I Married the Dragon I Killed

With a single strike from Perda, the wolf monster fell dead.

Those who witnessed the scene could not hide their shock.

“He killed a monster in a single attack…”

They had heard that magic was effective against monsters, but few had seen it with their own eyes.

Even for a mage, eliminating a monster in a single blow was not common.

Perda looked at the man who was still standing there with a stupid expression and said.

“What are you standing there for?”

“Huh?”

“The crack is still open.”

Just as he said.

Even though the wolf monster had died, the crack had not closed.

That meant there were still monsters inside.

“Everyone who can wield a sword, prepare for battle! Protect the civilians!”

“Call for reinforcements! Summon the guards!”

“Not the guards, call mages! Bring mages capable of bombarding them with spells!”

Everyone shouted different orders from every direction, but a chain of command was still forming, so Perda paid it no mind.

The corpse lying beside the crack twitched.

“I-it moved!”

“Is it still alive?”

Someone said that.

But that wolf monster was indeed dead.

If it was moving like that, it only meant another one was preparing to come out.

Perda immediately prepared the next spell.

Soon, something began appearing behind the rippling space within the crack.

It was another identical wolf monster.

It tried to burst out at once, but Perda was faster.

“Lightning Spear.”

Perda fired the spell directly at the monster emerging from the crack.

The electric spear struck the wolf monster head-on.

— Krrrk!

Lightning Spear.

One of the fourth-circle spells.

It possessed outstanding penetrating power, so if it hit a vital point, it could inflict lethal damage.

But if it failed to strike properly, it was not enough to kill the enemy.

Like the one before him right now.

‘Even so, not bad.’

The monster trying to emerge had become frightened and was retreating.

But it could not retreat either.

Because behind it, the heads of other wolf monsters trying to emerge through the crack could be seen.

There were at least four more.

Thanks to that brief moment of panic, they managed to prevent them from all pouring out at once.

During that time, those capable of participating in combat took battle positions.

The knights unsheathed their swords, and the few mages present began chanting spells.

Everyone knew mages were effective against monsters.

But.

How many mages had truly faced monsters before?

The higher the circle, the closer mage society became to politics.

With that level of strength, there was no chance of victory.

“What do we do? Evacuate?”

asked Zed.

This was Hallim’s problem.

They had no need to risk their lives.

“No. We will fight too.”

In that place, the only truly useful mage was Perda.

But even he did not need to risk his life.

And besides, the odds of winning were high.

‘It is more beneficial to fight here than flee.’

After making his decision, Perda searched for what he needed.

‘What I need is mana.’

What Perda needed were sources of mana to refill his own.

In other words, mages who could serve as fuel.

And for that plan, he called a name.

“Malcolm!”

“Yes, Regent!”

Malcolm answered quickly.

Though his movements clearly showed he was panicking.

“Bring all the mages.”

“Huh?”

“Even if they can barely create Mana Shot, it does not matter. Bring them all.”

“And if… if they refuse to come?”

Was that even a question?

“Then kidnap them and drag them here.”

“Y-yes! Understood!”

Malcolm ran off waving his arms.

“Do you want me to go gather them too? I am good at persuading people.”

asked Zed.

“You need to work as a knight.”

“Damn it.”

Zed let out a sigh and drew his daggers.

— Grrrrr…

Meanwhile, the wolves’ panic ended.

The monsters began forcing their way out, and the others behind them burst forth like a flood.

Once all the wolf monsters had emerged, the crack closed again.

‘Seven in total?’

An ordinary knight would already struggle against even one.

And now seven monsters had invaded the building.

‘I can handle at most two. If the others contain the remaining five…’

Perda quickly assessed the available forces.

‘Impossible.’

The monsters would begin a one-sided hunt.

And that hunt would end in total extermination.

Like dominoes collapsing one after another without stopping.

“Sir Zed.”

“Yes.”

