that bastard. It pisses me off to see."

Astoria was correct in her observation. The huge Chaos-level monster didn't seem to have a single scratch on his body.

On the contrary, Aurora was spent by having used her magic to lead the beast away and Astoria's aura indicated that she was not in the best health either.

The burden of having to use Blazing point had not yet faded away from her body. A second ignition would be impossible for her.

Aurora could still spot the academy behind Mobi Dick which indicated that she had not managed to lead the monster far enough.

"System, tap back in my resources and connect me with Mobi Dick. I want to lead it away even further."

[Request denied under user protection protocol.

The user has accumulated too much mental stress to be able to maintain control. The system cannot allow the user to access more magic]

What kind of bullshit scheme was this? Who designed this safety protocol? Had it been Aurora?

"That's Mobi Dick? What is it doing outside of the abyss? Never mind, what can we do now?"

Even Astoria was getting impatient and worried about the monster in front of her. The Mobi Dick was getting more and more enraged by the second.

The huge body of the whale had started to thrash about and the magic stream that was making Mobi Dick was getting out of control.

"For now, all we can do is to try and lead it further ahead in the Rocx Valley. It's not our domain so we don't have much control over it."

For gods and goddesses, a domain was a place under their control where they were birthed. It also marked the place where they were the strongest.

The only way to take over another divinity's domain was to win the place from them or kill them. Both were next to impossible tasks for most people.

As such, the strongest person in this valley is the goddess of Victory but she had not stepped in to take action yet.

"Is the goddess of this valley not going to step in and do something? I thought she was better than that."

Astoria's comment felt thoughtless at first but Aurora could not help but feel like it was a clever trick.

No matter how indifferent a goddess was, they all held pride dear to their heart. The goddess of victory was no different in that regard.

Aurora could feel the goddess's aura look over the pair in surprised rage. She was taking the bait.

"Hey, do you think if I do a good enough job and kill Mobi Dick, I can take over this place as the new goddess? Maybe even share this place?"

Aurora never thought she would ever say those words out loud. She was not someone who invited danger to herself.

But Aurora didn't want Astoria to shoulder this task on her own either. Astoria's nervous aura was already making itself known.

It was surprising to see Astoria put up a brave mask at such a time.

"For now, let's lead Modi Dick deeper in the territory. I'm sure our dear goddess will not interfere in our progress."

Aurora knew she was playing a dangerous game.

Astoria might have started this all as a means to challenge the Goddess of Victory's inner instincts but Aurora knew that her words would spark more than that fire.

The arrival of Mobi Dick was a reminder of how much the abyss controlled the upper world and its happenings.

And GoV was someone who hated the abyss with a passion and was already itching to kill the beast.

"Astoria, I leave leading Mobi Dick up to you. We can share the reward once we're successful."

Aurora saw the Mobi Dick start to move toward where Astoria was leading it. The beast seemed to be following its instincts to follow after prey and Aurora gave a small but private smile.

But suddenly, Astoria took a sharp breath before she stumbled. The corrupted magic beneath Mobi Dick pulsed and became even more violent.

If it was not clear before, now Aurora was sure that someone was in control of the Mobi Dick remotely with the help of an immense amount of stored magic.

And no matter how much the two goddesses struggled, they were in a disadvantageous situation due to circumstances.

Aurora had never cursed her situation before.

She had more than enough magic to take care of this situation but her condition was holding her back from being able to do anything.

Astoria had good control but she could not match the other half-gods and goddesses that were likely on the other side.

The tower was making a fool out of them at this point. And Aurora could not even fault them.

It looked like the GoV was not going to interfere after all.

"Are you sure this is alright? Did Lady Minerva give a go-ahead for this?"

The tower master gave a happy hum at the question before shaking his head gently.

"Of course, I asked for permission. I'm not a fool to go against Lady Minerva. Now, focus your magic on Mobi Dick and lead it toward the abandoned lands."

The half-god looked unconvinced but he did not question the tower master.

None of the four half-gods that Charles had gathered said anything more after he confirmed their beliefs.

"It is for the good of the common people. Our teams are still investigating how Mobi Dick managed to escape the abyss and come to the surface. But we cannot make a mistake and allow it to roam free."

"Besides, the only people down in the Rocx valley are the outlanders. And the outlanders are half-monsters themselves. They break the natural order of the world and try to harness magic when they are not supposed to."

"Does it matter if they get hurt if it means saving all the other normal people of the upper surface?"

The half-gods had nothing else to say to that.

It was not like they agreed wholeheartedly with the tower master but they were guilty of the crimes against outlanders and other tribes of the region as well.

Their families had slaved in their account and many had participated in the raids against the 'so-called' outlanders.

"You all can leave your worries behind. I will carry the burden of this order for you all. So do not worry and do your part."

Charles knew he had a silver tongue and he was not afraid of using it. But even he knew it was all possible because he had the support of Lady Minerva behind his back.

One day, he would have all this power for himself without needing to be at anyone's beck and call.

"S-Sir, we are losing control of the Mobi Dick. It is moving in areas beyond our control."

Those words knock Charles out of his thoughts. His eyes widened as he watched the Mobi Dick move in the opposite direction he wanted it to go.

"How is this possible?"

"Someone is pouring more magic than us in the path. We can't help it."

"But they likely won't be able to maintain this flow for long."

Charles felt his temper get better once he heard those words. Unless the other side was a god or a goddess, this much flow of magic would be impossible to maintain.

All they had to do was to wait around and their chance would come soon.

And just as it had been expected, the flow of magic lessened soon enoingh. The Mobi Dick was significantly out of track but nothing that could not be salvaged soon.

"Sir, a new flow joined in. But we can overpower this one if we tried to."

"Then do it. Aim for the place I am pointing you to. Lady Mei will take care of everything else."

Of course, Lady Mei will be able to one-shot the Mobi Dick from far away. That was all the permission Lady Minerva had given her.

And Lady Mei was not foolish enough to step into Rocx valley without backup. Even she could not go against the GoV in this domain.

But all Lady Mei needed to do was to shoot Mobi Dick down. Then everything else would be over and the magic would explode.

And then it finally happened – the hitch in Charle's plan.

"Sir, we lost control. T-The magic, it's too much for us to take care of. We're afraid that it's the GoV who had interfered in our plans."

Charles felt his head hurt as he heard those words.

His fist made a dent in his arm-rest without much effort and his being leaked anger.

How dare that goddess to come out now? Why was she interfering now of all times when she had been happy to stay away all this time.

"Take control back. Just make Mobi Dick reach near to the dot on the map."

Forget the plan about control, getting close would have to do now.

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Aurora had exhausted her supply of magic. Her body was telling Aurora that it could not handle anymore.

"Astoria, do you think you can make one more full-powered attack right now? We need to knock Mobi Dick off the track."

Aurora's powers had not failed her yet and Astoria also had a bit of her magic left. This was their only chance to get Mobi Dick off track.

"Sure, I have some of my magic left. But what will we do after we get it to follow us? I don't think we have it in us to kill that thing."

Astoria's worried voice brought a smile to Aurora's face.

This was something Aurora had been worried about earlier but not now. Aurora was not so scared after feeling the energy humming around them.

GoV was finally showing her true colors. She had noticed just what kind of monstrosity had entered her land.

Aurora was sure that her anger was directed toward the tower more than the actual monster that was running rampant around the grounds and Aurora did not blame the female.

"Astoria, hurry up. Can't you feel the help we are about to get?"

"Huh? You mean…"

Astoria caught up as well. And once she did, Astoria's eyes glinted with assurance.

Finally, magic started to flow around the pair and it was enough to break the fragile control the tower had over Mobi Dick's moments.

[Warning: Mental magic overload. The user is asked to stop before their body is no longer capable.

Failure to comply would lead to dire consequences.]

What a useless warning. If Aurora could stop then she would have not waited around like this.

The pair was gradually but slowly dragging Mobi Dick toward the center of the stage. It was only a matter of time before Mobi Dick would be killed off and the pair would be free.

[System warning overload. Emergency measured being implemented.]

At the most crucial time of the plan, Aurora felt her magic being cut off. She was left vulnerable and her lack of support caused Astoria to lose control of her magic as well.

"Aurora, are you alright?"

Aurora wanted to speak but the abrupt emptiness that followed her lack of magic took her breath away. Aurora could not say anything at all.

But the worst part of it all was that Mobi Dick had not been dealt with yet.

