“Well done, Hero!”
Knight Fabiana still hadn’t realized anything was wrong — she thought the Hero’s strike had landed perfectly and proceeded with the plan.
Because the dragon had raised its head, its second weak spot was now exposed — the underside of its jaw.
Dragons can’t grow thick scales under their chins to protect their throats. This spot is known as the Reverse Scale, a classic weak point.
Fabiana executed a swift step technique, closing in under the dragon’s head. With a powerful upward thrust of her sword, she struck at the Reverse Scale.
“Hmm?” But even she let out a confused sound.
Her full-powered thrust didn’t even pierce the dragon’s skin — it only left a faint white scratch on the hardened hide.
“Wha—? What’s going on?”
But she had no time to worry — the Steelback Dragon had already reacted. With a mighty swipe of its claw, it attacked sideways.
Fortunately, defense was Fabiana’s specialty. She instantly raised her Victory Shield, braced herself with both hands and planted her feet in a firm stance, entering an invincible blocking posture.
In the Hero’s party, her role had always been the iron wall of defense.
She could block attacks from monsters dozens of times her size. No amount of force could move her shield.
“BANG!”
The dragon’s claw smashed against the Victory Shield.
Fabiana was flung through the air along with her shield, sent flying dozens of meters away like a swatted fly.
“Anna!” Hero Laigaiyas cried out.
She leapt from the dragon’s head, dodging the chaotic flurry of claws, and rushed to her teammate’s aid, helping Fabiana retreat from the ruins.
“Fwoosh!”
The sound of an arrow slicing through the air.
At the same time, elf archer Clos provided covering fire from atop the ruined wall, firing a precise killing arrow straight at the dragon’s eye.
A dragon’s eye — the third obvious weak point.
But the Steelback Dragon’s eyelid deflected the normally armor-piercing arrow with ease. The arrow bounced off without leaving a mark.
“Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!”
A flurry of rapid shots followed.
Clos, unwilling to back down, unleashed her signature technique — a high-speed multi-shot barrage, with each arrow aimed with pinpoint precision.
In the blink of an eye, the dragon’s eye was hit by dozens of arrows — but it didn’t matter. The eyelid was too strong. At most, it prevented the dragon from fully opening its eye, buying the party time to retreat.
“How is this possible?”
Clos’s fingers trembled. Her expression was stunned, beginning to question everything.
Why couldn’t she pierce even one eye? She was in peak condition, just like always!
“—[Spell: Meteoric Rain of Flame]!”
Her cover fire gave Witch Bemore time to finish her chant, summoning a sky full of fire meteors to rain down on the Steelback Dragon’s back in a series of explosions.
This finally dealt real damage, but still wasn’t enough to kill the dragon.
“ROAR!”
The inferno engulfed the Steelback Dragon — but it continued charging through the flames, howling with rage, unfazed by the heat.
But among them, Bemore was actually the first to realize something was very wrong.
From the moment she began chanting, she felt off.
Her chant had become agonizingly slow — it took an eternity just to gather enough mana and cast the spell. Her teammates were already suffering while she was still charging up.
As a mage, she was more aware of her internal condition than any other class.
Unlike the others, she didn’t panic or fall into self-doubt — she began to doubt reality itself.
“This world is broken!”
Bemore clawed at her hair, descending into a frenzied state.
“Bemore, what are you doing? Run!”
Clos rushed over to pull her down from the ruined wall.
A moment later, the Steelback Dragon charged straight through the crumbling wall where they had been standing.
It smashed through the ruins and bolted into the nearby forest, disappearing from sight.
Once the chaos subsided, the four members of the Hero’s party, now all battered and soot-streaked, gathered together.
The new genius priestess immediately began healing them.
With just one healing spell, Knight Fabiana, who had been swatted like a fly, was fully restored to peak condition.
“Hero, what the hell is going on? Our attacks…”
Fabiana was furious, her emotions flaring.
“Quiet. Someone’s coming.”
Laigaiyas coldly interrupted.
Sure enough, the nearby royal light cavalry patrol soon galloped over to protect the party.
“Hero! What happened here?”
The cavalry captain dismounted, clearly worried.
“That dragon was far beyond what we expected. It’s extremely cunning. After a few exchanges, it seized the chance to flee. We must track it immediately and prepare for a second battle. Also, evacuate the surrounding villages and towns — we’re dealing with the worst-case scenario.”
Laigaiyas issued a series of commands.
“Understood. We’ll act immediately.”
The captain didn’t question her and quickly ordered his troops to carry out her commands.
“We’ll rest here and wait for news. Inform us immediately if you find anything. Priestess, go with them — support the wounded if needed.”
Laigaiyas added one final order.
She assigned the new genius priestess to accompany the cavalry as medical support.
The priestess looked reluctant, but in the end, she had no choice but to leave with the light cavalry unit.
That night, the entire “scraping damage” party huddled around the campfire.
The flickering flames cast heavy shadows over their grim faces as they awkwardly poked at the fire.
“Let’s review the battle. Everyone — speak honestly. If anything felt off, say it now. No holding back. This is serious.”
Laigaiyas took the lead.
“My golden sword struck the Reverse Scale, but couldn’t pierce it. Its hardened hide is like a boulder. Even with my Victory Shield, I couldn’t block its claw strike.”
Fabiana reluctantly reported.
“My arrows hit its eye but couldn’t break through. Just its eyelids blocked all my shots.”
Clos said briefly.
“My spell chanting was insanely slow. I felt like I was poisoned. My mana wouldn’t flow properly, and my control was all messed up. I don’t know what’s happening. Am I dying?”
Witch Bemore was on the verge of collapse, clutching her head and trembling.
“Bemore, calm down. It’s not just you. My sword also struck a weak spot but only scratched the scales.”
Laigaiyas reassured her.
“Even you couldn’t break through? Do you have any idea what’s going on?”
Fabiana asked.
“It feels like we were all… cursed,” Clos said after thinking for a moment.
“A curse? I get it now!”
Bemore suddenly snapped back to life, eyes wide in realization.
“It must be that damn parasite Samimi! This is all her doing!”
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