“It seems you will have to work a little harder. Can you keep two of them occupied?”

“Two?”

Zed swallowed nervously.

Though they looked like wolves, they did not attack only with fangs and claws.

The thorn-covered tentacles floating around their tails were equally threatening.

And he wanted him to keep two of those things occupied?

“Can you do it?”

After hesitating again and again, Zed answered.

“The pay better be pretty high.”

“Have I ever withheld your money?”

“No.”

“Then…”

Zed readjusted his daggers and moved somewhere.

He approached Penelope.

In a situation like this, there was only one thing she could do.

“Uwaaaah! I do not want to die!”

“Hey, PePe! Snap out of it already!”

Slap!

“Ugyak!”

“Stop crying and do your job! You know how to use magic too!”

“W-what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to fight those things?”

“You do not need to fight, just help me. Do something to lighten my body, you know, that thing!”

“That? Hmm… wait. Haste!”

Penelope’s magic enveloped Zed’s body.

He felt his speed increase even further and lightly moved his body.

“Yes, exactly this feeling.”

Zed grinned broadly as he looked at the wolf monsters and muttered.

“Then I will go take a little walk.”

With that, Zed began moving to attract the attention of two of them.

With that, Perda would handle two, and the others would face three.

Perda turned his head and picked the man who looked the most experienced among those who had drawn their swords.

“You there!”

“Yes!”

“You have good spirit. We will handle four, so try to deal with the other three alongside the others. Can you do it?”

“H-how are we supposed to do that?”

“Order them to move as defensively as possible. Form a defensive line.”

Even though he said it like that, it actually did not matter whether they attacked or defended.

As long as they did not lose the will to fight or run away, that was enough.

That was all Perda expected from them.

“Regeeent!”

Malcolm came running back in a hurry.

Perda was about to ask why he had returned, but he was left speechless when he saw what he was carrying.

Over his shoulders, he carried two men dressed in robes.

“Here you go, mages!”

“You really kidnapped them.”

“I-I do not have confidence in persuading people…!”

Perda stared at Malcolm, who was panting from the effort.

“You are smarter than I expected.”

“Huh? I am smart?”

“It is not easy to know yourself. Keep it up.”

“Understood!”

Malcolm ran off again to kidnap more fresh mana reserves.

The men dragged there still stood frozen.

After all, they had been calmly fleeing and suddenly got thrown into the middle of the battlefield.

Perda gave them no time to think.

“You. Do you know how to use Mana Bomb?”

“Huh? A-ah, yes…”

“Then prepare it. When I order you, throw it at me. And you?”

“I-I still…”

“Then prepare Mana Shot. Prepare it and when I signal you, fire it at me. You can do that much, right?”

“Yes!”

“And when that kidnapper brings more mages, explain the same thing to them. I do not want to repeat myself twice. Understood?”

“U-understood!”

In such an urgent situation, it was impossible for them to understand everything perfectly.

Perda did not expect much and prepared for battle.

‘I must restrain myself with black magic.’

Within the grand plan he was building, black magic would be a fatal stain.

Erdes already knew he used it, but the public seeing it directly was another matter.

He had to avoid it as much as possible.

‘But I cannot stop using it either.’

He would use it silently and discreetly so no one would notice.

That was why he had learned Barbatos’s shadow technique.

The shadow beneath Perda’s feet began to move.

Silently, it reached a wolf’s legs.

Perda recited the spell.

“Bind.”

A hidden hand emerged from Perda’s shadow.

— Grrr!?

It tightly grabbed the wolf’s ankle.

It was a fourth-circle restraining spell belonging to Barbatos’s shadow techniques.

Its original name was Shadow Bind, but Perda had deliberately omitted the word “Shadow.”

In fact, reciting it was not even necessary.

That was enough.

And visually, the effect resembled a normal Bind spell.

The monster struggled desperately, unable to lift its legs, as if trapped in a swamp of glue.

