In the deepest room of the palace, the group of eight was silently staring at the images in the center of the round table. Yasenia's fight against the Golden Giant was currently developing into the climax, with both their movements reaching ridiculous levels.
The back-and-forth, the wildly laughing dragon woman, and the increasingly injured Golden Giant reflected in their pupils, stealing their breath away.
"[Dying Sun]!"
The massive blue sun manifested and exploded, violently ending the battle. The woman, half her clothes burned away, stood majestically in the air, looking down with a satisfied smile and alluring eyes.
"..."
They didn't even know what to say. One of the females present could feel a faint heat rushing to her cheeks as Yasenia's half-naked body after the battle flashed in her mind. '...So big.'
"Ahem." One of the oldest people present cleared his throat. "What do you think?"
The woman with an ethereal voice spoke silently. "I think that I am glad I didn't try to divine anything about that monster."
All eight people in the room were qualified to stay here because they could withstand fighting a golden Giant for three days and nights without dying. Of course, Golden Giants were not supposed to be entities to be defeated, only entities that you needed to defend against.
Even damaging the tough armor of the Golden Giant felt ridiculous in their eyes. Yet, the dragon woman had fought and completely destroyed one of them in less than two hours.
They, who had almost died in those battles, felt many complicated feelings. The next battle only deepened their feelings.
Even though they ganged up as a group, that didn't mean that killing it with almost no injuries was normal.
'Could we defeat a Golden Giant if we cooperated together?'
They were doubtful. As mentioned before, even when fighting three days and nights, none of those present managed to cause anything more than a few scratches on the Golden Giant's armor.
"Regardless… they are qualified, aren't they?"
A man, feeling a pang of jealousy, spoke with a skeptical voice. "Are they? I admit they are stronger than us. However, they took quite a while to defeat them."
"...Are you out of your mind?"
That man was supported by one of the women with similar feelings. "He is not wrong. They are strong, but are they strong enough? We've confirmed that they are not the prophesied party. So, their involvement will only cause uncontrollable variables."
The woman with an ethereal voice looked around and spoke, her tone mocking. "You have not forgotten who is standing behind them, right?"
With a wave of her hand, the maid group's image appeared in the middle of the group. 250 goddess-class beauties with varied maid attires and elegant stances. Each held a different weapon, and their races varied widely. Nevertheless, they all shared one thing: their monstrous strength, both individual and collective.
A man spoke in a clear, calm tone. "The prophecies told us about a group of 100 valiant warriors. Now, we have almost three hundred of them at our doorstep. This group of Fate Breakers is our ticket to salvation and finally leaving this prison."
"Let's vote and be done with it. Those in favor, place your [Honor Daggers] on the table."
***
Back in the room, Yasenia welcomed her dears with big hugs and hundreds of kisses. "You all did so well! Ah! My dears are all so strong and talented!"
Her tail was wagging so fast it created afterimages, and her golden slit eyes were full of joy and love. Being showered with so much adoration, the girls couldn't help but feel as if honey was being gently poured into their hearts. All of them melted in Yasenia's soft embrace, allowing their lover to pour her love onto them.
After Yasenia was satisfied, she moved to the middle and picked the golden-edged Ceremonial Dagger. "Alright, let's return!"
All of them walked back and returned to the main hall without any delays. Once there, Yasenia glanced at the middle path and asked. "Should we rest a little before going? How are you, dears, feeling?"
They had spent the last four days going from corridor to corridor. The place was truly large, and since they were advancing carefully, taking a long time was normal. Combat, traps, puzzles, and many other challenges blocked their way in each of the eight passageways.
The girls looked at each other and then back at Yasenia. Kali spoke. "We are okay. The fight with the Golden Giant was somewhat tiring, but we completed it without getting too heavily injured. If anything, Vairon, Ebirah, and Andrea should be the most tired."
Andrea shook her head. "If you are going to rest just because of us, it is more effective to advance and just let us out of whatever fight there is ahead. We are, after all, just a tiny part of our overall strength."
She was not demeaning herself. The 250 maids plus Yasenia and the others were a large force that could do perfectly well without Andrea. They were a large force to the point that even Yasenia's involvement was only partial. Of course, her war intent and other skills could elevate the group's overall strength. Still, it was not that detrimental.
Yasenia nodded, accepting Andrea's words. "Alright, let's move on then."
As they moved, Dune couldn't help but look at Yasenia. "Um, Lady Yasenia. Aren't you tired?"
Yasenia blinked and hummed. "Tired? No. I feel refreshed."
Fighting with her all, except for some of her trump cards, was liberating. While she had plenty of such experiences against her own copies, the feelings felt during that time and in a real life-and-death combat were not the same.
So, right now, Yasenia felt as if the stifled fatigue had been blown away. If she were to fight the Golden Giant again, Yasenia might be able to defeat it even faster than before.
Dune's eyes twitched, and she smiled with difficulty. "Is that the case? I am glad."
