Chapter 1322: 80. The Price

"Ha, Miss Dragon, stop resisting!"

On the other side, with Liya's Holy Light supporting him, Muen immediately found his confidence again.

Not only had he gained a chance to catch his breath, he was even trying to coordinate with the people outside, attacking from both within and without to turn the tables and seize the initiative!

"No......"

Hamreign's gaze grew increasingly unfocused, and her delicate body swayed more and more unsteadily, yet she still continued fighting back.

Just as Liya had said, although she possessed overwhelming strength, she ultimately had no experience or technique whatsoever.

And combined with more than a thousand years of pent-up desire......if her innate strength were set aside, she actually was not particularly formidable in this regard.

Muen grew increasingly pleased with himself, because he could clearly feel that......he seemed to be on the verge of winning.

But......

Before long, his expression stiffened.

Because he saw that as Hamreign gradually fell into a disadvantage, it seemed as though even the last remnants of her pride were being stripped away, causing incomparable humiliation and fury to erupt from within her.

A thousand years of dignity had suffered a blow. How could she possibly......accept that so easily?

And so, fine dragon scales began emerging across her snow-white skin. Her limbs were no longer soft and elastic, and Muen instantly felt her body become heavy and hard.

"I won't......"

"Dragon transformation? Wait......Miss Dragon, stop! I surrender......I won't fight back anymore......stop! Stop!"

Muen hurriedly tried to calm her down. With his small frame, he could barely endure Miss Dragon in her current state. How could he possibly withstand her true form?

Fortunately, Miss Dragon still retained a trace of reason. Under his attempts to soothe her, the scales gradually disappeared, and she returned to her original appearance.

But before he could even breathe a sigh of relief......a force he could scarcely endure suddenly struck.

"Wait......"

Muen raised his head and happened to see Ariel, looking like a hero chosen by destiny, holding the holy sword......and thrusting it toward the evil dragon!

This should have been a righteous and beautiful scene. After all, as the pitiful yellow-haired man being viciously oppressed by the evil dragon, Muen had once desperately looked forward to the arrival of a hero.

But now, when Muen clearly saw the way Ariel was attacking, the faint flush that had just returned to his face thanks to the Holy Light instantly vanished again!

"No, no, no......that won't work......that holy sword......don't!"

"No——"

Muen's miserable cry echoed through the night sky.

But it was quickly drowned out by a piercing dragon roar that sounded almost devoid of reason, his cry fading humbly into the cold wind.

......

......

On the road, two carriages encountered one another.

Almost at the same moment, both sides lifted their curtains, and two familiar old faces stared at each other.

"Archbishop Canterbury?"

"Professor Prang?"

"......"

"......"

After freezing for several seconds almost simultaneously, Professor Prang was the first to speak. "Why are you here? In the middle of the night, does the Church still have some mountain of official work to deal with?"

"I should be asking you that. Since when does a place like the academy require overtime at night?"

"......"

"......"

The two looked at one another again. Both saw the helplessness in the other's eyes, then spoke almost in unison:

"For the Empire......"

"For the Church......"

The two gave bitter smiles again.

"For......all mankind!"

"Shall we?"

"Let's!"

The carriages raced through the night and soon arrived before what appeared to be an ordinary hotel.

By now, everyone inside the hotel had already been evacuated, and the surrounding area was completely empty, making it seem especially desolate.

The two old men arrived outside the hotel and stared up at the upper floors, their expressions grave.

"Should we force our way inside?"

"That......might not be appropriate."

"But if my Empress......or your Saintess suffers some kind of accident......"

The two looked at each other again and clenched their teeth at the same time.

No matter what happened, their Empress (Saintess) absolutely could not be allowed to come to harm. From their perspective, even if it meant making an enemy of a Calamity, there were certain things that had to be done!

"Hopefully we're not too late!"

