Cursed Villainess' Obsession-Chapter 68

In the late game, Emily fought against dragons belonging to the demon army.

Even if it is a legendary ancient dragon, its basic properties should be similar to those of ordinary dragons.

The problem lies in Tarros’s unique abilities, which I had no knowledge of.

That said, I didn’t have no plans regarding that aspect.

After checking our equipment, I gathered the party to discuss our strategy for the boss battle.

“According to the information, Tarros can’t move while sealed, but it will attack if we enter a certain range.”

“So it’s safe outside that range?”

“Exactly, so if it gets dangerous, we’ll all back off.”

Emily, being our healer, quickly assessed the safe zones, and I nodded at her words.

In the game, Emily had been able to back away when approaching Tarros.

Beyond this room, after entering the boss room, if one tried to approach beyond a certain threshold, progress would be blocked with a corresponding text message.

Thinking about that, we would simply back off from any potential danger.

That should be enough to nullify the hostile state due to the seal.

“Then we can just attack from outside that range, right?”

“That would be great, but Tarros’s seal is dual-layered, so we would get blocked by one of those seals.”

As Mary pointed out, our party, with its high ranged firepower, would naturally think of that strategy.

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But due to the unknown principle of the seals, our attacks would be blocked outside the designated range.

“We don’t know what kind of attacks the enemy will use. Therefore, once we enter the hostile range, we’ll try to take it down as quickly as possible.”

“…Quickly? You mean an ancient dragon?”

“Yes, so Zickfried and Raphaena will draw Tarros’s attention, while Adrian and Mary will try to hinder its movements.”

“What about me? What should I do?”

“Emily, stay behind me. It’s too dangerous.”

“…Hmph.”

Seeing Emily pout in disappointment, I smiled and continued.

“Don’t be like that. You’re the most important.”

I gently patted Emily’s head, who had lowered it glumly, and explained her role.

I couldn’t know Tarros’s abilities precisely.

It’s certain that, like an ordinary dragon, it would have fear-inducing roars or wide-area breath attacks.

But I couldn't identify its unique special skills.

However, we have Emily.

The protagonist of the original game and the prophetic child of the Lillian Kingdom.

The power of sealing possessed by the prophetic child.

“So, if we notice any weird abilities, we can just seal it right away?”

Emily, realizing she had more than just healing to do, smiled brightly and clenched her fist.

Though I didn’t know what Tarros’s abilities would be, as long as it wasn’t an instant-death ability, Emily could seal it right after confirming its powers.

After all, it’s unlikely that the developers would give an ancient dragon an instant-death ability with high basic stats.

‘After all, only the Demon Lord’s Grand Commander had that skill in the game.’

It was the instant-death curse skill belonging to the final boss of the game.

They wouldn’t give such a skill to a dragon that was merely a setting.

After finishing our explanation of how to deal with Tarros, we stood up.

“Shall we go?”

My party looked at me with determined smiles.

Some wanted to help me, while others wanted to save the future.

And I, to change the fate of a precious girl, was challenging the legend.

Crack.

As we approached the massive door at the entrance of the sealing chamber, the door recognized us and began to open automatically.

Soon, the door leading to a bright waiting room opened, revealing a dark space.

It was a room with an atmosphere like a dim cave.

But at the center of the vast room.

A massive dragon lay down, its head bowed, as if spotlighted by the only source of light.

“…Golden. Amazing. Its scales look like gold bars.”

Raphaena, the most fearless among us, marveled at the sight of Tarros.

Indeed, as expected of a legendary ancient dragon, its grandeur was overwhelming even from a distance.

With a sound of footsteps, the tense party slowly approached Tarros, with me in the lead.

And as we walked a bit closer, we noticed a strange barrier.

Transparent, it was undetectable until one got close.

“This is the seal?”

Mary gently touched the barrier with her hand.

It was the same spot I had seen in the game. It was clear that if we crossed this barrier, it would recognize us.

I glanced back at my party to check their preparations.

