Give children a little self-destruction shock to their worldview.

Even if all else fails, can't we still use telepathy?

The woman hesitated, saying, "Telepathic communication... that kind of magic is very easy to leak."

Her knowledge of magic was far deeper and broader than that of Sugiyama Rika, and she was well aware of the advantages and disadvantages of telepathic communication when transmitting messages.

To the magical spirits, even encrypted telepathic communication is like a radio broadcast that can be heard with a slight change of station.

Not only magical spirits, but also people from other worlds are known to be able to hear what should be encrypted telepathic communications. In her time, magical girls from other worlds came here and were able to hear the encrypted messages effortlessly.

Therefore, women generally do not use this type of contact method, which carries the risk of leaking information.

Upon her explanation, Sugiyama Rika realized something and her eyes widened in surprise: "So you can all hear me?!"

"...Especially since your voice is the loudest, you should tone down your magic output a bit," the mage complained.

Sugiyama Rika recalled how she had acted coquettishly towards Terasaki Ayasa in their telepathic communication, and wondered how many times it had been overheard. Her face flushed red and then turned pale, feeling like a complete embarrassment.

"Let's put that aside for now. What are you doing in this deep cave?" the magician asked Sugiyama Rikka.

The Deep Cave is a secret realm that has existed since the birth of this magical world. However, for a magician, entering the Deep Cave requires not only locating its ever-changing entrance from countless ancient texts, but also finding a way to break the complex magic array at the entrance, which consumes a considerable amount of energy.

Many magicians may never find a deep cave in their entire lives.

Sugiyama Rika is quite interested in the forbidden magic scattered in the deep cave, perhaps there is a way to restore the destroyed world among them.

She wants to find the correct way to use the fire to help Mayumi Haga and Urzana restore their homeland.

Just as she was busy, the magician who had been bothering her suddenly arrived.

“If I remember correctly, Miracle City is your responsibility.” The magician was quite critical of Sugiyama Rika’s neglect of her duties. “Since you’re not taking responsibility, I’ll go and finish my work, and please don’t interfere.”

Sugiyama Rika, who had been out of contact for a long time, looked up upon hearing this, bewildered: "What kind of spiritual vein incident has occurred in Miracle City again?"

"The Despair Monster has resurfaced, and I'm in charge of sealing it away," the magician said. "I'm informing you beforehand to avoid any conflict later."

As she spoke, she tossed over a tracking crystal. Sugiyama Rika caught it and saw a figure on the crystal: "...This is..."

Is this girl in the same class as Mayumi?

Looking up again, the mage had vanished from sight. It seemed he had gone directly to the quest objective displayed by the crystal.

Sugiyama Rika knew very well how efficient magicians were. If nothing unexpected happened, this desperate monster would be sealed away today, and the matter would come to an end.

Suddenly, she realized that the crystal's light was enough to illuminate the dark path ahead, so she held it in her hand and used it as a light source.

After walking forward for a while, the cave was so deep that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, and you didn't know if it was day or night.

Sugiyama Rika found a ruin, with broken stone pillars and diamond-shaped broken lampshades beside them.

Just as she was about to enter, she suddenly noticed that the crystal in her hand flickered and then went dark.

It then immediately lit up again, only this time the tracking target had changed.

“This is…” Sugiyama Rika glanced at it and felt that the figure looked very familiar. An absurd deduction appeared in her mind, and she quickly looked closely.

—How did it turn into a real bow?!

Main text: Chapter 131 Deep Cave

The palm-sized tracking crystal given to Rika Sugiyama by the magician of the Star Tower can display the image of a monster or person with the aura of the Despair Monster, and will emit light from inside to guide them.

After the previous Despair Monster modified the rules of the Spirit Vein, he left traces of his magic inside the Spirit Vein. This is a special tracking device made based on the Despair Monster's records.

Since he had more than one, the magician gave the extra one to Sugiyama Rika, hoping that this unreliable girl would have some conscience, go back to Miracle City, take a look, and help him out a little.

However, what she didn't know was that Sugiyama Rika did indeed rush to return to Miracle City, but the reason was not to help her seal the Despair Monster.

Instead, it was because she saw Mayumi Haga on the tracking crystal that she immediately decided to go back and find out what had happened.

“…How could it be Mayumi?” Sugiyama Rika was taken aback. She checked the figure on the crystal again and again and found that the outline was slightly blurry, but she could still tell at a glance that it was Mayumi Haga.

The surface of the crystal wasn't polished very smoothly, so the reflection wasn't very clear, but it was still a child she had taken care of for so long, so there was no reason why Sugiyama Rika wouldn't recognize her.

We must go back now.

Sugiyama Rikka finally got serious.

Sugiyama Rika was initially uninterested in the Despair Monster, as she had never heard of him before and he was not someone she knew.

