We ran like hell from the fierce clash between Geos and the lord. We flinched every time a booming crash echoed behind us, but we didn’t stop. The lord seemed locked in on Geos, so he didn’t come after us. Still, no matter how far we got, I couldn’t shake the fear that his vile mana might come surging after us.
Maybe that’s why we’d kept running for over twenty minutes. Only when we’d reached a point where we couldn’t sense the lord’s mana anymore did we finally stop.
I couldn’t stop panting. “No one on our tail?”
“I think we’re okay,” Shiro said between breaths.
Kuro, too, was winded. “I’m so tiiired.”
We paused to catch our breath, but we couldn’t afford to rest for long.
“Carolina!” I said.
There was no response. But I kept casting holy magic while we were on the run...
“Who is she?” Shiro asked.
“Do you know her, Thoooor?”
They tilted their heads as they watched me give Carolina a potion. There was a hint of caution in their expressions. They must’ve realized she wasn’t an enemy since I’d called her name and tried to help, but being faced with an adult woman seemed to make them nervous.
“Yeah, she’s someone I know. She used to buy us stuff like potatoes, medicine, salt.”
“Ooh, the potatoes were tasty!”
“She’s on our siiide.”
Those potatoes had really been a lifesaver. When they heard that Carolina had been the one supplying them, their wariness vanished instantly. Maybe they’d decided that anyone who brought food counted as an ally. At the very least, she’d been put in a different category from other adults.
But Carolina’s complexion kept getting worse.
“Damn it. My potion’s barely doing anything...”
Her face was pale, and her breathing was growing weaker. Was the lord’s life absorption magic even stronger than I thought?
“Carolina, drink this!”
She answered with a faint groan. I gave her the hell chimera soup I’d prepared for emergencies, spooning it into her mouth, and she managed to swallow it, but she didn’t look like she was recovering.
If anything, her complexion was getting even worse. She had gone beyond pale and was now bone white, and her body was starting to grow cold. I’d been keeping her stable with holy magic, but she wouldn’t last much longer.
“What do I do?”
Actually, I knew. If I wanted to save her, there was only one option left. I still had a bit of concentrated heaven dragon core soup in storage. If she drank that, there was a chance she’d survive, just like we had back then.
But is it really okay? We’d made it through, miraculously, but they said you could die if your body couldn’t handle the transformation. Even if it worked, part of her body would probably turn dragonish. The reason the lord had captured her was apparently because I’d given her my cooking. Her mana wavelength must’ve changed because it had contained a trace of dragon power, and that was what the lord had sensed.
But now, we’re talking about her body turning into a dragon’s. Is that what Carolina would want? I mean, I wanna think that’s still better than dying, but...I still can’t make up my mind.
I froze, soup in hand.
In my hesitation, I’d forgotten that we were still in the dungeon. Shiro and Kuro must’ve also let their guard down while they’d been preoccupied with Carolina.
That brief moment of carelessness—just ten seconds or so—was all it took to invite disaster.
A loud hiss brought us to our senses.
“Bugs!” said Kuro.
“Go away!” followed Shiro.
Ten or so insect-type magical beasts resembling bees had surrounded us before we’d even noticed. There was no buzzing; maybe they were using magic to cloak their presence. Were they drawn by the scent of the soup?
“Shiro, Kuro! You two handle this!”
“Myah!”
“Arf.”
The girls braced themselves for battle, but these bees were tricky. Whenever Shiro or Kuro tried to attack, the targeted bee would retreat, and another would find an opening and come at us. They were probably aiming for Carolina, the weakest one here. Giving her the soup now would be dangerous. If her condition worsened, she wouldn’t be able to move at all.
Should I join the fight? Carolina’s life force was slipping away with every passing second. I tried to keep the holy magic going while preparing to cast water magic, pushing myself harder than I should. Just then—
“Lightning Spearstorm!”
A deafening boom shook the air, followed by a blinding flash. Purple lightning scorched our vision, obliterating the bees in an instant.
“Huh?”
The magical beasts were completely wiped out, and there was not a single scratch on us. My bangs fluttered slightly from the impact—that was it.
Was that a spell that controls lightning? I couldn’t believe that an attack so explosive and wide-reaching could leave us untouched. The magic control was unreal. For a second, I thought the lord had caught up to us, but it was a woman who approached.
