Although the Bone Dragon was an A-rank monster, an army would need at least a thousand soldiers to take it down. But Saya’s team was made up of the best among A-rank Mages, and Saya herself was a peak A-rank Mage. Defeating this Bone Dragon was only a matter of time.

“All right. Baxis, you two take the lead. Terrell, you and the other ranged fighters, keep your distance—but don’t spread out too much. And you—stay as far away as you can.”

After explaining the plan, Saya signaled to the shield warrior and the katana swordsman. They understood at once and stepped into the Burial Grounds ahead of the others.

Yu Ge brought up the rear as the group headed toward the center of the Burial Grounds. This land looked as though it had been cursed. Not a blade of grass grew here—only countless bones jutting up from underground, and the ruins of crumbling walls and buildings.

When the shield warrior and the katana swordsman reached the depths of the Burial Grounds, the entire ground began to shake violently. The enormous dragon skeleton at the center started to tremble. Then a giant dragon made of bones burst out of the earth, spread its wings, and took to the sky.

Baxis, the shield warrior, charged first. The Bone Dragon looked imposing, but at most it was only an A-rank monster. He was confident he could handle it. After all, his A-rank Armament, the “Spartan Shield,” could easily block attacks from A-rank monsters.

But what happened the next second left everyone frozen in place. As Baxis charged toward it, the Bone Dragon immediately spat out a stream of purple flames.

Wherever the purple flames passed, strange fire sprang up from the ground, reducing even bones to fragments. Baxis, however, confidently raised his shield, ready to take the Bone Dragon’s attack head-on.

“Baxis, move!”

Saya was the first to sense that something was wrong. The aura bursting from this Bone Dragon was far beyond that of an A-rank monster. She immediately shouted a warning to Baxis, but he didn’t react.

As far as Baxis was concerned, he’d withstood even stronger attacks without a scratch. This was his chance to impress Saya. So when the purple pillar of fire effortlessly pierced his shield and melted his body, he didn’t even realize what was happening.

The team’s strongest defender was killed just like that. The katana swordsman stopped in his tracks and stood there, face pale with fear.

“That’s no A-rank monster! That thing’s S-rank!”

At the axeman’s shout, the others finally realized something was seriously wrong. This Bone Dragon was nowhere near the A-rank creature described in the intel. An S-rank monster shouldn’t have been able to kill Baxis in a single blow.

As a frontline melee fighter, the katana swordsman felt fear seep into his heart when he saw Baxis melt away. He couldn’t withstand an attack like that. One hit would mean death. Could he really clear this Bone Dragon fight without making a single mistake? Obviously not.

Showing off in front of Saya wasn’t worth risking his life. The katana swordsman turned without hesitation and ran for the edge of the Burial Grounds.

“Hey, get back here! You’ll lead the Bone Dragon straight to the ranged fighters!”

Everyone there had panicked. Faced with an enemy they had no chance of defeating, their first instinct was to run—especially when they saw the katana swordsman drawing the Bone Dragon’s gaze toward them.

“Run! There’s no way we can beat that thing!”

With the shield warrior killed in one blow and the katana swordsman fleeing in terror, the others lost all fight in them. Like startled rabbits, they scattered and ran.

The Bone Dragon had originally locked onto the katana swordsman, the closest target. But he’d run toward the ranged fighters, so the Bone Dragon’s next breath of fire could hit the others instead.

Seeing the chaos, Terrell could only turn and leave. He hadn’t expected the intel to be wrong. If he stayed any longer, he’d die here. He knew that if he stepped in and dealt with this thing, Saya would surely think more of him—but he didn’t have the strength to do it. A woman or your life? The latter, obviously.

“Magic, activate—Silver Crescent!”

Seeing the Bone Dragon shift its target to the fleeing group, Saya gritted her teeth and ran her left hand along the blade in her right. Her Armament, “Meteor,” began to shine. Gripping the sword with both hands, she slashed at the Bone Dragon.

A silver crescent slash struck the Bone Dragon’s head. It did no real damage, but it successfully drew the monster’s attention.

The Bone Dragon turned its sights on Saya and spat out a stream of fire. She dodged just in time, her instincts warning her beforehand. The spot where she’d been standing was reduced to ashes.

“Run. Run as fast as you can.”

Facing the enormous Bone Dragon, Saya tightened her grip on Meteor and glanced at the others fleeing. She took a deep breath. She had started this expedition to slay the Bone Dragon, and now it had failed because the intel was wrong. One person had even died. She had to take responsibility for all of it. So she would buy them time.

