Chapter 87

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Chapter 87: Running In Circles

“Sweet dreams,” Vanessa murmured softly at the moment of the mace falling.

The sound of the token breaking echoed, and Vanessa bent down to pick up the piece of map left on the ground.

The soul armament user of [Eagle Eye] must have had a high degree of compatibility with it; otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to reach this point with only a low-star soul like [Eagle Eye].

His tactics were straightforward. He would hide in the jungle and launch sneak attacks on candidates who were either careless or had just finished a big battle and hadn’t had time to catch their breath.

With the help of his tracking arrows, his ambushes were almost always successful.

However, since he relied on passive kills and could only act when others entered his jungle, his score was relatively low, and he hadn’t collected many maps.

Vanessa searched the area thoroughly but found that the only thing she gained from defeating him, aside from the points, was a copy of Map No. 13.

Now, she had maps numbered one through thirteen.

She had essentially gathered most of the maps in the entire division, many of which had already been reduced to ashes, indicating that those locations had been struck by thunder and were no longer accessible.

The dungeon was now surrounded by raging thunder, with faint rumbles echoing in the distance.

By determining her position on the map, Vanessa could clearly identify which directions were off-limits and which were still open.

From the continuous gray and black areas on the map, it was evident that the southern region had been completely reduced to ashes, leaving only other directions as possible exits.

Additionally, many areas in other directions had also been destroyed.

Vanessa recalled that the rules stated only a few small areas would remain randomly in the end, significantly increasing the chances of encountering the “female protagonists.”

At this point, it all came down to whether her idea was sound and if she would “win the jackpot.”

However, based on the principle that lightning rarely strikes the same place twice, Vanessa felt the odds of her winning again were slim.

“I’ve seen her once before, so I won’t see her again, right?” she thought. If she did, there was no turning back now.

The ambiguity of the original plot made it impossible for Vanessa to predict where the protagonists would ultimately end up, or whether the butterfly effect caused by her time travel would have any impact.

Therefore, speculating their final destination seemed unrealistic.

Now from what she could see, most of the maps she held had already been destroyed, so the remaining ones likely hadn’t been.

Vanessa gently stroked the mithril mace in her hand.

It seemed she needed to eliminate a few more people to obtain the complete map.

For her, this wasn’t too difficult now.

After leaving the jungle, she could now walk on the road with more confidence.

As for whether her goddess-like appearance would arouse unnecessary suspicion?

There was no need to worry about that. As everyone knew, the Varelis family was on the brink of extinction.

The only direct descendant was a notorious male with a dead vein, and even his bloodline was controversial, something almost everyone in aristocratic circles was aware of.

Even if someone linked her to Goddess of Radiance, they wouldn’t think she was a descendant of the goddess.

And even if they secretly believed it in their hearts, they wouldn’t dare to say it out loud.

Vanessa was well aware of the Church of Radiance’s attitude toward the Varelis family.

On the surface, however, the Church remained the defender of the Goddess and the disseminator of her teachings.

Belief in the Goddess was the core of the Church’s existence and the foundation it could never abandon.

Therefore, even if the Church of Radiance were to raid the Varelis estate, they would need to find plausible reasons and wouldn’t dare to act until both adults of the family had passed away.

“You see, the Varelis family has died out and fallen into decline. There’s no point in keeping these treasures. We, the Church of Radiance, have received the Goddess’s revelation and are retrieving the treasures to better serve her believers.”

If the only descendant of the Varelis family was a good-for-nothing despised by everyone, and even his bloodline was in doubt, wouldn’t that make it more legitimate for the Church of Radiance to claim these treasures?

With the decline of the Varelis family, they could slowly boil the frog in warm water.

In this generation, there was no saint, and only the Pope had faced criticism. What about the next generation?

People are forgetful. As time passes and eras change, they would accept the fact that the Church of Radiance had only the Pope and no Saintness.

For this reason, Vanessa could guess what the Church of Radiance had been doing in private.

To demonstrate their legitimacy, they would secretly and relentlessly slander the Varelis family and Winnie.

Of course, they wouldn’t dare to slander the descendants of the Goddess directly, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t attack from other angles.

Since the title of “descendant of the Goddess” was too grand, why not just strip it away?

Therefore, Vanessa suspected that the force behind the rumor that Winnie wasn’t the true descendant of Varelis was the Church of Radiance.