‘First, one quickly.’

Perda swiftly traced the magic circle he had memorized and cast the spell.

“Lightning Spear.”

The electric spear shot from his hand.

With the body immobilized, striking the heart was absurdly easy.

Thuuud!

The electric spear quickly pierced through the monster’s skin.

Where the heart had once been, only green blood turned into pulp remained.

The wolf collapsed lifelessly.

“Good heavens… he killed it in one strike…”

Exclamations rose again.

— Grrr!

The other restrained monster sensed its companion’s death and bared its fangs.

The monster struggled violently until it found a small opening and bit the black figure with its snout.

“Ugh.”

A groan of pain escaped Perda’s lips.

The moment the wolf bit the shadow, Perda felt as though something near his right pinky finger had been torn away.

The shadows were treated as extensions of his body.

That was why, when the shadow was damaged, he felt the pain as though his own flesh were being ripped apart.

‘That is the price.’

If he was not careful, the pain would consume him and he would live forever tormented by phantom pain.

Perda skillfully severed the mental connection and escaped that sensation.

As he broke the link between mind and shadow, the spell’s power weakened.

The wolf monster was freed.

“Regent! Where do I throw the Mana Bomb?”

Perfect timing.

“Throw it at me!”

The mage threw a large blue sphere toward Perda.

Perda did not even turn around.

Instead, black fingers partially emerged from behind his back and fired mana threads to catch the Mana Bomb.

From everyone else’s perspective, it simply looked as though the sphere had naturally entered Perda’s hands once it came within range.

“Huh!”

“Magic Intercept…!”

The mages were stunned by that advanced technique only expert mages could use.

But Perda had no time to care about that.

All his concentration was fixed on the target.

He hurled the Mana Shot and the Mana Bomb directly at the wolf’s face.

Boom! Boom!

Perfect impact.

The mana explosion struck the monster’s face head-on.

Those unnatural creatures that survived by expelling corrupted mana suffered when they collided with the natural flow of mana.

Their regeneration slowed down.

And the instant it completely stopped, the wolf monster began staggering like a dog beneath the summer sun.

“Lightning Spear.”

Thus, Perda eliminated the two wolf monsters before him.

Without even taking a breath, he observed the state of the battle.

‘The knights and soldiers…’

The situation on the side where the knights and soldiers were resisting looked difficult.

Their faces were filled with fear.

On the other hand, Zed continued diverting the attention of two monsters without receiving a single wound.

Those monsters’ attacks swept across wide areas as if they threw their entire bodies into every charge.

Surprisingly, Zed moved faster than their attacks and dodged everything.

‘I need to help Zed.’

Even though he appeared relaxed, he was the one in the greatest danger.

“Zed!”

“What?!”

Zed answered irritably.

“Draw those monsters toward my shadow.”

“Understood!”

While flipping through the air, Zed quickly located the position of Perda’s shadow.

Then he moved with acrobatic agility and ran toward Perda.

— Grr! Grr!

The two wolf monsters, completely enraged, charged toward Zed.

The instant they tried to pass through Perda’s shadow, hands emerged from the ground and grabbed their ankles.

— Kyaang!?

The monsters’ bodies rolled as they tripped over that unexpected obstacle.

“Bind.”

Perda restrained them both again using the prepared Shadow Bind.

“Throw them!”

Following the order, the support mages hurled the Mana Bombs they had prepared one after another toward Perda.

There was fear that it might end up looking like an attack against the regent himself.

But Perda skillfully wrapped each sphere with mana threads and made them part of his own magic.

Boom! Boom!

The mana penetrated deep into the two monsters’ bodies.

Just as he had planned, both began staggering.

‘My amount of mana is in an awkward position.’

Since the Red Circle was not rotating at full power, obtaining additional supply was difficult.

‘I have enough mana left for about three Lightning Spears.’

If he spent them on those two, the remaining mana would be insufficient to handle the rest.

