“I, I belong to Seoyoon!”
“What did you say…?”
The red dragon’s movements stopped.
“My body and heart all belong to Seoyoon. Get lost, you pervert!”
Luna hurriedly stepped back, covering her body with her hands.
“Seoyoon? Who the hell is that guy…”
The red dragon’s expression twisted.
“How dare you, how dare you… take what’s mine…”
“You’re wrong! I’m not yours!”
Luna declared firmly.
“I’m Seoyoon’s woman!”
The red dragon’s body trembled.
Anger? No, it was jealousy.
“That bastard named Seoyoon…”
The red dragon’s voice dropped low.
“He dared to claim my Luna?”
“I told you, I’m not your Luna!”
“Yes, you are! You’re mine!”
The red dragon shouted.
“I’ve waited thousands of years! I only thought of you!”
“That’s just your one-sided obsession!”
Luna shot back.
“I love Seoyoon! I’m not interested in someone like you!”
The red dragon fell silent.
Her face turned pale.
“You… love him…?”
“Yes! I love him!”
Luna said with a confident expression.
“Seoyoon is kind and makes me feel good. We do a lot of lewd things too! He’s on a completely different level from a pervert like you!”
“…What?! Lewd, lewd things. Things I haven’t even done yet…!”
The red dragon’s face contorted with jealousy and rage.
“I’ll kill him! I’ll kill that bastard Seoyoon and take you for myself!”
At the words of killing Jin Seoyoon, Luna’s eyes turned ice-cold.
“Take that back.”
“No.”
The red dragon sneered.
“If it’s Seoyoon, his name matches the Jin Seoyoon that Hermes mentioned. So he’s the root of all evil.”
“You—!”
Luna tried to subdue the woman in front of her using the system.
But—
“Do you really think you, weakened by memory loss, can stand against me right now?”
The red dragon’s eyes gleamed sinisterly.
“I want to claim you right here and now, but this form isn’t the one I desire.”
“What are you planning to do.”
“Don’t worry. All you have to do is return to your original form here. And then watch the man you love die.”
Red chains began wrapping around the entire space.
The chains dug into the walls, floor, and ceiling, forming a massive net. The red light grew stronger, dyeing the entire space crimson.
“This can’t be… interference…”
Luna was horrified.
Another existence was interfering in this space that no one but her could touch.
“How…!”
“Heh heh, it’s been a long time.”
The red dragon smiled coldly.
“All this time, I’ve been observing and studying your domain from below. Figuring out how to return you to your original state.”
The red chains tightened further.
Luna’s power resisted, but the red chains kept digging in.
“I was tired of pretending to be your enemy. Those stupid gods thought they were using me to keep you in check.”
Luna’s face grew pale.
“No, no….”
“Just wait quietly here.”
She looked at Luna one last time.
“While imagining the sight of the man you love dying.”
“No…!”
Luna desperately gathered her strength.
The red chains absorbed that power.
The woman smirked and vanished.
“…Ah.”
Luna fell to her knees.
The red chains enveloped the entire space. They were embedded in the walls, the floor, the ceiling. Red chains were everywhere.
“Seoyoon…”
Luna reached out with trembling hands into the air.
She tried to bring up the system window, but it didn’t work properly.
[Error]
[System control unavailable]
***
The red dragon slowly descended the tower.
First priority was devouring the Purple Star to fully restore her power.
‘To have her, I must restore my original power first.’
She had trapped her inside, but she would break out soon enough.
Right now she was weakened by the seal and memory loss, but originally she was a being even the gods feared.
The moment she broke through.
“She will return to her original form.”
Just imagining that day made her lower body wet.
“Ahh… awaken… her engulfed in rage… destroying everything…♡”
She drooled as she fantasized.
Her raging appearance. Her cold eyes dyed with madness. Her power running wild, destroying everything.
“It will be beautiful…♡”
But soon an unpleasant name came to mind.
“Jin Seoyoon…”
Her expression twisted.
The man she claimed to love.
“How dare he touch what I’ve marked first…”
Rage surged up.
“I’ll erase even his soul from existence…”
She ground her teeth.
“Slowly, painfully.”
Her nails sharpened.
“I’ll rip out his guts, crush his bones, tear his flesh… and devour him.”
Just imagining it improved her mood.
***
While discussing the situation with Athena and the three of us trying to grasp what was happening, I suddenly felt a chill.
My spine tingled, goosebumps rising all over my body.
“Hm? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
Tiamat asked worriedly.
“It’s nothing.”
I said that, but this sensation was one I’d felt in moments of crisis.
‘Feeling this now means.’
It was an omen that something dangerous was about to happen.
“You said the red dragon can move freely around the tower without restrictions on her power, right?”
“Yes, but in exchange, once the red dragon is released, we can also use our full power.”
“Hmph, don’t worry.”
Tiamat said confidently.
“The three of us, you, and that teal-haired one should be more than enough to handle her.”
Tiamat’s confidence only made me more uneasy.
‘Times like this call for caution.’
