Published: January 24, 2026
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— Tsutolairu: Near the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky Headquarters —
"Damn it! How dare you, just a discarded experiment... Minotaur, crush it immediately!"
The man with a red robe pulled over his head spoke anxiously to the Minotaur, which had grown to nearly twice its normal size.
Following the orders of the man in red robes, the Minotaur raised its clasped hands high above its head.
"Carole!"
Sophia called out to Caroline upon seeing this.
"No problem! At this point, you can't catch me that easily!"
Activating the earring-shaped magical tool she had received from her older siblings in Darane, magical circles appeared in Caroline's eyes.
Furthermore, an emerald-colored aura flickering like flames began to leak from her entire body.
The Minotaur swung its clasped hands down toward Caroline.
To Caroline, whose senses and motion vision were now sharpened, the attack was too slow.
Caroline narrowly dodged the attack and slipped under the Minotaur’s legs.
As they passed, she slashed its Achilles tendons with the daggers clasped in both hands.
Riding on that momentum, Caroline moved away from the scene.
As the Minotaur collapsed, unable to stand,
“—Super Explosion (Explode)!”
Sophia’s attack magic struck without hesitation.
"Tch, those little brats—!?"
The man in the red robe spat venomously, about to make his next move, only to realize he couldn’t move his body.
Sophia was restraining the man in the red robe with telekinesis at the same time as attacking the Minotaur.
“—Reflective Barrier!”
Caroline, who had distanced herself from the Minotaur, activated her magic.
Kicking the translucent emerald wall that appeared behind her, she quickly closed the gap with the man in red robes.
"Damn it!"
The man in red robes released multiple Thunder Javelins at the approaching Caroline.
However, Caroline dodged all of them as if she knew their trajectory even before they were thrown.
"Let me make one thing clear. I am not an experiment! I am Caroline Inglott of the Silver Rabbits of the Night Sky!"
Caroline shouted, retracting her daggers and clenching her fist.
Then she struck the man in red robes precisely in the solar plexus with her fist.
"Carole, are you okay?"
Sophia asked worriedly.
Having finished restraining the man in red robes, Caroline smiled as usual.
"I'm fine! Thanks for worrying about me! …But why did members of the cult attack us?"
Since today was their day off, Sophia and Caroline had been strolling around the city of Tsutolairu together.
During their walk, they suddenly received an emergency declaration via telepathic communication from Selma.
They headed immediately toward the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky Headquarters to meet with Logan and Luna.
On the way, they were ambushed by a trio of men with red robes pulled over their heads.
But the two of them repelled the attack by themselves.
A year ago, Sophia’s highest magic was advanced mage spells during her training explorations.
Now she could wield top-tier magic and had gained much better control of her supernatural abilities compared to when they first manifested.
Caroline’s physical abilities had also improved considerably, thanks to both qi activation and the magical tools she had received from her siblings.
"The attacks on the exploration guild and the flooding of the dungeon are from the Empire, right...?"
"Hmm, I've been a bit suspicious about the Empire causing the dungeon flooding for a while now. The method feels like the cult’s style. …Maybe the Empire is connected with the cult?"
"If that’s true, then things are pretty dangerous, aren't they...?"
"Just my guess, though. But more importantly, we need to get back to headquarters quickly to meet up with Log and evacuate everyone!"
Explorers ranked B and above in Tsutolairu are, as a rule, assigned to handle demonic beasts emerging from the dungeon.
The A rank party, Twilight Moonbow, is also counted among those who handle demonic beasts, but in emergencies like this, they are typically assigned to teams guiding other members to evacuate.