“Wow, we made it through safely~!”

  Once they were far from the hall, Little Semiris dropped her hushed tone.

  “Hulim, the dungeon’s core is up ahead—there won’t be any danger there~.”

  Soon, Hulim followed Little Semiris through the long passage and arrived at the core chamber...

  “Is that... the Seven Luminaries?”

  In a vast, spherical space, a stone platform floated in the center. Only a single suspended stone path led to it. At the center of the platform, a silver wand was embedded in the stone.

  At each of the platform’s four corners stood a pillar, all covered in glowing runes. A golden chain extended from the top of each pillar, locking the wand firmly in place. The silver wand had a circular tip, with seven diamond-shaped crystals evenly spaced around the ring. However, from the ring’s shape, it was clear something had once been inlaid there—now missing...

  “That’s right! That’s what Semiris wants to give Hulim—the S-Rank Wand, Seven Luminaries!” Little Semiris replied in her usual cheerful tone.

  “How do we get it?”

  “It’s easy! Little Semiris will temporarily break the four seals, and Hulim can grab it while the seals are down~!”

  “Got it.”

  “Okay~! Then—”“Little Semiris, charge!”

  Little Semiris shouted as she flew forward, all the way to the sky above the platform’s center. She lifted her hands over her head.

  Hum——!

  A magic array unfolded above her instantly, expanding to match the size of the entire platform.

  Clink~! Clink...

  The four chains that had locked the wand suddenly shook violently. Then, they released the wand, slowly rising into the air before connecting to Little Semiris’s magic array. Little Semiris then gritted her teeth, her expression strained—as if she were holding up something incredibly heavy, struggling to maintain the array.

  “N-now’s the chance! Hulim, while Little Semiris holds them off, go!”

  “Got it!”

  “Enhancement! Lightness!”

  A faint white glow surrounded Hulim. In the next moment, she dashed onto the platform and stopped in front of the wand. She reached out to grab it—but a Mana barrier rose around the wand, blocking her hand.

  “Hulim, break it! A Tier 3 magic attack will work!” Little Semiris called out loudly.

  So that’s why I needed to reach Rank C before coming here... Hulim thought to herself.

  “Gale Spear!”

  Whoosh!

  A rapidly spinning Gale Spear materialized above her.

  “Go!”

  With a sharp downward wave of her hand, the Gale Spear shot down and slammed into the Mana barrier.

  Crack!

  The barrier shattered on impact, dissolving into white light particles that floated away. With the obstacle gone, Hulim reached out again—and this time, she grabbed the Seven Luminaries.

  But the moment her hand touched the wand, a powerful surge of Mana rushed into her body. Hulim’s mind went blank, her eyes losing focus. Just as the Mana was about to fill her entire body, it suddenly hit something, faltering for a split second—then quickly retreated from her body and returned to the Seven Luminaries...

  “Huh?”

  The instant the Mana faded, Hulim’s consciousness came back.

  “What... just happened?”

  It had all happened too fast. She couldn’t make sense of it—only that her mind had seemed to zone out for a moment. Even Little Semiris, still struggling with the chains in the air, hadn’t noticed her oddity.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  “Wait, the Seven Luminaries...”

  Hulim looked at the wand in her hand. It lay quietly there, showing no sign of resistance at all.

  “That’s strange. This doesn’t add up...”

  Something this powerful should never be this easy to take. There should have been a fierce reaction. The Mana barrier earlier was a natural defense from the Seven Luminaries—someone too weak wouldn’t even qualify to touch it. But now, it was completely docile?

  Just as Hulim was puzzling over this—

  Rumble...

  The entire underground space began to shake violently. Chunks of rock fell from the ceiling. The pillars at the platform’s four corners started to flicker, and the golden chains connected to the magic array developed cracks.

  “...What’s happening now?”

  “Little Semiris!”

  Hulim looked up at Little Semiris in the air. At that moment, Little Semiris dissolved the magic array. Almost immediately, the four golden chains shattered, and the pillars at the corners cracked.

  “Run, Hulim~! Without the Seven Luminaries as the core, this place is collapsing!”

  “What?!”

  Hulim froze for a second, then sprinted toward the passage they’d come from.

  Crack, crack...

  The suspended stone platform beneath her feet and the stone path connecting to it also started to split. Countless shards of rock fell into the dark abyss below. However, with Enhancement and Lightness boosting her speed, Hulim could escape before these suspended structures completely crumbled.

  “We’re almost there! We’ll make it!”

  As the entrance to the passage came into view, Hulim felt a flicker of relief—until a deafening roar echoed from ahead.

  Roar——!!

  Then, a massive commotion rapidly approached from the front. Hulim’s face paled, and she skidded to a stop.

  “No way... Did it wake up that fast?!”

  Boom——!

  The next second, the rock wall in front of her was smashed apart by something enormous. A hideous, jet-black head emerged from the broken stone—even in the dimness, its huge, scarlet slit pupils glowed like two lanterns, clear as day...

  “......”

  Ahead stood the strongest creature in this dungeon.

  Crack, crack...

  Behind her, the platform and path were collapsing faster and faster. In an instant, Hulim was trapped between a rock and a hard place.

  “Little Semiris will hold it off! Hulim, run!”

  Little Semiris flew straight toward the black earth dragon.

  “Wait! Little Semiris!”

  Hulim couldn’t stop her in time. The dragon noticed Little Semiris—tiny as a bug—and a hint of disdain flickered in its scarlet eyes.

  “Stupid big dragon~! Watch this—”“Fairy Flash!!!”

  Hum——!

  In an instant, a blinding white light filled the entire underground space. The dragon, which had been staring directly at Little Semiris, took the flash head-on. It let out a roar of pain and squeezed its eyes shut.

  “She even has that trick?”

  Creatures that lived underground for years—even if they weren’t sensitive to light—tended to lose their tolerance for intense brightness.

  “Great job, Little Semiris!”

  Hulim dashed forward, speeding past the dragon’s feet.

  Boom!

  At that moment, the suspended path and platform behind her completely collapsed, plunging into the dark abyss. But Hulim had no time to feel relieved—the dragon would recover soon. She ran as fast as she could, passing under the dragon’s body, then fled along the path the dragon had smashed open toward the outside.