Even if they weren’t the mastermind, they were certainly fanning the flames behind the scenes.

Erasing the legitimacy of the Varelis family would bring many benefits to the Church of Radiance and the Pope, especially the Pope.

This was also one of the reasons why Vanessa wasn’t too worried about others spreading rumors that she was the descendant of the Goddess.

The Church of Radiance had been working hard to eliminate the influence of the Varelis family on the Church.

Why would anyone claim to have seen a true descendant of the Goddess at this time?

Did they want to face the heavy fist of the Church?

It goes without saying that the Church of Radiance would severely punish those who spread such rumors under the guise of “slandering the purity of the Goddess and the Saintness.”

The Church of Radiance is doing its utmost to erase the influence of the title “Descendant of the Goddess” among the general believers.

While worship of the Goddess remains their doctrine, those who claim to be descendants of the Goddess must disappear, or rather, the title itself must vanish.

Therefore, Vanessa guessed that even if the Church of Radiance were pressured into nominating a Saintness in the future, it would undoubtedly be someone arranged by the Pope, essentially a puppet for public display.

As for the possibility that she and Winnie are the same person, it’s even more implausible.

Not only is it too far-fetched, but their personalities and habits even gender are completely different that no one would ever link the two together.

A normal person wouldn’t even consider such a direction.

Therefore, as long as she didn’t encounter high-ranking priesta like bishops from the Church of Radiance, there was no need to worry.

But how could someone like her ever meet a bishop?

Having inherited the emotions and memories of her original body, Vanessa harbored no goodwill toward today’s Church of Radiance, only a strong dislike.

In her eyes, the Church of Radiance was a sewer teeming with maggots.

She detested its filth and stench and wanted to stay as far away from it as possible.

The Saintness was the greatest victim among all the victims.

Not only was she caught in the center of power struggles and manipulated daily, but she was also the first to be sent into action whenever there was a minor conflict between human nations or a war with the demons.

When the demons attacked, she was the first target as the head of the Church of Radiance.

Whoever wanted this high-risk job could have it, but if she took it, she’d lose years of her life.

Walking along the road, Vanessa headed in the direction of the only place on her map that hadn’t been reduced to ashes.

According to the markings on the map, there was an ancient castle, or rather, a fortress that had fallen into disrepair.

It was quite extraordinary to find man-made structures within the dungeon.

However, to reach the castle, one had to cross a suspension bridge.

Vanessa instinctively sensed danger. There was only one path to the castle, and it happened to be a suspension bridge.

It was inevitable that a battle would break out there.

She quickened her pace. Judging by the map, she still had some distance to cover before reaching the suspension bridge.

Glancing at the map, she was surprised to find that the jungle and the area behind her, which had been there moments ago, were now shrouded in a wisp of black fog.

Her brows furrowed, and she suddenly turned her head, only to see the sky behind her filled with dark clouds, as if a storm was brewing.

Oh no, this area will soon be reduced to ashes!

Vanessa’s expression shifted as she looked at the dark clouds looming overhead.

Her figure flashed, and her white high-heeled boots stomped against the ground, creating a rapid “thump thump thump” sound.

Her cherry blossom hair whipped around in the wind, almost merging with the gale.

Her luck had taken a turn for the worse, but fortunately, she had the map and had noticed the changes behind her in time.

I can’t stay here any longer. I have to leave quickly.

After a quick glance at the map, she noticed that the castle and the suspension bridge remained unaffected.

The game was nearing its end, and already half of the map had been reduced to ash.

The same fate had befallen most of the candidates.

Many had been eliminated, and those without any special skills hadn’t even made it this far.

Vanessa hurried on, fleeing the area at lightning speed.

As she ran, she suddenly sensed something.

Without hesitation, she pulled out her mithril mace and hurled it into the jungle beside her.

“Ahhhh!”

A few screams echoed through the jungle as a twisted path was carved out, with several candidates struck by the flying mace and eliminated on the spot.

The mithril mace arced gracefully through the air before circling back into Vanessa’s grasp.

When one’s mastery of a weapon reaches a certain level, even a mace can be wielded with such precision that it returns to its wielder like a guided strike.

She wasn’t alone on this journey. With that single swing of the mace, Vanessa’s points jumped to eight hundred, but she had no time to stop and retrieve the map.

The dark clouds above grew denser, and the threat of thunder and lightning loomed, ready to reduce the area to ashes at any moment.

