Creak... Creak...
The wooden staircase, heavily coated in frost, groaned with a teeth-grinding sound. Castorice deliberately lightened her steps, moving with extreme caution. A single misstep could send her tumbling down, a truly humiliating disaster.
Halfway up, the ancient structure finally gave way. As her left foot landed, the heel of her high heel pierced a small hole in the rotting wood.
Naturally, Castorice wobbled. Fortunately, she had anticipated such a mishap and possessed excellent balance, preventing a fall.
"Holy Maiden, watch out!" Aisha shouted, reaching out to steady her. In her haste, Aisha's foot slipped, sending her into a clumsy mid-air tumble.
Castorice had barely regained her balance when she turned to see Aisha hurtling toward her. She froze, dumbfounded.
Wait, what are you doing?!
The narrow staircase offered no room to dodge. At the last possible moment, Castorice deactivated her permanent passive ability.
Thump!
A soft object collided squarely with Castorice's face, sending both of them tumbling down the stairs in a tangled heap.
Propping herself up on the plush "ground" with one hand, Castorice slowly sat up, her head still spinning. Her gaze fell upon Aisha, the Death Archbishop, pinned beneath her. She had to admit, the archbishop was stunningly beautiful, a perfect embodiment of the "ice queen" archetype.
During their initial encounter, Aisha had indeed been aloof and distant. But everything changed the moment she recognized Castorice as the Holy Maiden.
Now, an unnatural blush flushed Aisha's "ice queen" face. She let out a soft moan. "Holy Maiden... here? If you truly desire it, I... I wouldn't resist..."
Castorice glanced down and realized her right hand was pressed firmly against Aisha's chest. Expressionless, she stood up, silently scoffing: Ice queen? More like a pervert!
Castorice couldn't help but admit that Aisha had a remarkable figure. She recalled the sensation of her earlier touch: So big... so soft...
After a pause, watching Aisha stand up, Castorice asked, "You know touching me will kill you, right? Why did you try to pull me away just now?"
Even with the ability to resurrect, no one willingly embraces death. Castorice suspected Aisha's resurrection power had limitations; it couldn't be limitless or unconditional. That's why she had deactivated her passive ability.
Aisha crossed her arms, her face rapturous as if reliving a cherished memory. "Holy Maiden," she said dreamily, "there was no time to think. When I saw you in danger, my body moved on its own."
"Besides, what's so terrible about dying if it means protecting you? It's merely returning to the Death God's embrace. There's nothing to fear."
Aisha suddenly snapped out of her reverie, her expression shifting to astonishment. "Wait... so I didn't die?"
Castorice nodded. "I can deactivate my ability..."
Before Castorice could finish speaking, Aisha launched herself into a familiar flying tackle, a move so practiced it seemed rehearsed countless times. She slid smoothly across the floor and wrapped her arms around Castorice's thigh. "Ah~ Holy Maiden, you smell so divine~ This is pure bliss! I feel like I could die from happiness~"
Castorice couldn't help but grimace in disgust as Aisha pressed her cheek against her calf and inhaled deeply. Before she could react, Aisha stuck out her tongue and licked her white stockings.
"Eww!"
A chill ran down Castorice's spine, and goosebumps erupted all over her skin. She grabbed Aisha's head, shoved her away, and pleaded, "P-please don't do that..."
After some struggle, Castorice finally managed to push Aisha off. The girl immediately burst into tears. "Waaah! All the efforts I've made over the past ten years have finally paid off in this moment! It was all worth it!"
For some reason, Castorice suddenly felt a pang of pity for the girl. It was just a lick on her stockings... Was it really such a big deal?
Aisha continued, "And there's more! Holy Maiden, you're so incredibly kind. Even after I acted so rudely, you simply pushed me away. I thought you'd stomp on me and scold me mercilessly!"
Well, that fleeting moment of pity Castorice had felt for Aisha vanished instantly.
Just then, Castorice felt a tickling sensation on her chest. The cloak she was wearing rustled, and a cute little purple Round Sparrow fluttered out. Wobbling, it landed on Castorice's shoulder, shook its tiny head, and cautiously surveyed its surroundings.
It was Pollux. Perhaps Castorice's tumble down the stairs had led Pollux to believe she was in danger, causing her to emerge from her hiding place inside Castorice's clothes.
Castorice gently poked Pollux's plump little belly and said softly, "It's alright, you don't need to worry about me."
Aisha watched with a mixture of envy and curiosity. "What's this little creature?"
Castorice introduced her proudly, "This is Pollux. She's very capable. If I ever find myself in danger, I'm counting on her to protect me."
A Holy Maiden of the Death Church, known for her 'Touch-and-Die' ability, was pointing at a tiny Round Sparrow, no bigger than her fist, and declaring, "She will protect me." It was, to say the least, a peculiar sight.
Anyone else would have dismissed Castorice's words as a joke, but Aisha harbored not a shred of doubt. She simply believed her, solely because it was the Holy Maiden who had spoken. Nothing more, nothing less.
While stroking Pollux, Castorice finally turned her attention to the cellar before her. The space was vast but utterly empty, offering an unobstructed view to the far end.
A visible blue mist swirled slowly through the air. Wherever it touched the floor or walls, a thick layer of frost instantly crystallized.
This must be the so-called 'Extreme Cold' phenomenon. As for the 'Divine Concealment,' the very emptiness of the place seemed to prove its existence.
The cellar must have once been filled with objects, all of which had now vanished.
