Now that Ryan had held such a long conversation with the demon queen, he realized many things.

Things he had been ignorant of and might never have found out. Knowing the true purpose of the dungeons made him understand that utilizing them was still a double-edged sword.

Even if he did not know the methods the deity used to take over human bodies.

Even so, right now he had something more important to attend to.

Ryan had still not responded to Ophelia’s suggestion to wait for his answer within those three days. The silence lingered a bit longer in the main hall of the house inside the dungeon.

Seeing that he did not offer an immediate confirmation, the demon queen decided to go ahead and mention something else before leaving the place.

"Please think it over carefully." She stared fixedly at Ryan’s party, evaluating the capabilities of each of those present.

"This might be the best opportunity you all have to raise your rank once and for all."

She walked slowly toward the exit of the house. And standing right in the doorway, next to her green-haired companion, she mentioned the following with utter coldness.

"Currently, you are not even capable of defeating Iris in a real battle."

That direct statement made Helen and Mirian feel a deep frustration coursing through their bodies, as they were the ones who had faced her outside the base just minutes before.

"Tsk." Helen clicked her tongue with evident annoyance. And she immediately looked toward another part of the room to hide the anger on her face.

"One day I’ll beat that damn lizard to a pulp, just you wait," the warrior declared aloud, tightly gripping the hilt of her own sword.

Ophelia laughed clearly at her boldness, and replied in an amused manner that she was completely free to try it during their next encounter.

Then, she stepped out of the house, walking away from the top-floor residence. Ryan also followed her closely to the exterior of the property.

"So, will you come via teleportation again in three days?" he asked, maintaining his usual dry and direct tone of voice.

"Yes, make sure to leave the robe in a good spot inside the house so that I can come here," Ophelia responded.

"I’ll leave the pair of robes out here."

"How cruel of you." That said, she called her companion to conclude the unexpected visit. "Iris, let’s go."

"Yes, my lady," the green-haired woman replied, immediately stepping to her side with her usual calmness.

Ophelia pulled another portal stone out of her pocket, though Ryan noticed that this one was different, displaying striking golden borders that emitted energy.

"See you, Ryan," the demon queen said goodbye with a smile. Ryan only watched her without responding, and then the two of them vanished from the place.

Karol, who was arriving right next to Ryan after coming out from inside the house, sat on the ground as soon as she realized the demon queen was gone.

"I can’t believe a demon queen was here with us all this time, she was so comfortable she almost seemed to want to wait for tea," Karol mentioned, her voice somewhat low.

"Tell me about it..." Ryan responded with an annoyed sigh.

’Maybe it’s because she relied heavily on her power as a demon queen, but coming to a place like this and acting like she owned it was very annoying.’

Then, Mirian also approached with slow steps, holding her epic bow with an expression of total seriousness on her face.

Her bright, clear eyes now looked dull.

"Ryan, what do you really think of that woman?" Mirian asked, looking in the direction where Ophelia had completely vanished from the dungeon a few seconds ago.

He stared at her for a moment and then shifted his attention to the hole in the wall that Helen’s body had left when she was struck by Iris on the S-rank dungeon floor.

"I think she’s very strong, I had no way to check her stats since she blocked my inspection attempts. But I did see how strong her dragon was."

Ryan looked at Helen beside Mirian.

"Not just because of her stats, which far surpass yours, but because of how she fought against you."

"Yes, what you say is true, even I couldn’t do anything to her. She was capable of neutralizing my attacks, and even though Helen fought using her strength, she got beaten to a pulp," Mirian responded with a sigh.

"Shut up. I just let my guard down..." Helen said as she crossed her arms, her brow heavily furrowed from the humiliation.

"Even so, that stupid lizard never used her full actual strength against me at any point during the combat. It’s embarrassing to admit it in front of all of you, but I’m no match for that dragon," the warrior continued, lowering her gaze.

’It’s very unusual for her to be honest; losing like that must have affected her deeply.’

Helen planted herself firmly in front of Ryan, forcing him to hold her gaze fixedly.

"You’ll accept her alliance proposal, right?" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"It’s something I haven’t definitively decided on yet; there are many things I need to think about."

"But Ryan, there isn’t much to decide in this scenario, nor can we remain at this level for the rest of our lives," the warrior insisted.

"It’s a good opportunity to move forward. We’ve been completely stuck at S-rank for quite some time now."

Then Mirian intervened, taking a step forward to back up her companion’s technical argument.

"It’s true, besides, Karol is still A-rank."

Ryan stood reflecting in silence for a moment, processing everything he had learned so far and the cards that had been laid out on the table for him.

’They’re right, ridding ourselves of that demon king by helping Ophelia will be very convenient in more ways than one.’ he thought.

Then, Ryan began to walk toward the space outside the house where the magical spot serving as the portal to the village was located.

Then he turned completely toward them, observing them closely, and solemnly pronounced each of their names out loud.

"Mirian, Helen, Karol, Beatrice..." Ryan looked at them with an absolute seriousness that cut off any attempt to murmur in the place.

They stood at attention upon hearing their names, paying total attention to what Ryan was about to say.

"Facing Demon King Rigal and his elite soldiers won’t be like the ordinary demons we’ve faced up until now," he warned.

"Are you really completely sure that you want to participate in this fight Ophelia is proposing to us?" he asked, fixing his eyes on them.

When he finished asking the question, the faces of each of the girls showed absolute certainty and confidence before the challenge.

"Of course we are, I might still be A-rank, but I will wipe out all those damn demons with my magic," Karol exclaimed with pride.

Helen took a step forward immediately, slapping the hilt of her sword with the palm of her hand. "I will give you the heads of their generals as war trophies, Ryan."

"Even if you asked me right now, I would go to their territory completely alone," the swordswoman declared with a smile.

"My, you two are highly motivated," Mirian commented in her usual subtle tone.

"But like that airhead Helen says, I will also give it my best effort, whether we face their generals, infernals, or abyssals. Since I got this epic bow, I haven’t had a single battle that was truly demanding on my skills," she added with confidence.

Then, Beatrice, who had remained to the side in silence during the talk, finally spoke firmly.

"You shouldn’t worry about my answer; if you decide to fight I will fight, and if you decide not to make a deal or alliance with Lady Ophelia, that’s also something I will support. I will simply do whatever you say, Ryan."

Each of them showed their innate determination before the looming conflict. But then, Irina approached timidly with her hands clasped together.

"I’m so sorry... it seems that out of everyone, I’m the only useless one who contributes nothing to the fights," Irina murmured with discouragement.

"I didn’t expect you to fight either; your role is different, you are a princess and you must remain as such," Ryan replied to her as he approached her with soft steps.

He extended his right hand and began to pat her head.

"You must remain here at the base, a safe place."

Irina blushed immediately at the physical contact, but she nodded with an expression full of absolute devotion toward Ryan.

Then, Ryan walked toward the place where the portal to the village opens.

And he activated his mana in the relic to open the portal that connected directly to the elven village.

Before crossing through the portal, he stopped and looked at the girls out of the corner of his eye, formulating a doubt he had held ever since he found out how dragons communicate with their masters.

"This might be a strange question for you, but I need you to answer me. Do you know of the existence of relics with the capacity to allow us to communicate over long distances?"