The tower still had control of the monster and used this opportunity to lead Mobi Dick back toward the center of the Rocx valley.

"What should we do now?"

Astoria sounded helpless as well. But there was nothing more they could do.

If even their magic was not enough, then Aurora doubted that anyone else would be able to deal with the gigantic whale as well.

"ARE YOU REALLY JUST GOING TO WATCH? THOSE TWO ARE ON THE ACADEMY GROUNDS AS WELL. THEY WON'T SURVIVE THIS ATTACK EITHER."

Aurora knew this was her last attempt to get GoV to help her out. Her shout made her throat throb with pain but Aurora knew it was necessary.

[Save your breath. I can see that you failed. So, I guess I have no other choice but to take over from here]

The child-like voice caused Aurora to finally calm down and relax.

"Is that…"

Astoria's voice was full of wonder when she asked that question but Aurora did not need to answer her. Astoria already knew the answer to her question.

[You both, sit back and see how a real goddess works. Maybe then you'll realize the difference in our powers]

For a second nothing happened. Aurora was not even sure if something was supposed to happen.

Aurora had seen Emilia fight once in her past life. The new goddess of victory had been young but flashy. She had been impressive and her powers had caused the battlefield to ignite.

Aurora had been thinking of a similar effect when she thought of GoV's power.

But when the magic hit, Aurora felt like everything she had known before paled in comparison.

The magic was vibrating all around her. Even the ground was not immune to magic's effect.

Mobi Dick, which had been ignorant of everything before, finally turned its head and paid attention to what was happening in front of it.

Initially, Mobi Dick was akin to a zombie-type monster that did not pay attention to anything else except its own needs and desires.

Even with all the magic that had been sued on his till now, it did not even spare one glance to it.

But this time was different. The massive power of a predator finally caused the whale to lash out and try resisting it.

[No matter what you do, it'll be futile from here on. I am not allowing you to escape my clutches that easily. Now be a good whale and come here.]

Chains sprouted out of the ground and bound the huge body of the whale.

They dragged the still-air-born body toward the empty valley Aurora had been trying to lead it to.

Once it was near enough, a pink light descended all around Aurora. For a second it looked as if the sky had turned pink as well.

But when Aurora looked up, it was only a shell that covered the sky. Its shiny hexagonal parts reflected the ground and the shape slowly began spreading.

The chains kept on dragging the struggling whale toward the center where the GoV's astral body was waiting.

[You would have been a challenge had it not been my domain. Now rest easy.]

The chains loosened the whale but they did not let go fully. Aurora gulped her saliva down as she watched the arrows rain down all over the prone body of the whale.

But the arrows that did not hit the body reflected off the ground and toward the shell where they were absorbed and then reflected again.

It seemed like a never-ending cycle to Aurora. One that was incredibly cruel to the poor whale-like creature but still necessary to put an end to it.

"Don't look if you cannot. Goddesses are not kind creatures. This is just their nature."

Astoria sounded like she was used to it all. And she might as well have been since she had grown up among the tower people.

Still, Aurora was not one to judge after all she had seen in the abyss.

This might seem like a cruel fate to most people but this was a mercy in the tower. Mainly because Mobi Dick was going to die in the end. There will be an end to its suffering after this cycle was over.

Most monsters inside the lower level of the abyss didn't even have this luxury afforded to them.

The whale suffered for a long time before falling dead. It happened all of a sudden as well without indication.

[WHO DARE TO KILL THIS WRENCHE OUT RIGHT NOW]

GoV sounded pissed off. Her words made it clear that she had not been the one who had fired off the arrow. But who else could it have been if not her?

"Aurora, look. It's an arrow made up of flames. The magical energy it gives off is also familiar, don't you think?"

Aurora observed the arrow and it did feel familiar to her. But Aurora could not recall where she had felt this energy before.

[THAT INSOLENT BITCH THINKS SHE CAN TAKE MY PREY? HOW DARE YOU MEI. HOW DARE YOU]

GoV sounded pissed but Aurora finally had a name to put to their kill-stealer.

Of course who else could it have been but another goddess? And the arrow had also killed off Mobi Dick because the monster had been weakened significantly enough.

Still, a kill was a kill. And the credit for this kill would belong to the tower's goddess.

"Finally, this nightmare is over. I just want to fall asleep and disappear for a few days."

Aurora wanted to do the same. Her body protested against any moment she did and Aurora wanted to sleep her aches away.

"Hey, they are here. Hurry up and help us out."

The backup also arrived at the right time. Familiar hands picked Aurora up and Rita's face snapped into focus right in front of Aurora's eyes.

She wanted to say something more but her energy failed her. Aurora was knocked unconscious before she could say her words out loud.

At the top of a cliff just outside the Rocx Valley, the figure of Mei finally held her bow down with a frowning face.

"Stupid Charles and Minerva. This is what they reduced me to? Damage control? Who do they think I am?"

But the goddess also had an unconscious smile on her face. Despite her words, she was glad that she had decided to take up this task.

She had gotten to see something really interesting. Goddess of Victory might awaken fully soon and Mei would have a new opponent to keep herself occupied in the near future.

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Consciousness came and went in intervals. Aurora's head did not stop spinning even after she tried her best. It made her wonder just what she had done to be dealt with such punishment.

"Are you awake now? How are you feeling?"

Rita's face snapped into focus as soon as Aurora woke up. Her mind tried to ignore the sudden on-slaughter of memories it was being dealt with.

"I feel a little weak but I'm alright now."

Aurora's body had almost no strength. She could also not feel her magic very clearly.

"That's because of magic exhaustion. You pushed yourself a little too hard yesterday."

Rita's words sounded sour. It was like she was angry about something and Aurora had a bad feeling about it.

"Rita, are you angry at me? You do know that I did what I had to? You understand me, right?"

"I know why you did what you did. But I refuse to understand your reasons. In the end, the tower was the one that benefitted from our mess. And no, I'm not angry at all."

Rita's aura and her words contradicted herself. Although she said she was not angry, her aura sang different words.

Aurora knew persuading Rita right now would not be right. But Aurora did not want to sour her relationship with Rita over such a small issue either.

Although, Aurora did feel a small pressure on her leg. It was not something she had done to herself.

So where did that pressure come from?

Aurora lifted the sheet and instantly smalled it down on top of the hand she saw. Aurora's face went red as the hand neared her hidden heat.

"H-Hey, this is not the time to be doing this. Are you even listening to me?"

Aurora quickly connected tow-and-two together. There could only be one person that hand could have belonged to. And it was Rita in front of her.

"I am not doing anything? I am just touching you a little. After all, you did promise me that you will let me do this. Don't tell me you are going back on your words now?"

Aurora did remember vaguely saying something like this. But in her defense, she had meant way later.

Maybe once things had calmed down and Aurora had recovered. Aurora might have also thought that Rita would forget all about her promise once enough time had passed.

But Rita had no intentions of doing that.

"Rita, can we postpone this till I am recovered? I am not in a mood right now."

"But you are physically alright. You are just a little exhausted but that's no reason to deny me. As for mood, I can fix that as well. Just give me a few seconds."

Aurora did not need to ask how Rita was going to make the mood 'right'.

After all, the hand on her breasts more than made Aurora aware of what Rita considered as 'fixing' the mood.

Aurora's body leaned into that touch even when her mind was not in the mood. The duality of that action surprised Aurora as well.

"It feels good, right? I learned how to use my magic to make sex better. Can you feel the difference?"

Aurora felt moans escape her lips as Rita's hand massaged her nipples. The small vibrations rocking her body were also something Aurora had never felt before.

Small sparks of magic also rocked Aurora from the inside. They were pressing on her pleasure nerves and making Aurora's body go lax.

"I can't wait to feel your heat again. Your pussy is something else. I can't help but think of it every time I see you. Don't you think of me fucking you once in a while as well?"

Aurora didn't really think of Rita in that sense. But now that Rita was saying all this, Aurora could not help but imagine the other's cock now.

"Want it now? I can give it to you. But maybe you'll also enjoy having fun with my breasts? Why don't you try fondling them?"

Aurora's hands had no energy but Rita seemed to not think of it as a problem. She supported Aurora's hand and dragged them toward her chest.

Her heavy breasts were already reaching Aurora's chest so there was not much of a struggle in making this happen.

"Yes, just like that. Squeeze them a little. You're doing great."

Aurora felt shame fill her being at the praise.

Aurora was no blushing virgin. She was also the more experienced one among the pair. Aurora was sure she was also the one who had taken Rita's virginity.

