Free Web NovelEvery place has its own color to the night.
In the Elven King City Velanos, the night is an elegant poem composed by harps and leaf-flutes; but in the Human Royal Capital Rodel, to that city-state beneath the silver moon and above the clouds, the night is not darkness but a transparent nightmare soaked in moonlight.
Unfortunately, Vieya has never been to Velanos.
The underground dungeon at deep night was very quiet. Even the sound of insects was pitifully scarce, and only the occasional dripping of water echoed from somewhere unknown.
Tick, tick, tick...
The sound was faint, blurry. Even if it was right beside the ear, it felt as though a thin veil muffled it, impossible to hear clearly.
As if all sounds were devoured by this bottomless, abyssal dungeon and dissolved into the dense darkness.
Vieya stood alone near the main passage between Dungeon Layer One and Dungeon Layer Two.
By reason, this place was some distance away from where Jasmine rested, and was not suitable for keeping night watch.
But she had still come here, holding a still-warm cup of water in her hand, surrounded by total darkness.
According to what that little girl Maixi had said, there was a group of resurrected magicians who had ambushed them from behind. Those magicians were very likely bodies possessed by the dungeon’s evil spirits.
Bodies possessed by the dungeon’s evil spirits.
What a clumsy explanation. What dungeon evil spirit would make its main target a treasure chest? Utterly absurd...
It was like a starving and thirsty person lost in a desert, choosing a chunk of worthless gold over food and water. Laughable.
To the evil spirits, the treasure chest was the worthless gold. Jasmine and the two girls were the food and water that could save their lives.
Since the magicians who harmed her daughter were greedy for treasure chests, they would definitely think of ways to take the treasure out.
At that time, after they grabbed the items, in order to avoid the giant slime, they fled downward instead of upward.
Monsters usually only dare to rampage in territory belonging to monsters weaker than themselves. Because of this, the strongest monster on each dungeon layer normally does not dare to run to the next, higher-requirement layer... ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Vieya continued waiting in the dark, waiting for her target to appear.
After a long while—
A sound came from the darkness, the sound of a stone rolling.
Vieya, who had been dozing off, jolted awake, focused herself, and looked toward the source.
A figure staggered out, clearly exhausted, yet still clenching his teeth as he ran, as if some terrifying monster were chasing him.
Swoosh!
Time seemed to freeze for an instant.
A thin, sharp arrow shot from the darkness. In the blink of an eye, blood mist burst from the fleeing figure’s throat.
“This is mine. Want a share...? Keep dreaming!”
“Gick, you killed Naya, and now you won’t even spare me? We came from the same village! Aren’t you afraid of retribution for doing this?!”
“Companions? Heh. Only you people would believe in childish things like that. Don’t worry, Eagle. The one who kills you won’t be me—it’ll be the goblins.”
“You—!” ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Beeeeep—!
A shrill whistle suddenly pierced the air. Gick gathered his strength, clenched the wooden whistle in his teeth and blew hard several more times, as if summoning something from within the dungeon.
Before long, rustling sounds echoed from all sides. Goblins of various shapes and sizes crept out of the darkness. They cast greedy looks at the two meals delivered to their doorstep—but upon seeing Gick raise the whistle, they trembled and backed away half a step in fear.
“Oh... no, please, Gick, I don’t want anything anymore, spare me, spare me!” Eagle’s vitality was stubborn. Even though an arrow had pierced his throat and his clothes were soaked with blood, he still had the strength to beg for mercy—though his voice sounded like a leaky, broken wind flute.
Gick shook his head, walked away with the wooden whistle, and the fang-grinding goblins became like beasts released from a cage. They shrieked and rushed forward, drowning Eagle’s pleas and screams.
Vieya frowned slightly and stepped out of the darkness under invisibility. From the two men’s conversation, she roughly understood what had happened after the magicians took the treasure.
Uneven division, mutual slaughter.
Now...
Vieya lifted her eyes, looking at Gick—the last victorious survivor—walking unhurriedly toward the dungeon exit.
Her back turned toward the howling goblins, she slowly bent down, picked up a small stone from the ground, placed it in her palm, and looked again at Gick’s departing back.
Aim. Bend finger.
Swoosh—!
A bad premonition suddenly rose in Gick’s chest. Before he could react, a burning pain erupted in his chest.
“This is...”
He subconsciously looked down, touched his chest with his right hand, and felt a blood-soaked hole—and his heart with a hole blown through it.
Blood gushed out in torrents, draining his strength instantly.
Thud!
Gick collapsed backward onto the ground. With a dull thud, his life vanished completely. His eyes were wide open. Even in death, he never understood why a hole had appeared in his chest.
“Done.”
Vieya clapped the dust off her hands and prepared to leave. As for the treasure in the chest, she had no interest. She didn’t even have the motivation to bend down and pick it up.
“Oh, right. I forgot one more thing.”
Vieya frowned, displeased, and turned toward the frenzied goblins. Her green eyes were as indifferent as a thousand-year glacier.
She still had stealth power active, yet the goblins panicked. They even forgot to enjoy their feast, staring around in confusion.
They felt something terrifying staring at them, but inside, they could not even summon the instinct to flee.
Vieya looked at the frozen goblins and softly said: “Die.”
It was not an insult. Not a child’s curse during a fight. It was a command—a deletion command.
The moment the command reached them, the swarm of goblins vanished without a trace. Not a scent, not a drop of blood remained. As if deleted from the world’s database like invalid code.
The next day.
A new team of magicians discovered Gick’s corpse and the bones of Eagle, gnawed until only white skeleton remained. They had no idea what monster had done this. A chill spread through them, and they hurriedly began reporting to the outside academy.
But the only reply they received was: “Acknowledged. Examination proceeding normally.”
...
At the same time—
Jasmine found her mother lying on a stone, snoring softly, and felt both curious and distressed.
Her mother hadn’t let a single monster disturb their rest last night. She must be exhausted...
But—
Jasmine quietly climbed onto the stone, stared blankly at her mother’s peaceful sleeping face, hesitated for a moment, then leaned down and kissed the corner of her mother’s lips.
“Mm... no taste... not sweet at all.”
Jasmine smacked her lips in thought. When the heat in her cheeks finally faded, she reached out and pushed Vieya’s shoulder, whispering: “Mom, wake up. The mushroom soup is ready. I added the sour little berries you like.”
“Mmm... don’t bother me, Jasmine. Let me sleep five more minutes.” Vieya turned over and continued sleeping with her eyes closed.
Jasmine sighed helplessly and gently smoothed her mother’s messy moon-white hair. “All right then, I’ll wait here for Mom for five more minutes.”
