“You…”
Tezette looked at Elsez with eyes full of disbelief.
Even with nothing more than her presence, he could feel an overwhelming power pressing down on him.
It was a power he had felt once before.
Three years ago, from the Demon God they had all fought together.
“Why do you…?”
The moment he realized the truth behind that power, a sharp, undeniable emotion filled Tezette’s eyes as he looked at Elsez.
Shock from the sudden truth, and sorrow for the reality faced by the woman he loved.
Why?
Why would you, who always fought for this world and its people—why would you—
His gaze twisted with pain.
And Tezette was not the only one to sense the overwhelming power radiating from Elsez.
The people nearby felt it too, staring at her with fear-filled eyes.
This was the very situation Elsez had never wanted to face.
She bit down hard on her lip.
‘I should have told Tezette ahead of time.’
It was her mistake, not having expected things to unfold so suddenly.
“Tezette. This is…”
Elsez opened her mouth to explain the situation, but there was no time.
“Uwaah!”
“Kyaaah! Help us!”
The monsters spilling out of the dimensional rift attacked mercilessly, gradually taking over the plaza.
Then, nearby, a child’s scream rang out.
“Mom!”
One of the children who had been watching the coin toss at the fountain earlier was about to be attacked by a gargoyle.
Elsez cut herself off, rushing over and striking the gargoyle.
She quickly helped the frozen child back to their feet and spoke.
“Kid, run straight to the temple. Your mom and dad must have gone there.”
The temple had paladins, priests, and clerics.
Some of them may have sided with the Demon Resurrection Sect, but for now, the temple was the safest place.
‘If they don’t want to die themselves, they’ll protect it.’
The child nodded and ran toward the temple.
Elsez watched the child’s retreating figure, then turned to Tezette.
She wanted to explain the situation to him, still staring at her in confusion, but even now countless people were being attacked by monsters.
“Tezette.”
“……”
“I’ll explain everything later. Right now, trust me and help. I need you.”
Her eyes as she said that were more desperate than ever before.
That expression overlapped with his memories of first meeting Ruel as a child.
‘Will you come with me?’
‘……’
‘Lend me your strength. I need your help.’
Ruel had once asked Tezette to lend his strength. To save this world.
The power radiating from Elsez now was the Demon God’s power, but her expression was no different from back then.
Tezette drew his sword from his inventory, stepped toward her, and answered.
“I believe in you.”
His sword cut down the gargoyle charging at Elsez.
Together, the two began taking down monsters and rescuing people in danger.
“Head to the temple!”
But as vast as the dimensional rift was, the monsters poured out endlessly.
And with so many flying creatures, it was especially troublesome for close-range fighters like Elsez and Tezette to handle.
‘At this point, should I use magic?’
Elsez tried casting, just as she had once done at the imperial palace of Artes.
But there was a problem.
Suddenly, she had far too much mana, making it hard to control.
‘If I use magic recklessly, I might hurt innocent people.’
In the end, she gave up on using magic and leapt onto the rooftops of nearby houses.
She began moving from roof to roof, taking down monsters as she went.
Tezette followed her up and joined in cutting down the creatures—when suddenly, two others appeared from across the roof.
Cassian and Ruel, also fighting off monsters.
“You two…?”
“Cassian, wait!”
Cassian started toward Elsez and Tezette, but Ruel stepped in front of him.
Eyeing Elsez warily, Ruel asked Cassian:
“Don’t you realize what that power is?”
At last, Cassian sensed the Demon God’s power radiating from Elsez. His eyes widened in shock, then twisted.
Elsez’s own expression hardened as she saw their reaction.
For just a moment, a smile flickered across Ruel’s lips before vanishing.
This was the situation Ruel had been waiting for.
Cassian looked at Elsez with shaken eyes, finally managing to speak.
“Rookie… what’s with you right now? Why, how could you…?”
“Can’t you see with your own eyes? She deceived us. She lulled us into letting our guard down, just to cause this chaos.”
Ruel gripped Cassian’s arm to stop him from approaching Elsez and pressed the attack with his words.
Elsez’s fury welled up at his accusation, but Tezette reacted faster.
He charged at Ruel without hesitation.
Cassian barely intercepted him in time.
Clang—!
Their blades clashed, ringing with a sharp metallic cry.
“What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy?”
“Move.”
“Would you just move? Why are you attacking someone who hasn’t even done anything? You owe us an explanation first!”
