"We were foolish. We invited disaster in order to reach for more. We were greedy. Save our land. The evil you are facing is beyond the reality we exist in."
Yasenia repeated the words, her face somewhat serious. "What could that mean?"
The girls pondered, but more than their opinions, they were waiting for the three seniors to digest and explain his dying words. Mirrory spoke, confused. "It can be nonsense, right? Beyond reality… the only thing I can think of is the [Abyss]."
Valeria agreed, sitting down near Yasenia. "That's true. However, we have not really seen signs of Abyssal Corruption."
Tatyana pondered. "What if these Death Dunes were holding them back? Also, since there is one person from that era alive, there can be others."
Mirrory hummed. "That's true. However, I still feel that, while he is not lying, he is speaking out of partial ignorance."
Valeria's and Tatyana's eyes flashed. "That's… possible."
Hearing their words, Yasenia intervened. "When you say speaking of ignorance, it's like a mortal world seeing cultivators descend into their world with spatial portals? While they came from the same place, the way of arrival could create misunderstandings."
"Something similar, yes." Mirrory sighed. "There are many 'Top Tier Experts' who think they know everything and put labels on things. While traveling with my previous masters, the times I've found [The strongest technique under the Heavens] are far too many to count. In the end, it was the strongest technique of that area."
Valeria leaned her chin on Yasenia's shoulder. "There are many who think of themselves as strongest just because they can suppress those around them."
After those words, Evelyn asked, confused. "So… we ignore his words?"
"No." Tatyana shook her head. "We accept them but not in a literal way. There must've been some kind of invasion, and to stop it, they used a foolish method that ultimately caused a disaster."
Yasenia looked at Valeria, who had, at some point, hugged her like a doll while leaning her chin on her shoulder. She allowed her to hug her, her golden eyes flashing with a touch of amusement. "So, what do we do now?"
Valeria looked down and blinked. 'Hm…? When did I hug Yasenia?'
She didn't release her, though. The sensation of hugging Yasenia's soft body into her own was heavenly. So, she smiled at her and answered. "We search around for treasures that you might want, and then we go out."
Kali couldn't help but tease her summon. "So considerate of Yasenia, and not your supposed Master~."
Valeria blinked, her emerald slit eyes confused. "Hm? Are you also after treasures of this level?"
Kali laughed and shook her head. "No. Don't worry. Also… are you going to carry Yasenia like that?"
As a three-meter-tall woman, carrying someone half her size in the front like a doll looked quite funny. Yasenia's legs were dangling in the air, her breasts pushed up by Valeria's arms, and her head buried in Valeria's large green mountains. To feel a bit more comfortable, Yasenia had coiled her tail around Valeria's waist, and behind Valeria, her green scaled tail with golden rings was wagging happily.
It looked just like someone who was hugging their favorite doll.
Valeria, noticing their current position, felt her heart tremble for some reason and settled her down. "Ahem. Sorry for that."
Yasenia looked up, her golden eyes gentle. "No problem. I don't mind."
Those two gentle golden slit eyes made Valeria's green face gain a deeper shade for some reason. "Is… is that so?"
Evelyn looked at Kali and spoke. "Hey, how about you use the excuse to help you next time? That way, that log of denseness can have some fun."
Kali chuckled. "If Tatyana agrees, I don't mind much."
Tatyana, listening nearby, answered with a sigh. "Just give it a bit more time. I think that the jealousy from seeing you with Yasenia can be a good catalyst."
Sadly for them, there were no extra treasures on the last floor. The place was empty, and even the elder's spatial ring was cracked and broken. The contents inside had long been lost in a spatial turbulence, landing who knows where.
So, Yasenia was pouting as they left the pagoda. "They could've at least given me the entire Pagoda or something, right?"
"...At least?"
"Anyway." Yasenia stepped outside and tapped her chin with confusion. "Why are there so many beasts surrounding these ruins so suddenly?"
The pagoda moved up and down together with the dune waves, and below the surface, a few thousand signatures of life were circling ominously. Among them, many were as strong, if not stronger than Dune.
Andrea asked. "What if those beyond-reality creatures are these beasts?"
Tatyana chuckled. "It's not a bad suggestion. I have honestly never really seen creatures as adapted to the desert as these."
Valeria answered softly. "These beasts are not unheard of in harsh desert environments. So, that's not possible."
Andrea shrugged and looked at Yasenia. "So, what's the plan?"
"Plan?" Yasenia blinked and looked down at the beasts surrounding her. "What plan can there be? These beasts are trying to hold me back from reuniting with Asterion. Each second I waste with them is a second I can't see my previous baby boy."
Yasenia stepped forward, and the next second, all her auras exploded outward, holding almost nothing back. Her golden slit eyes were opened, full of killing intent. "Those who stop me from reuning with Aster… Die. [Celestial Dragon Breath]."
Blue light covered the world, a resounding dragon roar blasting open the sand and revealing the creatures below.
The giant hole across the sand Yasenia created slowly filled up with the moving dunes. Yasenia didn't lose the chance, though. Her legs tensed up, her body crouching, and then she lunged forward.
