Defying the Fate of Beheading

"Once we go up, as expected, we'll be scattered."

"But don't panic, after landing steadily, just walk towards the mountain top."

"We'll meet at the summit."

Everyone nodded.

The Little Swan dashed up first:

"Me first, me first!"

At that moment she was secretly laughing in her heart.

"Hehehe! The hero's great treasure, I'm gonna get it, Lainer!"

"Little money, soon there will be lots of little money!"

Suddenly, as they entered the flower-lined mountain path, Olivia's figure vanished before everyone's eyes.

Only then did everyone realize Lumi's words were no lie.

They proceeded one after another onto the mountain path.

Soon only Lumi was left behind to bring up the rear.

Lumi quietly looked at the plaque, softly saying:

"Long time no see, Diana."

After speaking, she turned and set foot on the mountain path.

...

[Location: East of the Mountain]

Louis stepped into the soft soil.

He surveyed his surroundings and realized he was on a mountainside.

Looking around further, this seemed to be a large gathering place for some kind of insect magic creatures.

The area was filled with knee-high unknown flowers and giant mushrooms as tall as a person, even two, and towering coniferous trees where giant beehives could be seen.

At first glance, it had a fairy-tale-like atmosphere.

"Ding ding ding, brave newcomer on your journey, welcome to the Great Secret Realm, do you wish to challenge the game of the brave?"

Accompanied by a cheerful laugh, a thumb-sized fairy suddenly appeared in the sky.

Louis glanced at it.

So strange, looked again.

He reached out and poked the little fairy, smiling at Master Merlin floating beside him:

"Master Merlin, is this a little fairy?"

Master Merlin circled around Louis and said:

"No, there are very few little fairies left on the continent now; they basically reside in outer layers, semi-planes, or lower planes now."

"Otherwise, it wouldn't be in your era that little fairies became a legend as a race."

"This Celestial Destiny Mage Diana is quite impressive, this thing that looks like a fairy is actually an artificially created magic life, and it's the kind with intelligence."

"Such finely crafted magic creations, even in any era of history, can be called a 'master'."

"Kid, you might have really stumbled upon the hero's secret treasure."

The little fairy frowned and pushed away Louis' finger, saying:

"So rude, please call me Lord Lulu!"

"Okay okay, so Lord Lulu, what is the game of the brave you just mentioned?"

The little fairy floated mid-air, hands on hips, leaning slightly forward and said:

"The game of the brave is just the game of the brave!"

"One of the beautiful and kind Hero Squad members, Celestial Destiny Mage Diana, left treasures for those who came after."

"Complete the tasks, and you'll receive rewards from Lady Diana, do you want to become a brave adventurer and challenge the Great Secret Realm?"

Louis slowly poked the little fairy again and said:

"How can I challenge the Great Secret Realm and win the rewards?"

Although the little fairy protested, her body showed a comfortable expression:

"The place you're currently at is Lady Diana's Flower Tree Sea Secret Realm, filled with insect magic creatures that Lady Diana transformed."

"Recently, we at the little fairy workshop are preparing to create a batch of new equipment."

"If you're willing, help us gather suitable materials from the insect magic creatures in the Flower Tree Sea Secret Realm."

Louis nodded and said:

"Understood, are there any restrictions on the types of magic creatures?"

The little fairy said: "The more variety, the better; the quantity can be a bit less."

Louis nodded and said: "This trial isn't bad, to be honest, I'm quite skilled at wilderness combat."

Louis carefully recalled the contents of the future diary.

As expected, the Little Swan should be completing the trial and, upon reaching the summit, meeting the Celestial Destiny Mage, only to be injured by an abyssal artifact auto-activated when obtaining the reward.

"The Little Swan should still be in the trial phase now, she wasn't injured at this stage in the future diary."

"What knocked her out was seeing the Celestial Destiny Mage, obtaining a batch of artifacts, and being injured by one of them."

"That means the Little Swan isn't in danger now, as long as I leave the trial before she does!"

"These things shouldn't be delayed!"

...

[Location: South of the Mountain]

Olivia held a fairy in her hand, showing a mischievous smile with her sharp little canine teeth faintly visible.

"Quick, tell me directly how I can best complete this trial!"

The Little Swan was eager for the hero's great treasure.

In her original timeline, Sister Wang once told her that the hero's great treasure had a shortcut.

For example, if you have the chance to capture the fairy responsible for the great treasure, you could have her assist you in completing the tasks quickly.

So she initially pretended to want to chat with the fairy, and when it got close, suddenly reached out and grabbed it directly.

Then the Little Swan heard a voice like an emotionless electronic mechanism coming from the fairy:

"Detected attack on fairy, preparing to counter based on secret realm protection principles."

"Attacker's special imprint detected, threat neutralized."

Then the fairy began to struggle in Olivia's hand.

"Let go of me, let go, or I'll bite you, Lord Lulu!"

The Little Swan's upward curl of her mouth, her little canine even more apparent:

"I won't let go, unless you tell me how to speed run, I'm not a fisherman, asking me to collect over 30 kinds of lake fish magic creatures, isn't that putting me in a difficult spot?"

"Come on, fairy, tell me how to speed run, you wouldn't want your little skirt torn off by me, would you?!"

Fairy: ???

Are you a dog or something!

The fairy was furious.

The fairy chose to refuse.

The Little Swan began taunting her little skirt.

The fairy cried and reluctantly agreed.

"I will talk, I'll talk, don't pull my skirt."

"The methods to capture different fish magic creatures in the deep water secret realm are..."

The sobbing little fairy had no choice but to obediently compromise to the Little Swan Great Demon King.

...

[Location: North of the Mountain]

Inside a strange structure within the mountain.

Pieces of metal floating mid-air wandered around unaffected by gravity.

The sound of metal clashing echoed repeatedly in the empty space.

The blade light in Alice's hand transformed into fierce lightning.

Flashing on her body as she collided with headless metal armored golems.

Anyone who didn't know better might think Alice was fighting the headless knights of the Undead Race!

All she heard was the sharp hiss of the blade cutting through the air:

"Again, again! Such impressive Puppet Manipulation Skill, fighting them is far more interesting than ordinary magic creature combat!"

"Really exhilarating, hahahaha! I'd love for that madman Louis to give it a try too!"

...

[Location: West of the Mountain]

Grace firmly grasped the cross in her hand, whispering:

"Merciful and just Master of Glory, what means should I use to become stronger?"

"So I won't be protected behind by my benefactors and friends, but truly fight alongside them."

This spontaneous journey to the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm left an immeasurable impact on her.

She was just a farm girl from Dragonbone Prairie.

Without an illustrious family, nor powerful strength.

When that pitiful and tragic Master Rogen struck, she realized something profoundly.

That was, neither Mr. Caesar, Miss Alice, Mr. William, nor Her Highness Olivia were within her grasp at present.

During her studies in the Battle Nuns discipline recently, her teacher praised her more than once for her superior Priest qualifications.

At that time, she was secretly happy in her heart.

This indicated she indeed had a chance to help Mr. Caesar in the future.

Especially when Mr. Caesar informed her that he needed the gift of power within her, to say she felt no joy would be impossible.

But, during the previous group attack on Master Rogen, she realized with terrifying clarity a serious problem.