My interracial harem of beautiful queens

The cave-in at the entrance to the shaft did not go unnoticed by the explorers in the roles of Adam, Veronica, and Sierra. On the contrary, they had noticed it even before the temple began to collapse. The Demon Queen, who had set up the barrier, raised an eyebrow in surprise when she felt the ground shake and her magical energy, which had been monitoring the barrier, completely disappeared. This meant that the stone on which the spell had been cast had collapsed, thus breaking the enchantment.

"Well, what a setback. It seems the entrance to the temple has collapsed," muttered Adam, furrowing his brow. He glanced at the secret passage and sighed, thinking, "Maybe it's because of me? I'll try not to lean against the walls anymore; it's too dangerous."

Sierra didn't have any particular reaction and just shrugged, finding this situation to be a funny stroke of bad luck. Dereris also didn't seem concerned, and Adam could understand how their minds worked. After all, the collapse of the entrance could be dangerous for ordinary people, but not for walking and living nuclear bombs that could level this underground place with the ground.

Veronica only glanced at the newly revealed secret passage from the corner of her eye before returning to deciphering the pentagram. It seemed that this incident didn't bother her, which gave the man a certain sense of calm. Either way, the tedious and silent investigation continued.

"Mother-in-law, don't you want to participate in the research?" Adam asked her to break the monotonous silence. He was sitting on the floor, having spread a carpet in advance, and the woman sat next to him, carelessly observing Dereris and Veronica's work.

"Nah, I don't want to. It's deadly boring... I don't understand any of this, just like you," Sierra replied nonchalantly, crossing her legs and sitting in a rather relaxed posture, causing her skirt to ride up, revealing the red thong that belonged to Amarantha.

"..."

Adam nodded and averted his gaze, which he held for a few seconds to enjoy the view. Meanwhile, Veronica suddenly screamed and clapped her hands, greatly surprising both of them. Rising from their seats, they approached her and saw that the door had started to open.

"Wow... the door opened!" Sierra exclaimed with admiration, patting Veronica on the shoulders and smiling. "Well done, Veronica! I'm glad my moral support didn't go to waste, and we managed to finish this tedious... I mean, uh, interesting task!"

"Shut up, idiot," Veronica replied bluntly, rolling her eyes and shifting her gaze to Adam. She nodded and spoke in a soft voice, "Adam, be careful. I sense strange energy in that strange room within the wall. I think there's some kind of monster in there."

The man nodded, putting his hands in his trouser pockets. He looked at the passage, pursed his lips, turned, and walked away. Somewhere in the darkness, hidden away, a faint hissing sound could be heard.

***

"What the hell?!"

Adam looked with surprise at the scene unfolding before him. They had passed through the door, and suddenly, after a short walk through the tunnel, they found themselves in a place that simply didn't fit into the logical sequence of the dungeon's appearance.

It was a vast meadow, covered with various types of plants – white clover, daisies, forget-me-nots, and a lot of lichen. Adam felt a sense of déjà vu as if he had been here before, but all possible scenarios of that were close to zero. It seemed like this place evoked nostalgia and bitterness in him. Unforgettable feelings of loneliness and love.

The meadow's plants looked as if they had been carefully chosen, and according to Adam's knowledge, this was common in ancient times. People adorned their gardens, trying to express their emotions in the language of flowers, be it joy or sorrow. It was both romantic and tragic, leading to not the most positive thoughts.

"What an unusual place..." Veronica murmured, surveying the surroundings.

She stood next to Adam, while Dereris and Sierra ran through the meadows ahead, enjoying the view of this place. It was truly an endless, cozy place. A small paradise that had appeared in the darkness, as if giving hope that things would get better beyond. However, a sense of discomfort never left the man.

"Do you feel it too, Veronica? A very heavy feeling..." Adam muttered, clutching his chest and breathing heavily, feeling as if various emotions were affecting him as if trying to drive him crazy. He shifted his gaze to her and saw that the woman had a similar reaction, although it didn't affect her as severely.

"It's not surprising. Often, such places were built in ancient times to permanently capture their emotions bursting from the heart. Back then, it was considered a sign of intelligence, and, undoubtedly, it was seen as romantic," Veronica explained, catching her breath. She straightened her back and squinted her eyes, looking at the scene. "A familiar tradition, to a terrifying extent. My older brother also once built such a place and then disappeared without a trace."

