One World, One Family (2)
"How is that?"
Phoebe gave a short and clear answer.
"You are all my enemies. Those who have stepped into this tower without permission have all been my enemies."
"So you're saying it's okay to kill your family...?"
At that, Phoebe smiled.
"You are still my family. But in my heart, when you died, you were already dead."
Making the dead dead again.
That's why it wasn't killing the family.
At least Phoebe thought so.
And she had to think that way for what was to happen in the future.
"...It seems you are the former captain."
There was no more doubt in her cold and strategic appearance.
She revealed her true nature, which she had been hiding and wrapping up.
Rough cross-sections rise on her smooth skin.
"Dragonization"
Scales sprouted from her smooth skin.
Wings sprouted explosively from the wingtips, and a long black tail stretched out.
Phoebe, who had golden hair and golden pupils.
She used to be a black dragon before she got the nickname of the mad dragon, but no one thought of her as the infamous black dragon.
She had never had a rough fight since coming to the tower, and most importantly, Phoebe didn't take pride in her past.
Phoebe hid her true form and became a perfect woman fitting for the tower master's deputy.
"Haah..."
The nature of the black dragon is fierce.
She loves to sweep everything away and continues to fight until she stands alone at the end, a berserker.
As soon as she dragonized, pleasure ran through her entire body.
The itching urging her to move her body quickly and the hot blood boiling in her rapidly beating heart enveloped her entire body.
-Kroaaaah!
Phoebe's roar echoed loudly.
The half-dragons felt a creepy sensation pricking and digging into their skin.
Fear.
It is said that fear experienced on the battlefield with training long ago has intensified, but the fear they feel from Phoebe now comes from within.
The pressure from the hierarchy.
They saw the figure of the tyrant who had been their captain when they were young, completely intact.
Seeing Phoebe's appearance, they hurriedly began their own dragonization.
Phoebe's figure disappears from where she was standing.
The storm that arose belatedly and the ground that settled down.
The dragonization of the last one was the slowest, and as she pierced his chest and took another life.
Only six remain.
'Damn it!'
The black dragon grows stronger the longer the battle goes on.
Phoebe will become stronger and stronger.
If they try to refine their formation and devise strategies, the only thing left for them is defeat.
One half-dragon, noticing this, approached Phoebe recklessly.
He attacked her with his sharpened hands after dragonization, but he couldn't beat Phoebe in one-on-one combat.
It was too overwhelming.
She dodged his fist and immediately counterattacked by targeting his vital points.
He desperately twisted his body to defend with the scaled parts, but the force of her punch alone was enough to break his ribs.
All his attacks were low-return, high-risk.
She overwhelmed him in every aspect, being a step above.
He sensed that he shouldn't care about his body.
Just one hit. At least one hit to gain a chance of winning!
He made up his mind.
If everything comes with risk, then aim for a high return.
So he lunged at Phoebe's neck once again.
His target was her slender neck.
If his long fingernail on his index finger could touch her, even if he couldn't cut her neck, he could sever her artery.
At least it would be a severe injury and combat incapacity.
Phoebe instantly noticed his intention.
As bold as it was, his unprotected belly was fully exposed. Phoebe sharply targeted the weak point.
As he dug into her solid flesh, it tore weakly.
He vomited blood.
"Guh!"
He gritted his teeth and aimed for Phoebe's neck.
If that strike could only reach Phoebe, he would gain a chance of winning in this fight.
However, Phoebe's response was ahead of his expectations.
Unable to dodge the movement aiming for her neck, she kicked her right foot with her left foot, ruining her own stance.
The fingernail that had been targeting her neck ended up grazing her shoulder.
Even though her posture was ruined, Phoebe tore out his heart with her penetrating hand, killing him.
"Gahh..."
He collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut, along with a short gasp.
She regained her balance in midair and landed lightly.
Now there are only five enemies left.
They all had the same thought.
'There's no more chance of winning.'
They needed all nine of them alive just to barely suppress her, but too many forces died at once.
In the end, they rushed at Phoebe, prepared to get hurt themselves.
Spears aimed to pierce her body, swords tried to slash her, and fists attempted to crumble her.
'Everyone is the same as back then.'
Phoebe saw their unchanged appearances.
Once the Captain of the Astheria clan, Phoebe already knew.
Their weaknesses and shortcomings, even their habits, were all known to her, making their last struggles meaningless.
Phoebe grabbed the spear aiming for her heart and stabbed it into the chest of a half-dragon attacking her from behind.
She dodged attacks, counterattacked, and evaded.
The series of movements turned into a whirlwind, scattering the withering straws on the field.
Phoebe danced.
With every dance, an enemy fell, and red jewels sparkled in the sky, scattering like cherry blossoms in late spring.
When there were no more enemies to fall, her feet finally stopped.
"Haah... Haah..."
Breathing in the late-coming breath, she scanned her surroundings.
Her venomous eyes confirmed all nine fallen enemies.
Her instincts, pounding in her chest, told her.
There was nothing left to kill on the battlefield.
Then the battlefield must be moved.
Find things to kill.
"No. Phoebe, no."
Her reason suppresses and restrains that instinct.
She bit her lips tightly, wrapped her arms around her shoulders, and hesitated to sit down.
"Haah... sob... h-hic."
She calmed her breath and quelled the excitement running through her body.
Her instinct to increase combat ability and turn all senses into excitement was like a drug.
The need to control that drug was more painful than ever.
Phoebe calmed herself down.
She endured the pleasure running through her body and released the "Dragonization."
"Phew..."
As the aftereffects of the battle and emotions surfaced, Phoebe collapsed on the spot.
