Chapter 55: The Dragon Girl of Calamity

Iris’s team is the strongest.

As if to prove that statement, Iris’s team stormed through the floors like a tempest.

Currently, Iris’s team had reached the third floor of the Demonic Palace: the Crying Sky.

Above the dark clouds, two enormous eyes were tightly shut, shedding tears.

These tears became rain, drenching the ground below.

‘That thing, it’s an Apostle.’

The true Apostle of the Crying Sky.

It is destined to be born when the Crying Sky undergoes its transformation in the future.

‘I’ll have to deal with that later.’

But not now.

For now, I’ll just let it slide.

“The third-years are almost catching up.”

Someone remarked.

Amid the rain falling from the sky, Dorara, the runner-up in the Magic Studies department, trailed behind us, chuckling gleefully.

Perhaps it was because his self-esteem had been shattered by Sharin.

He enjoyed flaunting himself like this.

But his skills were undeniable.

He wasn’t compatible with me, though.

I knew all his bad habits and weaknesses like the back of my hand.

Still, his magic was fierce, befitting someone of his rank in Magic Studies.

“Ugh, I feel like I’m losing my mind after being stuck here for days.”

Complained Valencia, the curse user clinging to Joachim’s back.

The Demonic Palace distorts time and space.

This distortion becomes increasingly severe the deeper you go.

On the first floor, time isn’t too different from the outside world.

But starting from the second floor, it changes completely.

Measured by a day in the outside world.              

The second floor equals three days.

The third floor equals seven days.

The fourth floor equals fifteen days.

So even though staying on the lower floors doesn’t create much time difference with the outside world, we’ve already spent several days here in Demonic Palace terms.

On the third floor, we’ve spent three days.

“It’s more surprising that a curse user hates gloomy places.”

Dorara teased.

“Ugh, don’t be prejudiced against curse users.”

Valencia groaned in protest.

As I watched the two of them, I looked down at my hands.

Despite having descended to the third floor of the Demonic Palace, I didn’t feel much physical strain.

This was the body of Vikarmern, a stamina freak.

On top of that, I had endured Aisha’s hellish training.

It was only natural.

‘The real problem…’

…lay elsewhere.

‘Pretending to be Hania is harder than I thought.’

Conversations were manageable if I just spouted things I knew appropriately.

After all, as students of the same academy, our topics were fairly limited.

Most importantly, Hania was a supporting character.

I knew quite a bit about her already.

So acting as Hania wasn’t too difficult.

The real challenge I felt was something else.

I quietly clicked my tongue as I looked at the sword in my hand.

Hania was skilled enough to be the runner-up in the Martial Arts department.

Naturally, her abilities were far superior to those of ordinary Martial Arts students.

She wielded a long sword.

Her swordsmanship was so precise that even the Lazy Genius acknowledged it.

Her skills were the result of both talent and relentless effort.

The problem is, I’ve never used a sword before.

How could someone who’s spent their entire life fighting with fists swing a sword properly?

‘I have trained a bit, so at least the sword doesn’t wobble uncontrollably, but…’

Since I’ve always fought with my bare hands, I can’t get a sense of the reach.

The power of a sword depends on the angle of the swing.

Not being able to fully grasp this led to constant mistakes.

Eventually, I gave up halfway and started swinging the sword like a blunt weapon instead.

‘Ugh, I’m never touching a sword again.’

Hands are definitely better than tools.

“Hania, are you feeling unwell these days?”

At that moment, Valencia asked me a question.

Thanks to the Veil Bandages, I looked indistinguishable from Hania on the surface.

But they were comrades who had fought alongside her.

To their eyes, I must have seemed awkward.

“Hmm, your movements seem rougher than usual, and there’s a lack of restraint.”

Valencia said.

Her eyes were hidden by her bangs, so how could she even notice anything?

“Hmm, now that I think about it, there has been something different these past few days.”

Joachim chimed in.

The team’s attention naturally turned to me.

Even Iris glanced my way.

From here on, not even Iris could help me.

I didn’t want to arouse suspicion before Nikita launched her attack.

If Nikita hesitated to strike because she felt Iris’s team seemed off, things would get troublesome later.

“Well…”

I had to find a way to get through this.

Luckily, something had happened before entering the Demonic Palace that could explain my ‘condition’.

“…Before entering the Demonic Palace, Assistant Professor Barkov confessed to me.”

“Ah.”

“Oh, dear God.”

Valencia and Joachim let out deep sighs.

Everyone knew how horrifying Assistant Professor Barkov was.

“Uh, well, take it easy and rest whenever you need to.”

Even the sharp-tongued Dorara said, looking at me with pity.

I forced a weak smile as I looked at them.

Sympathy flickered in their eyes.

It seemed even someone like Barkov could be useful one day.

Not that I was grateful.

“Let’s keep moving.”

Seeing that I had escaped the crisis, Iris resumed walking.

Though I noticed the corner of her lips twitching in amusement, I didn’t call her out on it.

“We’re almost done with the third floor.”

On this floor, we had defeated three Apostles in total.

