Heaven, Earth, Me

Chapter 1082: Second Trial! Cute Little Critters.

The distance they needed to traverse to reach outside was neither short nor long. However, when the building was collapsing, a second was too long. Their bodies flashed through the passageway and up the first and second spiral stairs.

By the time they arrived at the first floor, their faces gained a touch of surprise. The ceiling was already falling down more than three-quarters of the way. Magma spilled down in such volumes that there was no free space in between the literal roof of pure superheated material.

Thankfully, their speed was no joke. So, Yasenia and the other eight rushed forward toward where the other girls were waiting. 

BOOM!

The entire place collapsed, magma bursting through the hole that made the entrance cave. "If anything was inside of the cave, they would be currently swimming in magma~."

Yasenia looked at Evelyn as they all floated above the island. "Dear, we really need to go. There is no time for these types of comments."

Evelyn looked around and nodded. It wasn't just that place that was collapsing. Rocks were falling from the ceiling everywhere they looked. Without hesitating a single extra moment, the group rushed upward and flew out through the hole they had entered from. 

The rest of the way back was not difficult since they had mapped it as they descended. Therefore, while everything was falling apart, not needing to make decisions, they all arrived back at the entrance of the throne room where the Sun God was relatively quickly. 

The Sun God opened the doors, and Yasenia's group entered without hesitation. Once they entered, they heard the Sun God clapping in honest praise. "That was great. You've actually managed to unravel that formation in just three days! It is really extraordinary. Only Sixth Realm people should be able to achieve such an accomplishment."

The Sun God blinked and hummed. "Is it…? It has been so long since I was in those levels of strength that I forgot… Well, or to be more precise, I was never granted such knowledge!" He smiled faintly and added. "After all, I am nothing but a Soul Strand." 

The girls nodded once, but there were no extra reactions. The Sun God blinked a few times. "Huh? It looks like you knew beforehand?"

Yasenia asked, her face gaining a strange expression. "Um… Why would a God place themselves here with their real selves? I would be several times more surprised if you told me you were the real deal."

The Sun God stayed silent for a few seconds before muttering. "Fair enough…" He cleared his throat and stood up. Then, he stepped forward and disappeared, only to reappear right in front of them an instant later. "So. Now it is time to fight the beast you've released with the undoing of that formation."

Yasenia looked at the Sun God and asked, curious. "Do we have to?"

The Sun God paused and frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing. I was speaking to myself." Yasenia smiled. "Continue."

Everyone looked at the dragoness strangely. The Sun God hummed and said. "The beast that you need to face is…" He pointed sideways and smiled. "Over there."

The girls looked sideways and saw a relatively small door, around five meters tall. Andrea looked to the opposite side and saw another door. This one was much larger, though, reaching over 50 meters in height. 'Hm… Is that the door to the last trial?'

The Sun God commented. "You can start the trial whenever you'd like. Of course, you can also give up." He added. "Some people feel that things are too difficult and leave after the first trial. After all, if you die here, you die for real. There are no second chances like in other trials."

Yasenia was the one confused this time around. "Other trials give second chances?"

Her comment made everyone look at Yasenia with widened eyes. Evelyn asked with a stutter. "Um, love. People can't die in the Astral Sky Inheritance that you created… right?"

Yasenia's eyes widened in bafflement. "Why wouldn't they be able to die? If they die, then they are not worthy."

The Sun God nodded twice. "You think exactly like me, Junior. It seems that we are more similar than expected." 

The dragoness showed an openly disgusted expression. "Don't bag me in the same category as you." She took Andrea's and Angel's hands and dragged them away. "Let's go, Let's go."

The Sun God blinked. "... What did I even do to make her like that?"

Tatyana patted his shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry, Senior. She can sometimes spontaneously combust like that."

The Sun God laughed mirthlessly. 

The door they saw did not have any kind of lock, so they all just walked inside without problems. Of course, they checked first before entering. However, they could not see any beast in the room. Hence, they imagined that the beast would appear similar to the other one they fought in the Moon Goddess trial. 

Once inside, Yasenia tilted her head and muttered. "I can't feel anything. Does anyone sense the beast?"

Tatyana sighed. "If the beast is invisible, we are in trouble. Even without an Intent Domain, a Sixth Realm invisible beast is enough to probably catch some of us by surprise."

"Invisible…" Yasenia sighed. "It shouldn't be, right?"

Andrea approached the side and found a relatively small rodent. She smiled faintly and commented. "Look, girls, a small mouse-like beast has snuck inside." 

