Chapter 13: Wind Direction

The party continued forward along the new route.

The malice of the Demonic Domain Forbidden Swamp seemed to grow thicker the deeper they went.

They encountered several waves of harassment from low-tier monsters—Corrupted Swamp Crocodiles that suddenly lunged out from the mud, and Wailing Sporemushrooms that sprayed hallucinogenic spores.

However, these battles didn’t even require Faluriel to take action herself.

Jiang You watched as those seemingly delicate magical girls, at the very instant battle erupted, displayed efficient killing skills utterly at odds with their sweet appearances.

The chanting of spells was short and deadly, flames and frost weaving orderly through the formation, striking with precision at each monster’s vital points.

The melee girls’ swords flashed, always finding their way into a monster’s soft eye socket or throat just before it could pounce.

The entire process was as smooth as flowing water, their coordination perfect, with almost no wasted movements or energy.

Jiang You asked himself—if he were caught in such an ambush, even relying on high agility and skills to escape, he would still end up a mess.

And Faluriel merely stood quietly at the edge of the battlefield the whole time.

Occasionally, she would issue a command in one or two words—“Left wing, fire wall.” Or “Dispel, now.”

Her voice wasn’t loud, yet it reached every member’s ears with clarity.

Watching her back, Jiang You suddenly realized—she wasn’t fighting.

She was teaching.

She was using these perfectly timed skirmishes to hone her young subordinates’ combat abilities.

This woman…she never stopped thinking, never stopped strategizing.

Even random encounters could be exploited to their fullest by her.

Just then, Jiang You’s gaze swept past Faluriel—and abruptly froze.

In his vision, Faluriel’s image had always been flawless and unassailable.

A straight military posture, calm command, overwhelming magic, and that eternally unmelting iceberg face.

Everything about her radiated the lofty, untouchable aura of a Divine Favored and Commander.

Yet, on the side of her meticulously crafted, high-quality marching backpack, there hung an object utterly out of place with her entire aura—a jarring presence.

It was a teddy bear.

A…crude, extremely rough teddy bear.

The bear’s body was sewn from the most common gray-brown burlap, the stitches crooked and uneven, with some spots wrinkled from being pulled too tight.

One ear was higher than the other, as if it hadn’t been lined up properly during sewing.

Its eyes were mismatched black buttons, one slightly loose and on the verge of falling off.

This thing—let alone being the work of a craftsman from the royal capital—even toys sewn by rural village women for their children would probably be more refined than this.

It looked more like a child’s clumsy first attempt at needlework.

There it hung, lonely and swaying with Faluriel’s slightest movements.

Its awkward, laughable appearance formed a stark, almost absurd contrast with her cold, perfect back.

In that moment, Jiang You felt his mind crash.

Instinctively, he activated his Scout Skill to check the teddy bear’s attributes.

But the system only returned a single line of simple, gray text: [Faluriel’s Teddy Bear (Ordinary Item)].

No attributes, no description, no quest link.

Just…an utterly ordinary thing.

Jiang You froze.

His gaze landed on the bear once more, then lifted to Faluriel’s straight back, which seemed capable of supporting the sky itself.

For some reason, the back of the Divine Favored that countless players viewed as an unscalable chasm suddenly felt as if it had gained…a hint of warmth.

Jiang You looked away, lowered his head, and pretended to adjust his dagger.

He suddenly thought that this game, , might be more complex—and interesting—than he’d imagined.

—

“Wait.”

Just as Jiang You’s thoughts were thrown into turmoil by the crude teddy bear, forcing him to reassess the game world before him, Faluriel’s cold voice shattered the party’s brief silence once more.

Her tone was even shorter than before, carrying a trace of alertness.

Everyone turned in response.

They saw Faluriel half-crouched, her gaze fixed intently on a patch of seemingly unremarkable, half-human-high black ferns about twenty meters ahead.

Those ferns grew on a small, relatively dry mound, surrounded by a marsh bubbling with green liquid—one of the few stable spots to stand in this land of death.

“Is there a problem, Commander?”

A senior magical girl asked in a low voice.

Faluriel didn’t reply immediately.

She extended her right hand, pale fingers tracing the air, a faint blue magical halo swirling at her fingertips.

She was sensing.

Analyzing.

“The wind’s wrong.”

She finally spoke, her voice deep.

“There’s turbulence where the wind passes through.”

That meant there was a relatively sealed space with weak air exchange beneath.

“[Shadowfang Breaker].”

Faluriel stood up, her gaze shifting to Jiang You.

“Roger.”

Jiang You instantly pushed away all distractions, slipping back into his efficient, professional player mode.

