Chapter 44: Someone Always Takes the Fall
"A dragon? You mean ’the’ dragon?!" Her eyes went wide. Like everyone else in Warstone, she knew the dragon’s history well.
"Absolutely," Cael replied.
"Why would they even— you know what, forget it. I’ll bring you its head. How do I get paid?" Lydia asked, hands settling on her hips.
Cael walked past her toward his carriage, not looking back. "Bring it to me, Lydia. You know where to find me."
He disappeared down the street, and only once he was fully out of sight did Lydia finally turn and leave.
---
Niel reached the east side of Warstone the next morning. It was a small village, parts of it scorched and crumbling. From the damage alone, Niel could tell the attack had happened recently — a day, maybe less.
He walked in, taking in the scene, when a young man hurried up to him.
"Good day, sir. Are you the adventurer sent to help us?"
"—And you are?" Niel asked, fixing him with a level stare.
The young man froze, then caught himself. "Apologies, sir. I’m Omani, the chief’s son."
"Alright." Niel moved past him, further into the village, Omani trailing behind. "Walk me through everything."
From what he remembered, four villages ringed the mountains the dragon called home, and roughly once a decade it settled on one to terrorize. But something about the pattern had never sat right with him — something he’d never bothered investigating in his last life. He intended to now.
Omani hesitated, unsure why the man needed a full briefing — they’d been told an adventurer was coming to kill the dragon, not to catalogue the attack. But if this stranger was meant to be their savior, there wasn’t much choice but to comply. "It started about a week ago. The dragon comes at sunset every day and leaves the moment the sun’s fully down."
"I see," Niel muttered as they reached a massive dome rising from the village center. He studied it closely — nothing about it looked constructed by hand. "What is—"
Before he could finish, the ground shook, and both of them turned toward the source. A man with a thick shock of ginger hair thrust his hands skyward, and rings of earth bulged up from the ground, slowly folding into a second dome in front of him.
Claire: Noted. New skill acquired. Earth Manipulation.
Now that’s a genuinely useful ability.
Niel thought as Omani caught up beside him, panting, hands braced on his knees.
"Is that another adventurer sent to help?" Niel asked, eyes still on the dome.
"He’s an adventurer, but not a combat one," Omani answered, straightening. "Mostly defense — keeping people safe during the attacks. He only arrived yesterday, and he can only manage one dome a day."
Niel glanced toward the first dome, then back at the one still forming. "I take it there’s a reason for building two?"
"Yeah," Omani said. "Keeping the injured separate from everyone else. It’s hard on people to watch someone die beside them — traumatizing, especially for the ones who weren’t hurt."
"How many casualties so far?" Niel asked.
"Six dead, twenty injured. That number’s only going to climb if the dragon isn’t stopped soon," Omani said with a heavy sigh.
Niel glanced up at the sun — barely midday. Waiting until sunset to face the dragon on its own terms seemed unnecessary when he could just as easily go to it. His gaze shifted toward the mountains in the distance.
"Alright then. I’ll head to the mountains and finish this now." Niel walked off without waiting for a reply, though he could still feel Omani’s stunned gaze following him.
---
He soon entered the forest. The walk was long, and silent — no sign of monsters, no wildlife at all. That didn’t surprise him; wherever the dragon chose to strike from, every living thing in the area cleared out well ahead of time, which made the path to the mountain almost eerily smooth.
He reached the mountain and approached the mouth of the cave, blade drawn. As he stepped inside, a roar echoed off the walls, followed by the crack of explosions.
"What was that?"
Niel muttered, and Claire answered.
Claire: Seems someone beat you to it, partner.
Wondering who could be inside ahead of him, Niel sheathed his blade and pushed deeper into the cave until the tunnel opened into a cavern wide enough to swallow a whole village.
Inside, something tore past him at blinding speed, ricocheting off the walls as the dragon spat fire wildly, missing its mark each time.
Niel tracked the blur, trying to make sense of whatever was moving that fast. Then the dragon spotted him and, without hesitation, unleashed a stream of fire straight at him — Claire’s voice cutting through just in time.
Claire: Watch out!
Niel countered instantly with Solar Flare, the impact driving the dragon back and scorching flame across the cavern.
"Hey!!!"
A voice screamed out of the fire, furious, and before Niel could place it, something burst free of the flames and launched at him — his heightened senses catching it a full second before the punch could land.
The blow sent a shockwave rippling down the cavern. For a moment, their eyes met, and both of them froze.
"Lydia," Niel said first, staring at her in disbelief.
"You — what are you doing here?" Lydia shot back. Just then the dragon roared, scattering the smoke, and lunged toward them. Before Niel could react, Lydia thrust her hands forward, and the dragon froze mid-motion, locked in place.
Niel stared, stunned, and was about to ask how when Claire chimed in.
Claire: Noted. Unique skill acquired. Attraction and Repulsion.
Niel looked at her with fresh astonishment — not just at the skill itself, but at the fact that she’d now revealed three unique skills since he’d met her, a feat usually reserved for high S-ranks.
Then another thought caught up with him. If she could pin the dragon in place that easily, why had she spent the whole fight dodging around instead? He looked back at her. "How are you even doing that — and if you could stop it this easily the whole time, why were you running circles around it before?"
"Oh, I was testing my speed. Don’t get many chances for a real fight," she said, eyes still fixed on the dragon, leaving Niel momentarily speechless. She could’ve ended this in seconds and had turned it into a training exercise instead. Not just strong — dangerously overqualified for this.
Then her question cut through his thoughts. "Why are you here? Following me?"
Niel’s eyes widened. "No — the Church sent me to kill the dragon. What about you?"
She paused, confusion flickering across her face. "The Church sent me too. Why would they send two of us after one dragon?"
Both fell quiet, turning the question over. Why would the Church need two people for this, and why the secrecy? Niel wondered if the adventurers were meant to be sacrifices to the dragon, or if the Church simply wanted it dead by any means necessary. Either way, something rotten sat beneath the surface of this.
"I figured those people had something else going on. Now I’m sure of it," Lydia muttered, then paused, something clicking into place as she recalled her conversation with Cael. "Did he lie about not knowing, or did they lie to him?"
"Who?" Niel asked.
She answered with a question of her own. "Did you get this mission straight from the Church, or was there someone else involved?"
Niel considered it for a moment. His mission had technically come from the Church directly — but did Cael count as a second party, given that he’d been the one to recommend him? He looked at her. "The mission came from the Church directly, but someone recommended me to them first."
Lydia’s expression darkened, rage building beneath the surface. "It’s Cael, isn’t it?"
Niel said nothing, but his expression confirmed it well enough. They stared at each other a moment before Lydia turned back to the frozen dragon. "So what now? You think there’s a trap waiting for us somewhere in this?"
Niel’s mind drifted back to his old life — the forged evidence, the crimes pinned on him that were never his. Was this any different? If they killed the dragon and the Church denied ever sending them, they could end up branded fugitives across Warstone, the story spreading to other kingdoms before they could stop it. It had the shape of a trap.
And knowing Cael had a hand in it, trust wasn’t something he could afford to extend. Niel settled on his conclusion — this was a trap wearing heroism as a disguise.
"They’re pulling that card again. Someone always has to take the fall when the mess surfaces," Lydia murmured to herself.
"And now that we’ve already accepted the mission, we either go back having failed, or succeed and walk straight into whatever’s waiting beneath it. Which outcome costs us less?" Vael added.
Before either of them could settle on an answer, a voice echoed through both their minds.
"Seems humans are finally tasting the cruelty of their own kind. How ironic."