So why was Rita in a dominant role right now? This was not right.

"Y-You little. I will show you how to please someone."

Aurora mustered what little energy she could and pushed Rita down. Surprisingly, Rita went down surprisingly easily.

Aurora utilized this opportunity to establish her dominance over the younger female inside the room.

"Now that you had your fun, It's time for me to have fun. Hey, have you ever had your pussy played with? Want to try it?"

"H-HUH?"

Aurora did not give Rita any time to prepare before she touched her pussy.

It was a wet and familiar feeling around Aurora's finger. One she had not felt in a long time and she wanted to explore more.

Rita's cool and calm facade exploded as soon as she had a finger inside her pussy. Her body shook at the intrusion and her tightness made it obvious that Rita was a virgin in that sense.

"N-No. Stay a-away from there, ughg~"

Rita's reaction was something Aurora had never seen in her. The red-faced teary look filled with lust was something Aurora had never seen on the female's face before.

She wanted to see more on Rita's face. Aurora was getting addicted to this feeling of dominance.

'That's it. That's the way things are supposed to be. Take your pleasure from her."

Aurora had not been in a mood to fuck before but now she was. Her pussy was throbbing but Aurora did not want things to end just yet.

She wanted to prolong this feeling of pleasure and ecstasy she was feeling.

So Aurora decided to add another finger inside Rita. It was a tight fit and Rita's virgin pussy tried to force Aurora's finger out.

Rita had been tight before but it was next to impossible to move inside her now.

"N-No more. It h-hurts"

Aurora did feel pity for the virgin. The first time was the worst at first but once it did get better, it turned into an addicting feeling.

"You're not wet enough. We need to do something about that."

Aurora's fingers tried to loosen Rita up but her body was not cooperating with the elder. There was also a lack of lube in the vicinity which made things much more complicated for the pair.

There was no other way for Aurora to make this situation better than to use her mouth.

"Rita, come here."

Aurora slammed her lips over Rita. her tongue mapped inside the younger's dazed mouth with vengeance.

Once Aurora went down on Rita's pussy with her mouth, she would likely not come up for a kiss. So she was going to take her to fill right now.

Rita was too overwhelmed by the pleasurable feeling that she did not even fight back against all the sensations she was feeling.

Despite being the taller and heavier one, Rita was being manhandled in the bed by the goddess. But Rita seemed not to mind it at all. She was content to go with the flow and take what she could from the goddess.

Once they separated, there was a string of saliva connecting the two pairs of lips.

"Rita, you still there?"

"HUH"

"Try to keep up with me"

Was the last warning Aurora gave Rita before her lips connected with Aurora's pussy. The neglected cock was wet and red but Rita's pussy pulsed around Aurora's mouth.

It was a different sensation for sure. One Aurora might even have missed from her last life.

But Aurora did not stop even after Rita's pussy started to loosen. Instead, Aurora just got more ferocious with her actions.

Her tongue decided to join in on the action and finally breached Rita's pussy.

The taste of Rita's pussy was not bad and Aurora felt her enthusiasm rise as she went faster.

Aurora had not wanted to get this caught up in eating Rita out but she could not help herself. Rita was just that addicting in a 'fresh' way. Her inexperience made her every action that much more adorable in Aurora's eyes.

Maybe Aurora was not opposed to spending a few nights with Rita anyway. Maybe this can become a regular thing in the future as long as no feelings got involved from both sides.

"N-No more. I'll come"

For not, this one-time deal was enough to keep Aurora sated and comfortable. The pleasure that was felt was also something Aurora was more than happy with.

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"I-I'm about to come. G-Get off me"

Aurora did not slow down or stop even as Rita complained. She kept on going faster and faster. Aurora's tongue jabbed at Rita's soft pussy again and again.

Faced with such a new onslaught of feelings and wetness, Rita was not going to last long. Aurora could not allow the other to come on her tongue.

Aurora had other plans for Rita. So she stopped right before Rita could come.

"W-Why? Why did you stop?"

Rita's tear-filled red eyes did things to Aurora. She had not expected to feel the sudden rush of power and dominance she felt once she saw that tear-filled face.

But Aurora could not ignore the feeling inside her. She needed to see more.

"Calm down. We are just getting started. I want to stretch you out more. And your cock is also weeping for attention, right?"

Rita's dazed look spoke volumes about her current mental level. It was entirely possible that Rita's mind was not even here fully to appreciate what Aurora was doing for her.

That's why Aurora decided to not prolong the torture and change the targets.

Aurora mouthed at the hard cock in front of her as her fingers headed toward Rita's wet pussy.

They soon found her target and the on-slaughter began from both sides.

"S-Slow down. I-I'll burst"

Rita, who had never felt this much sensation before, could not help herself from coming once the release hit her.

Aurora's face for the full-forced effect of Rita's release and the white come filled her face. Rita's load was bigger than Aurora expected and she was not able to swallow it fully.

Rita's pussy gushed with released as well, and Aurora's fingers were soaked in her translucent release.

Rita was a mess in all senses of the world but Aurora was far from done yet.

'You did your part. Now take your reward.'

Aurora's inner instincts were not satisfied at all. Rita might have had her fill, but Aurora had not gotten her satisfaction yet.

"Rita, can your body go again?"

Aurora's question was ignored by the pleasure-filled eyes of the younger. Rita's mind must be tired but she also needed to take responsibility for Aurora's current condition now

Aurora stroked the cock in front of her in hope of getting it to harden but it was a slow process.

It was frustrating to feel such dissatisfaction but Rita was only human. Her stamina and her experience, both were limited and Aurora should not feel this frustration.

But since Aurora had let go, her instincts were the thing ruling her rationality. They did not care whether Rita was human or not.

They asked for satisfaction and Aurora had to give it to them now.

"A-Aurora?"

It was nice of Rita to finally start coming around once Aurora had hit her threshold of patience. Rita's cock also started to waken up and harden once her consciousness started to come around.

Aurora's almost purred at the sensation of a hard throbbing thing in her hand.

"Rita, want to do it properly once? You just need to sit back and let me take care of things."

"A-Alright?"

Rita sounded confused when she consented. Under normal circumstances, Aurora would not have taken these actions any further. But Rita's aura was far from panicking and it gave Aurora all the courage she needed to take things a step further.

Aurora's body felt like it was moving on its own. Her thighs were wet from her pussy juice and her body was asking for something hard inside it.

She could wait around no more. Aurora lifted her body over Rita's lap and sank onto her hard cock.

Rita felt bigger inside her than had had in Aurora's hand. It also felt different to have a cock inside her pussy.

This was not Aurora's first time with Rita but it felt like the first proper time they had sex.

Aurora's body took the lead and her jerky moments caused Rita's cock to disappear inside her pussy.

Aurora was only half of Rita's cock inside her properly when she felt the other shake and Aurora stopped immediately.

"W-Why? Why did you stop? I was about to come."

Rita sounded devastated at Aurora's action. Her face was wet with unshed tears and Aurora felt satisfied to have reduced Rita to this begging mess.

It was Rita's own fault to try more than she could chew anyway.

"Not so fast. I still don't have my fill of you."

Aurora was far from being done. Her body was nowhere close but the pleasure sang in her every nerve. It was a sensation that was akin to edging and Aurora could feel her body demanding more.

But Rita did not look like she could take more of this pleasure. Her body was on the verge of coming and Aurora felt pity for her.

So she did not delay and sank all the way on Rita's hard and throbbing cock.

Rita came immediately as soon as she was surrounded by Aurora's wet heat. The release filled Aurora's pussy and even leaked out.

Aurora tried to move around but Rita was already spent. Nothing Aurora could do now would change the matter in any way.

Aurora was frustrated but she could do nothing but pick herself up with disappointment.

All that preparation and crazy talk only to end like this?

Aurora would have to take care of herself. Her hand moved to finger the wet cum-filled pussy but satisfaction did not come.

"Fuck this. I need something hard in me."

Aurora's body had gotten sued to pleasure, things like her hand no longer helped her out. She needed something firm and proper inside her.

"Feeling frustrated? I see the kid left you hanging? Want me to help you out?"

Aurora looked toward the open door, only to see a familiar figure heading her way.

Ava had decided to make herself known finally and Aurora's traitorous mind reminded her of past pleasures they had shared.

It might have only been once or twice, but Aurora's body did not care. It wanted relief and Ava could give it to her.

