"Pay for your stupidity—with your lives!"
Nariel let out a furious snarl. In the next instant, a pair of wings woven from blazing fire burst open behind her as she shot into the air.
The flaming sword clutched in her hand erupted with dazzling light, violent flames surging outward as though determined to burn everything to ash.
"Die!"
The word had barely left her lips when a torrent of raging fire cascaded down like a waterfall, crashing toward Kurose Akira and the others.
"Fall back."
Lucia immediately stepped in front of Kurose Akira, shielding him with her body. At the same time, a brilliant golden light gathered in her palm, instantly forming a solid barrier that enveloped everyone inside.
The moment the flames descended, the golden shield burst into radiant brilliance, holding back the searing inferno.
"I'll deal with her!"
Mare Rhine tossed the words over her shoulder before spreading her dragon wings. White steam blasted from the gaps between her dragon scales, generating tremendous thrust that launched her straight toward the Fire Lady hovering in the sky.
…?
Seeing Mare Rhine charge in so recklessly, Kurose Akira couldn't help frowning.
This girl had absolutely no concept of teamwork.
But just as Mare Rhine turned into a streak of light and rushed toward Nariel, Ivsha and Beafro moved at the same time. With flawless coordination, the two began casting powerful spells, providing Mare Rhine with long-range magical support.
"Lucia—bless me!"
Kurose Akira called out.
"Understood."
Lucia nodded gently and began chanting a blessing spell.
As her voice echoed through the air, Kurose Akira's body was gradually enveloped in golden radiance.
[You have received the Blessing of Light!Elemental Resistance +20%, All Attributes +50%!]
The instant the blessing took effect, Kurose Akira activated his Half-Dragon Transformation.
His legs dug violently into the ground—then he kicked off with all his strength.
Like an arrow released from a bowstring, his body shot skyward toward Nariel.
Using the momentum of the launch, Kurose Akira's dragon claws carved a streak of afterimages through the air. While Nariel was focused on fighting Mare Rhine, he slashed across her back, tearing open the armor covering her spine.
But Nariel's body was composed of flames.
To her, physical attacks were nothing more than trivial harassment.
She immediately retreated, widening the distance between herself, Kurose Akira, and Mare Rhine.
"You've succeeded in making me angry!"
Nariel roared furiously. A massive magic circle formed behind her.
Within the circle, countless blazing spears of fire gradually took shape, their razor-sharp tips aimed directly at Kurose Akira and Mare Rhine.
"Die!"
At her command, the fiery spears rained down like a storm, shooting toward them with terrifying speed.
Faced with the dense barrage, Kurose Akira and Mare Rhine could only rely on the toughness of their dragon scales to endure the attack.
Of course, thanks to the baptism of the Mother Tree of the Elves and Lucia's blessing, Kurose Akira's elemental resistance was extraordinarily high.
Though the flames were fierce, they couldn't inflict any real damage on him—only leaving shallow marks across his dragon scales.
As for Mare Rhine, her strength already surpassed Kurose Akira's. Naturally, she had even less reason to fear the flames.
Even so, the two of them found it difficult to launch a counterattack. For now, they could only endure the bombardment while waiting for an opening.
"Where's your fusion?"
Kurose Akira shouted to Mare Rhine.
"Can't! No fusion today!"
Mare Rhine shook her head decisively.
"Why?"
Kurose Akira asked, confused.
"My aunt's visiting!"
"…?"
"Dragons have periods too?"
"Why do you care?! I said we can't fuse today!"
"..."
Out of the corner of his eye, Kurose Akira glanced at her.
Technically, he could forcibly mount Mare Rhine—but after a brief moment of consideration, he decided against it.
Defeating the Fire Lady didn't rely on that one strategy alone.
"Alice!"
Kurose Akira issued a command toward the guild.
"I'm here!"
Alice's voice echoed instantly in his mind. In the next moment, a massive pair of blood-red scissors materialized on the battlefield.
"What in the world is that thing?!"
Nariel's face twisted in fear the moment she saw Alice's Blood Soul Reaper.
As an undead being, the thing she feared most was any attack capable of directly damaging the soul.
And Alice's weapon existed precisely for that purpose.
It could sever the connections between souls.
Naturally, it made Nariel shudder.
"Take this!"
Alice remotely controlled the Blood Soul Reaper, launching a fierce assault on Nariel.
The instant the scissors snapped open—
Invisible crimson threads quietly appeared around Nariel, wrapping around her body.