The place where they had attacked began to fester.
The pain of the strong blow to her side, the grazing of her Achilles tendon, and the fact that her family had targeted and attacked her.
Phoebe looked down at her hands.
'I killed them all again with my hands.'
The human heart is truly deceitful.
She thought there would be no regrets, but now that the battle is over, she changes her mind.
However, there was no time to be immersed in self-loathing.
'I have to go.'
Rosaria is still in the tower.
Although she was placed in a secret hideout, a hero would have noticed by now.
'But can I... fight and win in this state?'
Her mental and physical condition were both terrible after facing the nine half-dragons.
She was ready to give up her life, but everything couldn't be resolved just by will, so it wasn't easy.
As Phoebe thought so, she felt the surrounding space twist.
She thought it was a new enemy and got up, but upon seeing the figure that appeared, she slumped down again.
It was Reed.
"Chief..."
"What did you say?"
"Ah, I'm sorry. Tower Master."
She confused the title due to the aftereffects of the fight.
Reed didn't care much about it.
Reed looked around quickly.
The guard posts were all destroyed, and the nine who were presumed to have destroyed them were scattered around Phoebe.
'Nine half-dragons. As expected.'
The hero came here with the half-dragons, targeting Rosaria.
Phoebe, who couldn't keep watching the gruesome scene, hurriedly spoke up.
"Tower Master, the young lady is..."
"Is she inside?"
"Yes."
Phoebe nodded and stood up.
"I'm sorry. I'll go save her right away."
She tried to stand up, hiding her wounds, but Reed, who had already noticed her limits, sat her back down.
"You've done your part, Phoebe. Rest here."
"But I..."
"This is an order."
She wanted to defy that order, but Phoebe couldn't move.
Reed took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders.
Her clothes, worn from the rough battle, were already non-functional.
Phoebe held the coat tightly and hid her body.
"You've worked hard."
Knowing that he would definitely be held back by her, she didn't indulge in unnecessary greed.
Reed entered the tower.
It was then that she was pondering her helpless situation.
One of the half-dragons, who was thought to be dead, began to moan.
***
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***
Reed entered the tower and immediately teleported to Rosaria's room.
He opened the closet Phoebe had instructed him to.
There was nothing more to see.
That space was wide open, exposed to Reed's sight.
'Damn it.'
Rosaria must have fallen into the hands of the hero.
Then where did the hero go?
'If they had left the tower, Phoebe wouldn't have said so.'
Then they were somewhere inside the tower.
Where could they be? Where would the hero go?
"The hero has entered the Holy Sword."
The one who gave him the answer was the Water Spirit King, Orneptos.
Since moving wouldn't help anyway, she was waiting in the tower.
She must have watched Rosaria's situation closely.
"What do you mean they entered the Holy Sword?"
"There is a passage leading to another place within the Holy Sword you brought. The hero knows that passage and went there with your daughter."
Reed was more furious than grateful to Orneptos, who gave him that information.
Because it meant he had been watching all along.
"Did you just stand by until Rosaria was kidnapped?"
"I don't have the power to stop that man right now. And there is a power within that sword that I cannot stop with my own power."
Reed felt blood rushing to his head momentarily.
However, he quickly returned to reason.
It meant that even if she tried to help with her ability, she would only be a burden.
When a spirit makes a contract with a magician, they always consider mana.
It's not only for the spirit itself but also for the magician who uses the spirit.
It's a common occurrence that the contractor dies from pulling out mana for unnecessary firepower.
Reed's mana was pathetic.
Even if he made a contract with Orneptos with that pathetic mana, Orneptos wouldn't be able to use her inherent abilities.
If she tried to force her power to manifest, Reed would likely die from not being able to withstand it.
Orneptos was weakened, and since her contractor Reed wasn't providing mana, she had no chance of winning in battle, so she had no choice but to stand by.
"A passage... the sword is a passage..."
The Holy Sword had abilities, but he had never thought of the ability to enter another space.
Reed quickly moved to his storage room.
The door had been blown away along with the wall. The items inside were visible.
A brilliant light burst from one of the decorations on the wall.
The Holy Sword, which had no power when Reed touched it and appraised it, was shining brightly.
"Just touching the sword will allow you to enter it."
Hearing that, Reed reached for the handle.
As he was about to grab the sword, Orneptos stopped him by holding his hand.
"You don't hesitate at all. Think a little more rationally."
"Do you know what that person would do to my daughter? Time is of the essence."
"I understand. However, you can't win just by recklessly entering. And this sword is not a place where you can easily enter."
That's right, he almost made a foolish move.
Reed needed to be rational, as she said.
"Once you enter, you will face difficulties beyond your imagination."
"......"
Orneptos informed him that the passage inside the Holy Sword was not simply a maze, but a place where the difficulty varied depending on the condition of the person entering.
"I've already entered that space once. So, I remember its entire structure."
It was good news that Orneptos knew, but it wasn't all good.
If she refused to help, she could refuse at any time.
"So you plan to stand by."
"Admit this one thing."
"What is it?"
"That all of this is an effort to get closer to your daughter. Remember this... unconditionally."
Reed's second contract proposed to Orneptos.
Yes, if it's for Rosaria, it wouldn't be helping Reed.
Reed nodded.
"I understand. Everything is for Rosaria."
"Hmm, good."
Orneptos nodded.
"Now let's think about a way to beat that man."
"I've already thought of that."
"You seem confident. What's your plan?"
"There's no specific plan. Just a heavy and large object."
"An object?"
"Yes."
Reed nodded.
"With that object, we'll be able to strike the hero once and still have some left."