So Rita jumped the other before Ava could reach her.

Before Ava could react, Aurora had her legs warped around the overlooker and her lips attacking the elder.

"Slow down. I can see how pent-up you are. Let me take care of you master."

Aurora might have recoiled had she heard those words in her normal frame of mind. But her lust-filled thoughts along with her hungry body did not find those words odd at all.

On the contrary, they turned her on even more and caused her pussy to release a fresh wave of wetness.

"Give it to me now."

Aurora's voice did not even sound like her own when she made that command. But Ava seemed to have expected it and her small smile felt reassuring to Aurora.

"Of course, I will give it to you. But only if you ask me nicely."

Ava was teasing Aurora now. But Aurora was far beyond the point of care. She had endured enough and she was not in a mood to indulge the shellfish demands of the others.

That's why she could not stop her hand from moving toward Ava's hair and knocking the overlooker toward her lap.

"Take care of me now."

Ava's eyes looked stunned to see Aurora acting like that but understanding soon settled down in her eyes.

Aurora was sure Ava knew how impatient Aurora was right now. Aurora was not trying to hide her present condition. And the proof of Aurora's desire was in front of her as well.

"Hmmm, I don't know if I should help you or not. You've not exactly asked me nicely. But if you say please, I will help you out for sure."

Aurora wanted to refuse. But her pride was a goddess would not let her speak those pleading words out loud.

"Say please."

Aurora was getting desperate now. Her body was aching and her pussy drooled out fluid in desperation.

"P-Please help me out."

It took Aurora everything she had to utter those words. Her instincts revolted against her saying such submissive words but Aurora forced them out.

Ava's aura bloomed with satisfaction and her eyes held humor when they looked back at Aurora with a taunting light inside them.

"Good girl. You are finally learning your place with me, aren't you?"

Aurora's mind went blank as soon as she felt the wet swipe of a tongue touch her pussy. Pleasure filled her senses as she was being eaten out by Ava's experienced mouth.

The outlooker was more than good and soon her teasing reduced Aurora to beg on her own.

"P-Please help me out. I can't take this itch anymore."

Aurora's voice was just above a whisper but she had a feeling that it was heard clearly by the owner of the glowing eyes that were eating her out.

Ava's eyes held the promise of pleasure and Aurora handed herself over to her care.

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Ava was not a rough lover, but she also knew Aurora could take everything she dished out. A goddess's body was tougher than people gave it credit for.

It did not take long for Ava to reduce Aurora to a moaning mess. The drooling pussy in front of Ava's face was wet enough to sink all her fingers in.

"Aurora, you still there?"

"K-Keep on going."

Aurora's confirmation was all it took for Ava to go back to eating Aurora's pussy out.

Aurora's body was shaking at the pleasure she felt and it did not take long before she had her release.

Golden liquid squirted out of Aurora's pussy and drenched Ava's expecting face.

The elder finally pulled her face away from the mess that was Aurora's thighs and wiped her face using her hand.

"That's quite a lot of pent-up frustration you let out. Are you feeling better now?"

Aurora's glaring face met Ava. Her eyes looked far from satisfied. The small act Ava had pulled had been far from enough for Aurora it seems.

"You know I am not satisfied with that at all. Come back here and fuck me properly."

Aurora's voice sounded demanding. It was not like her everyday commanding voice.

Right now, the young goddess was lost in the allure of pleasure and was allowing her inner instincts to come to the surface.

Ava would need to tread carefully if she wanted to not offend Aurora right now.

"You sure you can take me?"

Had things been different, had Aurora been someone else and not a goddess, Ava might not have thought twice about fucking her.

But since Aurora was a former human and now a goddess, Ava did not want to complicate their relationship by forming bonds.

"Stop asking stupid questions. If you don't hurry then I will take charge of the situation myself. And you won't like the consequences."

Ava just sighed and resigned herself to her fate. There seemed to be no other choice but to comply with Aurora's wishes now.

Besides, Ava was hard as well. And her cock was getting uncomfortable without the much-needed friction it demanded.

Ava's body also remembered the tight and wet heat that was Aurora's body and Ava resigned herself to her fate.

"Alright. Sit back and enjoy the show now."

Aurora decided that she did not like those words. One second Ava was positioning her cock to enter Aurora, the next she was being pulled down into a rough kiss.

It was a sudden thing and caused Ava to freeze in the middle of her actions.

Aurora took the chance to assert her dominance over the situation by tilting her hips up.

It was an awkward first fit and it must be causing Aurora some discomfort to take Ava in at that angle.

But the goddess did not complain.

On the contrary, Aurora's tongue decided to become bold and lick inside Ava's mouth with a vengeance.

Aurora's hips also made small thrusting motions to be able to accommodate Ava's size better.

Suddenly, Ava realized that she had lost control of the situation. The pace of their fucking was being dictated by Aurora now.

This was dangerous for Ava this slow-paced fucking was going to drive her endurance out. And it would also frustrate Aurora.

So Ava decided to take control back.

Once Aurora pulled back from the unexpected kiss, Ava drove back with her own need. Their lips met in a violent clash but Ava was the one in control this time.

Mostly because her cock had finally decided to listen to her and start moving inside Aurora.

Aurora tried to break the kiss and let a moan out but Ava swallowed the noise. The kiss did not break even at the violent pace Ava had set up for the pair.

"S-Slow down. T-Too fast."

Aurora's words contradicted her body's action of trying to pull Ava closer. Aurora's hips were moving along with the violent action of Ava's cock and her body seemed to be enjoying this rough fucking session.

The only thing that was dishonest about Aurora was her mouth.

"You were the one who wanted it hard and fast. I can feel your emotions, remember? I will give you exactly what you need."

Ava had not wanted to be this rough with Aurora but she had to get her point across.

So she fisted Aurora's hair and decided to pull the younger into another kiss. It was a lot of movement after that.

But Ava was not going as fast as she could in this position. Her instincts wanted Aurora in another position.

"H-Hey, why are you pulling back? What are you doing?"

Ava ignored Aurora's complaints as she pulled her cock out of Aurora's pussy. Her cock was wet and throbbing.

It wanted to go back inside that divine heat and finish its job. But Ava held back and helped Aurora to turn her body around.

Her attempt ended with Aurora being on her all fours and looking back at Ava with a confused expression.

"What the hel.."

Ava never gave Aurora a chance to finish that sentence before she plunged inside Aurora's wet and tight heat.

The bed shook with the violent clash of their bodies but Ava felt herself sink much deeper than before.

Her instincts carved such a connection and Ava decided to give in to them this time.

Mainly because Aurora looked too far gone this time to remember this fucking session properly.

"C-Close. I'm close."

Aurora's moans fueled Ava further. But her instincts did not like the words Aurora was sprouting out in her passion.

Clearly, if Aurora could still speak then Ava was not doing a good enough job of fucking her.

So the brutal pace became even harsher and Aurora's body finally gave up holding itself back.

Aurora's pussy clamped Ava's cock tightly when she came. And Ava followed behind not too long.

It was a tiring session that had been unexpected but Ava found herself not so disappointed.

"I think I'm going to pass out now. Wake me up if there is something important."

Aurora's words sounded more like an automatic response than a well-thought-out one. And the goddess passed out before she heard Ava's answer.

Ava decided to finally pull out and start with the pst-cleaning process. It would not be good to let the pair sleep in their release.

It was a wonder how Rita had managed to sleep through all the noise Aurora had made while being fucked by Ava.

"It must be nice to be this young and carefree. I wish I had that luxury as well."

But there were things to be done and Ava had a lot of preparation to do to complete her objective.

The face that the abyss had allowed a chaos beast outside its domain did not sit well with Ava.

Effort or not, the fact that the overlooker did not stop this mess was a cause of concern for Ava. It meant that the other overlookers were starting to pay attention to Aurora and her circumstances.

It would not be good for Ava if her lie was caught. She had to keep Aurora in the dark till she was able to achieve her objective.

The door to the room opened just as Ava finished the task of cleaning up Rita and Aurora. It was perfectly timed, almost as if the person on the other side knew it was safe to come in.

"Hey, can I talk with you? There are a few things I need to clear out with you."

Much to Ava's surprise, it was Astoria that graced her face on the other side of the door. The half-goddess did not attempt to enter the room or even take a glance inside it.

"Yeah, sure? Say what you want to say."

Ava had not expected someone to seek her out this early but it was also better for Ava to clear the air out with people.

