Chapter 57

“The Disaster Dragon Maiden.”

I felt a bone-chilling cold as I faced Nikita Cynthia.

Her gaze was piercingly cold. Despite her regal appearance, Nikita had always harbored a gentle heart.

But today, there wasn’t a trace of kindness left in her.

Instead, a fiery vengeance smoldered deep within her heart.

“So you’ve come?”

Nikita’s voice emerged, low and layered.

She echoed my words back to me.

“Does that mean you expected me?”

Our senior, Nikita, was sharp.

“Yes.”

I replied, throwing my sword to the ground.

Clang!

The sword rolled away, clattering against the frozen ground.

Nikita’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

She hadn’t anticipated I would give up my weapon right in front of her.

“I was waiting for this.”

Nikita’s eyes were still filled with questions.

But soon, that confusion dissipated.

In its place, a fierce wind, imbued with a dreadful chill, whipped around her.

“Hand over Iris Haishirion.”

My eyes widened at her next words.

“So if I surrender the princess, you’ll spare our lives?”

“Exactly, this has nothing to do with you.”

In a situation where even reason seemed to be consumed by the Ice Dragon’s magic, Nikita only hungered for Iris’s life.

She didn’t wish harm upon others.

Thus, she had likely waited until we were entirely unable to resist.

Such was her characteristic kindness.

However, I couldn’t lean on her kindness now.

“No way.”

“Hania, I know you care for the princess, but you need to think of your own life.”

“Of course, my life is precious too.”

My hand, instead of my sword, was raised now.

Setting down the sword brought me a strange sense of relief.

“But there is something more valuable than life.”

Not bringing this damned world to a bad ending.

Only then can I protect my own life.

“So Iris is that important to you.”

Nikita’s head lowered as she spoke those words.

A tear fell from her eyes, turning into a shard of ice as it hit the ground.

A profound sorrow that tugged at my heart emanated from her.

“I lost what I held most dear as well.”

Nia Cynthia.

The only family member in her house who supported Nikita and believed in her—her older brother.

He was murdered unjustly.

“So I will take from you too.”

The moment Nikita finished, she vanished from sight.

All that was left was a lone footprint where she had stood.

She’s coming.

The moment I felt it, I instantly swung my hand.

Kawaaaang!

Suddenly, a powerful sword energy echoed out, facing me as I turned my back to Iris.

Nikita’s white sword was halted by my palm.

Krrrrr!

But just then, the frost contained in her blade began to freeze my hand instantly.

True to the magic of the Ice Dragon.

Just touching the sword felt like it might shatter my hand.

Giiing!

However, being aware of this, I had prepared.

The magic seal etched into my steel skin erupted into glowing light.

This caused my body temperature to rise rapidly, flames surging forth.

My steel skin boasted high thermal conductivity.

The magic seal inscribed on my skin in preparation for today was flame magic.

A direct request made to Sharine.

Heat flooded through my entire body.

Even though I lacked the fiery will possessed by Lucas,

I could mimic it a little.

As she felt the heat radiating from my body, Nikita’s expression twisted.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

At that, the cold emanating from Nikita grew stronger.

The Ice Dragon magic she mastered was the pinnacle of cold magic.

The reason the Ice Dragon Mountain is perpetually snow-covered is that it was a result of this magic.

It could be deemed the most formidable cold magic.

‘Nikita has no talent for most magic, but…’

Ironically, she possessed extraordinary talent for Ice Dragon magic.

However, the unique side effect of the Ice Dragon magic was something she could not escape.

The more she used the magic, the closer she approached dragonification,

eventually being consumed by the very magic she wielded.

The clash between the cold streaming from Nikita and my heat ensued.

Perhaps due to the starkly different temperatures colliding.

*Kwaaang!*

With a resounding boom, a pure white smoke billowed up, engulfing the area.

I felt Nikita retreating a step within the smoke.

As her eyes darted around, trying to locate me,

*Thud!*

I took off with Iris in my arms.

An explosive magic inscribed on my feet activated.

I fled the scene at a breakneck speed.

Realizing this a moment too late, Nikita pursued me fiercely.

Her face contorted in a fearsome rage.

‘For now, I just need to escape.’

Confronting Nikita head-on would lead to my defeat. Instead, I needed to lead her to the place I had set up.

“Ugh.”

Maybe it was the explosion or my body heat, but I felt a subtle whimper from Iris in my arms.

But I paid it no mind.

With every ounce of strength, I ran to escape.

*Kwaang!* Bam!

In that moment, Nikita closed the distance in the blink of an eye.

Before the Ice Dragon magic, she had proven herself competent enough to act as vice-president.

Nikita was someone who invested time into training even when others were sleeping.

There was no doubt Nikita’s martial skills were top-tier.

