While Xia was busy struggling, the situation changed again.

A strong flash of light flashed in the sky, and then something crashed heavily into the ground near Xia, raising a thick cloud of dust, making it difficult for Xia to see what it was.

Could it be an enemy attack?! Shia thought, sweat pouring down her face with nervousness. Then, a gust of wind blew away the dust, allowing her to clearly see the figure lying before her. Her face instantly turned pale.

"...Tio, miss?"

Lying powerlessly in the middle of the shattered earth was Tio, who was in a horrible state.

Volume 12, Chapter 7: The Dragon God Arrives

Let’s go back in time a little.

While Shia was fighting a life-and-death battle with the Platinum Apostle, Tio was also fighting fiercely with the enemy.

"...Tsk, how tenacious."

Fried muttered.

Faced with Tio's endurance-reliant fighting style, Fried had originally intended to determine the outcome as quickly as possible. However, Tio's endurance was surprisingly strong, completely exceeding Fried's expectations.

She continued to fight regardless of her injuries. Even as blood and black scales splattered across the battlefield, she steadily used the Black Slave Whip to increase the number of dragon soldiers. Furthermore, the rate of increase was accelerating.

Now, the total number of armed black dragons and reincarnated black dragons exceeds three hundred.

Tio led the black dragons into a spherical formation, surrounding her as much as possible to avoid a chaotic battle. She focused on dealing with the attacks of Fried and Uranus, avoiding only the fatal strikes and dealing with them skillfully.

At the same time, she can also keenly perceive the precursors of strategic-level large-scale attacks and accurately hinder them with the Black Whip and Dragon Claw.

If a black dragon is injured, she will quickly heal it with the "Grace of the Dragon King". Although she herself is always in a state of serious injury, which is unbearable to watch, she still maintains her movements through timely and appropriate treatment to maintain a state of not slowing down.

Is this kind of warfare really as unsightly as Fried commented?

No, the current situation confirms everything.

Tio's tactics were extremely clever. Even without relying on future predictions, it seemed that Tio could see through Fried's thoughts with her own knowledge and rules of experience.

The difference in years of life and the sharp claws that had been honed through years of practice forced Fried to submit even though he was angry.

But in reality, Tio's condition was not as good as Fried had judged.

(…The medicine to combat the aurora is almost gone. It will be difficult to correct the damage by then.)

Even if large-scale attacks can be prevented, other smaller attacks cannot be fully addressed.

Especially the combination of Fried's "Space-Time Gate" and Uranus's "Aurora Dragon Breath", Tio couldn't help but admire it even though they were enemies.

Sometimes Uranus would relocate, and sometimes Fried would launch a barrage of decomposition bombardments and feather sweeps. When necessary, he would cast the highest level of elemental magic, prioritizing Aurora Dragon Breath to hit Tio.

It was nearly impossible to completely avoid it. At this point, all he could do was grit his teeth and endure the attack.

Inevitably, the more Aurora attacks you take, the stronger the recovery blockage becomes. The only way to counter this is to take more "Dr. Friend of the Hack" to increase its effectiveness. In other words, when this supply runs out, the situation will suddenly turn unfavorable.

Furthermore, magic power isn't infinite. Although 'Majesty' and 'Grace' are both spells that Tio has a very high affinity for, they still consume a considerable amount of magic power. Maintaining 'Roar' and 'Dragon Scale Layered Armor' also consumes magic power.

Therefore, before the battle power was reversed, Tio would likely exhaust her physical strength and magic power first.

Fried's judgment was correct. Therefore, even after over two hundred monsters were taken away, he showed no signs of anxiety or panic, and certainly didn't reveal any flaws.

However, no matter how much damage was done to Tio or what kind of torture was inflicted, the fighting spirit deep in those dragon eyes remained firm, which made Fried seem a little impatient.

Tio saw what Fried was thinking, and predicting the next attack from his eyes, she jumped up.

The next moment, a massive dragon's mouth fiercely bit towards Tio's original position. It was Uranus, who had appeared behind Tio by teleporting, ignoring the spherical formation's defense.

In the upside-down state, Tio made a pistol gesture with her hand and fired a very fine dragon breath compressed to the size of a finger at Uranus.

Tio judged that it would turn around and distance itself if it failed to hit the target, so she adjusted the direction of the shot in advance. As a result, it successfully hit the target.

The extremely fine dragon breath drew a straight line in the air and accurately hit Uranus's right eye, exactly as Tio expected.

—Gahhhhhhhh!

