Chapter 28: The Hidden Calamity

The deep purple flames struck Guang Tou and Dao Ba Nan directly in the back.

No screams. No struggle. Not even the faintest smell of burning flesh.

The moment the flames touched their bodies, they were instantly devoured. Guang Tou and Dao Ba Nan’s forward momentum abruptly froze. Then, their entire bodies burst into flames.

The deep purple flames burned at an incredible speed, reducing them to a pile of ashes in the blink of an eye. The height of the burning also visibly decreased rapidly, from the height of an adult to nothing. Even the ashes didn’t remain. It was as if these two people had never existed in this world.

Dorothy stood still, slowly lowering her hand. She looked at the empty space, feeling no ripple in her heart.

Killing these two wasn’t to avenge that demi-human cat girl named Mei Fei. Nor was it about defending any justice. The reason she acted was simply because these two fools disrupted her game progress.

Tonight at the inn, these two suddenly jumped out to assassinate, making the hall all chaotic. What angered Dorothy the most was that the lord named Consta ran over and, right in front of Primrose, made a bunch of wild guesses, almost exposing her identity as the Demon King! If she hadn’t reacted quickly, pretending to have a chuunibyou episode and stomping hard on the shadows on the ground, she would have been exposed in front of Primrose by now! Once exposed, her carefully planned game would have to end early. She wasn’t done playing yet.

Dorothy turned and glanced at the still-burning campfire. She didn’t bother with it and directly took her short legs, stepping into the darkness. She needed to hurry back to the inn. If she stayed out too long and was discovered by Primrose or that naive mother, she’d have to waste breath explaining.

On the other side, in the second-floor room of the Golden Rose Inn.

Primrose stood by the window, looking at the moonlight of the otherworld outside. The moon here was large, with a faint purple halo. The room was quiet. Mother Lin Naiyue was already asleep on the bed, breathing steadily.

Primrose turned her head and glanced at the empty small bed in the room. That was where Dorothy slept. Now, that bed was empty.

Primrose had long noticed Dorothy was not in the room. From the moment Dorothy sneaked out, Primrose knew. She didn’t stop her, nor did she follow.

Primrose withdrew her gaze and looked out the window again. She began to calculate everything that had happened today.

From the moment they descended into this world, one thing after another started to exceed her expectations. First, her mother inexplicably became the Hero. Then there was one of the Twelve Demon Generals, who possessed Instant Death Magic and Immunity Bypass. Then there was the Demon King Dorothy, disguised as a little girl.

Primrose sighed. She asked herself, could she really lead her mother through this world safely?

In the past, in the game, she fought alone and feared nothing. At worst, she’d die and respawn in town. But now it was different. She found herself weaker. Not weaker in stats, but mentally. Because she had ties. Her mother was right beside her; she couldn’t let her mother suffer any harm. Her mother had put all her stat points into constitution just to survive and stay with her. This heavy maternal love made Primrose cautious in everything she did. She no longer dared to take risks like before, calculating an escape route for every step.

“What a pain.” Primrose closed her eyes, bent her slender arm, and pressed her forehead. After a moment, she spread her arms, and behind her rose a rotating silver-white magic circle. Then she brought her hands together, like a statue of Guanyin.

—Truth Deduction.

In the Fantasy Divine Domain, an Original Grade magic that could only be activated once a month. It could calculate all items dropped by dungeons and field monsters in the coming month. Also, for life skills, the exact timing for cooking to trigger mutated-quality food within a month. Within a month, what ores could be mined. As for now, whether it was calculating what Dorothy was up to or whether this journey to conquer the world would go smoothly, it could all be calculated. But only one calculation could be chosen.

Primrose wouldn’t waste this opportunity on calculating Dorothy. No matter what Dorothy was doing out in the dead of night, as long as she didn’t go on a killing spree in town, Primrose didn’t plan to expose her. They would all keep up the act. What she needed to calculate was whether this world-conquering journey would go smoothly.

But suddenly. A black-red lightning bolt flashed across the silver-white magic circle behind her. A phantom silhouette flashed before Primrose’s eyes. Then, crack. The magic circle shattered.

Primrose covered her mouth, dry heaving.

That was…? Could it be that Dorothy… wasn’t the final boss of this world? She saw a monster with even more terrifying stats than Dorothy. A monster whose level, HP, and all attribute values displayed as ¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?! Spiritual pollution, simply spiritual pollution.

Primrose held her chest, walked to the bedside, tucked her mother’s blanket corner, and then lay down herself.

The next morning. Sunlight streamed through the window into the room. Primrose and her group washed up and ate breakfast in the first-floor hall.

Soon, the sound of a carriage came from outside the inn. Lord Consta had come personally to pick them up early in the morning. Primrose led her mother and Dorothy out of the inn. Dorothy had returned shortly after she had lain down last night. Consta was already waiting by the carriage.

Today, Consta wore a slightly more formal dark blue dress, looking more dignified. Behind Consta stood the guard who had stopped the assassins in the inn hall last night.

“Goddess, Hero, good morning.” Consta bowed respectfully.

Primrose nodded: “Good morning.”

Primrose glanced at the guard with a sword at her waist behind Consta. This guard wasn’t wearing a mask today, so Primrose could see clearly—it was actually a female guard. She had a neat short haircut, sharp eyes, and wore a gorgeous and exquisite knight’s uniform with light armor on her knees and elbows.

“Her name is Aiwei.” Noticing Primrose’s gaze, Consta quickly introduced, “She’s my most capable guard captain. She led the team to set up defenses around the inn last night.”

“It’s an honor to meet the Goddess.” Aiwei performed a knight’s salute.

“You worked hard last night,” Primrose said.

“Ah…” Aiwei’s spirit lifted, her eyes widening, pupils slightly constricting. She stepped back half a step, immediately kneeling on one knee, one hand on her knee, “Goddess, I really don’t deserve it!”

A thousand years ago, the Goddess personally worshipped by His Majesty Gabriel, the First King, actually deigned to console her, a mere lord’s guard? This was too kind. Aiwei felt flattered beyond words.