Their auras surged instantly. They still had no idea what was currently happening inside that room, but from a rational standpoint, they absolutely could not allow that Calamity to do something to their Empress (Saintess)......

Boom!

However, at that very moment, accompanied by a tremendous explosion, the entire hotel suddenly blew apart.

Countless fragments scattered everywhere. While the two were still standing there in confusion, an enormous shadow suddenly appeared, blotting out the last traces of light in the night sky.

It was......a dragon.

A colossal dragon that had already returned to her original form, spreading her wings and soaring through the air!

The moment they saw the dragon appear, both men's hearts sank. Could it be that they had arrived too late, and that Calamity had already been completely enraged and had done something to the Empress (Saintess)......

"No!"

Archbishop Canterbury suddenly said, "Something is wrong with her posture!"

"What?"

Professor Prang looked more carefully as well. Sure enough, amid those soaring dragon roars, the black dragon remained just as majestic and terrifying as ever, but her flight was unsteady, and even her aura was somewhat chaotic. Rather than looking like she had become enraged and was about to launch an indiscriminate attack, it was more like......

"She......ran away?" Archbishop Canterbury rubbed his eyes, thinking he must have seen incorrectly.

"No......that can't be possible."

"But she really is leaving."

As though confirming Archbishop Canterbury's words, the moment he finished speaking, the giant dragon tore open space and fled in disarray.

She seemed unwilling to remain here for even a single moment longer.

The two stood stunned for several seconds before vanishing simultaneously and reappearing atop the remains of the ruined hotel.

Several figures were standing there.

The Empress (Saintess) they had been worried about was among them, completely unharmed, causing both men to breathe sighs of relief.

It seemed humanity would not suffer a devastating blow at a time like this.

But among those several figures, the most conspicuous was undoubtedly a black-haired girl.

She stood at the very center, gazing up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle. Although she looked thoroughly battered, there was somehow an inexplicable aura of invincibility around her.

"We won."

The girl named Ariel stood with her hands behind her back, the hem of her skirt whipping in the night wind like a fluttering banner.

"So what if she was a Calamity? In the end......we still won."

"......"

The two old men were utterly shocked.

Reason told them that defeating a Calamity was not particularly plausible, yet reality was plainly telling them that the Calamity, the Dragon of Death and Doom, the strongest creature beneath the heavens, had indeed retreated.

These people......had truly driven back a Calamity?

"What exactly happened?"

Archbishop Canterbury and Professor Prang hurriedly examined their surroundings, wanting to understand the full sequence of events. After all, if news of this spread, it would absolutely shake the entire continent.

But this place had already been reduced completely to ruins. There was no way to tell what had happened here before.

"I still can't quite believe it......even if Her Highness the Saintess and the others truly managed to do it, how could defeating a Calamity have required absolutely no price at all?"

As an archbishop, Canterbury could naturally judge the condition of these women at a glance.

Although they were somewhat weakened and disheveled, most of that was merely exhaustion after an intense battle rather than any genuine price paid for the fight.

None of them had even suffered particularly serious injuries.

Surely his Saintess had not actually become so powerful that......

"Help......"

At that moment, he heard a faint cry for help.

Archbishop Canterbury frowned and followed the sound. He lifted away a larger chunk of rubble, and then......

"Hiss——"

He sharply sucked in a breath.

"What? What did you find?"

Professor Prang came over as well, and then......

"Hiss——"

He also sharply sucked in a breath.

There was nothing particularly unusual beneath the rubble.

Only......an ordinary yellow-haired man.

Except that this yellow-haired man currently looked......a little too miserable.

"What in the world did this brat go through to end up like this?"

Even the extraordinarily experienced Archbishop Canterbury and Professor Prang could not help but feel their minds shake at the sight before them.

They almost could not bear to look directly at him.

And yet they still could not stop themselves from taking a few more glances.

Could it be that......the reason those women had managed to drive back the legendary Calamity was because this was the price?

......

......

【Rage Progress: ???】

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