Ch.229Chapter 229 – Rubrum (2)

The seal opened as if it had been waiting when Chris approached.

And Chris, who was about to walk inside as if entranced, suddenly stopped in her tracks.

[Why aren’t you going in?]

“I’m… not sure if I should enter.”

Chris quietly said while looking at Dvel.

“I should prioritize reuniting with Sir Kay first…”

[Hmm, is this Kay person perhaps your lover?]

At Dvel’s sudden question, Chris felt her face grow slightly warm. However, she quickly composed herself and replied calmly.

“We’re not yet in that kind of relationship…”

[Your face tells me everything.]

Dvel said this and then continued quietly.

[However, I think it would be better for you to enter first. Not just anyone can enter this seal anyway.]

“What do you mean, not just anyone?”

Chris thought that was obvious since it was a seal, after all.

[Until now, your companions could have entered together. But this time, you must go in alone.]

“Alone?”

[Yes. This seal is a special one.]

Dvel explained quietly.

[I don’t think the goddess used contracts to have Rubrum guard the seal for no reason.]

“Do you know what’s inside?”

[A trial.]

Dvel answered immediately.

“Besides that, what else?”

At Chris’s question, Dvel remained silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. But he soon appeared to make a decision and spoke in a low voice.

[I don’t know exactly.]

He didn’t know exactly. That wasn’t the same as not knowing at all.

“But you have some idea, some suspicion, don’t you?”

[Indeed.]

Dvel quietly looked at the seal and said.

[I believe there’s an important secret inside. A secret meant to be passed on to the right person.]

Chris fell into thought for a moment.

“Perhaps…”

[It seems you’ve been curious about something for a while.]

At Dvel’s words, Chris nodded. The question she and Kay had shared when she first received Evgenia’s true divine power was resurfacing in her mind.

[Whether the answer to what you’re curious about is in there, I cannot say…]

“But it might be.”

Dvel quietly nodded.

‘Considering what Sir Dvel said…’

The reason Rubrum created Lair here was to protect this seal. Given what kind of being Rubrum was, it seemed unlikely he would be guarding a seal here without good reason.

Chris thought that the seal itself must have value, and there was a high probability that important information was contained within it.

She looked at the seal again.

“…Sir Dvel. May I ask you a favor?”

[Speak.]

With Dvel’s permission, Chris nodded once and quietly said.

“Please guide Sir Kay and my companions here.”

[Will you wait until they arrive?]

“I believe they’re already on their way to rescue me.”

Chris quietly answered Dvel’s question.

“But I can’t just idly wait. Our group has a time limit that we don’t know when will end.”

Chris said quietly, thinking of Kay’s physical condition.

“I’ll enter the seal.”

Gripping her stone tablet firmly and adjusting her cloak, Chris said.

“I’ll face the trial.”

Dvel nodded at Chris’s answer. Then he casually asked.

[You’ve made up your mind?]

“I made my resolve when I first accepted Lady Evgenia’s true divine power.”

Recalling what happened at the first seal, Chris quietly said.

“Everything is for her sake.”

Thinking of Kay and her companions who must be rushing to save her by now, Chris walked toward the seal.

[I wish you good fortune.]

“Thank you.”

Chris entered the seal. After the hem of her worn nun’s habit disappeared inside, the door guarding the seal began to close.

+

-Crackle

Red sparks began to flow over Rubrum’s red armor.

The moment I was watching him gather the dragon’s power before attacking…

My body instinctively moved my arm, extending the halberd and quickly twisting it, causing Rubrum’s fist to pass over my head.

[A futile attempt.]

As if he had anticipated that I would deflect his attack, Rubrum continued swinging his fists.

‘I can’t block them head-on.’

Although the halberd I was holding was certainly of excellent quality, it couldn’t withstand Rubrum’s punches—infused with dragon power and delivered through thick armor—for long without special measures.

Knowing this, I focused on using the halberd to deflect Rubrum’s attacks.

At first, his attacks came at a speed I could see.

But as time went on, they became faster, making them increasingly difficult to deflect.

Then, as if he thought I wouldn’t be able to adjust to the speed, one of Rubrum’s gauntlets suddenly changed shape.

[Let’s see if you can handle this.]

As he spoke, Rubrum’s arms had transformed into massive claw-like forms.

They appeared to be modeled after Rubrum’s own feet, and he began swinging these claws rapidly.

The five-pronged blades continuously targeted my body, and I tried to deflect and avoid the attacks using the reach of my halberd.

Even as I did so, his attacks continued to accelerate, so I created a large distance between us, but Rubrum closed in on me instantly and swung his claws with enough force to shatter my halberd.

-CLANG!!

An extremely grating sound reached my ears.

Rubrum’s claw blades were blocked by my halberd.

But contrary to my expectation that it would break immediately, the halberd remained intact.

[You wrapped it in mana to block.]

Rubrum muttered, noticing the blue energy flowing over the halberd.

I smiled slightly at him and said:

“I had a good teacher.”

I thought of the witch who had helped me learn to control mana flow even without wearing armor.

