The Battle to Protect
“Quickly, put it on!”
[Y-yes… I’ll put it on right away.]
“Let’s go together, sis!”
Amelia hurried into the depths of the abyss with Heungmi, changed into her new clothes, and returned.
[It’s… a bit strange at first. Does it… look weird on me?]
Though awkward at receiving clothes for the very first time, Rune judged it positively.
‘You chose the options well.’
The pristine white dress Amelia had picked up not only boosted her mana but also increased her defense and attack power.
‘Plus, that clean magic attached as a sub-option carries so much genuine care in it?’
The dwarves’ firm resolve not to tolerate even a speck of dirt peeked through their heartfelt masterpiece.
“It’s fine. It suits you perfectly.”
Seeing Rune approve the fitting options, Amelia’s face lit up, and she whispered a tiny “thank you” to Heungmi.
Rune searched his spatial pocket and handed out mana candies and gummies to the group.
“These are snacks that temporarily boost the stats each of you needs. Eat them when I give the signal.”
Following Rune’s lead, the group headed straight for the deepest valley in the abyssal sea.
Thanks to yesterday’s field purification, they reached the area where the blue dragons’ power acted most strongly in one swift plunge.
Guiding the way with Dullahan, Amelia swiftly pierced through the underwater tunnels.
—Thud… thud.
The deep heartbeat rising through the pressure.
The rigid scales on the massive bodies.
The sticky curses and pitch-black darkness filling the valley with a density higher than the sea.
Amelia’s eyes filled with transparent tears at the sight of the two blue dragons curled together in a mutual embrace.
But soon she widened her eyes, clenched her spear “Mel” tightly, and stood firm.
Rune, observing the same scene, carefully studied the sleeping blue dragons.
‘Water race, huh.’
According to Christina’s inherited knowledge, these beings should have naturally wielded their self-purification with shimmering blue bodies.
Yet now they were buried in sticky curses and pitch-black darkness, as if covered in oil.
‘Did they embrace fatal darkness and curses, then drift straight into sleep?’
Rune recalled one of several hypotheses flashing through his mind.
Those who had once known Amelia had tried to pour every drop of the darkness race’s power into her.
Yet contrary to their hope, the strength had not been properly stored and began to leak away bit by bit.
The final measure they chose, realizing their hatchling could not endure all the darkness.
To enter the sleep period at the exact moment when the ability to control power reached its maximum amplification.
The mature Amelia’s parents had slept while holding most of the most deadly power—curse—inside them.
Thanks to that, the strength could not spread beyond the rare rank.
‘Indeed. They bought time until Amelia matured into an adult.’
A sacrifice to protect Amelia and fulfill their duties as blue dragons.
‘Thanks to that, the darkness and curses never spread further, and Amelia grew safely.’
Rune himself had once raised his strength and stamina naturally during a ten-year sleep period.
At that time, the young black fox Heungmi had already produced enough darkness to serve as nourishment.
Similarly, during the sleep of the mature blue dragons, they must have continuously expelled their purifying power.
When Amelia grew strong, they would purify the darkness she had taken, and everything would return to normal, he had assumed.
Yet they had overlooked one crucial point.
They never considered the possibility that the darkness could corrupt them in return.
‘Arrogance.’
Rune immediately reached out.
“Let’s begin. Eat the snack I gave you a moment ago.”
As the group placed the candies and gummies in their mouths, a sweet and tangy flavor filled their senses.
Amelia quietly absorbed the sensation of pain subsiding, while Heungmi’s eyes sparkled at the feeling of her body growing faster and stronger.
“Heungmi, ready?”
[Y-yes!]
“Good.”
Rune himself placed a milk-flavored candy in his mouth and began to draw in the darkness of the giant dragon.
The scaly skin of the blue dragons, previously buried in curses and darkness, slowly began to reveal itself.
Like skin bruised by some ailment, the blue dragons had turned an inky black.
Their bodies, even larger than Christina’s true form, twitched intermittently.
—Krrru… grrr…!
Watching them, Rune heightened his tension.
‘Their skin is rotting.’
Corroded dragon scales here and there.
The areas where curses invaded faster than purification could proceed were severely damaged.
Rune turned to Amelia.
The hand gripping her spear was trembling.
“Listen closely, Amelia.”
Amelia flinched at the words.
Rune continued calmly.
“If you don’t fight now, your parents won’t escape the curse of corrosion and madness. That’s why you’ve come.”
Amelia’s lips parted, and a gasp escaped.
[S-sorry… I know… I do.]
‘Of course knowing doesn’t guarantee everything will turn out fine.’
Amelia was still an immature hatchling.
But having come this far, she could not afford to consider those circumstances.
Rune decided to be firm.
“If you keep hesitating, just say you can’t do it from the start. After all, there’s nothing to lose. You’d only return to the way things were.”
[……]
“If you give up, I’ll make another plan without you.”
[……!]
Heungmi, listening from the side, widened her eyes in surprise.
Even the usually silent Dullahan turned to Rune, seeking confirmation.
You will be excluded from this team
At those words, Amelia swallowed hard, clutched her spear, and slowly shook her head.
