“““Guhhaaaaa!”””

Searing crimson flames scorched human, stone, and steel all at the same time, melting and burning them all in front of me. Their agony-filled cries startled the people around me, shocked at the sudden attack, giving enough time for Neill to transform back into her dragonewt form and for our knights to block off any escapes they could identify.

I swept my dragon breath around the large underwater cavern with crimson flames, before turning it into white flames. At this point, the mercs and scoundrels came to their sense, unsheathing their weapons and throwing what looked like molotov cocktails and smoke bombs at us to cover their escape.

“I got this!” Neill exclaimed, shooting out her scales to block all of them before they could reach us. She then stomped the ground, sending out her dragon paths to electrocute the closest enemies with mana blasts.

Experience has reached a breaking point. [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]’s Main Job [Champion of Aurena] has risen from [Level 0] to [Level 1]

Attributes have increased due to level up

“Do not kill all of them! Especially not these— Hraaah!” Larent swung his blade, shooting out a mana slash at the approaching skull masks.

The men and women wearing those masks narrowly dodged the knight’s attack, which continued on to pierce right through the wall they were standing before. Using the many storage crates and natural rock formations to their advantage, the skull masks maneuvered around like parkour tracers and ninjas, before throwing feathered daggers at us.

Neill reverted from offensive back to protecting us, shielding us from the daggers, only to notice her scales suddenly falling to the ground after getting hit. Even if it was just a graze, Neill would lose control of any of the scales those daggers touched. This unnerved me enough to stop my flame breath and direct my [Mana Eyes] at them.

Mana Killing Quills

Daggers made from smelting metal with [Shelled o’ War Eater] teeth. Can nullify mana connections and sabotage magic circles upon touch by drenching its feathers with blood, although it will lose this function after use. Can destabilize mana paths

One-time use mage killers, huh? And it seems they have more of them in their quivers. Did they prepare the quills to use against us dragons? Wrong attrition game, though.

“Switch with me!”

“Sure! Rajah, let’s go!” Neill agreed as she pulled Rajah onto her back, keeping him safe with her mane and wings. Immediately afterwards, her floating scales returned to her, leaving the support and protection of the crew to me.

Seeing an opening arise, the skull masks took out scrolls and unfurled them, revealing they were spell seals — disposable one-time spells for non-magicians. Even with some throwing quills at us and others shooting wind and fire spells our way, they sure weren’t a threat to me or the other two powerhouses in this group, but to the rest of the knights they were.

They were covering the escape of the others.

“Run, gotta move on to the other exit!”

Any of these rats escaping would ruin the plan. Trap the enemy from within, flush out the demonkins or whatever mercs they have, and then beat them into the ground with Larent and Neill by my side. One issue down, two more awaiting us.

But none of that would matter if we let any of these scum run loose. I heard what Larent said about planting bombs at the arena. It probably got resolved already since Larent had the information, but who knew what else they were scheming? We needed to stop them, and that was what our support knights were there for.

So I better do my part as a powerhouse.

Wind Blast! Sanctuary!

With a green magic circle, I unleashed a powerful blast of wind at the ceiling, blowing away all the mage-killer daggers before they touched anything. With those threats gone, I summoned a light barrier around us, blocking all the incoming spells.

With the attacks now handled, I pulled my glaive out of my storage before fully buffing myself and using [Halo of Consecration] to heal everybody. While I began playing my music to share my buffs with everybody, Neill and Larent engaged the enemy.

[Music Resonation (Moderate)] [Various Spell buffs] [Sanctified Blaze] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

“This cave is underwater, don’t go all-out!” Larent warned us before [Gale Steps]ing towards the skull masks, overtaking and knocking them down one at a time as they tried to evade him.

“Not taking orders, but sure!” Using her dragon paths, Neill launched concentrated wind fists at the escaping mercs, blowing them away and giving the knights time to attack and subdue them.

