Chapter 33

Today's second update

Xiao Ming and Lirisha descended the spiral staircase and arrived at the 30th floor of the dungeon.

The corridor was wide and the ceiling high. It was a grand dungeon, different from anything they had seen before.

—There might be a large monster here.

Moreover, a eerie sound of metal rolling echoed throughout the floor.

As they took a step out of the staircase room, a strange sound, like a frog being stepped on, came from somewhere far away.

—Is it a monster?

As he wondered, Lirisha, who had come beside him, frowned and spread her white wings.

"There's an overwhelmingly evil presence...," she said.

"Is that so? I don't feel anything, but you are indeed an angel. —Find Edgar for me."

"Yes, Master! —Dark Power Detection!"

Spreading her white wings, a wave of white light spread out from Lirisha. The white feathers also disappeared in the wave.

She closed her eyes as if listening for a moment, then suddenly opened her violet eyes, which were shining.

"There's a human presence over there! He's severely injured, but still alive!"

"Got it! Let's hurry—any traps?"

"No traps!"

"Good!"

Xiao Ming and Lirisha ran off.

They ran down the wide corridor, turning several corners.

It felt like they were heading towards the edge of the floor.

As he drew his sword, he asked,

"So, where is the evil presence?"

"That... the evil aura is still present, but the enemy itself is not on this floor."

"What!? The Mithril Golem isn't here?"

"The golems were here, but I couldn't tell which one was the Mithril Golem..."

"Understood. Let's help Edgar first and then come back."

"Yes—oh!"

After turning a few more corners, Lirisha screamed.

Edgar, covered in blood, was leaning against the wall, on the verge of death.

Lirisha, with her wings still spread, ran over and poured a potion into the hole in his stomach while casting a healing spell.

"I've come to rescue you, Edgar! —Full Recovery! Stay strong!"

A strong white light enveloped Edgar.

However, he collapsed as if he had run out of strength.

Lirisha gasped.

Xiao Ming also approached and lifted him up.

However, checking his breathing and pulse, he found that Edgar was just unconscious.

Xiao Ming let out a sigh of relief.

"It seems we made it in time."

"I'm so relieved... He's the savior of those children."

Lirisha placed her hand on her large chest and smiled. Her narrowed eyes were filled with tears of joy.

Then, Xiao Ming carried Edgar back the way they came.

Lirisha carried the luggage, and her wings were folded.

When they climbed the spiral staircase, the children greeted them.

Seeing the blood-covered Edgar, they burst into tears.

"Captain Edgar!""Captain!""Mr. Edgar!"

"He's fine. He's alive. The healing spell worked."

"That's great!""Thank you so much, Alex!...Wah!""Wah!""Thank you so much! Thank you, Alex!""That's great, Captain!"

The children clung to Edgar and cried loudly.

Xiao Ming shrugged and headed towards the spiral staircase.

"Stop crying. I'm going to defeat the one who did this to Edgar."

"Yes!""Be careful!""He's probably very strong!"

"If it's difficult to return to the base, wait for us to come back."

"Yes!"

The children, though crying, responded energetically to Lirisha's words.

Then, they returned to the 30th floor.

As they walked down the wide corridor, Xiao Ming drew his sword, and Lirisha spread her wings.

"So, where is the powerful enemy, the Mithril Golem?"

"When I saw it earlier, there were treasure chests, a few monsters, and some round objects in the back on the left. They are probably the Golem and the Dungeon Core."

"Good, let's go cautiously. I'll rely on you to detect traps."

"Yes, Master!"

There were almost no traps, so they quickly defeated the golems.

They first crushed the feet of the clay, stone, and rock golems, then cut off their bodies.

They destroyed the golem cores.

For the Iron Golem, they destroyed the core and used a sub-machine to absorb the iron body.

They found a Mithril Golem, which was glowing silver.

They thought it would be tough due to its hardness, but it was slow due to the strange sounds coming from its joints.

With the hero's sword skill, they managed to defeat it.

They gradually chipped away at the chest area where the core was located, using a sub-machine to absorb the material, and then destroyed the core, easily defeating the golem.

In fact, there were only golems.

Weak goblins were not deployed on the lowest floor.

