That night, while Fumiko and Muriel were resting in their lodging, there wasn’t even a sound of wind or insects from outside. For Fumiko, it was strange—staying in such a pitch-dark cave. The magical otherworld she had dreamed of venturing into was so different from what she had imagined. And yet, it was nothing like her old world either. She couldn't sleep, excited by the thought of being on an adventure like this. But being the only one awake in the middle of the night felt odd.

“Muriel… Muriel, are you awake?”

“Uh… Fu… sleeping.” Muriel replied in a faint, sleepy voice, sounding as if she was talking in her sleep.

“Hm… it’s tough, you know, not being able to sleep like this,” Fumiko muttered, lying down and looking at Muriel, who was curled up on the floor like a big cat, talking to herself.

“Even sleeping on the floor like that, Muriel can still sleep, huh? What a sleepy dragon,” Fumiko said softly, joking as she looked at the small dragon resting so comfortably. Of course, there was a scattered pile of gold underneath where Muriel slept.

“Mmm… shut… up… sleep…”

“Alright, I’ll try to sleep too.”

Fumiko closed her eyes, trying to force herself to sleep as Muriel had told her. But shortly after she closed her eyes, she heard a sound like the front door being broken down, making her jolt up immediately. The shock caused her to break into a cold sweat, her hands and heart trembling so much that she could hardly control herself. But then, she remembered one thing—Muriel.

“Muriel. Hey, Muri—”

Fumiko leaned down towards Muriel, who was curled up on the floor, and whispered softly to wake her up. But before she could finish, Muriel sprang up from the ground, swiftly clamping a hand over Fumiko's mouth in complete silence. Fumiko let out a muffled squeak beneath Muriel’s hand, startled so badly that her heart nearly stopped. Muriel, however, mouthed silently for Fumiko to stay quiet, then gently removed her hand.

Fumiko slowly raised her thumb up, signaling that she understood. Muriel sighed softly in relief, then turned her attention to the bedroom door. She crept toward it, gesturing for Fumiko to follow closely behind her. Even without pressing her ear against the door, Muriel could hear the heavy footsteps of something large with many legs pacing back and forth outside their room. She took a deep breath.

And at that moment, she slammed her shoulder into the wooden bedroom door, bursting through it with incredible speed. Splinters from the door flew across the living area like shrapnel, embedding into the thick hide of a spider as large as a bull, like a barrage of bullets. But that wasn't enough for Muriel. She charged forward and delivered a punch directly into the center of its body. In an instant, the spider's body exploded, splattering against the walls of the house, creating a crimson mist.

“Whoa, Muriel, why did you get so mad?” Fumiko followed Muriel out and stood, staring at the mangled remains of the spider just outside the bedroom door. The thick stench of blood and the foul odor of insects filled the room as the remains of the creature seeped into the floorboards. The smell made Fumiko feel like she might vomit.

“Fumiko, stay back!”

Muriel turned toward Fumiko’s voice, but her sharp eyes, capable of seeing in the dark, caught sight of another spider lurking on the ceiling above Fumiko. It was too far for Muriel to reach in time. However, before the spider could leap down at Fumiko, she instinctively looked up, reacting as if by sheer survival instinct, and swiftly raised her hand towards it.

"Skill Activation [Radiant Light]!" she exclaimed. Instantly, a blinding light, as brilliant as the sun, flooded the entire room. The large spider screeched in pain, retreating through the front door in a desperate escape. But it wasn't the only one suffering. Muriel winced as the intense brightness assaulted her eyes.

"Aaaaahhhh! Why is the light from you other-worlders so blinding?!" Muriel cried, falling to the ground and writhing in discomfort.

“Heh, sorry, Muriel. I forgot that demon lords aren’t too fond of light magic,” Fumiko chuckled awkwardly, stepping over to help Muriel up slowly.

"Ugh, my eyes. I can't even think about going back to sleep after that," Muriel grumbled, pressing both hands over her eyes as she tried to stand up.

"But this, it probably means we can’t stay here any long—"

Before Fumiko could finish, the sound of battle rang out from the town below. She and Muriel rushed to the window of the living room, peering out with urgency. The scene outside was like a war zone. The entire town seemed to be under siege. Dwarves clashed fiercely with spiders as large as bulls, flames licking up the streets to block off certain pathways and keep the spider swarm at bay. The monstrous creatures pressed their relentless assault against the town, swarming over every inch of the city’s defenses.

"Muriel, do you think... maybe we should help them out?" Fumiko asked, her eyes wide as she stared at the battlefield unfolding outside their lodging. She could hardly believe that the peaceful town they had seen earlier today had turned into such a fiery war zone against giant spiders overnight.

“Oh, Fumiko, you remember what that Dwarven King told us, right? He said to stay in our lodging and not to wander around at night, didn’t he? And wasn’t it that same king who ordered us not to leave here after dark? When did you start turning into a little lawbreaker?” Muriel teased, a smirk spreading across her face.