“Dammit! Fuck this, fight back!” And eventually, with the tides turning against them, the mercs finally rallied in an attempt to turn around the terrible situation.

And this was where I noticed how uncoordinated the whole group of mercs were. As in, they couldn’t work together as a single group, but they were more suited to fighting with their own allies or by themselves. Which made sense, but it was both an advantage and disadvantage for us.

The separated forces were easier for our knights to overwhelm, but in several of these groups, some pretty unnerving people could be found. There were definitely some pretty weak people, but others looked like they’d seen their fair share of battle. With weapons and armor made from rare metals and powerful monster parts were contesting against the trained knights quite well.

Until…

“Gahaha, ya gotta try ev— GWAAAH!”

“Gack! Shit, spell support!”

“Keep your eyes on that brawler! She’s— Ark! Damn, yo— Guuuh!!”

The cave was large, large enough for me not to worry about bringing the place down with my artillery support spells. I couldn’t be so sure about my terraforming spells, but [Tornado Bullet]s, [Lightning Bolt]s, and [Sacred Smite]s were plenty enough to get the job done. Using my glaive’s fire bullet function made a huge difference providing the knights the necessary support to survive, not to mention healing them with [Halo of Consecration].

Although, with the situation at hand, you would think I would take a more proactive role in this fight. No need, really. After all, my skill set was more suited for support after all, especially when I had my ruthless, muscle-head sister taking the front for me. That was a fact I learned when we fought together while we helped out Renee.

“Rajah!” Neill slid through the skirmish with her dragon paths as if she was skating on ice, using Rajah’s [Dark Tendrils] to round people up for her to smack. Even without using her dragon paths to their maximum potential, Neill was having little to no problem with all the mercs only around level 50 or 60.

Some over 60, huh?

The average level of the enemy was around 32 if we disregarded the skull masks. They had a ton of lower-tier fighters, but I’d noticed some level 50 and 60 people amongst them. Essentially, a bunch of C ranks was helping around, with some close to what I would expect from B rank adventurers.

Seeing how the knights were struggling against these stronger people, I could tell the knights' stats and levels were lower than their enemies', probably around 45 or something. However, with my group helping out, the difference between them was irrelevant. Neill was too strong. Even the roughest-looking ones were nothing but fodder to her. That is excluding my ability to assess the situation from afar, providing supportive fire.

Honestly, this was probably the best situation for a mage like— Left!

“Lass, watch out!” Larent’s voice ringed in my ears just a second before I turned my head around, spark flaming the incoming crossbow bolts. With their ashes falling onto the ground and my flames dissipating, I could see who just tried to shoot me.

Another skull mask, and from the flood of other skull masks coming from around a corner, they must be the reinforcement. Maybe I should have just let that scum grope my butt to sneak in deeper before we engaged… or I could have acted more like an idiot? Who the hell wanted anybody to grope you, especially for an unnecessary stealth mission?!

As if I would allow these low lives— Woah!

Another five bolts flew past me as I dodged out of the way. I knew I shouldn’t let my thoughts wander, but that memory of that scumbag… Without a doubt, I have become quite disgusted by people like them after what happened in Griffonpeak and Estralia.

Wait, that crossbow… Mana Eyes!

Name: Blaine

I knew it! I knew I remembered that crossbow!

“Blaine!” I shouted. “Hey, Blaine! You damn deceiver!”

Blood was rushing to my head at the sight of the person. He was wearing a skull mask like the others, only he had two red streaks running over his eye sockets and covered his entire head like a helmet. You couldn’t even begin to recognize him in that outfit of his, but I knew I still remembered that crossbow from somewhere. Normally nothing special, if it weren’t for the distinctive scars on it.

Stolen novel; please report.

And without even answering back, Blaine shot another bolt at me, followed by four other crossbowmen. I clicked my tongue and slipped by them with [Gale Steps], quickly moving towards the incoming reinforcements, believing in Neill to handle the other side.

