Heaven, Earth, Me

The item in the box surprised everyone. They were expecting some kind of powerful weapon, perhaps something related to smithing. What they wouldn't have guessed even if they were given 100 years was… a saddle. Moreover, it was not a typical saddle but one that could be picked up easily with just one hand.

The saddle was black, red, and golden in color. The seat was purely black, surrounded by gorgeous hand-made brocading of dragons and other imagery. It was, even if not that big, gorgeous beyond belief. 

Andrea muttered, picking up the item. "This… I can barely fit on it. Shouldn't it be much bigger?"

Evelyn blinked and smiled. "Andrea, with the quality of this item, I wouldn't find it hard to imagine that it has the ability to change sizes. Don't you think?"

"Quality…?" Andrea looked again and squinted for a second. Her heart shuddered the second she did so as a powerful and ancient feeling emanating from the saddle hit her brain like a hammer. Andrea's eyes widened, and she asked, baffled. "What in Heaven's name…? What kind of quality does this item have?"

Yasenia hummed and answered, her tone carrying some uncertainties. "While I feel that it is a low-level Transcendence Ranked treasure, the feeling around it is similar to the one on Draheart and Dramel."

Everyone paused and looked at Yasenia with weird eyes. Cecile asked with trepidation. "Um… What's Dramel?"

The dragoness blinked twice and answered with a smile. "My pipa! [Dragon's Melody of the Three Sacred Beasts]!"

Their hearts twisted and ripped, mourning the poor item with such a legendary name. 'The gorgeous and magnificent piece of art has been reduced to Dramel. A simple combination of Dragon and Melody! Such tragedy! Such a Dravory thing to do!'

Tatyana exclaimed. "Oh! That's quite a good name!"

Some people couldn't take the blow of such powerful words and kneeled, coughing up blood. "O-Of course… The mother likes it… It runs in the blood!"

The girls suddenly thought back on their children, and their faces began to show strange expressions. 'Now that they are alone… Have they also started naming things in the Dravory style?'

Being reminded about the children made a few of the girls show a hint of melancholy that Yasenia noticed. The dragoness was surprised at their reaction and asked, somewhat seriously. "What's wrong? Why the long faces? If you dislike the name that much, I can change it."

Evelyn crossed her arms and smiled faintly, looking at the worried dragoness with love in her eyes. "Don't worry, dear. Personally, I was thinking about that mischievous girl Skye. I guess that the others were also reminded about the little ones."

Yasenia paused and looked at the girls. She thought about them almost all the time. Her thoughts would always go to feeling how they were doing and looking at the Soul Tablets she had in her spatial ring. The dragoness walked around, dragging the girls with her tail, and then gave them all a big group hug. 

No words were exchanged, just her body warmth and feelings permeating them. After giving them a hug, she separated and smiled. "Let's continue searching for the Formation, shall we?"

The girls nodded when Doriel appeared out of nowhere by their side, making a few of them jump. Kali stuttered. "D-Doriel, don't appear out of nowhere!"

Doriel blinked twice, her obsidian eyes unable to reflect any kind of deep emotion. The assassin woman still nodded and said. "I'll try my best." Then, looking at Yasenia, she added. "I've found the formation that we must unravel, Young Miss."

"Oh?" The dragoness raised her eyebrow. She smiled and added. "Well, what are you waiting for? Guide us there."

Doriel hummed and rubbed her chin. "There is a small problem with the location, Young Miss. It is submerged in magma. It seems that there was a leak on one of the walls, and now the entire room is almost entirely filled."

"Oh."

The dragoness thought for a second and shook her head. "Let's see it first. We'll go from there."

Andrea stored the saddle in her own ring, and then, the entire group moved deeper through the narrow room, eventually reaching another spiral staircase. This one was much tighter, though. It only allowed two people to walk side by side. Yasenia led at the front with Doriel, the girls walking right behind them. 

Once the dragoness reached the bottom of the staircase, she walked through a five-meter wide and three-meter tall passage made out of volcanic rock. At the end of the corridor, the room opened up into what was, in the past, a relatively large hall with a semi-circular ceiling. 

Powerful Formation lines flowed across the ceiling and then moved down the walls, submerging into the dense, superheated magma lake below. The dragoness and others looked at it and sighed.

Angel muttered. "So… Do we need to empty this place before we work?"

Andrea hummed. "We should. Any idea on how to empty this place?"

"Many." Yasenia blurted.

Evelyn nodded. "I also have a few. What do you have in mind, Yasenia?"

The dragoness blinked. "I just suck it into my spatial ring."

Everyone paused and looked at the dragoness's hand. The gorgeous hand had long and slender fingers ending in a perfectly rounded pink nail. The agile and flexible-looking fingers and smooth hand were quite a sight. Moreover, with the [Five Realm Spatial Ring] adorning her index finger, her hand gained a touch of nobility that made it even more impressive.

