The black-armored ninja girl adjusted her grip on the injured woman and turned toward the golden knight.
Her sharp battlefield aura melted away instantly.
Now her voice sounded soft. Sweet. Almost sugary.
"Highness… Leonhart," she called gently, brushing a strand of dark hair from her face. "If you don't destroy or purify the core properly, the undead dungeon will regenerate it soon. You can see I barely have any mana left…"
She placed a hand dramatically over her chest.
"So… are you going to purify it for me? Pretty please?"
Leonhart didn't even look at her.
He stared at the pulsing black core in his hand.
The dark crystal throbbed violently, waves of corrupted mana rippling outward like a diseased heartbeat. Cracks of shadow lightning flickered across its surface. The surrounding bone fragments trembled, reacting to its existence.
For a brief second—
It almost seemed alive.
Then—
CRASH.
Without hesitation.
Without chant.
Without ceremony.
Leonhart clenched his fist.
Golden light erupted from his gauntlet.
The core shattered instantly, crushed into black dust that scattered into the wind like burnt ash.
The trembling bones around them stopped moving at once.
Silence fell.
The ninja girl's sweet expression froze.
Then cracked.
"NOOOO!!" she screamed, horror written across her face. "Why would you do that?! Do you even know how much that thing was worth?!"
Leonhart flicked the remaining dust off his glove, completely indifferent.
"First," he said calmly, "I'm also out of mana."
He raised one finger.
"Second, I don't need that trash."
Another finger.
"And lastly—why the hell would I follow your orders?"
The ninja girl's eye twitched.
"Moron," she snapped. "That wasn't an order. It was a request."
Leonhart sheathed his sword lazily.
"Order or request… sounds the same to me."
Her jaw dropped.
"Who in their right mind thinks an order and a request are the sa—"
Her argument was abruptly interrupted.
The injured woman she was carrying grabbed her shoulder weakly and whispered, voice trembling—
"Guys… aren't you forgetting something?"
Both of them blinked.
Leonhart paused mid-turn.
Slowly—
All three lifted their heads.
The forest darkened.
A shadow swallowed the clearing.
Above them—
Towering like a mountain given skeletal form—
The colossal undead salamander dragon had stopped chasing and was now standing still.
Watching them.
Its skull was enormous—large enough to crush entire buildings in a single bite. Black flames burned within its hollow eye sockets, intensifying as its gaze locked downward on them.
Along its colossal skeletal body, thousands of jagged, tree-like protrusions jutted outward, as if the forest itself had been fused into its bones. Within those hollow cavities, dark infernal fire flickered like a twisted embodiment of the food chain and the brutal law of nature itself.
Its ribcage expanded as it inhaled.
The sound alone was like boulders grinding together.
Trees around it snapped simply from the pressure of its presence.
Compared to it—
They looked like ants.
---
The colossal undead salamander dragon loomed over them like a moving mountain of bone and cursed earth.
For a split second—
everything went silent.
Then it moved.
The dragon slowly raised one massive skeletal palm, dark flames coiling around its fingers like living serpents. The air compressed. Mana warped violently.
Leonhart's eyes widened.
"Move—!"
The palm came crashing down.
BOOOOOOM—
The impact shattered the ground, sending a violent shockwave across the forest. Trees were uprooted instantly. The earth caved in where they had been standing just a heartbeat earlier.
Dust swallowed everything.
But somehow—
they avoided it.
Leonhart dashed left.
Hayami leapt back, twisting mid-air while shielding Reina in her arms.
The palm slammed into empty ground instead.
As the dust cleared, Leonhart exhaled slowly.
"…That was too close."
Hayami landed lightly, boots skidding across broken soil. She adjusted Reina in her arms and smirked faintly.
"Good call, Princess Reina."
Reina flicked her bangs aside with a smug little smile despite her injuries.
"No need to thank me. It's my job as an adventurer after all."
Even exhausted, her pride remained intact.
The dragon slowly lifted its massive palm again, black flames intensifying within its hollow eyes. The surrounding mana grew heavier, oppressive.
Leonhart's playful demeanor vanished completely.
His face hardened.
"Hayami," he called out, voice steady.
She didn't look at him—but she was listening.
"We can't escape from it," he continued. "And we're exhausted."
Hayami's dark eyes narrowed.
The dragon let out another earth-shaking roar, preparing for its next attack.
For a brief moment—
their thoughts aligned perfectly.
Like their minds were connected.
Hayami spoke first, a faint grin forming on her lips.
"So… what I'm thinking right now…"
Leonhart answered without hesitation.
"…You're thinking the same."
They both turned slightly—
feet adjusting.
Mana gathering.
Breathing synchronizing.
Then, at the exact same time—
"Let's finish it with one final strike."
---
Then Hayami gently lowered Princess Reina onto the cracked soil, brushing stray dust from her armor.
"Stay down," she whispered softly.
Then—
She rolled her shoulders once.
Cracked her neck.
And stood.
Across from her, Leonhart stepped forward without looking back. The playful arrogance was gone. What remained was something far sharper.
The two fighters moved side by side.
Facing the towering undead salamander dragon.
Its skeletal body blocked the dim sky. Black flames roared within its hollow eyes as it stared down at them like insignificant insects.
But neither of them flinched.
Without exchanging another word, Leonhart and Hayami tightened their grips on their respective swords.
Mana exploded outward.
Golden energy erupted around Leonhart like a blazing sun. At the same time, dark-blue and black mana spiraled around Hayami like a living abyss.
The ground beneath them began to tremble violently.
Cracks spread in circular patterns.
Soil lifted.
Small stones and dust slowly began floating into the air as if gravity itself had weakened.
Then—
Two massive magic circles formed beneath their feet.
One burned radiant gold, intricate lines overlapping into a complex eight-point formation.
The other was pitch black with deep blue edges, ancient symbols rotating along its circumference.
Lightning crackled violently within both circles.
Leonhart slowly raised his sword, just like before—
But this time—
It was different.
Golden mana condensed along the blade until it looked like solid sunlight forged into steel. Small magic circles engraved along the sword's length began spinning rapidly, each one amplifying the next. His energy surged, climbing higher and higher in waves that distorted the air.
Beside him—
Hayami crossed her twin blades in front of her chest.
Dark blue mana poured into them, flowing like liquid night. Along the edges of her swords, tiny embedded stones began glowing faintly—
Like stars in a midnight sky.
Her aura didn't explode outward like Leonhart's.
It compressed.
Sharpened.
Focused into something lethal and silent.
The dragon roared—
Mana gathered in its throat.
But they moved first.
At the exact same moment—
Their voices rang out across the shattered forest.
Leonhart:
"MASTER SWORDSMAN—!"
Hayami:
"MASTER OF SHADOWS—!"
Golden lightning surged upward.
Black lightning spiraled inward.
The magic circles beneath their feet expanded, forming a radiant eight-pointed formation that began overlapping—
Leonhart:
"OCTAGRAM—!"
Hayami:
"OCTAGRAM—!"
The magic circles beneath them flared violently—
And the ground answered.
Beside Leonhart—