BRAND NEW WORLD

"Wait, wait!" Deva said, raising his hand.

"What was the name again?"

"Ishtar, the Sacred Crystal Dragon."

Deva immediately slapped his forehead.

"Isn’t Ishtar one of the eight Great Dragon Gods?"

I nodded.

"Is that even possible? How did you do it?" Deva asked, furrowing his brow.

"How? After defeating Tiamat twice, you earn the title: Dragon Savior. After that, Ringga told me to offer a sacred white crystal ball and a dragon bone, then present them to Ishtar after fighting Tiamat. After that, Ishtar will form a contract with you, and you can summon her anytime."

"Where did you get the crystal ball and the dragon skeleton?" Deva asked.

"I don’t know either. I got those items from Ringga."

"..."

After a while, we finished packing up.

"My Lady!" Lusserina called out, approaching.

"How is it? Is everything ready?"

"Yes, my Lady," Lusserina replied.

But just as we finished packing...

BOOMM!!

A loud explosion echoed in the distance. Everyone fell silent, staring into the distance.

Ringga!

I want to go now, but...

"My Lady, please go ahead. Leave everything here to me," Lusserina said.

"A-Are you sure? I’ll leave everything here to you, then?"

Lusserina nodded. I immediately flew toward the battlefield.

Meanwhile...

In the sky, Randgris was fighting Shadow Randgris.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The sound of two steels clashing echoed. Because they were fighting in the air, Shadow Randgris was not caught in the explosion and survived.

In the sky, Shadow Randgris spread her wings before flapping them toward Randgris in the distance, sending hundreds of feather projectiles flying. Randgris agilely flew back and forth, dodging the feather shots while trying to close the distance. Once she was close enough, Randgris swung her spear, wreathed in black flames, at Shadow Randgris.

SWOOM!

A dragon-shaped figure formed from the black flames and shot toward Shadow Randgris. Seeing this, Shadow Randgris conjured a protective energy barrier. As the dragon-shaped flames collided with the barrier, the black fire spear was held back. The two energies ground against each other.

CREAK! CREAK!

A few seconds later...

CRACK!

Cracks appeared on Shadow Randgris’s energy barrier. The cracks grew larger and...

SHATTER! BOOM!

An explosion echoed across the sky, and from behind the smoke, Shadow Randgris’s body fell. Smoke billowed from her body. The farther she fell, the more her body dissolved into ash, carried away by the wind.

[Back to Ringga]

"Whew... that explosion was pretty dangerous," Uncle Pedo said.

"Right... unlike in the game, now we can feel pain, and we can die too. There’s no respawn or redo," Kardol added.

After the explosion from the collision of two energies, Ringga and the others quickly moved back, keeping their distance.

"Hm..." Uncle Pedo muttered. "Isn’t that...?" he added, gesturing toward two figures in the sky.

"Isn’t that... Randgris?" Kardol said.

"It seems that because they were fighting in the air, Shadow Randgris wasn’t caught in the blast," Ringga replied.

Ringga then fell silent. His gaze was fixed on the Demon, who was still standing tall.

"He’ll summon his doppelgangers again," Ringga said.

Sure enough, the Demon slashed his arm once more, and black blood dripped to the ground, transforming into doppelgangers.

"How long are we going to keep this up?" Uncle Pedo asked.

"Until we defeat him," Ringga answered.

"Ringga!"

A voice echoed in Ringga’s mind.

"Luna?"

"What was that explosion? Are you alright?"

"Don’t worry, I’m fine. That was the explosion from the collision between the Demon’s and Tiamat’s attacks," Ringga replied.

"I see... thank goodness. I’m heading over there now."

One minute later...

I saw Ringga, Kardol, Uncle Pedo, and the others fighting their own doppelgangers. I hovered in the air, keeping some distance as Ringga had instructed.

"Lun!"

"Sis!"

"Big Sis Luna!"

I turned to see Rima, Shana, and Grandpa Shaman calling out to me. The three of them were hovering in the air just like me.

"What’s the situation?" Rima asked.

I then explained Ringga’s plan and the current situation to them.

"..."

"I see... so we need to keep our distance," Grandpa Shaman added.

"Then let’s prepare!"

"YEAH!" the three of them answered.