The dragon's breath, compressed to an extremely fine point, was powerful enough to penetrate even space-blocking barriers. This shot finally inflicted a severe wound on the White Dragon. However, it also unleashed the resentment and anger that had long been pent up within Uranus.

Uranus's emotions were out of control. He no longer paid attention to the severe pain and no longer flinched. His miserable groans turned into angry roars, and in the blink of an eye, he shot out the Aurora Dragon Breath.

The atmosphere shook and a wall of light came pressing in.

Faced with such an attack, even Tio felt her hair stand on end. An anxious expression of "not good" appeared on her face, and she flapped her dragon wings desperately to escape the beam.

As a result, both sides suffered losses.

"Mmmmm, I really feel it~!"

Tio's voice trembled with the excruciating pain for the umpteenth time.

Although it wasn't hit directly, the dragon scales on its right shoulder and one of its wings were blown off. The skin beneath the scales was burned and charred, leaving a gaping hole.

Even so, Tio did not stop. She used her "air power" to create a foothold in the air, and at the same time, she gave an order to one of the armed black dragons through "telepathy", and fired a black flash into the air behind her, where there was nothing.

"Tsk, you're really sharp."

I could hear Fried muttering from behind. Having just appeared there after teleporting, he was nearly pierced by the black flash and quickly dodged it.

"You're so understanding."

Not giving Fried a chance to pursue, Tio swung the Black Slave Whip at him. The whip split into several strands, creating a spatially severing effect, and struck Fried in an erratic trajectory. This triggered Uranus's reaction, playing into Tio's hands.

Uranus flew at a speed unimaginable with its huge body, using the pure white dragon scales and barriers on its body to defend its master.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Tio once again deployed her dragon wings and dragon scale armor, casting healing magic at the same time. However, the shoulder wound healed very slowly. The injury was truly too severe.

"At this stage, he's still able to display enough power to cause Uranus to lose his right eye. I never expected that."

Fried's expression turned bitter.

The extremely fine dragon breath Tio had just released was incredibly skillful and powerful. Her magic, physical, and mental strength should have been severely depleted, so I couldn't understand how she had such extra energy.

The dragon people's endurance is indeed terrifyingly strong. And it's not just the dragon scales that have endurance, it seems to extend to all aspects of life. Fried stared at Tio calmly, analyzing the situation while treating Uranus's eyes.

"How much medicine do you have left?"

"What do you think?"

Tio used the "Dr. Friend of the Hack" and played dumb to deal with Fried.

This is the last bottle - of course I can't tell him that honestly.

(Really? I’ve endured so much, yet I still can’t reach that level!? This trick is too difficult! First generation ancestor, please be a little nicer to your descendants!)

As long as she continued to endure and bear the pain, she would eventually be able to unleash a certain trump card. It was a legacy left by the first generation of Kuralus that Tio had unexpectedly acquired upon returning home. However, the conditions for activating it were unexpectedly so harsh that Tio couldn't help but internally complain to her ancestors.

However, complaining alone will not change the reality.

It still takes time. Just a little bit more. Hajime should be battling God right now. In order to be at his best, he couldn't play his trump card yet.

Tio made this judgment and said:

"By the way, what happened to your compatriots? Didn't they all go to the divine realm?"

Tio suddenly started chatting, which was completely out of tune with the atmosphere of the battlefield.

Fried judged that this might be some kind of strategy and took a cautious stance.

"No need to be so nervous. It's almost over, I just want to rest for a while before that."

The implication was that both sides would fully recover before engaging in a decisive final round. Although she said this, Tio's eyes showed worry as she looked around to check the battle situation.

In fact, this was indeed the part that puzzled her the most. Where were the demons and the Demon King's army now? What were they doing? Among the demons, only General Fried was fighting here alone.

"Aren't you going back for help?"

Tio was simply confused, but Fried seemed to think that he thought she was not strong enough, so he narrowed his eyes in displeasure and answered her question.

"Are you worried that my compatriots will come to help? I can tell you first that there is no need to worry."

"Oh? Why? You can always ask your compatriots to come. I don't mind."

"All my compatriots are sleeping in other realms. They must gain enough strength before reaching the new world and serve the Lord as the vanguard of God."

"...So, does that mean it's the same power as you?"

I had only intended to buy a little time, intentionally or not, but I hadn't expected to hear such unpleasant information. The corners of Tio's mouth twitched stiffly.

However, that was just her unfounded worry.

"No, it's just the strengthening that God's people should receive. They haven't yet earned the qualifications to become God's followers like me."

"Follower? Didn't you become an apostle?"

