Before a stone cave covered in grey moss.
The black gothic-dressed girl Yuiyui Gokadoin, carrying a parasol with intricately styled long hair, glanced down at the south-pointing spoon she held in her right hand.
The so-called south-pointing spoon was the ancient compass.
Composed of a lodestone spoon-like needle and a square dial marked with directions.
However, the south-pointing spoon in Yuiyui Gokadoin's hand differed from ancient versions.
It was a mystic side artefact created by Onmyou Agency craftsmen under Hao Asakura's guidance.
Its function was exceptionally simple: to point towards locations where conceptual power gathered in large quantities.
Seeing the spoon pointing unmovingly towards the cave before them, Yuiyui Gokadoin immediately understood this was their destination.
Thinking this, Yuiyui Gokadoin looked around, observing the cave walls faintly gleaming with golden hues and the thin layer of dust accumulated on the ground, her face taking on an amused expression:
"To think we would be the first to arrive here~"
After speaking, Yuiyui Gokadoin turned with her parasol, looking at the short golden-haired girl behind her, and asked with narrowed eyes:
"This means I no longer have any use to you, correct?"
Hearing this, Evangeline merely raised an eyebrow slightly, her expression quite amused as she said:
"So eager for me to kill you?"
"Or are you deliberately hinting that you possess the means to escape this situation through death?"
At this, Yuiyui Gokadoin simply maintained her smile, glancing meaningfully at Evangeline's shadow.
Noticing her gaze, Evangeline remarked indifferently:
"It seems you've been discovered, Lorena."
As Evangeline spoke, her shadow gradually elongated as if some portal were opening within it.
Soon, a woman with wine-red short hair wearing a black leather jacket emerged from Evangeline's shadow.
Upon seeing this red-haired woman, Yuiyui Gokadoin immediately understood:
"So that's why I felt a sense of familiarity. It's you, Lorena Jones."
"The top student of the Durham Magic Academy in the British Union, known as the 'Manipulator of Shadows'."
"I never expected you to join the British Union's official ranks..."
Hearing this, Evangeline tilted her head slightly to glance at Lorena:
"What? You know each other?"
"Classmates from the academy."
After this brief explanation, Lorena calmly stated:
"Lady Evangeline, rationally speaking, I would still prefer you to kill Yuiyui Gokadoin right here."
"A puppeteer like her, who is proficient in both Onmyōjutsu and witch techniques, could easily turn the tables if we're not careful."
"Huh?" Evangeline looked confused upon hearing this. "Am I to understand you're giving me orders?"
"No, I just..." Lorena wanted to say more, but upon seeing Evangeline's cold gaze, she immediately fell silent, lowered her head, and took a step back without another word.
Pleased with Lorena's tactful retreat, Evangeline casually offered an explanation:
"Such crude puppeteers who modify their bodies into puppets are only feared by you petty British Union folks."
Hearing this insult, Lorena's mouth twitched imperceptibly.
'Petty British Union folks? But aren't you yourself a member of the British Union too? And one of the Thirteen Apostles at that, the Gospel of Immortality...'
However, such words ultimately remained unspoken by Lorena, because before she could voice them, Yuiyui Gokadoin spoke up first:
"I see. No wonder I was so easily controlled after encountering you. You used the puppet strings I implanted in my own body, didn't you?"
"Clever."
Evangeline chuckled lightly, then began walking forward. While manipulating Yuiyui Gokadoin to hold an umbrella for her, she headed towards the cave ahead:
"So don't think about escaping. Every move you make holds no secrets from my eyes."
As she spoke, Evangeline led Yuiyui Gokadoin and Lorena into the cave.
Unlike typical cool, dark caves, the three of them could still feel waves of sweltering heat upon entering.
Meanwhile, the cave's golden-hued dome, its ceiling, emitted a soft glow that illuminated the entire cavern.
Once inside, Evangeline's right hand fingers twitched continuously.
Being a puppeteer herself, Yuiyui Gokadoin naturally didn't miss this subtle movement, though she was somewhat surprised by Evangeline's method:
"You're not manipulating through puppet strings, but using technique commands to control puppets remotely?"
"I never imagined the legendary Gospel of Immortality would also be a puppeteer skilled in manipulation..."
"I'm nothing like a heretic who has strayed from the path like you."
Evangeline replied casually, then narrowed her eyes to examine the passage ahead. Reading the feedback from the puppets she had secretly dispatched earlier, she frowned:
"Reached the end without any branching paths?"
Realising there might be no traps set within the stone cavern, Evangeline fell silent for a moment before wordlessly striding forward.
Within minutes, the three arrived at a spacious hall deep inside the cavern.
There, Evangeline saw a circular gate at the end of the path.
The ancient yet sturdy circular gate, adorned with pale greyish-white divine dragon patterns, stood silently as if embedded into the wall.
At the sight of this gate, Evangeline sighed with a troubled expression, saying:
"It appears matters are more serious than I imagined."
Rather than fearing the cavern being transformed into a labyrinthine trap, what truly concerned her was the opponent placing the 'problem' directly in plain sight.
They had relied on Yuiyui Gokadoin's compass to reach this core of the True Dragon Legacy, only to encounter such a situation.
Any fool could guess that beyond the stone gate must lie the domain where the guardian resided.
The only question was who that guardian might be...
Thinking this, Evangeline glanced sideways at Yuiyui Gokadoin.
"You could have simply controlled my body to open the gateway directly..."
Yuiyui Gokadoin immediately understood Evangeline's meaning. After sighing, she closed her parasol and placed it on the ground nearby, then stepped closer to the circular dragon gate.
Then, Yuiyui Gokadoin placed her hand upon the gate and gently pushed it open.
A creaking sound emerged from the centre of the circular gate.
As the doors parted from the middle, the scene within appeared before everyone's eyes.
An empty hall.
And the single humanoid figure at the hall's centre.
Black hair, a handsome youthful face, and slightly thin lips.
And that distinct, greyish-white skin texture crawling with dragon scales.
Gazing at the sole figure standing behind the door, Yuiyui Gokadoin felt for the first time that suicide might be the easiest way to die.
But before dying, she couldn't help voicing the intense doubt in her heart.
"Are you joking?"
"Why can even that monster from the Hidden Management Department be copied—!!!"