There were also scattered swords, armor, shields, and staffs that seemed to still be usable.

—These might have been left behind by adventurers.

They gratefully took them and used the sub-machine to absorb them for materials.

The treasure chest contained a rusty sword.

Its value was unknown, but it was probably worthless. They let the sub-machine absorb it.

According to Kō, the dungeon core in the eastern capital was a fake, but they destroyed it just in case.

Since Kō had already taken over, all the dungeon passages leading to the underground of the capital were eliminated.

With this, the dungeon conquest was complete.

It was a monotonous task, like a major house cleaning.

Xiao Ming looked down at the destroyed dungeon core and asked,

"Was it really good that it ended so easily?"

"Perhaps it's because we entered from the mountain side, bypassing the dungeon's defenses?"

"That's right. Thanks to Kō—let's go back then."

"Yes!"

Lirisha smiled with narrowed eyes.

Then, they leisurely returned the way they came.

◇ ◇ ◇

A little earlier, right after the battle with Edgar, the Chaos Dragon.

The Chaos Dragon, with its left eye destroyed, was driven by intense anger.

However, the moment it licked the blood on its tail, a shiver ran through its body.

—It's exquisite. Exquisite meat!

The meat was as firm as steel, and the magic power was like a full moon.

A body and mind honed to the extreme.

Just imagining the texture made its whole body shiver.

—With this wonderful power, I can definitely molt!

The Chaos Dragon would recover completely after molting, even from severe injuries.

Even the destroyed eye would heal.

Moreover, it was on the brink of death, but so was its opponent.

—I can definitely eat it.

I just need to corner it and prevent it from escaping.

The Chaos Dragon started walking.

It had already forgotten about the soft flesh of the five children.

It moved ahead, sealing off any escape routes.

Finally, it found him, leaning against the wall and walking slowly.

The smell of blood in the air made it seem delicious.

Saliva dripped from its cruel, fanged mouth.

—Ah! I want to stick my face into those holes in his body and greedily devour his steaming entrails while he's still alive!

The Chaos Dragon approached its prey, tongue flicking.

The prey seemed to have given up, stopping and closing its eyes.

It could only see the prey.

Whatever it did to the prey, it wouldn't be fatal.

I am the Chaos Dragon! I will eat it and regain my strength—

—Bang!

Suddenly, a searing pain, like being doused in magma, spread through its body.

"Kya!"

An involuntary, pitiful scream escaped its mouth.

It lost most of its life force in one blow.

The Chaos Dragon's eyes widened, and it gasped, mouth opening and closing.

—This pain! This agony! It's him!

Why! Why is he here!

And he appeared suddenly! This is bad, bad, bad!

I need to escape, but my body won't move.

I don't even have the strength to lift my head.

Yet, the pain continued to assault it in waves, mercilessly.

—This... this continuous holy damage... it's unfair...

The Chaos Dragon's vision blurred, and it shed tears of regret.

—Why... why is this happening!

I am the Chaos Dragon! The symbol of terror that appears once every ten thousand years—!

To be killed like a mere insect, unknown to anyone, is too cruel!

Stop it!!

At least, at least let me be remembered as the one who was finally defeated after a fierce battle!

At least let my name be remembered in legends and traditions!

For me to die meaninglessly... it's a lie...

However, the Chaos Dragon suddenly realized.

Looking at its fingers and tail, it saw them turning to dust and disappearing from the tips.

Its consciousness was also fading.

It could only accept its fate.

—No... I'm going to die. After ten thousand years of reincarnation, I'm going to die immediately...

But the Chaos Dragon realized, in its fading consciousness, that it felt a sense of relief.

—That's right.

Even if I became an SSS-rank dragon, I would be easily defeated by him.

He looks human.

He won't be alive ten thousand years from now.

This time, my luck was bad.

Next time, I will definitely destroy everything.

People, the world, the stars, the moon, the sun!

I will devour them all...

The Chaos Dragon died, turning to dust.

It didn't even realize that the reincarnation curse mark was erased by the overwhelming concentration of holy waves.

It might be a bit confusing. When Alex stepped in, all the goblins on the 30th floor were already dead.

And Edgar was still alive.

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Next update is tomorrow

→ 34. Marius' Judgment