"You know, I really regret bringing you here. Neraxis would've been enough. At least he doesn't criticize me every two seconds," Jane said coldly.
"Missy, I don't really care that much about you, if you hadn't noticed," Evangeline replied, narrowing her eyes. "I just hate that you're not only a liar but also someone who hides her true feelings. During this trip, you've used, like, four different personalities."
Before Jane could respond, Evangeline continued.
"At first, you seemed stern, then you were confident." Evangeline coughed, clearing her throat out of irritation. "Then you were vulnerable, and now you are being annoying."
"Ha?" Jane's brows furrowed further as she turned to Neraxis. "Do you really sleep with this woman?"
Neraxis shrugged. "I don't disagree with her. You do jump around masks quite often around us. It makes it hard for us to trust you."
"Well, I'm your only ticket out, so deal with it," Jane shot back with a frown. "If you don't like me as much as I don't like Evangeline, then you can just tell me and we can go back. I'll get a new expedition and try again. Just as I've done for the last hundred years."
Evangeline sighed and glanced at Neraxis. [It's hard to find the right her, you know? I feel like the reason she never managed to enter the temple is because she talks like she has a stick up her ass.]
Maybe. But we need her for the time being if we want to escape, Neraxis replied, glancing around the cave.
It seemed like there was a slight pathway leading further ahead, and if he had to guess, it was likely some boss room.
But from Jane's lack of a reaction, maybe that wasn't the case.
Just apologize to her. Let's get going, Neraxis said. Oh, and try to get along. I'm sure you two could become great friends.
[Is it because our cup sizes are similar?] Evangeline asked teasingly. [Spoiler alert: women with the same cup size don't share a hive mind... but for you, I'll try to hold back.]
With that, Evangeline's gaze landed on Jane.
"My bad. I'll be a bit more considerate of your insecurities next time."
"Okay. You two are going ahead. That's what you want to do, right?" Jane asked, frustration clear in her voice.
But before she could speak further, Neraxis walked up to Evangeline and thwacked her on the back.
"She's sorry, and so am I," Neraxis said. "We know you have as many secrets as we do, if not more. So it was inconsiderate of us to probe you for them."
Jane stared at him for a few seconds before slowly nodding.
"At least one of you has some sense... okay. Look, we should probably go up, since what's ahead of us is a complete dead end"
"Hmm? But I can feel some mana from the other end?" Evangeline pointed out. "It's pretty strong, if I'm being honest. Not as strong as us, though."
"It's a decoy," Jane replied, rubbing her temples. "Imagine a corpse that was overfilled with mana... that's basically what it is."
Even though Neraxis felt that same energy, he decided to listen to Jane this one time.
So, he walked up to Jane, and to her surprise, he picked her up by the waist and did the same with Evangeline.
In the very next moment, he flapped his blood wings and shot up into the ceiling.
He flew right past the powdered snow, and soon, he found himself—alongside the girls in hand—back in the warm, snowy area.
And like before, the heat made their clothes stick to their skin, and because Neraxis was holding the two of them, he was like a whole sponge.
But since Evangeline seemed pretty calm, and Jane, a little flustered, he didn't voice his thoughts out loud and simply glanced around.
"Where to?" he asked.
"Hm... north," Jane replied. "Northeast is the right way, but we should see it once we arrive."
"See it?" Neraxis's brows rose, and out of sheer curiosity, he sped up his pace.
He flew through the air rapidly, and since his regeneration was pretty high, he wasn't losing as much HP as he'd expected.
So after a few minutes of travel, he finally arrived at the location she specified.
And just as she mentioned, it was definitely hard to miss.
There was a single red spire which had pierced the sky with its sheer size. On the ground below it, he could see several dozen monsters that were guarding it.
"Is that it?" Neraxis asked as he readjusted his grip on the girls' bodies, causing both of their bodies to twitch in surprise.
[Wow... how very bold of you... a threesome, perhaps?] Evangeline mumbled in his mind.
Yet he didn't even entertain that thought as he ignored her and waited for Jane to muster up the courage to speak.
"Yes..." She nodded. "We need to touch the spire, and we'll be transported to the last area."
His eyes widened in surprise. "We're already nearly at the temple?"
She shook her head. "The temple is at the end of that area. It'll still be a hassle, so don't think it's over yet."
"So we just need to touch the spire. Sounds simple enough," Neraxis replied, and without warning, blasted off, causing a sonic boom to resound as he appeared right in front of the spire.
Then, he simply put his hand on it. And in the very next instant, his vision darkened.
Yet that didn't last long, as in the very next moment, he reappeared in some sort of strange graveyard.
"Huh... so it really did work... I guess the others were supposed to battle through all the monsters first," he remarked and set the girls down.
Evangeline's legs had gone a bit numb, so she leaned against him. And as for Jane, she was relatively fine.
On the outside, anyway. But he could hear her ever-increasing heartbeat.
"Just where are we, exactly?"