The unexpected attack sent shockwaves through the cultists, their chanting faltering for a moment.

"Traitor! There is a traitor here!"

“Protect the Lord!”

Several cultists moved in front of Lord Malgerius, but the assailant continued to strike without pause.

"Kuaaack!"

"Aaah!"

Chaos erupted as some cultists turned to aid their fallen comrades, while others shielded Lord Malgerius. Lord Malgerius, who was hidden by them, launched a surprise attack with his specter on the assailant.

“It seems like a rat has invaded the cult. Who sent you here?”

The attacker leaped away from the magic strike, which caused the earth where he was standing to erupt in flames that were shooting upward. He continued striking at those guarding Lord Malgerius right away.

“Come out. Stop hiding behind your followers.”

They appeared to be skilled swordsmen who only needed one or two blows to slay each of the cultists. It was noticeable that the cultists were struggling against a single person.

Lord Malgerius stepped back even further, casting magical attacks on the swordsman from behind the other cultist. “There’s only one person! Kill him!”

"What's happening?" Celia was both surprised and confused by the sudden fight that broke out. She wasn’t sure what purpose the assailant had in attacking the other cultists.

"We have a temporary backup with us. Let's save the dragon quickly." Seth replied.

Taking advantage of the chaos, they rushed to the dragon's side. The dragon was much weaker than he had been the night before, as if he were on his last breath.

Celia extended her hand and immediately healed the dragon's injuries. The radiant light of her magic began to mend the creature's torn scales and soothe his pain.

Seth drew a plier from the space-dimension box he was carrying and began to break the chains that held the dragon. It was an item that cost twenty gold coins that he purchased from Berko along with Sleeping Dust. Saving the dragon required a lot of investments.

The surroundings were so hectic that Seth felt anxious. It was only a matter of time before the other cultists noticed them.

“This is the craziest thing I have done in my whole life,” he mumbled.

“Me too,” Celia replied without taking her eyes off the dragon.

Orion and the twins were guarding them quietly.

When Seth noticed the dragon was not struggling, he worriedly enquired, "Hey, are you still alive?"

The dragon was quiet, and his red eyes seemed to have lost hope.

Seth was upset as he struggled to move the plier to break the chains. "Can't you be a bit happy? We risked our lives to save you."

"I didn't ask for you to come and save me."

There was a glimmer of hope that his companion would save him when Lord Malgerius led him to the altar to be sacrificed, but in the end, he still refused to see him.

"But still, I already promised."

“Why…?” The dragon didn’t care about the puny human. He knew that Seth had an ulterior motive for saving him.

“Uwaaah! Lord Malgerius!”

Seth saw that the swordsman had defeated all of the cultists protecting Lord Malgerius and reached toward him. Lord Malgerius tried to evade the attack, but the swordsman's blade sliced through the air, aimed directly at the leader's heart. Yet, to everyone's astonishment, the sword stopped just inches from Lord Malgerius’ chest, as if an invisible barrier protected him.

A red light burst out of his specter. Lord Malgerius sent a burst of fire coursing through the blade, forcing the swordsman to release it with a cry of agony. The sword clattered to the ground, and the robe worn by the swordsman fell open, revealing the identity of the person underneath.

Celia asked in surprise, “Sir Isaac? Why is he here?”

Isaac was the man who saved him in Tudela Village.

While the assailant was in pain, Lord Malgerius noticed the people freeing the dragon and let out a furious scream. "Stop them! Don’t let them steal the dragon!"

The cultists quickly turned to face them and charged.

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The chains finally broke the plier.

Seth quickly threw the chains away. “Noel, Leon!”

The twins unveiled themselves from the Invincible Cloak and sprang into action.

Orion jumped on the head of the cultist and scratched their face. “Get that!”

"Why is my healing magic not working?" Celia asked in confusion.

The dragon's wounds were only twenty percent healed. As she proceeded to pour magic force on the dragon, Seth could tell Celia was nervous and on the edge of crying.

“Celia, it’s fine. We don’t have to heal it right now.”

“I can still do it-”

“Dragon isn’t the same as us. It’ll take a long time to heal it.”

“... okay.”

"Foolish humans… You are all going to die here."

