Goddess's Yuri harem: Chosing the Empress is hard-Chapter 75: What are you?- Part 3

’Fuck! It hurts. I feel as if my body is breaking apart. I must have pushed myself to my limits again. This human body is so unfair and uncomfortable.’

With slow, deliberate steps, Auriel made her way through the halls of the magic tower. She wasn’t foolish enough to collapse in the open. Though the immediate threats had been dealt with, she wouldn’t put it past her unseen enemies to try something while she was vulnerable.

Her body ached. Fatigue pulled at her limbs, urging her to stop and rest then and there. But she pushed forward.

Finally, she reached an empty chamber—one of the mage quarters.

She placed a hand against the doorway, tracing a glowing sigil into the wood. A golden barrier shimmered briefly before vanishing.

A simple ward, designed to alert her to intruders and prevent anything dangerous from entering.

Satisfied, Auriel dragged herself toward the bed and collapsed onto it unceremoniously.

As her eyes fluttered closed, she allowed herself a small smirk.

’Who would have thought? A goddess needing to sleep.’

It was a rare thing for her, but tonight, she had earned it.

Her body stilled. Her breathing evened.

And for the first time in centuries, Auriel allowed herself to rest.

______

Hours passed in relative peace.

Slowly but surely, the mages began to wake.

Lady Sophia was the first to regain consciousness. Her eyes snapped open, and she immediately sat upright, hand instinctively reaching for her staff.

She was met with silence.

Then, as if a spell had been broken, others began to stir. Carol, Princess Evelyn, and the remaining mages groaned as they awoke, their faces filled with confusion.

"What... happened?"

Evelyn muttered, rubbing her temple.

Sophia’s sharp gaze swept across the room. The last thing she remembered was eating dinner with that suspicious girl, Nana White.

And then—

Her breath hitched.

She shot to her feet.

"The tree! The dark magic—!"

"Calm down,"

A voice interrupted.

Sophia turned to see one of the senior mages, his expression weary but calm.

"The danger has passed. The dark magic is gone. Something purified the tower."

Sophia frowned. Her mind raced, piecing together the situation. There was only one explanation.

She turned toward the upper floors, where she could sense the faint traces of divine energy lingering in the air.

"Goddess Auriel..."

A slow exhale left her lips.

"She handled everything on her own."

Sophia didn’t know whether to be impressed or annoyed.

Auriel was powerful, there was no doubt about that. But taking everything upon herself like this? It was reckless.

Still, there was no time for complaints.

Now that the crisis had been temporarily averted, they needed to figure out their next move.

Sophia’s grip tightened around her staff.

She had a feeling that the real battle was only just beginning. But Sophia felt disappointed and a little touched. Her heart skipped a beat but Sophia had no idea why that happened.

The only thing she could think about was to experiment and to find out what was making her feel this way.

"What should I do now? I need to repay the goddess for what she did for us. Do you think-"

"Lady Sophia, how about you take a break for now? I am sure you will get to experiment all you want once you recover. But for now, why don’t you eat something and relax?"

The elders quickly interrupted before Lady Sophia could get any ideas. And for the first time, Lady Sophia actually complied with the request.

______

Auriel’s golden eyes flickered open.

For a moment, she lay still, allowing her senses to stretch outward.

The magic tower no longer pulsed with the suffocating dark energy from before. Instead, it had settled into a quiet, almost eerie calm. The residual traces of her purification spell still lingered, keeping any remaining corruption at bay.

She had slept for an entire day.

That was rare.

She sat up, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. The fatigue had completely left her body, her divine energy replenished. The rest had been necessary, but now she had work to do.

Just as she was about to leave the chamber—

BANG!

The door burst open, and two familiar figures stumbled inside.

"Goddess Auriel!"

Carol and Princess Evelyn stood at the doorway, both out of breath. Their faces were flushed from either exertion or sheer panic—perhaps both.

Auriel raised an eyebrow.

"Is there a reason you are barging in as if the tower were on fire?"

Carol clutched her chest, gulping down air before answering.

"We’ve been looking for you everywhere! No one knew where you went, and after what happened with the dark magic, we thought—"

"That you had disappeared too. I knew that you would be just fine...but I still felt worried about you."

Evelyn finished, her voice sharper than usual.

Auriel sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"I appreciate the concern, but as you can see, I am perfectly fine. Now, if you’re done worrying, I need to speak with Priestess Lilith immediately."

She gestured at herself, looking just as pristine as before.

Carol and Evelyn exchanged glances.

"What’s so urgent that you need to talk to her right now?"

Evelyn asked, her arms crossed.

Auriel’s gaze darkened slightly.

"There are still too many unanswered questions about what happened here. Nana White, the dark magician, the spell that incapacitated the entire tower...And I have a feeling this is just the beginning. I need something looked into."

She paused, her expression turning serious.

Silence stretched between them.

Carol fidgeted, clearly nervous. Evelyn, on the other hand, looked as if she wanted to argue. But ultimately, she let out a sigh.

"Fine. Let’s go find Lilith."

Auriel nodded. Without another word, she stepped past them, her pace steady and purposeful.

There was much to discuss.

And even more to uncover.

But the amount of people Auriel could trust was just getting smaller and smaller by the second. If she was not careful, then she could be devoured soon as well.

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