How should he solve this?

“Regent!”

Zed called out to Perda.

His eyes were filled with fighting spirit.

Perda looked at him and thought.

‘That is useless.’

Perhaps it worked for knights driven by ideals and fighting spirit, but to Perda it held no value.

However, Zed’s daggers shone with a cold light.

It was aura.

‘That is useful.’

Perda understood his intentions and nodded.

In barely one and a half seconds of silent exchange, both defined their objectives.

“Lightning Spear.”

Perda’s lightning arrow pierced one monster’s forehead and destroyed its heart as well.

“Go to hell and take all the walks you want, bastard!”

Zed’s dagger pierced the monster’s abdomen.

The thick hide sank as though it were gelatin, and the dagger drove directly between the ribs.

Thud—!

The sound of thick, hard muscles tearing echoed as the wolf’s corpse collapsed lifelessly.

Thus, the two monsters Zed had lured were also killed.

Only three remained.

And the ones holding their attention were a completely disorganized army.

“Agh! That monster attacked me!”

“Do not fall back! Hold the formation!”

Even so, thanks to the commander’s charisma keeping them in position, the three monsters could do nothing but search for openings between the lines.

Perda seized that opportunity.

He looked toward the mages and shouted.

“Mana Bomb!”

Malcolm had gathered a total of ten mages.

The spheres they created numbered twelve, and all of them flew simultaneously toward Perda.

The shadowy fingers emerging from his shadow caught every single one without letting any escape, claiming all the mana.

Then he aimed at the open spaces between the wolf monsters.

Boom—!

The mana explosions struck their bodies.

The concentration was so high that it pierced through the skin and penetrated directly inside.

The struck monsters began staggering, and even the other two still moving aggressively received considerable damage and retreated.

“Now! Bring them down!”

“Uoooooooh!”

With battle cries, the soldiers drove their swords into the weakened monster and launched the counterattack.

The wolf monster tried to resist, but its movements were as weak as those of a dying old man.

— Grr! Grr!

The other two wolves fixed their eyes on Perda.

Their wild instincts had identified who was the core of that human group.

Their eyes filled with madness as they lunged straight toward him.

“They are going for the regent! Protect the regent!”

But in a situation where each person could barely protect themselves, the soldiers failed to react in time.

‘Two.’

Perda did not possess Zed’s agility to elegantly dodge.

Even before fully sensing the killing intent, he had already prepared magic.

“Lightning Spear.”

The electric spear pierced through one monster’s torso.

It did not reach the heart, but it managed to stop it.

The other continued charging fearlessly toward Perda.

“Regent!”

Zed threw himself in front of him trying to protect him.

“Khgh!”

Perhaps Zed surpassed the monster in speed, but in a frontal clash he was crushed like a scarecrow planted in soft mud.

Perda tried to use the opening Zed had created to fire even a Lightning Bolt.

“Lightning—”

He could not even finish the incantation.

The wolf monster leapt on top of him and crushed both his shoulders.

— Grrr!!

The monster opened its jaws.

Though it resembled a wolf, the inside of its mouth was nothing like a normal wolf’s.

Even sharper teeth and dozens of split tentacle-like tongues.

The fangs sank into Perda’s neck.

He felt death approaching.

Bang—!

A deafening blast that shook the entire place suddenly rang out.

At the same time, something small and extremely fast shot forward and violently shook the wolf monster’s body.

The fangs that had pierced halfway into his neck lost all strength, and the monster collapsed dead.

Perda, who had barely survived, observed how the monster had died.

‘Small, fast, and powerful… a spell.’

It felt familiar.

Perda searched for the person who had just saved his life.

The direction the attack had come from was the stage.

And the one standing there was none other than Vernell Marquis.

Breathing heavily, he held something in his hands.

It was the magic engineering rifle that was supposed to be presented after Rector Bernard Escolea.

The long barrel he held continuously emitted white smoke.