After seeing them nod, I cautiously passed through the barrier and stepped into the sealed area.

At that moment,

[ System: You have entered the seal of the ancient dragon Tarros.

The ancient dragon recognizes you. ]

[ System: The trait of the dragon's essence is activated.

The ancient dragon Tarros becomes hostile towards you. ]

As those messages appeared before my eyes,

Whoosh.

The dragon that had been sleeping opened its eyes.

And its vertically elongated pupils fixed directly on me.

Crack.

The dragon slowly raised its body.

But with its enormous size, the whole room trembled, and its gaze, which was steadily rising, continued to bore into me.

I felt a chill run down my spine from the dragon's gaze and a strong sense of fear washed over me.

‘Dragon's Fear…!’

It was a passive skill of the dragon race.

Depending on the dragon’s rank, the stats differ, but this skill instills great fear in enemies within range.

And Tarros opened its mouth, tilting its head back.

Seeing that, I immediately shouted to my party.

“Everyone, cover your ears━!!”

At the same time as my shout,

[ Rraaaahhhhhh!!! ]

The roar of the massive dragon echoed through the room.

[ System: The ancient dragon Tarros uses the skill ‘Dragon Roar’. ]

An overwhelming fear, a level of terror different from the passive skill Dragon's Fear engulfed my body.

Fortunately, all my party members covered their ears at my shout, but they still grimaced as if they were affected.

I too began to tremble with fear.

[ System: Due to the effect of the dragon's essence, you gain strong resistance to the debuff from the ancient dragon Tarros. ]

After the message appeared, I felt the paralyzing fear starting to fade away.

‘The effect of the dragon's essence gives strong animosity and high resistance.’

I had forgotten the effect that boosts magical power, but this side effect made things a bit more comfortable.

But still, Tarros was glaring at me, showing its teeth.

‘...It didn’t have to be so hostile.’

In that moment, I felt resentful towards the developers for placing such an imposing gaze upon me.

“…━Don’t glare at Ken like that!!”

At that moment, following the plan, Raphaena charged ahead toward it.

With the characteristics of her spear stretching out, she ignored the overwhelming distance and struck Tarros.

Clang!

The swinging spear scraped against the walls of the dark space before ultimately hitting Tarros’s head.

Bam!

“…It didn’t seem to hurt it.”

With a tremendous sound and a rush of wind, the pressure spread, but after the smoke cleared, Tarros’s head remained unharmed.

The imposing gaze was still fixed on me.

“Let’s join in.”

Seeing that scene, Zickfried immediately dashed toward Tarros as well.

“I’ll follow the plan we discussed earlier! Mary! Adrian! Cast your magic before it moves!”

As I shouted, Mary raised her staff while Adrian extended his hand forward.

At the same time, a massive fireball and ice storm rushed toward Tarros.

As it swung its sharp claws toward Raphaena and Zickfried,

Crack!

The solid ice pillars shot up and stretched out in all directions, halting Tarros’s movements.

And the swirling flames erupted from the ground, engulfing its massive body.

‘…Good, now that its movement is halted!’

I immediately reached into my spatial pouch.

This battle would ideally end as quickly as possible.

Delaying things would only make it more unfavorable for us.

Even if it seemed futile, I would use the strongest strike I could right away.

With that plan in mind, I pulled out a spear shining with a golden hue.

The replica of the Thunder Spear Aspetra.

Though it was a replica, it was still created based on a legendary weapon passed down through myths.

This hidden weapon was crafted to closely resemble that legendary weapon.

Crackle…

My enhanced strength flowed through me.

Pouring all my strength into the throw pose.

Soon, magical energy surged from my fingertips, enveloping the imitated thunder spear, activating countless designs engraved on it.

The runes inscribed began to glow brightly.

The light connected to the massive spirit stone embedded in the center of the spear.

Crack!

With the power exerted on my whole body, cracks began to appear on the floor supporting my legs.

‘…I’ll end this with a single blow.’

