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Chapter 56: The Dragon of Calamity (2)

Clang! Clang!

Dorara's magic burst forth, echoing with a loud, rough noise.

The target of the magic was the ice wall.

“Huff, huff... W-what is this even made of? Why doesn’t my magic work at all?”

Dorara, who had been swinging his staff wildly, let out a labored breath.

Team Iris was currently trapped on the fourth floor, all because of the ice wall standing before them.

Despite Dorara’s relentless attacks, the ice wall remained unscathed, without even the slightest crack.

Of course.

Lower-tier magic cannot overcome higher-tier magic.

Nikita created This ice wall using the magic of an ancient dragon.

It wasn’t something Dorara’s magic could deal with.

Not just his magic, either.

Even Sharin’s magic couldn’t penetrate it.

“Damn it.”

Dorara clenched his teeth in frustration, muttering under his breath.

His hands trembled slightly.

He had already used up much of his mana just to reach this point.

He had been pouring his power into creating a way out, but his reserves had now hit their limit.

“Dorara, that’s enough.”

Hearing Iris’s words, Dorara collapsed to the ground.

He knew well enough now that his magic couldn’t break through this ice wall.

‘After all, the only thing that can deal with this ice wall is the Flames of Resolve.’

That’s precisely why I joined Team Iris.

Unlike Lucas, who could handle crises with ease, I had no way to overcome this ice wall.

But I couldn’t reveal that truth, so I chose to stay quiet.

Sometimes, people need to experience reality for themselves.

“This is a real problem.”

“Could it be because of the upheaval in the Demon Dungeon the other day?”

Joachim and Valencia, too, were showing signs of anxiety.

Until the ice wall was resolved, they couldn’t return to the surface.

With limited food supplies,

it was only natural for fear to creep in.

“Dorara, with your remaining magic, please cast a temperature-raising spell first.”

Before the team sank deeper into unease, I decided to give everyone clear tasks.

“Valencia, can you curse the entire ice wall? Use that to engrave a rescue signal. Joachim, please bless Iris and me. We’re going to scout for a safe location to settle down.”

At my swift instructions, everyone snapped out of their anxiety and began to act.

They trusted that my orders were the best course of action under the circumstances.

“You’ve taken over my job.”

“No, everyone’s holding it together because you’re here, Lady Iris.”

Iris is the third princess of the empire.

Arguably one of the most important figures in the entire realm.

If word got out that someone like her was in danger, the empire would undoubtedly mobilize its full strength to break through the Demon Dungeon.

Knowing this gave everyone a sense of reassurance that they would eventually return home.

“Let’s move. It’s going to take some time.”

Nikita doesn’t strike immediately.

She waits patiently here, on the fourth floor of the Demon Dungeon.

‘When everyone’s food supplies are exhausted, and the cold saps even the will to fight.’

That’s when Nikita bares her dragon’s fangs.

After receiving Joachim’s blessing, Iris and I set off to search for a safe zone.

The fourth floor marked the beginning of the Demon Dungeon’s mid-levels.

Here, the apostles and beasts were far more brutal and cunning than in the previous floors.

It required sharp focus and drained energy,

but even in such a place, safe zones existed.

‘Since Flame Butterfly is a dot-style RPG, there are always spots where you can check on your characters.’

Safety zones.

Areas where apostles and beasts wouldn’t dare approach.

I remember the safety zones of every level in the Demon Dungeon.

They were essential for progressing smoothly in the game.

Forgetting them was out of the question.

“Let’s establish our safe zone here.”

“What? But this is an open field.”

The so-called safe zone was indeed a barren field, as Dorara pointed out.

Snow blanketed the ground, and shattered ice sculptures were scattered here and there.

There wasn’t a single place to take cover.

“The wall provides a solid backdrop, and being in an open field means we have full visibility of any approach.”

“But this makes us easy targets…”

When Valencia raised a hesitant objection, I shook my head.

“Apostles perceive the world differently from us. They don’t rely on sight or sound to detect us, so hiding in visually concealed areas will still get us caught. Instead, narrow spaces put us at a disadvantage.”

There’s nothing more dangerous than being unable to see where an apostle is approaching from.

“That makes sense. Besides, with my holy barrier, even an open field won’t be entirely unsafe.”

Joachim supported my reasoning.

“Let’s go with what Hania suggests.”

With Iris’s final approval, there were no further objections.

We quickly set up a temporary base.

Joachim cast a holy barrier, and Dorara added a warmth spell to it.

In no time, we had a makeshift shelter that was surprisingly livable.

The barren snowy field turned eerily quiet.

As expected of a safety zone, not even a glimpse of an apostle or beast disturbed us.

The calm allowed the team to settle down and relax.

After spending so much time navigating the third floor of the Demon Dungeon,

Team Iris quickly drifted into much-needed rest.

It was silently agreed that the ice wall problem would be tackled after some recuperation.

“Lady Iris, you should rest as well.”

“Yes, I suppose I should.”

Iris sat beside me, placing her sword close at hand.

She gazed quietly at the snowy expanse.

“Hania.”

“Yes, Lady Iris?”

“What kind of existence is the third princess?”

It was a sudden question.

Iris rarely asked such things,

but after days in the Demon Dungeon without proper sleep, the stress must have been mounting.

Someone had even targeted her life.

In such circumstances, it wasn’t strange for someone to question their purpose or place in life.

“A noble existence.”

“Noble, you say.”

“And one that seems to carry a heavy burden.”

Surprised by my response, Iris turned to look at me.

People usually envy and admire Iris’s life.

