I Married the Dragon I Killed

The ghoul monsters charged at the expedition.

The overwhelming number of enemies rushing across the open ground was enough to inspire fear, but one man stepped forward.

It was Jonathan Sina.

“Come at me if you dare!”

Jonathan Sina swung the axe in his hands with tremendous force.

It was the very same axe wielded by his ancestor, one of the Twelve Heroes, a weapon that had preserved the legacy of the North.

The runes engraved upon its blade began to glow as the axe struck the ground.

BOOOOM!!

A cone-shaped shockwave spread forward.

The ghouls charging toward them took the full force of the impact head-on.

Crack! Crack!

Those in the front ranks had their limbs shattered before collapsing, while the damage visibly diminished the farther back they were.

It didn’t matter.

All Jonathan wanted with that attack was to buy time.

He only needed to slow them down until they clustered together.

“Mana Bomb!”

The greatest weakness of demonic beasts was pure mana.

The Mana Bombs cast by mages of the Fourth Circle or higher swept across wide areas with an immense concentration of mana.

“Kieeeek!”

The ghouls began writhing violently as they let out piercing shrieks before collapsing.

Pure mana acted as a poison capable of overcoming even their extraordinary vitality.

Within the Demon Lands, mages played the most important role.

There were three of them.

The Platinum-ranked adventurer, Eri.

Regent Perda Valdrova.

And a veteran Gold-ranked adventurer mage.

‘They’re all incredible!’

It was only natural for Eri to display such overwhelming power.

After all, she was a Platinum-ranked adventurer.

But Perda, from whom they had expected far less, was another matter entirely.

Simply watching the magical spheres he created was enough to leave them in awe.

There was a saying that magic had no shortcuts.

A high level could be reached quickly, but if the fundamentals were lacking, everything would eventually collapse.

However, the spheres Perda created were so refined and flawless that they could only be the result of polishing his magic day and night.

Those impeccable spells struck their targets with perfect accuracy, poisoning every monster in the area.

‘So when he said he wouldn’t be a burden, he wasn’t exaggerating.’

That display alone was enough to erase the image they had of him as an arrogant young noble.

Although Perda was performing remarkably well, inwardly he felt he was barely managing to keep up.

‘This really is an environment where mages can’t perform at their best.’

Demonic energy constantly clung to his body, making it difficult to maintain his concentration.

He couldn’t help wondering how Erika and Erdes had managed to defeat the Demon King in a place like this.

The offensive, which had been contained at the front line, began moving again.

Erika quickly assessed the situation and gave an order.

“Rear line, attack complete! Lizera!”

“Yes!”

Lizera quickly drew several runes while bringing both hands together.

A massive golden tree sprouted from his body, its lush foliage spreading outward to envelop the entire expedition in a dome-shaped barrier.

“Kieeeek!”

“Kieeeek!”

The ghoul monsters were unable to pass through those golden leaves.

The golden magic made the adventurers’ eyes widen.

“This is…!”

“The famous Sacred Area!”

Although its appearance was different, the magic’s effect was almost identical.

Within the Church of Alte, it was a high-level spell that could only be used after attaining the Fifth Enlightenment, making it something rarely seen outside official Church missions.

“One minute, everyone!”

“Rear line, regroup! Front lines one and two, eliminate as many enemies as you can!”

Under Lizera’s blessing, the expedition began a truly one-sided massacre.

Every time an adventurer swung a sword, a ghoul was cut in half.

Among them all, Jonathan stood out the most.

“Haaaaah!”

When Jonathan brought down a mighty blow with his axe, every ghoul clinging to the barrier was blasted away.

However, it wasn’t as easy as it looked.

“How the hell are they regenerating so fast?!”

Even when their bodies were split in half, the dense demonic energy stitched their flesh back together as their wounds regenerated.

Without losing her composure, Erika continued issuing orders.

“If you split them apart, destroy their hearts as well! That’s the hardest part for them to regenerate!”

Jonathan barely paid attention to her words.

The only thing that mattered to him was continuing to crush monsters on the front line.

“It’s almost over!”

As soon as Lizera gave the warning, the golden branches shrank a few moments later until they returned to his hands.

The barrier that had held back the ghouls vanished.

The monsters charged at them once again.

They had killed a great many.

But there were still far more remaining.

They needed to buy time.

Erika made an immediate decision.

“Front line! Step in!”

