Elysia arrived at the one hundred twenty-third floor just a few hours after passing the boss floor on the hundredth floor. She was only one floor below the girls.
"They can also detect my position and wait for me before challenging the mini-boss on the one hundred twenty-fifth floor?" Elysia looked up and smiled faintly. She then stopped in front of an inscription stone.
A series of words engraved in ancient language informed the participant about clues or objectives to clear the floor.
In exploring from the first floor to her current position, Elysia underwent many tests and trials in various forms and situations. It wasn't always about defeating enemies and obstacles. Still, some floors also had lots of tricks and gimmicks of several types.
"The truth may lie in lies. Even though truth can hurt, lies can kill. This is not about one's resolve to solve the quandary." Elysia put her hand to her chin while patting her cheek with her finger.
"So, a riddle, a labyrinth, or maybe an illusion. It might be different from the previous one below the hundredth floor. The difficulty has already entered the second tier." Elysia nodded in understanding and then proceeded through the dim dark passage. Only the crystal light in her hand illuminated the way.
'Wait, this floor is like a test of courage in an ancient prehistoric cave. I'm not afraid of ghosts, but here holds an illusion and mystery that makes me shiver. Nell sure created a tower to thoroughly train her angels, hmm. It was indeed an enormous amount of effort to create a thousand floors. Yet, she was the unbeatable, final boss on the thousand and first floor.' Elysia rubbed her nape while looking left and right.
Whenever she encountered an intersection, he could see several 'colors' moving in the darkness. Those things watched her and told her way out, but everything was lies which might pique other's curiosity.
It was only a short time until Elysia found a way out to the upper floor. She breathed a sigh of relief and wiped off her nonexistent sweat.
"Fortunately, I could beat them because I have been born again and let go of the past. Let the past stay in the past because I have to face the present and future." Elysia shook her head as she remembered the hurdle on the sixtieth floor.
This floor was relatively easy than the labyrinth of illusions that trigger past regrets.
'Ely, you are a cheater! Your sacred vision can uncover the great mystery, but your eyes can see the truth by default. The illusory spirit is afraid of you because-' The tower's spirit in the form of Nell popped out near Elysia. Still, she suddenly fell silent, not finishing her sentence.
'This is a trial to train one's overall capabilities. Illusions may not be that significant in front of me, but I learned a lot here. But, hey, you should appear on every floor that's a multiple of five. Why did you suddenly come and hang your words in the middle?' Elysia put her finger on Nell's head, then put away her glowing crystal since the next floor was adequately lit.
'Well, nevermind. You just crushed them without realizing it. They are scared just because of your shadow until they forget to make a bargain. Yet another floor without a test or trial for you...' The tower's spirit sighed.
'Anyway, I'll be at the rest area after you clear the one hundred twenty-fifth floor. Your point is not much, but I have a lot of items that fit best for you~' The tower's spirit then disappeared in a poof.
'Hmm, this is the floor where the girls are waiting. They were right on the way out to the next floor. I'd better get there soon.' Elysia quickened her pace, crossing the challenge without knowing the hidden danger waiting there.
*Bzzt*
Elysia felt that the world suddenly became pitch black. She could hardly sense her presence and the surroundings. It was a void of complete darkness, but several 'colors' could be seen flying around, monitoring her every move.
"..." Elysia slowed her steps, then stopped in the middle. She could find her path to tread and felt she would fall into an infinite abyss if she continued forward without consideration.
'The path is gone... I am careless! I should have read the inscription first, but I was too excited because I was already close to the others.' Elysia held her head and looked back. The retreat path also disappeared.
She stood in the middle of the void without taking any clues and the path she needed to take. Her eye abilities couldn't help her there because it was not an illusion but a different space.
"I shall illuminate the path within the void of darkness. Please show me the way." Elysia clasped her hand in front of her chest, then released a light. It scattered in all directions, but the darkness swallowed up that sliver of light.
