“Let’s rest here for now. This Abyssal passage is seriously long. Didn’t you notice that when you came through before?”

Night Frost and the others had been traveling through the darkness for who knew how long. The little sorceresses wore clear signs of fatigue.

By the faint firelight, Night Frost noticed the sleepiness on their faces. She casually found an opportunity—and an excuse—to let the little ones rest.

The crimson-gold flames kept watch as the little ones fell asleep. While they rested, Eye Orb and Night Frost checked their remaining supplies.

There was still plenty of dried meat from the giant serpent Night Frost had killed. However, Fertini was running low on food.

As for why Fertini had been carrying food in the first place, Andi had asked her to prepare it for the little sorceresses.

Andi must have anticipated that searching for and crossing a spatial rift would take a long time. Food was essential.

But now, Fertini’s supplies were nearly gone. Night Frost had some food on her as well, but nowhere near enough to provide three meals a day for all the little sorceresses.

From here on, they could only speed up and reduce their food intake. That was the only way they might reach the other end of the Abyssal passage.

What a nuisance.

“Why did I agree to Andi back then…? If I were traveling alone, I wouldn’t have to stop every so often. I wouldn’t even have to prepare food for them.”

Night Frost lay on the ground. She wasn’t physically tired.

She was weary in spirit.

Keti followed the dim firelight and circled around behind Night Frost. She hadn’t understood what Night Frost was saying, so she simply wrapped her arms around her from behind.

“Big Sis~ Hug me. (Dragon Tongue)”

Night Frost didn’t resist.

The little one had been quite well-behaved lately. She was obedient, and she had even learned how to cook.

Her cooking wasn’t exactly delicious, but if she wanted a hug, then Night Frost would give her one—as long as she didn’t do anything too outrageous.

When Hao Wenqian had been little, she used to pester Night Frost for hugs all day long.

Looking at Keti, Night Frost saw the shadow of Hao Wenqian and the other children from the orphanage.

Come to think of it, what Andi had been doing was somewhat similar to the orphanage.

Most of the children before her had no parents. Many had been abandoned, while others had lost their families to misfortune.

Night Frost had developed some fondness for them.

Taking care of them made her feel as if she had returned to the days she spent in the orphanage. She gently rubbed Keti’s head.

“Why did you come over today? Were you bored?”

Night Frost spoke softly as she stroked Keti’s little head.

Keti rubbed her cheek against Night Frost’s chest, looking thoroughly pleased.

“I saw that Big Sis seemed worried. I didn’t know what you were thinking, and I didn’t know what I could do… Mama Andi said that hugs can make people happy.”

Night Frost’s heart softened.

She pulled Keti into her arms. This really was a sensible child.

Of course, Keti wasn’t the only one. The other little sorceresses were all very well-behaved too.

“Good girl. It’s fine.”

Night Frost had only just spoken when she realized that Keti had already fallen asleep. Her breathing was steady and even.

They had walked quite a long way, so it was only natural that she was tired. And Keti was still growing, after all.

Who knew how much time had passed?

The little sorceresses gradually woke up. In this lightless Abyssal passage, it was difficult to tell day from night.

The fatigue on their faces had faded considerably, but the long darkness seemed to have left their spirits in poor shape.

“All right, all right. Everyone, perk up.”

Night Frost clapped her hands like a kindergarten teacher and woke every sleeping little one.

After a simple cleansing spell, they packed up and set off again.

This section of the passage seemed somewhat different.

Eye Orb was the one who pointed it out. It had detected a slight increase in the Mana concentration in the air.

Perhaps it was because they were getting closer to the lower realm.

“Eh… Aaaah!”

A little sorceress walking at the front slipped and fell straight down.

Night Frost waved her hand and pulled the girl back up. Then she had Fertini comfort her.

After all, only Fertini and Keti knew some Dragon Tongue. The other little sorceresses had trouble communicating with Night Frost.

“This place is broken apart!”

Night Frost narrowed her eyes and threw a ball of flame downward.

The flame continued falling, then finally vanished into the darkness.

“Whoa. This place is seriously deep.”

Eye Orb sat on Night Frost’s shoulder and sighed.

“But if that’s the case, how are we supposed to get across? There’s no path here…”

Night Frost looked ahead.

“Should we try flying over it? Staying here isn’t exactly a solution.”

Eye Orb agreed with her, but there was one problem.

If Night Frost flew ahead to investigate and couldn’t return, who would take care of the little sorceresses?

They had no strength and no source of food. Their deaths would be inevitable.

“Then leave it to Li Dogegg.”

Li Dogegg was Night Frost’s familiar. It had grown quite a bit stronger recently and could fly farther than before.

Even if it couldn’t reach the other side, or encountered danger along the way, it could immediately return to Night Frost’s familiar space.

Night Frost and Eye Orb both believed it could handle this mission.

“Why… are you looking at me?”

Li Dogegg grew nervous.

The last time Night Frost had looked at it like that, she had dragged it off to stay up and work through the entire night.

And now she was giving it that same look again…

This definitely wasn’t going to be anything good.

“We need the great Calamity Dragon to do us a little favor~”

Li Dogegg’s brain stalled for a moment.

Night Frost had opened with a compliment, and that sent a chill through its heart. But its mouth moved faster than its brain.

“Very well. This dragon shall hear the pleas of an insect…”

Li Dogegg wanted nothing more than to slap itself.

