Vol 4. Chapter 134: The Completely Bewildered Lady Yumo
At this moment, our Lady Yumo was utterly bewildered.
Originally, Lady Yumo had still been comforting the frightened students when she received Saiboke's report concerning Yuan'er's whereabouts, leaving her completely stunned on the spot.
Since Yuan'er had recently developed a habit of wandering around Yexinlian Royal Academy on her own, Lady Yumo couldn't help feeling somewhat worried.
After all, although Karina had suppressed the power within Yuan'er's body, she was still an adorable Demon King-class Abyss Demon.
If her identity were accidentally exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable.
She certainly didn't want her adorable daughter to be bullied.
Therefore, Yumo had asked Saiboke to help look after her youngest daughter whenever she was busy.
And then,
Today, Saiboke had delivered a piece of news that nearly made her eyes pop out of their sockets.
Her adorable daughter was currently racing toward the central region of Yexinlian Royal Academy, otherwise known as the legendary academy forbidden area.
And because Yuan'er was moving far too quickly, Saiboke was completely powerless to stop her.
After all, no matter how reliable Saiboke was, he was still fundamentally just an old Fifth-Tier butler.
Trying to bring back Yuan'er, who possessed Eighth-Tier strength, was still a little difficult.
Helpless, Saiboke could only turn to Yumo for assistance.
Upon hearing this news, Yumo's eyebrows immediately twitched.
Considering that she had discussed quite a few things concerning the Holy Dragon Heart with Yuan'er before going to bed last night, an unsettling suspicion suddenly emerged in Lady Yumo's mind.
My daughter...
Don't tell me she went to steal the Holy Dragon Heart for me??!
Although Yumo had indeed wanted to obtain the Holy Dragon Heart for Mengxi after learning about her Saintess assessment mission, openly barging into a forbidden area was far too reckless, wasn't it?!
Acting so recklessly could easily expose Yuan'er's identity as an Abyss Demon and might even implicate Yumo herself and the Black Rose Family.
The risks were simply too great.
That girl... is... is being way too reckless, isn't she?!
Lady Yumo shouted somewhat anxiously in her heart.
Even though she knew her youngest daughter was doing this for her mother's sake, Yumo couldn't help showing a trace of anger.
At the same time, alongside her dissatisfaction, Mother Yumo's heart was instantly overwhelmed by worry.
No matter what,
She had heard that powerful defensive systems had been established within Yexinlian Royal Academy's forbidden area.
But that was only natural. Yexinlian Royal Academy was one of the most prestigious educational institutions on the entire Anqieka Continent.
The forbidden area of such an academy would undoubtedly be heavily guarded, with strict security and dangers lurking everywhere.
What if Yuan'er gets hurt...? Wouldn't that be...
Just imagining her daughter getting injured was enough to make Yumo's heart fill with unease.
The black-haired girl gradually became enveloped in anger and worry.
"No... I have to go take a look..."
After taking several deep breaths to calm herself down,
Lady Yumo urgently announced the end of class, without even having time to finish her interaction with Mengxi.
Under the confused and bewildered gazes of the students, Yumo hurriedly left the Beast Taming Garden and rushed toward the forbidden area in the central region of Yexinlian Royal Academy...
She wanted to bring Yuan'er back before the child triggered the defensive barriers.
However,
When Lady Yumo stood atop a giant tree on the outskirts of the forbidden area, she discovered something extremely frustrating.
Her little girl seemed to have already ventured deep into the forbidden area.
Worried about Yuan'er's safety, Lady Yumo no longer cared about the risks of infiltrating the forbidden area.
Almost instantly, she transformed into countless blood-colored butterflies and rushed toward the Forbidden Palace, following Yuan'er's aura...
Then,
As she continued rushing forward...
Lady Yumo's expression gradually changed.
The unease and panic in the black-haired girl's heart disappeared, replaced instead by a sense of disappointment that uncontrollably began growing within her.
"The defenses of this forbidden area... why do they feel... kind of pathetic??"
Yumo muttered with inexplicable dissatisfaction.
Originally, Yumo had planned to instantly unleash the power within her body, rapidly break through the formidable defensive lines, retrieve Yuan'er, and quickly retreat from the forbidden area with her daughter to avoid being investigated by the people of Yexinlian Academy.
However,
After Lady Yumo charged into the forbidden area,
The powerful defensive firepower, terrifying and unpredictable magical formations, and murderous guards she had anticipated were nowhere to be seen.
Apart from several dozen "slow-reacting" puppet guards, the entire forbidden area might as well have had its doors thrown wide open.
Compared to this place, even those few barbarian tribes at the entrance to the Great Winter Forest could be considered impregnable fortresses...
This...
What the hell is this?
With defenses like these, they actually have the nerve to call this a forbidden area?!
Or could it be...
The forbidden areas in this other world are just like the ones in those novels I read in my previous life? They're specifically fucking designed for people to break into?!
Something as important as the Holy Dragon Heart is actually being guarded like this??!
Are you kidding me?!
What if I were a proper villain boss, the kind who sincerely wanted to destroy the world...? Wouldn't I be able to casually send over a subordinate and have them fucking destroy a priceless treasure like the Holy Dragon Heart?!
And if that happened, wouldn't the already rather pathetic human forces become even more useless after losing the cultivation assistance provided by the Holy Dragon Heart?!
How can Yexinlian Royal Academy be so unreliable?!!
