Froya panted heavily. Acting during the day was always a handicap for a vampire like her.
She had already lost Lilisah—not that she cared much about that—but now, even the massive stone statue blocking the path to the inner city was beyond her ability to defeat.
After stepping into the teleportation trap, she’d been lucky enough not to be separated from her escort, Red Wolf, and the others. Following their prior agreement—and the map—they had headed toward the inner city’s passage.
This Irene was completely unreliable. The map clearly marked this location as having a teleportation gate, and yet all Froya found was this colossal stone golem! The same kind as the crossbow units outside the city—absurdly difficult to fight.
It didn’t move fast, but its sheer size meant it completely blocked the path forward. Without defeating it, there was no way to proceed.
And this thing had an absurdly high defense and massive health pool. Froya and Red Wolf’s group had been fighting it for ages, and the health bar had barely moved!
How the hell is this thing supposed to be beaten?! It was supposedly just a mass-produced mob! Just how powerful was that Holy Magus King a thousand years ago?!
With a pained scream, the heavily armored warrior Mario was swatted aside like a fly by the golem’s massive hand. With its target gone, the stone behemoth turned its glowing red eyes toward Froya.
Even as a magicless outcast, Froya still carried the blood of a royal demon—an elite of the daywalking vampire race. Though exposed to sunlight, the damage was negligible, and her physical prowess was exceptional.
She braced to dodge. But after so long fighting, her legs had gone numb. She stumbled, failing to even get to her feet.
The giant stone fist filled her vision, her mind going blank—
Then, in that instant, a figure dropped from the sky and landed between her and the blow. Familiar brown hair swayed as she moved, and with a shout, she didn’t dodge at all—she punched the golem’s fist head-on.
Boom!
The air shook with a deafening shockwave, and dust flew in all directions. Froya instinctively closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, what she saw stunned her.
The one who had been blown back—its fist shattered—was the stone golem.
The dust had come from that explosion of force. And there, standing before her in the sunlight, was Lilisah.
The sight of her back in the light made Froya feel like she was witnessing something unreal.
Lilisah’s alive? She survived? And what’s with this form?!
Froya had never seen her like this before. Her entire body radiated with blinding magical light—so bright it almost hurt to look at. Arcane markings pulsed faintly beneath her skin, flowing like veins filled with mana.
With a single glance, Froya knew—this Lilisah was nothing like the one who’d once served by her side.
“Master, are you alright?” Lilisah turned around, her voice filled with urgency.
Froya was just about to respond when she heard footsteps behind her. Turning her head, she saw Irene and Claret approaching alongside Lilisah. A realization flickered in her dazed mind.
Her expression abruptly turned cold again. “I’m fine. I’m not dead yet.”
Lilisah didn’t seem to notice the change in Froya’s mood. She smiled and continued, “Thanks to Miss Irene, who restored my mana, I’m really strong now! I can definitely help you, Master. Leave the rest of this battle to me!”
The moment she said that, Froya’s expression shifted drastically.
She stood up abruptly. “…Are you here just to laugh at me?!”
Lilisah froze, her wide eyes filled with confusion. She clearly didn’t understand what Froya meant.
“M-Master?”
Froya’s pride, always sensitive and brittle, had taken a direct blow. What Lilisah had said—though completely innocent—sounded to her like flaunting… or even mockery.
With almost just a glance, Lilisah could understand exactly what Irene meant—like a puppet on a string.
When to help the tank defend, when to join the main force in dealing damage—Lilisah executed it all perfectly!
And yet, the more flawless she was, the more Froya’s fragile self-esteem suffered.
‘Master, you’re just so useless.’
Was that what you’re trying to say to me, Lilisah?!
The more Froya thought about it, the angrier she got.
But all Lilisah was really thinking was how, in the past, she had been too weak to help her master. Now that she’d grown stronger, as long as she could prove herself useful, her master’s opinion of her would surely change, right?
As she shattered the stone colossus’s magical core with a single punch, the skirmish came to an end.
Everyone was just about to take a break when Froya suddenly said, “Let’s go. The gate to the inner city has been opened.”
“Wait, Froya!”
Irene called out to her.
Froya looked confused. “What is it?”
“…This is the wrong path. If you keep going this way, you’ll only reach the inner city, but never the area beneath the White Tower—the true entrance—”
Irene pulled her over to the opposite city wall, pointing to a beautifully painted landscape on it. “It’s here!”
