Chapter 13 : Hidden Stage
Chapter 13: Hidden Stage
On Lilith’s side.....
Looking at everything around her, Lilith was dumbfounded.
She remembered the guide she had purchased—this floor was supposed to be the Dark Monastery.
Yet now, it had turned into a completely different stage.
Moreover, this monster was incredibly powerful—absurdly so. She subconsciously swallowed, unease showing in her eyes.
“What is this? Why isn’t this in the guide at all?!”
As she spoke, Lilith turned her gaze toward Vivian beside her.
“Um... Vivian, this monster...”
Right now, she only wanted to know whether Vivian could defeat this obviously dangerous creature.
But halfway through her sentence, Lilith froze—because she saw Vivian staring straight at her.
A bad feeling instantly rose in her heart.
“Th-that... Vivian, you’re not planning to have me draw its attention again, are you?” Lilith asked cautiously, already preparing to turn and run at any moment.
After all, the experience on the second floor was still fresh in her mind.
Fortunately, Vivian immediately shook her head.
“Lilith, we’re partners. How could I possibly let you lure the monster?”
Bullshit!
Lilith, run!
Vivian screamed frantically in her heart!
Because just moments ago, she had heard Jiang Chen’s ill-intentioned muttering.
But clearly, Vivian’s silent cries were futile. She could only watch helplessly as Lilith was slowly toyed with by Lord God.
Then, under Lilith’s gaze, magic power surged within Vivian. In the next moment, the familiar little bear satchel appeared at her waist.
At the same time, Lilith noticed a faint golden glow lingering on the surface of the satchel.
“So, Vivian, can your skill kill this monster?” Lilith asked tentatively.
“It’s very difficult.” Vivian continued, “This BOSS... uh... monster—my skill can’t one-shot it. Its outer shell provides extremely high defense.”
“So defeating it is basically unrealistic.”
“We might have to stop here.”
Vivian sighed. “Even though we can’t beat it, I still want to try. In a moment, I’ll fight it in close combat. It’s inconvenient for me to carry this satchel—help me hold it.”
As she spoke, Vivian removed the little bear satchel and thoughtfully tied it around Lilith’s waist—securely fastening it with a dead knot.
“Oh.....” Lilith responded blankly.
“Oh right, Lilith, I just thought of a tactic. You go up front and attract the monster’s attention. If it attacks you, run immediately. I’ll sneak attack from behind—maybe I can kill it in one strike.”
As she spoke, Vivian pulled down a vine from nearby.
“N-no... wait... Vivian, are you sure I can actually escape if I lure it like that?”
Looking at herself—somehow already tied up hand and foot with vines by Vivian—Lilith’s voice trembled.
“A-and also, why do I feel like I’m being used as bait?”
Looking at Lilith wriggling on the ground like a caterpillar, Vivian gave her a reassuring look.
“Don’t worry, this vine can conceal your aura. Even if the monster gets close, it won’t notice you.”
“Really?” Lilith was half-convinced.
“Really. I’ve read a lot—I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“What if something goes wrong?” Lilith still wasn’t reassured.
“It’s fine. Death here isn’t real death anyway, so just relax.”
“And besides, you’re my best friend. How could I possibly harm you?” Vivian’s gaze was extremely sincere.
“Um... Vivian, I think... you can insult my intelligence, but could you at least pretend a little?! This is obviously using me as bait!!”
“I don’t care what you think—I care what I think!”
“And for the glory of Rose Town, are you unwilling to make even this small sacrifice?”
“You really are trying to use me as bait!!” Lilith finally snapped.
“Don’t worry, your death will have value. As long as it swallows you, I’ll detonate from inside and guarantee a one-shot kill!” Vivian said with absolute certainty.
“You bastard, Vivian!! You’re not even pretending anymore!!” Lilith was on the verge of tears.
“I believe in you!” Vivian clenched her small fist in encouragement.
“Believe in your head!! I don’t want to be bait!!” Lilith was losing her mind.
“Waaah, Vivian, can you really bear to let me be bait? Aren’t we best friends?” Lilith blinked pitifully at her.
In response, Vivian picked her up—and kicked her straight toward the Broodmother Spider.
So ruthless!!
Lilith flew in a parabola toward the Broodmother Spider, naturally attracting its attention.
When all eight pairs of its glowing red compound eyes locked onto her, Lilith finally broke down crying.
“Waaah... damn you, Vivian, I’ll remember this!”
“You stupid spider, I’m fighting you!!”
Then the Broodmother Spider opened its massive, blood-filled maw—and just as expected, Lilith flew straight into its mouth.
Now!
Jiang Chen didn’t hesitate at all and immediately activated the skill.
“BOOOOM!!!”
A massive explosion erupted—from inside the Broodmother Spider.
The once imposing creature was instantly blown apart into pieces.
Along with it came a bright red damage number.
—HP 8500 (Weakness Damage!)
“Holy crap, that’s a direct weakness hit! That’s brutal!” Jiang Chen clapped in excitement upon seeing the damage.
But compared to Jiang Chen, on Vivian’s side....
Lilith! No!!
Watching the center of the explosion, Vivian’s pupils trembled violently.
Using her own teammate as bait—this was simply too despicable! Vivian was now certain—whatever was controlling her was absolutely not a benevolent god.
It was an Evil God!
It had to be an Evil God!
Although death in the Eternal Tower wasn’t real death, the behavior was still vile.
If others found out about this, who would ever be willing to team up with her again? She might even be ostracized because of it.
What should she do? The Saint Delan Magic Academy would definitely not allow someone with such terrible conduct to enroll...
While Vivian was still worrying about her future, Jiang Chen, on the other side, was puzzled.
“So what’s going on now?”
Looking at the Broodmother Spider he had just instantly killed, Jiang Chen controlled his character and began searching the surroundings.
“Why isn’t there a stage-clear notification?”
“Is it bugged?”
He didn’t find it particularly surprising.
In open-world games, it was quite normal for some instances to get stuck.
“So... should I just relog?”
“After relogging, will the progress be saved, or will I have to redo it? Or will I just end up outside the dungeon?”
At this moment, Jiang Chen felt a faint sense of unease.
After all, he still had a bet going outside. If he couldn’t clear the third stage, he would definitely lose.
“Could it be because of that bet? The developers thought there was a bug in the settings, so they pulled something like this?”
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
While Jiang Chen was lost in speculation, back on Vivian’s side—
She had originally thought the monster had been killed by the explosion, but clearly, that wasn’t the case.
Because she could now distinctly feel that the surrounding flow of magic power was extremely abnormal.
At the same time, she noticed that the vines covering the cave walls were rapidly withering at a visible rate.
What was happening? Vivian was confused.