Oracle Hall, Maid Renia folded her hands over her abdomen and bowed her head to report:
“Mistress, according to the intelligence, Duchess Nola has indeed left Talmak Manor and is heading toward Viscount Vanessa’s territory. Should we take any action?”
“No, the plan remains unchanged. Our main focus is still to cultivate the Rose Knights. Besides, this is just a disguise—Viscount Vanessa attending a banquet. Nothing will happen.”
Just as Isavel had suspected, after that banquet, Nola, who had been fixated on Saintess Selis, finally chose to depart from the manor and set off for the Aos Empire in search of Duchess Vanessa.
Once she finds her, she will naturally realize that the Vanessa she saw that night was a fake.
But for now, that’s none of her concern. Her primary goal is still to have the Knights rapidly grow stronger in the remaining ten days, reaching the power to defeat low-level Abyssal Demons.
“Let’s go see those young Knights.”
Arriving at the Rose Knights Training Hall, Isavel stood atop the dais and looked over the assembled Knights.
A smile appeared on her usually indifferent face, the villainous aura vanishing and returning again. With a sweet smile, she began to introduce the upcoming training tasks:
“I’m sure everyone has already received the notice. Over the next ten days, you will spend your time in groups of five inside the Golden Dungeon.”
“The Golden Dungeon has ten floors. By the final day, each group must reach the tenth floor, and your magic level must increase to 15. If even one of these is not achieved…”
She deliberately paused, teasing the girls’ hearts before adding:
“The training load will be doubled from then on.”
At these words, the girls fell silent out of discipline, but most of their expressions darkened, some even turning pale.
The current training volume was already hellish for them; one misstep could even mean death. Doubling it would be pushing them straight to the brink!
Isavel knew this well but would make no concessions.
“Of course, you know I am always merciful. For your safety, I have prepared a Golden Magic Amulet for each group.”
With a wave of her hand, eight Golden Magic Amulets flew to the hands of each team leader.
“If you ever face a true life-threatening danger, break the amulet. It will bring you out of the dungeon, but it only works once. Next time you enter, there will be no amulets.”
“At that point, whether you live or die is entirely up to you.”
“All right, that’s all I have to say. Renia will now lead you to the Golden Dungeon. I hope each of you can survive inside.”
Having said that, Isavel disappeared from the dais. The tensely wound-up girls finally relaxed, stretching their bodies.
Renia, when facing these girls, was the true ice beauty. She obeyed her Mistress’s orders without giving them a word or expression.
Under her lead, the Rose Knights soon passed through the Transfer Array and arrived outside the Golden Dungeon within Viscount Vanessa’s territory.
Monster Catacombs form dangerous areas where the Abyssal Seal has gradually broken, distorting space with Abyssal Magic.
The entrance to the Hecate Catacomb was filled with overwhelming magic, and anyone could tell how perilous it was inside. But the Golden Dungeon was different—its entrance was a simple, unadorned mine shaft.
If it had any distinguishing features, it was that the area around the mine glowed golden.
In Leanna’s five-member squad, a girl named Joina curled the corner of her mouth upon seeing the entrance and said:
“So this is the legendary Golden Dungeon? Looks… flashy but hollow. I thought it would be scarier. The atmosphere is even less intense than our previous Training Ground.”
“I heard from adventurers here that the monsters in the Golden Dungeon have weak combat abilities because they’ve been mining for so long. They’re nothing compared to the monsters in the Hecate Catacomb. Looks like it’s true.”
Aelia, a girl from Leanna’s squad who had been punished earlier for hesitating to kill monsters, tightened her grip on her longsword and asked, “Really? The monsters here won’t all be humanoid, right?”
Squad leader Leanna’s expression turned serious:
“True or not, we can’t be careless. Even if they are humanoid, when it’s time to strike, we must never hesitate. I’ve also been informed that the monsters here are known for their cunning and like to use the environment to ambush.”
“Cunning? What use is that against absolute strength? I think you’re just too timid. Don’t forget how hard we’ve trained all these days.”
“Joina’s right. I say we make this a competition: whoever kills the most monsters today wins, and the loser has to polish everyone’s swords for a whole month!”
Sally was also part of this squad. She shared a similar attitude with Joina, trusting their training over rumors.
Monsters were just simple, mindless creatures. No matter how cunning, how much harm could they really cause?
The last member of the squad, Meilin, said nothing. She furrowed her brows and observed the surroundings carefully, only breaking into a smile of surprise when a white figure appeared.
“Wait!”
“Saintess Selis?!”
No one expected it—Selis, who had been missing for two days, suddenly appeared before them.
She ran up to the Rose Knights, panting heavily. Before catching her breath, she warned loudly:
“I heard you were departing today, so I hurried here.”
“Be extremely careful. The monsters in this Golden Dungeon are very cunning. If you let your guard down, you’ll suffer serious losses.”
More warnings?
Joina was clearly growing tired of this. Drawing her longsword, she pointed it straight toward the depths of the dungeon:
“Don’t worry, we’re not rookies who need the Saintess cradling us all the time. By the way, we want Lady Isavel to know she has seriously underestimated us.”
Some of the girls nodded at her words.
They had trained in the Hecate Catacomb before. Maybe when they first became Knights, those monsters caused them great trouble, but now…
Killing them was no different from slaughtering chickens.
Of course, this was referring to the monsters on the first two floors of the Hecate Catacomb.
Besides, Isavel had always been their Heart Demon. One of the driving forces behind their daily effort to grow stronger was to prove her wrong.
They wanted to show her they were not weak!
Seeing their confidence, Selis’s eyes showed no less worry—in fact, it deepened.
Stepping forward, she opened her palm and revealed eight Magic Gems.
“These are Magic Gems. Take them with you. They may not be very useful, but they carry my hope that you all return safely.”
Though Selis was a bit long-winded, Joina frowned but still stepped forward to take one. The other squads’ leaders followed suit.
“Just wait. We’ll come back safe!”
“Let’s go!”
Waving her hand, the girls took the Gems and entered the mine shaft, their figures swallowed by the darkness.
Meilin and Aelia lingered for a moment before leaving, glancing back at Selis with reluctance.
To this, Selis returned a warm smile.
Yet, after they all disappeared from her sight, that smile grew increasingly meaningful.
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