'Advanced perception is ineffective, the divine sense is obstructed, and now the light is swallowed up? I can't even fly here, but I'm not at my wit's end. If my abilities can't find the path, I can do only one thing. The path itself that will show its presence upon my arrival.' Elysia closed her eyes and went forward. She learned it from Lifa, and sure enough, she could sense the path surfacing in her subconscious.
That floor's mapping was more straightforward than the previous floor. Elysia finally found a gate leading to the one hundred and twenty-fifth floor, the place to the mini-boss.
*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*
Footsteps sounded from the other side of the passage. The girls' attention was suddenly drawn to the source of the sound, and they immediately became excited and cheerful when they found out who it was.
The mental exhaustion they had experienced to pass through this floor seemed to disappear, swept away by a feeling of relief at the presence of the figure they had been waiting for.
"Master, I knew you would come sooner than we expected." Vanessa stole the start and threw herself to hug her beloved master.
She then launched a sneak attack and licked her master's cheek like a cat that had long missed her master.
"Hehe, that's ticklish, my tiger cat. How about you and everyone? You look a little tired." Elysia gave Vanessa a head pat but found everyone's tiredness awkward. It's not physical but mental.
"En, the trial on this floor is so challenging for mental strength. If we come individually, some of us will definitely fail here and need to restart from the checkpoint at one hundred and twenty." Yuuki was one step late, but she secured her second spot to greet Elysia.
"Mental fatigue, hmm. You need a little longer to recover. Do you want my help to relieve your mental fatigue?" Elysia waved to the girls near the gate. She then invited Vanessa and Yuuki to go there.
"Hehee~ Everyone is recovering while waiting for you, master. If you are willing, you can help us recover faster." Yuuki pressed her finger close to her lips. She smiled faintly as she had a brilliant idea.
"What ideas do you have in mind?" Elysia also had an idea but was curious about Yuuki's opinion.
She could cook a meal that could heal one's mind and soul. Still, she expected Yuuki to wait to get everyone's approval.
And she was there, giving the girls some head pats that are said to cure mental exhaustion...
"Hehee, I'm refilling my Elysium power. Heal, heal~" Sylvia hummed while enjoying Elysia's lap pillow and head pats.
"..." Elysia had nothing to say. If that is what they want and need, she would be glad to fulfill it.
"That, that's really lewd. Am I the only one who thinks that?" Yae covered her flushed face with both hands but peeked between her fingers.
The girls casually held hands with Elysia, asking for a hug, lap pillow, and various physical contact. As her senior sister, Vanessa was even so bold as to lick Elysia's cheek!
It was all supposed to be censored by the divine light, but the pink fairy had just realized that she was the only one who thought so.
"Nothing strange, though? It's just a close master-servant relationship. Master loves and cares for us." Xentia felt everything was okay. She was eager to receive her share of head pats.
"Sleeping together is one thing, but this is completely different. Are divines usually this close and kind to their servants?" Morfina also blushed, but she was looking forward to feeling the bliss like what her sisters were experiencing.
"Uhh, even the dignified Lady Luna and the experienced knight like Lady Ariel have also succumbed to the comfort. They are healed and recovered just by those touches?" Lyla gulped her saliva, feeling somewhat skeptical about what she was seeing.
"No, Elysium is special. The divines are not distant, lofty, or arrogant to their faithful servants. Here is the only place where you can have Goddess-like existence as masters and sisters. It is a bliss, no, Ely, our master is the heaven herself! Ah~ It is truly a blessing for us to be part of her grand plan as her servants." Dori reached her hand up, marveling at the bliss she had just experienced.
Yet, her expression suddenly changed as she stared at the three new members. "But do you want the opposite situation? I don't recommend that."
Hearing that statement, Morfina was the first to work up the courage to ask for the Supreme Goddess's favor in the form of a head pat. Thus, she melted in bliss within seconds. Her mental exhaustion vanished, and she recovered instantly because of Elysia's touch.
Lyla and Yae followed shortly after, as they didn't want to miss the opportunity to get closer to Elysia and get to know their Goddess better.
It was how the little head pat church and belief was formed within Elysia's pantheon.
Follow current novels on freewe(b)novel.c(o)m