Goddess's Yuri harem: Chosing the Empress is hard-Chapter 85: Are you shocked - Part 1

The holy sanctuary... or rather, the pit of darkness Auriel was standing inside, was no longer a safe space. She knew that she should be heading back by now and not wasting her time standing here.

But her feet felt frozen as she kept looking at the altar in front of her. Her brain kept telling her that there was much more to gain from this place than she first expected.

So Auriel got to work and started to check the place out. She had a feeling that she would be able to find something worthwhile here.

Even when nothing seemed to be working out for her, she did not give up and decided to look around even harder.

Sometime in between overturning the altar and going through the items left behind, she heard the sound of footsteps heading her way, and Auriel prepared herself for a confrontation with whoever was approaching.

However, the ones who walked past the threshold were Carol, along with other priestesses from the temple.

"Goddess Auriel, are you fine? You disappeared all of a sudden, and it scared us all. I had to use a special method to track you down. Nothing happened to you, right?"

Carol asked in a terrified voice as she ran over to Auriel. Her worried expression looked oddly fitting on her face, and Auriel had a sudden desire to tease her.

She forcefully pushed down the urge as she straightened her back.

"Of course, I am fine. I am a goddess, not someone you need to constantly worry about. Ah, but be careful in here and keep your distance from most objects. The dark magic here is heavy, and it can affect you if you are not careful."

Auriel warned, and many of the priestesses looked uncomfortable with the news.

These priestesses had never come across dark magic like this before, so most of them did not know what to do. Luckily, their presence here was enough to lighten the place a little bit.

"Understood, Goddess. We will be careful from here on out. Please step back if you see anything dangerous and make sure to leave it up to me to check."

Carol promised as she stepped inside. But just as she did, Auriel felt the dark presence rushing toward her.

"Hey, step outside right now. Tsk, Carol, dodge—"

Auriel yelled, but her voice was slower than the dark magic rushing toward Carol. The younger female stiffened as she felt the cold embrace of dark magic restricting her movements, and she closed her eyes.

Dark smoke covered her body, and Carol shut her eyes tightly. She was sure that this would be the end for her, yet she felt proud to have laid the foundation for her people as well as for Goddess Auriel.

"Goddess, it was an honor to serve you—"

Carol spoke before her mouth was covered as well. Her body ached from the oppressive grip of the magic, and she flinched as she felt the icy tendrils tightening around her.

She closed her eyes with the intention of never opening them again. But just when she was convinced that this was the end for her, a miracle happened.

"Fuck! Who gave you permission to give up? I did not tell you that you could close your eyes and go to sleep. How dare you—"

Warmth flooded Carol’s being as Goddess Auriel’s divine magic enveloped her, pushing back the suffocating dark magic.

Auriel’s magic burned intensely, eradicating the dark force that had ensnared Carol. At last, she could breathe, the crushing weight on her limbs vanishing as she regained control of her body.

"That filthy thing... finally, it is gone!"

Auriel sighed as she looked over Carol. Concern flickered in her gaze, but it quickly gave way to shock as the goddess observed her.

That should have been Carol’s first clue that something was wrong. But the ordeal had left her disoriented, and she tried to gather her thoughts before asking the Goddess what had happened.

"Goddess Auriel, what are you—"

Carol’s hand moved to her throat the next second as soon as she heard her voice. It sounded mature—nothing like her younger self.

If anything, she sounded years older. Panic set in, and Carol immediately wanted to see a mirror. But there was none in the underground sanctuary.

"D-Did I grow up? Hey, someone quickly tell me! What age do I look? I sound older, right? Did I finally go back to my original self?"

Carol questioned, but no one answered. Everyone was too stunned by what had happened, but Carol didn’t care. She was too happy to notice their shock.

In the end, Auriel was the one who stepped forward and took charge before people could truly lose their minds.

"For now, let’s head back. We can think about what happened later. Carol, you do look older, but let’s not assume anything for now."

Carol was on cloud nine and only heard half of what the goddess said.

She, along with the other priestesses make their way back to the temple quickly but Auriel feels something is wrong with Carol.

"You all can head back to your rooms now. I will take it from here. Goddess Auriel, please follow me. We should report what happened to Priestess Lilith and then call it a day. I am sure you are exhausted after what happened."

Carol had a cheerful look on her face as she said that. Auriel had never seen her like this, so this was new for her. That made her sigh and chose her next words carefully.

In the end, Goddess Auriel was not able to say anything else to Carol since she did not want to bring the mood down. She allowed Carol to drag her to the place where Priestess Lilith was and Carol slammed the door open.

"Priestess Lilith, we are back. And look, I have a surprise for you. I am back to my normal form. Did you expect this to happen so soon? I bet you are shocked."

Visit freewe𝑏(n)ovel.co(m) for the b𝘦st novel reading experience