After saying goodbye to Barro and Per, Syl followed the maid out of the Bonsandi residence and boarded a carriage.
The Duke District was enormous, spanning the size of the entire Ivisa District, yet it housed only one ten-thousandth of Suramar's population; it could be said that living in the Duke District meant one was absolutely among the elite of the Great Saya Empire.
Yet, Barro had simply gifted such a property to Syl.
If one ignored other conspiratorial factors, it was simply that Barro's affection for his daughter was so great that this was truly just to thank Syl.
While Syl was deep in thought, the carriage came to a stop.
The maid's knocking brought Syl back to her senses.
Opening the carriage door, Syl stepped onto the small stool brought over by the maid and alighted from the carriage.
Coming into view was a villa covering about three or four hundred square meters, complete with a front and back garden, where two maids were currently trimming flowers in the front yard.
After the maid who brought Syl explained their purpose to the people inside, the seven maids who maintained the house were assembled into a line, standing respectfully before the door.
"Have them return to Barro," Syl shook her head, "I don't need maids."
"Very well, Lady Silver Crow." The maid who had brought Syl had been instructed only to obey Lady Silver Crow's orders, so naturally, she would not raise any objections to what Syl had said.
"As for the deed, there is no need to send it over; I am only staying for a short while." After saying this, Syl took the keys from one of the maids, opened the door, and walked inside, leaving the maids outside to look at each other in bewilderment.
Only after the sounds of the maids and the carriage outside had faded did Syl begin to inspect the lavishly decorated three-story villa.
She closed her eyes and sensed carefully, but there was no psychic warning; the house was not under surveillance by any Transcendent power.
"Where is the basement… I should have asked earlier…" Syl muttered while wandering through the rooms, "Is this going to be my temporary base from now on?"
After circling the first floor twice, Syl finally found the door to the cellar. After trying the keys on the ring one by one, she finally found the one that opened the cellar door.
Opening the door, Syl immediately felt a cold breeze blowing from within. The eerie stone floor and walls offered no warmth, and the kerosene lamps on the walls were not lit.
But this was nothing scary to Syl. If she didn't even have this much courage, she would have already called GG back on the day she became a clown.
She turned, closed the door, and locked it. The cellar was plunged into complete darkness.
"Casanova."
"Missionary."
Following Syl's whisper, the Physician in the darkness transformed into the Casanova. After placing the spellcasting materials in her hand onto the floor, she transformed into the Missionary once again.
The red-haired Missionary pulled a vial of reagent from her bag, opened it, and snapped her fingers.
A bloody mouth appeared on the back of Syl's hand. She whispered an unintelligible phrase, and a soft light emerged from her hand.
How convenient; she didn't even need to chant spells herself.
With the help of the light from her hand, Syl could see the path ahead. Following the stairs, Syl walked all the way to the lowest level of the cellar.
This was a wide, circular space, about 4 meters high and quite large, yet there was nothing placed inside.
It felt empty, but it was just right for Syl to do a few things.
After taking a deep breath, Syl raised her hand, and a card glowing with an eerie purple light appeared in it.
This was Syl's strongest combat asset.
"Young Dragon."
As if suffering from mildew, the Missionary's face instantly broke out in countless dense holes, as if being corroded by something, causing discomfort both physically and mentally.
But this was only for an instant; the mildew spread instantly, and the Missionary's entire figure collapsed into a spherical object.
Furthermore, that object was constantly spraying out mycelium; countless splitting black and red threads, as if alive, instantly filled the entire room.
"Ahhhhh!"
Suddenly, a terrified female scream came from the corner of the cellar, and a flash of fire appeared in the cellar.
The woman, wearing a worn-out vest and black trousers, was huddled in the corner holding an oil lamp, crying out incessantly:
"I'm sorry… I shouldn't have snuck in to steal things; I thought no one lived here!!!"
"I, Tess, have never stolen money that people desperately needed in my life; I only steal from people who have so much they don't know where to put it!"
"Waahhhhh! Don't come over here!"
She waved the oil lamp around wildly. The warm oil lamp seemed to have an effect; the dense mycelium covered the entire room but did not approach the woman.
Gradually, she stopped crying and raised the oil lamp, looking at the meat tumor in the center covered in mycelium.
The meat tumor pulsed, seemingly gestating life.
With every pulse, all the mycelium would radiate red blood-colored light outward, centered on the meat ball.
Holding the oil lamp, she took a deep breath and said tremblingly: "Tess… come on, you can do this…"
It seemed like she was encouraging herself.
Tess stood up, shivering while holding the kerosene lamp. She originally wanted to lean against the wall, but as soon as she reached out, she touched something slimy, which almost made her vomit up the Sala noodles she had stolen and eaten yesterday.
After standing up, Tess slowly moved towards the stairs.
Fortunately, as she moved, the mycelium kept retreating, as if specifically leaving a space for her.
"Thump—thump—"
She didn't know if it was her imagination, but she felt the egg in the center was pulsing faster and faster.
"Thump—thump—thump—"
"Thump! Thump!"
No, it wasn't her imagination; it was really getting faster!
Something isn't actually going to crawl out, is it?
Tess felt her adrenaline surging wildly. She had never encountered anything this bizarre; even after drinking the [Thief] potion and becoming a Transcendent, she had never encountered such a thing.
This was definitely not something she could resist!
Something terrifying was gestating inside!
Tess continued to walk briskly towards the stairs, and the mycelium on the ground kept clearing a path for her.
But when the mycelium seemed to sense that she was about to leave, it stopped moving.
The stairs were only a step away, but no matter how Tess approached, the mycelium refused to give her any space.
Just then, the nervous Tess seemed to hear a faint sound.
"Crack—"
Tess turned her head stiffly and raised the oil lamp, shining it toward the meat tumor in the center.
At some point, the meat tumor had completely solidified. The outer layer of mycelium and flesh had somehow transformed into a hard, reflective eggshell, and now, the sound of it cracking was coming from the shell.
"Crackle—"