Combined with the Ice Dragon magic, her overall physical abilities rose significantly.

It was difficult to shake her off.

That’s why I had been preparing for days.

*Kwaaang!*

At that moment, an explosion erupted beneath Nikita, shaking the very space.

Under the frozen ground,

I glimpsed a torn scrap of paper caught in the explosion.

Nikita had just stepped on a scroll inscribed with explosive magic.

A magic scroll.

Once an artifact from a bygone era, the magic seals had been improved in this day and age.

While its performance was inferior compared to a true magician,

the scroll I employed just now didn’t lag behind in effectiveness.

‘Made by a mad magician.’

Having pilfered them from the mid-boss, Vinasha, their performance was assured.

*Fwooosh!

At that moment, Nikita burst through the smoke, hot on my heels once again.

She had taken the brunt of the explosive magic head-on.

Nevertheless, Nikita appeared slightly singed, but otherwise unharmed in her pursuit.

That was to be expected.

The body of a dragon was hardly harmed by mere scroll-level explosive magic.

Only the limitations of visibility and the unstable footing became my advantage to create distance from her.

*Kwaaang!* *Kwaaang!*

Despite the odds, it seemed luck held no mercy.

Nikita wildly stepped on various explosion scrolls as she chased me, her expression dangerously intense.

Perhaps fueled by anger,

Nikita’s eyes were bloodthirsty.

But even so, it wasn’t the time yet.

Before long, I ascended a sloped surface.

I spotted the magic scroll hidden between the frosty ground.

I quickly stomped the ground.

**Fwoosh!

From the ground, a thick black smoke erupted.

In an instant, the surrounding area was engulfed in the dense black smoke.

In the interim, I stepped on another magic scroll right in front of me.

*Crash!*

Subsequently, I heard some impressive crashing noise behind me.

The source was Nikita.

The activated magic made the floor’s surface slippery.

Obscured by the black smoke and the slippery ground, there was no way for Nikita to maintain her footing.

Thus, I had created more distance.

Utilizing every trick I had up my sleeve, I desperately distanced myself from Nikita.

‘Just a bit further.’

I was almost at the point I had marked on the map.

Just as that thought crossed my mind,

I felt a freezing shiver down my spine.

A primal instinct had me lean forward.

*Kaaagahgahgahg!*

A beam of ice shot out from behind, grazing past me.

The icy beam continued on, colliding with the gallery wall.

*Kwaaang!*

The wall of the gallery crumbled from the impact of the ice beam, causing me to stumble to the ground.

There was a prickling feeling in my back.

It seemed the spot where the icy beam had passed was now completely frozen over.

*Fwoosh-*

Even the heat of the magic seal couldn’t thaw the ice in my back.

“Ugh.”

Swallowing a groan, I forced myself upright.

There was no time for that.

As I collected myself, I suddenly noticed a sword in front of me and quickly ducked.

Whoosh!

The blade screamed past my head, the wind it created rattling my body.

Nikita, her silver hair aflame, had clearly come rushing in right after firing the icy beam.

How absurdly powerful.

Even as I staggered, I seized my chance and jabbed my fist into Nikita’s exposed side.

Thud!

But she remained unfazed even as I struck her.

Instead, I felt a sharp pain in my hand as if my bones were crushed.

Nikita’s body at this moment was immune to most physical attacks.

That was thanks to the solid frozen armor bestowed by the Ice Dragon magic.

Realizing this, I chose to flee instead of retaliating.

However, Nikita was faster than I anticipated.

Nikita swung her sword toward me once more, and I dodged with all my might.

Each strike was like a ticket to another world.

My desperation shone through clearly.

*Kwaaang!*

Managing to create some distance using the explosive power of the magic seal, I gasped for breath.

Thanks to the heat of the magic seal, the cold wasn’t cutting too deep, but

the heat was draining my stamina faster than expected.

Nikita slowly lowered her sword and looked back at me.

“Hania, I see just how serious you are about protecting the princess.”

Unlike me, Nikita showed no signs of fatigue.

Having burned through a mountain of magic scrolls that would make even the wealthiest nobles sick,

she hadn’t taken a single scratch.

“But this is where it ends.”

Nikita offered me one final chance.

“Drop the princess and head for the exit.”

If I did, she would spare my life.

After hearing Nikita’s words, I fell silent.

Then I let out a blood-curdling laugh.

Nikita’s eyes flickered with something strange at my reaction.

Did she think I had lost my mind?

Seeing her expression, I took a deep breath.

“Nikita-senpai.”

I decided to inform her of one crucial fact.

“I think you’ve misunderstood something.”

“Misunderstanding?”

At that, a puzzled look filled Nikita’s eyes.

To clarify, I slowly lowered Iris.

But instead of just setting her down, I gradually unwrapped the bandage connecting us.

