Chapter 259: Preparing for Entry

Before the giant gate, a dragon could be seen. Curled up and unmoving. It was about ten meters long from head to tail, quite small compared to what they were expecting.

Of course, Axel understood that Fenrir and the rest wouldn’t lead them there to fight without preparations. Rather, they wouldn’t have discovered this if the dragon was “active,” as they would’ve ended up fighting it as soon as they found it.

“Is it… asleep?” Axel asked.

Given that they were quite noisy as they landed, and the fact that the said black dragon remained unmoving, the only conclusion they could get was that…

“No, Master.” Fenrir shook her head. “It’s already dead.”

“I see…”

Axel frowned.

The dragon that they should be fighting was already dead… This conclusion felt a bit too abrupt and unbelievable. But more than that, a problem was bugging him. “Wasn’t the dragon sealed together with Nidavellir?”

It was a valid question.

After all, no matter how they see it, the dragon that’s lying before them was “outside” of the seal. The door ahead was most likely where the seal begins. This leads to two possible conclusions.

One, the dragon before them was the same one that attacked Nidavellir, somehow got out, but died from exertion.

And two…

“We suspect it is a different dragon than the one in Helios’s story.” Ria chimed in, serious for once.

“A different one…” He whispered, placing a hand to his chin. “The other’s spouse, perhaps?”

“The possibility is there, but no.” Fenrir sighed. “It’s more likely to think that it’s a dragon that was here to guard the seal until its death.”

A dragon guarding the dwarves’ sealed kingdom. Something that should be able to fight against the other dragon in the worst-case scenario. A guardian of sorts.

However, now, it’s dead.

“…”

Axel stared at the dragon’s corpse, then at the gate, and frowned.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” He said.

“In most movies, these kinds of dead monsters, statues, or even bones before entrances or exits end up moving when the party moves past or approaches them…”

Ria leaned forward, looking at Axel’s face as she asked. “Movies? What’s that?”

“Nothing. Ignore what I just said.” He shrugged.

“I don’t know what a movie is either, but I agree with Sir Axel’s outlook.” Even Beatrix nodded. “If this thing moves as we’re tackling the seal on the door, then we’d be in grave danger. We should prepare for the worst.”

“Then that means I need to get to work.” Nina shrugged, sighing exaggeratedly.

“We’re counting on you, Nina.” Axel smiled, nodding toward her. “You can spend as much as needed for materials you will need; no need to ask for permission.”

“Roger!”

Without another word, she walked forward, dragging Ria with her as her assistant. After all, setup-type curses require large-scale preparations. Worse, only witches “could” help in making it.

Axel wasn’t idle either.

Through the shop, he looked for physical traps that might be helpful.

Traps with curses aren’t really rare, but he wasn’t looking for items in that vein. Rather, he wanted to fill up the void in case curses weren’t useful against the dragon. Nina did ensure that setup-type curses have a 100% hit rate and can’t be resisted, but there are always exceptions for everything.

He found a few items, but half of them were so expensive he doubted his eyes. Only two items were somewhat affordable and useable at the same time for their situation. From there, he chose the cheapest one.

<Enfeebling Chains Lv. 4>

<A powerful set of chains that can ensnare any sized being. Reduces the target’s stats by 5(+5)%. Effect can be stacked multiplicatively. Can only equip once per limb.>

<Parameters: Intelligence -50>

<Cost: 190 Billion>

“Let me attach these…”

Saying so, Axel walked forward, toward the dragon’s corpse.

He attached the Enfeebling Chains, a sort of cuff, on all four of its legs and its neck. As advertised, it adjusted itself based on the target’s size, ensuring a perfect fit. Not only that, but it also has a debuff of reducing the target’s stats by 10%. With four, that’s roughly a 40% reduction, compounded!

Of course, he had no way of knowing if it was effective, as the target was already dead. He could only trust the item’s effect now.

About an hour later, Nina and Ria finally finished their preparations.

A large magic circle was drawn on the ground around the dragon’s corpse. Of course, the circle wasn’t active yet. Once a living creature steps in the middle of it, the trap would activate, casting a total of seven sense-blocking curses, seven stat-reduction curses, and seven soul-tormenting curses.

“It’s basically a tailor-made curse for an undead dragon,” Nina explained. “If it really wakes up to attack us, then it will suffer greatly under the curses, for sure.”

“Good job,” Axel praised them.

Then, he turned toward the door they suspected to lead to Nidavellir and nodded. “Then, let’s go. Keep an eye on the dragon. Don’t let it launch a surprise attack on us.”

“Yes!”

Everyone nodded in unison, moving into formation.

In the one hour that it took for Nina and Ria to complete the setup, the others changed their attire to proper ones for battle. They wore the best armor they had, equipped the best weapons, and donned the best accessories. Basically, their armor as part of the Valkyrie Knight Order.

Everything was for ensuring their safety in the case of a fight breaking out!!

Axel was at the lead, with the girls trailing right behind him. In the middle of their formation were Maria and Cherry, holding magic wands—they were designated as backline support for their safety.

As they walked past the dragon’s corpse, they made sure to stare at it as they walked. They didn’t let it out of their sight at all.

They came close to it, about a meter, then went around and began moving away from it.

The door ahead was roughly 50 meters away from the corpse, so it wasn’t that far. Within a few seconds, they reached it and stopped.

“Did it move?” Axel asked the girls.

“Nope, not a twitch,” Beatrix reported.

“Doesn’t feel like it’s alive… At least, not yet.” Fenrir added.

“I see…” He nodded in understanding. “Then, I’ll touch the door. Watch as it might move the very instant I do.”

Axel walked forward, covering the last five meters to the door, alone.

The door before him was big. Roughly 20 meters tall and 30 meters wide. Big enough for giants, even though the place below should be the kingdom of dwarves.

Axel extended his hand forward and touched the door.

As soon as he did, he could feel the flow of mana through the door. He could understand the structure of it and the depth of the “seal.”

However, at the same time…

[Foolish intruders…]

An ominous, androgynous voice echoed inside all their heads.

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