The Golden Lion's Mark

With a deafening BOOM, the space itself twisted and tore as Carnifex’s core exploded outward. Iris’s Spiral Arrow had unleashed a five-attribute spiral storm that punched a gaping hole straight through the monster’s chest.

“Grrrrrr…!”

But this was no ordinary monster. It was the irregular boss from the original novel’s side story—the one that had wiped out the entire empire. Even with its core destroyed and half its upper body blown away, the creature crawled across the floor, dragging its greatsword forward with its remaining arm.

A final suicidal strike. The crimson glare leaking from the gaps in its helmet locked onto the exhausted Iris, who had collapsed to her knees.

“Huh…?”

Iris couldn’t even lift a finger. Just as the greatsword rose to crush her skull—

Whoosh!

Adelia forced her already broken body ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to move, leaping above the beast’s head.

“Die, you filthy abomination!”

Crunch!

Pouring the last of her strength into the Holy Sword Astraea, she split the creature from helmet to groin in a single vertical strike.

With a final, earth-shaking roar, the monster’s massive body crumbled into black ash and scattered into the air.

Thud.

Adelia was the first to fall. The moment she landed, her grip on the holy sword loosened and she collapsed. The consecutive use of secret techniques and reckless maneuvers had burned her out completely; even an SS-class body couldn’t withstand that kind of self-destruction.

“Haa… haa…”

Iris collapsed beside her. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and her eyes had lost focus. In the rear, Scarlet was barely conscious, and Professor Kane lay unconscious with both arms broken. Aside from Priscilla, not a single one of us was unscathed.

The luminous stones and torches embedded in the cavern ceiling cast their light across the gruesome battlefield. In that heavy silence, something gleamed brilliantly where the monster had vanished.

I forced my trembling legs to move and approached. Within the black ash, a golden afterglow condensed, then fell to the ground with a heavy metallic clang.

It was a gauntlet that covered from the finger joints all the way to the wrist. Crafted as if from the hide of some massive beast fused with metal, it shone with a smooth yet intense golden hue.

Crackle.

Abyssal grade…?

My brows furrowed. Even I, who had memorized the original novel’s setting book cover to cover, had never seen this rank before. I knew the scale from F-class all the way up to the mythical grade above S-class. But “Abyssal” didn’t exist anywhere in the original story.

This is clearly a setting collapse. An error.

I narrowed my eyes at the intricate carving on the back of the gauntlet—a roaring beast with a flowing mane. To someone from Earth like me, it was the all-too-familiar “King of Beasts,” a lion. But to the people of this world, it was something else entirely.

“What… is that?”

Iris, still collapsed, stared at the gauntlet with hazy eyes and muttered. Primitive fear swam in her pupils.

“I’ve never seen a demonic beast like that before… but… it looks incredibly strong. Does something like that even exist?”

Her reaction was only natural. In the worldview of this novel, lions had never existed. To her, the gauntlet’s engraved beast with its flowing mane was an unknown predator that had crossed dimensions—an alien substance that triggered instinctive revulsion.

So that’s why they’re called foreign substances.

A power that didn’t exist in this world. An artifact belonging to the same category of outsider as myself.

I swallowed dryly. The moment I put this on, my fate would once again spiral wildly away ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from the original plot. Yet I didn’t hesitate. To survive—and to protect the fallen—I needed strength.

I slid my right hand into the gauntlet.

KUOOOOOO—!!!

The instant I equipped it, a lion’s roar powerful enough to shake the entire cavern erupted. An overwhelming wave that struck the soul directly. Golden light exploded from the gauntlet and shot upward, transforming into the shape of a colossal beast that filled the ceiling.

A massive frame, a burning golden mane, and arrogant eyes that looked down on all living things. The golden lion’s phantom manifested above our heads.

“Ugh…!”

“Aah…”

Adelia instinctively curled into herself. Iris covered her mouth in terror. Even Priscilla and Scarlet trembled. The people of this world were feeling the oppressive presence of an apex predator for the first time.

The giant lion stared down at me, then dissolved into light and flowed back into my right hand.

Sizzle—!

“Aaargh…!”

With the pain of burning flesh, the gauntlet fused with my skin. The metal melted away, and a golden lion emblem rose sharply on the back of my right hand. The mark, which had glowed intensely like the brand of a chosen hero, soon sank beneath the skin and vanished without a trace.

A warm, enormous power flowed into my body and settled in. This was definitely going to be a tremendous asset.

But the moment I felt relief—

THUD!

A migraine like a hammer smashing into my brain struck without warning.

“Khk…!”

It wasn’t a simple side effect of equipping the item. The reckless use of the Eye of Causality earlier to find Carnifex’s weakness, combined with the backlash of engraving a foreign substance that didn’t belong to this world, caused the world’s forced correction to begin crushing me.

Hot liquid gushed from my nose and mouth. My vision turned red and strength left my legs. I lost my balance and pitched forward.

“Cough…!”

