Chapter 65: The Price of Arrogance

“Don’t be angry, big sister.”

Hilvyn gently patted her back, which felt “as hard as iron,” her voice laced with extreme caution.

Elara had been ignoring her ever since she finished her bath, clearly furious.

She was acting like a petulant child, turning a deaf ear to all her pleas.

‘I knew that little pervert had ulterior motives.’

As she recalled how she had been teased to the point of exhaustion just moments ago, a blush crept across her face once more.

‘It was too intense, and I had no mental preparation whatsoever.’

Yet, she wasn’t truly angry. Elara had long reconciled herself to the fact that this was an inevitable outcome.

Her current silence toward Hilvyn was simply a wordless protest, lamenting the lack of prior warning.

And how it had left her so utterly flustered.

‘Wuwuwu… My image as a dignified big sister is ruined…’

Though, in truth, it had been gone for quite some time.

Meanwhile, the person behind her continued to call out softly.

‘Would forgiving her now be an injustice to my current sulk?’

Elara found herself in a dilemma: should she continue to be petulant, or surrender to her heart and forgive Hilvyn?

“Sleep.”

Her tone was flat, as if she were still in a fit of pique.

But even without the evening’s events, it was time for bed anyway; they had to wake early tomorrow.

“Okay~”

Hilvyn cooed softly, pressing close and embracing Elara from behind.

Elara neither struggled nor moved, silently placing her hand over Hilvyn’s.

“Big sister is so kind.”

Hilvyn’s wrist turned, lacing her fingers with Elara’s.

“Goodnight.”

****

The following morning.

Elara awoke as usual, gently prying away the person clinging to her chest.

‘Oh dear…’

Her roots felt distinctly sore and swollen. ‘That little pervert could have been gentler; I’m truly exasperated.’

She rolled her eyes, then bent down and casually blew a puff of air onto one of the long ears.

“Oh!” Hilvyn startled awake. “Good morn—ing…”

Elara raised an eyebrow, surprised by the effectiveness of her method. She made a mental note to use this trick to wake Hilvyn whenever she was in a hurry.

“Quickly, get ready. We’re leaving.” Elara had already tied up her long hair. “We’ll grab breakfast and then meet up with the Mulan Squad.”

“Oh, right.”

Hilvyn conjured a ball of cold air, forcing herself to shake off the last vestiges of sleep.

****

At the Adventurers’ Guild.

There were still over twenty minutes until their appointed time, leaving them with ample time.

“You two are early today.”

“Good morning, Serene.”

Hilvyn darted a few steps to stand before Serene.

Elara suddenly remembered something and walked to the window. “Yesterday, we encountered a drunkard on the street…”

“Rex.”

Serene directly stated his identity.

“It really was him?” Only after this answer was confirmed did Elara show her surprise.

“Yes, they jumped into the light lake on the 52nd floor. He eventually came back up, carrying another teammate and enduring the venom of the cave jellyfish, but that teammate didn’t make it. Rex himself was left with a crippled leg, and then, he went mad.”

Hilvyn frowned. “How could they not know there were jellyfish inside?”

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck her, and she understood.

“It’s because of the guide,” Elara explained from the side.

“Precisely,” Serene affirmed. “The guide he purchased was only suitable for the first 40 floors.”

It was rare for A-rank adventurers to suffer losses in a dungeon due to incorrect guides. The main reason was Rex’s excessive arrogance; no one thought to remind him that he could claim a free guide.

Elara’s guess had been largely accurate.

Such a talented individual, having never faced significant setbacks, had fallen victim to something as foolish as buying a fake guide. He had even caused the deaths of three teammates, and unable to recover, he had lost his mind.

‘Such is the myriad of human experiences.’

Elara sighed inwardly.

It served as a stark reminder for her to always proceed with utmost caution.

“You’re here so early!”

The Mulan Squad arrived fashionably late.

Elara turned her back, covertly glancing at her wrist — there were still over ten minutes until the agreed-upon time.

“We just arrived ourselves.”

Politeness, it seemed, was still a necessity.

Serene observed the two groups, remaining silent.

Settling into the same spots as yesterday, the two squads quickly discussed their general strategy before heading to the joint subjugation request board to claim their mission.

After registering with the receptionist, they set off for the forest.

This time, Elara had prepared various flavored masks in advance.

“Do we really need so many?” Talia asked, seeing the numerous masks being stuffed into the storage bag.

“Better safe than sorry.”

Elara responded blandly.

“Senior Bai Zhi, I have some questions about magic that I’d like to ask you…”

The speaker was Talina, Talia’s sister, an B-rank adventurer.

As they journeyed, Elara learned more about this squad. The four of them were from the same hometown: Talia and her sister, Talina, and another A-rank pair, a brother and sister.

‘This Talina is getting a little too close to Hilvyn, isn’t she?’

A strange, nameless irritation welled up in Elara’s heart, and she subtly moved closer to Hilvyn.

For this joint subjugation, they were targeting an A-rank Corrupted Agglomeration, which had already ventured deep into the edge of the Whispering Forest, nearing its central section.

Along the way, the six of them used detection magic as much as possible to avoid corrupted monsters. In this final stage of corruption, they only needed to eliminate the Corrupted Agglomeration; the remaining corrupted monsters would be eradicated by the Whispering Forest’s inherent power.

“Black Rose, I wanted to ask you… what kind of high-level magic allows you to pinpoint the exact location of monsters?”

Elara could sense monsters within a certain range with precise accuracy, and throughout their journey, she had guided everyone around numerous creatures.

Although Talia could sense mana fluctuations, she couldn’t discern the monsters’ exact locations. Yet, by following Elara’s directions, they had indeed avoided encountering a single monster.

She had some understanding of dark magic, but none offered such an exceptionally effective high-level ability—unless it was an extraordinary magic she knew little about.

“Just a low-level spell,” Elara said truthfully.

Upon hearing this, however, Talia merely assumed Elara was concealing her trump card. Understanding such a practice, she wisely chose not to press further.

Along the way, if they encountered a weak, isolated monster, Elara would swiftly dispatch it with [Dark Arrow]. If monsters gathered, they would simply bypass them, never encountering any danger.

“We’re almost there.”

Talia stared at the map. Their target was only about 400 meters away.

It had to be said, these masks were incredibly useful, filtering out almost all the stench.

Elara adjusted her mask again, ensuring no air leaked through.

‘What was all that suffering I endured during my first visit to the forest compared to this?’

The group continued onward.

At about 200 meters, the surrounding trees noticeably took on a sickly grey-green hue. Their leaves had either fallen or appeared withered and lifeless.

The ground cover mirrored the trees, but stepping on it would reduce it to powder upon lifting one’s foot, even though it maintained its fresh form. It felt as if a strong gust of wind could shatter it.

This sight truly matched what Guild Leader Sevia had described: “as if the end of the world had arrived.”

Hilvyn, seeing this spectacle for the first time, found it far more shocking than any description in their reports. She instinctively leaned closer to Elara.

Further on, most of the trees had shed all their leaves, their gnarled branches reaching out like dead, skeletal wood.

With no leaves to obstruct their view, they could already see the Corrupted Agglomeration about a hundred meters ahead.

It stood seven or eight meters tall, with a rounded trunk, as if incubating something. Garlic-shaped orbs of varying sizes grew on its trunk and all around it—each containing randomly formed monsters.

Green mist billowed, exuding an aura of death.

Hilvyn had already raised her magic staff.

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