Chapter 53: Chapter 53

[translator - night][proofreader - gun]

chapter 53: diana has changed (2)

"you're here!"

as i return to the camp, diana ran up to me and hugged me.

her chest pressed against me.

"diana...?"

"you've changed so much."

"well, you’ve seen my appearance, haven't you?"

who’s that last person?

diana, wearing the green leather armor of an elf, looked unrealistically beautiful.

honestly, i don’t think i’m unattractive either, but when i'm with her, i feel like an octopus.

it was fine when i wore armor and a helmet, but now that it’s off... hmm...

even the fellow elves were astonished at how much she had changed.

at this point, i wouldn't be surprised if the sun god had hypnotized me to get me to follow her.

but right now, even if i did fall for it, there’s nothing for her to take from me.

the order faction has practically already caught me like a fish in a net.

on top of that, following her advice, i smashed the magic circle and gained a lot of benefits.

i even absorbed part of the dragon heart.

for now, i’ll just wait and see.

with clear mind, there’s no way i’ll fall for any temptation.

"jiho, i've finished setting up the camp. let’s go together."

she let go of me and took my hand, pulling me along.

i was dragged along by the flame chariot without any effort.

i’m sure i won’t fall for it, right...?

we arrived at the camp near the ebigan.

it looked like a small fortress, possibly because the dwarves were in charge of its construction.

it was built quickly and had walls made by earth spirits, along with large barracks.

in the commander's tent, the main figures gathered to have a brief meeting.

"thanks to the apostle of the goddess, we broke through the enemy’s stronghold without significant damage, and even burned down the black dragon forest. however, the remaining enemy is the greatest threat. the black dragon arkardian..."

"he’s an ancient dragon, known for his ferocity. he’s infamous for holding grudges, seeking revenge a hundredfold. some even call him the 'dragon who never forgets.'"

"the red forge clan of the dwarves handled the rare construction, but even a single brick falling caused him to destroy the entire clan."

as dwarf lord ambrosian spoke, a heavy silence filled the room.

wow, i knew he had a bad temper.

"he really never forgets..."

"arkardian is said to have birthed not a full dragon, but an incomplete drake. we killed the drake, so he must be extremely vengeful. we have to defeat him this time..."

ambrosian’s voice trailed off as he sighed deeply.

an ancient dragon.

honestly, he’s the kind of final boss you'd expect in a game... why do we have to face him now?

and it’s just the first stage.

how frustrating.

though diana, as the apostle, has joined us, she’s no match for the black dragon in comparison...

it seems impossible to win in a direct confrontation.

let's try the strategy from the guidebook.

"ultimately, arkardian’s goal is to open the gate of chaos. let's focus on preventing that. diana and i will distract arkardian, and the rest will destroy the chaos magic circle."

"yes, there’s no other choice."

everyone agreed to the plan and began detailing the strategy when a awakened individual rushed into the tent.

"captain, the dragonkin are requesting a meeting."

"dragonkin?"

"yes, there are thirteen of them."

"let them in."

are they the same ones from the griffin cliff battle?

that was fast.

"are you the apostle of order?"

the dragonkin who entered the tent weren’t the ones i had seen before.

they were tall, wearing golden armor, and exuded immense power.

"yes."

"i am alverossa, the chief guardian of arkardian. arkardian has acknowledged his defection and has sent us out."

"acknowledged his defection...?"

"yes."

alverossa explained what had happened.

arkardian had defeated a higher-ranking angel of order, suffering a great wound, and returned to his lair.

after that, he began using the angel’s corpse to create a chaos magic circle, and even when alverossa, as a member of the neutral faction, offered advice, arkardian ignored him.

"but suddenly, he came to his senses and sent us out of the lair. he said we should live for at least one more day. he also told us to relay a message to you—he has opened the lair’s gates, and you have 48 hours to enter."

if these dragonkin had joined the defense, it would have been a tough fight.

the thirteen dragonkin seemed incredibly strong.

and since they hadn’t fallen to chaos, their divine power wouldn’t be of much use.

the conditions seemed too favorable, and ranger captain reblo spoke up.