“Master Roy!!”

Priscilla reacted first. She dove desperately, sliding across the ground to catch me. But my consciousness had already snapped off.

“……Ugh.”

When I came to, the first thing I felt was an overwhelming softness cradling my head and a sweet scent of flesh brushing my nose. As I opened my eyes, Priscilla—wearing a worried expression—looked down at me through her swaying short blue hair.

“Ah… Master! Are you awake?”

She had returned to the human form she used when infiltrating the academy. But there was one part she had deliberately not changed—or rather, had emphasized. I tried to sit up and froze.

My face was lightly pressed against that very spot. The overwhelming chest that Iris always called “the dairy cow” and kept wary of remained exactly as it was in her true form.

Vrrrr—

At that moment, the golden lion emblem rose faintly on the back of my right hand and pulsed red.

So this is the gauntlet’s power?

Through the area of contact with her voluptuous chest, a hot life force was flowing into me. The headache that felt like it would split my skull vanished as if washed away, and my body became impossibly light.

“Haa… I feel alive again.”

The moment color returned to my face, Priscilla burst into tears and pulled me into a tight embrace.

“Hic… I’m so glad, Master…!”

Squish.

When she tightened her arms, my face became completely buried between the valley of her breasts. The absurd volume she had intentionally preserved perfectly blocked my vision and breathing. The suffocating pressure, the dizzying body scent, and the soft sensation nearly made my head spin.

“Mmm… it feels strange, Master…”

Priscilla pulled my head even deeper, letting out a coquettish moan.

“Just by touching you, Roy… I feel this urge to submit from deep inside my body… like I’m melting…”

It was proof that the item’s effect was stimulating her demonic instincts. The instinctive sense of security and submission felt toward a higher predator. Her heartbeat pounded directly against my ear like a drum.

That was when it happened.

“Hey… you blue-haired dairy cow…”

A low growl reached us. It was Iris. She was glaring at Priscilla while keeping her voice as low as possible so as not to wake the sleeping Professor Kane beside her.

“Demon, didn’t I tell you to stop wagging your tail? You still want to act like that even in that form? Know when to quit. I can’t breathe over here.”

It was a relief that Adelia was meditating a short distance away, focused on mana recovery. If she had been awake, Priscilla’s short blue hair might have been completely ripped out.

I hurriedly escaped the suffocating—yet blissful—situation.

“Ahem! I-I’m fine now. Thank you, Priscilla.”

I stood up abruptly and cleared my throat. Priscilla licked her lips with clear regret as she straightened her clothes, while Iris’s sharp glare stabbed through the air ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠between them.

I moved to a corner of the cavern and sat down. The party’s condition was too poor to enter the boss room immediately. I emptied my bag and checked our remaining supplies.

“Damn… only one potion left.”

Because I had used them freely during battle, only a single Intermediate Mana Potion remained. After a moment of thought, I handed it to Scarlet.

“Scarlet, you drink it… and treat the professor too.”

“Yes, Oppa. Got it.”

Scarlet downed the potion in one gulp and raised her staff.

“Great Heal!”

Warm light enveloped Professor Kane’s body. With a series of cracking sounds, his broken bones realigned and torn muscles regenerated. It wasn’t perfect, but he was now fit for combat.

“Thank you… Miss Scarlet.”

She smiled brightly and made a cute face.

“Hehe, no problem! Please rest a little more, Professor!”

We used the simple cooking tools Scarlet and Iris had taken from their spatial pouches to prepare a quick meal. Everyone was so exhausted that we chewed the meat in silence.

While I was resting with my eyes closed, someone tugged at my sleeve.

“H-human… are you asleep?”

Iris was fidgeting restlessly, clutching my sleeve. The light from the torches and luminous stones on the dungeon walls had turned her ears bright red.

“What’s wrong? Something the matter?”

“U-um… can you come with me?”

“Where?”

“Over there… the dark side…”

She twisted her body shyly and whispered.

“I-I need to use the bathroom urgently… It’s definitely not because I’m scared! Just… I feel safer if you’re there…”

A chuckle escaped me. Even a high elf had to answer nature’s call. I stood up without complaint.

“Let’s go. I’ll escort the princess.”

We moved to a corner away from the group, behind a large rock. Iris refused to let go of my sleeve the entire way.

“You… you have to cover your ears properly, okay? Absolutely do not listen!”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”

I stood on the other side of the rock and pretended to cover my ears. Soon, a faint, embarrassing trickling sound reached me.

Splash… splash…

I deliberately looked away and feigned ignorance. But then—

“Kyaa!”

A scream was followed by a heavy thud.

“Iris?!”

I rushed behind the rock and found her sitting on the ground. She had been so nervous that she tripped over a protruding stone while hurriedly fixing her clothes. Blood was seeping from a gash on her pale calf.

“Oww… it hurts…”

“Hold still.”