And besides,
I've already charged all the way in here?!
Why hasn't a single alarm gone off?! What the hell are the people at this academy doing?! This is way too fucking careless, isn't it?!
...
By the time Yumo effortlessly passed through the outer greenbelt and arrived before the Forbidden Palace's entrance, the black-haired girl was already thoroughly disappointed.
The previously reliable image of Yexinlian Royal Academy in her mind had completely crumbled into dust.
Vaguely, Yumo even began considering asking Xiao to have the Black Rose Family take over the protection of the Holy Dragon Heart.
Somehow,
She felt that an important treasure concerning the future development of humanity's strength would be better off under her personal protection.
However, after witnessing such "impregnable defenses," the worry in Yumo's heart gradually dissipated.
With defenses of this level, expecting them to injure Yuan'er was honestly nothing short of a fantasy.
But no matter what,
Her most urgent priority right now was to take her daughter away from this place as quickly as possible, lest they be discovered by academy personnel arriving later.
...
...
Hmmmm...
Will they... actually notice?
They didn't even notice someone invading their forbidden area...
That's so absurd that even absurdity itself would have to open the door and welcome it home.
No longer bothering to continue complaining, Lady Yumo carefully raised her foot and shattered the defensive detection barrier surrounding the Forbidden Palace with a single kick.
She then casually pushed open the several-ton stone doors, revealing the ancient and solemn interior of the forbidden area before her eyes.
However,
At this moment, Lady Yumo had no spare attention to appreciate the antique and elegant decorations inside the hall.
Because,
The instant the girl stepped into the hall, a dazzling golden light suddenly flashed in midair.
As the pale golden light rippled outward,
Powerful dragon might, accompanied by overwhelming magical power, came roaring toward Lady Yumo like mountainous waves crashing down upon her, abruptly blowing away her veil.
Immediately afterward, under Lady Yumo's somewhat unprepared gaze, the pale golden light suddenly transformed into a meteor carrying unstoppable momentum.
Dragging an overwhelming aura of power behind it, the meteor pierced through space and launched a ferocious assault toward Yumo.
The dense magical power had been completely concentrated within the pale golden light, making it resemble a holy sword capable of cutting through all darkness.
Any evil would be reduced to ashes beneath its heavenly might.
"Th-This... is this... the forbidden area's true defensive force...?"
As the golden light rapidly expanded within her vision, Lady Yumo murmured in astonishment.
At the same time,
A sudden realization dawned upon her.
So... the real defenses aren't located around the outskirts of the forbidden area? They're inside the Forbidden Palace itself?
Looks like... I misjudged this academy...
And besides,
The power contained within that pale golden light seems to possess Eighth-Tier strength...
Did it detect me as an intruder and launch an attack?
If that's the case...
Narrowing her eyes slightly, the girl's azure-blue pupils gradually began turning scarlet.
A cold, chilling glint slowly emerged within her eyes.
In Lady Yumo's opinion, this rather powerful golden light seemed to attack any stranger who entered the Forbidden Palace...
If that was the case, then what about Yuan'er, who had entered this place earlier?
Could she have been attacked too?
The moment Yumo considered the possibility that her youngest daughter had been attacked again, her eyebrows abruptly knitted together.
Her five fingers spread slightly.
The scarlet Shadow of Silence Power that had remained concealed within her body for so long slowly broke free from its restraints, spilling out of the girl's body and overcoming the suppression of the "Deception Veil."
At that very instant, the temperature of the air surrounding Yumo plummeted.
A chilling, murderous aura began spreading outward in every direction with the girl at its center.
Several scarlet butterflies began fluttering around her.
Faced with the aggressively approaching golden meteor, Yumo had no intention of silently enduring the attack as she usually did.
Instead, she chose to raise her right hand.
...
However,
Just as Lady Yumo was preparing to release her Shadow of Silence Power, the girl couldn't help frowning again.
Hm?
Something seems... a little wrong?
There's... no killing intent?... And no hostility either?
And besides... this... what is this?
In the next instant,
Under Lady Yumo's utterly bewildered gaze, the golden meteor she had expected to launch a powerful attack against her suddenly collapsed and disintegrated just as it was about to collide with her body.
It transformed into countless pale golden particles of magical power, which dissipated into the air.
And as the golden aura abruptly dispersed, a petite, exquisitely adorable blonde loli appeared before Lady Yumo.
She had dragon wings fluttering behind her, a delicate and perfectly proportioned little body, and was completely naked.
After revealing a sweet, adorable "smile," the dragon loli took advantage of Yumo's confused expression and approached her without another word.
She tightly wrapped her arms around the black-haired girl's slender waist.
Immediately afterward, a crisp, melodious little girl's voice, as pleasant as the singing of an oriole and suspiciously full of deliberate cuteness, rang out beside Lady Yumo's ears.
"Hello, Auntie~!"
???!!!
Huh?
What? What's going on??
Looking down at the unfamiliar blonde loli who was hugging her and acting spoiled in her arms, Lady Yumo couldn't help tilting her head in complete confusion.
Countless question marks seemed to appear around the girl...
Um,
Could someone please tell me,
What... what exactly is going on here???
"Um... little girl... who are you?"
"H-H-Hello, Auntie! This venerable one... Ah, no... I... I'm called Melilov-Baroze! I have absolutely nothing to do with that Holy Dragon King Mebili! Absolutely nothing at all!!"
"What???"