Burning Bright, the Calamity Dragon Girl
The Calamity Dragon Girl, Nikita Cynthia. Facing her, I felt a chill that froze me to the very bone.
Her eyes, fixed on me, were incomparably cold. Nikita had always been someone who, despite her aloof exterior, harbored a deep kindness in her heart. But today, not a shred of that kindness remained. Instead, only a burning thirst for vengeance consumed her soul.
"...So you came?" a low, quiet voice slipped from Nikita's lips.
She echoed my unuttered thoughts. "Does that mean you knew I would come?" My senior, Nikita, was as sharp as ever.
"Yes," I replied, tossing the sword in my hand onto the ground.
Clang! The sword struck the frozen snow and rolled away. Seeing this, Nikita's brow furrowed slightly. She hadn't expected me to surrender my weapon right before her eyes.
"I've been waiting for you." Doubt still lingered in Nikita's eyes, but it quickly vanished, replaced by a gale of biting, freezing wind that whipped around her.
"Hand over Iris Haishirion."
Hearing her next words, my eyes widened. "If I hand over the Princess, will you spare our lives?"
"Yes. This has nothing to do with you."
Even though the Ancient Dragon's Magic must have partially devoured her sanity, Nikita still only wanted the head of her enemy, Iris. She had no intention of harming anyone else. That was likely why she had waited until everyone else was completely incapacitated before showing herself. It was a kindness so characteristic of Nikita.
But right now, I couldn't afford to rely on her kindness.
"I refuse."
"...Junior Hania, I understand you care for the Princess, but you must value your own life."
"Of course my life is precious to me."
Instead of a sword, I raised the edge of my bare hand. Putting down the blade actually made me feel more at ease.
"But there is something more precious to me than my own life."
Preventing this wretched world from sliding into a bad ending. Only by doing so could I ultimately protect my own life.
"Iris must be very precious to you," Nikita said, lowering her head. From her eyes, tears fell, freezing into crystal shards before they hit the ground. A sorrow so profound it made my chest ache radiated from her.
"I, too, lost the thing I treasured most."
Nia Cynthia. Her older brother, the only one in her family who had supported and trusted her. He had been unjustly murdered.
"So, I will take away as well."
The moment Nikita finished speaking, she vanished. In her place, only a single footprint remained in the snow.
She's coming. Sensing it instinctively, I immediately swung the edge of my hand.
Clang! A sharp, metallic screech rang out right in front of me as I shielded Iris. Nikita's white sword was blocked by the edge of my bare hand.
Crack, crack! Instantly, the frost radiating from Nikita's blade began to freeze my hand. Truly, this was the power of the Ancient Dragon's Magic. Just touching the sword felt like my hand would shatter into pieces.
Hummmm— But I had anticipated this and prepared accordingly. The Magic Engraving etched into my Steel Skin flared to life all at once. My body temperature surged rapidly, and flames began to flicker across my flesh.
True to its name, Steel Skin possessed high thermal conductivity. The Magic Engraving I had carved into it specifically for today was fire magic—and not just any fire magic, but one I had personally asked Sharin to engrave for me.
Intense heat spread across my entire body. Though I didn't possess Lucas's Flame of Fighting Spirit, I could at least mimic it to some degree.
Sensing the heat radiating from me, Nikita's eyes narrowed.
"With just that..." The frost pouring from Nikita grew even more intense.
The Ancient Dragon's Magic Nikita had mastered was the magic of absolute zero. Since the Ancient Dragon Mountains were perpetually shrouded in eternal snow due to the dragon's chill, her magic could easily be considered the absolute strongest among all ice and frost spells.
Nikita has absolutely no talent for standard magic. Ironically, however, she possessed an extraordinary aptitude for the Ancient Dragon's Magic. But even she couldn't escape its unique side effects. The more she used it, the more her body would undergo dragonification, until eventually, she would be completely consumed by the magic—the worst possible side effect.
Nikita's freezing cold clashed with my searing heat. Perhaps because of the extreme difference in temperature—Boom!—a loud explosion erupted, and thick white steam billowed out, blanketing the area.
I felt Nikita take a step back through the steam. The moment her eyes darted around frantically to locate me—Thud!—I scooped up Iris and bolted.
The explosion magic engraved on my feet activated. I fled the scene at a desperate, breakneck speed.
Realizing what had happened a moment too late, Nikita pursued me fiercely. Her face was contorted like a wrathful demon.
First, I need to get out of here. Facing Nikita head-on was a losing battle. I had to lure her to the location I had prepared.
"Ugh..." Perhaps due to the explosion and my body heat, the Iris in my arms let out a soft groan. But I didn't pay it any mind. I simply pumped my legs harder, running with everything I had to escape.