The more people she had on her side, the more secure her position would be in the group.

"Not here. I would prefer if we head out to a place more secluded. Come with me to my room. I've warded it against surveillance."

"Oh, you're inviting me to your room? You sure are a bold lady, aren't you?"

The offer was an unexpected one. But Ava did not show how much it triggered her instincts.

Instead, Ava tried to make Astoria feel uncomfortable by leaning close to the half-goddess. Ava's hand almost touched Astoria's face before the goddess turned her head away.

"Don't think unnecessary thoughts in your head. I just want to make a few things clear."

But Astoria's ear was red and her aura seemed embarrassed. It was an amusing combination that finally made Ava drop her guard down in front of the half-goddess.

"Sure, let's head to your room and have this talk. I am interested in you as well."

Ava's words made Astoria's blush worse but the half-goddess did not make a fuss. What a shame.

Ava wanted to see more of her expressions.

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Blue clashed with amber when the two goddesses kept staring at each other. One had an impassive face while the other was all smiles and giggles.

"What is wrong? I thought you wanted to talk with me? All you've been doing for the past few minutes is stare at me."

Unexpectedly, Ava broke the unspoken vow of silence between the pair. Her amused eyes stared right into Astoria's when she asked this question.

"I-Huh? Did I stare at you for that long? My apologies. I was a little lost in my thoughts. I did not know how I wanted to start this conversation."

Astoria tried not to show embarrassment, but it was tough to do so.

Her timid nature made it too easy for things to show on her face even when she tried to hide her emotions.

"No. I don't dislike your attention at all. I think you're cute as well. Cute enough to gulp you down in a single bite."

Astoria felt a shiver of fear run down her spine at the creature's words.

Astoria was not sure why, but her instincts screamed at her to run away and hide. They told her that the creature in front of her was not safe.

"I'm just kidding. You're my contractor's precious partner. There is no way I will eat you up if you do not want me to. And I kind of like you as well. You're so cute."

And just like that, the atmosphere was back from the weird space it had become. Astoria also found it easier to breathe now.

It was like the tension from earlier no longer existed.

"M-Miss Ava was it? Who, no, What exactly are you? You're not a goddess or a beast. But you are not human as well. You also have the aura of the abyss all over you. You feel almost like Aurora but a little different."

"What do you think I am?"

Astoria's question rewarded her with a raised eyebrow and another question.

It was more than likely that this was a test to find out how much Astoria knew about this situation.

"That's the problem. The only answer that comes to my mind is something that is not possible."

"Is that so? Still, why don't you take a wild guess anyway? The worst that can happen is that you will guess it wrong. I promise not to react to your answer "

Astoria knew that she should not answer the other. She should keep her answer close until she was certain about all the facts.

But her curiosity had always been something she had been unable to control. And this was another point where Astoria was not able to control her mouth.

"What do I think? I think you are an overlooker but why would you come out of the abyss? See, it doesn't make any sense, right?"

Her words caused Ava to break down into laughter. Astoria felt shame creep up her face at the obvious jester move she had made.

Why did she think it was a good idea to speak her ridiculous thoughts out in the open.

"I-I see. It is a ridiculous thought for sure. I was not aware that you were such a dangerous person to keep around. Maybe I should kill you to keep my secret after all."

One second Astoria was lamenting her embarrassment, the next she felt something being pressed against her throat.

The glowing eyes looking back at Astoria were filled with magic and a promise of death.

"I wonder how you found out who I am. But it doesn't matter any longer. You are about to die now. Do you have any last wish you want me to fulfill?"

Astoria did not doubt in her heart that she would die at this moment. There was a reason no normal person had seen an outlooker.

They were too dangerous and unstable to be kept around the normal population.

"I just have a question I want you to answer. Why Aurora? Why did you make a contract with her? What are you trying to gain? And what did you offer her?"

"That is more than one question. But I am in a decent mood so I'll answer some of them. Hmm, let's see."

"I did not choose Astoria. Rather the abyss chose her and I decided to take advantage of that fact to approach her first. Don't worry, my end goal will not hurt Astoria at all."

"As for what I offered her? I just offered her what she wanted at that time. But I do wonder if she would regret it once she reaches her goal."

"Now, why don't you die for me?"

Astoria closed her eyes as she waited for the final blow to come.

She was far from satisfied with the answers she got but there was nothing else Astria could do against an outlooker.

Even if this was not their domain, Astoria was more than aware of the difference in power level she and Ava had.

Something cut across Ava's throat but not deep enough to kill her. Astoria reached out her hand and felt the bleeding cut.

It would likely scar if Astoria did not treat it immediately but nothing life-threatening.

"I decided to spare you today since I find you amusing. You're also really cute so it will be a shame to kill you now. So, I'll leave you with a mark for now. Don't heal it up or you won't like the consequences."

Ava turned around as soon as she was done talking.

Astoria was not able to see her face but she wanted to. She wanted to ask Ava why she spared Astoria's life.

But before she could question the overlooker any further, her room door was opened with a snap.

"What's going on here? I felt Ava's power spike and….."

"….."

"….."

Three pairs of eyes glared at each other in disbelief before a scream echoed inside the hallway.

"What happened to me? Why am I a child again?"

The tower master was in a foul mood today. Everyone knew something had happened but no one dared to confront him.

On the other hand, Lady Mei's mood could not be called anything but sparkling. She didn't even snap at anyone the whole time.

This contrast was rare to see and caused a string of gossip vine to start spreading rumors.

That was why everyone secretly looked forward to an encounter between those two. It was a given that something had happened between them to cause this effect.

"Lady Mei, can we talk for a second. I have a few things I need to run through and I want your advice."

Everyone held their breath at the request.

"Yeah, sure. I also need to repay you for what happened earlier. I am thankful you entrusted that job to me."

There was a story behind that statement everyone wanted to know. But no one dared to say anything to the pair.

Eager eyes followed the pair even when they disappeared behind the doors.

"Lady Mei, why did you do it? The Goddess of Victory had the Mobi Dick handled. Don't you think you complicated the situation by stealing her prey? Think of what this will mean for us."

Charles was pissed off but he had to control his temper. He could not afford to anger Lady Mei and lose her support.

He had initially approached Lady Mei with this proposal to gain her approval and then slowly pull her to his side.

But she had complicated things for him unnecessarily.

"What's wrong with me killing my target? I was tasked to kill Mobi Dick so I did. Whether the Goddess of Victory was involved in this or not is none of my business."

"But Lady Mei, you did not think about us. We can't afford to make a goddess our enemy right now. It would just be handing more power to our competition."

The real reason Charles was so pissed off about this action of Lady Mei was because of Aurora and her academy.

The GoV was already favoring those people. Charles did not want to see the goddess join them openly.

But before Charles could open his mouth and speak his thoughts, a huge pressure stopped him in his tracks.

"Let me be clear with you tower master. You are the one who needs me, not the other way around. And you were the one who gave me the freedom to go out and kill that beast."

"Do not test my patience or I will leave this tower. The only reason I am here, for now, is because it is interesting. And I will not lose even if that goddess decided to make us her enemy."

Charles felt the familiar fear creep inside his mind. But he was getting better and better at shaking that fear off.

"I understand. But please, think about your position next time too. People are depending on you."

"Alright. If you keep being this interesting then I will help you out.'

And just like that, the atmosphere returned to normal.

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"What happened to me? Why am I a child again?"

Aurora had not taken notice of her present condition before but she could no longer ignore her physical limit.

[The user is informed that this is a result of the 'penalty'. The effect of the 'penalty' will be lifted off in a weak.

The user is asked to train their mental condition if they want to avoid the effect of 'Penalty' in the future.]

Why? Why had Aurora been de-aged like this of all possible scenarios?

"Looks like you lost control of your magic. Do you have any idea when you will be back to normal?"

Ava was the first one to regain her composure. It also made sense why she had come around so quickly.

The abyss was a place full of such tricks. There must be weirder things Ava must have seen in there.

"I knew it was possible for the goddess's to stop aging with the help of their magic but I have never seen a case like you before. Are you sure it is alright?"

Astoria sounded worried and for good reasons. But Aurora knew a lot of people who could manipulate their ages and bodies at will.

That was not the real issue with Aurora here. She was more worried about her lack of magic and defense capabilities.

"It's quite common for people to use their magic for body manipulation. But I will be vulnerable for the next week. Now I am thankful that I convinced Rex to take my place as the headmaster now."

What a stroke of luck that decision had turned out to be.

