Chapter 169

“…Ugh.”

Lisa’s greatsword flew straight toward me.

It was a visible attack, easy enough to dodge—

Boom—!

The sword struck the floor, and the tremendous sound echoed throughout the temple.

If that thing hit me even once, I’d probably be done for.

“Tch.”

After dodging Lisa’s strike, Jason and Luke attacked at the same time.

It was a surprise assault, but I blocked both of them effortlessly.

Clang—!

Yeah, easier than I’d expected.

Normally, I wouldn’t have been able to block them that easily.

I knew Jason and Luke’s skills well.

If they had been fighting with their usual strength, there’s no way I could’ve defended that simply.

Crackle—

“Hm?”

While exchanging blows with the swordsmen, I heard a sound from behind me.

When I turned, Kara and Roy were casting the same spell.

It looked like some kind of lightning-type magic, but their attack was incredibly slow—

Too slow, and obviously weak.

“…Hmph.”

Instinctively, I saw it as an opening.

So, I swiftly closed the distance between us.

I swung my fist, intending to knock them out—

“Ugh.”

Lisa blocked my way.

She raised her greatsword again, and I quickly leaped back.

“Phew…”

Lifting the Mistcatcher once more, I gathered my thoughts.

Lisa, Jason, Roy, Luke, and Kara.

Five people in total stood against me.

And not a single one of them was an easy opponent.

Naturally, facing all five at once was impossible.

But—

‘Looks like my prediction was wrong.’

After clashing with them for a bit, I could tell.

These five, under someone’s control, couldn’t even exert half their usual power.

No—maybe not even half of that.

I glanced subtly toward Suiroti.

“Tch, those magicians… I told them not to cast so sloppily… Ugh, Rage Isrinbloom, just how many humans do you intend to control, you damned man?”

From his expression and tone, it seemed Suiroti couldn’t properly manage my companions.

And somehow, I already knew why.

“What’s wrong, Lord Suiroti? Having trouble controlling so many humans at once?”

“Shut up. But… I can’t deny it. As you said, I’m controlling far too many minds simultaneously.”

His eyes were bloodshot—it was clearly straining him.

I smirked.

“Seems even your Dragon Tongue Magic has its flaws.”

“Ugh, try controlling dozens of souls at once, why don’t you? The moment you slip, the spell collapses entirely. Damn that man—told him to use it moderately, but he never listens.”

Apparently, Rage had placed Dragon Tongue Magic on far too many humans.

Because of that, Suiroti couldn’t fine-tune his control.

“Hmph… simple commands are fine, but making them fight like this—it’s not easy.”

“You look exhausted. Are you sure you can still beat me?”

“Even so, it won’t be a problem taking down just one of you. No matter how clumsy my control is, there are five of them. Sheer numbers will be enough to crush you.”

“Aren’t you underestimating me a bit too much?”

“Oh? Then are you confident you can defeat all five? They seem quite powerful.”

“…Well, they are strong.”

I looked again at the five surrounding me.

Suiroti was right.

Even if they couldn’t use their full strength, their physical capabilities alone were exceptional.

A single careless strike from them could be fatal.

‘And besides… I can’t recklessly strike back.’

Because I didn’t want to hurt them.

From now on, they’d be fighting to kill me in earnest—

But I couldn’t fight them with the same intent.

‘If it were just killing them outright, that’d be easier—but injuring them just enough without causing real harm…’

Fighting while holding back was one of the hardest things to do.

Even if I somehow managed to perfectly restrain them without injuries, there was still a problem.

There was no way to undo the Dragon Tongue Magic controlling them.

‘Unless I can dispel that magic itself, subduing them is meaningless.’

Thanks to the blessing of the other race, the spell didn’t affect me—

But my companions had no such protection.

‘I have no idea what to do.’

I glanced toward Suiroti again.

Honestly, I wanted to grab that wicked dragon by the throat and threaten him at swordpoint.

But getting close to him wasn’t going to be easy.

Boom—!

Lisa swung her greatsword again.

I dodged, and it slammed into the floor with another thunderous impact.

I dashed past her toward Suiroti, but this time Luke blocked my way.

“How troublesome.”

Blocking Luke’s strikes, I backed away.

His attacks weren’t nearly as sharp as the Luke I knew.

So I waited for an opening, ready to disarm him—

“…Tch.”

Jason suddenly darted in, blocking my strike toward Luke.

Then Lisa attacked again, and Kara and Roy followed up with magic.

‘Quite the hassle.’

Fighting one at a time would’ve been easy.

No—I could have overwhelmed them.

But all five attacking at once was difficult.

And unlike earlier, they were starting to coordinate their attacks better.

“I don’t even have to give them orders anymore—they’re doing just fine.”

Sitting comfortably on his throne, Suiroti chuckled.

“You chose humans with solid fundamentals. Makes for a good show—watching your own allies try to kill you.”

“Didn’t you say earlier you’d capture me and offer me to Bedir?”

“I can offer your corpse just as well, can’t I?”

He replied indifferently, as if it didn’t matter.

“Then how about killing me yourself?”

“Why would I?”

“What’s wrong? Are you scared?”

“Such cheap provocation won’t work on me.”

Suiroti smirked.

…Honestly, even I knew that was a pathetic taunt.

“I’d love to kill you with my own hands, really—but unfortunately, I’m managing too many minds right now.”

As I listened to him, an idea flashed in my mind.

If I could just draw on Peregrie’s Power—a burst of lightning would…

Whoosh—!

“Ugh?”

A fireball suddenly flew toward me—

Right as I was gathering power in secret.

“Direct attacks on me won’t work. I’ve fought plenty of enemies like you before.”

