Chapter 59: Chapter 59

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: The Dragoness of Disaster

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Nikita Cyncia, the Dragoness of Disaster.

She was currently in a state of utter confusion.

The boy before her.

Hanon Airey.

He had appeared, even disguised as Hania Lepidaya.

Why, though?

Amidst her bewilderment, Nikita's puzzlement grew.

Hanon was a good junior.

He had always quietly helped her, who used to handle everything alone.

He was also witty, making conversations enjoyable.

Honestly, among everyone she'd spoken to recently, talking with Hanon was the most enjoyable.

Conversations with Hanon were comfortable, and sometimes his unexpected remarks would make her burst out laughing.

Though he was sometimes a bit mischievous, she could feel Hanon's affection even then.

He often knew Nikita with an uncanny familiarity.

It was so much so that she sometimes wondered if he was actually someone she knew, just in disguise.

There were times when that fact felt suspicious.

But even considering all that, she didn't dislike Hanon as a person.

Nikita had low self-esteem.

Her life had always been steeped in adversity.

Even her parents didn't expect much from Nikita.

Despite that, she persevered, climbing one step at a time.

Hanon recognized this and praised Nikita ceaselessly.

Perhaps thanks to him, her self-esteem had significantly improved recently.

It had gotten to the point where she sometimes thought, 'Maybe I'm not doing so bad after all.'

Thanks to him, she no longer hated the words that suggested she was nothing special beyond her looks.

She gradually stopped avoiding mirrors.

Nowadays, she even smiled sometimes when she looked in the mirror.

Hanon was truly someone who lifted Nikita's self-esteem.

That's why she especially didn't want to show him this ugly side of herself.

The sight of her consumed by vengeance, throwing everything away to kill someone,

Hanon would surely be disappointed if he saw it.

She felt ashamed.

She felt like hiding somewhere immediately.

She wished he hadn't seen her like this.

So she had told Hanon not to come deeper into the Demonic Palace, but

Hanon had stubbornly followed her and now stood before her eyes.

Clang!

Hanon's hand blade flew towards Nikita.

What on earth had he done to himself?

Hanon was radiating such intense heat that even Nikita, enveloped in Ancient Dragon magic, was startled.

The heat emanating from his hand blade was scorching.

And Hanon's eyes, as he looked at her, were also burning.

Nikita instinctively felt it.

Hanon was burning himself out right now.

He wouldn't be able to maintain this for long.

"Senior Nikita."

Hanon's hand blade moved ceaselessly.

His movements had once seemed clumsy,

but now, after who knew how much effort, his technique was incredibly refined.

"Are you still refusing to meet my gaze?"

Nikita's body flinched.

Nikita couldn't meet Hanon's eyes.

This had been going on for quite some time.

Ever since Nia Cyncia died,

Nikita hadn't met anyone's gaze.

And ever since she decided to avenge Nia,

Nikita's eyes had been solely fixed on revenge.

But Hanon had ceaselessly tried to meet her gaze.

Whenever he encountered Nikita, he would smile, speak to her, and treat her kindly.

Nikita had ignored him, closing her eyes to it.

'How selfish am I, really?'

Nikita felt self-contempt.

Ignoring someone's heart that was trying to help her,

she had only been faithful to her own emotions.

And it was the same now.

The desire not to show Hanon this side of her,

made her avoid and ignore him as he confronted her head-on.

Yet, deep within her heart,

the burning desire for revenge was still uncontrollable.

It was as if someone was whispering to her.

Whispering, 'Are you such a failure that you can't even get your revenge?'

It kept whispering in her ear.

This was a curse.

A curse that couldn't be escaped from the moment she touched the Ancient Dragon's magic.

Her desire for revenge had now gone beyond the realm of her own control.

Nikita's sword was swung once more.

A storm of cold energy erupted from the blade, sweeping through the surroundings.

Hanon pierced through it, lunging at Nikita once more.

Sword and hand blade intersected.

Amidst it, Hanon's eyes met hers again.

His red eyes blazed fiercely, following the flames.

Hanon was a boy who often acted unexpectedly.

It was clear that he had sensed something about this situation and had chased her all the way here.

Perhaps because of that, she wanted to ask.

Clang!

Nikita, having parried Hanon's hand blade, left footprints on the snow-covered ground.

"...Junior, did the Third Princess put you up to this?"

Hanon was Iris's cousin.

That's why Nikita asked if he was doing this to protect her.

But even as she asked this question, Nikita knew.

Hanon's eyes weren't on Iris.

"No."

As expected, Hanon denied it.

That denial pierced deep into Nikita's heart.

"I'm doing this because I want to stop Senior Nikita."

Nikita's eyes trembled.

"Why, on earth...?"

Hanon had burned himself out.

Nikita couldn't understand why he would go to such lengths to block her path.

No matter how she looked at it, there seemed to be no reason for Hanon to get involved in this.

Then Hanon, leading with his hand blade, exhaled.

"Didn't I tell you on the first day we met?"

The first day they met.

Nikita recalled that day, when they met on the bridge connecting the Martial Arts Department and the main building.

"I respected Senior Nikita Cyncia's path even before I enrolled."

Those words, that he respected her.

Though she hadn't entirely taken them as genuine,

Nikita still remembered Hanon's eyes, which had looked at her so earnestly.

"Just... because of respect?"

To go this far for something so trivial...

"If it's just about respect..."

The flames burning on Hanon's body intensified further.

"Isn't that reason enough?"

Hanon painfully lifted the corners of his lips into a smile.

The burning heat seemed to be taking its toll.

"...I'm not someone worth respecting."

"I don't think so."

