CHAPTER 232: [LILITH WANTS TO SLEEP] - SILVANUS’S PART (18)

When Silvanus had gone with Meow and Bunny, it was still daylight, but now the sky was painted with a beautiful layer of orange. The sunflower field swayed in the wind, appearing even more pure and lovely, and together with the sweet little house ahead, it was a complete contrast to the scene they had just witnessed inside the sunflower forest.

Just then, the sound of something slicing through the air suddenly rang out. Silvanus, his expression unchanged, bent down, narrowly avoiding the figure charging straight at him.

It was Drake, flying through the air with his legs forward, delivering a perfect kick—he was trying to kick Silvanus away.

At the same time, the others began to show up one after another.

"I thought you were dead for good. Or are you just a monster in disguise now?"

Drake’s irritated voice rang out, and judging by the look on his face, it seemed like he might blow up the entire dungeon.

The others also looked at Silvanus with some concern. The eye on Silas’s forehead opened wide, glaring at Silvanus for quite a while before closing again. "It’s good you’re fine, but where exactly did you go?" Silas asked.

After realizing Silvanus had vanished, they had searched the dungeon high and low but couldn’t find a trace of him. Even worse, the two monsters had also disappeared, which inevitably led to ominous thoughts.

Drake had even burned the sunflower forest once, but even with the entire forest reduced to nothing but bare stalks, there had been no sign of Silvanus anywhere. They had even come to terms with the possibility that he was dead.

Silvanus couldn’t help glancing at Drake, speaking sincerely: "Thanks for the concern, but I’m fine."

At this point, the curse afflicting Drake had intensified greatly—mud had spread up to his waist and even smeared part of his face, and no matter how much they tried to wipe it off, it wouldn’t go away.

But according to Alice, Drake had burned the entire sunflower forest, so perhaps the curse he had incurred was more severe. He was still standing here because he had promised the sunflowers to deal with Lilith tonight.

And now it was already dusk—Lilith would appear again soon.

Drake gave a cold snort. "Who’s concerned about you? Just don’t cause us any more trouble!"

His face still radiated deep annoyance as he turned away, refusing to speak to anyone. The scales left on his face from the first time he’d activated his power twitched faintly, as though breathing to suppress his anger, giving him an unsettling appearance.

Silvanus remembered the information he’d obtained, then looked again at Drake’s cursed body.

"Alice, are you okay?"

Just then, Cocona’s slightly anxious voice rang out. Oddly enough, Alice had fallen; she had been standing on level ground and hadn’t even been moving.

Even under the orange glow of sunset, Alice’s face was ashen.

"Damn it, it must be the effect of two different senses overlapping. We need to get out of here as soon as possible!" Cocona said irritably.

She could also feel her body weakening, and she was certain the others weren’t in much better shape.

Silas suddenly spoke up: "Do you all remember how in the dungeon, Ron and Asta erupted with power last time?"

Everyone looked toward Silas without saying a word, waiting for him to continue.

Silas’s tone turned grave. "I suspect it has something to do with balanced evolution. The dungeon has been evolving for some time now. It’s later than before, but maybe we are gradually evolving—and we might need a full-force strike to awaken this superior power."

Silas’s words surprised everyone slightly, though it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, outside, the observation group couldn’t help but be astonished.

"As expected of Captain Silas—we haven’t even been able to conclude yet," Layla muttered.

She had thought about this after the previous dungeon, but they still needed to observe further before making any in-depth research or conclusions.

If Silas had already reached this hypothesis and wanted to test it in this very dungeon, then it would be all the better for all of them.

"So, what do you want to do now? Are you planning to test it right here?" Cocona curved her lips into a faint smile as she asked.

Drake also glanced over, his expression still unpleasant, even tinged with pain, yet he kept silent and listened.

Everyone assumed Silas would be the one to test his hypothesis.

In truth, even someone as arrogant as Drake wouldn’t doubt Silas, because most of the time, Silas’s deductions proved correct—especially those he voiced aloud.

But what no one could have expected was that Silas shook his head.

"No. I’m not the one to test it."

He "looked" toward Alice, his eyes shut tight while the one on his forehead opened wide, locking onto her. A sudden gust of wind swept by, stirring his long hair slightly. "Alice, you will be the one to do it—use your power, heal us, awaken us, and lead us into the true world of this dungeon!"

The air fell silent in an instant. After a brief pause, the others’ expressions showed understanding.

Only Alice seemed taken aback.

She held onto Cocona’s arm; her legs felt weak from her frailty or the sheer weight of the burden placed upon her.

But she dared not look away with Silas’s eye fixed on her.

"M–Me?" Alice murmured, her gaze trembling—hesitant, and a little unbelieving.

[Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go! My beloved waifu is finally stepping onto the stage!]

[Can the person above stop calling everyone their waifu?]

[Seriously, this guy calls both the female and male characters his "wife." No one even knows if he’s male or female.]

[Hard to say.]

[Alice has always been gentle and capable—she’s the most likable person in this show. I’m sure she can do it.]

[It’s precisely because she’s like that that she’s weak, haha. She’d never have been placed in the vanguard esper team without that remarkable healing ability.]

[But she does have that ability, okay? Stop with the "if" scenarios just to put Alice down—they’re meaningless. If we go that route, none of these people could be in the Vanguard Esper team without their abilities. That’s obvious. But they do have their abilities, so they’re here!]

[Exactly. I also hate people who invent hypotheticals to undermine someone else’s worth.]

[Silas is placing a lot of trust in Alice, haha.]

Silvanus felt relieved that Alice couldn’t see this chaotic mess of comments—otherwise, they might have mentally shaken her.

Silas seemed about to say more, but Silvanus suddenly spoke: "That’s right—you can do it."

Everyone turned to look at Silvanus, surprise and doubt mingling in their eyes. Alice’s expression was as though she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.

Meeting their collective gaze suddenly, Silvanus felt a chill and frowned in confusion. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Alice looked at him, then unexpectedly let out a small laugh—gentle, beautiful, enough to sway the eyes. She shook her head and said softly, "It’s nothing... I’m just surprised that Priest Silvanus would encourage someone."

[Alice’s smile has claimed my heart! Who says she can’t do it? She definitely can—she absolutely can!]

[Look at Silvanus’s speechless face, hahaha.]

[Why is he always trying to hide his true nature?]

[I think both sides are just parts of him—he’s probably a chameleon.]

Silvanus: "..." In everyone’s mind, the priest didn’t quite seem like a normal person.

His gaze fell on the pen Alice clutched tightly in her hand, and he said quietly, "Don’t worry—He will bless you."

Alice’s eyes widened, and she couldn’t help tightening her grip on the pen. She murmured, "The Prophet... will He appear?"

Silvanus said nothing more, but Alice’s eyes seemed to brighten uncontrollably, as though she had found a solid point of faith.

Drake gave a cold snort, his dark gaze fixed on the pen Alice was treasuring in her hand, his expression turning even more unpleasant.