The Girls Are All Coveting Me

They say that breakthroughs in technology often come at a terrible price.

Sometimes, the price might be years of deep cultivation in the field.

But sometimes, the price might be... the lives of living people.

This is the Cavendish Family.

Although it is said that the family obtained 'test subjects' for forbidden magic through official channels, it is undeniable that many lives have been stained on their hands.

In her childhood, an accidental venture into the family's magic laboratory left Teresa with a huge shadow.

To the point that, she didn't know when it started, she developed a genuine fear of the family's proud 'forbidden magic.'

So later, to escape this fear, she sought out her aunt, Heisha.

"Aunt, I want to learn Life Return: Furnace."

Life Return: Furnace is the most insane yet powerful of the secret techniques mastered by her aunt.

By continuously accumulating life energy, one tempers their body and can even reach the Divine Realm.

When strength is needed in battle, one can unravel the Furnace and instantly become the Master of Life.

Without a doubt, this is an excellent forbidden magic.

If she could master it, Teresa felt that even without the blood-soaked methods of her family, she could excel.

But later she discovered that she had overestimated herself in her youth.

The risk of Life Return: Furnace was too great.

So great that upon her first training attempt during her youth, she experienced severe side effects.

Ultimately, this ended with her lying in bed for two months.

Thinking back, she realized how naïve she had been back then.

Yet Teresa remained indignant.

She was aware that the family's forbidden magics were sanctioned, even mandated by the Empire as future trump cards.

The participants in these forbidden magic developments were often convicts who deserved the gallows.

But say she's pretentious if you will, she just didn't want to touch it.

So, when she discovered the mystery of her 'Fragrance' talent, she approached the Night Thorn Association.

The Voodoo Path had declined significantly over the years, yet her talent was inherently compatible with this path.

The two sides clicked instantly, making her the next heir to the Night Thorn.

However... everything changed significantly when she met Chloe.

Previously, she always felt that she was putting in a lot of effort, achieving results that were considered excellent among her peers at school.

However, after school started this year, she found herself questioning her life due to a heavy blow.

She certainly knew Chloe was hiding many secrets.

She had no interest in exploring others' secrets.

But Chloe and those around her were growing far too quickly.

If it were any other time, she wouldn't be in such a rush.

But in this life-or-death crisis, she refused to be a burden.

The Maze Monsters' howls were incessant, the surgery proceeded in an orderly manner.

It felt like Teresa could hear her own heartbeat.

"The advanced Demon Eye surgery is complete, the next steps, Master Heisha will help you... take care of yourself."

Chloe's gentle voice echoed in Teresa's ear.

Teresa didn't reply.

She was still under general anesthesia.

But somehow, she suddenly felt a sense of peace.

Dazed, she fell into a dream, and the noise outside seemed unrelated to her.

...

On the other side.

When Chloe left the makeshift surgery table, she told Master Heisha, "We need to stay on this floor for a while before considering moving deeper."

Heisha nodded and said, "The one above who wants to continue disrupting the space to cover us on this floor, there's still some time, if there's anything urgent, handle it quickly."

"Okay."

What urgent matters could Chloe have?

It's just about increasing strength.

Upon exiting the surgical site, Rephya stepped forward and asked, "How is Senior Sister doing?"

"The surgery went well, but Master Heisha still needs to wrap things up. Give Teresa some rest time, this floor is even safer than the 20th floor, we can rest for a bit."

"Okay."

Tiffany raised her hand and asked, "Aren't we leaving now? Isn't staying here more beneficial for our future plans?"

Tiffany wasn't fooling anyone and couldn't easily trust others.

If not for the time when the Saint White Bone Giant Dragon attacked her, and she saw Chloe and others in action, she might have sought survival on her own without a second thought.

But now, her rationale told her that collaborating with these people held a better chance of stalling until reinforcements arrived.

Indeed.

From the start, she didn't think she or any in this group had a chance to deal with the Saint Giant Dragon.

Her hope was to cooperate with them and delay as much time as possible.

Yet now it seems, this group is calmer than imagined.

[Perhaps they really have a solution to the current crisis?]

The thought couldn't help but cross Tiffany's mind.

Then she saw Chloe pick up the sweet, petite Abigail and leave the scene. "I have something to discuss with Abigail, it concerns our ability to progress smoothly in the deep layers later."

Tiffany's mouth hung slightly open, and she finally turned to the others and said, "I have a feeling about his discussion, it doesn't seem like something legitimate."

Laura spread her hands, "I don't know."