Crash! Boom! In the blink of an eye, Nikita closed the distance between us. Even before acquiring the dragon's magic, she had been skilled enough to serve as the Vice President of the Student Council. She was someone who poured even her sleeping hours into training. Naturally, her martial arts skills were top-tier. Now, with the Ancient Dragon's Magic enhancing her, her physical capabilities had skyrocketed. Shaking her off wouldn't be easy. That was why I had spent the last few days preparing.
Kaboom! At that moment, the ground beneath Nikita's feet exploded, shaking the very air. Beneath the frozen snow, shredded pieces of paper torn by the blast were visible. Nikita had just stepped on a scroll engraved with explosion magic.
Magic scrolls. They were modern adaptations of the ancient Magic Engraving system. Although their output was inferior compared to a real mage's spellcasting, the scrolls I was using now were by no means lacking in power.
After all, they were made by the Mad Mage. Since I had stolen them from the mid-boss, Vinesha, their performance was absolutely guaranteed.
Whoosh! Nikita burst through the smoke of the explosion, resuming her relentless pursuit. She had taken the blast head-on, yet she was merely slightly singed, chasing me without any visible damage.
It was only natural. A dragon's body wouldn't be harmed by a mere explosion scroll. However, the obscured vision and the unstable footing gave me the brief window I needed to widen the gap.
Boom! Bang! But luck only went so far. Nikita charged like a madwoman, stepping on the explosive scrolls without a care. If anything, it seemed to have only fueled her rage; her eyes were terrifyingly murderous.
But it wasn't enough yet. Before I knew it, I had run up a slope. I spotted another magic scroll hidden beneath the frozen ground and stomped on it.
Pshhh! Pitch-black smoke billowed from the ground, instantly filling the area and blinding us. In that split second, I stomped on another scroll right ahead.
Crash! Clatter! A loud, spectacular tumbling sound echoed from behind. It was Nikita. The magic I had triggered made the ground incredibly slick. With her vision blocked by the black smoke and the ground turned to ice, even she couldn't help but slip and fall.
This widened the gap further. I desperately used every single trick up my sleeve to put as much distance between us as possible.
Just a little further. The final trap I had set was just ahead. The moment I desperately pushed my legs forward with that thought—
Shiver! An instinctive shudder ran down my spine, forcing me to throw my body forward.
Craaaaaack! A beam of pure ice shot past me from behind, barely grazing my back. The freezing beam surged past and slammed into the wall of the art gallery.
Crash! The gallery wall shattered instantly under the force of the ice beam, and the resulting shockwave sent me rolling across the floor.
A stinging sensation flared in my back. It seemed the spot grazed by the ice beam had frozen solid. Whoosh— Even with the heat of my Magic Engraving, the frost on my back refused to melt.
"Ugh..." Swallowing a groan, I forced myself up. There was no time to waste. But the moment I tried to run, a blade filled my vision, and I threw my head back in a panic.
Whoosh! The wind trailing the sword that grazed my head made me stagger. Nikita, her silver hair whipping wildly, now had scales sprouting on her face. She had closed the distance the instant she fired the ice beam. Her leg strength was absurd.
Even as I staggered, I found an opening and drove my fist into Nikita's exposed flank.
Crack! But Nikita didn't even flinch. Instead, a bone-shattering pain shot through my own hand. Her body was currently immune to most physical attacks, shielded by a dense, organic armor of ice granted by the Ancient Dragon's Magic.
Knowing this, I had chosen flight over fight, but Nikita was faster than I had anticipated. I desperately dodged her consecutive slashes. Every single blow was a one-way ticket to the afterlife. My desperation was palpable.
Boom! Somehow finding a gap, I used the explosive force of my Magic Engraving to blast myself backward and gasped for air. While the heat of the engraving kept the cold at bay, the extreme temperature drained my stamina far quicker than expected.
Nikita slowly lowered her sword and looked back at me. "Hania, I see how desperately sincere you are about protecting the Princess." Unlike me, she wasn't even out of breath. I had burned through a mountain of magic scrolls that would make even wealthy nobles weep, yet I hadn't managed to leave a single scratch on her.
"But this is the end." Nikita offered me one last chance. "Put the Princess down now and head for the exit." If I did, she would spare my life.
I fell silent at her words. Then, a smirk broke across my face. Nikita's expression turned strange, as if she thought I had lost my mind. Looking at her, I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
"Senior Nikita," I said, deciding to enlighten her on a certain fact. "Aren't you misunderstanding something?"
A misunderstanding? Doubt flickered in Nikita's eyes. To show her the truth, I slowly set "Iris" down. Then, I gently unraveled a single bandage connecting her and me.
