?As expected, seeing that she would be worn down if the fight continued, the dragon girl took the initiative to distance herself from the man in the grey robe. Then came that familiar action: the dragon girl summoned a flaming longsword from her chest, reaching the peak of her momentum in a do-or-die effort, intending to use her ultimate move to end the match against the man in the grey robe.
Indeed, It was this move that had Renji, watching from beyond the screen, in awe.
Previously, no matter how Nova, as the BOSS, had health and attributes far exceeding those of the players and various skills and tricks, he could think of various ways to find countermeasures. But this ultimate move was the exception.
Renji vaguely remembered that it took him three save-loads to successfully use “Scouting” to learn the skill description of this move.
Simply put, [Crimson Slash] would determine the outcome based on the strength of both parties. Given Renji’s level at the time, there was a 99.99% chance of being instantly killed.
This move ignored any defense, damage immunity, and resistance effects of artifacts. With the resources he had in the game at that time, there was no way to defend against it.
So, Renji’s only option was to gamble.
He gambled on the “Dragon girl BOSS” failing to execute her skill, betting on that 0.01% possibility.
Fortunately, he was a stubborn person.
If once didn’t work, then twice; if twice didn’t work, then three times, five times, ten times, fifty times, a hundred times. That’s why Renji had such a “deep memory” of this battle.
Even though it was just a game for him at the time.
That day, Renji did nothing but madly save-load (SL) in front of the screen. Every time Nova killed him with one strike, he would just reload and try again, and again, and again!
Luckily, it seemed to be around the thirteen hundredth SL, Renji couldn’t remember exactly, but he finally succeeded.
In the game, the dragon girl, with her momentum at its peak and about to execute that “flawless strike,” suddenly, as if something went wrong, not only failed to release the fiery slash but also seemed like a deflated ball. Her formidable momentum disappeared as if she had suffered some kind of backlash.
The man in the grey robe seized this opportunity, amid the incredulous screams of everyone in the arena, to successfully defeat the dragon girl, pressing his blade against the neck of the dragon girl who was kneeling before him.
“So, Nova, what happened to you at that time?”
Curious, Renji asked below the scene, as the game was just cold numbers. He really wanted to know why Nova failed to execute her skill in reality.
Nova’s response made Renji pause for a moment, then he showed an “it figures” expression, as if that was indeed the only reason.
“Master, for some reason, at that moment, I thought I saw the illusion of my mother behind you.”
“So, in that instant, memories of the past flooded back, and my heart was filled with fear and dread. I lost the blessing of mindfulness, and my strike was no longer flawless; I couldn’t execute Crimson Slash.”
“Now that I think about it, Master, was this my mother helping me?”
Nova murmured to Renji.
After all, it was because she failed to execute that strike that the subsequent story unfolded, leading to Nova’s story, to the Ashen Emperor who saved the world.
Renji stroked the red hair of the dragon girl in his arms.
‘Was it?’
Maybe not, after all, Nova didn’t know, but he was clear. In the thousands of SLs (save-loads) before, Noya never appeared to help him; his character was directly killed by the dragon girl with one strike.
But.
“Of course, Aunt Noya must have been moved by my dedication to Nova, so she came to help specially!” Renji chose the most romantic explanation.
However, Nova clearly couldn’t understand.
Nova raised her head kinda confused, looking at Renji’s face, and quietly asked, “Master’s dedication to me?”
“Actually, I’ve fought against you in places you didn’t know about thousands of times. That’s why I know Nova very well, almost like it’s second nature to me. Honestly, I might even understand you better than you understand yourself.”
Unexpectedly, after hearing this romantic declaration, Nova did not react with joy but instead, her eyes reddened, and her beautiful purple dragon eyes misted over, on the verge of crying.
The reason was simple.
“Then, does that mean Master was killed by Nova thousands of times? I… truly deserve to die, I…”
‘(o_O)’
Renji hadn’t expected Nova’s thought process to go in this direction. Seeing the dragon girl looking as if she deserved death, he hurriedly tried to comfort her:
“How could that be! You’re underestimating me too much! In those thousands of times, you lost terribly! You didn’t manage to hurt me at all!” .
“Then why did Lord Ashen come thousands of times?” Nova didn’t catch Renji’s attempt to lighten the mood and asked earnestly.
“Because… because cough! A defeated gladiator must be severely punished and disciplined! For an evil dragon girl like you, one time of discipline isn’t enough; it definitely takes thousands of times!”
Renji resorted to this desperate measure when pressed for an answer.
After hearing this explanation, Nova seemed to have an epiphany and nodded in acceptance. Then, as expected, she quietly whispered, “Master, that’s kinda perverted”.
Renji pretended not to hear and twitched the corner of his mouth.
However, Nova soon looked straight at the young man again, breaking into a smile and leaning closer to Renji’s ear, just like the lively and cute, slightly face-obsessed dragonkin girl she used to be, whispering:
“Now, the perverted Brother Renji, Nova… likes you even more!”
“Cough cough cough!”
Unlike a certain pink-haired succubus, Nova was always straightforward.
Seeing the dragon girl blinking at him, Renji felt a bit embarrassed and quickly changed the subject, turning their attention back to the memory fragments of Zero.
In the scene, after defeating the legendary dragon girl of the arena and pressing the sword point against the dragon girl’s neck, the surrounding audience erupted into deafening cries of madness.
“Kill her!”, “Kill her!!”, “Kill her!!!”
Without Noya, the arena returned to its bloody state, every spectator eager for the man in the grey robe to swing down his sword and end the dragon girl’s life,
Even the dragon girl herself felt the same, as if she had finally been relieved at that moment.
On Renji’s screen, there were two choices.
[Kill her (Execute action)]
or
[“Miasma, is our true enemy” (Verbal dialogue)]
Without a moment’s hesitation, Renji chose the option that, when applied to the real-world scenario, meant the man in the grey robe did not swing his weapon. Instead, he sheathed it and left the dragon girl with a parting statement before turning to leave.
“Miasma, is our true enemy.”
Among the dissatisfied jeers and curses of the arena’s audience, the dragon girl’s mind echoed with the man in the grey robe’s words, staring blankly as he spared her life and walked away.
At that moment, the always expressionless face of the dragon girl finally showed a hint of emotion. She seemed to recall her mother’s words and understood why she saw her mother’s shadow in the man in the grey robe.
The dragon girl moved slightly, as if wanting to follow him.
But soon, from the exit of the arena, two figures appeared as if they had been waiting there all along for the victorious return of the man in the grey robe. 𝘳𝘦.𝒸𝑜𝘮
One was dressed as a nun, and the other resembled a robotic maid.
Seeing these two followers of the man in the grey robe, the dragon girl realized she could not leave the arena. She was a gladiator here, marked with an indelible brand that made it impossible for the organizers to let her go.
The brief glimmer of hope that had illuminated the dragon girl’s darkness seemed to fade away with the departure of the man in the grey robe and his two followers, once again enveloping the dragon girl in darkness, her eyes dim and lifeless.
Until… That night.
Not just the arena, but the entire Gulase base, in the span of just one night, was completely overtaken by a leader of a gathering place known as “Ashen”.
That night.
The light of fire
Once again illuminated the darkness.
𝑖𝘦.𝑐𝘰𝘮