I Married the Dragon I Killed

Meanwhile, the Flint Expedition was in a state of emergency as they tried to rescue Perda.

They could no longer afford to leisurely search the rooms for magical artifacts.

As the expedition leader, Erika returned to the hall they were using as their base and began directing the other adventurers.

“Did you find anything?”

The adventurers answered her question.

“It looks like the left wing was used as living quarters. We didn’t find anything of interest.”

“We found quite a few magical artifacts in the right wing, but none of them seem to be related to this…”

Both the right and left wings had turned out to be dead ends.

Only the front group—the one she had personally led—remained.

“Damn it… Why did they have to get caught in a trap like that…?”

“What can you do…?”

It wasn’t as though anyone could call it carelessness.

Things like this happened frequently in an adventurer’s life, and even the most experienced adventurers were sometimes forced to retreat.

They tried to find clues using the Eastern characters they had hastily learned, but everything they found proved useless.

The only thing they discovered was that the library they had visited was called the Room of Nourishment, and the chamber beneath it was called the Yin and Yang Room.

‘Judging by the name alone, it sounds like some kind of training chamber…’

But the real question was why a training room would seal itself shut.

Would Perda really impose such an absurd restriction on himself just because he wanted to train?

“…No, would he actually do something like that?”

He was such an extraordinary person that, for a moment, Erika thought perhaps he would.

Either way, all she wanted was to rescue him safely.

“Captain Eri!”

Several adventurers came running from the front.

“We think we found something!”

Erika’s heart skipped a beat.

She restrained her expectations as much as possible and calmly examined what they had brought.

However, the first thing she saw was a blueprint.

And not just any blueprint.

It was the blueprint of the Palace of Radiant Prosperity.

“Where did you find this?!”

“We think we entered the palace lord’s room. We searched through all the books there and found this.”

“He was the one who managed the entire palace. It makes sense that it would be there.”

A map was an adventurer’s eyes.

And this one was practically clairvoyance capable of revealing every secret of the palace.

Erika hurriedly flipped through the pages in search of information about the Room of Nourishment and the Yin and Yang Room.

“Here it is. Since ancient times, the Palace of Radiant Prosperity used the power of love, and to cultivate that love, they considered it essential to strengthen one’s emotions in the Room of Nourishment.”

“They used love to cast magic?”

“What is this? Some children’s story about heroes? Does that really work?”

“Why wouldn’t it? Don’t they say that people with a Red Circle make their Circles spin through their emotions?”

“That’s exactly the kind of thing people who only know half the story always say…”

“That’s enough commentary. I’m going to keep translating.”

Silencing those who were about to start arguing, Erika continued reading.

“Sometimes, even when a man and a woman have feelings for one another, they find it difficult… blah, blah, blah… That went against the will of the first lord of the Palace of Radiant Prosperity… creation of the Yin and Yang Room… Oh, I think I found it.”

“What does it say we have to do?”

“It says the room will automatically open after twelve hours.”

“Twelve hours?”

“Then they’d still be within the safety limit, wouldn’t they?”

“Considering the return trip, yes. But let’s keep reading… Ah, there’s more. There’s another way to get out sooner… Huh?”

Erika frowned.

“Wait a second… Does this word… really translate like that?”

“Is something wrong?”

“It’s just… yes… that’s what it says…”

Erika pressed a hand against her brow as she reread the passage.

She read it again and again.

But the meaning remained exactly the same.

“…It says they won’t be able to leave unless they share their love.”

“What?”

An awkward silence spread through the group.

“Share their love…?”

“I… think that’s what it means…”

If they were talking about the kind of love shared between adults.

Everyone knew exactly what it meant.

But no one dared say it aloud.

“Wait a minute…”

The embarrassment lasted only a moment.

“Then, for Sir Knight and Lord Regent Perda to get out of that room safely…”

“Doesn’t that mean… they have to make love?”

A suit of armor nearly two meters tall.

And Perda, a man with a much slimmer build.

No one could picture such a scene.

“In other words… for them to share that love…”

“Enough!”

“Quiet!”

No.

The more they tried to imagine it, the more horrifying and disturbing the images became.

But there was something even worse.

Someone had to tell them.

Just as the camaraderie among them had begun to grow stronger.

A fierce battle of stares broke out to determine who would be the unfortunate messenger.

In the middle of that situation, Erika calmly pointed at one person.

“…Lizera?”

“Yes, Captain?”

“How about you go tell them?”

“M-me?”

“Just go and tell them to… um… share their love… as soon as possible and come back quickly…”

“B-but… t-that… m-me????”

Erika explained the task as though it were perfectly ordinary, while Lizera stood there with his hands tightly clasped together, incredulously repeating his own words.

He knew Perda already had a partner.

And the idea of telling him something like that did not appeal to him at all.

In truth, there wasn’t a single person there who liked the situation.

“Huh?”