Jonathan and the Armored Knight had to become a human wall.

“Look at me!”

Jonathan’s voice thundered like the roar of a lion.

True to the nature of the warriors of the North, he charged forward, unable to restrain the blood boiling through his veins.

Every ghoul rushed toward him at once.

New runes emerged from Lizera’s hands and flew toward Jonathan.

A golden light enveloped his body, forming a transparent barrier like crystal.

Every attack from the ghouls was blocked by that protection.

By contrast, the Armored Knight received no defensive support whatsoever.

But he didn’t need any.

Erika knew that armor’s durability perfectly well.

No matter how much the ghoul monsters struck it, they would never pierce it.

In truth, he didn’t need protection at all.

As she gazed at the horde of ghouls, the Armored Knight, Valdrova, remembered her role.

‘Make a fist.’

Then extend it just a little forward.

BOOM!!

The shockwave erupted.

The ghouls were instantly reduced to mangled masses of flesh.

Fragments of bone shot through the air like projectiles, piercing the monsters that continued advancing.

It was power comparable to the Fourth Circle spell Force Rush.

No.

It even surpassed it.

‘Incredible.’

‘What monastery did that man come from?’

Every time he threw a punch, the air exploded and monsters were sent flying, making him a wall as solid as any fortress.

Even so, it wasn’t enough.

Although each person fulfilled their role perfectly, a wall made up of only two people could not hold back every enemy.

The small ghouls that managed to break through the front line were stopped by those holding the second line.

They, too, were outstanding fighters.

Even so, it wasn’t enough.

“Watch out!”

“Virgil! It’s heading for you!”

A ghoul that had slipped past the front line lunged at the blond archer, Virgil, leaving him completely exposed to its attack.

“Aaah!”

It was already too late to prepare another attack.

Virgil reflexively closed his eyes.

Splurt!

Something had been pierced without any resistance.

But he felt no pain.

It hadn’t been his body.

“Ku… ku… ku…”

What had pierced the ghoul’s slender body was the Armored Knight’s gauntlet.

In his hand, he held a purple heart.

Without stopping, the Armored Knight hurled the monster’s corpse into the group of ghouls that was still advancing.

BOOOOM!!

The ghoul’s body became a heavy projectile that plowed through everything in its path.

Virgil’s mind fell into complete chaos.

How had he managed to reach him before the second line?

And how could he destroy those monsters so effortlessly?

His mind completely confused, he could only stammer,

“T-this…”

“…?”

“T-thank you…”

The words of gratitude barely escaped his lips.

But before he could say anything else, Erika’s loud shout brought everyone back to reality.

“Front line, return to your positions! Second line, don’t let your guard down! Or we’ll all die!”

“Yes!”

The Armored Knight simply nodded and returned to his position.

He was considerably slower than when he had run to save Virgil.

Even so, he still moved with astonishing agility.

Inside the armor, Valdrova thought,

‘Someone almost died.’

That sentence kept repeating in her mind.

The moment she heard that brief cry, she had reacted instinctively and rushed backward, even forgetting her own role.

‘My duty is to protect everyone.’

And to accomplish that, there was only one thing she had to do.

It was something she had always done.

‘Move forward.’

Move forward until she drew every enemy’s attention onto herself.

She went even farther than Jonathan, who was practically impossible to surpass, and continued advancing.

Even wearing armor that nothing could pierce, facing that horde alone was still madness.

Even so, the Armored Knight propelled himself forward.

With one mighty leap, she crashed straight into the hundreds of monsters that still remained.

She had no weapon other than her own body.

But that was more than enough.

Every time the Armored Knight threw a punch, a ghoul died instantly.

And the speed of his strikes surpassed even the monsters’ own movements.

“Is he going to wipe them all out by himself?”

“It certainly looks like he can…”

Everyone watched the scene in complete admiration.

Even Jonathan, who still felt humiliated after being surpassed in strength, remained utterly captivated.

‘The most incredible part is that he doesn’t even seem to be fighting at his limit.’

Erika remained convinced that this was not the Armored Knight’s full strength.

As she advanced like an unstoppable force, the expedition’s morale soared, and they began pushing the ghouls back.

They had thought the battle would drag on forever.

But thanks to the Armored Knight, they ended up using barely half the strength they had expected.

“Confirm whether any enemies remain!”

“South and west, clear!”

“East and north, clear!”

“I no longer detect any signs of life.”