She didn’t dare waste a single second, pushing herself to full speed. Her slender legs moved rhythmically.

Running at such speed in high-heeled boots was perilous; one misstep could lead to a fall and injury.

Yet, Vanessa was remarkably skilled. The boots didn’t hinder her speed in the slightest. In fact, she looked almost spectacular as she ran.

Fortunately, these high-heeled boots were transformed by [Armor Fortress].

If they were ordinary boots, they would never withstand such insane speed and would have broken long ago.

“Boom…” A low rumble of thunder echoed, but there was no sign of rain.

The dark clouds loomed with an oppressive, terrifying weight.

Vanessa adjusted her breathing, gasping slightly as she leaped forward.

Just before the ash-laden thunder could strike, she dashed out of the ashen zone and reached the edge of the suspension bridge.

“Huff, huff…” By the time she stopped, dusk had already fallen.

Even with Vanessa’s exceptional physical stamina, she felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her.

Finally, I can catch my breath.

She glanced back at the thunder rumbling behind her, a shiver of fear running through her.

If it were Winnie’s physical strength, he would never have made it this far.

He might have collapsed from exhaustion before even reaching the halfway point.

No, he wouldn’t have been eliminated on the road. If it weren’t for Vanessa, he would have been killed by Malric or the ambushers hiding in the jungle.

If she managed to enroll in the academy, it would be entirely thanks to Vanessa.

She placed her hands on her knees, steadying her breathing, and peered ahead at the suspension bridge.

It seemed she was late, or perhaps she had arrived at just the right time, as a fight had already broken out on the bridge.

Vanessa guessed her speed must have been slower than she thought.

The group at the suspension bridge had likely grownimpatient after waiting so long.

When no one crossed for a while, someone must have tried to force their way, only to be attacked by others emerging from the jungle, sparking the chaos.

By dusk, the battle had mostly subsided. Fragments of maps littered the ground, but no one had the chance to pick them up.

Or perhaps, by now, some lucky individuals had already collected all the fragments they needed and didn’t bother with the scraps.

Vanessa observed the remaining fighters around the suspension bridge.

She wasn’t in a hurry to cross and decided to wait a little longer, letting them tire themselves out further.

But time was running out. By now, most of those who had been hiding had joined the fray, and everyone was visibly exhausted.

Some of the candidates, realizing they were in no condition to cross the bridge, grew desperate.

One burly young man, wielding two axes, seemed particularly unhinged.

“Damn it! If I can’t make it, neither can you!” he roared.

“You want to fight me, huh? Fine! If I can’t cross, then none of you will!” With that, he raised his axe, aiming to sever the ropes of the suspension bridge.

The fight had dragged on for so long that most of the others were too drained to stop him. The madman’s axe gleamed in the fading light, poised to doom them all.

At the critical moment, a mithril mace shot through the air and struck the axe-wielding young man square in the face, sending him tumbling off the suspension bridge.

There’s an expert here!?

Everyone turned in disbelief, only to see an astonishingly beautiful girl with cherry blossom hair catch the returning mace and charge toward them at lightning speed.

By this point, most of the capable candidates had already crossed the bridge, leaving behind a group of mediocre ones who had hesitated, missed their best chance, and lacked the strength to force their way across.

Their mana was nearly depleted from the earlier fight.

In front of Vanessa, who was at full speed, strength, and skill, they stood no chance. She cut through them like a hot knife through butter.

Vanessa’s points soared to 1,200.

The area near the suspension bridge was cleared, but Vanessa knew this didn’t guarantee safety.

There was still the risk of an ambush while crossing.

So, she scoured the nearby area and, as expected, found a few stragglers hiding in the shadows.

If people had a little self-awareness, they’d know that if they weren’t strong enough, they’d have to bide their time.

These individuals had tried to do just that, but it was futile. The fact that they had been hiding here for so long, unable to cross, proved they lacked the strength to compete.

“The game of hide and seek is over,” Vanessa declared.

Her mace strikes were merciless. Each swing eliminated her targets instantly, the sheer force of the blows enough to knock them out even if they weren’t directly hit.

After clearing out the remaining stragglers and collecting their maps, Vanessa’s points climbed to 1,500.

It seemed like they were just a bunch of novices fighting among themselves.

Even their points were pitifully low, most had barely survived this long.

With no further obstacles in her way, Vanessa stowed her mace and confidently crossed the suspension bridge.