• •

Tiamat... continued to rain down black fireballs on the Demon from the sky. Sometimes the Demon blocked them with an energy barrier; other times he dodged by leaping to the side or backward. Every time he leaped, the ground and trees shook violently as if an earthquake were occurring. The Demon also retaliated against Tiamat in the air by hurling boulders or chunks of earth, having learned that magic was ineffective against him.

Tiamat flew eastward while continuing to attack and dodge the Demon’s assaults. After a while, Tiamat landed on the ground. Tiamat opened his mouth wide, and a black energy sphere formed before it. A few seconds later...

BLAST!

Tiamat unleashed a stream of black energy at the Demon. Unable to dodge, the Demon was trampled by the black energy.

SWOOSH!

The black energy blast shot swiftly toward the west.

• •

After a while, the situation began to calm, and silence fell. Trees burned, leaves withered, and smoke rose from the ground. The black energy had gouged the earth, turning everything in its path black from the scorching heat. The Demon’s figure stood, arms crossed in front of his face.

Smoke billowed from his entire body. There were several red spots on various parts of his body, while others were pitch black. Before long...

RAAARRGGGHH!!

The Demon roared at Tiamat. His roar shook the ground and the surrounding trees. His eyes were wide, filled with rage and hatred.

"..."

"Now!" Ringga shouted.

Hearing this, we unleashed the spells we had been chanting. Before long, the sky turned dark. Black clouds gathered. Rain fell, dripping onto the ground, followed by the rumble of thunder in the sky.

This sudden change in weather made the Demon pause for a moment. Confusion appeared on his face. Seizing the opportunity, Ringga and Kardol unleashed shadow magic, binding the Demon’s arms. Meanwhile, Uncle Pedo used earth magic to hold his feet. A few seconds later, a bird made entirely of lightning formed in the sky.

ZAP! ZAP!

KRAWWK!

The thunderbird turned its gaze toward the Demon below. Its stare lingered as if locking onto its prey. After that, the thunderbird flew into the sky, passing through the clouds, then descended to the earth at lightning speed.

CRAAASH!

A flash of purple light blinded everyone.

"..."

As the vision cleared, the Demon’s body could still be seen standing on the ground. However, his condition was worse than before. Severe burn wounds covered his body. Several of the eyeballs on his arms were now closed, and blood flowed from them.

"After all that, he’s still standing tall? Unbelievable," Shana said, her face filled with shock.

"He didn’t become a raid boss for nothing. Even though we unleashed powerful magic, it’s still not enough, right, Lun?" Mbah Dukun said.

"So, what now, Sis?" Rima asked.

"What else but to keep raining down more magic?"

• •

A few moments later, the Demon’s body twitched. His eyes then opened wide. His head turned toward a certain direction before stopping at one point.

"It seems we’ve been spotted," Mbah Dukun said.

I felt the Demon’s gaze filled with hatred. Even though we were far away, he had managed to find us. The Demon turned his massive body and locked onto us.

"It seems he’s found us," Rima said.

Mbah Dukun slowly stopped smiling.

"What now? Should we move to Plan B?" Shana asked.

As soon as he saw us, the Demon jumped in our direction.

SWOONG!

Small tremors could be felt in the ground as he leaped. While airborne, the Demon swung his claws, shrouded in black energy. However, halfway through...

CRASH!

Tiamat charged at the Demon from the side. Unable to dodge, the Demon’s body was sent flying several hundred meters. Tiamat bit the Demon’s neck and dragged him several hundred meters. The Demon struggled to break free, but Tiamat’s grip was difficult to escape.

Seeing this...

"Now!" Mbah Dukun shouted.

At Mbah Dukun’s command, we chanted another spell. This time, we summoned a massive, muscular creature wearing no clothes, with two goat horns on its head.

"Ifrit! Burn him!" Mbah Dukun commanded.

Ifrit stood floating in the air, arms crossed over his chest. Ifrit raised his hand upward, and a massive fireball formed above his head. Sensing something was wrong, the Demon looked up at the sky and saw Ifrit, who then unleashed the giant fireball at him.

Realizing this, the Demon struggled even harder. He tried to break free from Tiamat’s bite and grip. However...

BOOOMM!!

A blinding flash lit up the distance. The fireball struck the Demon and Tiamat on the ground. The explosion consumed both. The blast echoed in everyone’s ears. Shockwaves and heat spread in all directions.

