Free Web Novel“Who are you?”
Vieya looked at the demon before her, thought for a moment, then asked again, “Have you seen Anna and the others? They look very distinctive and easy to tell apart.”
“I have seen them,” the demon said flatly.
“If you have not seen An—” Vieya paused, then added, “It is three people. Only one of them is a blonde, blue-eyed human. The other two are Demon Kings, likely in monster form.”
“I have seen them,” the demon said flatly.
“You really have seen them?” Vieya pondered briefly, then tried asking, “Then do you know where they are now?”
Demon: “I have truly seen them.”
“Good. Then where are they? Or which direction did they go? Can you tell me?”
“They—I have seen.”
“Great, now I know you have seen them. But can you tell me where they are?”
“An exchange is required,” the demon said. “I will ask you one question.”
The demon’s exchange rule—a classic game: question traded for question. It seemed fair.
And the demon before her had only mediocre strength; one slap would send him straight back to the arms of the Demon Lord.
But if she forced it, she would gain nothing.
Confident Vieya, completely unafraid, agreed immediately, hands on her hips as she waited for the demon to ask.
“Please listen to the question,” the demon said. “Do you love your daughter, or your lover?”
“...Both,” Vieya answered after a pause.
“Answer accepted.”
The demon continued, “Do you think my opening cold joke was funny?”
“It was not funny,” Vieya replied.
“Cold jokes are not meant to make humans laugh. Hahaha—they are for demons to enjoy ourselves. Do you not find humans who pretend something is funny even when it is not—very funny? Of course, the ones who are dumb and clueless are even funnier! I view humans the way you view monkeys in a garden!”
The demon laughed wildly. His loud voice shook the entire mushroom-filled subterranean palace.
When he straightened, he was over two meters tall, his black fleshy wings buzzing. He continued, “Now, I will answer your question.”
“The people you seek are now in front of the Hall of Honesty on the twentieth floor of the dungeon. You are currently on the eleventh floor.”
“Anna and the others are on the twentieth floor? Then I understand.”
Vieya looked up at the demon’s strange face, sighed, and asked,
“Can we exchange one more question?”
“We can. This time, you may ask first.”
The demon was surprisingly hospitable—not only understanding mutual exchange of benefit, but even giving her the initiative.
“The power that revives the dead in ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) this dungeon—where does it come from?” Vieya asked.
“Mm?”
The demon immediately sensed the meaning in her words. His frivolous expression disappeared. “Who do you want to resurrect?”
“Answer my question first.”
Vieya’s expression was calm, but her tone carried undeniable force. “Where does that power come from?”
“Heh... This dungeon is the tomb that Tártaros prepared for himself.”
The demon spoke slowly. “That was several ages ago. Tártaros, once the great archangel, abandoned his former glory and fell—becoming the first Demon King to appear in this world, officially beginning humanity’s dark age. But because of this, he angered the ‘Primordial God,’ was stripped of his six wings, and cast out of the divine realm.”
“That sounds like myth... And there is no trace of such things in the modern human world,” Vieya said skeptically.
“Hehe. Do you misunderstand the monkeys in the zoo?” the demon scoffed. “What humans dream of, what they cannot reach even after millions of years of pursuit—those truths are things I can obtain as easily as reaching out a hand.”
“You still do not believe it? Hehe. Then I will tell you...” The demon leaned down again, bringing his face close to Vieya’s. “...The appearance of this dungeon will bring the end of humanity’s golden age. Next, you will witness it.”
“Is that so?”
Vieya sounded unconcerned. “Then you mean the resurrection power here comes from that so-called archangel?”
The demon nodded, not minding her attitude.
At that moment, the entire subterranean palace trembled.
He flapped his wings, rising into the air to hover above them, looking down at Vieya. “Now it is my turn to ask you.”
“Ask.”
“You...” The demon stared at Vieya, his gaze filled with malice like something hidden under eternal glaciers. His voice was cold. “...Who are you?”
“Vieya.” Vieya frowned slightly but still stated her name.
“Hahahaha...”
The demon suddenly roared with laughter. His wings beat as he spiraled upward, his silhouette swallowed by darkness. His thunderous voice echoed with meaning:
“Vieya! Your friends are waiting for you inside the dungeon. Take your daughter with you. They will be delighted!”
Boom!
The entire subterranean palace began to move. On the endless field of blue-capped mushrooms, glowing azure powder drifted into the air.
Amid the hazy blue light, an ancient stone gate—passed down from primordial ruins—stood tall.
At the same time, monsters’ howls echoed everywhere in the palace.
“Let us go. Hold on to me.”
Vieya gathered Jasmine into her arms, then looked at the two little girls holding onto her from both sides. “From here onward, I will try my best to avoid the monsters...”
As she spoke, the slime-girl’s body gradually expanded—growing from loli form into a young maiden, then into adult form, finally stabilizing at the figure of a well-developed human woman.
But her face barely changed—still retaining the fresh, innocent look of a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl.
“Amazing...” Rorina hugged Vieya’s waist tightly like a sloth. The admiration shining in her eyes could not be concealed.
At least in that moment, her dream for the future was to become someone like Vieya.
Boom!
With the three little ones screaming, Vieya vanished like a flash of light.
“T-too fast!” Jasmine whimpered. Even though she received the best treatment among the three, the sonic bursts from the speed still rattled her mind.
“It is not fast. Your body is a bit weak.”
Even as she said this, Vieya slowed down, one hand supporting her daughter’s soft, plump bottom, the other wrapped behind her back.
Jasmine’s body was soft and full, far healthier than the skinny state she had been in when they first met.
Thinking this, Vieya felt deeply relieved.
