Alex steadied himself as the dragon, Eleonora, let out a low growl, her icy blue eyes piercing through him.
The air in the hall was frigid, the aftermath of her [Ice Flames] lingering like a warning.
“You dare deflect my flames?” she hissed, stepping closer, her claws scraping against the polished stone floor.
Alex clenched his fists. “We didn’t come here looking for a fight with you, but if you insist, I won’t back down.”
Alice pulled herself up, dusting off her gear as she gave Alex a wary look. “Are you insane? That’s a dragon—level 400! We can’t win this!”
Alex ignored her, his eyes fixed on Eleonora, after all he knew he wouldn’t die now.
The dragon was massive, her wings folded tightly against her body now, but the sheer size of her frame made her an imposing presence.
Every move she made sent ripples of tension through the air.
“What’s in that coffin? Why are you protecting it?”
Eleonora’s expression darkened, and a wave of energy radiated from her body, forcing both Alex and Alice to brace themselves.
“DIE, HUMANS!” Eleonora dashed toward Alex, raising her claws, ready to cut him in half, “I won’t let you get close to the princess!”
‘Princess?’ Alex thought as he saw the giant female dragon’s claw right in front of his face.
Her stats were far superior compared to his, meaning there was no chance he could deflect or avoid the attack.
[Eleonora – Dragon Tribe Member – Level 400]
[HP: 30,000,000]
Plus, she just had too much HP and defense anyway.
Slash!
She was about to finally end Alex and Alice, but before he claws could reach them, a towering figure appeared above the man.
“Know your place,” it was Alphox, and he sneered as he deflected Eleonora’s blow with a single flick of his arm.
Though they were the same level, Alphox was still a [Primordial Dragon], the highest title a dragon could get in [Universal Descent].
[Name: Alphox]
[Type: Primordial Shadow Dragon]
[Rank: Level 400, 6-Star]
|HP: 50,000,000] Find adventures at
[Master: FateBreaker]
[Skills: Shadow Flames, Strike, Fly, Eclipsing Roar, Umbral Shield…]
His stats were just overall better, including HP.
“…?!” Eleonora didn’t have the time to react that Alphox struck again at her, forcing her to back away.
-3,847,371!
This was a single attack from Alphox.
Because even though they were both dragons of the same level, then if you truly wanted to compare them, Eleonora would be an [Elite Boss], while Alphox would be a [Universal Boss].
This was the difference between heaven and earth, and showed just how powerful primordial dragons were.
“A-Alphox?!” Eleonora mumbled in fear, her eyes widening, “W-What are you doing here, weren’t you dead?!”
“Haha, me, dead?” Alphox laughed, “Quit your funny jokes, primordial dragons don’t die that easily.”
“…” the female dragon didn’t know what to say or do.
Fighting humans was easy, but a dragon like Alphox could kill her at any moment if he wanted.
Primordial Dragons were both respected and feared, and not a single normal dragon would dare try to disrespect one.
“I’ll repeat that kid’s question,” Alphox flapped his wings, landing on the ground, “What are you trying to protect?”
“L-Lord Alphox,” Eleonora was visibly scared, but she didn’t leave or back down, “E-Even if it’s you, I need to protect the princess!”
She got into position again, as if she wanted to attack again, clearly what was in that coffin was more important than her life.
“So be it,” Alphox growled, unleashing [Shadow Flames].
Eleonora responded accordingly, using [Ice Flames].
“Stand back,” Alex ordered, raising his [Stone Fortress] in front of him and Alice, “Any hit from these flames, and it’s instant death.”
Though Alphox was protecting them, he needed to be cautious in front of such beings.
Thankfully enough though, and as anyone could have predicted, Alphox’s [Shadow Flames] were far stronger than Eleonora’s, meaning that they easily pushed the blue flames back.
In less than 5 seconds, Alphox’s flames reached the other dragon, engulfing her.
-4,371,955! -5,821,948! -3,579,211!