"isn’t this a trap?"

"a trap? dragons do not lie. don’t you elves know that?"

"that was when they were still neutral. these are dragons tainted by chaos. they can lie just as easily."

"hmm... that’s one way to look at it... but arkardian has ordered us to destroy the defenses of the lair ourselves, to open the path for you."

"what could his intentions be?"

"i don’t know..."

alverossa’s voice was filled with regret.

he looked around the tent and spoke.

"is he hoping for rest through their hands? but aside from the two apostles, there’s no real combat power here... anyway, if you don’t come in two days, the gate of chaos will open, and the world will become hell. if you want to stop it, you need to hurry."

only two days left, and the other magic circles have already been destroyed...

it seems like there’s no point in delaying. if we drag our feet, the chaos forces and black dragon will join, leading to a total destruction scenario.

looking at it this way, the difficulty is still nearly impossible.

"what are you going to do now? arkardian’s defection has been confirmed. will you help us?"

"no... although we’ve turned our backs, we can’t direct a sword toward our former master. we’ll just step back. we wish you good luck." s~eaʀᴄh the nôᴠefire.ηet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

it’s a shame, but there’s nothing we can do.

after they left, we decided to rest for a day and enter the dungeon lair tomorrow morning.

we have 48 hours, but it’s too risky to go at night.

it’s better to go in at our best condition.

i lay on a dwarf-made bed in the largest tent, which i found curious—how did they bring this here?

but the earth spirits helped with that.

spirits really are all-purpose.

i pulled out the strategy guide and read it again.

the guide says that diana should distract arkardian, while the rest focus on destroying the magic circle to win...

but the atmosphere now feels completely different from the guidebook’s content.

this isn’t the first time that’s happened, though.

maybe instead of just distracting him, it’s better to have everyone attack the magic circle?

the last pages of the guide are still empty, so i put the book back in my inventory and started thinking about the strategy for dealing with the dragon.

"jiho."

"diana?"

"can i come in?"

"yes, please do."

why is diana here at this late hour...?

[translator - night]

[proofreader - gun]

something felt off about her behavior today, but her beauty is so extraordinary that my rational mind completely falters whenever i see her.

every time i look at her face, i feel like my iq drops by half.

[the clear mind skill is activated.]

if it weren't for this, i would have made a colossal mistake.

[aurelia says we need to pay attention to the pregnancy effect of infinite stamina. she warns that it might be a ploy by the sun god.]

what?

pregnancy?

now that i think about it, infinite stamina did have that immediate pregnancy effect on the partner.

i thought it sounded like something out of greek or roman mythology...

wait, what?

are they planning to use the child as leverage?

aurelia’s advice, whispered secretly during clear mind activations, sent chills down my spine this time.

leverage through a child?

or are they planning to use my child for experiments because of my unique class as a soul mediator?

either way, the thought made me feel utterly disgusted.

they claim to be about order, yet their methods are filthy.

of course, it could be none of the above… but i’d better stay cautious.

a knife in the back can come at any time.

and this infinite stamina thing—its pregnancy effect is really burdensome.

if i don’t find a way to seal it, it’s going to cause serious issues in my sex life.

hmm, maybe i can just turn the skill off?

but wow… if i do that, what’s the point of having it...?

i had been saving it for some steamy 19+ moments someday…

“jiho?”

“oh, yes, lady diana. please, take a seat.”

was it because i had been zoning out?

diana, tilting her head curiously, was guided to the chair by the desk in the barracks.

diana, dressed in a white knightly dress.

the dress was long, which was a bit of a shame, but it was tight enough to showcase her figure.

she had an s-line body that seemed straight out of a textbook.

it was like something you’d see in a painting.

her curves were perfectly accentuated in all the right places, reaching the pinnacle of beauty.

“jiho, you’re too much…”

diana smiled shyly, as if embarrassed by my gaze.

[clear mind is activated.]

wow.

this skill is a lifesaver.

if she got pregnant, i’d be screwed.

calm down, jiho.

you’ve got to stay calm.

control yourself.

