Heaven, Earth, Me

Fulo felt as if he had the most beautiful dream of his life. Opening his eyes, he noticed that he was lying down on a strange bed similar to one of his village's resting mats. Other than feeling as if he had an extraordinary dream, his mind was actually pounding in pain, and when he processed the sensation, he grabbed his forehead and grunted. "Ouch! What… happened?"

"Oh? You are awake?"

The mellow and slightly deep voice of a woman reached him, sounding with such great cadence and tone that it made his body feel a pleasant chill. Looking to the side, he saw a gorgeous veiled woman wearing an elegant blue dress. Her figure couldn't be hidden by the layers of fabric, showcasing a dreamily voluptuous body. After a few moments, he shook his head and looked at the woman's golden slit eyes. "U-Um, Miss, where am I? Who might you be?"

The woman smiled faintly. "Not bad, not bad. You only stared for three minutes this time around."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Fulo's face blanked. 'T-Three minutes!? I've been leering at this gorgeous Lady for three minutes!? It felt like a few seconds!'

He rushed to apologize. "I am so sorry, Miss! I didn't intend to be rude!"

The woman nodded. Fulo caught a hint of a smile, but then, it disappeared, making his heart feel somewhat empty. 'Why won't she smile…? Is it because of my attitude?' 

The woman spoke again, looking straight at him. "Boy, I am Yasenia. The dragon. Do you remember why you are outside of your village?"

Fulo rubbed his throbbing forehead, and what had happened flashed in his mind after just a few seconds. His face changed to one of realization, and he finally remembered. "R-Right! I was helping a group reach the trial grounds!... Wait." His eyes widened as he looked at Yasenia. "Miss is Lady Dragon!?"

The unforgettable blue-colored scales strewn with seemingly glittering stars were clearly the same as the Empyrean dragon that had visited his village. Noticing that, he looked around and finally saw that the group was surrounding them with a varied array of expressions, most of them being amusement.

The tall, armored woman with a similar skin tone to his smiled cheekily, crossing her arms. "Young man, did you finally realize that there is a world beyond Yasenia's face and body?"

Fulo's face blushed, his heated expression noticeable even with his skin tone. Yasenia stood up and clapped twice. "Okay, don't mock the poor boy. It was my fault." She then gave him a side-eye and spoke. "Continue guiding us. We shouldn't be too far away, right?" 

Fulo nodded a few times, quickly standing up and following the others. "Right! Right! We just need to follow that…" Fulo looked at the tunnels for a few moments, squinting for a little while, before he finally spoke up again. "That one! That's the tunnel."

The girls deadpanned and looked at the young man. Evelyn asked, just in case. "You haven't said it at random, right?"

"I-I wouldn't dare!" Fulo waved his hands quickly, his face horrified at the mere thought of it. 

Evelyn nodded, half-believing him. Then, she asked. "Well, why is it that one and not the others?"

The man explained, pointing toward the tunnel he chose. "We can see that on the edges of that tunnel, there are fresh magma spillings. This means that there have been movements recently, and only the tunnels that change are those that lead toward the trial. Hence, the activity is what makes me quite sure that it is the one that will guide us there."

Tatyana commented, curious about a few words that he said. "Oh? Your village knows that the tunnels change?"

"Not only mine! It is quite known information between the other villages as well."

Yasenia muttered. "Others…" She couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised. "Humans are truly an adaptable race. They are not worse than dragons."

Tatyana smiled at her comments. "Well, there is a reason for humans being the dominating species in most of the universe, right? Even when Demons and Divines have tried getting rid of them, in the end, they were being pushed back so harshly that they changed strategies to lure them to their sides."

Evelyn suddenly made a connection and asked, surprised. "Is this why human-possession is a wide-spread practice?"

Tatyana nodded with praise. "Right on the dot!"

"Oh!" Evelyn rubbed her chin with interest.

Meanwhile, Yasenia looked at Andrea and smiled. "So, Darling, which way? Yours or Fulo's?"

While the boy was unconscious, Andrea had been trying to decipher which way to go, and she noted the tunnel to the right of the one Fulo chose. Hence, now they had two options.

Not knowing about that, Fulo asked, a bit confused. "Is Lady Andrea a solider from another village? If so, her knowledge might be more profound than mine. Lady Yasenia, you shouldn't disregard her opinion over mine!"

Yasenia smiled faintly and said. "I am asking her because of that. We'll go where she points at."

Fulo realized, and he coughed. "Right. Excuse me for being presumptuous, Lady Yasenia."

Andrea shook her head with a faint smile and looked at the two tunnels. "Hm… While that one feels right. I feel that ignoring the words of a person who lives here might be a bit dangerous. Look where following my gut led us. Let's give the boy's words a chance."