She had short, bobbed gray hair and wore glasses. Her slight stature and light armor didn’t make her look like much of a fighter, but I could sense that the mana she carried was intense—way stronger than ours. Is she the one who cast that spell?
“Are you all right?” she asked.
She was clearly worried about us. But isn’t she a knight? Her armor has the same crest as the others. Doesn’t she work for the lord?
“Y-Yes,” I replied. “Uh, thank you?”
She paused. “Sure.”
When I thanked her, she awkwardly looked away. Did I say something wrong?
She thought for a moment and said, “This is just my repentance. Don’t worry about it.”
“Repentance?”
“It means I’m a failure of a knight.”
Her eyes drifted toward Carolina, Shiro, and Kuro. So she really was a knight. She seemed like a decent person, but working under that lord, she must’ve been dealing with a lot of inner turmoil.
Whatever the case, she was a lifesaver for us. Her story didn’t really matter right now.
As if to change the subject, she pulled out a bottle and held it out.
“F-For the lady over there. It’s a high-tier potion.”
“Oh! That’s great!” I said. Right now, Carolina was the priority.
The woman knight was someone I’d only just met, but considering she could’ve easily overpowered us, there was no reason for her to give us a fake potion. I took the faintly glowing potion and brought it to Carolina’s lips. I helped her drink it and poured some over her body too, but nothing changed. Her temperature rose for a moment, but that was it. The warmth faded fast, and she started trembling.
It seemed even a high-tier potion was useless for her condition.
“It’s no good,” I said.
“Oh no. I don’t have anything stronger...”
Having no other means of helping Carolina, the woman looked at her with a pained expression. She must’ve also realized that Carolina didn’t have much time left.
I’d exhausted my options.
“Carolina, drink this. It’s soup.”
I took out the concentrated heaven dragon core soup again and brought a spoonful up to her mouth. She shouldn’t have been conscious, but it felt like Carolina drank the soup with more strength than she’d done with the potion. Her throat moved with steady gulps, and her lips parted slightly, as if asking for more.
I fed her the rest—an entire bowl’s worth.
“Carolina,” I said.
“Hang in there,” said Shiro.
“You can dooo it.”
I gently held Carolina’s hand as she lay there, her body limp. And then I felt it—something powerful swirling inside her. The dragon’s mana must’ve been activated.
Everything should be fine if we can just get her to a safe place...but can I move her like this? Would using the escape teleportation circle mess things up? My mind was flooded with worst-case scenarios, but staying here wasn’t an option. I summoned two Mana Arms and lifted her with more care than ever before.
“Let’s move,” I said.
“Yes,” the woman nodded, her expression sharp. “I’ll handle the magical beasts.”
With Shiro, Kuro, and the knight—Milène was her name—handling the monsters, I could focus solely on carrying Carolina. I kept the holy magic flowing, doing my best not to jostle her. I was running quite low on mana, but I couldn’t afford to complain. What worried me most was that the heaven dragon mana stirring inside her wasn’t stable. We lost consciousness after drinking the soup, so it wasn’t exactly like we’d been able to control it either... It looks like the mana’s on the verge of going berserk. Is she really gonna be okay?
We kept running through the deep layer for another ten minutes, dodging packs of magical beasts. Finally, we took a break—Milène had taken a serious hit.
“Are you all right?” I asked her.
“I’ll manage. I’m out of potions, so your holy magic is a huge help.”
I’d been casting holy magic on Milène, who’d been badly wounded protecting us. A magical beast known as a hide needle—stealthy and covered in spines—had ambushed us. It looked like a moving sea urchin, but its speed and hardness ranked among the stronger monsters. It had rammed into Milène’s back and arm, and she’d lost a considerable amount of blood.
Still, seeing her fight for us seemed to have earned Shiro’s and Kuro’s trust that she was someone who’d protect us.
“Just try to keep your holy magic a secret,” she said. “It’s rare. Churches, nobles, mercenaries—there are plenty of people who’d want to use it for their own gain.”
“Understood. Thank you for the warning.”
We’d only just met, but I trusted Milène as well. I didn’t trust my own judgment much when it came to people, but I did trust Shiro’s and Kuro’s instincts. Besides, she just radiated a kindhearted aura.
Even on the way here, she’d shown guilt toward Carolina. She’d said that if they’d known what was happening, they never would’ve let the torture happen. Her anger seemed genuine, far from an act.
“Shiro, Kuro,” I said, “you can munch on this for now.”
“Myah! A big piece of jerky!”