Whoosh —
Another orb of light streaked directly toward the center of her back.
This time, Lilia did not look back.
Her body shifted half a step to the left.
The movement was stiff, but her positioning was precise.
The orb of light grazed the fabric of her back and exploded in front of her.
Lilia’s heart skipped a beat.
‘It works!’
‘I really “saw” it!’
The thought had just surfaced when two more sounds rang out — whoosh! whoosh!
Two more orbs of light, one high and one low, locked onto her position.
Lilia moved almost instinctively, following the trajectories mapped out in her mind.
She ducked, crouched, and leaned back!
As she squatted down, the upper orb of light flew past, grazing her scalp.
But before she could finish bending her waist —
Bang!
A sharp sting shot through her lower abdomen!
‘I missed it!’
Hidden between the two bright lines of attack was an extremely thin thread of magic.
That was the real strike!
Lilia let out a muffled groan as the strength was drained from her body, and she slumped onto the bed.
As the sharp pain in her abdomen receded, a wave of numbness washed over her, leaving her limbs weak.
‘I let my guard down, meow…’
She lay flat on the bed, frustratedly thumping the mattress.
Magic Vision did not allow her to see everything clearly; it only gave her the chance to discern everything.
Enduring the physical discomfort, she pushed her consciousness down once more.
She stopped merely “looking” at those dancing purple lines and began to “read” them.
She read the thickness, the brightness, the speed, and the things hidden between them.
Whoosh —
The sound of breaking air rang out from all directions again.
This time, Lilia did not move immediately.
In her mental world, over a dozen purple lines of varying thickness intersected, sealing off all space.
She saw the three brightest lines, which were feints.
She also saw the attack hidden in their shadows, nearly blending into the darkness.
Now!
Lilia suddenly lunged upward from the bed.
Instead of retreating, she charged toward the area where the orbs were most densely packed.
In the next instant, her body twisted into a strange posture, squeezing through a narrow gap between two light orbs.
Immediately after, a clumsy forward roll allowed her to dodge a sneak attack from above.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The light orbs struck empty air, failing to even touch the hem of her skirt.
Though her eyes were closed, the corners of her mouth could not help but curl upward.
This feeling…
‘Too exhilarating!’
When the last light orb dissipated into the air, the training ended.
Lilia knelt on the bed on one knee, sweat sliding down her cheeks.
Her chest heaved, and her head throbbed with dizziness from overexerting her mental energy.
Yet, her heart was filled with satisfaction.
She opened her eyes, her heterochromatic eyes — one gold and one blue — shining with startling intensity.
She looked up at the woman who had been watching the show from the bedside.
She tilted her chin up, and the tip of her tail flicked triumphantly.
“How was that, meow?”
“Not a single one hit me.”
Her voice was somewhat raspy from exhaustion, but her provocative tone remained intact.
“So, that ‘surprise’ you mentioned… we don’t need it anymore, right, meow?”
Lucia did not speak.
She stood up, her black combat suit tracing the curves of her figure with sharp clarity.
She walked toward Lilia step by step.
Lilia wanted to retreat, but she found that her legs were too weak to move.
Lucia stopped in front of her.
Then, she reached out and grasped Lilia’s still-trembling wrist.
Her hand was cold, but her grip was too strong to resist.
“Yes, not bad at all,” Lucia said flatly.
“But you have only just opened the door. Do not think you have mastered it yet.”
She leaned in closer, inspecting Lilia’s face, which was stained with sweat and dust.
“As a reward for your successful trial, I have decided to take you somewhere interesting.”
Lilia’s heart hammered in her chest.
“What kind of place, meow?”
“My Collection Room.”
—
The Collection Room of the Evernight Palace was completely different from the treasure vault Lilia had imagined.
There were no gold or silver jewels, nor were there any divine weapons.
The heavy obsidian doors slid open to both sides.
The interior was pitch black, devoid of any sound. Lucia led her inside.
As they walked, magical lights flickered on one after another.
The light revealed the true nature of the place.