As my party drew Tarros's attention with their full strength, I completed my throw preparation with the imitated thunder spear.

“…━Everyone, back off━!!”

Once my attack was ready, I shouted at my party, who looked at me.

Seeing my form, wrapped in the core of the surging electricity, Raphaena and Zickfried quickly withdrew to the front.

Adrian and Mary also backed off to a position where the range wouldn’t reach them.

After confirming my party’s safety, I swung my arm.

Holding my breath, I packed my muscles full of strength into the spear.

All my enhanced physical abilities due to the diet were channeled into the thrown spear, flying towards the target.

That motion resembled that of a cannonball.

Boom!

The spear, piercing through the air with a tremendous sound, left my hand.

Crackle!

[ Kooooo! ]

Soon, the spear struck Tarros’s chest, summoning lightning from the depths of legend.

[ Krrraaaa!!! ]

Tarros, who had been struck by the incessant lightning, opened its mouth to scream in agony, writhing in pain.

The blinding rays of light caused some of my party members to cover their eyes with their arms.

The golden scales of Tarros, which had glimmered, were charred black under the relentless lightning.

Crack.

After the imitation spear drained all its energy, the ancient dragon remained rigid, with smoke rising from its tortured form.

“Did we get it...?”

Emily’s voice rang out in delight at the sight, and in that moment—

Whoosh.

“Damn it, not yet!!”

The dragon, its whites showing, opened its eyes once more.

But this time, there was something different.

With a new eye opening on its forehead, it now had three eyes.

‘The strike was definitely effective...!’

Something was lacking.

Was it something that couldn’t be captured by the power of Aspetra?

…No, as the creator of Aspetra, I know. The spear's ability was the power of the infinitely striking lightning.

If the rune designs were correct, the target struck by the spear would endure the lightning until it burned to death.

But the problem was that I had thrown a replica, not the original.

‘...The output was insufficient.’

That was what I thought.

I had definitely pushed it to the brink of death, but the power of the spirit stone hadn’t been enough to deliver lightning until it perished.

‘...But it’s still too early to give up.’

The three eyes of Tarros gleamed.

But its rough breath revealed that its outer skin was nearly depleted of health.

And the newly formed eye on its forehead.

[ System: The ancient dragon Tarros activates the skill ‘Dragon’s Whisper’. ]

It was the pattern seen often with bosses in [Epiris Academy].

The weakness revealed when a boss monster is severely injured.

‘If I can land a strong final blow on that weakness…!’

“Adrian! Mary! Target that eye on its forehead...!”

Just as I was about to shout out my intent to land a final blow,

[ Krrrrr!! ]

The dragon’s roar echoed through the room.

[ System: The ancient dragon Tarros uses the skill ‘Dragon’s Roar’. ]

Its cry shook the chamber.

“Grrr…!”

“Gyaaaa!”

Caught off guard, my party members were immediately exposed to Tarros's debuff skill and froze in place.

‘Damn it...! I need to...!’

Seeing my party unable to move, I tried to draw my weapon to attack.

But the dragon’s roar was merely a preparation for something else.

[ ...□■■□□■.... ]

The dragon, which had stopped our movements, began to murmur something.

The words that came from its mouth were in a language we couldn’t understand.

An overwhelming sense of unease washed over us due to its strange voice.

And soon, the system revealed what the dragon was muttering.

[ System: The ancient dragon Tarros uses the skill ‘Whisper of the Soul’. ]

It was a skill name I had never seen before.

The unknown skill we had been wary of had been activated.

And with the appearance of the message window, purple light burst forth beneath Adrian, Mary, and Zickfried.

“...Grr, ugh. What is this…?”

“Ugh, ah!”

“...Ken, this is dangerous.”

I immediately noticed the three of them, whose expressions turned panicked as they looked at me.

As if they could no longer control their own will, their movements were clearly influenced, extending their hands towards me awkwardly.

In their hands, they held gloves, a staff, and a sword.