Volume 6, Chapter 91 – Ailiss

Inside the Lingyuan family’s conference room.

Beside the long conference table, Yelena reclined sideways in her chair, holding a cup of warm black tea, her crimson eyes half-narrowed. She would occasionally take a sip, her expression so calm that little emotion could be read from it. On the table before her sat a stack of unfinished documents, set aside for the moment.

Zhouyu sat at the other end of the conference table, head lowered, focused on tinkering with a pile of complicated mechanical parts. The “ding-ding-clang-clang” of metal striking metal echoed through the room. His brows were slightly furrowed, his expression earnest, as though immersed in his own world, paying little mind to anything around him. Those parts had been disassembled from scrapped magitech weapons — he intended to reassemble them into a new defense apparatus.

Serveiling leaned back against her chair, legs crossed, holding the latest model of communicator in her hands, her fingertips swiping rapidly across the screen as she browsed who knew what. On her lap, the Octopus Sister Ling Xi sat obediently, her pink body curled into a ball, letting Serveiling’s hand gently stroke her head as she let out contented “ying ying” sounds, like a kitten getting her fur smoothed down.

While being petted, she also occasionally took a bite from an apple.

Ailiya sat at the center of the conference table, her cherry-colored eyes sweeping across the core members of the Terrabond Lineage gathered before her, her tone tinged with complexity: “Lianyue has now lost her evil god power, and the Terrabond Lineage system has more or less completely collapsed. Sister Yelena, what about you all… what do you plan to do from here?”

“House Solrog has been destroyed, the Trinity of Malevolence is gone — your goals have already been achieved. Now, is there anything else you’d like to do?”

At those words, the four vassals’ expressions shifted slightly.

Yelena set down her teacup and looked up at Ailiya, no hesitation in her crimson eyes:

“What else is there to do? Stay by her side and keep going, of course. If Big Sister hadn’t taken me in back then, I would’ve already died at the hands of House Solrog. Now she’s only lost her power — she’s not gone. I have no reason to leave.”

Dog Bro also paused his work and lifted his head, the eyes beneath his long white hair revealing firm resolve: “Same here. Big Sister is the boss. Whether she has power or not, I’ll follow her. If I didn’t… I wouldn’t have anywhere else to go anyway, hahaha.”

Serveiling put away her communicator and lowered her head to stroke the Octopus Sister’s head, her tone casual yet carrying an unmistakable seriousness: “Little Octopus and I are staying too. After all, I haven’t tasted Big Sister’s milk yet— ahem! Big Sister isn’t exactly the type to leave people at ease, so it’s better to stick around. As for things I want to do? Honestly, I never even thought we’d live this long, hahaha. Things I want to do — I haven’t even given it any thought. We’ll talk about it once I think of something.”

Although Sister Cat’s eyes were full of mischievous mirth, the desire to stay was genuine.

The Octopus Sister also hurriedly lifted her head, her big pink eyes filled with determination as she nodded vigorously: “Stay!!”

Reαԁ οո ΚatRеаԁіոɡСаfe

Big Sister’s apples! You couldn’t get those anywhere else!

Ailiya looked at them, a hint of warmth flickering in her cherry-colored eyes. These people had watched her grow up since she was little, had walked alongside her and Lianyue all this way — they were family. The Terrabond Lineage might be no more, but these bonds remained.

“Alright then. In that case, let’s just keep things the way they are.”

“Oh, by the way, Ailiya…”

Yelena and the others looked at the silver-haired girl, smiling faintly as they spoke:

“Since our curse power has dispersed, our strength has dropped substantially. Also, our identities as vassals have already been exposed. For the time being, we’ll have to trouble Miss to protect us a bit~”

“Sister Yelena, you can rest easy on that. By the way, how are your bodies holding up right now?”

“All fine. Our cultivation just dropped back to the Divine Martial Realm — nothing major beyond that.”

“The Divine Martial Realm, huh…”

“Yeah, we’ve gotten a lot weaker.”

