Page 974 of Heaven, Earth, Me

Annealor/annealus 4%

Solario/Solaris 20%

Heavenly Temperature Index (HTI) 74%

So, yeah. The scale of HTI is identical to Celsius so that all of you understand what we are talking about, but the name now is HEAVENLY TEMPERATURE INDEX! Hohohoho... Hmm. Some pa treons pointed out that it sounds like an STD, like HIV, but I don't care, I like it, hahahaha. OwO

Anyway, back to our new adventure caused by a big OOPSIE from almost everyone xD. (There is one more oopsie that will go unadressed for a few chapters, I wonder if any of you will catch it before it is mentioned~. Hahaha)

***

Yasenia's group approached the more significant energy signals. They were Kali, Tatyana, Valeria, Yasenia, and forty of her maids. Just in case, Yasenia left behind 10 of them in Distancia.

The main maids that came with her were Doriel, an intelligence-gathering maid; Alaia, the maid's leader; and Flora, Valeria's main helper. Then, Eira was here for pure offensive power and Selena for the defensive power. The rest had a broad spectrum of skills covering almost all possible situations.

Once their boat arrived, Yasenia asked. "I don't think that the Natural Treasure will be unguarded. The Heavens also didn't prohibit our entrance, meaning that there are creatures at least as strong as fifth-realm beings."

Tatyana asked. "What do you suggest?"

Yasenia looked at Tatyana and Valeria and asked, "Can both of you use summons to check the area? I don't really want to meet with a Sixth Realm creature out of nowhere "

Tatyana smiled. "On it."

Valeria nodded. "Give me a moment."

Their auras swelled for a second and pierced the space before them, bursting space into smithereens. When the rift opened, several hundreds of creatures powered outside.

A wide array of plant creatures sprung out from the spatial fissure on Valeria's side. Their bodies didn't bother to maintain an anthropomorphic shape, as functionality was their primary concern in combat.

Meanwhile, on Tatyana's side, skeletal humanoids appeared one after another. They were clad in black and green armor that leaked a dark mist and gave a chilling aura. Then, the last undead to step out of the spatial rift did so with much more control than the previous ones.

Moreover, that humanoid was different. She had a perfectly preserved body with white skin, ghostly green eyes, and white hair. She was very different from when she was alive. However, Kali and Yasenia discerned her almost instantly. Kali, especially, knew that face nearly better than her own, as it was burned in the back of her head.

For a second, the fox woman felt her chest constrict as the armored female undead general walked with measured steps toward Tatyana and kneeled. "Lady Tatyana."

Tatyana nodded and ordered. "Rise, Alyssa."

Yasenia approached Kali, but she didn't hold her hand. Instead, she made sure that the fox woman knew that she was there if she needed support. "I am here, Honey. That's a ghost of the past. Face it."

Kali was stiff, her fist clenched as she looked at the woman who was the origin of all her suffering. The jealous, evil woman who threw her to the wolves just because she was more beautiful than her. Envious of what she couldn't have.

Tatyana looked at Kali, but she didn't cover Alyssa's presence. She had chosen Alyssa for two reasons as her Undead General.

The first reason was that Alyssa was about to enter the Transcendence Realm; she had been about to enter over the last decades. If Tatyana pushed her cultivation, she might've entered, but she was leaving her there, just in case this body needed a powerful non-transcendence undead.

As she was, Alyssa had peak mortal realm strength. No one other than Transcendence Cultivators could beat her individually, thanks to Tatyana's buffs.

The second reason was naturally that Kali was due to face one of her primary traumas. Tatyana had seen the fox woman grow from a timid woman who felt afraid of letting others see part of her face or skin to a mother who could laugh genuinely, not caring about the scars on her face.

Tatyana spoke. "Kali, Alyssa is dead. When she faced Yasenia, I took her corpse and then went and slaughtered her family to become her servants." The Death Empress pointed around her, where thousands of undead were gathered. "They are them."

Kali looked between Tatyana and Alyssa as her body refused to move. However, while she was outwardly paralyzed, her mind was not. On the contrary, she was fighting. 'Move!'

Kali looked at Alyssa, and her body froze as flashbacks of that time appeared in her mind, along with Alyssa's laugh and mocking. Nevertheless, even when her body was paralyzed, Kali didn't show fear in her eyes. She was showing defiance. 'I already got over you years ago. I need one more thing before I completely erase your existence, so move out. You are a worthless fear. You have nothing against me.'

Alyssa's face in front of her seemed to morph into her mocking and arrogant face. "Are you sure? Or are you not erasing me because… you can't? You're afraid of being free of baggage, aren't you?"

Kali sneered. "Keep on dreaming. Heart Demon, you are the only one left."

Alyssa shook her head. "Me? The only one left? Even you don't believe that."

The fox woman looked at Alyssa and took a step forward, her body somewhat trembling from the exertion. "I told you, Heart Demon. I am in control; you aren't." The Heart Demon felt the predatory verdant green fox eyes and felt extremely threatened. "Go back where I left you. I am almost done with my pill recipe. Once I am done, you are going to disappear. There is no other ending. There is no reversal. Even if you threw me into the same situation a thousand times over, the result wouldn't change as long as I have Yasenia standing by my side."

