Sofis felt as if she was being thrown into a pit of fire. Despite the water already mitigating much of the heat, it was not enough to absorb everything. She couldn’t breathe as the hot air rushed into her lungs. She was practically being roasted alive. The shield pressed against her, holding on stubbornly as it faced the hottest part of the fireball.

And just as sudden as the fireball had hit her, the heat soon dissipated, the steam surrounding her body like a soft barrier.

She picked up the shield and strapped it on her back. There was probably some time before the dragon fired its next attack. During this time, she could at least formulate something to protect herself better.

She decided to run straight into the mountain of jewels. Despite them all being metal and weak in shielding herself from the heat, just as the golden shield was during the first fireball, it was more than enough to block out and spread the heat away instead of focusing everything onto herself.

She rapidly charged and dug in… and proceeded to realise just how stupid her plan was.

She simply couldn’t dig a hole. Unlike a mound of dirt, the metals above just slid down as she removed away the ones in front of her. The weight of the metals also would crush her long before the dragon’s claws did, meaning that it was completely unfeasible to even enact such a plan.

The fireball might’ve not dealt too much harm to her body, but it certainly burned her intelligence and rational thought away.

There was only one other option. She began to dig a hole on the spot, moving her hands as fast as possible as the hot air reached her back. She didn’t have much time, if any at all. As soon as there was even an indent, she curled up and hid under the shield while planting her head into the soil.

A roar. The second fireball hit her.

She screamed. With the water heated up from the first fireball, it offered even less protection for the second. Though the shield protected her from any direct impact, the heat nevertheless travelled to her back, instantly sending the pain around her body.

But somehow, once again… she made it.

Sweating profusely after being literally steamed alive for a few moments, she rushed away towards the slope of the crater. The soil was still soft near the base, ideal for the next shelter she had in mind.

Once again, she began to dig, taking off her helmet and using it like a shovel to increase her efficiency. The dragon was taking longer to prepare its next fireball. It had been a while, but she still hadn’t sensed the hot air. Putting the helmet back on, she dug further in, using her armour to push up the dirt while she attempted to shove her entire body into the hole. Eventually, realising that she couldn’t possibly fit inside, she decided to expose her back towards the dragon once more, the shield to protect her once again.

But she suddenly lost balance, falling out of the hole and directly into the dragon’s view. The shield rolled away, leaving her practically defenceless in front of the beast.

The hot air reached her, signifying the imminent attack of the third fireball.

She had nowhere to hide. Unable to protect herself any longer, she began to run pathetically away in her dirt-covered armour. She knew there was no chance of actually fleeing from the dragon’s fireball. All she could do was hope that the fireball would not hit her directly or that she’d survive by some sheer stroke of luck.

She was out of ideas. Her mind wasn’t even working straight anymore. Her eyes were watering, her mouth constantly coughing out smoke.

She tripped. She couldn’t even bring herself to look at the beast.

The dragon roared.

A gust of hot air blew over her intensely, knocking her slightly away. But the fireball didn’t hit her. In fact, she felt barely any heat from the attack. Did the dragon actually miss, or…

She looked up. The dragon wasn’t even looking at her. Instead, its eyes were fixated upon the shiny golden shield, which somehow still held strong despite facing another fireball.

The dragon had completely missed her, mixing up the shield as part of her body.

Sofis couldn’t believe her luck.

After three massive fireballs, the dragon was rather spent. Instead of hurriedly preparing yet another fireball, it decided to patrol around the jewels, searching for its target. Sofis utilised this chance to continue digging her hole after picking up the shield, preparing for another inevitable attack.

Frankly, she had no idea how to actually defeat the dragon. She couldn’t possibly hope for the spear to do any extensive damage, while approaching the dragon itself was already a fatal hazard. It didn’t matter if the shield was so strong it could block the dragon’s claws. The force would simply knock her out, after which the dragon could finish her off.

Sofis glanced at the woman. As expected, she was still just sitting and watching the battle. There was no concern shown at all, only a calm observance of the conflict being unfolded before her eyes.

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The woman looked back. It was almost as if she was taunting Sofis, silently mocking her pathetic battle against something so clearly superior. At least that was what Sofis imagined.

In reality, the woman’s expression was indifferent, only serving to fuel Sofis’ anger further.

What was Sofis even supposed to do anyway? Just wait until the dragon tired itself out?

‘Do you not want any assistance?’ the woman called out.

Sofis gritted her teeth. ‘Yes!’

As much as she hated to say it, she was in dire straits. If entertaining that woman could help her pass this hall, then she was willing to put down her ego no matter how much of a humiliation it was for her.

The dragon had found her. In a desperate measure, Sofis threw away the shield, hoping to distract it as it had before.

It didn’t work. The dragon’s eyes were fixated on her. Realising she had no more tricks up her sleeve, it decided to approach her slowly until its claws were within range. The woman, meanwhile, still hadn’t made a move yet.

