Aiko’s face looked absolutely terrible.
Suppressing the urge to snap at her, she channeled her mana with a speed far exceeding that of an ordinary mage, releasing a Light Arrow that severed the roots of the giant carnivorous flower. This gave Leia the opening she needed to activate her skill: [Energy Charge].
"Nice work, Aiko!"
Leia dashed in front of the giant carnivorous flower. Her greatsword, 'Flame Devourer', glowed like a red-hot iron bar as she roared:
"Flame Slash!"
A crimson arc of light split the air, cleaving the giant carnivorous flower in two just as Moses parted the Red Sea. The Monster let out a shriek, swayed unsteadily, and crashed to the ground with a dull thud.
"We won."
Leia stared blankly at the creature's carcass, disbelief etched on her face.
She hadn't emerged unscathed; her arms and right leg were bleeding where the flower’s roots had grazed her. But she had won. Without Linda, she had still led the team to conquer the ninth floor.
*I really am amazing!*
Leia’s mood soared to unprecedented heights. She could almost see the moment her team reached the pinnacle of the World Tree. The corners of her mouth curled upward in a proud, triumphant arc.
However, in her excitement, Leia overlooked one detail. The giant carnivorous flower was a plant-type boss, and because it was severely countered by her fire-based abilities, the battle hadn't actually reached the true difficulty standard of the ninth floor.
The other possible boss for the ninth floor's randomized Great Mystic Realm—the Lava Giant in the [Lava Cave]—possessed high fire resistance and was a terrible match for her skills, representing a hellish difficulty spike. Leia had never even considered the consequences of the Snow Goose Adventurer Party encountering a Lava Giant.
Several veteran members of the team saw her arrogant expression and looked as if they wanted to say something, but held back. Aiko sighed, keeping her lecture bottled up inside. Leia wouldn't understand until she eventually learned her lesson the hard way.
Meanwhile, motes of light began to fall from the sky. Just like loot drops in a game, these motes contained rewards granted by the Goddess of the World Tree. Gold coins rained down, and the motes shimmered in various colors. The most common were white, followed by green for fine quality and blue for rare.
Leia was lucky; one of the motes glowed with a magnificent purple hue. She inspected the drops one by one.
"Level 23 main weapon, Vine Whip. Don't need it, sell it."
"Level 20 armor, Heart of the Sunflower. Defense is decent, I'll keep it."
"Level 15 purple rare accessory, Angel Bracelet. Isn't this gear for a Healer?"
Leia’s eyes lit up. She turned around, subconsciously reaching out a hand, ready to high-five someone.
Conquering the ninth floor of the World Tree was a milestone, and pulling a piece of rare purple equipment was the cherry on top. Overcome with excitement, she fell into her old habits. After defeating a boss, she would always high-five a certain someone before they all stacked their hands together, cheering and shouting with joy. They would toss the loot and gold into the air, savoring the feeling of hard-earned victory.
But after holding her hand out toward Aiko and the others, Leia suddenly remembered: that person had left the team.
The air in the clearing turned quiet. None of the team members stepped forward to break Leia’s awkwardness. After all, nobody knew what was going through her head; if one of them stepped in to replace "someone" and ended up offending her, it wouldn't be worth it. Thus, no one moved, leaving Leia’s right hand hanging high in the air.
"Hmph."
Leia withdrew her hand and shoved it into the pocket of her skirt armor, her fingers nervously picking at the fabric inside. The smile faded from her face, replaced by a cold, poker-faced mask.
"Haha, I didn't think taking down the giant carnivorous flower would be so easy. Captain, it was all thanks to you," said Felix, the newly recruited, blond-haired Healer, walking up to Leia with a smug, self-satisfied grin. "Where shall we go for the celebration dinner tonight? How about the three-star Nicky Lin restaurant on Elf Street? The food is great there—my treat tonight, let's all have a good meal!"
Felix tried his best to hide the covetous look in his eyes, putting on a dashing and generous expression as he invited the stunning, red-haired girl.
As the tenth-ranked Healer to graduate from the White Dove City Noble Academy, Felix could theoretically have joined a top-tier team like the Ice Flower Adventure Team, which operated above the tenth floor. But he had chosen the Snow Goose Adventurer Party, which operated below the tenth floor, for only one reason: the beautiful and proud captain, Leia.
Behind this young lady was her father, a 40th-level Moon-rank adventurer nicknamed the 'Bloody Baron'. Anyone who managed to marry Leia would have a smooth path to success for the rest of their life.
Felix chuckled, fully expecting Leia to accept the invitation. To his surprise, Leia frowned in irritation. "You all go; I'm not going."
"Huh? But how can you not? You're the captain," Felix said, his composure cracking slightly.
"I said I don't want to go, so I'm not going. If you want to go, go yourselves. I'm tired."
Leia let out a cold snort. Ignoring the stunned Felix, she said to Aiko, "You're in charge of cleaning up the loot and distributing the rewards."
Aiko rolled her eyes.
Distributing rewards was a thankless job. It was impossible to divide them perfectly every time, and there was always someone secretly dissatisfied. Previously, Linda had handled the distribution, and everyone had been happy because whenever a dispute over profits arose, Linda would simply take less of his own share.
"What a headache. If only that blockhead were still here," Aiko muttered helplessly.
She looked at the pile of loot and saw the Healer’s 'Angel Bracelet'. After a moment’s thought, she asked Leia, "What about this piece of gear?"
"Sell it. No need to keep it," Leia replied flatly as soon as she realized which item Aiko meant.
After clearing the ninth floor, a portal leading to the tenth floor appeared beside the monster’s corpse. The tenth floor was a public Great Mystic Realm, containing teleporters that allowed free travel even if the floor wasn't cleared.
Leia stepped into the portal. She took a cylindrical blue crystal from her skirt pocket and infused it with Battle Qi, activating the [Teleportation Stone].
A flash of light flared, and with a magic circle glowing beneath her feet, Leia vanished from the spot, returning to the World Tree entrance in White Dove City.
...
In the Inner City District, at the luxurious villa of the Snow Goose Adventurer Party.
*Thud.*
"What the... I told him to leave, and he actually did!"
Leia tossed a pink cat plushie into the trash bin with a sullen face. The plushie landed with its stubby limbs pointing upward, like a fish belly-up in the sea.
She was alone in the villa, and she finally lost her composure.
Upon returning, Leia hadn't seen what she expected: Linda waiting at the door to apologize and honestly admit his mistakes. They had adventured together, conquered so many realms, trained together, sweated, and drank together—they had so many shared memories. She never expected him to abandon a three-year team and just walk away like that.
It was so heartless. And she had even been thinking about giving that Level 15 'Angel Bracelet' to Linda.
Leia stomped away in her cotton slippers, which were decorated with giant carrot patterns. Her long, black-stockinged legs moved rhythmically as she walked to the refrigerator, opened the top compartment, and pulled out a can of beer.
The beer featured a fire-breathing dragon on the label, with text that read: 'Spicy Flavor' and 'High Malt Concentration!'
Carrying the beer, she headed to the bathroom in a foul mood.
She stripped off her clothes, tossing her sweaty black stockings and inner shorts aside. Leia stood before the full-length mirror, absentmindedly studying her near-perfect physique.
Aside from being a little flat in some places, she looked beautiful everywhere—especially her long, toned legs, which were full of resilience and explosive power. They were something Linda had often caught himself sneakily glancing at.
*I’m so pretty and talented, how could he possibly quit the team?*
No matter how she thought about it, Leia simply couldn't understand.