Complacency was forbidden. The moment you underestimate the enemy, death comes.
“Biyeon.”
I called to Biyeon standing beside me.
She had already read my thoughts and was prepared.
“I’ve already passed it on.”
“Good job.”
I nodded.
And as always, bad premonitions are never wrong.
-Kuuuuu…
The space began to distort.
The three goddesses gathered here, me, and Biyeon all moved at once.
-KWAAAAANG—!
An explosive energy struck the area. But Biyeon and I had already moved forward.
Tiamat, Cheonwol, and Athena did the same.
The goddesses simultaneously deployed barriers.
-BANG!
Purple, blue, and golden powers combined to form a massive barrier.
Using that opening, Biyeon and I simultaneously slashed at someone’s attack.
And then—
From the sky above, looking down, there was a massive dragon, a giant of indescribable size, and a huge bird cloaked in lightning.
Tiamat muttered in a cold voice.
“Vorter, Titan, and the Thunderbird…”
“The fact that those things are here…”
The space tore open, and through the rift, a single being revealed herself.
Long black hair. A crown of red thorns.
“The Red Dragon of the Apocalypse…!”
Tiamat cried out on guard.
“It’s been a while, Tiamat. And the Lord of the Moon and the self-proclaimed Goddess of Wisdom are here too.”
She glanced briefly at the three goddesses as if uninterested, then scanned the surroundings.
And fixed her gaze on one spot.
“Purple Star.”
From those words, I realized this woman was targeting Ryuseol.
I quickly located Ryuseol. I saw her emerging with Seo Eunha from between the collapsed buildings.
“Ryuseol!”
I immediately shouted.
“Run right now!”
Ryuseol startled and tried to move at my words.
But it was too late.
The red dragon swung her hand.
-Whoosh!
Red chains shot out instantly.
Avoiding the others, heading precisely for Ryuseol alone.
“Kuh!”
Ryuseol hurriedly blocked, but the chains were too fast.
-Clank!
The chains wrapped around her arm.
“Ugh!”
“Got her.”
She smiled with satisfaction.
“Master of the Purple Star. We finally meet.”
“Let, let go!”
Ryuseol desperately resisted.
She drew upon the Purple Star’s power. A purple aura exploded.
But the red chains didn’t budge.
“It’s useless.”
She pulled the chains.
-Whoosh!
Ryuseol’s body was yanked into the air.
“Ack!”
“Ryuseol!”
Seo Eunha beside her hurriedly leaped up.
She tried to cut the chains with her sword—
-BAM!
The chains pushed her away.
“Ugh!”
Seo Eunha tumbled to the ground.
“Biyeon!”
Biyeon and I moved immediately.
I from the left, Biyeon from the right.
A pincer attack from both sides.
I aimed precisely for the chains, Biyeon precisely for the neck.
-Whoosh! Whoosh!
Both swords flew in at the same time.
Perfect timing. Perfect angle.
But—
“Tch.”
She snapped her fingers.
-BAM!
The red chains explosively multiplied, blocking us.
“Kgh!”
I hurriedly blocked with my sword, but the impact pushed me back.
Biyeon was the same.
“That was an interesting coordinated attack.”
She smirked.
“But you’re not enough.”
She lifted Ryuseol higher.
“Ugh…”
Ryuseol groaned in pain.
The chains were tightening around her body.
“Now I’ll take the Purple Star.”
Her hand reached toward Ryuseol’s forehead.
A faint purple star began glowing on her forehead.
“That won’t happen!”
Tiamat shouted.
“Blessing of the Battlefield!”
Athena summoned a silver shield.
“Blessing of the Moon!”
Cheonwol deployed a blue magic circle.
The three goddesses charged at once.
Purple, gold, and blue powers combined into a massive force.
But—
“Block them.”
She said indifferently.
At that moment.
-KROOOOOAR!
Vorter roared as it descended.
The massive black dragon blocked Tiamat’s path.
“Get out of my way, Vorter!”
Tiamat ground her teeth.
“Heh heh, I’ll devour you here and become complete.”
-BAM!
“Kgh…!”
Meanwhile, Titan stood before Cheonwol.
A massive rock giant.
“Traitor who sided with humans.”
The giant swung its fist.
“Tch…!”
The Thunderbird flew at Athena.
“KRAAAAK!”
Lightning poured down.
-BAM! BAM! BAM!
“Ugh…!”
Athena blocked with her golden shield, but the lightning poured endlessly.
The three goddesses were each blocked by the bosses.
“Good. No more interruptions.”
Her hand slowly descended toward Ryuseol’s forehead again.
“Ugh…!”
Ryuseol, bound by the chains, twisted her body and groaned.
“The Purple Star… finally becomes mine.”
A burning red energy flowed from her fingertips. That energy forcibly reacted with the purple star mark on Ryuseol’s forehead.
And in that instant, a storm raged around us.
“Who said you could touch my woman, lizard.”
I, fused with the spirit, appeared and snatched Ryuseol into my arms just before the red energy could touch her.
For the first time, her expression twisted.
“…You.”