Tezette’s whole body radiated killing intent as he pressed Cassian back.
But now wasn’t the time for that.
Even while the two of them were fighting, people were still being attacked by the monsters.
“Tezette, stop—”
Just as Elsez was about to stop him, a massive shadow emerged from the dimensional rift and then stepped fully out.
‘A dragon?!’
It was a dragon, one of the highest-ranked beasts.
Even in the game, it was a monster you wouldn’t see unless you reached a very high level.
Cassian and Tezette, who both saw the dragon, also stopped fighting.
“Damn it… what the hell is that?”
The enormous dragon beat its wings as it descended toward the ground.
Seeing this, Cassian and Tezette rushed toward the dragon without hesitation.
Elsez, watching them, turned her gaze to Ruel, who was surely the mastermind behind all this.
“You really are insane, aren’t you?”
At the murderous glare Elsez shot her, Ruel flinched.
The woman already possessed overwhelming power, but now that she was showing killing intent, Ruel’s body shrank instinctively.
Elsez spoke in a voice as cold as ice.
“I’ll kill you later.”
Then she immediately charged after Cassian and Tezette toward the dragon.
The dragon facing their attacks began to stir flames in its throat.
The sight made Elsez’ blood run cold.
‘A breath attack…!’
Cassian, Tezette, and Elsez herself were all heroes who had once defeated the Demon King.
With their combined combat power and experience, handling a dragon in battle wasn’t the issue.
But killing a dragon and protecting the people were two entirely different things.
No matter how strong the three of them were, taking the dragon down in a single strike was impossible. And even if they dodged the breath, the people gathered in the square would not survive.
‘I have to protect them.’
But neither Elsez, nor Cassian, nor Tezette had any means of blocking a breath attack.
The black magic of the Demon King was devastating in its offensive power, but it lacked any spells for defense or protection.
At this rate, the entire square would be burned to ash.
‘If only Rashiel or Astaire were here, they could put up a protective barrier…’
The moment she thought that, a voice she once heard from Rashiel surfaced in her mind.
“When you truly need it, my mana and magic will resonate with you—just once.”
And in that instant, she realized.
This was the moment when she needed his mana.
The dragon’s throat was already glowing, brimming with the breath it was about to unleash.
There was no more time to hesitate.
Elsez stepped into the center of where Cassian and Tezette were fighting the dragon.
Seeing this, Cassian shouted:
“Rookie, what are you doing there?! It’s dangerous—get back!”
But Elsez ignored him and stood her ground, facing the dragon head-on.
There was one fatal problem, though.
‘Wait… how do I even use this?’
Rashiel had never explained how to use mana resonance.
All he had said was that it would happen “when you needed it.”
‘You could’ve at least told me how to activate it!’
Elsez grumbled at Rashiel in her mind, but now it was far too late.
“…I just have to try.”
Since there was that condition—when you needed it—the magic circle from the contract would probably decide whether the condition was met.
Elsez stretched out the hand where Rashiel had drawn the magic circle.
And in her heart, she prayed.
Rashiel, lend me your strength. I need your power.
The strength to protect everyone in this city.
The dragon’s breath was about to burst forth, but instead of dodging, Elsez clenched her eyes shut.
She couldn’t avoid it.
No—she refused to avoid it.
If she dodged, the entire town behind her would be burned to the ground.
Please…!
Just before the flames could reach her, a brilliant magic circle lit up on the back of her hand, releasing an immense surge of mana.
From the circle that began on Elsez’ hand, a colossal magic barrier spread outward, encompassing the square and the city around it.
When Elsez felt the overwhelming surge of mana and opened her eyes, she gazed in disbelief at the barrier that now loomed in front of her.
“It worked…!”
But just as she rejoiced, the dragon roared and began pounding against the barrier.
The crushing impact shook Elsez’ entire body.
‘Ngh… at this rate, the barrier will…’
As she clenched her teeth to maintain the barrier, a large, cool hand appeared, overlapping the one from which her mana was pouring.
At the same time, she sensed a chilling presence beside her, followed by a deep, familiar voice whispering into her ear.
“You really did use your one chance for the sake of others.”
“…Rashiel?”
Only when she saw his perfectly formed, handsome face standing right beside her did Elsez finally understand.
‘Not twice?’
‘You won’t need it twice.’
Why he had told her mana resonance would never be needed a second time.
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