"What kind of bizarre weapon is this?!"
Nariel couldn't comprehend the nature of Alice's soul weapon and immediately flapped her fiery wings to evade.
But she never noticed the threads.
Because they acted directly upon the soul.
In an instant, the crimson threads tightly bound Nariel's flame-formed body.
"How is this possible?!"
Nariel struggled in terror, trying to break free.
But the threads were anchored directly to her soul—escape was impossible.
The moment Nariel was trapped—
Alice struck.
Snip! Snip!
The Blood Soul Reaper flashed like lightning.
In an instant, it shredded Nariel's flaming soul-body apart.
Pain from the very depths of her soul exploded outward, forcing a piercing scream from her throat.
"AAAH!"
After suffering a soul attack, Nariel could barely maintain the undead form created from the fusion of Fire Dragon mana and her shattered spirit.
Her soul-body flickered weakly—like a candle trembling in the wind, ready to extinguish at any moment.
"Ivsha! Floro!"
Kurose Akira gave the order immediately.
"Understood!""Leave it to us!"
The two responded in unison and began chanting.
In mere seconds, two super-tier spells formed in midair, surging toward Nariel with apocalyptic power.
A thunderous explosion erupted.
Nariel's figure vanished within the dazzling magical light.
But Kurose Akira knew that the power of two super-tier spells alone wasn't enough to seriously wound a Level 70 enemy.
He immediately summoned a Phantom Thunderbird, throwing it into the bombardment as well.
Three super-tier spells detonated in succession.
Nariel could no longer maintain her fragile soul-body.
Her body plummeted from the sky like a kite with its string cut, crashing violently onto the ground.
As her armor scattered across the floor, the flaming soul inside it was finally exposed to everyone.
"Who are you people?! What do you want in my territory?!"
Nariel staggered to her feet, hostility blazing in her eyes as she stared at Kurose Akira.
"Nariel, you're already dead," Kurose Akira said calmly."What exists now… is just an undead spirit wandering this world."
"…I'm dead?"
Nariel's face changed drastically, disbelief flooding her eyes.
She clutched her head in agony.
"That's impossible! You're lying! I clearly still—AAAH!!!"
Before she could finish speaking, a bloodcurdling scream tore from her throat.
Her cries echoed throughout the castle.
Nariel's body began trembling violently, her form flickering and blurring as though an invisible force was tearing her apart.
At that moment, Kurose Akira noticed something.
Inside Nariel's chest—
A burning orange-red flame raged fiercely.
"Fire Dragon mana?!"
Without hesitation, Kurose Akira sprinted forward, attempting to destroy the flame.
"Get away!"
Just as he was about to reach it, Nariel roared.
A terrifying inferno erupted from her body, as though determined to devour everything nearby.
"Damn!"
Kurose Akira was forced to retreat rapidly to avoid being consumed by the flames.
Unfortunately, that retreat cost him his best opportunity to destroy her power core.
Wrapped within the inferno, Nariel began drawing upon the Fire Dragon's power.
Gradually—
A suit of solid flame armor formed around her body.
At that moment, her aura began rising sharply—surpassing even her previous strength.
"What level was that Fire Dragon?"
Kurose Akira frowned deeply.
Judging from the aura radiating from Nariel now, the dragon that left behind this power had likely been above Level 90.
"You…!"
Nariel's voice suddenly became distorted.
It sounded as though another voice had merged with hers.
"All of you—die!"
Behind her, the phantom image of a massive Fire Dragon appeared.
The dragon opened its enormous jaws, preparing to unleash a devastating breath that would incinerate Kurose Akira and his companions.
But at that critical moment—
Mare Rhine had already moved behind Nariel without making a sound.
A cold smirk curled across her lips.
"You think you're qualified… to be my enemy?"
Before Nariel could react—
Mare Rhine's dragon claw shot forward like lightning.
It pierced directly through Nariel's heart.
Her claw crushed the orange-red flame heart in an instant.
"Why…?"
Nariel slowly turned her head, disbelief and despair filling her eyes.
She couldn't understand how Mare Rhine could remain unaffected by her flames.
Mare Rhine offered no explanation.
No mercy.
The moment she pulled her claw free—
Nariel's body burned away like ash in a furnace, rapidly melting into a pool of scorching magma before dissipating into the air.
[Nariel Defeated. EXP +150,000]
[Additional Trait Acquired — Fireworks!]