“…So my plan was too obvious, huh.”

“I’m not rambling for no reason. I’m saying this because no matter what you try, you’ll never defeat me.”

And to prove his point, the battle that followed was brutal.

I tried to strike Suiroti somehow, but I never got the chance.

No matter what trick I tried, every time I made a move, someone got in my way.

The five members of my party kept attacking relentlessly, wearing me down.

‘At this rate, I’ll collapse from exhaustion before I can even get a single hit on Suiroti.’

I probably needed to find another way.

But in this situation, there didn’t seem to be any other way…

‘…Hm.’

Lisa charged at me, swinging her sword down.

I dodged her attack again, and that’s when I noticed something.

Her eyes and hands were trembling, her expression dazed—as though she was fighting back against Suiroti’s spell.

So I decided to try something that might help Lisa regain her senses.

‘Well, nothing to lose by trying.’

Lisa swung her greatsword at me again.

But as usual, her attack was slow and predictable.

I easily avoided it and closed in on her.

Then, I leaned close to her ear and whispered the one thing she’d like the most.

“Noona, do you… want to drink my blood?”

After whispering that softly into Lisa’s ear, I quickly retreated.

Because Jason immediately came at me, swinging his saber.

So, I couldn’t see how my words affected Lisa to the end.

But as I blocked Jason’s attack and glanced over, I saw Lisa frozen in place.

…Could it be that my words actually—

“Uh… Gi-Gideon…”

Lisa muttered in confusion, her expression more bewildered than ever.

Before either I or Suiroti could react—

Lisa was the first to move.

She raised her greatsword… and threw it.

And her target wasn’t me—it was Suiroti.

Boom—!

“Wha—?! Wh-what the—?!”

Suiroti narrowly dodged the greatsword by mere inches.

She stared in shock at the massive blade embedded in her throne.

Maybe the sudden attack startled her, because her concentration wavered slightly.

The same concentration that was maintaining her control over the five of them.

It only lasted for a moment, but during that time, my companions all froze.

The spell hadn’t completely broken yet—

But that brief pause was more than enough for me.

And Suiroti, distracted by Lisa’s sudden strike—was the perfect opening.

“Phew…”

I glanced at the mist swirling around me.

I had been continuously storing damage within it, preparing to activate Mistcatcher’s weapon skill.

The accumulated damage was immense—the mist had turned pitch black, crackling with violet currents.

Without hesitation, I released the stored energy straight toward Suiroti.

Then, channeling my Blood Energy on top of it, I struck her with all my might.

“Graaahhh?!”

My strike landed squarely on Suiroti.

But she seemed to have protected herself with some kind of spell, because she wasn’t fatally wounded.

Still, the impact sent her flying across the temple, crashing into a pile of treasure.

“Ughh… Why?! There shouldn’t have been any issue with the spell I cast on that human woman—huh?”

Suiroti’s eyes widened.

Because I was already right in front of her, Mistcatcher raised high.

I swung the blade down.

For a moment, I considered where to strike—but only for a moment.

Then, I brought Mistcatcher down toward the jewel embedded in Suiroti’s forehead.

If I destroyed that, every curse she’d cast should—

“Roaaarrr—!”

“Ugh?!”

The small girl before me suddenly transformed in an instant—into a dragon.

A black dragon—the very form of the evil dragon I’d only read about in books.

My blade bounced off its thick scales without piercing through.

Suiroti lunged at me, trying to grab me with her massive foreleg.

“Graaahhhh?!”

But Lisa, having regained her senses, suddenly leapt in and struck that leg with her fist.

Her entire body was cloaked in dense Blood Energy.

Then she retrieved her greatsword from the throne and swung it straight at Suiroti’s neck.

The sword came down with fierce momentum—but didn’t sever her head.

Still, it pierced her tough scales, leaving a deep wound across her neck.

“Noona, are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m fine now.”

From Lisa’s state, it seemed Suiroti’s magic had been dispelled.

And not just for Lisa—

Everyone else appeared freed from the spell too, likely because Suiroti had lost focus after being struck.

“I… lost… to mere humans…?”

The evil dragon bled black from her neck.

Lisa’s strike had been deep, and Suiroti began to flee.

She spread her massive wings and tried to fly out of the temple.

I made a quick decision.

I couldn’t let Suiroti—that evil dragon—escape.

“Professor Kara! Hold that dragon down! Somehow!”

“…What? You want me to hold that thing down? I mean, that’s—”

“Hurry!”

“Why do you always ask me for the impossible, you awful student?!”

Kara shouted in frustration and cast her spell.

Behind her, countless massive magic circles appeared.

From those circles, chains shot out, wrapping around Suiroti just as she tried to leave the temple.

“Ugh… Hey, Roy! Help me out! And Gideon! I can’t hold her for long—the chains are already breaking!”

Just as Kara said, Suiroti was tearing through the chains with brute force.

So I shouted quickly—

“Jason! Use the power of the Spirit of Wind to launch Instructor Luke above Suiroti’s head!”

“Huh? Oh, got it!”

“Instructor, aim for the jewel on her forehead!”

I pointed straight at the center of Suiroti’s forehead.

After she transformed, the jewel there had grown huge—

A massive, gleaming gem right between the dragon’s eyes, impossible to miss.

“Understood.”

With Jason’s help, Luke rode the wind, soaring high above Suiroti’s head.

Suiroti tried to shake him off, but bound by chains, she couldn’t.

Before she could do anything else, Luke raised his sword.

His entire body shone white with Aura, and he brought his blade down upon the jewel embedded in Suiroti’s forehead.

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