With her words, everyone got on the move. Yasenia looked at Selena and commented with a smile. "Selena, please carry Fulo on your back. As a lamia, that shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Selena nodded faithfully. "Don't worry, Young Miss. I planned to do so even if you didn't order it. We have no time to waste with the deadline approaching."

Everyone prepared, and then they flew up, flashing forward through the tunnel at a tremendous speed. An energy shield protected Fulo as they traveled, so no harm befell him.

During their travel, the creatures of the cave started appearing slightly more often. Some jumped from the walls, attacking them at incredibly tricky angles, while others were in the middle of the tunnel, forcing them to fight them back.

Yasenia spoke aloud. "There is an enemy in the next turn! It is above the ground!"

A chorus followed her words. "Understood!"

One they turned the corner, a massive lion with a fiery mane appeared. The giant creature saw our group and roared, creating visible shockwaves.

ROAR!

Andrea coated her body with all her energies and flashed forward with five other maids. The group used their skills, and then, with tremendous violence, they collided with the giant beast.

BOOM!

The lion was thrown back several hundred meters, smashing against the ground. Evelyn's and Cecile's group followed right after. 

First, Cecile's group released a terrifying barrage of ranged attacks, bombarding the body of the powerful lion. The creature roared in pain as large wounds appeared all over its body. Right after, giving it no respite, Evelyn's group flashed ahead and overtook Andrea's group.

Their timing was impeccable, as they arrived right after the ranged attacks rained on the beast. Once there, they all released powerful offensive strikes that pierced deeply into the giant lion. Lightning, wind, and sword lights slashed through the beast, leaving it weakened to their relentless barrage. 

Then, when the lion felt a risk to its life, it gathered energy and tried to unleash a powerful skill.

It was at this moment that Kali's group stepped forward, her and the other defensive maids creating powerful shields that surrounded the lion, being careful of not restricting Evelyn's group from retreating.

BOOOM!

A fire nova hit the ice, wood, and glass walls that appeared, containing it inside and avoiding any damage from reaching them.

Furious, the lion clawed at the defensive structures around itself and sprung out, maws open and with a face twisted in wrath. But it was too late for the Lion; Yasenia's group arrived.

Yasenia's group comprised those with the most substantial firepower: Yasenia, Angel, Eira, Tatyana, Mirrory, and Valeria.

These six people had egregious skills that made them terrifying. 

Once the lion escaped, six attacks landed on it: a celestial blue beam, a multicolored beam, an invisible but giant sword light, a dark sword light, an incorporeal attack, and a powerful green phantom of a giant vine. 

BOOOM!

Fulo became slack jawed when the beast burst with such violence that it thoroughly stained the walls all around the cave. Its body was mostly magma, so it didn't look as gory. However, the imagery was certainly not pretty.

Yasenia smiled faintly at the result. She spoke softly. "Great job, everyone. Let's continue like this…" Yasenia added, her eyes glowing with greediness. "Also, don't forget to collect the loot! Ah, and let's try to kill them less violently the next time. Their bodies might be worth quite a lot."

The girls laughed softly before they answered her. "Understood~."

At this pace, they basically steamrolled any creature that appeared in their way. Their ability to control their attacks also increased exponentially, and after one day, they were killing them almost without splitting their skin by targeting their weak points.

After two days of rushing through complicated tunnels, the girls were starting to feel that Fulo's guess might've been wrong. However, on the morning of the third day, they saw the cave expanding into a giant one. 

In this cave, the walls were dripping with waterfalls of lava, and the surroundings were flooded with a lava lake. On the island in the middle, right at the center, a gigantic ruined altar stood majestically. Even when it was mostly destroyed, the gorgeous imagery on some of the walls and columns had stood the weight of time. 

Yasenia observed the markings and compared them with those she saw in the Moon Palace. 'Hm… These markings are indeed similar to those of that place. This couple has been together since even before their first legacies… Impressive.'

She didn't have any good feelings for this pair, but one couldn't help but admire the dedication to each other and the love that lasted through who knows how many years. 'A love that went beyond death… A pair that stayed together even after their demise… Quite romantic.'

Yasenia looked at Andrea and said seriously. "Andrea, your connection with me is not as strong as the one with Cecile. If the Sun God tries a similar thing, I won't be able to help you as handily. The way I defeated the Moon Goddess Soul Shard would collapse your soul due to that lack of affinity between us."

Andrea nodded seriously. "I know. What do you suggest?"

Yasenia looked at Andrea with serious eyes and looked into her eyes. "You need to drink a drop of my Blood Essence. With that as a channel, I will be able to do the same as I did with Cecile's soul, at least this time around."