Evelyn muttered. "Damn… I am feeling a tingling just from your hand. Am I that horny? Or is it that you are just that pretty?"

Kali coughed. "I think the second one is true."

Yasenia extended her hand and gently patted the fox, moving her fingers along her long and fluffy fox ears. She spoke with a deep and charming tone. "Cute~."

Kali almost mewled as her tails started wagging uncontrollably.

Hugging her happy fox in her arms, the dragoness pointed toward the magma lake and used her energy to create a suctioning force. The dense and thick liquid rose from the lake and started flowing toward Yasenia's hand.

However, right as Yasenia began absorbing, Tatyana shouted. "Stop!"

Yasenia immediately stopped and looked at her. "What's wrong?"

Tatyana pointed upward. Everyone followed her finger and noticed that a small part of the formation at the highest part of the ceiling had disappeared. The dragoness blinked twice and poured the magma she had absorbed onto the lake again.

As she did so, the formation lines climbed upward again and met at the center like before. Evelyn laughed with interest. "Ho ho~, so we need to unravel the formation as we empty the place? This is quite a challenge, no?"

Tatyana squinted. "I don't think so. It feels like it is using the same principle as the formation in that other place. So, more than disappearing, the formation is hiding itself." She floated upward, arriving at the middle of the curved ceiling. She read the lines and hummed with interest. "This is quite… complex. A sublime work again. I wonder how many people in this world even have the ability to understand it."

The formation on the Moon Goddess trial and this one were already a filter that would fail the grand majority of people attempting them. It was no wonder no one was able to complete them for so long. "Hm… Little Treasure, absorb part of the lake."

The dragoness followed her instructions, and after the formation lines disappeared, Tatyana ordered her to stop. Then, the Death Empress looked at the spot where the formation had disappeared and squinted. "... As expected. It is still here. If not, this formation would collapse by itself with a few of its nodes disappearing as they have."

Knowing that, the plan was straightforward. They would paint and memorize the entire formation as they did on the other trial until it was completely revealed. If they needed to start from the ceiling, refilling the room to have a clearer view and slowly unraveling it would be an option.

Tatyana smiled faintly. "Well, if this is the level that this trial is asking, we are more than capable of it. Okay, let's start."

Yasenia ordered. "Okay, all the people who are not going to take part in this need to leave this place. As you've seen, the way here is nothing but a deathtrap. So, the rest need to be on the top so that when everything starts collapsing, we can all flee without hindering each other."

Most of the maids and some of the girls followed Yasenia's orders, and everyone left until around eight people were left behind. Yasenia, Angel, Tatyana, Selena, and four other maids were among these eight people.

Without delay, they all started to work. It wasn't until four days later that Tatyana sighed with a satisfied smile. "Once we change this north rune to south, it will be done."

Yasenia smirked. "If you are not incorrect, no?"

Tatyana raised her eyebrow. "Oh? Are you really challenging my knowledge?"

The dragoness pecked her lips and smirked. "Arrogance is a silent and insidious killer. You sure you don't want to double-check?"

Tatyana clicked her tongue and sighed. "I don't know who taught you all those things, but they've done a really good job at parenting!" 

Angel giggled. "You are the most humble, Mommy Tatyana!"

Tatyana patted her head with a grin. "You know it best, Little Angel." Then, she checked the now-empty room once more. "Let's see… Does anyone feel something amiss?" Her expression turned serious as she spoke. "In all seriousness, I feel that we are really done. We've also triple and quadruple-checked everything." 

Everyone else also looked at the empty room. After emptying the magma, a mainly white and gold room was revealed to them, full of white, red, and black lines to form the formation lines. Their glowing nature also gave the room a mystical glow, increasing the solemnity of this place. 

Yasenia shook her head. "I really don't feel anything wrong. What about the rest?"

"Nothing, Young Miss."

Angel also answered happily. "I see nothing wrong as well~!"

Tatyana smiled. "Well, let's flip it then." She flicked her finger on the rune with the meaning of north, and then, the rune shifted its form, transforming into the one that meant south.

As soon as Tatyana did that, everyone rushed at full speed toward the top of the room, where they entered from. Once there, they looked around cautiously. Angel hummed, confused. "Nothing's happening…?"

When they were all feeling confused, Yasenia felt a message full of anxiety reaching her from her soul link with Cecile. "My Love! The ceiling here is collapsing! Quickly get out of that place before you are buried!"

Yasenia's face changed to a cold and somewhat angered grin. "You old fox…! Everyone, run out. The place is collapsing from the outside!"

Noticing the implications, they all gritted their teeth and rushed outward at their top speed.