"Hey, have you seen Aurora anywhere? I want her opinion on something…"

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Aurora was not sure why Rex chose this place to look for her but his words got stuck in his throat as soon as he saw Aurora.

"I think I had a little too much coffee and healing potions. I am starting to halucinate.."

"Oi, I'm right here. This is an accident and you better keep your mouth shut about it."

"Alright, what happened?"

"Ava, Astoria, can you give us both a second to be alone? I need to discuss some things with Rex alone."

To be honest, there was no reason for Ava and Astoria to leave if Aurora just wanted to talk about her present condition.

But there was one more topic she wanted to cover and it was about Lucy.

Although Aurora had already told Astoria a little about Lucy and Karan's situation, she did not want to air her dirty laundry out in front of an outsider.

As for Ava, they had a business partnership and the less they got involved in each other's matters, the better.

"Alright. I'll take my leave then. I have work to do and this place needs more protection embedded inside its space."

"I should get to work as well. I need to have a look and compile the syllabus I will be teaching to the children."

Ava and Astoria left without much fuss. They must have realized that Aurora had something personal to talk about.

"Is this talk related to what you wanted to tell me before? Well, you know, after you forced me to take the role of the headmaster."

"Yes. you might want to sit before you hear the news."

Aurora felt nervous but she did her best to involve as much detail about Karans' situation as she could.

But the more she spoke, the more she realized that Aurora knew too little to be of any use.

Surprisingly, Rex heard her through without exploding or asking her any questions. He seemed deep in thoughts.

"I see. He told you all this and you believed him just like that?"

"I did believe him but not just like that. How do I explain it? There was something familiar about him and he also helped me. Maybe you'll see for yourself once you meet him."

Rex seemed deep in thoughts but he did not say 'no' out of the gate. That gave Aurora some hope that he would think this topic over.

"I will investigate it on my own. So let's forget about it for now. There is a bigger elephant in the room right now. What should we do with you for now? What age are you even?"

Aurora had not thought about her situation yet but Rex's question finally made her aware that she should take her condition seriously.

"I think I'm almost nine right now. I need to get through this week and I should be back to normal."

"Nine, huh? A year too young for the academy's first batch. We decided on eleven to sixteen years old for our first batch age."

"I don't want to enroll in the academy right now anyway. It would be difficult to explain what happened to me once I return to normal."

Aurora did not have to think over this topic and Rex seemed to agree with her.

"Right. Then, should we introduce you as a relative of mine? No one would question you if we pulled that route."

That did make sense. Since Rex was the headmaster, no one except the school council would question him.

And they would recognize Aurora's magic and put two-on-two together.

"Let's go with this for now. It will also allow us to observe how the academy works for the students and how they get along. Did you screen through the first batch of applications?"

Initially, screening students were supposed to be Aurora's job. But then things happened and the task has been pushed over to Rex.

"Ah, about that. There were some things I wanted to talk with you about. Here, this is something I think you should be interested in."

Aurora took the file being handed over to her. But it was a little too heavy for her nine-yeard old body to handle.

So Rex just put the open book on the table in front of Aurora and pointed toward the page.

"I don't know why she even applied to come here. But we cannot refuse her without making an enemy out of the Northern republic. What should we do now?"

Aurora looked at the page in front of her with a bewildered expression.

Out of everyone who could have applied here, it had to be the princess of the northern republic.

With the exception of the tower, the northern republic had the highest monopoly on the magic users and abyss travelers. They also had the most academies affiliated with the tower.

As such, it was not wrong to say that the northern republic and the tower were close to each other.

"Anyway, we cannot afford to refuse her right now. So invite her here as well. We'll just have to keep a tight eye on her. She's currently 12 right?"

"Yes, she is. Why?"

"I have someone who can keep an eye on her."

Aurora was not sure how good Emilia would be able to act but Joseph was a good actor at least.

He would be able to keep the northern princess occupied and also extract some information she might have.

"I guess we are inviting her now. The council is also in favor of not ignoring the northern republic right now. Our position is not the best in the world."

Aurora sighed at the upcoming mess she would have to clean up.

She had an idea why the northern republic's princess was being sent to their academy and who was behind it.

And it was a good opportunity for Aurora to establish friendly connections with the northern republic.

"I guess that Karan is on our side. This is an opportunity and a half."

Aurora knew that this was an opportunity. She could not afford to mess this up.

"Why do I have to go to such a remote place? That academy is so new it doesn't even have a record yet."

No one in the northern republic knew how to handle their princess when she was in such a mood.

"It was Lord Karan who asked this favor from you. Don't you want to help him out?"

The nanny who had been assigned to the princess tried to calm her down. And surprisingly, it did help.

"Lord Karan? I guess I can do this if he was the one who asked."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the princess calmed down.

It was just their luck to be stuck with such a brat as their princess. But they had no other choice but to keep her alive for now.

Because even though they were a republic country, they were bound by their royal blood. It was the only thing that could activate their ultimate weapon in case the abyss woke up and tried to devour them all.

"Let's go, my lady. We have your things packed. We shall leave for our destination now. After all, Rocx valley is far away."

The princess did stand up but her dull eyes did not seem interested in anything.

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"Out with it. What is wrong with you now?"

Aurora had thought her conversation with Rex was over for now. And she waited for the man to finally leave her alone.

But much to her surprise, she could still feel the aura around her adopted brother flare out in irritation.

He wanted to tell Aurora something but was holding himself back.

Under normal circumstances, Aurora would have let this go. But she found his actions distracting for now and finally decided to snap at him.

"Ah, I really can't hide anything from you. There is another problem we are facing and it's about the northern princess."

"Out with it. Don't beat around the bush now."

"We will need to send someone to go and get her. Some people do not want the northern princess to get to this academy. I'm also afraid that the tower will use this opportunity to kill the princess off."

Aurora paused as soon as she heard Rex's concerns.

They were valid opinions Aurora had not thought about yet. Mainly because she had just been introduced to this possibility.

But assassinating the northers princess on her way to the Rocx valley was a sure way to blame Aurora and the Rocx academy.

It will also weaken the northern front and allow the tower to sink its claws inside the country.

"I agree. I would have gone myself but I won't be respected much in my current form. But we also need to send someone responsible and mature enough to not leak our secrets."

"We don't have a lot of people like that with us right now."

Aurora could name a few people to send but none of them seemed like the right choice.

"I was thinking of sending Rita but I'm worried about sending her alone. She's a little hot-headed and accident prone."

Aurora took note of all the others they could send.

The Academy's most prominent task force was made up of outlanders. And sending them to the northern front was asking for trouble.

Similar was the case with the rebellion people. Their chances of success were too low.

Hiring someone outside of their fraction was unthinkable for them. Even hiring someone as capable as Michell (That witch) was out of order for now.

"We have no other choice but to send Rita. Ava is too busy and Astoria will also need time to make her lesson plans. I will accompany Rita as your representative."

"It would also work out with our backstory with me being your relative. It will present the northern front with a false sense of security."

Truly, it could work. Rita was more likely to listen to her than anyone else in the academy. And it also happened that she was the only one who was free to carry out this task.

Aurora was willing to take the burden of this job for now.

"Alright. It shall only take a few days. Keeping you out will also help us explain your sudden disappearance once your curse is broken."

While there were too many flaws with their current plan, Aurora was sure they would be able to smoothen it over time.

For now, it was the best alternative available to Aurora and Rex. they could not allow anyone to have a handle on their weakness.

"Y-You turned into a kid. I can't believe what I am seeing in front of my eyes. Oh wait, did I sleep with a kid? God, what did I do?"

Rita's laughing face broke into a cold sweat as soon as she realized what had happened to Aurora.

The sudden whiplash in emotions caused Aurora to sigh out loud.

"Rita, you did not sleep with a kid. I was still an adult when we spend the night together. You did not do anything wrong."

Aurora tried to console but Rita did not seem like she was listening. It was only after Aurora threw a vase in her direction that Rita decided to pay attention to her.

"Hey, what gives? Can't I even panic in peace?"

"Rita, not now. You need to pay attention to this conversation."

To be honest, Aurora was getting a little tired of Rita's free attitude. She wanted the serious girl she knew in her past life back.

And it did not take long for Rita to realize that her new attitude was not being appreciated by Aurora. So she calmed down.

The papers in the elder's hand were straightened out before Rita put them on the table in front of her.