Instead of working hard to escape, the dragon had the energy to insult them. Seth suddenly felt himself boiling in anger. "Shut up! You are the stupid one here. I have never seen such a self-deprecating dragon."

The dragon suddenly opened his eyes wide, as though he had never insulted himself before.

"What…?"

"I'm going to say it again. You are the stupidest dragon I have ever met. You threw down your pride and lowered yourself to humans, only for you to get used and betrayed. If that isn't stupid, then what? You ended up like this. Is it worth it?"

"You don’t know anything."

"You are deceiving yourself. You are giving up. You know your fate once you fall into their hands."

The dragon's eyes were shaking.

‘In The Summoned Hero, the dragon came from the First Civilization. For 1300 years, the dragon wandered the whole world, searching for them. The dragon heard false information that the person he was searching for was in The Demon King Worshipers and agreed to get used by them as long as it could meet its companion. But in the end, the dragon was tortured and lost its mind until Hero had to kill it.’ Seth was thinking about stuffing the dragon into the space-dimensional box, but eventually, he carried the small dragon in his arms.

The dragon didn’t struggle, as he felt a familiar warmth enveloping him. "It's fine. As long as I…"

"Stupid dragon, you are forgetting something important. The person you are searching for... Do they want you to sacrifice yourself like this?"

"It's because I made a mistake in the past that they don't want me."

"Your companion is not in this cult."

"You are lying. How do you know? I have seen enough evidence that he’s among them."

‘It was mentioned that Lord Malgerius tricked the dragon, but I can’t remember how exactly.’ When Seth realized that he didn’t have superhuman memory, he felt a bit upset.

"I can swear an oath that they are not here."

Swearing an oath was widely used in the whole world to speak the truth or make a vow by mentioning the Demon King. It was a method he devised. The penalty for breaching the oath was heart failure, which resulted in death.

The dragon was surprised by his confidence.

"But I can't do it right now. So please go to sleep."

"I knew it!"

Seth sprinkled some Sleeping Dust on the dragon. It was only effective because the dragon was currently weak.

“Once you wake up, this will all be over.”

“I'll wake up to another nightmare...”

Seth didn’t know what to say.

‘At least, I hope you won’t get a miserable ending.’ he continued in his mind.

The dragon was struggling to stay awake, but eventually, he fell asleep.

Celia stared at the dragon for a moment. “It seems like you know the dragon.”

Seth shook his head. “No, I have never met the dragon before this.”

“Sister!”

“Ugh!”

One of the cultists kicked Noel. Leon went to assist her and stabbed the man.

Celia and Seth went to help them. It was chaos, but they managed to gain the upper hand. Seth threw the Sleeping Dust on their faces, and they quickly passed out.

The cultist, who noticed the function of the dust, immediately yelled. "Don't inhale the dust!"

“Quickly get him! He’s the weakest amongst them!”

‘In what way do I look weak?’ Seth held the small dragon in one hand and used his other hand to blast away the cultists approaching them. But the magic power was weak and only injured one person at a time.

Celia pulled out a dagger from her waistband and immediately went into combat. She spun and twisted, hitting the chin of one of the cultists. Seth was baffled by her nimble movements. She was pretty good at fighting.

Lord Malgerius looked their way and yelled, "Useless fools! They are taking the dragon away!"

Losing the dragon was tantamount to a death sentence for Lord Malgerius. The demon nobles wouldn’t let him live.

Lord Malgerius was momentarily distracted by their escape, and Isaac used the opportunity to pierce the man in the stomach with his blade. “Your end is here.”

"No, no way. Impossible!"

Isaac pulled out his blade, and Lord Malgerius fell to the ground with a thud.

“Damn it. I can’t die here! After everything I have gone through…”

His body distorted and enlarged, and the cult leader transformed into a hideous monster.

Lord Malgerius had used the dragon’s bones and assimilated them into his own body. He was someone greedy for power and would think of countermeasures if the demon nobles attacked him at any time.

"W-what is that thing?"

"Lord Malgerius turned into a monster!"

The cultists screamed when Lord Malgerius thrashed around and caused some of the debris to hit them.

The experiment seemed to be a failure, as he lost his mind in exchange for the power.

‘The monster isn’t someone that I should fight. Isaac should be able to take care of it on his own.’ Seth and company ran away from the scene without looking back.