“Muriel,” Fumiko rolled her eyes and looked over at her. Yes, she knew that what she was about to do was against what she was told to do, but she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. It was ironic to her, being lectured on following the rules by Muriel—someone who was one of the least rule-abiding beings she had ever known.

“Oh, no, no! Don’t you know, Fumiko? Once you start breaking the rules, power starts to take over. Rules are meant to keep humans like you in line.”

“Muriel, please, if this town is destroyed by those spiders while we just stand here chatting when we could be doing something, I’ll never be able to sleep,” Fumiko pleaded, trying to appeal to Muriel’s softer side, the part that sometimes showed itself, especially for her.

“Sigh, alright, alright... for you, I’ll lend a hand to these worthless little dwarves. And for Yui, too, I suppose. Not that I owe her anything... not much, anyway,” Muriel waved her hand dismissively, speaking in an indifferent tone. It was true that, by nature, dwarves and dragons didn’t get along, but Muriel was here because of Yui, so she begrudgingly agreed to help.

“Thank you, Muriel... Alright, give me a moment to get ready.”

Fumiko and Muriel entered the town, now engulfed in chaos like a war zone. Fires blazed along the streets, blocking the spiders’ paths—quite clever, really. The dwarven homes, mostly built of stone, kept the flames from spreading to their dwellings. Muriel walked through the fires as if they were nothing, her scales unaffected by the heat, and used her tail to lift Fumiko over the wall of flames.

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“From the sound of the battle, it seems like these dwarves can take care of themselves. Maybe we should head back and get some rest,” Muriel remarked, starting to turn back around. But before she could go any further, Fumiko grabbed onto her tail, stopping her in her tracks.

“Don’t head back just yet! We just got here!”

Fumiko continued walking, heading toward the source of the battle sounds. Most of the fighting seemed concentrated in the western part of the city, not too far from their lodging. As they walked through the city, she began to understand why their lodging had been attacked despite being relatively far from the city center. Both she and Muriel looked around, noticing that many doors were locked from the inside. It seemed like the dwarven townsfolk were prepared for these nightly spider attacks as if it were something they had come to expect.

Suddenly, as they turned a corner, a massive spider emerged from a side street without warning. Four dwarven warriors, clad in heavy armor, were chasing after it. Without hesitation, Muriel leaped forward, slamming her fist into the spider with such force that it exploded from within, splattering its insides all over the street. The dwarven warriors, caught off guard by Muriel’s sudden attack, froze in shock as the remains of the giant spider coated the ground.

“Syra! What in the world is that?!” one of the dwarves shouted, pointing his axe towards Muriel with trembling hands. His grip loosened in fear, and his long axe fell to the ground with a clatter, which he quickly scrambled to pick back up.

“Ah… the smell of fear, so sweet and appetizing. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever tasted dwarf meat before,” Muriel grinned, her voice teasingly sinister.

Before the situation could escalate, Fumiko stepped in. “Is everyone alright?” she asked, quickly shoving Muriel’s soft, mochi-like cheek away as she spoke to the dwarven soldiers. From her perspective, the dwarves were barely a head shorter than Muriel, though, in their bulky armor, they looked like children wearing steel suits, wielding axes twice their size.

“You—you’re the human who arrived in town earlier today, aren’t you? And that one, the Black Dragon Demon Lord.”

“Yeah, obviously,” Muriel quipped, pointing at her black attire. “Haven’t you figured it out by now?”

“Muriel, please, shut up,” Fumiko said, sighing.

“Yes, we are. Our lodging was attacked by spiders, so we’ve come down here to help the city,” Fumiko explained, moving closer to the dwarves to serve as a buffer between them and Muriel. She didn’t want either side to lash out at each other.

“About those spiders, both of you need to come with us,” the frontmost dwarf soldier stammered as he cautiously approached Fumiko, clearly intimidated by Muriel’s presence.

“Okay? Where are you taking us?” Fumiko instinctively grabbed Muriel’s hand, aware that they might be in trouble after leaving their lodging without permission. Muriel glanced at Fumiko's hand for a moment before looking up at the dwarf soldiers in front of them. If any problems arose, she knew she would have to protect Fumiko.

The two were led through the city by the four dwarf soldiers. Here and there, they saw burnt spider remains along the streets, and some dwarf soldiers were resting, tending to their wounds after battling the giant spiders. Fumiko was surprised to see that none of them appeared to be dead. She had heard that dwarves in this world were as resilient as the mountains they inhabited, but she never expected them to be this tough.

“Seeing these spiders up close like this makes it clear what we’re dealing with,” Muriel commented, pausing to observe the body of an unburnt spider. Its hairy form and the prominent fangs in its mouth were striking.

“What do you mean, Muriel?” Fumiko halted as well, turning to follow Muriel’s gaze. The spider looked significantly larger when viewed up close compared to the two that had attacked their lodging earlier.

“These are Dragonbane Spiders, the kind that live in the mountains around here. But no one has encountered them in nearly a hundred years, so it was thought they had gone extinct. I can’t believe they’ve made a home in this cave.”

“Wow, you know quite a lot about these spiders, Muriel. It’s surprising since you usually don’t seem to care much for creatures at all.”