Blaine and the other skull masks with the red streaks on them, moved backwards as the plain white skull masks jumped in front of them like bodyguards. But this plan instantly evaporated as a wave of blue cleaved right through the backline, stopping Blaine and his pals from escaping.

Experience has reached a breaking point. [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]’s Main Job [Champion of Aurena] has risen from [Level 1] to [Level 2]

Attributes have increased due to level up

It was Larent.

“You will not escape! I will—”

“Go follow where they came from Mr. Larent!” I shouted after clenching my glaive and flew up into the sky before [Dragoon Diving] right into the crowd. “That demonkin! Find them!”

The alarm was set. We had to find the masterminds of this plan. Larent understood me well enough and he knew I could protect myself. With just a nod, he swung his blade once again, cutting anybody who stood in his way in half. The screams and blood spraying around was his work.

So I had to do the same. No mercy to those who wanted to harm those I cared for. No mercy on these lowlives!

Dreadflare Aura!

“Guuuu!”

They would feel the wrath of a sunfang dragon. The blazing hot sensation of having their bodies melted and turned to ash. Just a two second explosion like this was able to permanently cripple anybody standing around me. I didn’t know if any died or not, but they wouldn’t be able to fight anymore.

As such, I directed my attention to the skull masks in the back. I thought they would panic from their companions’ agony-filled screams, but like cold-hearted psychopaths, they simply ignored their fallen allies, even pushing them out of their way. It honestly felt like I was staring at a hive mind or something with how they were sacrificing their lives, but I didn’t let that worry me too much.

Aiming for Blaine, I dashed forward, using Spark Crescent to kill those in my way while launching me up, allowing me to use another [Air Walk] and [Dragoon Dive] combo, only this time, a bolt flew at me.

I dodge mid-flight using my rocket boosters, only for some skull mask to grab my legs mid-flight. That was honestly some pretty quick reflexes ‘cause I was not flying slowly. My rocket boosters were fast.

What the hell?!

And with perfect synchronization, another two grabbed onto my tail and glaive, causing me to crashland into a group of skull masks from the low altitude and having to carry three adult men. Back on the ground, I immediately activated [Dreadflare Aura] again to blast away the mosh pit, before flying back up and having my parallel minds shoot down spells in retaliation.

Experience has reached a breaking point. [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]’s Main Job [Champion of Aurena] has risen from [Level 2] to [Level 3]

Attributes have increased due to level up

There weren’t that many, and the more spells I shot down, the more that died. There were five crossbow bolts were shot out, followed with a barrage of those mana killing knives. And that was when my suspicion was instantly driven to the maximum, realizing fully well these people seemed to know how to fight against me. At least, that was the feeling I had from their teamwork.

‘Hey, information coming in! There is venom on those bolts!’ And it was also ‘cause Manager Mind warned me of their attacks after they shot those bolts at me in the first place.

Winter’s Gift

Dragon-killing venom created in the bone-chilling mountains of Carmaniate to ward off fire wyverns and ryuukoatls ravaging the people of the icy tundra. Ignores the poison resistances of any dragonkin, but provides no effect on other races. Weakens mana paths coursing through the body of the dragonkin, preventing their special metabolism from functioning

Winter’s Gift! The same venom Yeostar mentioned the skull mask assassin was trying to use on me. I already knew there was a connection from the mask they were wearing, but this was even more damning!

Their attack plan became clear to me. Use those quills to nullify my scales and then have those bolts hit me. It was on the simple side, but if what Yeostar was correct, then that venom should be able to harm me. It could penetrate [Poison Resistance], after all.

… Well, sadly for them, I already have countermeasures for this idea.

Aerial Blitz!

The level ten [Wind Magic] spell that I had used about zero times in fights up until this point — [Aerial Blitz]. Why? Well, it wasn’t exactly too useful to me since it was close-ranged and its niche was kinda already taken over by my scale-dust. For a normal mage like Tasianna, this sorta spell was like an emergency button in case they got jumped by a fighter. Well, she never had to use it since her gel slime-producing catalyst was too good, so probably not the best example.

