Chapter 264: Into the Gates

After their meeting, the girls began preparing for their fight against Fafnir.

To be specific, Nina and Ria worked together, setting up another Curse Array. The same one that got Bella, but much better—stronger.

This time, they need it to latch on even more, not only 25% of the effect, but at least twice that.

There’s no way Axel could attach the weakening chains, after all… At least, not right off the bat.

Preparations were done over a long period of time. Three hours long, to be specific. During that time, Nina adjusted the magic circle and upgraded to better materials and reagents, ensuring everything was at the maximum quality she was capable of using.

Axel didn’t idle either. He was setting more traps, the second kind that he didn’t use on Belle earlier. A second layer over the curse trap that Nina just set.

Although the entire setup, including Nina’s materials, cost them a daunting 1 Quadrillion Colts in all, it would be more than worth it if their safety was on the line. It was the price of their lifeline.

“Sir Axel, everything’s in place.” Nina called as soon as she was done with her final adjustments.

Axel nodded, turning toward the rest. “Then, everyone, ready?”

“YES!”

A resounding shout came back as a reply.

They were finally ready for the fight ahead of them, prepared everything they could prepare, and equipped everything that could help them survive longer.

Everyone was already standing before the gate, in formation. With Nina and Ria added in, their lineup was finally complete.

“Good!” he nodded before turning toward the doors ahead. “Then, Bellachrona, please open the seal.”

As the one “guarding” the seal, of course she also had the ability to open it. She was the key, both physically and metaphorically.

The black dragon lady nodded firmly, walking forward alone.

She, too, was now wearing armor from Axel. Not only that, but she even had accessories equipped, boosting her stats by quite a bit… roughly 30% overall. Though at the level of “Gods,” that much doesn’t really break the power equilibrium just yet.

The person herself claimed that even with her current strength, she could probably only keep pace with Fafnir at most.

A dangerous claim… but at the same time, reliable.

After all, if she could go toe-to-toe with the evil dragon, that means with Axel and the rest added in, they should be able to take the upper hand!

“Then, I’m unlocking it.” Bella whispered in a serious tone. “Brace yourselves. Fafnir might attack as soon as the gate opens.”

“We’ve already discussed this beforehand, so no worries.” Axel smiled.

Everyone was already tense, holding onto their weapons and staying at their positions in battle stance. Bella carefully watched everyone’s faces before turning toward the door and taking a deep breath.

She stretched her right hand forward, touching the sun relief on the door.

The moment she did, the relief began to shine, almost as if a real sun. The sound of gears and the rumbling of the earth echoed loud. They could physically feel the entire mountain “moving.”

“…!”

None of them missed the moment the seal was broken.

After all, as soon as that was done, the air felt heavy all of a sudden. Almost as if they were being forcefully pressed toward the ground.

The “weakest” of them all, Maria and Cherry, were even forced to half-kneel.

“Everyone, get a grip!” Axel raised his voice, taking a step forward.

He also raised his Overdrive to 1% output. Just enough for him to push back the oppressive air around them. The girls felt the pressure lessen as soon as he did, feeling thankful for his action.

But… that wasn’t the main focus at all.

“Watch out!”

Bella shouted as she moved to the side, dodging.

As she did, something flew through the opening, heading straight toward Axel standing in the middle of the formation.

Of course, he didn’t miss it.

A ball. Something the size of his head, flying at the speed of a missile. It was green and seemingly leaving a track of green smoke as it flew. Just a glance was enough to tell Axel that it was nothing good.

“Fenrir!”

“On it, Master!”

But the next moment, Fenrir jumped forward, standing before Axel.

She waved her claw, cleaving the space in front of her. As soon as she did, a powerful sucking force was emitted, almost making everyone take a step toward the rift she just opened.

Even the green ball wasn’t immune to this powerful pull and ended up going straight in.

The moment it did, along with the trail of green smoke it left behind, Fenrir quickly closed the rift, falling to her knee and taking a deep breath.

She wasn’t tired from just using a single rift, of course. Rather, she was simply out of breath.

“Looks like opening a rift straight to the thermosphere is a great idea.” Axel nodded.

Right.

What Fenrir did was open a rift connected to about 100 kilometers straight up. It was already at the Kármán line, where air was basically gone, creating a pressure difference powerful enough to pull in everything nearby—attacks included—even the air around her.

That was why she was out of breath, since even the air in her lungs had been pulled out, leaving her breathless!

ROOOOOOAAAAAAR!

Right after the attack was “blocked,” a powerful roar echoed from deep inside the gate. A voice that sent shivers down everyone’s spines.

Of course, they couldn’t be mistaken about the source.

“It’s him!” Bella frowned, getting into stance. “It’s Fafnir!”

Of course, despite her words, everyone still couldn’t see the said dragon.

The inside of the now-open gates was dark. Almost as if it was the entrance to the abyss. The cold wind coming out of it was chilling them to the bones, as if telling them of the dangers ahead.

“Alright!”

But that didn’t stop Axel.

“Let’s proceed as planned!”

“YES!”

With his words as a vote of confidence, everyone began to move.

Fenrir and Bella stood at the forefront, running at their top speed. Axel stood behind them, along with Arianne, keeping pace. The rest were some distance behind, keeping a safe buffer between the frontlines and them.

They all rushed in, expecting a gruesome battle to unfold.

However…

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