Massive transparent crystals stood throughout the hall, their surfaces flowing with runic bands of light.
Every crystal container held a living creature within it.
Lucia led her toward the one closest to them.
It was a crystal dozens of meters high, sealing a colossal entity inside.
It was a mountain of flesh, composed of countless masses of meat and eyes twisted together.
At the very top, a giant eye over three meters wide was tightly shut.
A wave of pressure slammed into Lilia’s mind.
She felt dizzy, and her stomach did a somersault.
“This is the Thousand-Eye Gazer. Its primary diet consists of the Spirit Core of intelligent beings.”
Lucia’s calm voice rang out beside her.
Lilia scrambled back a step, hurrying away from the crystal.
“Why… why did you bring me here, meow?”
“To broaden your horizons.”
Lucia led her past the crystal containers.
She saw a Nightmare Hawk with a wingspan exceeding ten meters, its body wreathed in black flames.
She saw an Abyss Worm nearly 100 meters long, covered in wailing human faces.
She even saw a crystal the size of a fist, around which space itself seemed to warp.
Every “collection” here emitted a pressure that was at least Tier 4. Some felt even more dangerous than the Head Maid, Lilith.
This was no Collection Room.
This was clearly a maximum-security prison housing countless monsters!
“By the way,” Lucia stopped in front of a magical beast whose fur resembled flowing shadows.
“I want you to pick one to be your sparring partner.”
“Sparring partner, meow?!”
Lilia’s face turned pale instantly.
Fight these monsters? Any one of them could tear her into pieces!
“Don’t worry,” Lucia said, her tone level.
“I will use a restriction to suppress its strength to the level of a Tier 2 Apostle, the same as you. This will be very beneficial for consolidating your Magic Vision.”
Lilia swallowed hard.
Her heart was filled with fear, yet there was a faint trace of irrepressible excitement.
If she really could fight these legendary monsters…
She began to seriously evaluate the “sparring candidates.”
Just then —
Hum — Hum — Hum —
A sudden, urgent alarm pierced the silence of the Collection Room!
All the runic bands on the crystal containers turned blood-red, flashing rapidly.
A voice resonated through the hall:
[Warning! Containment Unit No. 73 energy leak! Seal structure damaged!]
[Warning! Containment No. 73 breach! Subject has broken the seal!]
Lilia’s heart jumped as she looked toward the source of the sound.
In a corner of the hall, the smallest crystal container had a massive crack on its surface.
Crack —
The container shattered completely.
A dark, fluffy object tumbled out from within.
It rolled twice on the ground, shook its head, and looked up, revealing a pair of pure black, emotionless eyes.
It saw Lilia.
Then, it tilted its head and let out a soft cry.
“Guh?”
The moment the thought ‘it’s a bit cute’ crossed Lilia’s mind — the black ball of fur vanished.
No, it didn’t vanish! In Lilia’s Magic Vision, the black dot left no trajectory behind.
It jumped directly from its original spot to right in front of her!
It was too fast! Her eyes saw it, and her spirit “saw” it, but her body and nerves were completely unable to react!
A terrifying suction force pulled at her lower abdomen, threatening to tear out her soul along with her internal organs! Lilia’s mind went blank.
In the instant she thought she was about to be disemboweled by this “little cutie” — a black shadow flashed past the corner of her eye, accompanied by the sound of rushing wind.
Thump!
A dull impact echoed.
Lilith had blocked the way in front of her at some point.
Her small leather boot was still extended in a side-kick position.
The black fur ball was kicked flying, slamming heavily into a distant crystal wall.
After a loud crash, it tumbled to the ground and remained motionless.
Lilia’s legs gave out, and she fell onto her backside, panting heavily.
Just now… she had almost died.
Lilith retracted her leg, turned, and bowed to Lucia.
“Your Majesty, it is a Void Beast cub. it broke the seal.”
She paused, not looking at Lilia, but spoke words that made Lilia’s entire body turn cold.
“Just now, it intended to devour the Space Core inside the young lady’s body.”