Moreover, Cai Sha and the other younger ones are all in Miracle City, so even if things go wrong, there's always the Abyss Gentleman to back them up. This former enemy has retired from his life of crime, and if anything happens, he'll definitely lend a hand—

—That's what Sugiyama Rika initially thought.

But if the matter involved Mayumi Haga, then her heart, which she could have been at ease with, suddenly jumped into her throat.

How could it be Mayumi? Mayumi is clearly an honest girl.

Besides, when I went back last time, Mayumi was perfectly fine, wasn't she?

It must have been that desperate monster who did something to Mayumi...

Having only heard about the Despair Monster from the magician, Sugiyama Rika didn't really grasp the situation. But when it involves someone close to her, someone who has absolutely no connection to magic and is just an ordinary person aside from being from another world, then the process becomes worth pondering.

Upon reflection, a chill ran down my spine.

Could something have happened to Mayumi while I was away from home...? But neither Ayasa nor my parents have contacted me. Could it be that even they haven't noticed anything wrong?

In any case, I must first find a way to get out of this deep cave.

Before entering the deep cave, Sugiyama Rika learned from ancient texts that once inside, one could not easily leave until the entire trial was completed. Unlike the magicians of the Star Tower who were granted immunity from the world's rules and could freely enter and exit these secret realms, she could only hurry and arrive before Mayumi's accident.

Despite her anxiety, she could only follow the procedures step by step.

Sugiyama Rika looked up, raised the crystal in her hand, and used the light from the crystal to illuminate the huge dragon head statue above the entrance to the ruins.

If either Mayumi Haga or Hitomi Tono were here, they would find this giant dragon head sculpture extremely familiar.

Isn't this the intelligent dragon that they killed together back then?

But the dragon of wisdom they had seen had already been corrupted by calamity. Although its disguise still resembled the beautiful silver-purple scales, its interior was actually filled with calamity. Later, the calamity erupted again, revealing its deformed and ugly true form, which had an exceptionally strong impact on its character.

The dragon of wisdom that appears here now is sculpted from grayish stone blocks. It looks quite terrifying at first glance. Standing in front of the ruins, Sugiyama Rika even felt as if she was about to enter its gaping maw... Upon closer inspection, isn't it just a decoration?

No matter how detailed the sculpture is, the differences in color and material are enough to make people realize that what is in front of them is a lifeless, inanimate object. Moreover, this sculpture has been eroded and weathered over the years and is no longer as lifelike as it once was.

Upon closer inspection, a piece is missing from one corner.

Sugiyama Rika felt something was off.

"...Although I know there might be dragons in the deep caves, isn't this one too similar to the one that appeared in Miracle City before?"

From the information about the Deep Cave, she learned that among the magicians who entered it, some had seen "species that did not exist in the outside world," which they called "fantasy species," including dragons. However, the magician's notes contained very little description of these creatures, and Sugiyama Rika could not glean more information from them, nor could she imagine what a dragon actually looked like.

When I finally saw it, I realized that I seemed to have seen this dragon before.

Moreover, they seem to be creatures from another world...

Sugiyama Rika hesitated, after all, she had never known that products from another world could appear in the deep cave, and along the way, the scenery in the deep cave was very different from the outside world, and the concentration of magical elements was beyond her imagination. It was almost like...

...like fragments of another world scattered here.

Leaving aside the fact that the magic system is completely different from this world, the surrounding environment is also ridiculously unfamiliar.

Simply put, the art style is different.

After calming herself down and carefully observing the surrounding environment, Sugiyama Rika finally slowly walked into the gate of the ruins.

A blue light, like ripples on water, appeared before her eyes, and she heard the soft sound of dripping water. After a brief moment of blurred vision, the scenery before her was completely different.

The bells tolled softly, and from somewhere came a deep female voice chanting in a language she couldn't understand at all; the melody gave a solemn and sacred feeling.

A spiral chamber with a strong otherworldly feel appeared before her. She looked up and saw a soft blue ripple above her, a space quite different from the one she had been in before.

She stood on the last step of the spiral staircase, with a bottomless abyss below. As she climbed the steps, she could see the murals on the surrounding walls. The murals were mottled and blurry, but upon closer inspection, one could still make out what was depicted on them.

"This is……"

Sugiyama Rika murmured to herself, stunned by the scene before her.

A heavy atmosphere enveloped her, causing her to unconsciously lower her voice and slow her pace.

Even though she knew the answer might lie at the very top of the spiral, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the mysterious mural.

She saw in the image the enormous eyeball sleeping at the bottom of the water.

Main Text: Chapter 132 Can Replenishing Mana Extend Life?

Mayumi Haga was sitting on the sofa, half asleep.

Given her original physical condition, it's almost impossible for her to be in such a bad mental state.

As far as Hitomi Tono was concerned, she had never seen Mayumi Haga look so listless.