“Good work, everyone.”

The fierce storm had finally passed.

Everyone lowered their weapons and began catching their breath.

Only the Armored Knight remained motionless, his fist still clenched.

“Sir Knight?”

“…”

Erika called out to him.

But received no response.

She approached cautiously.

“Sir Knight, the operation is over. You can rest no—”

Whoosh!

The Armored Knight suddenly vanished.

When he reappeared, a violent gust of wind struck Erika’s face.

The gauntlet had stopped just inches in front of her.

The two stared at one another for several moments.

Finally, Erika asked,

“Are you all right?”

…He nodded several times.

“I’m glad to hear that. You did an excellent job on the front line.”

After praising him, Erika turned her back.

Pretending to inspect the surroundings, she kept the others from seeing her expression.

‘This is bad.’

She couldn’t control her emotions.

All the fear she was trying to suppress was clearly written across her face.

It was fear.

‘What… the hell… was that?’

Even though she now had a human appearance, her eyes were still the eyes blessed by the dragons.

She had survived countless battles and had always trusted her reflexes completely.

And yet, she hadn’t been able to react at all.

The instant she sensed the attack…

It was already over.

Although the punch had stopped before reaching her, Erika was absolutely certain of one thing.

‘If that attack had hit me, I would’ve died.’

Even in the best-case scenario, she never would have been the same again.

And yet.

She couldn’t blame the Armored Knight.

Because he himself looked even more shocked than she was.

She couldn’t see his expression beneath the helmet.

But his body language said everything.

That hesitation was exactly that of someone who had just made a terrible mistake.

As the leader, Erika suppressed the fear screaming through her instincts and acted as though absolutely nothing had happened.

Once Valdrova had fully regained her composure, she raised her head and looked behind her.

Everyone was still safe.

They had defeated more than three hundred ghoul monsters.

And at last, the path was clear.

They had reached the entrance to the Palace of Radiant Prosperity.

However, no one celebrated the victory.

No one dared enter so casually.

“Do you think there are even more monsters inside than these?”

“We don’t know.”

“I really hope that was the hardest trial…”

Although fear still lingered, they continued forward.

After passing through the entrance, the first thing they found was a vast entrance hall resembling that of a grand mansion.

It was the perfect place for someone to hide and ambush them.

It was the moment of greatest tension.

“I don’t detect any demonic beasts.”

Hearing the mage’s report, everyone breathed a little easier.

“For now, we’ll use this hall as our base and conduct a quick reconnaissance. There are three different routes, so we’ll split into three groups and first determine the general layout.”

Three main paths extended from the hall.

One long corridor straight ahead and two much shorter side passages.

The group assigned to the most dangerous route consisted of Erika, Virgil, Jonathan Sina, and a swordsman whose name Perda didn’t know.

All of them had already fought alongside Erika during the demonic beast extermination campaign.

“Lizera, you’ll go with them and explore the left side. The rest of us will take the right.”

The remaining group consisted of Perda, two unfamiliar adventurers, and the Armored Knight.

“It’ll be a pleasure working with you.”

“The pleasure is ours.”

With the groups organized, they began exploring the right corridor of the Palace of Radiant Prosperity.

They had thirty minutes.

The objective of the reconnaissance was to observe as many places as possible within that time and report whatever they found.

Since it was the first time anyone had entered, it was enough to determine the approximate number of rooms and note anything unusual.

That was why the two veteran adventurers told Perda and the Armored Knight,

“Just follow behind us.”

“And please, don’t touch absolutely anything.”

Given how dangerous the mission was, the veterans had decided to rely solely on their own experience.

Perda and the Armored Knight walked three steps behind them, side by side.

They had never been particularly close.

But Perda was already beginning to feel uncomfortable.

“Is something wrong?”

The Armored Knight quickly shook his head.

Just moments ago, he had seemed calm.

However, ever since he had started walking beside Perda, all of his movements had become stiff.

Even the furtive glances he kept stealing at him made it seem as though he was waiting for the right moment to attack him from behind.

‘I’d better switch to Lizera’s group.’

He decided he would speak to Erika as soon as he had the chance.

As the two veterans carefully examined the traps and the structure of the corridors while mapping the route, something caught Perda’s attention.

It was a room that looked like a library, with countless books lined up on its shelves.

Perda understood it instinctively.

Perhaps.

The answer they were searching for was there.