“Look at me, you bastard.”

When Saya saw the Bone Dragon turn its gaze back to the fleeing group, she flung another silver crescent at it. At last, the monster turned back toward her in anger.

“What the hell? How’d the boss aggro and then lose aggro?”

Yu Ge was far behind the others, crouched on the ground playing with rocks, when the team that had gone to fight the Bone Dragon suddenly sprinted past him in a panic, racing for the edge of the Burial Grounds.

“I’ll show you the power of the Star Sword Princess.”

Saya held her katana out in front of her with her right hand, braced her left hand against her right wrist, and shouted.

“Meteor—Fall!”

All the light radiating from the sword in Saya’s hands was drawn into its blade, which began to shine like a streak of light. Light enveloped her from head to toe, and a wing made of holy radiance unfurled behind her.

“What are you doing? Think you’re invincible or something?”

Saya took a deep breath and beat her wings, ready to fly at the Bone Dragon and attack. But the moment her feet left the ground, she felt someone press her back down.

“Why didn’t you run?!”

Saya turned and saw that it was Yu Ge holding her shoulder. Her face filled with disbelief.

“Why would I run? Who’d pay me if I did?”

Yu Ge rolled his eyes. Don’t tell me this girl’s planning to stiff him.

“Money? Have you gone crazy thinking about money? Which matters more, money or your life?!”

“My life, obviously. But what do those two things have to do with each other?”

“Are you even looking at what’s happening? That’s a Wailing Bone Dragon, an evolved super S-rank monster—not an ordinary Bone Dragon! We can’t beat it!”

Saya was about to lose it. Was this guy an idiot?!

“Then why aren’t you running? Why are you still trying to attack it by yourself? Are you Kobe?”

Yu Ge tilted his head.

Saya’s face twitched. She covered her cheek with one hand. This guy really was an idiot.

“I’m staying here to buy you time to escape! Do you think I want to die?!”

Saya took a deep breath and shouted right at Yu Ge. “I’m young! I don’t want to die either! But what am I supposed to do—abandon you and run?!”

Saya was so frantic she could have cried. Why couldn’t this guy understand?

“Um, quick question. If I take down that skeleton, can you pay me the same as the others?”

Yu Ge glanced at the Wailing Bone Dragon nearby.

“You’re about to die and all you can think about is money! Are you obsessed with it or something? If you can take that thing down, I’ll give you all the money I was going to pay them!”

Saya had never met anyone as money-crazy as Yu Ge. She stamped her foot in frustration. He was impossible. She couldn’t believe she was going to die alongside this idiot. It was so unfair. How could a mere scavenger like him possibly defeat a super S-rank Wailing Bone Dragon?

“Really? Pinky promise.”

Yu Ge’s eyes lit up, and he held out his pinky.

“Pinky promise, cross my heart, hope to die—whoever breaks it is a… Oh my god, what am I doing right now?!”

Saya hooked her pinky around Yu Ge’s and recited the vow. Then she suddenly realized this was no time for that. How had this guy gotten her so caught up in it?!

“Goodbye.”

As the Wailing Bone Dragon breathed fire at her and Yu Ge, Saya shut her eyes in despair. After Yu Ge’s interruption, she’d ended up giving up before she’d even fought the thing. It was so unfair.

“Magic, activate—Light’s Protection.”

“Bang!”

A tremendous crash rang out in front of her, but Saya felt no pain. In fact, nothing seemed to have happened at all. She cautiously opened her eyes—and saw a sight that shattered everything she thought she knew about the World.

The idiot beside her, who valued money over his life, had thrust out his left hand. A golden magic card in his palm unfolded into a circular golden shield. The Wailing Bone Dragon’s death breath struck it without causing the slightest damage. The enormous recoil even sent the monster stumbling back several steps.

“I must already be dead. This has to be a hallucination…”

Saya hurriedly rubbed her eyes. When she opened them again, nothing had changed. It was still the same boy, and the Wailing Bone Dragon was still the one being knocked back.

“Armament Projection—Eternal Aeon.”

Yu Ge took a golden Armament card from his deck and swept it in front of himself. A long black-and-red sword appeared in his hand. Its aura made the air around them feel heavy, and a terrifying presence burst from his entire body.

The earth-shaking surge of magic forced Saya to brace herself on her sword just to stay upright. She looked at the black-and-red sword, then at her own weapon. Hers looked like trash by comparison.