"The northern princess Natasha Kowalski. She's a cute thing for sure. Silver hair and blue eyes. Very distinct. I'm sure we will have no trouble recognizing her right away."

Rita's confidence was a given. Aurora did not doubt that the girl would be difficult to find even if she happened to get lost.

The norther princess was someone who was bound to stand out from her surroundings. She was the closest person to divinity without actually being a princess.

"She is not the problem, everyone else in the northern front is. We need to make sure we retrieve her without any problem."

Aurora was well aware of the rumors that were often floating around the northern princess. They made her out to be a ruthless ruler who ruled her lands with an iron fist.

She was such an effective ruler that even the tower was wary of her until the end.

But no matter what kind of character she turned out to be, Princess Natasha was still a princess right now.

And this was the right time for Aurora to step forward and start making connections with the future superpower.

"Alright. I got what you are trying to say. We will retrieve that girl and then come back here to celebrate."

"You go and prepare. I need to pay a visit to someone first. I'll meet you outside the Rocx valley in about three hours from now."

Thankfully, Rita did not ask any more questions from Aurora. She accepted her answer with a wide smile and left the place.

As for Aurora? She had someone she wanted to meet first. Aurora needed to extract a promise from the GoV before she left this Rocx valley.

Aurora walked through the cave she had visited only once before.

But the strong aura the GoV let out surrounded Aurora without hesitation and probed at in curiosity.

"Why are you back here? I see that you did not bring my kids with you this time."

Aurora did not mind the hostile tone the other goddess used with her. Aurora was used to such behavior. And she had even accepted it before arriving here.

"I am here to ask a favor from you. I want you to look after the academy while I'll be gone."

"And why should I do that? As far as I'm concerned, I do not have anything to do with that academy."

Aurora tried to hold back her flinch but she was not able to. The GoV could be pretty harsh with her words.

But she had not lied to Aurora.

It was true that the GoV did not need to have any contact with the Rocx academy.

But still….

"Your children are in that academy. Are you saying that you want to abandon them to their fate? Will you not help them if they get in trouble?"

This was Aurora's trump card. One she had used before and was willing to use again. She had no shame in her actions.

"I knew. Still, they could not remain dependent on me forever. Sooner or later, they will need to learn to protect themselves."

"Alright, I understand. Thank you for helping me with this small task of mine."

Aurora let out a small smile as soon as she felt the goddess's aura chance in front of her.

What a dishonest person the GoV was. Her words made it sound like she did not care what happened to her children. But her aura was gentle and full of care.

It reassured Aurora that the GoV will help keep the academy safe in the time Aurora was not there to protect it.

"I did not say that I will help you out."

"I know."

"I might let them all die if it becomes too bothersome."

"You might"

"…"

"…"

"Take care of yourself. Your curse might be temporary but it is annoying. It would suck if you died out there without being able to protect yourself."

"I'll take care of myself. Don't worry because I will visit you once I recover from this curse."

Aurora exited the cave with a small smile on her face. She could not help but feel like she had made progress with GoV in her latest visit.

If things continued like this, then Aurora was sure she would be able to recruit the GoV in her fold and get her to help before the GoV was supposed to die.

And who knows? Maybe Aurora will be able to prevent GoV's death as well.

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"We're back. We're finally back on the city surface. It feels like it has been years since I've been back here."

Aurora could not help the smile that stretch across her face at Rita's words. The currently-elder female seemed to be teary-eyed to see the upper surface of the city.

As good as Rocx academy was, it was still limited in resources due to its location.

It would take time for that place to get as fresh and worthy as the planned city around the tower was.

"Rita, don't wander off on your own. We are not here for sightseeing. Let's buy our tickets before we are recognized."

Aurora pulled the bigger hand holding her own and she tugged Rita toward the bus stand.

While enjoying oneself was all good, Aurora was worried that someone would recognize her in her younger body.

And if someone did recognize her, they would call the tower immediately. Aurora was not sure if she would be able to fight the tower in her current form.

As for Rita? She was nowhere near a goddess level right now.

"Aurora, just relax. You're a kid right now. There is no way you will get recognized in your current form."

Rita was right. There was no way in hell that someone would look at Aurora and think of her as the same person who caused so many problems to the tower.

Maybe something good did come out of her temporary curse.

"You're right. Still, we should hurry up and get out of the tower radius. It will take us a day to get to the northern republic."

"Fine. You're a killjoy even as a kid."

Aurora only smiled back at Rita to hide her real feelings.

She did not know why but Aurora could feel that something would happen before they reached the northern republic.

"Ticket for two to the northern republic."

The man at the counter did not even look up when he handed Rita her ticket. He seemed eager to go home and rest.

This lack of attention was fortunate for Aurora and Rita. It reduced their chances of getting found out while out here.

It was not until the air was seated in the train that Aurora breathed a sigh of relief. So far so good.

"See, I told you nothing would happen. You were just worrying for nothing."

Aurora was inclined to believe Rita more after the lack of action. Maybe it was an indication that everything was going to be alright for now.

"Maybe you were right. Maybe I was worried for nothing."

Maybe the lack of sleep was finally catching up to Aurora now.

[System warning. The user Alexander is nearby.]

The warning came too late.

One second Aurora was walking around as if nothing happened, the next second she felt her body collide with something solid in front of her.

"Aurora, you alright? You did not get hurt by the collision? Right?"

Rita sounded worried but Aurora was more concerned about the silent arrival of Alexander.

"Oh, it's you again. How did you manage to get yourself so small? Even your magic feels negligible. I wouldn't have recognized you if not for the system."

Double shit. Alexander had not only managed to run into Aurora, but he also recognized her.

Everything Aurora had done till now to remain hidden felt like a joke.

"Huh? Are you sure you are talking to us, mister? I think you made a mistake just now. You see, this girl here is my younger sister and…"

"Lying to me won't help you out. I can help you get out of this town undetected."

"And why would you do that for us?"

Aurora decided to break her vow of silence. There was no use in staying quiet now. It was more than obvious that she had been found out.

The man sounded confused before understanding slammed in his eyes.

"I'm thinking of taking your offer. And for that, I need to make sure you remain unharmed. So I will help you out for now."

Aurora felt her eyes widen at the confession. She had made this offer initially as a joke.

But Alexander seemed serious about taking Aurora up on her offer. This was a weird twist of fate.

"Are you trying to trick us? What offer could Aurora have made?…"

Aurora stopped Rita from finishing her sentence.

"I understand. I can see that you are serious about that offer. In that case, help us out and I'll send a letter of recommendation for you at the Rocx Academy."

"Consider it done."

Alexander did not look worried about his ability to get the pair out. And Aurora was not particularly worried about his betrayal.

Alexander's aura of corruption was as good as gone.

It was clear to Aurora that he had benefited a great deal from this system's support but she did have the heart to look his file over.

"Are you sure we can trust him? He's from the tower."

Rita had a legitimate reason to sound worried. Aurora had not expected to end up in this situation as well.

But surprisingly enough, Aurora was not worried about anything regarding Alexander. Somehow, his arrival elevated some of Aurora's worry.

But the heavy feeling inside her had not disappeared yet. She still felt like something big would happen.

"I don't think we have anything to worry about from Alexander's side. I have a system tracking his every move. He won't be able to betray us."

Aurora decided to reveal her trump card.

"Ohhh. So that's why you were confident in him. Then I guess we can trust him."

Aurora nodded before she decided to look up.

And her eyes instantly met a familiar pair. As soon as that happened, Aurora ducked her head and pulled Rita's hand.

"We need to get going. We will be in trouble if we stay here any longer."

Aurora had a sudden realization of why she was having this bad feeling.

Out of everyone whom Aurora could have met her eyes with, why did it have to be Lady Mei?

And she was not alone. Aurora had also caught the sight of the tower master with her.

This was a combination of Aurora's nightmare. If those two joined hands then Aurora was sure something troublesome would happen soon.

But that was the tower's headache. Aurora could just wash her hands off this topic.

"What happened? Did you spot someone you recognized? Hey, stop pulling."

Despite her complaints, Rita's aura looked happy at being bossed around.

Aurora had no time to correct Rita's behavior. Not if she wanted to get away from the nightmare following behind her.

"Hey, kid. Wait right there. You are not allowed to leave this place."

Shit. Aurora had been spotted and it seemed as if Lady Mei was heading toward her.

The only stroke of good luck Aurora seemed to have was that the tower master looked as surprised as her to see Lady Mei headed their way.

"What are you doing? Start moving now."