"I'm not actually the person you think I am, Junior."

"It's fine. What Senior Nikita hasn't recognized, I will recognize."

"I am..."

Nikita clenched her fist, as if swallowing her resentment.

"I am..."

She couldn't continue speaking.

The tears that streamed down her face turned into ice crystals by the cold, scattering in the air.

More scales erupted on her skin.

The Ancient Dragon's magic had deeply permeated her body, now beyond her control.

The Ancient Dragon opened its maw.

Freezing her mind to completely devour Nikita.

Nikita felt her consciousness fading.

Even when she tried to grasp the thread of her awareness, she kept losing hold.

No.

If this continued, Hanon would be in danger.

Nikita desperately tried to cling to her consciousness, but it simply wouldn't hold.

Nikita bit down on her emerging fangs so hard they felt like they'd shatter.

Her body trembled violently.

Despite this, the storm of cold energy intensified even further.

"Ju-Junior, run..."

Nikita wanted to tell Hanon to run.

This was her own sin.

There was no reason for him to be in danger.

But even her lips were now beyond her control.

"When this is over, there's something I need to tell you. And something I need to apologize for."

Within her fading consciousness,

Hanon said this with a smile.

"So, I'll see you later."

As Nikita looked at that smile, a certain person came to mind.

A man who had harbored feelings for her.

His misguided judgment had led to a rather unfortunate outcome,

but the smile he gave her remained in her memory.

Thinking that smile somewhat resembled Hanon's,

Nikita was finally swallowed by the Ancient Dragon's magic.

* * *

Perhaps it was due to the heat of the fire's flames, but my breath was ragged.

More than that, however, the cold air piercing through the heat was chilling.

Before my eyes,

Nikita had completely succumbed to the Ancient Dragon's magic, undergoing draconification.

The Ancient Dragon's magic had instinctively recognized it.

That the heat I harbored could burn it.

As a result, the Ancient Dragon's magic twisted its strategy, accelerating the draconification.

Certainly, in the game, Nikita's death was inevitable, an unavoidable part of the story.

No matter what Lucas did, there was no way for him to save Nikita.

But now, this world was reality.

Lucas didn't possess the knowledge to stop the Ancient Dragon's magic.

I possessed the knowledge to stop the Ancient Dragon's magic.

'The day I saved Nia, I already decided.'

I am the one who will guide this world along its predetermined path.

But no matter what I do, I cannot follow the same path as Lucas.

So, while moving along the predetermined path,

I will draw the most ideal predetermined path that I desire.

'I will save Nikita.'

Having made my decision, I drew a deep breath.

The moment Nikita fully transformed into a dragon-human,

the Evil Lord would reach out to seize the body of the draconified Nikita.

Even now, I could feel the Demonic Palace squirming.

It was proof that the Evil Lord coveted Nikita.

'As if I'd let him have her.'

Don't covet her.

I have no intention of giving her to you.

Whoosh!

At that moment, an icy cold blast swept over me.

Simultaneously, Nikita's two eyes erupted with a blinding light.

It's coming.

The moment I instinctively realized this, Nikita vanished.

As my right hand blade, imbued with heat, extended, the clang of a blade resonated.

Crack!

The air froze due to the cold, and frost formed.

Beyond my hand blade, Nikita's form, imbued with a fierce aura, became visible.

Her reason no longer existed.

Only a draconified being, existing solely for slaughter, remained.

At that moment, Nikita's mouth opened wide.

Seeing this, I sharply twisted my head.

Flash!

A flash of light filled my vision.

A beam of ice froze a part of my hair as it grazed past me.

Through the opening, Nikita's right knee shot up towards my side.

I brought my left elbow down to block her knee, pulling my back foot.

I clenched a fistful of heat in my right hand.

Then, I immediately thrust my fist towards Nikita's chest.

Thwack!

Nikita's blade surface had somehow blocked my fist.

As a result, heat and cold collided with a resounding impact, exploding.

The powerful explosion caused a momentary ringing in my ears.

But even amidst the explosion, Nikita's sword weaved towards me.

The swordsmanship ingrained in Nikita's body poured out instinctively.

Diagonally from the left, overhead from the right.

The clash of blade and hilt, her gaze, and her footwork—

My eyes relentlessly followed Nikita, missing nothing.

My dynamic vision was pushed to its limits.

Even one missed movement would be a fatal blow.

Knowing this, I desperately clashed with her.

And at some point,

Nikita's body, which had been swinging her sword, began to slow down compared to before.

Conversely, the same was true for me.

My body was also clearly slowing down more than before.

This wasn't because our stamina was depleting.

'Finally, it's starting.'

The signs were beginning to appear.

I could feel the Ancient Dragon's magic within Nikita growing flustered.

'No, wait.'

Not the Ancient Dragon's magic.

Deep within Nikita.

A being that had coiled there for a far longer time began to reveal its bewilderment.

It must have realized by now.

That even it was in danger.

A strained smile formed on my lips.

Deep within the Ancient Dragon's magic.

The Ancient Dragon's curse that had long been passed down through the Cyncia Marquisate,

the reason Nikita had to live her entire life without talent.

The Remnant of the Ancient Dragon.

The true reason Lucas couldn't save Nikita.

And the identity of the terrible curse that could only be removed if Nikita touched the Ancient Dragon's magic.

This, truly, was the inevitability tied to Nikita.

So, I had prepared the only way to defy that inevitability.

"Looks like you're finally a little flustered."

I let out a ragged breath, a sneer on my face.

Within the cold.

Finally, flames began to ignite, spreading even to the Remnant of the Ancient Dragon that the Ancient Dragon had implanted.