"I am deeply honored to have been appointed by the Lord to succeed Yarbuheit-sama. I truly cannot accept this position... I was so ignorant before, and I insulted the Lord as a heretic. However, the Lord, in His mercy, has forgiven me and made me His direct vassal."

"I see. You possess such power, and your demons have been greatly strengthened, all because you have been endowed with abilities higher than those of the apostles."

"Indeed. Inevitably, my compatriots will all become the Families of the Families God, that is, the truly chosen people of God."

The stern and murderous expression on Fried's face was distorted in a trance at this moment.

Even Tio, the synonym for pervert, couldn't praise him.

But at the same time, I also feel pity and sympathy.

Before Hajime and his group were taken to the Demon King's Castle, it was clear from the questions and answers they had in the snowy realm that Fried had understood everything.

As a Great Labyrinth conqueror, he learned the truth about the liberators, knowing that Esid was the mastermind behind the manipulation of history and the war. Many of Freed's compatriots died as a result. Knowing all this, he...

"It's truly pathetic for demons to sacrifice their lives in vain without knowing anything. Have you completely lost any love for your compatriots and your homeland?"

It wasn’t “nothing” but “nothing left”. The reason he asked this question with such words must be because the look in Fried’s eyes was the same as that of some people Tio knew.

Those were the eyes of the fanatics. Those fanatics had ravaged her country, her compatriots, and her parents. But before they went mad with the gods, they had been friendly neighbors of the dragon people.

Therefore, Tio thought that maybe Fried was the same in the past.

With only half-baked awareness and talent, he would never be able to successfully conquer the Great Maze. Furthermore, the first Great Maze he had conquered was the Ice Cave, where the challenge was to "fight one's own negative emotions." If he had already gone mad, unable to face his own heart, he would not be able to find a way out of the test.

In response to Tio's question, which came from such a thought, Fried's response was—

"Nonsense. I'm a loyal patriot and a protector of my people. But God's will takes precedence over all else, that's all."

Freed spoke without hesitation, his tone so cold that it sounded as if he were about to give up something important. Hearing this, Uranus's gaze seemed to waver for a moment. Was it an illusion?

At this moment, Fried and Tio turned around at the same time and looked in other directions.

“──!?”

"Huh, looks like she's arrived."

The two of them saw a pale blue-white magical light rising into the sky in the distance. The overwhelming power was so strong that it gave them goose bumps.

Moreover, after that force pulsated vigorously, it increased significantly again and quickly caught up with the realm of the Platinum Apostle.

Multiple Platinum Apostles were undoubtedly attacking with all their might, yet they were unable to defeat a single opponent and were gradually losing ground. This scene was simply too unreal.

No wonder Fried immediately put away his dazed expression as if he had been splashed with a bucket of ice water.

"How is this possible... the apostles were suppressed? Impossible! The first to fifth apostles were given extraordinary enhancements by the Lord!"

"Is there any need to be so surprised?"

Fried seemed to have forgotten Tio's existence for a moment, but upon hearing her voice, he quickly returned his attention to her, as if awakened from a dream. Tio continued speaking, her tone as if stating common sense.

"A timid and weak race. A girl only sixteen years old, nameless a year ago. Yet, such a girl has passed the trials of the Great Labyrinth and stood on this extraordinary battlefield. This is truly extraordinary, don't you understand?"

"this……"

"She has no magical aptitude, no combat experience, and certainly not the natural talents of vampires and dragonkin. Even so, this girl has overcome countless hardships with her will and body. Aside from her master, the closest thing to a monster in the world is undoubtedly this Shia Hauria."

Tio puffed out her chest and said with a smile on her face. She was so proud of it that it was her own business.

"And that self-proclaimed god who only knows how to look down on others and indulge in a sense of superiority, even if her soldiers are somewhat strengthened, they are certainly no match for her."

The insult to the Lord made Fried suddenly excited, but the reality of what happened on another battlefield forced him to admit that Tio's words were correct.

"...Impossible..." Fried could only mutter this softly. In that case, he could only rely on himself to overturn the situation. With this in mind, he glared at Tio with a sharp gaze.

"I must go and protect the apostles. I can't waste any more time torturing you. Die quickly."

"Don't say that. The fun is just about to begin."

"What a joke! Your wishful thinking will never come true. The gap in combat power is absolutely unchangeable."

Fried claimed that he saw through Tio's intentions and showed her despair.

He raised one hand high, as if the Grim Reaper's scythe would cut off Tio's head if he swung it down.

The situation is just as Fried said, the combat power gap is still more than three times.

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