Then I immediately twisted the mana-infused halberd to break Rubrum’s stance, pushed his chest back with my leg, and swung the halberd widely.

As Rubrum blocked the blade part of my quickly swung halberd with his claw, the blade of my halberd scraped against his claw, creating an unpleasant metallic sound.

[…How impudent.]

As if he hadn’t expected that I could push him back, even momentarily, Rubrum muttered with displeasure.

Then in the next moment, Rubrum grabbed the blade of the halberd with his arm and began pushing it upward.

[I don’t need to hold back anymore.]

With that, Rubrum kicked at me while still holding the halberd’s blade, forcing me to release it and retreat backward.

Soon, Rubrum threw the halberd back at me, and behind it, he was spreading his wings, preparing to take flight.

If I responded to the halberd, I would allow Rubrum to attack; if I prepared for Rubrum, I would be severely injured by the halberd.

‘I have to use it now.’

Although it came with the heavy penalty of shortened lifespan, now was not the time to spare resources.

I concentrated my mind throughout my body and stretched out my arm, and seeing this, Rubrum spread his wings even wider.

Then Rubrum flew at full speed, and…

Donning the dragon armor, I grabbed the halberd again and swung it down toward Rubrum.

-CLANG!!

He had transformed his arm again, this time into a gauntlet with what looked like a massive sword embedded in it.

‘I’ll keep up.’

To match Rubrum’s already accelerated attack, I put more strength into the hand holding the halberd.

Gradually, the speed of my halberd increased, and soon the mana-infused halberd and the dragon-energy-infused sword began to trace trajectories targeting each other.

Just as Rubrum and I reached a stalemate, Rubrum suddenly twisted his sword and deflected the halberd.

Then, his other arm’s sword began approaching my abdomen.

I immediately raised my left arm to block Rubrum’s sword, and with the sound of metal striking metal, sparks flew, creating a flash of light.

For a moment, I couldn’t see Rubrum because of the light.

And it seemed Rubrum was in the same situation, as no additional attacks came, but instead, his voice was heard quietly.

[Indeed. You’ve even mastered shape transformation.]

Rubrum muttered, seeing my left gauntlet transformed into a shield.

Before Rubrum could do anything else, I struck his sword with my shield and swung the halberd with one hand, causing Rubrum to retreat.

[…Did you learn by watching what I do?]

“That’s correct, old man.”

I answered Rubrum’s question while reverting my arm’s shield back to a gauntlet and gripping the halberd.

“I saw what you did at first.”

At that time, when Rubrum suddenly changed his weapon, I had to briefly retreat from close combat.

That scene remained in my memory.

“If you can do it, there’s no reason I can’t.”

Despite inherent differences, the armor we both wore was created with dragon power.

If he could change the form of his armor, it meant I could do the same.

I presented this hypothesis to Beatrice, who also thought it was possible, and we continued to identify and work on weaknesses and sensations while sparring together.

Later, with Mask’s help as well, I continued to train, and the results were now evident.

[For someone who isn’t a dragon, you’ve managed to grasp that sensation well. It’s something that’s usually understood instinctively.]

Rubrum spoke quietly, as if praising me.

But soon, with a cold voice and gleaming eyes, he said:

[However, it’s not perfect.]

“……”

As I remained silent at Rubrum’s words, he continued.

[Compared to ten days ago, it’s a remarkable change, but since you’re not a proper dragon, problems are bound to arise.]

Rubrum said this while pointing at me.

[And, there’s your biggest problem.]

Still pointing at me, Rubrum quietly said:

[When you transform the armor, doesn’t your body become unstable?]

As if he had hit a sore spot, my rapidly beating heart momentarily screamed.

While I tried not to show it, Rubrum quietly said:

[The form you first transformed into was optimized to put minimal strain on your body while exerting maximum power. Forcibly disrupting that naturally causes problems with your life maintenance.]

Rubrum’s cold voice quietly resonated.

[I don’t even need to look deeply; your body already seems to be screaming.]

At Rubrum’s words, I unconsciously gritted my teeth slightly.

As Rubrum said, just transforming one gauntlet into armor had momentarily caused me to lose control of my mana flow, sending intense pain through my body.

“It seems I can’t hide anything from you.”

My opponent was a dragon.

A species naturally superior to me in handling mana or dragon power.

That’s why he accurately noticed the drawback of my armor transformation.

“But it’s enough to defeat you.”

I never thought I wouldn’t have my weakness exposed.

Rather, I expected it would definitely be discovered.

“Indeed, transforming the armor increases the burden on my body.”

I raised my halberd, pointing it at Rubrum.

“So I just need to defeat you before I collapse.”

[How simplistic.]

“But easy to understand.”

Rubrum remained silent for a moment, as if dumbfounded by my words.

Ignoring him, I continued:

“Let’s stop talking and continue. I need to take Chris back.”

[Indeed. Your companion comes first.]

Rubrum, who had been listening quietly, made a sound like grinding teeth as he laughed.

Then he changed his stance and…

Two more pairs of dragon wings emerged from behind his back, creating a total of six dragon wings.

[Let’s see if you’re worthy of that.]

The red dragon quietly said.