And what exactly did this rather useless spell do? It created a small area where the air turned into numerous wind blades… and only in this area… and it had to be right in front of me. It could theoretically turn somebody into sashimi, but it didn’t do much damage, and people in armor could just run out of the field. Not so useful, right?

So I thought!

Ding! Ding! Ding!

So many dings echoed in this cavern from the quills dropping onto the ground. They would touch one of these wind slashes, only nullifying the individual slash instead of the spell as a whole, and fall onto the ground moments later. The bolts flew right through the area, but without the quills severing my mana connections on my scales, they were blocked without much fanfare.

And then they got clobbered. As in, they got—

“Get away from her, you freaks!”

“““Guwaaah!”””

— suckered punched by Neill and then electrocuted by her dragon paths, giving me the time to dive into the crowd and ruin the days of the remaining skull masks. Tag teaming with my sister, we took out the remaining skull masks but kept those with the red streaks alive.

Experience has reached a breaking point. [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]’s Main Job [Champion of Aurena] has risen from [Level 3] to [Level 4]

Attributes have increased due to level up

Call me cruel or not, this was what they deserved.

With these reinforcements taken care of, the threat of the mercs only lasted for a couple more moments as us sisters returned to help the knights and Rajah, taking out anybody still trying to resist. Some died from the fighting, but quite a good chunk were captured by Rajah’s [Dark Tendrils].

After the battle was over, I left the knight to handle most of the captives while having Rajah train his venom injection by having him use it on the red skull masks. It wasn’t to kill them, but to dull their senses with paralyzation. Once that was done, I turned to the one with the name “Blaine” in his status board.

And pulled off his mask.

With a crackling sound like breaking open bones, the mask was torn off, revealing the same face I witnessed about a week ago. It was Blaine, and it seemed Neill agreed.

“Hello, hello, you little ass. Guess Renee’s guts were right, after all,” Neill stared down the scowling human, unimpressed by him still acting defiantly.

“… Do you have anything to say for yourself?” I stared right back into his rage-filled eyes. “Who do you belong to? Who is that skull mask who attacked me in the tournament?”

He leaned forward, slowly speaking, “… Our boss will kill you. He knows what you can do now. Don’t think you can win, you dog of that light bitch. Elyonda will fall, and we will take you down.”

Huh? He knows what I can do? How? Wait, probably the tournament.

“May the skulls survive!”

“““May the skulls survive!”””

Unwilling to help. It was obvious the only way to get any information from them was to leave it to the knights. As cruel as torture was, I didn’t exactly know if I could disregard it as useful, considering I’ve used it in the past already.

“Come, I don’t think professionals would spit anything out that easily. Let’s help Larent. I can hear some noise deeper into the place,” Neill suggested, which I agreed to. My ears were also receiving some grunts, but it wasn’t loud enough to audible identify who it belonged to.

But, there really wasn’t much to worry about since it was La—

“Please, please, Princess Hestia! Please, don’t kill us! We love your music from yesterday! W-We bought those pastries from those stands!”

“Huh?” I turned around, seeing seven of the black mercs escape from the knights to run over to me, kneeling down with haggard breaths.

“Y-Yeah! Please, no! We’ll change, just please don’t kill us! Oh, Goddess, please! W-We didn’t want to sign up for this! Our company did! We were forced into it!”

“Please, I beg you and the Goddess! Have mercy on our lives!”

They claimed to be my “fans.” I was naturally suspicious, but they somehow were able to perfectly describe what flash performance I had performed before them, even to the details like my outfit or if I had a bard sing with me. Some even hummed my music decent enough to prove it to me.

“My lady, we’ll take over from here. Please, go and help Sir Larent!” The knights told me as they recaptured the pleading mercs, pushing them away while I turned around.