But the words had already left its mouth, so it could only brace itself and listen to Night Frost’s request.

In truth, even if Li Dogegg refused, Night Frost would still make it go.

They had signed a contract, after all. Whether Li Dogegg wanted to go or not, it had to go.

Night Frost covered her mouth, secretly delighted.

She had only wanted to tease Li Dogegg. She hadn’t expected it to fall for it so easily again.

“We plan to fly across this rift. We’ll leave the scouting ahead to you.”

Li Dogegg glanced at the rift beneath its feet, then looked toward the pitch-black passage ahead.

It couldn’t tell how far the passage stretched.

Still, it readily agreed.

“This dragon once flew across this passage alone. For me, this will be simple—easy as pie! Watch me carve a path through it seven times in and seven times out!”

With that, Li Dogegg spread its wings and flew toward the depths.

Faint points of light shimmered in its eyes, allowing it to see everything within the darkness.

Night Frost sat at the edge of the cliff and waited for Li Dogegg to return.

The little sorceresses had already fallen asleep twice, yet there was still no sign of Li Dogegg.

Night Frost began meditating and restored the Mana within her body.

At last, when Night Frost opened her eyes for the fourth time, Li Dogegg was lying quietly inside the familiar space.

“Mission accomplished!”

The moment it finished speaking, Li Dogegg passed out.

Night Frost decided to let it rest properly for now.

Judging by the time, Fertini’s food should have been completely gone. Night Frost reached into the Spatial Box at her waist and took out dried meat, distributing it among the little sorceresses.

The giant serpent’s dried meat had apparently been stored for a while. It was somewhat hard to chew.

But the little sorceresses didn’t complain. They clearly understood how precious it was to have food at all.

“We’ll be setting off soon. If nothing goes wrong, we should be able to see the exit after crossing this rift.”

Li Dogegg woke up and ate quite a lot.

The long flight had clearly left it starving. After telling Night Frost about the faint light at the end of the passage, it was allowed to eat its fill.

If Li Dogegg was telling the truth, then the food remaining in Night Frost’s Spatial Box would undoubtedly be enough.

Eating a little more wouldn’t make much difference.

“All right. I’ll transport everyone across one at a time. Fertini and Eye Orb, you’ll receive them on the other side.”

Under Li Dogegg’s directions, Night Frost successfully carried the first little sorceress to the opposite shore.

Once she was familiar with the route, Night Frost had Li Dogegg look after the girl.

After dozens of trips back and forth, Night Frost and the others finally crossed the broken passage.

“The Abyssal passage we found earlier had a rift too. But the broken section was very short. This one is much longer…”

“Actually, when I came through before, I didn’t see this place broken apart.”

Li Dogegg told Night Frost and Eye Orb what it thought.

When it had accidentally entered this passage before, there had been no rift here at all.

“So even Li Dogegg doesn’t know what caused it,” Night Frost said.

“Then again, it’s a shut-in dragon. It’s normal for it not to know. Forget it. I was only curious. Let’s hurry to the exit!”

Seeing Night Frost so excited, the little sorceresses didn’t need her to explain.

They could more or less guess why.

The exit was right before them.

The group walked for a long time.

Finally, Night Frost and the others stood before the end of the Abyss.

Light shone through the cracks covering the surface of the space before them. Just looking at it, Night Frost could imagine the bright sunlight of the lower realm.

She punched forward.

But the cracks before her didn’t move at all. They showed no sign of widening.

Night Frost remembered that opening an Abyssal Rift required a dense concentration of Abyssal Aura on the lower realm’s side.

Of course, dense Abyssal Aura alone wasn’t enough for them.

They also needed tremendous strength to widen the rift.

Night Frost was already at Chapter Three. She had plenty of power.

She was just about to release her seal when human screams rang out from the space beside her, mixed with the roars of Monsters.

Then Night Frost heard a woman’s voice.

“Run. Run… Leave this place to you. While the Blood Cup’s effect is still active, I’m going to deal with the Twelfth District’s guardian.”

Night Frost’s body shook.

A chill climbed up from the soles of her feet, making her feel as if she had fallen into an icy pit.

“What did she just say? The Twelfth District’s guardian? Then the people from earlier were civilians? Could Granny from the orphanage be among them…?”

Night Frost was flustered.

But more than that, she was furious.

She forced herself to calm down and analyzed the situation with Eye Orb.

“The one fighting the Twelfth District’s guardian should be Moon Owl. Moon Owl is still alive, but the situation doesn’t look good.”

“Try forcing the door open,” Eye Orb suggested.

Night Frost couldn’t think of a better option.

She followed the sound toward its source. Then, after releasing her seal, she punched into the void.

A crack slowly appeared.

A sliver of light spilled through, allowing Night Frost to see what lay beyond the door.

Red.

Red covered the ground.

Blood flowed across the surface like a stream.

She saw countless Monsters.

She saw ordinary people fleeing for their lives.

She saw Hao Wenqian and the others from the First Symphony fighting desperately, drenched in Blood.

Night Frost froze.

The fury she had been holding back could no longer be contained.

“What a pity. It’s a useless door.”

The woman on the other side had barely finished speaking when Night Frost hurled the Crimson Gold Lance from her palm.

“Who did you say you were going to deal with?”

“You made me angry.”