Chapter 18: Fortunate misfortune

“Hah, Simon? You’re teaming up with her?!”

Alice glared at Lila, her tone filled with anger.

Simon quickly shook his head at Alice, a hint of nervousness in his eyes. He knew very well that provoking this demon at a time like this was not a wise move.

“Are you dissatisfied with me?”

Lila’s voice was low and eerie as she examined the silver-haired girl in front of her, who was clearly upset. She remained completely unmoved.

Simon knew this was just the calm before the storm, so he hurriedly said,

“That’s not the case, Miss. Alice is just surprised that she’s teaming up with you, after all, your strength is overwhelming.”

Lila simply stared at Simon again.

She thought to herself that Simon wasn’t treating her like a noble lady, but like a fool. ‘How childish would someone have to be to believe such a clumsy lie?’

Under the gaze of her red eyes, Simon grew more and more uneasy. Silence dragged on. Just as he was about to plead with her not to punish Alice…

“Alright then, Simon. Since this young lady admires me so much, she can join our team. What do you think?”

Lila smiled dangerously.

“It would be my honor.”

Alice imitated Simon, putting on a respectful expression.

But Lila thought she was probably cursing her inwardly. Still, she didn’t care.

“Alice, why would you agree? It’s dangerous!”

Simon whispered urgently beside her.

“That’s exactly why I’m going,” Alice replied just as seriously. “We’re friends, right? I can’t just watch you walk into a pit of fire.”

Simon froze. Gratitude welled up inside him, but he still didn’t want Alice to fall into danger because of him.

“Alice, you should leave. I’ll explain things to Lila.”

He continued trying to persuade her.

“Are you two coming or not?”

An impatient, arrogant voice came from ahead, Lila had turned around, clearly annoyed.

“We’re coming!”

Alice answered first.

She genuinely wanted to help her childhood friend. Simon still couldn’t use magic, sending him out like this was practically sending him to his death. She didn’t believe Lila would show him any kindness.

Seeing how determined Alice was, warmth rose in Simon’s heart. Everything she did was for him.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely.

“…We still need two more people, right? Maybe I should just threaten a couple of random ones.”

Lila suddenly stopped and pretended to think.

Cold sweat instantly broke out on Simon’s back. There was no way a proper team could be formed like that.

‘In the end…’

Lila’s team consisted of herself, Simon, Alice, Siegfried, and Vigus.

Siegfried joined because he couldn’t stand Lila’s behavior and wanted to help his friend, while Vigus likely had no team willing to accept her and had no choice but to join.

“Ahem. Since everyone acknowledges me as the team leader, I’ll assign roles.”

Lila pointed one by one at everyone except herself.

“Simon, Siegfried, Alice, Vigus, you’ll handle fighting the beasts. I’ll be in charge of command. Everyone agrees, right?”

The four of them were furious but didn’t dare speak. Simon noticed Siegfried’s clenched fists and quickly grabbed his wrist.

“Let’s just treat it as the four of us teaming up, and pretend Lila doesn’t exist.”

Siegfried slowly relaxed his fist.

“Since no one objects, it’s settled.”

Lila looked excited and immediately headed toward the outskirts of the Twilight Forest.

Simon nodded at Siegfried, and the four followed behind her.

‘He hates me now.’

Lila felt a thrill of excitement.

The slowing drain of her life force told her this was correct, something she had to do.

Was it because she had dragged his friends into danger too?

She enjoyed this feeling. So she needed to go even further.

The Twilight Forest was always shrouded in mist. The canopy blocked out the sky, making everything dim, with only occasional beams of sunlight piercing through gaps.

Everything was silent, not peaceful, but a silence hiding danger.

Whoosh.

A magical beast suddenly leapt out of the bushes, lunging straight at Alice.

In an instant, Siegfried swung his hand forward, launching a fragile blade of wind.

The beast had to halt and drop to dodge.

Startled, Alice quickly reacted and began chanting.

Transparent ice shards gathered in the air, swelling larger and larger before shooting toward the beast.

A massive ice spike pierced straight through its body. Its blood froze, forming more spikes from within, bursting out across its body.

Turning it into something like a hedgehog.

Lila glanced at it. Clearly, it was completely dead.

“Not bad. Alice, keep it up. Let’s find more prey.”

She praised lightly.

After all, Alice was a genius proficient in three elements, handling beasts at the edge of the forest wasn’t difficult.

With that in mind, Lila became even more domineering, ordering them around while doing nothing herself.

“You useless parasite!”

After enduring it for so long, Siegfried finally exploded.

“Commanding you is the greatest contribution. Ignorant commoner.”

Lila looked down on him.

“You just don’t understand how fortunate it is to be directed by me.”

Things were unfolding exactly as she expected.

And then…

The ground trembled.

Lila’s thoughts were interrupted.

What was this?

“Watch out!”

She shouted. Everyone snapped to their senses and scattered.

In an instant, massive stone spikes erupted from the ground where they had just stood. Panic surged in Lila’s chest.

As the earth shook, the creature revealed itself…

A land dragon.

Massive vertical pupils, sharp teeth, a body covered in spikes, and a hammer-like tail smashing the ground repeatedly.

This was far beyond Lila’s expectations. ‘Why was something like this here at the forest’s edge?’

But there was no time to think.

The priority was survival, hers and Simon’s.

Alice instinctively cast a spell, launching an icy spear at the dragon’s eye.

The dragon simply closed its eyelid. The ice shattered instantly without leaving a mark.

Then came its deafening roar. Its tail smashed into the ground, creating a massive crater. It was enraged.

There was no way to fight it.

“Run!”

Lila shouted immediately.

Everyone fled toward the forest edge.

But despite its massive size, the dragon was fast, its strides far longer than theirs. It would catch up soon.

“Split up!”

Lila shouted.

“Why should we listen to you?!”

Siegfried snapped back.

“Do you have a better idea?”

Grinding his teeth, Siegfried grabbed the exhausted Vigus.

“I’ll go this way with Vigus. Simon, Alice, split up!”

He dashed off.

The others scattered.

As a swordsman, Lila was faster than the rest. Desperate to preserve her life, she pushed herself to the limit.

Eventually…

Silence.

She was safe.

She stopped, staring up at the lightless sky.

****

Simon wasn’t so lucky.

The land dragon chased him relentlessly.

Even as he ran into dense vegetation, towering trees were smashed apart like foam. The dragon charged straight through.

‘What rotten luck.’

And yet… he felt a bit relieved.

If it was chasing him, then Alice and the others were probably safe.

After all, without magic, he could only hold them back. If he could at least draw the monster away, then that was his only use.

Exhausted, Simon finally stopped running.

Even so, he refused to give up.

He drew his sword. In the dim light, the blade reflected nothing but gloom. He gripped it tightly, staring at the dragon with determination.

As the dragon smashed through the last tree in its path, Simon rushed forward, putting all his strength into one strike.

But he overlooked the dragon’s tail.

In an instant…

The fragile sword collided with the armored hammer-like tail.

Crack.

The blade shattered in two. Simon was sent flying, crashing hard into a tree.

Pain exploded across his face, like countless needles stabbing him. His whole body ached as if every bone had been shattered.

Through his blurred vision, he could only see the dragon’s massive form.

‘Am I going to die?’

Simon thought silently, waiting for the end.