The dragon raised its claws… before unexpectedly reaching its head down to swallow her whole.

A flash. The dragon winced. Blood spurted out from its neck. It was nowhere near a fatal blow, but it was a blow nonetheless.

The dragon raised its head towards the source of the attack. Another flash. It screeched in agony. A moment later, blood and other fluids rained down from its eye.

The dragon stumbled backwards in confusion. It couldn’t even react to the attacks. It knew where they came from, but only after it had already landed. In fright, it began to thrash out randomly, hoping to at least block the next attack somehow.

Another flash. This time, an entire leg was severed like a tree trunk felled by an axe. The dragon let out a cloud of fire, flapping its wings in terror in an attempt to escape whatever had so gravely wounded its body. But the ceiling was too low. The paths were too small. It was simply too large to flee from its eternal habitat.

Sofis couldn’t even see where the attacks came from. As she looked towards the woman, she only saw the same emotionless expression.

No, she was very different.

The woman’s right eye was shining crimson, her tattoo stretched and branched out from the eye to the chin. Three white wings hovered from her back, while four black blades orbited her body. With a swing of her sword, one of the blades disappeared, and a moment later returned to the sound of the dragon’s cry of agony.

Sofis shuddered at the sight. The dragon was a mighty beast that seemed completely invincible to her, but the woman simply struck it effortlessly with a swing of her sword, conducting the blades to attack again and again without even moving from her position.

Screaming and heavily wounded, the dragon suddenly unleashed a fireball directly towards the woman, its power far more intense than any of the blasts Sofis received.

The three wings stretched forth, protecting the woman as a shield. Normally, feathers and other organic material would burn easily, especially when under such intense pressure and heat. This was at least what Sofis knew in her everyday life. Instead, the fire dissipated upon contact, the wings barely even budging from the impact. The woman stood calmly, looking directly at the injured dragon without so much as a flinch.

And with a flap of the wings, the fire was extinguished.

The dragon had completely spent its strength. It fell to the mountain of jewels, the objects scattering everywhere as it landed. A few of them struck Sofis, knocking her over from the force. The entire hall was covered in a thick cloud of smoke, and for a moment, all visibility was lost.

After a while, the smoke cleared and Sofis could finally see the extent of the damage. The dragon lay exhausted on its wealth, whimpering in pain from its wounds. The woman stood atop its head, her sword and the blades pointed at the dragon’s face. Despite all the chaos, she was not a bit harmed or even dirtied, her white dress remaining as untainted as ever.

‘Come,’ she said, motioning for Sofis to climb the dragon.

Sofis began crawling up with her armour weighing her down. Noticing her struggle, the woman reached out a hand and pulled her up without any effort as if she was just lifting a small object. Sofis nearly wanted to shout at the woman for simply watching her struggle for so long, but halted her words at the last moment in fear of being struck down herself by the blades.

The woman handed her sword to Sofis, the same sword that Avalel refused to let her to even touch before.

‘Kill it here,’ she directed, pointing at a bit of softer tissue near the corner of the dragon’s eye.

The dragon, aware of its imminent fate, struggled and thrashed desperately one last time to free itself. The woman simply directed her blades to pin it down, nailing the dragon’s tail, two feet and neck on the ground.

There was no hope for the fallen beast.

Sofis raised the sword high above the target, an executioner about to deliver the coup de grace to a convicted criminal.

The dragon closed its good eye, resigning itself to its fate.

The blade plunged into its head. There was a twitch, and the dragon was dead.

Sofis breathed heavily, still in shock at the rapid development of events. She thought the monster was the dragon which she couldn’t even touch, but the true monster was the tall woman who stood next to her without so much as a hint of expression. Yes, monster was probably the best word to describe that woman as of this moment.

‘Are you still afraid of me?’ the woman asked.

‘... More than before.’

A door appeared near the bottom of the crater. Well, to call it a ‘door’ would be a stretch. It was an archway that opened up into a new space, a flight of stairs that led up to an unknown place.

Sofis examined the door. There was no way this could’ve existed outside the structure. But in these realms where any absurd fantasies become reality, she was already not too surprised at such a thing that seemed only a ‘little’ absurd compared to everything else.

‘Beyond this is the central tower,’ the woman said. ‘Or at least, the term “central tower” is what you called it.’

‘What do you call it, then?’

‘The Sanctuary. Oh, and also… Please take off your armour. You do not need it anymore.’

As Sofis removed the armour off her body, the woman stepped over the door and entered the other space. Sofis didn’t know what exactly she was expecting, but she was just glad nothing strange had happened. As the woman reached out her hand, she took it with fear mixed with admiration.

Taking a deep breath, she crossed over the archway. With that, the door closed behind her and disappeared.

The final hall lay ahead.