If you enjoy gender-bender stories with strong character development and yuri themes, TS Lily Archive is worth your time. It’s a focused library built for readers who want story first, without distractions.
Preview the site below, or open it in a new tab for the full reading experience.
The ice sheet was only a few meters shallow; such a short fall was not enough to cause serious injury to adventurers.
At most, it would only sting a little.
“Ouch, get up!”
True to his role as vice-captain, Lin Qingfeng proved his worth by falling from the ice pillar and willingly sacrificing himself to act as a human cushion for his teammates.
It was truly heartwarming.
“Are you all fools? Couldn’t you have asked Mi Xiaoxiao to activate Susanoo?”
Aya Tone pressed a hand to his forehead, watching the few people sprawled haphazardly on the ground.
Perhaps it would be better to have their clones replace them instead…
They were simply too foolish.
“Captain…”
Mi Xiaoxiao rubbed her sore backside with a wronged expression.
“My internal energy is insufficient to activate Susanoo…
After killing so many clones, who would have any energy left?”
“Hmph… I refuse to acknowledge that.
If you can’t activate Susanoo, why don’t you examine your own shortcomings?”
Aya Tone waved a dismissive hand, asserting his authority as the leader.
“Stop making excuses.
If you’re weak, practice more, understand?”
“Understood…” Mi Xiaoxiao parted her lips, a thousand words welling up within her, yet all of them remained buried deep in her heart.
As the understanding vice-captain, Lin Qingfeng patted Mi Xiaoxiao’s shoulder.
He comforted her with profound meaning.
“The captain also has your best interests at heart.
If not for the captain, we might all have been buried by now, you know.”
Mi Xiaoxiao merely hummed in response.
She was unable to refute a single point, ┭┮﹏┭┮.
Aya Tone walked to the edge of the cliff, gazing into the distance.
Snowflakes continued to drift across the sky, severely obstructing his view.
This made Aya Tone wonder if the core had truly been defeated.
‘The other me said he had annihilated the dungeon’s consciousness, so does that mean the dungeon core has been vanquished?
Why, then, is there no sign of the dungeon collapsing yet?’
As if hearing Aya Tone’s innermost thoughts, the entire dungeon suddenly began to tremble—it was a precursor to the dungeon’s collapse!
“Heh, I guess I really did become a lucky, undeserving winner,” Aya Tone muttered, a hint of self-mockery in his voice.
This was his first encounter with a living dungeon.
Had it not courted death by creating a father figure for itself, it seemed there truly was no way to conquer it.
Unless a few of the great powers capable of rending space intervened.
Nation Z possessed considerable hidden strength, especially those ranked in the top three.
Their abilities were merely an enhancement to them, not the entirety of their power.
They were entirely different from ability users, akin to two distinct cultivation systems.
Aya Tone suspected they might be cultivating immortals! (He muttered under his breath).
“Hmph, as if I’m not Aya Tone myself.” Aya Tone disdainfully fiddled with the Sunstone Regalia he was wearing.
Since “Aya Tone” secured the MVP, and he was also Aya Tone, by extension, he was the MVP!
Perfect!
“Captain! The dungeon is showing signs of collapse! We succeeded!”
Lin Qingfeng and the others had clearly also felt the spatial tremors.
Shedding their previous dejected demeanor, the few of them excitedly gathered around Aya Tone.
“Yes, yes, yes—” Aya Tone did not dampen their enthusiasm.
After all, everyone had entered with a resolve to die.
Now, the dungeon had been conquered, and they were all still alive; how could they not be excited?
After all, who would choose death when life was an option?
After a brief burst of exhilaration, everyone composed themselves.
“Speaking of which, what was the core of this S-rank dungeon?
Could it have been the Guild Master and his team who defeated it?”
“Most likely.”
“The core was that man from earlier; he *was* the core.”
Aya Tone did not let them speculate, directly revealing the “answer.”
Since the “other Aya Tone” had already turned to ash, wasn’t it up to him to decide what happened next?