BOOM!
Her body shot through the hole like a beam of light, escaping the supposed encirclement. All the others, who had been prepared, followed right after.
Thankfully, even when Yasenia was terrifyingly fast, she had not rushed far ahead alone. Manifesting the energy board, Yasenia moved forward at a decent pace and waited for the rest to join.
As for the beasts behind them… they had been petrified by Yasenia's dragon might. As lacking in intelligence as they were, their instincts were very well alive.
Tatyana, having caught up, chuckled. "What about the Beast Cores? They are quite valuable."
Yasenia looked at Tatyana and extended her hand sideways. "They are here."
Tatyana blinked, and a second later, Anna appeared with a small spatial ring. "Young Miss, we've gathered all the surviving Beast Cores."
Seeing the small spatial ring and the maids who had caught up, Tatyana smiled, full of satisfaction. 'Those years of training were not wasted~.'
As they moved, Yasenia pondered. "Still, where did they come from?"
Angel spoke softly. "They could've noticed the formations inside the Pagoda activating."
"Hm… If that's the case, then the chance of these things being the 'beyond reality' threat becomes higher. Reacting so sensitively to the energy of these ruins is quite strange."
Cecile refuted Evelyn's words. "They have been living in this environment for over a million years. Naturally, their species has evolved to fit the Death Dunes, and most likely, they have evolved to associate those energy signals with food."
The girls continued discussing with interest, and in the meantime, moved around. They found another ruin, but inside, there was nothing much.
"Young Miss, look at this."
Yaenia picked the item the maid gave her. "What is this?"
"It came with this inscription, Young Miss. Sadly, we can't deduce much…"
The dragoness chuckled. "Mirrory, you understood the language, right? Can you decipher these inscriptions?"
"I can." Mirrory nodded and read through them. "It says that this is a [Family Treasure Marker] given to those who gain [Sky Owning Daggers]."
"Sky Owning Daggers?"
Mirrory smiled. "It's a literal translation. It most likely refers to those daggers you've collected before."
Yasenia retrieved one from her storage treasure and asked. "How do I use it?"
"You will?"
"I need to test what it does. Are there more?"
"None." The maid answered. "This was the only one we found in this mansion-like building."
"Hm… Let's save it for now?"
Mirrroy laughed. "You changed your opinion quite fast, eh? Is it hard to use the last one of its kind?"
Yasenia pouted. "If you know, why tease me? We need to hoard things for… for… you know, just in case!"
Mirrroy chuckled, shaking her head. 'Her dragon traits have become more pronounced after reaching the Sixth Realm compared to before. However, they have appeared positively. Of course, excessive greed can be bad, but Yasenia knows restraint.'
It was quite a peculiar outcome. After all, beasts usually tried to either hide or suppress their instinct as they grew in strength.
'Well, this kind of spiritual freedom is not bad. Yasenia is walking her own path, so telling her to follow orthodox methods will only stifle her growth. Unless we see negative effects on her growth, we should not intervene.'
Mirrory had changed quite a bit during the almost two centuries with Angel. She was still quite aloof, but to the girls, at least, she acted closer.
"Huh?"
As Yasenia stepped outside, she looked up with puzzled eyes. Everyone followed her gaze, but they couldn't see anything.
"Is there something wrong?"
After wandering around, they had long arrived at the central area of the Death Dunes. So, seeing Yasenia suddenly pay attention to the sky, everyone became alert.
"This… Hm…" Yasenia's instinct and mind were telling her that she had tools to use. As she pondered where or why this feeling appeared within her, Yasenia took out the map again.
"Similar? No… familiar sky? Hm… Follow me."
Everyone moved onward while Yasenia flipped through the several recorded images within the Map Scroll. "Say, Mom. Why do you think the daggers appeared in the few images that this map projects?"
Tatyana pondered. "They should be related. How, it is not clear. Perhaps, we need to gather a specific number of daggers for this zone to appear."
"Or perhaps, we need to craft them."
Tatyana looked at Yasenia's gaze and asked, her red eyes full of interest. "How?"
Yasenia took out the thing that the maid gave her and then picked one of the non-engraved daggers they got in the Pagoda. After getting both things, Yasenia moved her tail in front of her mouth and bit off one of her dragon scales.
Once done, Yasenia manipulated the dagger, the seal engraving, and the dragon scale. "Merge."
A celestial blue light swept everything around them, and a second later, a gorgeous dagger appeared in front of Yasenia, floating gently between her open hands.
The dagger's pommel resembled a dragon's neck and head, while the blade was full of starlit blue scales, a mix of imitation and true material from Yasenia's tail. The edge of the dagger was surprisingly dull, but the overall appearance was gorgeous.
"With this…" Everyone glanced at Yasenia with curiosity. "... Open."
A gesture of her hand sent the dagger to the sky like a shooting star. A second later, the sky lit up, and the dunes began spiraling like in the map's hologram.
"I see… to open the seal of the marked place, you need a self-gained seal dagger. Quite interesting."