“i came to see you today because of the black dragon.”

ah.

the black dragon?

haha.

so it’s about that.

here i was, overthinking with pregnancy and all that.

“the black dragon?”

“yes. according to what the sun god told me, the black dragon has almost completely lost its sanity. they even shared a strategy with me that might work for you.”

the sun god knows about that?

hmm. makes sense since they govern this world too.

“but earlier, the dragons said something different. it seems like the black dragon might have regained its sanity, which would make sending the entire army very risky.”

“i see.”

“i’ve heard that the saints and awakened are capable of resurrection. how about setting up this camp as a return base and sending a unit of awakened ahead first?”

“just the awakened?”

“yes. i, too, have three resurrection chances granted by the sun god. if the dragon has regained its sanity, who knows what tricks it might have up its sleeve? it’d be safer to scout with an awakened unit first.”

that makes sense.

if the black dragon has regained its sanity, it could let the magic circle get destroyed and then unleash dragon breath on us.

no need for 5,000 people to die unnecessarily.

besides, no matter how vast the lair is, it’s too cramped for all 5,000 to enter.

rotating troops wouldn’t be a bad idea.

“you also have three resurrection chances, right?”

“oh, i already used one…”

“what? you died? but you’re so strong… what kind of hidden enemy—”

“haha, that was before i met you, lady diana. it was an unexpected blow.”

diana’s eyes widened as she looked at me, startled.

embarrassed to go into detail, i brushed it off.

“i think your plan is a good idea. let’s form an awakened unit of a thousand and send them first. but we’ll still need to draw the dragon’s attention ourselves…”

“yes, i’ll do my best.”

she said this while getting up from her chair and slowly approaching the bed where i was sitting.

a pleasant fragrance wafted over.

wait, this scent… i’ve smelled it before…

she approached me, bending slightly toward me.

her knightly dress leaned forward with her.

now that i noticed, it was slightly low-cut.

the pure white knightly dress and her even whiter skin dazzled my eyes.

she leaned closer to my ear and whispered.

“i want to repay you as soon as possible, jiho… but since there’s an important matter tomorrow, i’ll restrain myself. for tonight.”

[clear mind is activated.]

wow!

if not for this skill…

the bed would’ve been in pieces tonight.

damn.

[pollux begs you to turn off that damn skill.]

ugh.

what if i use infinite stamina and end up with a child!

[pollux says he can’t understand why you’re worried—just have the child. but if it’s really bothering you, turn off both infinite stamina and clear mind and go for it.]

[aurelia says to just ignore him.]

i wavered for a moment.

no, i’m still wavering.

[clear mind is activated.]

[aurelia reminds you that pregnancy can happen even without infinite stamina.]

her continued warnings saved me from a disaster.

to be honest, if she had pushed further, who knows what would have happened.

but diana eventually left, saying,

“next time, we’ll talk about something important!”

still, her words lingered in my ears.

sigh.

calm down.

calm down.

it’s a honey trap.

a honey trap.

we adjusted the plan and recruited mage awakened to use this camp as a base.

“we should’ve built it sturdier and more imposing,”

ambrosian grumbled, watching the mages as if unsatisfied.

to me, it seemed sufficient, but to a dwarf, it must feel lacking.

at dawn, i decided to lead a detachment of awakened from the apostle command unit.

they were the most experienced, had gained the most xp, and their death penalties were halved, making them ideal for the first challenge.

everyone readily agreed, and the unit was quickly organized.

in fact, i had to stop others from volunteering to join.

“think about how much we’ve gained by following the commander.”

“i heard the xp from the magic circle is massive. i want to take the risk!”

“when else would we get to fight the legendary black dragon?”

many wanted to join the fight, so we organized a second and third unit to send in if the battle went well.

the elves and dwarves would wait to enter until after the awakened had gone in and the situation was under control.

with this basic structure in place, the 5,000-strong army began its march.

the morale of the awakened was at its peak.

they looked as if they could slay the dragon at any moment.

[translator - night]

[proofreader - gun]