Mayumi always seemed aloof but never let her guard down. Even when she was dozing with her eyes closed, you could tell she wasn't letting her guard down. She was like a machine that never needed to sleep.

But now, Mayumi Haga is showing signs of fatigue even when she is not in a normal situation?

Hitomi Tono was a little worried. She leaned over and tried to touch Mayumi Haga's forehead: "Mayumi, are you feeling unwell?"

Is this a side effect of becoming a monster...?

Even if she couldn't believe that humans could turn into monsters, Tohno Hitomi had temporarily accepted the fact that Mayumi Haga was the Despair Monster. But now it seemed that her body was beginning to weaken for some unknown reason, even affecting Mayumi Haga's incredibly resilient spirit.

Upon closer inspection, Hitomi Tono noticed the dark lines on Mayumi Haga's face.

What was originally just a small, vertical slit has now gradually extended branches from the main stem. These finer lines intertwine and overlap, dividing the face into even more fragmented shapes.

Mayumi Haga's breathing was heavier than usual. In her Guardian form, her scarred face was accentuated by crack-like lines, giving it a broken yet alluring beauty. The Guardian's bright eyes were slightly closed, and when her head was lowered, her white hair covered half of her face, revealing her sharp jawline from the side.

"Don't sleep at a time like this, Mayumi!" Megaranne, who was standing next to her, became nervous. She knew Mayumi's current physical condition. Without the ability to heal herself, every minute and every second was torture for Mayumi.

If I fall asleep at this point, I'll probably waste my precious chance to revive.

However, staying up all night would be a huge burden on Mayumi Haga's heart.

He must be kept alive with life-saving medication.

Fortunately, Mayumi Haga had an abundance of potions in her backpack.

Although Mayumi Haga had never needed to use life potions to prolong her life before, and life potions might really be the most useless potions for a guardian who can heal herself at high speed, she still stockpiled as much of this thing that she didn't need as possible.

She may not need it, but others still do.

Unlike Mayumi Haga, the other people she encounters on her journey do not possess self-healing abilities. If she is injured or suffers a sudden illness, she will need to rely on this rare medicine to sustain her life.

Mayumi Haga did not use up all the life-saving potions before she came to this world; the remaining large amount of potions greatly extended her life.

Hearing Megarane's reminder, and under Tono Hitomi's worried gaze, she took out a bottle of red medicine from her backpack, bit off the stopper, and haphazardly poured some into her mouth.

After taking a bite, Mayumi Haga sensed that something was amiss.

Unlike the thick and pungent life potion, this potion, though its color looks very similar, has a much refreshing taste. After drinking it, Mayumi Haga felt a cool magical power spreading down her esophagus, which even slightly relieved her physical discomfort.

She slightly turned the glass bottle in her hand and realized that it was not a life-saving potion.

...It was a magic booster that Terasaki Ayasa gave me before.

The magic of this world seems to be able to be converted into life force, at least for Mayumi Haga.

These active yet gentle magical powers will repair her body, although it cannot compare to her original self-healing, it will still greatly alleviate her current predicament.

It's at least more effective than the life-saving potion.

Mayumi Haga stared at the magic replenishment potion in her hand for a moment, then brought the bottle to her lips and quickly drank the entire bottle. This series of actions was no different from when she drank other potions. Although she knew that replenishing her magic might allow her to live longer, she remained calm and hid this discovery.

She casually placed the bottle of magic replenishment on the coffee table, and Tono Hitomi reached out a hand and gently pressed down on the hand that Haga Mayumi had placed on the glass bottle.

Feeling the warmth of the back of her hand, Mayumi Haga turned her head and saw only the pink-haired girl's worried gaze.

"Your body... what happened to you, Mayumi?"

Hitomi Tono could sense that Mayumi Haga's body temperature was abnormal, even lower than usual, and felt like ice to the touch.

And the stuff Mayumi drank...

Hitomi Tono was a little unsure. She frowned in confusion, wondering why Mayumi, who didn't have any magic power, needed to drink magic power supplements.

Wait a minute, Mayumi's complexion does seem to be better than at the beginning.

Before Tono Hitomi could figure it out, Haga Mayumi suddenly raised her head, her gaze piercing the window like a knife.

She had been a little dazed, but now she had regained her usual sharp and alert demeanor, staring intently at the shadow that had appeared out of nowhere outside the window.

Although Sugiyama Rika had set up a barrier in this room to protect Mayumi Haga and to some extent conceal her movements, Sugiyama Rika's magical abilities, even with the later addition of a concealment barrier, were more than enough to prevent most mages from detecting Mayumi Haga.

Sugiyama Rika's magic is all about throwing bricks with great force. With her magical abilities, even without deliberately trying, few people could surpass her.

Unfortunately, the Star Tower mage who came to search for the Despair Monster was one of the few people with the same abilities.