He knew—a new mission had arrived.

“Clear those ferns.”

Faluriel’s order was concise.

Jiang You didn’t ask further.

He flickered forward like an arrow loosed from the string.

Ten meters from the mound, his wrist flicked—two cold, gleaming throwing knives flew.

The blades drew precise arcs through the air, silently severing the thickest roots of the black ferns.

Deprived of their anchor, the plants toppled, revealing what they had concealed—a pitch-black hole.

The opening wasn’t large—about human height, half as wide, its edges slick with mud and tangled roots.

“There’s something there!”

A young magical girl couldn’t help but exclaim.

Faluriel’s expression didn’t change.

She calmly observed the hole, mind rapidly analyzing the possibilities.

“Boss, want me to go in?”

Jiang You asked.

“Mm.”

Faluriel gave a single syllable.

If a terrifying presence beyond the party’s level lurked within the cave, Jiang You would be stopped by the invisible level wall at the entrance.

That was far safer than sending a living scout inside.

Jiang You nodded, drew a deep breath, and strode into the darkness without hesitation.

Time ticked by—each second stretched long.

Two minutes passed.

The opening remained silent.

No movement.

Jiang You hadn’t emerged.

No sounds of combat.

“He didn’t encounter a level wall.”

Faluriel spoke quietly.

“This means that even if there’s danger inside, it’s within our range to handle.”

She glanced around.

Night was falling.

Zhao Yingyue and the party of [Bunny Cute, Can I Take a Bite?] should be on their way back.

Having the main force guard the entrance while investigating inside wouldn’t take much time.

—

When the Sentinel Plan was first proposed, Zhao Yingyue immediately teamed up with [Bunny] to form another scouting party, joining Faluriel’s magical girls in exploring the Demonic Domain Forbidden Swamp.

—

“Aileen, signal Zhao Yingyue. Have her bring the Red Dragon Guard to rendezvous with you. All members, establish a standard Three-Ring Defense Formation centered on the entrance.”

Faluriel’s order was succinct.

“Guard the entrance—don’t let other monsters approach. I’ll go in and take a look.”

A magic firework soared from Aileen’s hand across the sky above the Demonic Domain Forbidden Swamp.

With all arrangements in place, Faluriel no longer hesitated.

She gripped her sword hilt single-handedly and stepped into the bottomless entrance, her figure like a pale blue ghost merging with the darkness.

The moment she entered, a distinctly different air greeted her.

Compared to the filth and rot of the Demonic Domain Forbidden Swamp, the air here was almost…fresh.

Light was swallowed completely at the threshold, plunging the surroundings into pure, impenetrable darkness.

But to Faluriel, this darkness posed no obstacle.

She sensed the cave’s wind currents, moving like a snow leopard accustomed to the night—light and swift, her boots treading silently on slick rock, body pressed to the cold, rough wall, using every crevice and outcrop for cover as she slipped deeper.

The passage twisted downward, scattered with bones of unknown creatures.

Some bones glowed faintly with green moss, casting an eerie life into the gloom.

After advancing about a hundred meters, the tunnel opened into a relatively spacious underground chamber.

At that moment, Faluriel caught the faintest trace of breathing.

She halted instantly, melding into the wall’s shadow.

The sound came from behind a massive stalactite, two people tall, not far ahead.

There, a blurred figure crouched, body tense, gaze locked on the depths.

From the lean outline and familiar leather armor, Faluriel recognized him at once—[Shadowfang Breaker].

This outsider truly hadn’t disappointed her, displaying outstanding stealth and scouting abilities.

His observation point was well chosen—giving a clear view ahead while concealing himself perfectly within the terrain.

Faluriel didn’t alert him.

She slid through the shadows in silence, circling in a small arc to appear behind Jiang You.

Jiang You was wholly focused on the space ahead, oblivious to her presence.

Only when a slender finger tapped his shoulder did he stiffen, nearly swinging his blade out of reflex.

Faluriel swiftly caught his wrist before he could draw, gesturing for silence, then directed her gaze forward along his original line of sight.

Even someone as experienced as her couldn’t help but pause at the sight.

In the center of the chamber, within a cluster of glowing blue mushrooms, two bizarre creatures were dancing.

They stood no taller than an adult’s knee—scrawny, gray-brown skin like damp bark, with long, pointed ears utterly disproportionate to their bodies, twitching like bat wings.

They wore clothes crudely woven from tattered leaves and moss, comical and primitive.

These were clearly not Elves.

The Elves of Southwind Valley were proud and elegant—never would they appear like this.

Rather, these seemed to be the legendary beings of the underground—the Earth Goblin, or Cave Fairy.