The poison mist was getting thicker by the second, to the point where nothing outside the dispelling barrier could be seen clearly.
But the roiling fog revealed one thing—something massive and terrifying was moving within it.
Boom!
Suddenly, a giant four-clawed bony talon struck from the side, effortlessly breaking through the dispelling field.
Fortunately, all four knights were agile. Even clad in heavy armor, they evaded swiftly. Fabiana too was quick enough to dodge the claw’s strike.
As for Samimi, she stayed in the far back, completely out of the monster’s reach.
“Four claws, draconic, bony… Watch out, it’s a Decayed Bone Dragon,” Samimi identified the creature’s type instantly just from the talon.
A Decayed Bone Dragon was a once-mighty wyvern tainted by Abyssal corruption. Its body rotted away, rendering it flightless and unable to breathe fire. Now, it could only crawl on the ground—its power significantly diminished.
Normally, creatures corrupted by the Abyss grew stronger and larger.
However, some beings—especially those once powerful—grew weaker when corrupted. The Bone Dragon before them was one such example, a mere shadow of its former fire-breathing self.
But the Decayed Bone Dragon had an even more terrifying trait: the ability to control other monsters, forming massive beast hordes that razed human cities and infected all life in their path.
This was both the power of the Abyss itself—and a projection of some higher, malevolent will.
To put it in modern isekai terms: the Bone Dragon was the enemy’s command center. It needed to be destroyed before it could amass an army.
Luckily, there weren’t many monsters around it yet—it hadn’t built up its forces. And their team had the Knight King, which made fighting a grounded dragon an easy task.
“Shield of Light.”
“Enhanced Defense.”
“Strength Boost.”
“Endurance Boost.”
“Anti-Blow Fortification.”
“All Attribute Amplification.”
“Armor Reinforcement.”
“Shield Hardening.”
“Mystic Art – Sanctuary.”
Samimi calmly chanted one spell after another, her analysis of the battle perfectly clear.
In the blink of an eye, her four knightly teammates were covered in layered buffs, glowing with divine radiance, like gods descending to the battlefield.
Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of the spells—this was a highly refined defense spell template designed by Samimi herself. It maximized protective enhancements for knight-type allies, even buffing their armor and shields to nearly indestructible levels.
“Incredible! I feel like I’m brimming with power!” gasped the two Whale Knights in amazement.
“I knew bringing you was the right decision,” Knight King Shaya added with admiration.
But no one felt the impact more deeply than Fabiana.
As she listened to Samimi’s quiet incantations, an old familiar sensation returned.
She remembered how, before every battle, she’d always receive Samimi’s buffs. Back then, it felt normal—she’d taken it for granted. She even believed she could replace Samimi and get the same results from someone else.
But now she knew—no one else in the world could replace Samimi.
These defensive spells were crafted specifically for her—the Pure White Knight. Every buff perfectly matched her build.
And now, she realized this… far too late.
Samimi’s spellwork no longer belonged to her alone.
ROAR!
A horrific skeletal dragon head emerged from the fog, lunging down with gaping jaws.
Inside the dragon’s skull, a twitching brain pulsated beneath patches of shredded flesh—repulsive and grotesque.
But functionally speaking, its defenses were pathetic. Compared to a Steelback Dragon’s scales, its skull was like paper.
Clang! Clang!
The Bone Dragon’s bite was blocked by the two Whale Knights, who raised their shields and jammed them into the dragon’s jaw, keeping it from closing.
“Its weak point is the brain, inside the skull.” Samimi called out.
Knight King Shaya stepped forward and leapt into the air. With Samimi’s enhancements, he felt thirty years younger.
In a flash of steel, his blade pierced through the rotting brain.
In just two rounds, the Decayed Bone Dragon collapsed to the ground with a thunderous crash.
The dense poison mist began to disperse, and the surroundings gradually returned to normal.
“Huh?” Fabiana blinked in confusion—the battle was already over.
Samimi had already dismissed her buffs and dispelling aura, retreating to the rear to meditate and restore mana.
Even with powerful spells, Samimi wasn’t invincible—her biggest limitation was her mana pool.
Or in modern gaming terms: her MP.
She meditated daily, absorbing magical energy from the world, all to increase her maximum mana.
“So this is the Abyss’s source? That was too easy.”
Fabiana, hoping to show off a bit herself, had barely gotten to experience the spell buffs before the fight ended. Frustrated, she marched up to the dragon’s skull and kicked it hard.
“Don’t approach the skull,” Samimi warned coldly.
“What?” Fabiana turned in confusion.
Rumble-rumble! The dragon’s brain, pierced and oozing, suddenly writhed violently. The sword wound split open—
—and a humanoid creature burst forth from within!
Its mouth split open to the sides, and a terrifying concentration of flame energy began gathering inside.
“ROAR!” The creature let out a dragon-like screech and launched a massive fireball straight at Fabiana.
“Ah—!” Fabiana couldn’t react in time—this was completely unexpected!
In the split second before impact, Knight King Shaya dashed in front of her, raised his shield, and took the full brunt of the blast.
BOOM! A massive explosion erupted.
When the flames subsided, Knight King Shaya lay motionless on the ground, his body smoking.
“Lord Shaya!” The two Whale Knights, who had just begun celebrating, were struck speechless.
They moved fast, quickly forming a protective formation around him.
“Anna, fall back now!” Samimi’s face was grim as she reactivated her protective spells around the team.
“How’s my grandfather?!” Fabiana returned, panicked.
“He’s unconscious. Knight King won’t be able to fight for now.” Samimi said after checking his injuries.
“Impossible… How could Lord Shaya—” Knight Beta muttered in disbelief.
“That wasn’t ordinary fire,” Samimi said seriously. “That was Dragonfire. That creature used Dragon Breath.”
The group fell silent—shocked and visibly shaken.
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