Aurora's pulling had turned into a full-force struggle now.

Thankfully, Rita realized the situation. And she finally started cooperating a little too late.

The people around them made it difficult for Aurora and Rita to move. They tastefully blocked their way.

The pair couldn't risk hurting the crown in their struggle to get away from Lady Mei either.

There would be no choice for them but to meet the goddess.

"Hey, come this way. Hurry up."

But not all hope had abandoned the pair. After all, they had someone from the tower on their side as well.

People gave way in confusion as Alexander coaxed them to step aside.

Since Lady Mei had never specified to whom she was ordered not to move, the crowd became confused.

Alexander used this confusion to lead Aurora and Rita out of the way.

"Let's get going now. I booked our tickets for the northern republic. You were headed there, right?"

"How did you know where…"

Rita started the question before realizing that the terminal they had met Alexander belonged to the northern republic.

It was a well-educated guess to think of that place as the destination.

"Thank you for the tickets. I suppose you will be accompanying us?"

Aurora would not mind having Alexander with them to help out.

Sometimes, having someone affiliated with the tower cleared out a lot of obstacles for you.

And Alexander seemed bright enough to keep himself out of trouble.

"I might as well accompany you. If Lady Mei spotted me and reported me back then I would be in big trouble with my father. I'll rather take my chances with you."

Aurora nodded in agreement. But she also needed to draw the line.

"You can come along. But don't act too familiar with us for now. I don't want rumors to spread that we're affiliated with her tower."

"Don't worry. I'll be discreet while under operation. And besides, I will not remain as a tower official for long."

That was true. Once Alexander left the tower things would become clear about Rocx academy's affiliations.

But it was just better not to poke the ashes and cause a potential fire.

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With the assistance of Alexander, it did not take long for the duo to escape Lady Mei's pursuit. Mainly because the people around them helped the trio out.

In the end, the trio managed to successfully board the train in time for departure.

"I cannot believe we managed to give Goddess Mei the slip. She's known to be ruthless and black-hearted."

Rita melted into her seat as soon as the soft surface touched her bottom. Her eyes closed in pleasure and she looked on the verge of sleep.

The day had been hectic so Aurora did not blame Rita for being exhausted. Even she felt tired from all the detours they had to take.

"Lady Mei might be a goddess but she's also a public figure. It is difficult for her to do everything she wants. I just took advantage of this fact and helped us escape."

Alexander sounded confident in his synopsis. And seeing as how he had helped Aurora out, there was a decent enough reason for him to be cocky.

"Man, it must be such to be a higher-up member of the tower. They are always in the public eye. It's a wonder how they managed to get away with so much."

"Being under the public eye is not a hindrance but a benefit to them. It helps them sway public opinion and create a false image. But it is not something everyone can understand."

"Why you? Are you belittling me?"

Aurora was amazed at the change in the native guard. In a matter of weeks, the old and weak guard she had threatened was gone. And in his place stood someone who understood how society worked.

Had it not been for her system, Aurora would have sworn that this was an entirely different person in front of her.

"Rita, let it go. He's an ally for now so take his words to heart."

"B-But! Alright. I won't get angry for no reason again."

Rita went back to sulking but Aurora did not console her this time. She could not always hold Rita's hand and make her behave.

Rita had to learn how to behave for the most part. She was an adult now and such behavior was not accepted among the higher-class people.

The rest of the journey passed in relative silence. No one had the heart to talk things out so everyone remained silent.

The night was also equally quiet. The only light to illuminate the outside came from the abyss beneath the train track.

The bridge that lined the two huge masses of land was built a long time ago and was maintained with magic.

For most people, it was the only way to travel across continents. If something ever happened to the bridge, then the most common means of communication would be cut off.

"It is beautiful. The abyss looks like a gigantic water body from this far above."

Rita sounded lost when she spoke those words. Aurora understood the mysterious allure the abyss cast on the viewer.

When she had first seen this view, she had been bewitched as well. It had been Quince that had knocked him and Clove out of their thoughts.

Aurora still remembered what he had said to her.

"The more beautiful a thing is, the more ugly secrets it is trying to hide. The abyss is a giant gem filled with wonders. But it also hides the deadliest of poison in its fangs."

Aurora did not know why, but those words had struck her in her heart.

Even more, after she had traveled to the abyss once. The darkness it held could not be compared to anywhere else.

"I'm surprised to hear this from you. As far as I know, this used to be an old tower saying. Hardly anyone uses it nowadays. It makes me wonder about your connections to the tower.

Alexander looked suspicious. Aurora had not expected the man to know this saying. She had not come across this saying after Quince had said this to her that one time.

"Would it surprise you to know that it was someone from the tower that told this to me a long time ago? That person no longer exists but the saying struck me."

"Is that why you want to take revenge on the tower? For that person?"

"No. He's not the reason but he is a part of the reason. Not that it matters much now."

Aurora did not deny the accusation of revenge against the tower. Even she knew that there was no point in denying something true or could easily be guessed.

The talk ended on that note and right in time for the announcement of their arrival to come.

/Reaching Northern Republic center station in fifteen minutes. Passengers are asked to be prepared to step out./

The sun was rising on the horizon and the train was finally pulling up to the other continent.

It was a peaceful time when everyone could enjoy the tranquility and the beauty of the northern continent. The country of snow and wind was being approached by the train.

This journey was going to be over soon.

Or so everyone thought.

/Emergency warning issued. Everyone is asked to not leave their seats and sit tight. An abyss monster has been spotted near the northern continent./

/I repeat, Emergency warning issued. Everyone is asked to not leave their seats and sit tight. An abyss monster has been spotted near the northern continent./

/Forces from the northern front have arrived on the scene./

Aurora cursed her rotten luck.

These attacks by the abyss monsters were common enough to occur outside of the abyss and in areas with such dense abyssal energy leaking out.

But Aurora had not expected the attack to take place just as their party was about to arrive at the station at that.

"What should we do now? Should we sit back and let the Northern Republic deal with the monster? Or should we help out?"

Rita sounded divided. Aurora knew it was because Rita was a noble soul who could not let anyone suffer if she could help it.

But Aurora had no intention of helping those republicans out. Doing so would put Aurora in a tough situation and also cause the republic to question her motives.

"Let's not interfere more than we have to."

"B-But"

"I agree. Let's stay here for now. Things will be over soon."

Outside, the battle raged on with a ferocity seldomly seen outside of the abyss. Northern forces were slowly but surely taking out the abyssal monster.

Aurora could not see what kind of monster it was that was rampaging outside of the train but she had a bad feeling about it.

"H-Hey, I think I'm going to sleep. I can't keep my eyes open any longer."

Rita slumped in her seat as soon as she finished speaking. It would not have been such a bizarre situation had she been the only one to fall asleep.

Aurora's bad feeling became worse as Alexander collapsed in his seat as well. And not only him, but the whole train couch also seemed to be falling asleep.

The scent that filled the train felt familiar but Aurora could not open the door to check the situation outside.

The curtain on their couch door also hid the outside corridor from Aurora's view and blocked most of the magical aura from being visible.

Aurora was left with a few visible clues to figure out what was happening outside on the train.

A shadowy hand reached out for the curtain of Aurora's train curtain and she tensed. She was not in any condition to protect herself from any external attack.

[WARNING. MASSIVE ABYSSAL ENERGY DETECTED. THE USER IS ASKED TO RUN AWAY.

WARNING. ASIOAOJSKD=-[';L.';.;";';]-=-=']

Whatever was outside of the door was causing Aurora's system to go out of control. It had to be something massive to cause such a disturbance in her magic reserves.

A goddess's magic reserves were something sacred. Even the curse that had bound Aurora's magic and held her captive in this form had not touched her system.

'[Are you there?]'

Aurora's breath got caught in her throat as she heard the voice question her.

It was a breathy voice that was barely audible to anyone. And Aurora had no idea why it was asking her this question. Did that voice not knock out everyone asleep in one go?

But then one hand became two and then four. It continued until the whole curtain was filled with nothing but the silhouette of those hands.

Those bony hands tried to pry the curtain open and Aurora quickly moved toward her seat and closed her eyes.

Maybe if she pretended to fall asleep, she could get out of this situation without alerting the others about it.

And if things did become dangerous, then Aurora would think of a way out.

'[Something is different here. Things are different this time.]'

The owner of those creepy hands was not leaving and Aurora's fists clenched in fear. She needed to do something to make those monsters leave.

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