As the bandages loosened, Iris began to transform.

The truth behind the bandages was that they were a visual illusion.

As Iris began to shift, Nikita’s eyes widened.

What stood before her wasn’t Iris.

It was the Magic Arts Deputy.

The fool from Iris’s team who had fallen first.

It was Dorara Korajin.

I had used the illusionary bandage to disguise him as Iris.

I tossed him aside carelessly.

“Gah!”

The unconscious figure rolled through the snowy ground.

Nikita’s head gradually tilted back in disbelief.

“The real Iris is…”

“Right over there.”

Nikita pressed her lips together, asking.

Her head slowly turned back toward me.

Frustration flickered in her eyes.

“Is there really any point in stalling like this? All you have to do is take me down, and you can return to the princess.”

“Nikita-senpai, nothing in this world is meaningless.”

Everything has meaning.

The reasons Nikita ended up this way and my reasons for acting were all meaningful.

Nikita had targeted Iris.

And got her into a dire situation.

This fact had become undeniable in this world.

Chapter 3, Scene 6.

The Disaster Dragon Maiden was definitely set in motion.

What was needed for the scenario now was just one thing.

The protagonist must defeat the Disaster Dragon Maiden,

and the Disaster Dragon Maiden must meet her end.

Lucas would persuade Nikita time and again.

However, due to Nia’s death, Nikita’s world had collapsed.

Despite Lucas’s desperation, in the end, she plunges a dagger into Iris.

Here, Lucas is left with no choice but to decide:

Will he kill Nikita,

or let Iris die?

It was a choice and trial imposed upon the protagonist.

Nikita’s demise was inevitable.

Her death bore significant consequences, pushing the narrative onward.

What this world required was the death of the Disaster Dragon Maiden.

However,

my thoughts diverged.

I am not Lucas.

He is constrained by two choices forced upon him by the world.

But I am just an extra, Bickamon.

Thus, instead of adhering to the two choices dictated by the world,

I will choose my path to progress the plot.

For this, I had prepared and prepared again.

The only way to lead Nikita out of the abyss of despair and allow her to live freely.

**Fwooosh-**

From somewhere, the sound of fire igniting came echoing.

“And Nikita-senpai, your premises are mistaken.”

I decided to correct Nikita’s words.

“First, you have to defeat me.”

*Fwooosh!-*

Nikita, too, quickly realized the absurdity of the situation.

In the icy gallery, the sounds of flames raging to life echoed everywhere.

Fires ignited from all angles.

This wasn’t ordinary fire.

This was the stone used to capture the Steel Empress.

The Essence of Fire.

This remains after a fire spirit passes away.

During this, I ripped my chest open.

With it, my form began to shift as well.

I was not Hania anymore,

but Hanon Irey.

Nikita’s eyes widened further.

“Huh? You?”

She hadn’t expected to see me here.

“What are you doing here?”

Her bewilderment became my opportunity.

Within the bandage,

an ember red stone appeared from inside the wrappings.

The Ice Dragon magic was undoubtedly powerful.

Hence, the proper counter against the Ice Dragon magic was the Fire of Will.

However, alongside that fire of will,

another means of rebuffing the Ice Dragon’s magic existed.

The Spirit Sovereign.

A being at the pinnacle of spirits.

Their power should be sufficient even against the Ice Dragon magic.

However, I could not form a contract with the spirits.

Hence, I prepared an alternative.

The embers of the Essence of Fire were burning brightly everywhere in the gallery.

All the flames converged toward one spot.

The flames swirled toward me,

or rather, the stone on my chest.

“That’s…”

Nikita suddenly recognized the stone etched on my chest.

This was not an ordinary piece of the Essence of Fire.

Fire’s Ember.

The Fire Spirit Sovereign.

This was the corpse that remained after he passed away.

“Boy, speak what you desire.”

According to the Hero’s Special Law, the Whitewood Duke had bestowed a treasure upon me.

This was exactly what I had requested.

The hardest item to acquire in the world,

and an item that could temporarily substitute the Fire of Will.

*Fwoosh!

The Fire’s Ember engulfed all the lingering flames of the Spirit soaring around.

The heat radiating from the Fire’s Ember began pounding against my body.

Wrapped in the flames of the Fire Sovereign, I quietly exhaled.

Nikita’s dumbfounded expression met my gaze.

Seeing her, I steeled myself, poised to attack.

The scorching heat engulfed my body.

Though the intensity almost took my breath away,

the resolved will of the Steel Empress was intertwined within my steel skin, holding onto that heat firmly.

The Steel Empress had become a mystery and pursued the heat.

Thus, my steel skin was also optimized for retaining heat.

I wouldn’t be able to withstand the Fire’s Ember for long.

“I said it would sting.”

So within that limited time,

I’ll put an end to this with Nikita.