A few minutes later... everything fell silent and still. Two silhouettes could be seen through the veil of light. As the view cleared, Tiamat was still standing tall as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, the Demon knelt on the ground, smoke billowing from his body, one arm severed and bleeding black blood onto the earth.

"..."

"Just as I thought, Tiamat is fine," Shana murmured.

"Yes, thank goodness Tiamat was wearing the Cursed Skull Necklace. Otherwise, he would have been hurt too," Mbah Dukun added.

"..."

Tiamat then opened his mouth, and energy gathered within it. However, just as a small energy sphere formed...

GRAB!

The Demon’s hand grabbed Tiamat’s neck before leaping high into the air and slamming him into the ground.

BAM!

Tiamat’s body lay sprawled on his back. The Demon then stepped on Tiamat’s neck. He then swung his claws and pierced Tiamat’s chest.

RWAARGHH!

Tiamat’s agonized roar echoed in everyone’s ears. This naturally shocked everyone, including Ringga, Kardol, and Uncle Pedo, who were still fighting their doppelgangers.

"Oi, oi! This Demon is tenacious," Uncle Pedo said.

The Demon’s hand then emitted a dark glow.

"What is he doing?" Kardol asked.

"..."

Ringga remained silent. There was no smile on his face.

"..."

"Sis, what do we do? We have to save him!" Shana cried.

When I used my Analyze skill...

"It seems the Demon is draining Tiamat’s mana."

A black aura surged from the Demon’s body. The wounds all over his body slowly began to heal.

"What!" Mbah Dukun was shocked.

"We have to stop him," Rima said.

It seems it’s time.

"Give me a few minutes."

"What are you going to do?" Mbah Dukun asked.

Without waiting for an answer, I took out a blue potion from my spatial storage.

GLUP! GLUP! GLUP!

After that, I immediately began chanting a spell.

"..."

Before long, my body began to emit a golden-white light. Sensing the surge of mana, the Demon immediately turned toward me. He opened his mouth and unleashed a black energy blast at us. The black energy shot toward us at high speed. When it was just a few meters away, someone stepped forward and raised their staff. A faint, translucent protective barrier stopped the black energy.

"Leave him to us," Mbah Dukun murmured with a smirk.

The one who had stepped forward was Mbah Dukun. Seeing this, Rima and Shana followed from behind.

"Yes, leave this to us, Sis!" Shana said enthusiastically.

"We won’t let him touch you," Rima added with a smile.

"...you guys?"

Seeing them, I felt even more determined. I focused back on my chant.

"..."

Before long, a pillar of golden-white light shot out from my body and into the sky, draining 90 percent of my mana in the process.

"Haa... Haa... Haa..."

My breathing grew heavy, my vision began to blur, and my body lost its balance until I finally fell.

"..."

Just as I was about to hit the ground, someone caught me.

"Whoa, almost there."

I turned to see...

"Ringga?"

"Miss, you need to be more careful, okay?" Ringga replied with a smile.

For some reason, my heart suddenly pounded wildly. I quickly stood back up and immediately drank a mana-restoring potion.

Meanwhile, from the sky... a pillar of golden-white light descended onto where the Demon stood. At first, the pillar of light was small. Gradually, it widened and grew larger. Struck by the pillar of light, the Demon’s body trembled. He gritted his teeth as if being pulled by gravity. Seeing this, Tiamat immediately reverted to his draconian form and quickly flew toward us. His body was covered in wounds. Mbah Dukun, Rima, and Shana then joined us.

"Here, let me heal him."

Just as I was about to step forward...

"Wait a moment," Ringga interrupted.

I turned to look at Ringga, who merely smiled at me. Tiamat then removed the Cursed Skull Necklace and handed it to Ringga.

"Now... he can be healed," Ringga said with a smile.

Oh, right, I almost forgot.

Just as I was about to move again...

"Let me do it. You rest for now," Rima said.

"Big Sis Rima is right. Big Sis Luna, rest. Leave this to us," Shana added.

The two of them then healed Tiamat with their recovery magic.

Meanwhile...

From the sky, a large black silhouette could be seen. The silhouette resembled a dragon.

As its form became clear, a magnificent white dragon slowly descended with grace. Its scales were beautiful, gleaming white, and its body emanated a golden aura.

"Is that...!" Grandpa Shaman murmured in shock.