They are my… fans? Are they amongst my number of fans? Really?

…

If that is the case, then…

“Hestia.” Neill shook my shoulders, waving her hand in front of me. “Just because people admire you, doesn’t mean that every single one is a good person.”

“… I could have killed some of them. Or, you could have. Rajah, too.” I was conflicted what I was saying, but I couldn’t stop my legs from following where Larent went. “… Idols should care about their fans, but… I don’t know what I would have felt if that had happened. If that System message appeared when they died.”

But, I guess that was how it would work. The more fans I got, the more likely I would “see” them die through the System message, like the ones during the Griffonpeak raid. The question was, would I have felt anything for those seven if they had died? Maybe I would have just been ignorant.

[“Master, please, don’t worry,”] Rajah said, but words alone really couldn’t solve this situation for me.

It just felt weird to think these “fans” of mine could have ended up dead by my hand or maybe even fight against me. I felt… slightly betrayed, but also unsure of myself. There was this gnawing pain in my chest whenever I thought of those seven. It felt weird, since I had been thinking of them as nothing but scum just a moment before… but now I was actually concerned about what would happen to them.

It felt wrong.

“Hey, Rajah, you’re still a kid but you should really learn how to soothe your master. That’s not how you help people in this sort of situation.” It was then when I was deep in thought that Neill grabbed my shoulder again, shaking me back into reality before releasing me. “Just saying, but it’s alright for you to care for them. At least, worrying for them isn’t something bad.”

“Neill?” I raised a brow at what she told me. Did she read my mind?

“I mean it. There is nothing bad about feeling bad for an enemy. Can’t exactly suppress what you feel, right? That’s the whole deal with the [Battle Frenzy] training. It’s to help you control these emotions and thoughts, and to unleash them as your weapon. Those people are your fans, but you aren’t their mother. You can’t and shouldn’t control them as if they were, even if the truth does hurt.”

“… You say that, but even I know fans can act against the best interest of their idol.”

Even on Earth, that was so the case. Fans idolizing somebody so much that their world could break apart by the slightest of perceived problems, turning the fans into actual problems. How many idols have died because their fans became too attached and had their faith broken? It was a real thing any celebrity really had to deal with.

I knew it would happen. It could happen one day to me, but I didn’t expect it to happen like this. People willing to go with the destruction of a city ‘cause of a job becoming my fans, and these very people were now sent to jail ‘cause of me.

“… It felt like I was stabbed in the back, a bit.”

“Ha, then isn’t it good you kicked them in their rear? Acting up like that isn’t healthy for anybody,” Neill laughed a bit, trying to brighten the mood. “Maybe they will change after they ge— Oh. Sorry, that didn’t work, huh?”

“O-Oh, no, it’s okay… I think I get what you meant.”

At least, I believed I understood what she meant. Maybe? She was talking about not letting every fan worry me out, right? Sometimes I could attract people and make them my fans, but it didn’t mean their moral compass would align with mine. Well, at least, I believed that was what she meant.

[“Was that soothing, Master’s sister? Master doesn’t feel much better.”]

“You don’t need to shove that fact in my face, cat…”

Hehe…

But— Kaboooom!

““Woah!”” Neill and I were startled as a massive flame exploded from the corner Larent went into, sizzling away the dirt on the rocks.

Fire? Fire mages? Wait, maybe that was the demonkin? Hold on, fire? Demonkin? … Oh shit! Didn’t Saori mention a wrath demonkin who can materialize fire arms? If that is the case, then doesn’t that mean that—!

“Neill, we need to go, now!”

“Right!”

“Come on, Rajah, Larent might be in trouble!”

[“I run!”]

If what I thought was correct, then it was imperative I reached him in time. If that fire came from that very same demonkin I was thinking of, then we had a situation on our hand. It might not be a Prince of Sin, but something equally as bad…

— that stupid lightning girl… that Warbringer.