Alyssa blinked and smirked.

"Oho~? What if she disappears?"

Kali's surroundings went black, and her sensation of anything around her disappeared.

"What if everyone disappeared?"

Kali's mind froze for a second, but she took a deep breath and said. "They aren't gone."

"You are right. Yasenia is faithfully standing by your left side. Valeria is heroically standing by your right side. Your mother-in-law is looking at you… And yet, you can't see them."

Alyssa reappeared by her side and whispered. "You can't feel them."

Kali wanted to move and touch the people around her. But she couldn't, making her frown. "When did you gain so much strength?"

Alyssa laughed and leaned forward, almost kissing Kali. "Losing strength? I never did. You just placed me in a deeper part of your soul."

Kali frowned for a few moments, and then, her face gained a serene expression. "Really?"

Alyssa raised her eyebrow. "If not?"

Kali smiled. "Lies. All you say are lies. Look, my wife is here." Kali extended her hand to the right side, not the left, and grabbed Yasenia's hand. The darkness was blasted open, and Alyssa's figure was blown apart into black miasma.

Her verdant green fox eyes moved and landed on Alyssa's undead figure. However, unlike the expressiveness of her vision, she only saw an emotionless expression of a creature bound to eternal servitude under the Death Empress. "It has been a while since I saw her." Kali smirked. "She looks as bad as always."

Tatyana clicked her tongue. "Lies~. She looks much better now that she is my undead! She doesn't have that arrogant and nasty personality."

Kali laughed and approached. "This really came as a surprise. Even if you gave me a thousand years, I wouldn't have guessed it."

Yasenia crossed her arms under her prominent bosom, highlighting the prominent curve. "I was wondering when you would show her to Kali. I am surprised you chose now and…" Yasenia looked around at the magma-filled environment. "... in this place."

Tatyana smirked. "We might die, so when's a better moment to surpass our past fears!?"

Valeria raised her eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Now, it is your turn. What past fear are you going to overcome?"

Tatyana pointed toward the energy source, ignoring Valeria. "Let's go!"

The girls and maids deadpanned, but no one disobeyed, and they started moving again.

Once they were close, Valeria and Tatyana ordered. "Scouts."

Ten undead and twenty plant creatures rushed forward, disappearing right in front of their eyes as if they hadn't existed in the first place.

Yasenia felt the air fluctuations stopping, giving her nothing to work with, and complimented. "That's some impressive stealth. Can you detect them, Doriel?"

Doriel hummed. "Barely. They would be very annoying to deal with."

Kali asked. "How much unti-."

ROAR!

A beastly and gurgling scream spread from the inside of the cave system they wanted to enter, followed by tremors that shook the underground.

Tatyana smirked. "Prepare to enter combat. We have a big fish!"

What the dragoness didn't expect was that, from the mouth of the cave entrance, an enormous fish that was swimming in the solid magma appeared.

The body was made of a rocky surface that constantly spewed magma. Yasenia commented in awe. "That's, quite literally, a really big fish. What's its realm…? Oh! Tenth Level Legendary Beast Core Realm! No… It is not a beast!"

Valeria chuckled. "Yeah. That fish is a spirit! Spirits don't all take a humanoid form. Some take other ones, and even their size varies tremendously. After all, spirits don't have the limitations of flesh. That fish is at the peak-level of the Spirit Core Harmony Realm."

Soluna looked at Yasenia and smiled. "That big spirit is so strong and old! I can't beat it!"

"Why are you so happy?" The dragoness asked, baffled.

Soluna hummed. "I am happy that there are spirits doing well outside my world!"

Yasenia looked at the fish and said. "Well, Doriel, go with Valeria and take the treasures inside. The rest, let's hold off that thing here."

Tatyana extended her hand, summoning a beautiful longsword with gorgeous accessories. "We don't kill it?"

Yasenia asked. "Can we kill it? That thing has been absorbing the power of a Natural Treasure for who knows how long. I think it is better just to steal the Natural Treasure and flee."

Tatyana raised an eyebrow. "What if the fish follows us around the World as we steal treasures? Won't it become an annoyance?"

"..." Yasenia really couldn't argue with that one. "Soluna, Kali, I can see that you find it cute, but we need to kill it."

"Aww…" Both of them pouted and looked at Yasenia. However, the dragoness really didn't want to deal with that giant fish following them around the planet and perhaps beyond.

All forty maids and Tatyana's army swarmed forward, accompanied by Yasenia and supported by Valeria's army. The environment would usually not be ideal for Valeria's army. However, the plant life she had summoned was all volcanic plant life. While not immune to harsh temperatures, they were much more resilient than usual plant life.

The giant spirit fish roared, and then Yasenia and the rest saw the world turn red.

ROAR!

A gargantuan beam of pure magma energy swallowed them all, leaving no sight of them.

However, the spirit fish was confused. The second he stopped firing his massive magma stream, an unharmed group appeared before its eyes.

At the front of the group, Selena stood tall and strong, fully equipped in her maid-armor and holding a giant shield. Around her, an aura that protected everyone could be seen.

Kali smirked. "No matter how often I see it, it is always incredible."

Yasenia shouted, her auras bursting outward with violence as her [War Intent Level 9] enveloped everyone. "Attack!"