The number of beasts we’d vanquished was already beyond count.

Moments like this really drove home how strong Iris’s team was.

Joachim, the battle priest, wielded a book in his left hand and crushed enemies with just his right.

Even in the midst of fighting, he healed any injuries the team suffered immediately.

Valencia, the curse specialist, unleashed her debuffs the moment enemies appeared.

She had around ten thousand curses at her disposal.

In the raging storm of her curses, enemies were rendered utterly helpless in seconds.

There wasn’t even a need to elaborate on Iris or Dorara.

‘What a monstrous group.’

I thought.

With Hania added to this team, it would be the epitome of perfection.

Even so, Iris’s team couldn’t overcome Nikita, the Dragon Maiden of Disaster.

To defeat her, Lucas, with his Flame of Determination, was essential.

‘Especially the fourth floor.’

It could almost be considered an environment tailored exclusively for the Dragon Girl of Calamity.

“Let’s go.”

With Iris leading the way, the team began their descent.

It felt strange having the Third Princess at the forefront, but…

If Iris faced a crisis, no one else here could handle it anyway.

The space around us was pitch black, with only a white staircase stretching endlessly downward.

The stairs consisted solely of steps without railings, making the descent appear perilously dizzying at a glance.

“Heh, I think we might break a record this time.”

“Let’s move fast—we were so humiliated during the group event.”

Behind me, I could hear Joachim and Dorara chatting away.

At this pace, we were indeed incredibly fast.

‘If not for Nikita, we could probably make it to the sixth floor.’

Perhaps in the next Demonic Palace tournament, we might become the first second-years to reach the seventh floor.

Of course, Iris had fundamental reasons why she couldn’t descend too deeply into the Demonic Palace.

“Hania.”

Right then, Iris called for me.

Dark circles shadowed her eyes deeply.

Since entering the Demonic Palace, she’d barely been able to sleep.

She already had insomnia to begin with, but it was worsened by the lingering malevolence pervasive throughout the palace.

Her body bore the power of malevolence, and this reacted with the malevolence inside the Demonic Palace, intensifying her nightmares.

Because of this, Iris was particularly vulnerable within the palace.

Unless the team prioritized clearing the floors as quickly as possible, her combat ability would diminish significantly over time.

‘But with Lucas and his Flame of Determination…’

Even the nightmares of the Demonic Palace could be banished.

That’s why, back in her first year, Iris had recruited Lucas to her team for the Demonic Palace tournament.

However, at that time, his determination hadn’t fully ignited, so they hadn’t achieved remarkable results, and she didn’t bring him along for the next tournament.

‘And then Lucas died there.’

It was a story filled with regret for Iris in many ways.

‘As for the current me, I can’t resolve Iris’s nightmares.’

And so, Iris was becoming more and more drained with each passing day.

“Yes, Lady Iris.”

As I approached Iris, she gestured to me with her eyes.

“It’s soon.”

Nikita’s team was the first to enter the Demonic Palace this time.

That meant she was lying in wait on the fourth floor, fully prepared.

‘She’s set it up so no reinforcements can arrive once Iris’s team steps onto the fourth floor.’

It was a deliberate plan, anticipating that Iris’s team would even surpass the third-year teams.

“We need to get ready.”

I said.

Iris nodded.

Her form dispersed into motion first.

Seeing her move, I immediately followed.

Thud!

The surroundings began to change.

An indescribable, revolting sensation brushed against my body.

This was proof that we had entered the fourth floor of the Demonic Palace.

A cold chill seeped through my entire body.

Crunch—

The sound of snow crunching beneath my feet accompanied my head slowly lifting.

On the pure white snow, frozen duckweed and water hyacinths blanketed the surface.

This place was inexplicably dark, its gloom punctuated by ice sculptures scattered here and there.

My breath fogged the air, a result of the temperature difference.

The Demonic Palace, Fourth Floor.

The Ice Garden.

The sheer drop in temperature made my body feel unbearably cold.

But the real challenge was about to begin.

“Everyone, move!”

At my urgent shout, I leapt forward, shielding Iris.

Shhhhhh!

A sharp sound echoed from behind as something fell from the ceiling.

Boom!

An enormous ice wall crashed down behind us.

“Ahhhhh!”

“Eeeeeek!”

Joachim grabbed Valencia and Dorara and made a tremendous leap, saving all three from being crushed by the ice wall.

“W-what is this? What’s happening?”

Dorara spun around, his face a mask of panic.

Behind us, obscured by a haze of snow and mist, stood a colossal ice wall of unimaginable thickness.

The passage connecting the third and fourth floors of the Demonic Palace had been completely sealed off by this wall of ice.

Confusion flashed across everyone’s faces.

This was a completely unforeseen event—for everyone except Iris and me.

I raised my head slowly.

Beyond the passage of the Ice Garden, a chilling aura seeped outward, stretching even to where we stood.

‘It’s begun.’

To avenge the death of her brother, the Dragon Girl of Calamity.

Nikita Cynthia.

Had started to move.