“Magic, activate—Eternal Twilight.”

Before the Wailing Bone Dragon could steady itself, Yu Ge slowly lowered the black-and-red sword he held high above his head. A black-and-red blade of light swept toward the monster with overwhelming force, smashed through its wall of flames, and cut its body clean in two.

“Rumble!”

The Wailing Bone Dragon’s bones clattered to the ground and crumbled into ash. Saya dropped to her knees, unable to believe what she was seeing.

“Y-you… who are you?”

Saya turned to look at Yu Ge, the divine sword in his hand. She stared at him for a long moment before managing to speak.

“Just a useless loser who wants to live off his looks and coast through life.”

Meanwhile, Terrell, fleeing in panic, assassinated the other team members who had run off in different directions. Then he cast Windwalk on his legs to increase his speed, took off with the wind at his heels, and soon made it back to the Adventurers’ Guild.

“I-isn’t that Terrell?”

“What happened?”

The people inside the Adventurers’ Guild were baffled to see Terrell rush back in such a hurry. Hadn’t he gone with Saya to hunt the Bone Dragon? Was it already over?

“T-the intel was wrong! Th-that wasn’t a Bone Dragon. It was a Wailing Bone Dragon, an S-rank monster!”

Panting, Terrell announced the shocking news to everyone.

“H-how is that possible?!”

“An S-rank monster?!”

“Did the Bone Dragon evolve?”

“Th-then what happened to the others who went with you?”

“R-right! What about the goddess Saya?”

The news exploded through the crowd like a depth charge. Everyone wore an expression of disbelief. But why had Terrell returned alone?

“The others are all d-dead. I-I wanted to fight alongside Saya until the end, b-but S-Saya said she’d hold the monster off by herself and told me to come back for reinforcements… Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! I, Terrell, swear I’ll do everything I can to go back and save Saya! I’ve already called up the city’s troops to hunt the Wailing Bone Dragon, so I’m here to ask for your help…”

Terrell put on a heartbroken act and begged the adventurers around him for help. But no one dared step forward. Even if the person who needed rescuing was the goddess Saya, their enemy was an S-rank monster. Going there would be suicide. And even Saya probably couldn’t hold out much longer. She might already be dead.

“I-it’s all right. I understand. I won’t force anyone. Everyone, I’m going.”

Terrell put on a disappointed expression, but inside, he was over the moon. These guys were exactly as he’d expected: the moment they heard “S-rank monster,” they’d completely chickened out. That meant he could stick to his plan. As long as nobody went along, his lie wouldn’t be exposed—and he could still build the image of a flawless good man. It was the best of both worlds.

“Terrell, where do you go?”

“To slay the Bone Dragon and save Saya!”

“If you go and don’t return…”

“Then I won’t return!”

Terrell strode toward the exit of the Adventurers’ Guild with the resolute, righteous air of a hero setting off to war. The adventurers behind him sighed in admiration. Now that was a real man—willing to give everything for the girl he loved. One female Mage was so moved by Terrell’s devotion that she even burst into tears.

But just then, two people walked through the Adventurers’ Guild entrance, and Terrell’s expression froze.

Because the newcomers were none other than Saya and that useless scavenger.

“Hey, could you please listen to me for a second?”

Yu Ge walked ahead while Saya followed close behind, looking anxious as she kept saying something to him.

“What’s there to talk about? You get your reputation, I get my money. We agreed, right? Two thousand five hundred for five people’s shares. No backing out.”

Yu Ge made his way through the crowd without any trouble and reached the counter. The Mages there had instinctively stepped aside to make room for him.

Yu Ge glanced at the adventurers around him, puzzled. Why were they looking at him like he was already dead?

Whatever. Never mind.

“Miss, this is the core of the Wailing Bone Dragon. How much can I get for it?”

Yu Ge tossed a glowing purple core onto the counter. The moment it appeared, the entire Adventurers’ Guild erupted. Every adventurer turned to look at him, while Terrell took the opportunity to slip away. What the hell was this? How had those two survived—and brought back the Wailing Bone Dragon’s core?

“I-I’ll have to ask our guildmaster…”

The young woman behind the counter was startled too. She hurriedly turned and ran deeper into the guild.

“Um, could you hear me out? I want to ask you something.”

Saya hurried to Yu Ge’s side and grabbed his arm in full view of everyone, looking at him with a pleading expression. The crowd was stunned. When had the Star Sword Princess ever looked like that?

“Sure, but could you buy a few cards from me first?”