“No wonder.
We all had clones, but the captain’s clone turned out to be a man; so that was the reason!”
Everyone suddenly understood.
They had wondered why such an adorable captain would have a male clone…
After a brief period of rest, Aya Tone and his group, defying ill omens, began their excavation work.
They hadn’t encountered any valuable treasures along the way.
Although the dungeon now showed signs of collapse, there was still some time before its complete destruction.
Having gone through such trouble to enter an S-rank dungeon, they remembered Bai Xiao’s words: all gains belonged to the team.
Half an hour later…
“Damn it! Where are the goods?
Nothing! There’s nothing here!”
The interior of the snow mountain had been completely hollowed out, yet there was nothing but a mixture of ice and mud.
Aya Tone was on the verge of questioning his life’s purpose.
He had been hoping to strike it rich here, but now his dream was utterly shattered.
“Captain, it’s time to go.”
Lin Qingfeng glanced at the fracturing sky, prompting him to speak.
“…Let’s go.”
After all, he wasn’t the only one leaving empty-handed.
His sense of balance was perfectly restored.
****
At the teleportation entrance.
When Aya Tone and his group exited the dungeon and returned to this spot, everyone noticed the atmosphere seemed somewhat somber.
Both the passing soldiers and every adventurer bore expressions heavy with exhaustion and sorrow.
Aya Tone stepped through the teleportation array and immediately spotted Bai Xiao leaning nearby, surrounded by several healing-type ability users.
“Aunt Bai, are you alright?” Aya Tone rushed over, his voice laced with concern.
Bai Xiao had already dispelled her beast transformation and was leaning there, receiving treatment, but the sight of her injuries sent a chill through Aya Tone.
A single glance revealed not a single unmarred spot on her.
Her palm was pressed tightly against her abdomen.
Blood dripped steadily onto the ground, forming a pool beneath Bai Xiao.
“Heh, I’m fine…” Bai Xiao weakly opened her eyes and managed a wry smile.
“Don’t let my current pitiful state deceive you, for that clone was crushed by me countless times!
A fake was still a fake; it couldn’t even withstand a war of attrition.”
“But your injuries…” Aya Tone stared helplessly at Bai Xiao’s clasped abdomen, where blood was still gushing forth.
“If you continue to bleed like this, even an iron-willed person would succumb to excessive blood loss!
But he didn’t know any healing magic…”
Aya Tone could only watch anxiously, utterly helpless.
“It’s nothing, just a mere fatal injury.” Bai Xiao, as if aggravating her wounds, couldn’t help but cough violently.
“Pfft!”
A mouthful of fresh blood spurted out.
Seeing this, the healers responsible for her treatment immediately pushed their potential, unleashing their healing abilities.
However, their powers were too meager to achieve actual healing.
At best, they could only alleviate Bai Xiao’s pain, preventing her from suffering excessively.
“Cough, cough, it’s alright.”
Bai Xiao reassured them, then turned to Aya Tone and said, “Having you come this time was truly the most sagacious decision.”
“Aunt Bai, please stop talking and rest well.”
“I know my own body.”
This time, Bai Xiao paused for a moment before continuing.
“I couldn’t protect everyone, but you…”
“You did very well!”
Her peripheral vision had just caught sight of Lin Qingfeng and the others, all of them present and accounted for.
A bitter feeling welled up in her heart.
During her battle with the clone, she had been utterly unable to attend to anyone else.
Although conquering an S-rank dungeon was inherently built upon a pile of lives, witnessing her teammates perish tragically before her eyes still constantly grated on Bai Xiao’s nerves.
She had believed herself long accustomed to it, yet it seemed she was always this… emotional.
Had the dungeon core not ultimately been defeated, causing all the clones to melt into ice water and vanish, she, too, would have perished there…
“Aunt Bai, you’ll get better.”
Aya Tone fought back tears, refusing to let them fall, while frantically searching for magic that could heal Bai Xiao.
Although he himself possessed no healing magic, what about his “Sunstone” mode?