The strongest royal, a candidate for the next emperor, and a beauty with a decadent allure.

Everything about her seemed enviable.

She never showed her struggles to others, which only made her appear all the more flawless.

But to me, she looked burdened.

Iris had been living a life far from easy since the moment she was born.

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“Life isn’t all sunshine and roses. I believe Lady Iris has her own struggles, too.”

“Struggles…”

"Iris quietly mulled over my words before resting her chin on her knees.

“Would it be strange if I said I envied Hania instead?”

After a long moment of thought, she asked me this.

The Iris she knew thought I was Hannon Irey.

Though we shared similar circumstances in many ways, the Hannon she envisioned stood in a vastly different place.

Perhaps it was thoughts like these that had been swirling in Iris’s mind.

“People always envy the lives they’ve never lived.”

That’s just human nature.

We admire and covet what we lack.

“But trust me, Iris, my life wouldn’t be all that entertaining to you.”

At least, not if I were the real Hannon.

But I’m just Vicamon.

Unaware of this, Iris chuckled softly.

“You’re right. I suppose it’s the same for everyone.”

With that, Iris fell silent, closing her eyes.

Even if sleep eluded her, she needed to rest and ease her weariness.

I quietly stayed by her side.

Someday, Iris Hysirion would become the final boss.

But for now, she was still someone who, like anyone else, could yearn for a different life.

* * *

Whhooooosh

The wind carried drifting snowflakes across the air.

Beneath them, Iris’s team moved swiftly.

“Still no sign of apostles or beasts,”

Joachim said with a frustrated expression.

It had been four days since we were trapped on the fourth floor of the Demon Dungeon.

No matter how much we searched the area, all we found were frozen sculptures—no apostles, no beasts.

However, in that time, one fact became clear to us.

“Damn it, even the exit to the fifth floor is blocked.”

Dorara grumbled, lowering his staff.

Before him stood a massive ice wall, scarred only by shallow cuts left by wind magic.

Just like the ice wall at the entrance, the exit was sealed by another colossal barrier of ice.

We were completely stranded on the fourth floor.

“Um, isn’t it even colder than it was on the first day?”

Valencia shivered despite the warmth provided by Dorara’s magic.

She wasn’t wrong—over the past few days, the temperature had steadily dropped.

As a result, Dorara’s use of heating magic had become more frequent.

“...At this rate, we’ll run out of mana first.”

Dorara clutched his staff and sighed.

The unrelenting cold had even frozen the snow on the ground into solid ice, making movement increasingly difficult.

In the end, to conserve warmth, we began spending more time resting in the safety zone.

After four days of fruitless searching, exhaustion was evident on everyone’s faces.

“Do we have enough rations?”

Valencia checked our remaining supplies, her expression troubled.

The food we had brought was nearly gone.

“Oh Lord, why do You burden us with such trials?”

Joachim murmured a quiet prayer, seeking solace in faith with nothing else to rely on.

“Damn it! I’d rather keep blasting that ice wall with magic!”

Dorara shouted, unwilling to sit by idly.

But without his warmth, we’d freeze in no time.

His outburst was quickly quelled by everyone’s protests, and he sat back down reluctantly.

“Hania.”

Iris called me softly.

It had been over a week since she last slept.

Her condition was the most dire among us.

“Yes, Lady Iris?”

“You have a way to escape, don’t you?”

She spoke quietly, ensuring no one else would overhear.

If necessary, I did. I never undertake missions without a backup plan.

“…When the time comes, take everyone and leave.”

Before I could respond, Iris spoke again. She’d rather die alone than risk the lives of others.

“Lady Iris.”

I reached out to fix her disheveled hair.

“I would never leave you behind.”

Hearing this, Iris smiled faintly.

She probably couldn’t tell whether those were my words or Hania’s.

Time continued to pass.

A week had gone by.

The cold had grown unbearable, beyond what even Dorara’s magic could fend off.

Eventually, Dorara, drained from overuse of his mana, collapsed.

Valencia, in an effort to conserve resources, cursed herself into a state of suspended animation.

She offered the spell to others, but everyone declined.

Joachim, too, had changed.

His prayers became less frequent, replaced by quiet contemplation.

He sat upright, eyes closed, seemingly lost in deep thought.

None of us disturbed him.

And Iris—

‘She finally fell asleep.’

Though she was plagued by nightmares, her body had reached its limit.

She leaned on me as she slept, her breaths uneven.

Occasionally, her face would contort, but she showed no signs of waking.

Step...

Then, at last.

Step...

The long-awaited sound of footsteps echoed.

My head lifted slowly.

Through my frost-covered lashes, I saw a figure emerging from the dark.

In her hand was a long sword dragging across the ground, exuding an icy chill more biting than anything we had encountered so far.

From her lips spilled clouds of cold breath.

Her silver hair shimmered, revealing two white horns protruding from her forehead.

They were the marks of forbidden magic—the traces of ancient dragon magic sealed by the Cynthia Marquis family.

Underneath the horns glowed reptilian, icy-blue eyes that resembled those of a lizard.

The surrounding cold intensified with every step she took.

Nikita Cynthia, the Dragon Sorceress of Catastrophe.

The boss of Act Three had finally arrived.

I carefully laid Iris down, ensuring she wouldn’t wake, and rose to my feet.

The frost coating my body flaked away as I stood.

“...So, you’ve come.”

Nikita’s gaze locked onto me.

She seemed to assume that the rest of the group was too drained to pose a threat.

“Senior Nikita.”

So, I decided to greet her alone.

“This is going to sting a little.”

It was time for her to wake up.

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