“But it’s just a wall?”
“That’s why I marked the entrance on the map! Didn’t you notice?!”
Froya held her forehead. “So you’re saying this wall is a magical mechanism, and the stone colossus we just fought was completely unnecessary?!”
“That’s right, meow!”
Froya nearly wanted to die on the spot, especially when Red Wolf added, “Actually, we thought we should be looking over here from the start… but the employer just rushed straight to the wrong place…”
“You’re really a useless master. With you, I can only perform like a trash-tier minion. But after just one day with Miss Irene, I’ve undergone a complete transformation.”
Such a garbage master, truly pathetic!
I even have to protect you—how disgraceful is that?
Yes, this is how Froya interpreted Lilisah’s actions. Lilisah herself was far too simple-minded to understand just how deeply Froya had misunderstood.
“Oh, you’re enjoying watching me make a fool of myself, huh?”
“No, Master, it’s not like that! Please let me explain…”
To Irene, listening to their dialogue felt like something straight out of a melodramatic soap opera. What were these two even doing—was this really the time for an argument?
The monster Lilisah had just knocked down was getting back up again!
“Both of you, stop fighting! Is now really the time for this? Whatever your issues are, save it for after we deal with this stone colossus!”
It was Red Wolf who finally couldn’t take it anymore and spoke up. Froya snorted and fell silent.
Lilisah looked at her, wanting to say something but holding back.
She looked just like a child who’d been caught doing something wrong. Irene could only sigh and resume her role as the tactical guide.
—Though in Irene’s opinion, this fight with the stone colossus was entirely unnecessary! They could’ve bypassed it! Why didn’t anyone follow the map?!
Whatever. They could talk about all that later. Now that the fight had already started, they had no choice but to finish it.
“Captain Red Wolf, everyone—attacking like this won’t work. Do you see the red crystal on its chest? That’s the colossus’s life core. Destroy that, and it’ll stop moving!”
Red Wolf frowned. “It’s too high—we can’t reach it!”
“Can’t you just cut its legs off so it falls over, and then hit it?!”
Easier said than done! Red Wolf and his team had already tried attacking the legs, but they were so dark and hard, they broke their weapons without doing much damage.
Was this thing even beatable by humans?
Lilisah cut in, “Now that we know its weak point, leave it to me!”
The rest of the battle, in Froya’s eyes, was just downright irritating. Irene wasn’t weak—in fact, she was formidable. While she couldn’t contribute in combat directly, her knowledge of monsters was textbook-level.
Her commands were flawless.
And then there was Lilisah. She had become stronger—unprecedentedly strong—under Irene’s command. And what was with this ridiculous teamwork and chemistry between them?!
With almost nothing more than a glance, Lilisah could instantly understand what Irene meant, moving like a puppet on her strings.
When to help the vanguard tank, when to join the main attackers—her performance was impeccable.
But the more flawless Lilisah became, the more Froya’s fragile ego suffered.
‘Master, you’re absolutely useless.’
Was that what you were trying to say, Lilisah?!
The more Froya thought about it, the more furious she became.
Meanwhile, all Lilisah was thinking was: I used to be so weak I couldn’t help at all. But now I’ve gotten stronger… If Master can see that I’m actually useful now, maybe they’ll see me differently?
With a single punch, she shattered the magic core of the stone colossus.
The battle was over.
Just as the group was preparing to rest, Froya spoke up, “Let’s go. The gate to the inner city has been opened.”
“Wait, Froya!” Irene called after her.
Froya turned back, puzzled. “What is it?”
“…That path is wrong. If you go that way, you’ll only enter the inner city—you’ll never reach the base of the White Tower. The real entrance…”
She dragged Froya over to the opposite wall of the city and pointed to a beautifully painted mural of mountains and rivers. “It’s here!”
“That’s just a wall,” Froya said, frowning.
“That’s why I marked the entrance on the map! Didn’t any of you notice?!”
Froya clutched her forehead. “So this wall is a magical mechanism? And that stone colossus… was a completely unnecessary fight?!”
“Exactly, nya~!” Irene added cheerfully.
Froya wanted to die on the spot. And to make it worse, Redwolf chimed in, “Actually, we did think we should look on this side first… but our employer just ran straight to the ‘entrance’ and we had to follow…”