"Done! Time to go home and sleep~"
Mare Rhine clapped her hands and swaggered back toward Kurose Akira with a bright grin.
"Are you alright?"
Kurose Akira asked with concern.
The flames Nariel released earlier were powerful enough to rival pseudo-forbidden magic. He was worried Mare Rhine's current body might not be strong enough to withstand it.
"Me? What could possibly happen to me?"
Mare Rhine puffed out her chest proudly, crossing her arms.
"I'm invincible, remember?"
But after observing carefully, Kurose Akira noticed her legs trembling slightly.
Clearly, the scorching pain from the flames was still affecting her.
This girl was pretending to be tough again.
Kurose Akira sighed helplessly.
"Since the mission's finished, let's head back."
"Alright~!"
A flash of white light from the teleportation circle later—
Kurose Akira led everyone back to the guild.
The moment they arrived, he didn't waste a second. He immediately brought Mare Rhine to the guild's hot spring room.
"Human, what are you doing?" Mare Rhine asked suspiciously.
"Treating your wounds."
Kurose Akira answered simply as he pulled out several specialized medicines from his bag—ointments designed specifically for burns caused by flame magic.
"Take off your clothes."
"I'm not injured!" Mare Rhine muttered quietly.
But her body betrayed her words.
Under Kurose Akira's gaze, she slowly dismissed her dragon-scale armor, revealing smooth snow-white skin beneath.
"…?"
Kurose Akira was honestly pleased by how obedient she suddenly became.
Still, wasn't she trusting him a little too much?
Aside from a few dragon scales still remaining on her face, the rest of Mare Rhine's body was completely bare of scales.
Normally, that dragon-scale armor served as her clothing.
Which meant that right now—
She was displaying everything without reservation in front of him.
"Human, hurry up!"
While Kurose Akira was still staring, Mare Rhine had already sat properly on a small wooden stool, waiting for him to apply the ointment.
Snapping back to reality, Kurose Akira hesitated briefly before beginning to spread the medicine gently and evenly across her jade-like skin.
Although Mare Rhine was a dragon whose scales were harder than steel—
Her skin was unbelievably smooth.
Delicate. Soft.
Almost identical to a young girl's.
Wait—she was a girl.
Despite the damage from Nariel's flames, there weren't any visible burns on her skin.
But her body temperature was unusually high—likely from absorbing the heat of the flames.
"Mmm~"
Mare Rhine sat quietly with her eyes closed, enjoying the treatment.
She couldn't eliminate the heat from her body quickly, leaving her feeling extremely uncomfortable.
But now—
Kurose Akira's touch allowed her to clearly feel her body cooling down.
Refreshing.
Comfortable.
"Uu~"
She couldn't help letting out a soft draconic hum.
"That should do it."
After finishing the ointment, Kurose Akira prepared to stop.
But Mare Rhine frowned in dissatisfaction.
"You're not done! There are still several places you didn't apply it!"
"…?"
For a moment, Kurose Akira didn't know how to respond.
The areas he hadn't treated yet were… somewhat sensitive for a female dragon.
For example—
Those large, snow-white—
But Mare Rhine didn't seem to care at all.
Which was strange, because when he first bathed her, she definitely hadn't been this relaxed.
Had he somehow… completely tamed this Catastrophic Dragon?
"…Fine. But don't move."
Reluctantly, Kurose Akira agreed to her request and applied the ointment to the remaining areas.
Perhaps from practice, the moment his fingertips touched those snowy curves, they trembled slightly.
The movement wasn't large—
But the soft fullness, completely disproportionate to her slender figure, swayed just enough to make it impossible not to notice.
A few minutes later, the burning heat within Mare Rhine's body finally faded.
"Mmm~ that feels amazing~"
She stretched lazily in satisfaction.
Every movement, unfortunately, drew Kurose Akira's eyes back to her… assets.
"Ahem."
He cleared his throat.
"Put your clothes back on. I'll step outside."
"Hey, human~"
But Mare Rhine suddenly grabbed his wrist.
"Your body's really hot. Did those flames affect you too?"
"…A little."
Kurose Akira thought for a moment before answering.
When he rushed in earlier, Nariel's soul flames had indeed scorched him—but far less severely than Mare Rhine.
"Lie down."
Mare Rhine patted the Holy Light proudly.
"I'll remove the flame's influence for you."
Kurose Akira: "?"