“Because they’re one of the few things that can kill me. Fumiko, as their name suggests, their venom is evolved to have high magical damage against dragons. Even with my demon lord magic for protection, I’m still a dragon. I’m not sure, Fumiko, if I got bitten by one of these, whether I would survive.”

“Are you scared, Muriel?”

“Shut up. It’s not that I’m worried about what would happen to you if I died here. You’d understand that if these things can kill me, what would happen to a human like you?”

“Aww, are you that concerned about me? That’s sweet!” Fumiko smiled at Muriel, knowing that Muriel had a tendency to say one thing and mean another when it came to caring about others.

“Hmph! I told you to be quiet. Now let’s keep moving.”

Muriel took a deep breath before unleashing a stream of blue-black fire onto the spider before them, incinerating it slowly. Fumiko stepped back a little to avoid the heat from the flames. Afterward, Muriel continued forward. But as Fumiko had pointed out, if even Muriel felt fear for herself, how could she not worry about Fumiko?

After being led for a while, the two girls came across a massive door not far from the city. The size of it was unexpectedly large, and Fumiko had to tilt her head back to take it all in, feeling small like a mouse in its shadow. At that moment, they encountered King Lord Beldar Oakbone, who stood in armor, watching his soldiers defend against a horde of spiders attempting to crawl out from the enormous door. The sheer number of spiders was overwhelming, making it impossible to count them. Beldar turned to face Fumiko, his expression one of despair and disappointment, akin to that of a dog that had just been kicked.

“Ah, Lady Fumiko of Alderia. It seems we specifically instructed you not to leave your lodging, didn’t we?” His voice was devoid of anger, instead sounding almost relieved that they had arrived.

“Our lodging was attacked by two spiders, Your Majesty, so we had to come out to assist you,” Fumiko replied.

“I hope this isn’t an attempt to use us as bait for those spiders in your shabby lodging,” Muriel interjected, glaring at Beldar in discontent.

“We apologize, but the spider attack is quite severe tonight. Some groups managed to slip past our defenses. If you walked through the city, you likely saw the remains of them scattered about.”

“Yes, the place is littered with them. If there’s anything we can do to help, please let us assist!” Fumiko urged Beldar, her sincere and clear voice instantly winning him over. However, at that moment, words alone would not be enough to stop the giant spiders.

“As adventurers from the outside world, you must have some abilities, yes? What do you say we work together to eliminate these spiders once and for all?”

“Uh? Just me… I don’t think I can do that, but if—”

“No, Fumiko. It’s too late to summon Aito, Chiaki, papa, or anyone of your friends here now. By the time we create a teleportation circle, it would be the next morrow light. There’s no way to call them here in time,” Muriel interjected, instantly recognizing what Fumiko was about to suggest. Then, she stepped forward and fixed her gaze on Beldar, her demeanor not softening in the slightest.

“Hold King Beldar Oakbone, I am Muriel Belrost, the Black Dragon and the one and only Demon Lord of the Western Continent. You should have heard of my reputation by now. Earlier today, we almost crossed paths. If we are to help you here and now, you must agree to every term Fumiko offered to you earlier today.”

Muriel's words were as sharp as a blade. She wasn’t merely proposing a deal, it was an ultimatum for their assistance. For Beldar, even though he would have to swallow his pride, he had no other choice at that moment. The spiders were on the verge of breaking through the door, and the number of injured dwarf soldiers was increasing by the minutes. Having a dragon on their side right now could be the last card they need to play in order to exterminate the giant spiders.

“Agreed, done. We will adhere to the pact that Lady Fumiko proposed. We will do whatever you require, as long as you help us eliminate these spiders once and for all.”

“Muriel, does it really have to come to this?”

“We’re selling our strength to them, Fumiko. Having a demon lord fight for them is quite a costly affair.” Muriel turned to Fumiko, a sly grin spreading across her face, almost reaching her ears. The proud smile of Muriel looked as if she were delighting in the situation.

“But you, Fumiko, you don’t have to follow us in there. It’s too dangerous for you. Wait here.”

“I understand, Muriel. Just don’t push yourself too hard, okay?”

“Do you think I’m like those other-worlder weaklings? I’m not as fragile as your friends from another world.”

Muriel’s mocking tone lingered as her smile remained intact. Before long, Beldar charged toward the door with a long hammer, slamming it against the massive door, sending the spiders attempting to break through from the other side flying back violently. The moment a gap opened, Muriel flew into the space behind the door, but Beldar quickly followed suit. He couldn’t let Muriel seize this opportunity alone. Just before other spiders could reach them, the great door slammed shut behind them.

“I hope you’re not foolish enough to think you’ll get out of this unscathed, dwarf,” Muriel taunted.

“And don’t think you can steal every piece of treasure from these caves, dragon,” Beldar shot back.

“Heh, so you really know the true reason I’m helping you? Such a shame. But now that we’re both here, I suppose we’ll have to fight side by side,” Muriel said, her tone light, yet edged with challenge.

“Looks like we’ll have to face them back-to-back, then.”