[N-no… I can’t stand that.]
When she shook her head, her light-blue hair swayed left and right.
Through these newly made companions, she had finally gained the chance and strength to fulfill her role.
She never wanted to lose that opportunity.
[H-huff… I’ll steady myself.]
Amelia focused briefly on the breathing technique Rune had taught her, calming her mind.
Then she revealed her once again steady sea-blue eyes.
[Now… it’s okay.]
“Thank goodness! Rune-ssi spoke so terrifyingly! Sis must have been terrified, that’s so mean!”
Rune chuckled softly and nodded vaguely.
Dullahan watched him with a steady gaze.
‘I’m glad you’ve come to your senses.’
It’s fine to give up. There are other ways to handle it without you.
Those words made Amelia feel she might lose forever the chance to choose her own place in this world.
‘I said that, but there’s actually no plan I can come up with right now without Amelia. To fully absorb the darkness from her parents’ bodies, Amelia’s help is essential.’
Yet the reason he offered the option to give up was because he was using her feelings—her heart that had come this far to reclaim her place—to force the decision.
Amelia, who had no desire to return to her unhappy past, steadied her heart.
‘I… will never go back to the old me!’
The power of purification flowed from the corners of Amelia’s bitten lower lip.
Swish.
Amelia turned her head and looked at Rune.
Her gaze, calm and deep enough to seem impossible for someone who had just been anxious, was aimed straight at him.
[Rune. Signal me.]
Rune nodded and signaled to Heungmi.
‘The start is Heungmi’s seduction.’
Nod.
Heungmi, who had participated countless times in abyssal field purifications, had already prepared to use her seduction.
Confirming this, Rune broke the final seal at once, stripping away the dark veil covering the blue dragons.
The succubus’s seduction would only work for a moment. Now was the perfect time, when their minds had been stained by darkness and curses for so long.
“I’m going!”
—Flash!
Heungmi’s power exploded across the blue dragons.
The water race, the blue dragons stained with thick darkness, felt the effect for only a few seconds.
Not missing that window, Amelia shouted her purifying Word of Power.
[Purify!]
—Whoosh!
The white purifying Word of Power enveloped the dragons’ bodies.
—Grrruuu!
The sleeping sea rulers awoke and lifted their heads.
Blink.
The huge beasts’ pupils rolled.
The eyes wet with sorrow and madness began to glare at them.
When the faces of the two massive dragons turned toward the group, the others froze, sensing something ominous.
[F-failed!]
Rune clicked his tongue at Amelia’s pale face.
‘I expected it wouldn’t be easy.’
“The Dragon Fear is going to activate. Fall back.”
Upon Rune’s signal, the group maintained a safe distance and moved out of the blue dragons’ line of sight.
—Pfft!
Feeling the fear spread like a wide-area blast, they sensed the blue dragons’ power indirectly and broke out in cold sweat at their backs.
‘It’s brutal. Fighting them head-on will be tough.’
But unlike the words, Rune’s red eyes sparkled with excitement for the battle.
‘Directly opposing the mature Dragon Fear is hard. I only removed the veil of darkness that had been draped over them. To truly absorb the root power of the darkness race, I need another method.’
Rune reached out to absorb the darkness buried deep in the blue dragons’ bodies, using the gap where they did not attack.
But no strength returned to him.
As if the power trying to return to him was being firmly held by the blue dragons.
The darkness absorption, which had never failed before, was now blocked.
Ignoring Rune’s confusion, the two dragons opened their mouths.
“Breath!”
—Kwaaaah!
A breath erupted from the mouth of the dragon with an even larger head.
Following the trajectory of the group’s escape, a water pillar shot from the impact point, swirling like a tornado and charging toward them at terrifying speed.
“Kyaang!”
Heungmi’s fur standing on end, she instinctively darted out of the breath’s range, and the others managed to avoid it unharmed.
The sea floor had sunk into craters.
Even other dragons had spat their breaths with a time delay.
—Kuuu!
—Kwaaang!
A water whirlpool the size of a house sucked in the surrounding water, shattering the valley walls.
“Hik!”
Shivering, Heungmi quickly moved closer to Rune, and Dullahan stood in front of them in a defensive posture.
Amelia, who arrived near them in an instant, was panting, apparently shocked by the resistance.
“It’s strange. They’re… rejecting purification… the resistance was… so strong…”
“Rejecting purification?”
Amelia nodded at Rune’s question.
This was completely outside everyone’s expectations.
“Rune-ssi. What do we do now?”
Heungmi asked Rune, unsure of what to do.
“In unusual situations, the reason is always more distinctive and clear. Once I find that, the problem will be easy to solve.”
Her unnervingly calm demeanor, even for a child, gave the others a strange sense of trust.
‘There must be a way to overcome this situation.’
For a short moment, Rune exchanged glances with Dullahan.
‘Disturb them. I’ll find the method.’
Clank!
Immediately, Dullahan jumped to the group’s right and opened a black hole.
—Gaaaaah!
Even with Rune’s magic protecting their hearing and spirit, the sound of death was shockingly clear.
The dragons instinctively sensed danger and twisted their bodies toward Dullahan.