Through the billowing dust of the collapsing cavern, the Red Dragon spotted a pure-white Dragon egg in the corner, its surface as smooth as jade.

“Thank goodness… you’re still safe.”

At the very least, she couldn’t let her own child suffer the same fate.

The Red Dragon squeezed out the last of her Magic. Amid shifting light and shadow, her Dragon body rapidly shrank to human size. Fine scales still covered her arms and the corners of her eyes, and she couldn’t retract the horns on her forehead or her tail—but it was enough.

The swordsman had struck her down in one blow. Her enormous body had brought the cavern crashing down and kicked up a thick cloud of dust that blocked the view. Once she shrank, the swordsman would lose track of her for a while. There was only one exit from the cavern, and the swordsman wouldn’t risk stepping into the dust cloud, knowing she might ambush him in a last-ditch attack.

She only needed to buy a little more time.

Even in human form, the Red Dragon still bore the wounds the swordsman had inflicted. The heavy blood loss from her abdomen had drained away her warmth and strength.

She barely managed to kneel before the Dragon egg, enormous beside her human form. Though she knew death was closing in, the Red Dragon still gave it a gentle smile. Blood ran down her cheek and stained half her face, but her beauty remained untouched.

She gently touched the shell with her right hand. Her bloodied fingertip left a stark, shocking streak across its surface.

The moment her fingertip touched the shell, the Red Dragon quickly began drawing with her own blood. A small Magic array took shape.

Dragon blood held a great deal of Magic, making it an excellent material for drawing arrays. But it was incredibly difficult to obtain. In equal quantities, it cost even more as a pigment than mithril of the same weight—far beyond what an ordinary mage could afford.

“This… should do it.”

Once she’d finished drawing the array, the Red Dragon murmured a short incantation. The enormous Dragon egg before her began to fade from sight.

The spell combined teleportation, concealment, and protection. Only Dragon-speech Magic could achieve such a refined effect with an array so simple.

“I’ll leave the rest to you, Luca…”

She activated the life mark her dear friend had left her, and at last the Red Dragon was completely at ease.

Above her, the dust finally cleared. The swordsman’s blade flashed one last time behind the Red Dragon.

…

“Mom!”

Doris’s eyes flew open. The hazy blood-red memories and her mother’s final smile were gone. In their place, Aya’s worried expression slowly came into focus.

“Big brother?”

“…I’m still not used to you calling me that, but if you want to, go ahead.” Aya covered his face with an awkward, helpless smile. Then he lowered his hand and asked, “How are you feeling? Are you okay?”

“Doris is fine, of course! That mean woman couldn’t hurt Doris!”

Doris beamed with energy and patted her still-developing chest.

“No, I mean… you were crying in your sleep just now.”

Aya reached out and gently brushed the corner of Doris’s eye. A clear tear glistened on his fingertip.

After hearing her mother tell Doris’s story from beginning to end, Aya couldn’t help looking at her with mixed feelings.

Along with sadness and heaviness, he felt a trace of surprise. Those who’d vowed to slay a Dragon hadn’t been joking. This had been a fight to the death—a bloody battle between humans and Dragons.

Then again, was it really so strange that he’d only realized this now? He’d spent so long hiding behind the Golden Dragon’s immense power that he’d learned far too little about the world.

In her final moments, Doris’s mother had imprinted some of her most important memories onto Doris’s soul, while the girl was still in the egg and not yet fully formed. Those memories had influenced Doris’s consciousness to some extent. Besides the words she’d left for her daughter, the most important thing they revealed was that Doris was the last of the Red Dragon bloodline.

“No wonder you were so determined… Huh?!”

Aya had only just let down his guard a little when Doris suddenly grabbed his shoulder and pulled him down. His body, which had been sitting at the bedside, tipped over—and Doris rolled on top of him with a sly smile.

“Hey! What are you—”

Up to this point, Aya had stayed fairly calm. In strength and skill, there was no way Doris, who’d only just woken up, could hold him down. If he wanted, he could break free a hundred different ways. He’d only hesitated because he felt sorry for the girl.

But Aya regretted it the very next second.

The girl’s eyes, which had been red-gold, suddenly turned a mesmerizing purple-red.

That was a spell used by Succubi from the Devildom… How had this girl learned it?

Aya was stunned. Before he could even think through the question, the girl’s glowing eyes had completely captured his attention, leaving his mind utterly blank.

Huh? Had Doris always seemed this charming to him?

No. Before, he’d only thought of her as a child. But now, under the spell’s influence, his thoughts had begun to blur.

Her long red hair and youthful, softly rounded face stood out in his dazed mind, but Aya couldn’t think clearly enough to make sense of what he was seeing.

Unconsciously, Aya’s hand rested on the girl’s buttocks, and yielding to the male instincts awakened by the charm, he tightened his fingers and gave Doris’s fleshy hip a hard squeeze.

“Ah~”

Doris let out a small, coy sound, and her face flushed too. The spell’s hold over Aya only seemed to grow stronger.

“Ha… ha… Doris’s heart is racing too.” She cupped her cheeks and shyly lowered her head. “Hehe, big brother, Doris is going to win this time~”

“Aya, is she awake yet? It’s almost dinnertime. If she’s still asleep, you should come down without her… Hm? Aya?”

There was a knock at the door. When no one answered, Tiran sounded puzzled. “Aya? Don’t tell me you fell asleep too. If you’re awake, open the door for me. I know I hit you a little hard earlier, but I just didn’t control my strength in time… Aya? Aya?”

“That mean woman?! Why’d she have to come now?! I was so close… No, this isn’t the time to think about that! I have to get down right away—Eek!”

Startled by Tiran’s voice, Doris panicked too. She propped herself up and tried to get off the bed, but Aya’s leg tripped her. She lost her balance and fell against his chest instead.

By then, Tiran had run out of patience. She pushed open the door herself—and walked straight into a shocking scene.

“Ah… Hey! You little brat! Explain what you’re trying to do to Aya!”

“Doris doesn’t know anything!”

The red-haired girl shook her head firmly, then rolled over and tried to run.

“Stop right there!”