I knelt and placed my hand on her injured leg. At that moment, the lion emblem on the back of my hand glowed with a soft golden light. Slowly and gently, a warm energy seeped into the wound, amplifying the body’s natural healing power.

“Huh…?”

Iris’s eyes widened as she looked back and forth between the slowly closing wound and the emblem on my hand. In the dark cavern, we were close enough to hear each other’s breathing.

Her blue eyes trembled with a fluttering heartbeat.

“R-Roy… you know…”

She suddenly took my hand gently.

“Yeah?”

“What do you… think of me?”

The sudden question caught me off guard, but I looked at her face and answered honestly.

“Well… I think you’re a very beautiful elf princess.”

“……!!”

Her face flushed so deeply it looked like it might burst. She gripped my hand tightly and wouldn’t let go.

“I-I… toward humans… no, toward you, Roy…”

Her lips quivered as she tried to speak. At that exact moment—

A chill ran down my spine. This wasn’t the killing intent of a mere monster. It was stickier, more dangerous—familiar dread. I slowly turned my head.

Something was approaching from the darkness.

Scrape… scratch…

The hair-raising sound of metal scraping against the floor. It was exactly the same noise Carnifex had made while dragging its greatsword earlier.

Don’t tell me it’s that thing again…?

I tensed and stared ahead.

“Did one of the natives of this forest go into heat?”

Two blood-red eyes glowed in the darkness. Adelia was walking toward us, dragging her holy sword across the floor. She looked exactly like an executioner.

“W-what did you say?!”

Iris shot up, furious.

“Heat?! What crude nonsense are you—!”

“Hmph, the crude one is you. What exactly were you planning to do with our extra after dragging him off alone?”

Adelia closed the distance in an instant and snatched my arm. She roughly yanked me into her embrace.

Squish.

My face sank into her soft, bountiful chest.

Ah, heaven…

Iris stared in shock with her mouth wide open, but Adelia paid her no mind. She brought her lips to my ear and whispered in a low, dangerous voice.

“Extra… no, Roy.”

Her fingers obsessively traced the glowing lion emblem on the back of my hand.

“Don’t look at anyone else while I’m here… I’m barely holding it together right now…”

Her body was trembling faintly. This wasn’t simple jealousy. The excitement from battle mixed with her obsession toward me had turned her into a bomb that could explode at any moment.

“If you’re done with your business, we should head back, right? Let’s go.”

Adelia snorted at Iris and forcibly turned around, keeping me tucked against her chest.

“U-ugh…”

I was dragged along like luggage, sending a pitiful glance toward the receding Iris in a plea for rescue. She couldn’t bring herself to approach and could only bite her lip in frustration as she glared at our retreating figures.

Specifically, at Adelia’s chest where my face was buried.

* * *

After we had recovered to some degree, we began moving toward the third floor again. On the ascending stairs, Professor Kane approached my side. He looked at me with a complicated expression.

“Um… Roy. May I ask you one thing?”

“Yes, Professor… I mean, Captain.”

“How did you know that monster’s weakness? And that commanding ability… just what was it?”

The professor stared at me with a piercing gaze. It was understandable. The student he had dismissed as an F-class porter had suddenly issued orders even an A-class hunter would struggle with and slain the monster. His eyes were sharp.

“To be honest, that wasn’t the level of a student. You moved as if you had seen the future.”

I shrugged and answered casually.

“I just got lucky.”

“Lucky?”

“Yes. And… I had a reliable hero beside me. I trusted Adelia and went all-in. It just happened to work out.”

I subtly pointed toward Adelia. She snorted at my words but didn’t seem entirely displeased.

“Hmm… I see.”

Professor Kane still looked unconvinced, but he didn’t press further. Right now, surviving and getting out was the priority.

We reorganized our formation and finally reached the last point on the third floor.

“……”

We all lost our words.

There stood something that didn’t belong in a D-class goblin dungeon at all. A massive white door. It wasn’t the ominous iron gate or the old wooden door we had expected. It looked as if carved from marble or bone, its pure white material twisting into grotesque yet beautiful patterns.

A contradictory beauty that was both sacred and ominous.

“This is… the boss room of a goblin dungeon?”

Professor Kane examined the door again in disbelief. This shape had never appeared in any adventurer reports. Even my Eye of Causality couldn’t see beyond it, as if blocked by something.

“Hah, I’ve never seen a door like this in my entire life.”

Just as the students were about to shrink back from the overwhelming atmosphere, Professor Kane cleared his throat and changed the mood.

“Ahem! Everyone relax! The door may look fancy, but there might be nothing special inside.”

He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked around at us, pretending to be relaxed.

“If we get out of here alive, I’ll give every single one of you an A+ for this semester. I swear on my name.”

“R-really, Professor?!”

Scarlet’s face brightened. It was simple but effective motivation. After all, there was no path of retreat.

I chuckled and grabbed the handle of the pure white door.

“Alright, let’s go get those A+ grades.”

Creeeeak—

The massive white door began to open with a spine-chilling sound.