She received a high amount of damage, burn marks visible on her body, and it was only because Alphox decided to stop casting the flames that she survived.
She struggled to stand, her breaths ragged, but Alphox showed no mercy.
In a blur, he pinned her down, his claw pressing firmly against her neck.
“Let us pass, fool, I do not like fighting and killing weaker dragons.”
Eleonora’s resistance faltered.
She remained still, her breathing shallow but steady.
Alphox gestured toward Alex, “Go. The coffin is at the end of the hall.”
Alex nodded, his gaze flickering toward the defeated dragon.
Despite her condition, she glared at him, her protective instincts still burning.
“You should stand back,” he asked Alice, and she nodded, not wanting to approach that dragon.
With measured steps, Alex advanced toward the end of the hall.
As he approached Alphox and Eleonora, he saw that the female dragon, pinned down, tried really hard to stop him from approaching, even going as far as trying to hit him with her tail.
Though Alex avoided it, Alphox immediately answered with his own tail surrounded the beige dragon’s.
When Alex finally reached the end of the hall, he stopped.
The coffin was unlike anything he had ever seen.
It was made of shimmering, crystalline ice, its surface flawless and transparent.
Inside, a figure lay still—a woman with delicate features and an otherworldly beauty.
“Huh?” Alex blinked in disbelief. It was a person.
“There’s no point,” Eleonora shouted, “No one can free the princess from this coffin!”
Alex eyed the female dragon, then immediately tried to lift the case, and just as expected, it didn’t budge.
He could see the chest of the princess moving up and down, meaning that she was indeed alive, but stuck in there, in a sleeping state.
Was that what the dragon tried to protect?
Fire Meteor!
Alex lifted his staff, a meteor crashing down from the ceiling and hitting the coffin.
-0!
But it didn’t do anything to it.
He tried that with several other spells, with his dagger, and even the [Blood Blades], but no success in that either.
There was some kind of sealing magic stopping him from accessing it.
“How long has it been?” he asked the other dragon, pointing at the coffin.
“At least hundreds of years,” she muttered. “And I’ve been defending her ever since. You’ll get nowhere, human. Just leave.”
Alex ignored her again. Hundreds of years?
This was far beyond his knowledge of his previous life.
Which means that those that somehow found this secret area were killed, and that those that in fact managed to finally defeat Eleonora hadn’t found a way to open this coffin.
This was way too mysterious for him to let it slide.
But even he had no idea how to open that coffin, as he wasn’t a master in these kinds of arts.
Alphox, sensing Alex’s struggles, approached the coffin, leaving Eleonora behind.
The female dragon didn’t even bother stopping them: she only wanted the princess to be safe, and was sure that some day, a savior would come to free her.
Until then, she would make sure that no one else could cause problems.
Shadow Flames!
Alphox risked it all and launched a barrage of flames at the coffin, but yet again, nothing.
Strike! Strike! Strike!
His claws simply bounced off.
“Yeah,” Alphox nodded, “This is a high-level curse, no attack can break it.”
“A high-level curse?” Alex’s eyes widened, he didn’t expect to find something like that.
The [Undead King] curse, for example, was a high-level curse, but it had more benefits than anything else.
On the other hand, negative curses like these had extreme effects, and in that case it would be locking this girl in this coffin for eternity.
Just then, a panel appeared before him, triggered by his [Cursed Eyes of the King].
[Get the “Curse Breaker” (Artifact) or ask a powerful exorcist to break it. No other way.]
The options weren’t ideal. Both paths seemed incredibly difficult.
As Alex pondered his next move, Eleonora spoke again. “You won’t succeed. You might as well leave while you can.”
But suddenly, he had an incredible idea.
Back in [Dawn City], he had met with one NPC with the [Exorcist Blacksmith] talent.
If he could manage to bring him here, then there was maybe a chance to deal with it.
The [Curse Breaker] artifact was quite literally impossible to get in these stages of the game, after all.