As for the two little ones hanging from her waist—they were having a rough time too, but their physical fitness far surpassed Jasmine’s. Aside from the wind roaring in their ears, they were essentially experiencing a roller-coaster thrill.
From frightened screaming at first...
to excited screaming afterward.
“Wow, young lady, you scream so loud, so fiery~”
“Shut up, you shameless woman!”
“But I will only turn twelve next year, so I am also a little girl like you.”
“This lady does not speak to a commoner whose family sells fish!”
“So mean...”
Time flew. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
For two whole hours, Jasmine felt her backside was going to split open. Thankfully, her mother’s chest was big enough to serve as a support bar.
At first she was embarrassed—but later she simply adapted. Even though the coat covering them was stiff, she could still feel the soft, springy resilience through two layers of fabric.
As for Vieya, all her attention was on finding the fastest route.
After more than two hours, she charged from the eleventh floor all the way to the eighteenth, without engaging a single monster—only navigating.
But the sheer number of floors in this dungeon truly shocked her.
Most previous dungeons only had around ten floors; ones with fifteen or sixteen were extremely rare.
And judging from the demon’s words, the twentieth floor that Anna and the others reached was far from the limit.
“Eh? Why are the treasure chests here also opened...” Rorina, hanging from the slime-girl’s body, had sharp eyes. She had seen dozens of treasure chests along the way, with the lowest being silver-rank—and many gold and platinum ones.
Unfortunately, all were empty. Even the decorative gemstones on the chests had been pried off.
“This looks exactly like something a fish-seller girl like you would do...” Rorina muttered, glancing at Maixi.
Maixi smiled sweetly. “Giving me a new nickname again?”
“This lady is simply telling the truth.”
Rorina swayed her head proudly, satisfied with regaining one round.
Moments later—
Vieya reached the nineteenth floor. When she saw the sight before her, a strange flicker rose in her emerald eyes.
From the eleventh floor onward, every floor had been different—subterranean palace, volcanic caverns, blue ice caves, steaming white hot springs... all kinds of ecological landscapes woven together in unimaginable ways.
But the nineteenth floor... was no longer natural landscape.
It was man-made miracle—an extravagant, towering complex of palaces. Two nearly hundred-meter golden statues stood before the gate, six wings on their backs, Judgment God swords in hand, halos above their heads burning with fierce flames.
“So much gold...” Maixi stood frozen. Forgive her for her lack of worldly knowledge—she had never seen such massive amounts of gold in her life.
Even Rorina was stunned. She had never been to the human Royal Capital, but felt that even the Royal Capital could not be as luxurious and sacred as this ancient city before her.
“So much money...” Jasmine whispered. If converted into food, it would feed her and her mother for thousands, tens of thousands of years...
But Vieya was not focused on the gold-brick roads or the extravagant ruins.
What concerned her was—she did not sense a single monster presence in this entire ruin.
But... someone must have been here. freewёbnoνel.com
Vieya put down the three little ones, and together they walked around this golden city.
Then, they stopped in front of a strange building.
Vieya looked at the golden stele before its doors. Several large characters were engraved—similar to what she had seen on the stone stele on the eleventh floor.
She still could not read them—yet as she looked, sudden comprehension rose within her.
“Museum?”
Vieya murmured with confusion. She understood the meaning of the mysterious words.
But why would an ancient ruin like this have something like a museum? To record the stories of that era?
And why could she suddenly understand the writing here?
“Could it be...”
Was this layer different from the eleventh? Perhaps the divine power concentration was higher? Or some aura enveloped this place that did not cover the other floors?
But since the building’s name meant museum, then it likely contained useful information.
“Let us try and see.”
Vieya stepped toward the museum and stood before the sealed doors.
Just as she wondered how to open them, a soft beep sounded. The golden doors, previously shut tight, parted smoothly down the middle and slid aside!
At the same time, rows of lights inside the exhibition hall lit up one after another, like a welcome bow. The entire hall shone brightly, inviting Vieya, the honored guest, inside.
“This treatment... is quite nice.”
Vieya waved at the three stunned girls, signaling them to follow.
“Do not leave my sight. And without my permission, absolutely do not run around.”
The three nodded rapidly. Rorina was the most mischievous of the three, but she still understood the gravity of the situation. And this was advice from her idol-teacher—of course she would obey.
Vieya, satisfied, turned back and entered, ready to browse casually.
Inside, she discovered many historical relics related to the golden city.
For example—
The construction history of the golden city, its architectural diagrams, how Tártaros placed this divine palace deep inside the dungeon, and why he moved the golden city here.
Beside them was a book crafted from thin sheets of gold, each page covered in dense script.
Vieya could understand it at a glance. Curious, she called Jasmine and the others to look—but all three shook their heads blankly, showing expressions of utter incomprehension.
She slipped the golden book into her pocket casually, then continued walking.
Soon, she found many interesting things:
Portraits of the fallen archangel Tártaros, depictions of the war he waged against his father, the “Primordial God,” and what happened to him after losing.
But—
Why did the archangel Tártaros’s portrait look so much like that demon?
Father and son? With whom? Which number?
Vieya shook her head, pushing away the gossiping thoughts. She shifted her gaze to other exhibits.
For instance, the “Spear of Divine Judgment,” stolen by someone—the display case open, the contents missing, only a crooked label left behind.
Also missing: the first-generation golden city model.
And so on... many items she could and could not understand.
Vieya had seen enough to realize the entire museum displayed artifacts and records related to Tártaros, the master of the golden city.
Truly commemorative—but not particularly compelling to her...
What she cared about more was whether Anna had stolen all these things.
After touring the entire museum, Vieya decided to proceed to the twentieth floor.
The construction history and building diagrams she had just seen included a record of the route and passage leading downward.
The twentieth floor—the floor the demon had told her Anna and the others were now on.
