?As expected, seeing that she would be worn down if the fight continued, the dragon girl took the initiative to distance herself from the man in the grey robe. Then ca that familiar action: the dragon girl summoned a flaming longsword from her chest, reaching the peak of her montum in a do-or-die effort, intending to use her ultimate move to end the match against the man in the grey robe.
Indeed, It was this move that had Renji, watching from beyond the screen, in awe.
Previously, no matter how Nova, as the BOSS, had health and attributes far exceeding those of the players and various skills and tricks, he could think of various ways to find counterasures. But this ultimate move was the exception.
Renji vaguely rembered that it took him three save-loads to successfully use "Scouting" to learn the skill description of this move.
Simply put, [Crimson Slash] would determine the outco based on the strength of both parties. Given Renji's level at the ti, there was a 99.99% chance of being instantly killed.
This move ignored any defense, damage immunity, and resistance effects of artifacts. With the resources he had in the ga at that ti, there was no way to defend against it.
So, Renji's only option was to gamble.
He gambled on the "Dragon girl BOSS" failing to execute her skill, betting on that 0.01% possibility.
Fortunately, he was a stubborn person.
If once didn't work, then twice; if twice didn't work, then three tis, five tis, ten tis, fifty tis, a hundred tis. That's why Renji had such a "deep mory" of this battle.
Even though it was just a ga for him at the ti.
That day, Renji did nothing but madly save-load (SL) in front of the screen. Every ti Nova killed him with one strike, he would just reload and try again, and again, and again!
Luckily, it seed to be around the thirteen hundredth SL, Renji couldn't rember exactly, but he finally succeeded.
In the ga, the dragon girl, with her montum at its peak and about to execute that "flawless strike," suddenly, as if sothing went wrong, not only failed to release the fiery slash but also seed like a deflated ball. Her formidable montum disappeared as if she had suffered so kind of backlash.
The man in the grey robe seized this opportunity, amid the incredulous screams of everyone in the arena, to successfully defeat the dragon girl, pressing his blade against the neck of the dragon girl who was kneeling before him.
"So, Nova, what happened to you at that ti?"
Curious, Renji asked below the scene, as the ga was just cold numbers. He really wanted to know why Nova failed to execute her skill in reality.
Nova's response made Renji pause for a mont, then he showed an "it figures" expression, as if that was indeed the only reason.
"Master, for so reason, at that mont, I thought I saw the illusion of my mother behind you."
"So, in that instant, mories of the past flooded back, and my heart was filled with fear and dread. I lost the blessing of mindfulness, and my strike was no longer flawless; I couldn't execute Crimson Slash."
"Now that I think about it, Master, was this my mother helping ?"
Nova murmured to Renji.
After all, it was because she failed to execute that strike that the subsequent story unfolded, leading to Nova's story, to the Ashen Emperor who saved the world.
Renji stroked the red hair of the dragon girl in his arms.
'Was it?'
Maybe not, after all, Nova didn't know, but he was clear. In the thousands of SLs (save-loads) before, Noya never appeared to help him; his character was directly killed by the dragon girl with one strike.
But.
"Of course, Aunt Noya must have been moved by my dedication to Nova, so she ca to help specially!" Renji chose the most romantic explanation.
However, Nova clearly couldn't understand.
Nova raised her head kinda confused, looking at Renji's face, and quietly asked, "Master's dedication to ?"
"Actually, I've fought against you in places you didn't know about thousands of tis. That's why I know Nova very well, almost like it's second nature to . Honestly, I might even understand you better than you understand yourself."
Unexpectedly, after hearing this romantic declaration, Nova did not react with joy but instead, her eyes reddened, and her beautiful purple dragon eyes misted over, on the verge of crying.
The reason was simple.
"Then, does that an Master was killed by Nova thousands of tis? I… truly deserve to die, I..."
'(o_O)'
Renji hadn't expected Nova's thought process to go in this direction. Seeing the dragon girl looking as if she deserved death, he hurriedly tried to comfort her:
"How could that be! You're underestimating too much! In those thousands of tis, you lost terribly! You didn't manage to hurt at all!"
"Then why did Lord Ashen co thousands of tis?" Nova didn't catch Renji's attempt to lighten the mood and asked earnestly.
"Because... because cough! A defeated gladiator must be severely punished and disciplined! For an evil dragon girl like you, one ti of discipline isn't enough; it definitely takes thousands of tis!"
Renji resorted to this desperate asure when pressed for an answer.
After hearing this explanation, Nova seed to have an epiphany and nodded in acceptance. Then, as expected, she quietly whispered, "Master, that's kinda perverted".
Renji pretended not to hear and twitched the corner of his mouth.
However, Nova soon looked straight at the young man again, breaking into a smile and leaning closer to Renji's ear, just like the lively and cute, slightly face-obsessed dragonkin girl she used to be, whispering:
"Now, the perverted Brother Renji, Nova... likes you even more!"
"Cough cough cough!"
Unlike a certain pink-haired succubus, Nova was always straightforward.
Seeing the dragon girl blinking at him, Renji felt a bit embarrassed and quickly changed the subject, turning their attention back to the mory fragnts of Zero.
In the scene, after defeating the legendary dragon girl of the arena and pressing the sword point against the dragon girl's neck, the surrounding audience erupted into deafening cries of madness.
"Kill her!", "Kill her!!", "Kill her!!!"
Without Noya, the arena returned to its bloody state, every spectator eager for the man in the grey robe to swing down his sword and end the dragon girl's life,
Even the dragon girl herself felt the sa, as if she had finally been relieved at that mont.
On Renji's screen, there were two choices.
[Kill her (Execute action)]
or
["Miasma, is our true enemy" (Verbal dialogue)]
Without a mont's hesitation, Renji chose the option that, when applied to the real-world scenario, ant the man in the grey robe did not swing his weapon. Instead, he sheathed it and left the dragon girl with a parting statent before turning to leave.
"Miasma, is our true enemy."
Among the dissatisfied jeers and curses of the arena's audience, the dragon girl's mind echoed with the man in the grey robe's words, staring blankly as he spared her life and walked away.
At that mont, the always expressionless face of the dragon girl finally showed a hint of emotion. She seed to recall her mother's words and understood why she saw her mother's shadow in the man in the grey robe.
The dragon girl moved slightly, as if wanting to follow him.
But soon, from the exit of the arena, two figures appeared as if they had been waiting there all along for the victorious return of the man in the grey robe.
One was dressed as a nun, and the other resembled a robotic maid.
Seeing these two followers of the man in the grey robe, the dragon girl realized she could not leave the arena. She was a gladiator here, marked with an indelible brand that made it impossible for the organizers to let her go.
The brief glimr of hope that had illuminated the dragon girl's darkness seed to fade away with the departure of the man in the grey robe and his two followers, once again enveloping the dragon girl in darkness, her eyes dim and lifeless.
Until… That night.
Not just the arena, but the entire Gulase base, in the span of just one night, was completely overtaken by a leader of a gathering place known as "Ashen".
That night.
The light of fire
Once again illuminated the darkness.
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