"..."

The older brother. She was referring to Casanova, who occasionally appeared in his dreams. Adam also vividly remembered the place he was shown and the couple who lovingly talked. It made his heart ache with frustration as if he were watching a movie.

"White clover means an oath, daisies have multiple meanings, but most often they express devoted love. Forget-me-not seems to complete the picture, signifying true love that emanates not from the heart but from the depths of your being. And lichen... it signifies loneliness."

It could be assumed that the creator of this place poured his soul and experiences into his creation. He genuinely loved, took unbreakable oaths, and felt loneliness. There was a lot of lichen, which could mean that the owner of this place suffered, endlessly suffered. He swore and told Adam and others about his sincere and devoted love, but all that remained was endless, agonizing solitude.

"Yes, what an unusual place," Adam admitted aloud, sharing his feelings. His face was wrinkled from the flood of emotions, and it seemed that these plants were not ordinary; they had spells woven into them.

Adam and Veronica stood surrounded by lichen, while Dereris and Sierra happily circled the daisies and white clover. It was as if two worlds were divided into black and white. Suffering and love, that's what the creator of this place conveyed.

"Uhm... let's go to them, Veronica? I think we've had our fill of grim emotions," Adam said, smiling, and took Veronica's hand, pulling her along.

"Y-yes..."

In the distance, Sierra waved at them, laughing merrily. It was evident that she hadn't felt all the dark emotions that Adam and Veronica had experienced. Perhaps it was due to their different characters. When you thought of Sierra, the first word that came to mind was "positive," while with Veronica and Adam, it was often "cold realism."

***

Sitting on the short grass, Adam sighed and looked up. Surprisingly, instead of the usual ceiling, there was a full-fledged sky with moving clouds. He strongly doubted that they had been teleported somewhere because he didn't notice any change in their location. Furthermore, technically, Veronica's aura created interference, and any unpleasant spells couldn't activate, as her aura's interference would disrupt the proper functioning of the spells.

It was like inserting an infinite variable into a software code that would repeatedly affect the scripts and interfere with their operation.

"An unusual place... is there another floor here? But I don't see an entrance," Sierra muttered, sitting down next to Adam.

There was a clapping sound, and Dereris landed on Adam's head, chuckling. She looked at the meadows and nodded.

"Well, there's nothing to catch here, really. Just a cemetery of memories that you can use for beauty more than anything else. I hope we'll find the map that the rumors were so loud about," Dereris said, clapping her wings discontentedly.

"And what are we going to do? In the beginning, this raid was meant to confirm the rumors, so I don't think we should have expected much," Veronica said, sitting on a rock and sighing, resting her chin on her hand. She looked at Dereris. "Listen, little dragon, aren't your people supposed to be very powerful? Why is there nothing of note in this temple?"

Veronica's question was based on what Dereris had told her earlier about the amazing abilities of her tribe, rumored to be great magicians. This created a sense of competition for the Demon Queen, who enjoyed research and considered herself one of the most intelligent in this world.

Her confidence wasn't baseless; it was rooted in her experience. Despite her demon identity, she had a good reputation as a mage and a researcher, making her well-known in the field of magic.

The rivalry all started with Dereris's claim that not even Veronica matched the level of knowledge in the Astionas tribe, which was proven when it took her a considerable amount of time to decipher the pentagram that served as nothing more than a lock for the door. This was a blow to her ego.

"What the hell do you think I'm lying about? If you're curious, even I don't know much about them, as they kept a low profile, and I learned about their magical achievements only after robbing them... I mean, borrowing a few things," explained Dereris, amending her words and eliciting eye rolls from the others.

Speaking of her, Dereris was an unusual dragon. Generally, dragons were surprisingly calm creatures, often acting as gods overseeing the world. They were described as wise and peaceful beings who looked down upon the world, giving commands that other races had to follow.

In contrast, Dereris had the arrogance and wisdom of dragons but was undoubtedly somewhat spoiled. She enjoyed collecting wealth instead of accumulating knowledge and had no qualms about killing those who didn't heed her. Even in the League of Dark Dragons, she was the most audacious and ruthless.

To be continued...