As he looked around, Virgil suddenly noticed something and shouted.

“O-over there…! It’s Sir Knight!”

“…What?”

“That can’t be!”

No one could believe it.

If they had smashed through the door to escape, the entire building would have shaken.

They were deep enough underground to be buried alive.

Even in a desperate situation, Perda would never have allowed such a reckless decision.

Then.

Who was that Armored Knight approaching them?

However, it wasn’t long before everyone saw with their own eyes what the archer had noticed.

Just as he had said.

The Armored Knight was coming out.

Perda was unconscious on his back, while all the books Perda had collected were bundled together and carried with him.

When the Armored Knight saw them, he awkwardly raised a hand in greeting.

Their return did not bring relief.

It brought chills.

***

“Mmm…”

Perda woke up on the Armored Knight’s back.

The armor beneath him was uncomfortable, but he couldn’t exactly ask to be put down.

‘My body is barely responding…’

The exhaustion coursing through his entire body left him with no choice.

‘What a wreck of a body.’

Perda carefully examined his condition.

In his dantian, he could clearly feel a heavy sensation that hadn’t been there before.

‘The Shadow Circle has reached the second stage.’

It wasn’t something he had created of his own will.

It had been imposed from the outside.

And that Shadow Circle had tried to devour him.

It had undoubtedly been a situation where he should have died.

But he hadn’t.

‘I’ve reached the Fifth Circle.’

The realm known as a Master Mage, a level that ordinary talents could never attain no matter how much effort they invested.

‘Completing two Circles in a single day…’

It was so absurd that no one would believe it.

Even if he told the Perda who had already reached the Eighth Circle, he would probably ask how such a thing was possible.

Naturally, Perda already knew the answer.

‘Eleanor.’

Even though she had only been an illusion, thanks to her he had managed to reject the Shadow Circle.

Perda remained awake, still being carried on the Armored Knight’s back.

Erika, walking beside him, glanced over and was startled.

“Huh? You’re already awake?”

“Yes.”

Her expression was strangely awkward.

“Captain Eri, did you come to rescue us?”

“……”

“Captain Eri?”

“Yes?”

“I asked whether it was all of you who rescued us.”

Hearing that, Erika carefully looked around before answering with another question.

“You don’t remember what happened?”

“No. I lost consciousness.”

“While we were trying to rescue you, it seems Sir Knight found some way to get out.”

“Don’t tell me he smashed through the wall or something…?”

“No. It wasn’t that.”

“Oh? It wasn’t?”

“Well… he did break something, but…”

“…?”

“It’s nothing.”

Erika fell silent.

She wore the gloomy expression of someone who had just relived a trauma.

‘What’s wrong with everyone?’

Perda couldn’t understand.

He turned his head and met the others’ gazes.

They all reacted similarly.

Some looked at him with sympathy.

Others looked as though they had witnessed a living nightmare.

And some, although they didn’t fully understand what had happened, simply seemed relieved that he was alive.

Looking at those expressions, Perda reached a conclusion.

‘It seems they went through quite an ordeal while I was unconscious.’

He decided to accept that explanation and changed the subject.

“How much farther?”

“If we keep going for another hour, we’ll arrive. The expedition could end in just twenty-two hours…”

Erika’s voice suddenly trailed off.

The Armored Knight stopped.

Everyone else stopped as well.

Perda turned to look at Erika.

She signaled with her hand for everyone to remain still.

“What is it?”

Erika’s eyes were fixed on a single point.

She was always vigilant in the Demon Lands.

But this time was different.

She had found a true enemy.

“Put me down for a moment.”

The Armored Knight nodded.

He carefully lowered Perda to the ground, and Perda managed to remain standing.

He had no strength, but at least he could stay on his feet.

Then he saw what had caught Erika’s attention.

And he understood why she wore that expression.

“You…”

A black robe that blended perfectly with that gray, desolate land.

And because of that.

His pale white skin stood out even more.

The contrast created an unsettling sense of wrongness, one that immediately inspired caution.

Curved Demon.

One of Godwin’s Seven Evil Stars.

And the last surviving Noblesse-class demon.

“It is a pleasure to see you again, members of the expedition. And you as well, Captain Eri. We’ve already met before, haven’t we?”

“……Indeed.”

Erika had never forgotten the humiliation he had inflicted upon her.

And the fact that he addressed her that way despite knowing perfectly well that she was one of Lorga’s Dragonspawn only irritated her even more.

Agitation was poison to any mage.

Remaining calm, she asked,

“What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What’s so strange about a demon being in the Demon Lands?”

He let out an unpleasant chuckle as he took a step forward.

“And what are you supposed to be?! Get out of here already!”

The hot-blooded Jonathan Sina raised his axe and tried to advance, but Erika blocked his path.

Her eyes told him everything.

Not now.

Curved Demon applauded the gesture.

“An excellent decision. I had no desire to spill unnecessary blood either. I’d rather congratulate you for making it this far than become yet another trial for you to overcome.”