Serveiling chimed in from the side:

“But the foundation’s still there. It shouldn’t take too long to climb back up to the Divine Departure Realm. In any case, for the time being, we’ll keep troubling you, Ailiya-chan~”

“It’s no trouble at all, Sister Cat.”

Rеad oո КαtRеαⅾiոgСαfe

Ailiya replied with a smile.

But just as the silver-haired girl was opening her mouth to say something more, the conference room door was suddenly slammed open. A servant came rushing in, face deathly pale, panting heavily, his voice carrying barely contained panic:

“Miss Ailiya! It’s bad! Something’s gone terribly wrong!”

“What is it? Why so flustered?”

Ailiya’s brow furrowed, a strong sense of unease welling up in her chest.

“The dun— the dungeon! Something happened at the dungeon! All the prisoners being held there… they, they’re—!” The servant’s voice trembled, barely able to complete a full sentence. “And… and Miss Lianyue… she’s there!”

“Hm?!”

Lianyue?!

Ailiya’s expression changed abruptly, all trace of a smile vanishing from her cherry-colored eyes in an instant.

Without a word, she turned and broke into a sprint toward the dungeon, surrounded by a swirl of cherry-colored Augury Force, her speed leaving behind only a silvery afterimage.

Yelena and the others knit their brows, then immediately followed after her.

The Lingyuan family’s dungeon was located at the very bottom level of the base. The dim, damp corridors were thick with the heavy scent of blood, nauseating to the senses.

The lights along the walls flickered on and off, casting eerie shadows. The stone floor underfoot was slick and slippery, and one would occasionally step into a sticky liquid — there was no need to wonder what it was.

Rеαⅾ оո КαtRеαdіnɡСаfе

Ailiya rushed to the dungeon’s iron gate first. The heavy iron door had been destroyed by some unknown force, twisted and warped as it lay collapsed to one side, its lock mechanism completely shattered. She rushed quickly into the dungeon, and the sight before her instantly froze her in place, her heart feeling as though it had been seized by an invisible hand.

???!

This, what…

What was this?

Before her, an utterly horrific scene reflected in Ailiya’s cherry-colored eyes.

Every cell in the dungeon was thrown wide open, the interiors in complete disarray. The prisoners who had originally been held here were now sprawled across the ground in haphazard heaps, their states of death miserable beyond description. Each and every one of them had grotesque, contorted expressions, eyes wide and bloodshot, mouths gaping open, as if they had endured immense pain and terror in their final moments.

Some had blood streaming from all seven orifices, others had their bodies twisted into grotesque angles, and still others had their chests torn wide open, with their own hearts clutched in their own hands.

Although it was hard to believe—

Nearly every one of them—

Appeared to have died by their own hand… these poses had all been wrought by themselves.

Blood stained every inch of the dungeon floor, gathering into dark-red rivulets. The smell of blood in the air was so thick it could hardly be dispersed, mingled with a faint scent of decay, suffocating to the senses.

And at the center of this sea of crimson, an elven girl stood quietly.

Looking at this scene, the unease in Ailiya’s heart grew ever stronger.

Rеαd оn ΚаtReαⅾiոɡСαfe

“Lianyue!!!”

Her voice carried a slight tremor, mixed with anger as well as worry and unease.

After all, after losing her evil god power, Lianyue should have become a perfectly ordinary person. And yet — everything here was nothing an ordinary person could possibly have done…

But in response to Ailiya’s call, Bai Lianyue gave no reply. She remained standing in the same posture as before, even taking a further step deeper into the dungeon.

There, several more prisoners were trembling violently…

Seeing this, Ailiya’s heart sank bit by bit. She watched Bai Lianyue’s hollow back, watched her blood-soaked figure, and suddenly recalled that one Frost Sprite from before, recalled certain images from back on Earth.

A bold and terrifying conjecture surfaced in her mind.

She drew in a deep breath, summoning her courage, and spoke once more, her voice carrying a probing note tinged with a barely perceptible apprehension:

————”Ailiss!!”————

This time, Bai Lianyue, who had given no response before… moved.

She turned around stiffly, revealing those hollow, golden pupils in which ice flowers were faintly reflected…

(End of this volume.)