Logically, such a bare space should have made any anomalies easy to spot. Yet Castorice found nothing. She narrowed her eyes, her keen vision undiminished even in the dim light, and scanned the room repeatedly. Still, nothing seemed amiss.
Aisha, her earlier manic expression replaced with a serious one, commented, "This place... feels strange."
Castorice strode deeper into the cellar, her short legs carrying her forward. As if sensing her presence, the blue mist drifting aimlessly within began to coalesce and float toward her.
Crack... crack...
The frost on the ground crackled crisply as the mist passed over it.
Though Castorice felt she was fairly resistant to the cold, she had no intention of letting the mist engulf her. If it was just mist, surely it could be blown away by the wind?
She extended her right hand, and a deep purple fluid surged from her palm, solidifying into the shape of a scythe. Taking a deep breath, she gripped the scythe's handle tightly with both hands, planted her right foot forward, leaned slightly, and adopted a stance optimized for force. Then she unleashed a sweeping horizontal slash!
In a way, this was her first proper attack with a scythe. The handling felt a bit odd, distinctly different from wielding a sword. The scythe's weight was concentrated entirely in the blade at its tip, making it feel as if she were swinging a lighter version of a meteor hammer.
The instant Castorice's scythe swung, the space before her shattered like a thin sheet of white paper, leaving a gaping rift where the blade had passed.
A hazy, gray dimension materialized before Castorice and Aisha, leaving them both stunned.
Castorice's scythe could indeed cleave through space, but theoretically, it should only be able to sever the boundary between the material world and the Underworld.
More importantly, when Castorice had swung her scythe, her sole intention had been to conjure a gust of wind to disperse the blue mist. She hadn't consciously aimed to breach the spatial wall and connect to the Underworld.
Aisha, equally astonished, exclaimed, "This is... a demiplane?"
Castorice turned to Aisha, blinking her amethyst-like eyes, her expression utterly bewildered. Before she could voice her question, Aisha explained, "This is a famous spell from the Conjuration School called 'Create Demiplane.' It's a seventh-circle spell, and its effect is exactly what the name suggests: it creates an independent demiplane."
"This demiplane has many uses," Aisha explained. "It can serve as a warehouse for storing items, a refuge to retreat to in times of danger, or even a trap—you can lure enemies inside to battle when necessary."
"As a demiplane, its spatial barrier with other planes is relatively weak," she continued. "Holy Maiden, your recent strike shattered this fragile wall, successfully opening an entrance to the demiplane."
"There's also this: each time the [ Create Demiplane ] spell is cast, the demiplane's location shifts. For example, if someone casts it in a cellar, the demiplane will manifest there. But if that person casts the spell again elsewhere, the demiplane will relocate to the new location."
"Considering the charred scar that stretches across half of Chaos City, near the ruined inn, we can deduce that during the Seven Heroes' battle with the Demon Lord three centuries ago, one of the Heroes was a Wizard from the Conjuration School who cast the [ Create Demiplane ] spell in this very place."
It remains unknown why the wizard used this magic, but the result was clear: he likely perished. He never cast the [ Create Demiplane ] spell again, and the demiplane has remained suspended here to this day.
Castorice asked, "Will the entrance close? Can I still get out after I go in?"
Aisha replied, "Space has a self-repairing property. This rift will definitely heal over time. Normally, without the demiplane's master's permission, no one can enter or leave."
As she spoke, Aisha's expression grew increasingly awestruck. She turned to Castorice and exclaimed, "But since you, Holy Maiden, can slice through space itself, entering and exiting is effortless for you!"
To casually slice through the very fabric of space with a single swing of her weapon—such a feat seemed straight out of a fairy tale. Yet here it was, unfolding right before Aisha's eyes. "As expected of the Holy Maiden! You're truly extraordinary!"
It was just a simple right-click followed by an auto-attack, but this "praise monster" insisted on describing it as some kind of god-tier, heaven-defying maneuver, showering Castorice with compliments that made her so embarrassed she started curling her toes inside her shoes.
In any case, after receiving confirmation that she could leave, Castorice lightly leaped into the demiplane.
As if stepping through an ordinary door, one moment she was in the empty cellar, and the next, she found herself on a cracked, parched land that looked like it hadn't seen rain in ages.
Looking up, she saw neither sun nor moon—just a featureless gray sky. Surveying her surroundings, she realized this place was a literal manifestation of the ancient Chinese concept of "Heaven is round and Earth is square."
Castorice walked about ten meters to the right until she reached an edge. Looking down, she saw the same monotonous grayness as the sky above. She quickly retreated two steps, a flicker of fear surfacing. If I slip here, will I fall forever until I starve to death?
Aisha, having slipped in unnoticed, approached the edge and reached out to touch it. "Demiplanes usually have Spatial Walls along their edges to prevent accidental falls..." Her sentence trailed off as her hand met empty air. Aisha quickly withdrew. "Well, it seems this demiplane has existed for far too long without maintenance, causing the Spatial Wall to fail."
"Holy Maiden, we must be extremely cautious now!" the other woman exclaimed. "This demiplane could collapse and vanish at any moment. Falling off would be incredibly dangerous!"
Normally, as Castorice imagined, one would plummet endlessly until starvation. However, with enough persistence and extraordinary luck, one might encounter an exceedingly rare spatial rift and be ejected into some bizarre, unfamiliar realm.
Of course, if Castorice were to fall, she could simply swing her scythe beneath her to teleport herself out instantly.