“Then leave.”

“I would like to. But first, I’d like to hear your opinion.”

He smiled.

“What did you think of my creation?”

His creation.

Everyone immediately understood what he meant.

“Trauma was your doing?”

“Trauma…? That’s not a bad name. I’ve never had any talent for naming things. Thanks to you, I now have quite a good one. From now on, I’ll call it Trauma.”

Erika frowned.

“It was a crude and tasteless trick. Did you really think something like that would be enough?”

“It will be. You possess admirable mental strength, enough to overcome any trial. But what do you think will happen to ordinary humans?”

“The other humans…?”

Erika knew perfectly well what kind of illusions Trauma created.

It forced people to relive what they regretted most.

And the longer they remained exposed.

The more they began to mistake that suffering for salvation.

It didn’t merely make people suffer.

‘It has another purpose.’

He had known in advance that they were heading for the Palace of Radiant Prosperity.

And he had placed Trauma directly along the path they would take.

If he had wanted to confront them head-on, he could have simply waited inside the palace.

‘But he didn’t.’

Why?

The Demon Lands were the demons’ last homeland.

The Dragonspawn’s instincts should have driven them to eliminate anyone who defiled that land.

Even if Curved Demon was an exceptional individual, he was still one of the demons.

That instinct should still exist within him.

Which meant he had an objective so important that he didn’t even care about contaminating his own homeland.

“Judging by your expressions, it seems Trauma turned out to be quite a successful creation. Though it still needs a few refinements.”

As Curved Demon smiled mockingly, the adventurers remained ready for battle.

“We shall meet again.”

He took a step back and traced a vertical line through the air.

Space split open along the path of his finger, revealing a vortex of distorted colors.

Curved Demon threw himself into the rift.

“Oh, right.”

Just as he was about to enter, he seemed to remember something and turned back around.

“Consider it a small gift.”

With a flick of his fingers, he widened the rift even further.

It was incomparably larger than the opening he intended to use.

It had to be more than eight meters long.

Ruuuum.

Yet even that enormous opening didn’t seem large enough.

Something was desperately struggling to force its way through, tearing the space apart as it emerged.

And for good reason.

The creature stood nearly ten meters tall.

“GROOOOOOOAAARRR!!”

Its roar unleashed a powerful shockwave.

Merely hearing it was enough to engrave despair into every cell of the body.

“C-Captain Eri…!”

“W-What should we do?!”

They had marched all night without rest to complete the mission within a single day.

Both their bodies and minds were utterly exhausted.

It was a desperate moment.

Everyone waited for Erika’s decision.

‘Just when I thought everything had ended without incident…’

Erika had to choose.

If she revealed her true identity and fought.

She could undoubtedly defeat that creature.

Her double life would come to an end.

But everyone would survive.

Just as she was about to make that decision.

Someone stepped forward.

“Sir Knight?”

That enormous man clad in seemingly ordinary armor.

While no one else could even take a single step.

He advanced with absolute determination.

The one hidden beneath that armor had seen monsters like this more times than anyone else.

That was why.

He felt no fear.

The only thing he truly feared was losing those precious to him.

‘I can’t hesitate here.’

If no one else could bear this burden.

Then she had to.

Valdrova made her decision.

She slowly clenched her fist.

Craaack.

The gauntlet, which until now nothing had been able to damage, let out a creak as though it were about to shatter.

‘Without hesitation…’

She would destroy it with a single blow.

Just as her fist was about to strike the gigantic beast.

Ruuuuuum.

A thunderous roar suddenly echoed through the air.

The Demon Lands were a land where everything was dead.

Thunder could not exist there.

Countless thoughts flashed through Erika’s mind.

Before she even understood what was happening, her instincts screamed.

“Everyone, get down!”

Everyone obeyed immediately.

At that very instant.

Something enormous crashed down in front of the monster.

CRAAASH!!!

A colossal bolt of lightning turned the entire world white.

BOOOOOOM!!!

And the impact of that massive body striking the ground unleashed a monstrous shockwave.

The bodies of those lying on the ground were thrown nearly two meters into the air.

“Cough! Cough!”

“Is everyone alright?”

The shockwave had been devastating.

But no one had lost their life.

“What was that lightning?”

“Can Sir Knight do something like that too…?”

However, even Valdrova remained motionless, just as bewildered as everyone else.

Her power came from her fists.

Not from the sky.

‘That lightning…’

Valdrova felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity.

After so many years of life.

She knew perfectly well.

There was only one person capable of summoning lightning of such overwhelming magnitude.

Everyone looked toward where the giant monster had been standing.

Another silhouette of similar size emerged from the gray cloud of dust.

Then, with a booming laugh, it revealed itself.

“Hahahahaha! Since when has an insignificant vermin dared to crawl around this place?!”

It was Storeus, the Thunder Dragon.