Everyone looked over and Angel trotted forward with a big smile. "Look at it! So cute! Let me pet you~."

Mirrory appeared and grabbed Angel by the scruff of her clothes, hanging her up. "Is your sense of self-preservation negative, Angel?"

Angel blinked a few times. "Huh?"

Mirrory sighed. "It seems that I'll need to teach you how to identify dangers better…"

Andrea understood Mirrory's words and quickly backed away. Right as she did so, the small rodent disappeared and reappeared where Andrea's neck previously was, chomping down.

Yasenia's face dropped, and she rushed forward, her body flashing at her maximum speed. "Hey, even if you are cute, do you think I'll let you go after you've attacked Andrea!?"

She raised her sword, ready to attack. However, someone stopped her.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Clang~.

Yasenia saw a large halberd stopping her and followed the weapon to look at Andrea. She was confused, so she asked her. "Hm… Darling? Why did you stop me?"

Andrea muttered, squinting. "I don't feel danger from it. I only did when it attacked me." 

"Isn't that… normal?" The dragoness was confused, her eyes locked on the small golden-colored rodent that was hopping back to where Andrea found it. "That beast probably has a way to hide its hostility."

Andrea still felt that it was not right, so she thought back on the Sun God's words. 'What did he say…? Ah, I remember.'

Andrea recited it aloud. "The Second Trial is to pacify the guardian preventing the [Dawn Of Nova Sol]. The method is up to you, but I recommend not fighting it, as it is a Sixth Realm beast." 

Yasenia paused when Andrea uttered those words. Her beautiful brows scrunched together. Andrea smiled at her pensive expression and caressed her between her brows. "Then… Why did he tell us to fight it now?"

"A test?" Andrea pondered. "Perhaps he wanted to see if we had been sharp during his first explanation. I don't know, but I think that we can pacify this beast."

Evelyn said, stopping by Andrea's side. "If what you said is the truth, then we need to ask another question first. What is this beast preventing, and how? The [Dawn Of Nova Sol] needs to happen, right? This beast is preventing it somehow."

Andrea sighed and ruffled her hair. "I am not sure about that. Does anyone here have any idea? Fylia?" 

The silvery-white, eight-legged, and ten-eyed Qilin blinked its eyes and asked, confused. "Why are you asking me?"

Andrea smiled faintly. "Well, you were in that other place for a long time. The [Descent Of Nova Luna] and [Dawn Of Nova Sol] must have some similarities, right?"

The Qilin stepped forward slowly, arriving by the small rodent's side. "Hm… This is a [Golden Sun Mice]."

"Mice? Not Mouse?" Yasenia asked, confused. 

Fylia nodded. "Indeed. Mice. They are never alone. Being alone is more lethal to them than actually trying to kill them. They are creatures with terrifying speeds and are usually very gentle. As you can see, it only attacked Andrea because it felt threatened by her movements." The Qilin shook its head, making its mane dance majestically. "If you want to know the answer to this trial, you probably have to find all of the mice in the room. They have no presence, so you can only search for them by sight." 

The girls listened and got to work.

The room they were in was relatively large. It was large enough to at least give them enough space to fight. There was furniture adorning the place and a large chandelier on the ceiling. The walls were fully white, and four columns supported the ceiling.

Scouring the room for the mice was more difficult than it appeared to be. After all, they had to be careful and not step into the 'personal' space of these little critters. If they did…

"Woah!"

BOOM!

Evelyn flew across the entire room, slamming against one of the walls with a solid thump. She gasped for air as her vision became blurred and blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. "W-What's wrong with- COUGH! Their strength!? Absurd little creatures!"

Yasenia approached her and asked, worried. "Are you okay, Dear?"

Evelyn shook her head. "Unless my head is smushed between two large, soft things, I might be in trouble!"

Yasenia chuckled and grabbed her face, burying the little woman's face between her breasts. "Silly Dear."

Doriel commented, abruptly appearing by Yasenia's shadow side as always. "Young Miss. We've found seven of them for now. What do we do?"

Yasenia blinked a few times. "Seven…? Seven of those things?"

The thought of fighting them flashed in her mind, and a chill climbed up her spine. "... We really need to be careful this time around. Even if they don't have intent domains, a fight with them will be lethal…" 

Everyone around nodded in agreement. Even if individually they were weaker than the beast they fought in the Moon Goddess's trial, the danger of these little critters was much greater.