Tatyana spoke, curious. "Hm… I can already see the end."
Yasenia looked away from Dune and glanced forward. At the very end of the middle passageway, a giant door appeared. It had four dagger-shaped slots.
"Four…?"
Yasenia waved her hand, summoning the eight daggers they got. They had four bronze, three silver, and one golden.
"Which ones should we use?"
Tatyana rubbed her chin. "The highest grade ones. Perhaps, depending on the quality of the daggers, this door will open to different paths. Placing the rarest ones will for sure deliver us to the highest reward, right?"
Yasenia's eyes lit up. "Treasures!"
Three silver and one golden dagger flew and slotted in the giant door's "key holes." Once placed, the place trembled gently for a moment, and then the giant doors opened wide.
The girls walked forward, and what they saw on the other side stunned them stiff. All of them had thought they would encounter large halls, a giant treasure, or even another area with several paths.
However, what appeared in front of them was… a massive green expanse with mountains, forests, rivers, clouds, and even the Sun. A hidden paradise extending incredibly far.
Yasenia's group walked inside while looking around, their faces full of confusion and wonder.
"A… hidden world?"
Hearing Evelyn's mutter, Yasenia tilted her head and answered. "This feels like a Secret Realm hidden within the palace."
The Sun in the sky was… off. Yasenia could certainly feel it, but it was not the same Sun Yasenia felt outside. Hearing Yasenia's explanation, Kali asked, curious. "Since when have you been able to feel such things?"
Yasenia tilted her head. "I don't know. Perhaps after I dove into the local sun? My affinity toward Sun Energy skyrocketed since then."
"...Right. You did that." Kali laughed wryly.
Tatyana smiled. "It's probably the effect of reaching the realm of [Spirit and Sun as One] in your Spiritual Cultivation technique."
Yasenia nodded. "That's most likely the case."
Looking around, Cecile asked plainly. "Where?"
Evelyn blinked and smiled. "Indeed. Where do you we go now?"
Andrea pondered and looked at Yasenia. "Yasenia, have you tried spreading out your Spiritual Sense?"
"That's a good suggestion."
Yasenia closed her eyes gently, taking a gentle breath, and then… she opened them. A powerful pulse spread out, expanding widely.
"Oh~?" Yasenia's vision expanded, but as she was about to reach a certain point, her brain hurt, and her Spiritual Sense was suddenly cut off. "Ouch?"
Tatyana approached and rubbed her forehead gently. "Are you okay, love?"
Yaenia looked down and smiled. "Yes, but… keep doing this~."
Tatyana's cold and soft hand was pleasant against her skin. Yasenia leaned down, squinted happily, hugged Tatyana, and buried her face in her neck. "Grrr~."
Tatyana's red eyes softened, pampering her darling as she purred in delight. Her low, deep predatory purr was delightful to hear. Meanwhile, she also spread out her own Spiritual Sense, finding resistance in one direction. The thing over there was trying to destroy her Spiritual Sense, but Tatyana snorted.
"So, it was you who hurt my Little Treasure?"
Seeing Tatyana about to act, Kali coughed. "Mother-in-law, wait. Don't destroy it. Perhaps we need to go that way instead."
The empress's hand that had risen stopped, and then lowered. Kali sighed in relief. 'Whoever is in that direction, you better thank me later. You almost got erased!'
So, without any delay, they moved over quickly. Yasenia had entered pampered dragoness mode, so she was carried in Tatyana's arms. Of course, her tall stature and voluptuous body made it look a touch comical, but it didn't matter for either Tatyana or Yasenia. The dragon tail was firmly coiled around Tatyana's body, and the dragoness had buried her face in Tatyana's hair, purring comfortably.
Andrea couldn't help but mutter. "Do you think there are people here?"
"Most likely." Kali nodded. "Outside, I couldn't sense any trace of activity. However, there are many living beings inside. I can sense human traces as well."
Evelyn laughed. "So, our predictions were, in the end, accurate. Still, for there to be something that can block Yasenia's Spiritual Sense, these humans don't seem weak despite their isolation."
Andrea agreed. "I believe that if their foundation was strong, even if it deteriorates with time, it will remain somewhat strong. This fallen empire appears to be quite a high-level world before it fell."
Since there were no threats here, they moved quickly this time. Within just a few minutes, the girls managed to cross several tens of thousands of kilometers, arriving at their destination.
"...A city."
"Indeed. A large city."
"A palace within a palace."
"Palaceception?"
"...I can't read anything."
The girls muttered, making Yasenia lift her head from Tatyana's nice-smelling black hair. Her softened golden eyes slowly returned to normal, and she hopped down from Tatyana's arms. "Let's go and see what's inside."
At the same time, Tatyana's lips arched down, a trace of resentment flashing in her red eyes. 'First they hurt her, and now they interrupted my precious time… Why couldn't this city be a little bit further away? Carrying my Little Treasure is so comfortable… Tsk. I don't like them.'