The Battle Queen Came Back with Her Husbands (Joanna) novel Chapter 18

Chapter 18 Testing

Joanna closed the post in a great mood.

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After thinking it through, she pulled together all her transaction records with Lucas, plus the cooking videos she’d made over the past month.

Then, she posted a statement on Trinity High’s campus forum.

“About my withdrawal from Grade 12’s top team, Dawnbreaker–this post lays out every transaction between us and shows there are no money issues.”

Lucas was full of lies. Today, he claimed she had pocketed guides and potions. Who knew if tomorrow he’d say he gave her millions to buy ingredients?

Her post had all the records neatly detailed.

She was cutting off trouble before it started. She had no intention of waiting for someone to smear her.

After posting it, she turned off her communicator.

“Let’s go! Nighthowl, ready for an all–night dungeon grind?”

Nighthowl squinted at her. No surprise–his contractor loved dungeon grinding.

Joanna put away her utensils and left the hourly rental room.

After resting for four to five hours, it was already 10 p.m.

She returned to the Dungeon Plaza.

The place was still packed.

Lots of people pulled all–nighters grinding. Some ran the same dungeon a million times and became Grind King.

But the dungeons weren’t free. If one hadn’t built up enough base progress during their student years, infinite grinding just wasn’t possible.

Now that Joanna had money, she was going all out.

“No wonder those rich kids are already level 17 or 18 on the Crucible. Money makes such a huge difference.”

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14:16 Thu, May 21

Chapter 18 Testing

Still, reaching over 1,000 in attributes wasn’t just about leveling.

She also needed potions, treasures, spirit fruits, and chef–made meals.

That took massive resources. How could ordinary people afford that?

All Joanna could do was give it her all.

It was time to go all out.

She entered the Desolate Castle again with Nighthowl.

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Joanna had him set up the Crimson Throne, and she sat on it. If any monsters attacked, she could activate it to shift positions into a phased state, nullifying the attack.

With that, her safety level shot up. She no longer needed to constantly control the oil lamp just to stay alive.

That meant she could clear dungeons even faster.

At the final boss room, the Duchess repeated her usual line.

“I smell fresh blood again!”

But Joanna noticed something different. The Duchess wasn’t on her throne.

Joanna checked the bedroom and found a Crimson Throne. But since it didn’t follow the boss, it wasn’t an item anymore.

Now it was just a regular wooden–and–leather arm chair.

That meant the Duchess’s attacks would be weaker.

“Nighthowl, don’t kill her yet. I need to run some tests.”

Joanna quickly checked her defense stats and did the math. Once she saw she could survive the Duchess’s hit, she let the attack come.

The Duchess slashed Joanna’s maid’s outfit with pitch–black nails.

Joanna dodged, taking just an arm scratch.

That single hit numbed half her body and dropped her HP to a quarter.

“What are you doing?”

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14:16 Thu, May 21

Chapter 18 Testing

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Nighthowl’s mental voice shot through immediately. Moonlight immediately wrapped around Joanna, and her HP recovered rapidly.

“It’s fine. I’m testing her attack power, defense, and movement speed.”

“I’ll handle it.”

Nighthowl stepped in front of her again.

Warmth spread through her chest.

Back when she asked Lucas to cooperate, he’d just coldly refuse pointless tasks.

She always had to collect data indirectly. How could that compare to now, when she dared to tank the boss herself just to get numbers?

All thanks to her boosted attributes.

Despite only being Level 2, Nighthowl already had 200 vitality points.

With his base defense, he was far sturdier than Joanna.

Thankfully, the damage he took wasn’t reduced to just one point. Otherwise, there’d be nothing to calculate.

She ran damage tests a dozen times, then checked speed and defense.

Finally, the long–suffering Duchess fell to Joanna.

“You have slain Duchess Tanarissa of the Desolate Castle.”

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