Lilith turned away, not replying.

Aisha hesitated for a moment before saying, "Maybe it's really to aid in the upcoming actions."

Fratiss was still chewing on beef jerky to restore her stamina.

Nini pouted, saying, "It'll surely help, but as for how exactly little Abby will help, that remains to be seen."

Fufu exhaled softly, glanced at the other side, and said, "Let's give them some time."

Miseria spoke startlingly, "If you're really curious, go inside and take a look!"

Then Rephya's cheeks visibly turned red: "N-No way I'm going to look!"

Tiffany was at a loss for words.

"Your empire is still too open, that child looks really young!"

"She's an adult…" Aisha said with a light sigh.

Not only is she an adult, but she's also countless cycles older than you, over ten thousand years old.

Thinking about this, Aisha felt a bellyful of resentment.

A comment on the "you're still too young series."

Tiffany's mouth hung slightly open, and she finally swallowed the words "you're violating the law," before saying:

"Well, your classmates still look quite young!"

"If you want to say that she looks younger than her actual age, just say it directly."

"Eh-heh."

And what about our Chloe.

Chloe was helping Abigail remove her restraints.

"Chloe~"

In the cave, Abigail softly said:

"You're on my hair."

"Sorry, sorry."

Chloe quickly let go of her hand.

Red marks spread across Abigail's small arms, Chloe's proof left on her body.

A tear slipped from the corner of the girl's eye.

It hurt a bit.

But she gritted her teeth, insisting: "Use Recovery, the Saint is about to arrive, we don't have much time left."

Chloe nodded.

This was not the time for romance.

Under normal circumstances, he would find a way to give Abigail a happy and joyful night.

But now it had turned out like this, truly difficult to explain.

"Sorry, it'll be over soon."

For a long time.

When the two were ready to go, it was already half a day later.

Chloe approached Teresa.

Teresa's nose twitched, and she subconsciously took a step back.

"What are you doing? I need to give you your final treatment."

"Aunt's already treated me."

"Stop the nonsense, untie the ribbon around your eyes yourself."

"...Can't you be a bit gentler?"

Chloe: …

Oh dear, haha, it's subtle teasing at this time, is it?

Chloe knew how powerful Teresa's [Fragrance] was.

She could even smell what was going on nearby.

In other words…

After he came over, our young lady was forced to appreciate a wave of whatever.

It used to be okay.

When she entered crowded places, she would more or less block her talent.

But the situation is different now.

Having just had surgery, she was accelerating flesh recovery while blindfolded.

Instinctively using [Fragrance] to sense the external environment, or it feels very insecure.

And now, sensing led to problems, so she couldn't resist teasing Chloe.

Thinking of this.

Chloe shook his head without explaining.

He just directly reached out and pressed his hand against the young lady's eyeball: "Recovery."

A burst of warm power spread out, and the originally problematic eye quickly recovered.

Chloe untied the ribbon for the young lady and said: "Okay, open your eyes."

Teresa opened her eyes with some discomfort, quickly adapting to the dim environment.

"Thousand-Mile Eye with Poison Attribute Star Realm Armor modification, aren't you afraid you'll inadvertently poison yourself to death?" Chloe sighed.

"Don't talk about it, I've already made psychological preparations."

Combining the extended range of Thousand-Mile Eye with Voodoo, allows her to fatally poison enemies at maximum speed and safe distance.

For the Voodoo Path, the most troublesome part isn't the damage, but whether you can madly apply debuffs while protecting yourself.

Previously, Teresa could only rely on Fragrance.

But now, with the Thousand-Mile Eye, her precision poisoning range has significantly improved.

After making full preparations, Chloe turned to look at Heisha and said:

"Master Heisha, we can proceed to the lower levels now."

"Then we go in at the fastest speed, right?"

"Correct."

Heisha nodded, suddenly raised her hand, and pounded the ground hard.

A terrifying force spread from her hand, instantly penetrating the current floor.

One punch broke through over a hundred meters deep, creating a dark hole beneath everyone's feet.

Instantly, everyone fell down.

"Come, experience the fastest way to enter the depths of the Maze!"

Heisha let out a hearty and exhilarating laugh.

Falling towards deeper layers, just before landing, Tiffany slashed downward with the Sky-splitting Blade.

The instantly torn spatial rift transported everyone to another corner of the floor.

[If we go vertically down, the Saint is sure to follow our trail, so we must delay its ability to find us as much as possible.]

Originally ready to accept death, a desire for survival rose in Tiffany's heart.