As the bandage unraveled from the body, the figure's appearance began to shift. The bandage was, of course, the Bandage of the Veil. Nikita's eyes widened as the illusion dissolved. The person lying there was not Iris.
It was the runner-up of the Magic Engineering department, the idiot who had been knocked out first in Iris's team: Dorara Korazin. I had used the Bandage of the Veil to disguise him as Iris and carried him all this way. I tossed him aside like a sack of garbage.
"Urgh..." The unconscious boy rolled into the snow. Seeing this, Nikita slowly turned her head back.
"The real Iris..." "Is probably still back there." Nikita bit her lip as she asked, her head slowly turning back to face me. Her eyes were filled with irritation.
"What was the point of buying time like this? It changes nothing. Once I defeat you, I can simply go back for the Princess."
"Senior Nikita, nothing in this world is meaningless."
Everything has a purpose. The reason Nikita had to become like this, and the reason I had to act this way—it all had meaning.
Nikita had targeted Iris and cornered her. This fact was now an absolute reality in this world. Act 3, Chapter 6: The Calamity Dragon Girl was proceeding exactly as written.
Now, only one thing remained for the scenario to conclude: the protagonist defeats the Calamity Dragon Girl, and she meets her death.
In the original game, Lucas tries to reason with Nikita over and over. But with her world shattered by Nia's death, Nikita refuses to listen to his desperate pleas, determined to kill Iris to the very end. Thus, Lucas is forced to make a choice: kill Nikita, or let Iris die. This was the trial and choice thrust upon the protagonist.
Nikita's death was inevitable. The ripples of her demise were necessary to steer the scenario toward the canon timeline. What this world demanded was the death of the Calamity Dragon Girl.
But my thoughts were different. Because... I am not Lucas.
Lucas was forced by the world to choose between only two options. But I was not Lucas; I was the extra, Bikamon. Therefore, I would not choose from the two options the world tried to force upon me. I would make my own choice to advance the scenario.
For this very moment, I had prepared and prepared again. The single, ultimate method to drag Nikita out of the abyss of despair and let her live freely.
Whoosh— The sound of catching fire echoed from somewhere. "And Senior Nikita, your premise is flawed," I corrected her. "First, you actually have to defeat me."
Whoosh— Soon, Nikita also noticed the anomaly. Throughout the ice art gallery, the crackle of igniting flames began to echo. Crimson fire erupted in various spots. These were no ordinary flames. They were the Essence of Fire, the stones I had used to capture the Mystery of the Empress of Steel—the remains left behind when a fire spirit reached the end of its lifespan and died.
Meanwhile, I tore open my shirt. As I did, my appearance began to shift. No longer disguised as Hania, my true form was revealed: Hanon Airey. Nikita's eyes slowly widened.
"Ju... Junior?" She looked utterly stunned, clearly having never expected me to be here. "Why are you...?" Her bewilderment was my golden opportunity.
Beneath the Bandage of the Veil, a crimson stone wrapped in bandages was revealed. The Ancient Dragon's Magic was undeniably powerful. Normally, the Flame of Fighting Spirit was the standard counter to it. However, there was another force capable of rivaling the dragon's magic, just like that flame.
The Spirit Sovereigns. Beings at the absolute pinnacle of spirits. With their power, even the magic of an ancient dragon could be countered. But since I couldn't form a contract with a spirit, I had prepared a shortcut.
The Essence of Fire embedded throughout the gallery flared violently. The flames surged upward, converging toward a single point. Toward me—specifically, the stone embedded in my chest.
"That is..." Nikita finally recognized the stone embedded in my chest. It was no ordinary Essence of Fire. It was Fire's Flame—the remains left behind by the Fire Spirit Sovereign upon its death.
"Speak, boy. What is it you desire?"
This was the reward bestowed upon me by Baekmokgong under the Hero Special Act. This was exactly what I had requested. It was the hardest item in the world to obtain, and the only thing that could temporarily substitute for the Flame of Fighting Spirit.
Roar! Devouring all the residual spirit flames from the surrounding Essence of Fire, Fire's Flame erupted into a wild, roaring blaze. The intense heat radiating from it battered my body.
Enveloped in the flames of the Fire Sovereign, I quietly exhaled. My eyes met Nikita's bewildered gaze. Looking at her, I raised the edge of my hand and took a stance.
The burning heat scorched my flesh. Though the heat was suffocatingly intense, my Steel Skin—which carried the will of the Empress of Steel who had yearned for warmth—firmly held the heat within. The Empress had become a Mystery in her pursuit of warmth, making my Steel Skin perfectly optimized to absorb and retain heat.
The amount of time I could endure Fire's Flame was not very long.
"I did tell you it would sting a bit." So within that time, I would settle things with Nikita once and for all.