Bzz—bzz—bzz~
A flash of white light flared inside the guild hall, and Kurose Akira's figure materialized in the game world.
The moment he returned, Ivsha hurried straight toward him.
"Mr. Kurose Akira~"
She threw herself into his arms, her eyes shimmering with tears, her voice trembling ever so slightly.
"What's wrong?" Akira asked at once, concern filling his tone.
"Kelly… Sister Kelly said that my recent behavior is becoming less and less like that of a proper nun, so she punished me by making me copy the entire Bible by hand!" Ivsha pressed her cheek tightly against Akira's chest as she spoke, rubbing against him pitifully, her voice full of grievance.
"The entire Bible?"A trace of sympathy flashed through Akira's eyes.
He knew just how massive the Bible was—countless chapters, endless verses. Copying it all by hand was no small ordeal.
Ivsha continued, choking up, "And she won't even let me use magic. I have to write everything slowly by hand… But—but every time I start reciting the Bible, my head starts hurting. What am I supposed to do~?"
Akira frowned slightly at her words.
Ivsha possessed a special trait that granted immunity to holy light. Reciting scripture shouldn't cause her any discomfort at all.
So then…
When Akira met the desire glimmering deep in Ivsha's eyes, he suddenly understood her true intention.
"So~"Her fingertips traced lightly across his chest as she asked in a coquettish voice,"While I'm copying the Bible, could I ask Mr. Kurose Akira to stay by my side? If your holy light is there, maybe my head won't hurt anymore~"
"..."
Akira fell silent for a moment, thinking to himself that Ivsha seemed to be growing more and more fond of praying for the descent of holy light at the most unexpected times.
Of course, he had no intention of refusing her.
"Alright."
"That's wonderful~ Thank you so much, Mr. Kurose Akira~"
Ivsha happily leaned in and planted a light kiss on his cheek, leaving behind a faint pink lipstick mark.
"So affectionate first thing in the morning?"
At that moment, Luciya stepped gracefully into the guild hall. Her snow-white, jade-like bare feet touched the floor as lightly as a spring breeze, making not the slightest sound. From beneath her white veil, her golden-red eyes swept calmly over Akira and Ivsha.
To her, scenes like this were already commonplace—hardly worth reacting to.
Although the Church of Light didn't explicitly forbid nuns from falling in love or getting married, a nun like Ivsha—one who constantly yearned to profane holy light at every opportunity—was truly a first for her.
As expected, the desire hidden deep within succubus bloodlines was something even holy light could never fully purge.
"Since everyone's here," Akira said as Luciya arrived, "there's something about the Land of the Fallen Dragon that I need to discuss with you all."
"The soul of that red dragon?" Luciya asked.
"Mm."Akira proceeded to explain the entire situation in detail, from beginning to end, to Luciya and the rest of the guild members, hoping they could pool their thoughts and offer useful advice.
"A level-70 bone dragon really is a troublesome opponent," Fuli and Floro said as they exchanged worried looks.
A level-70 bone dragon possessed power sufficient to annihilate an entire city. This was an enemy on a completely different level from anything they had faced before. Without thorough preparation, it would be extremely difficult to deal with such an existence—and Akira would never allow them to take reckless risks.
"Even so," Loserine said calmly as she wiped down her vowbound sword, "if what the guild leader says is true—if we can suppress fifty percent of its attributes—then it's not impossible to fight."
Her eyes gleamed with determination. She was clearly already prepared to face a powerful foe.
"A bone dragon's combat strength should be lower than when it was alive, right?" Alice asked curiously.
"Not necessarily," Ivsha shook her head. "If it obtained other sources of power after death, it's entirely possible for it to surpass its living form."
"Ah~"
The guild members discussed the matter animatedly, but Akira noticed that Luciya had lowered her head, deep in thought, as if pondering something else entirely.
"What is it?" Akira asked.
"You mentioned earlier," Luciya said slowly, "that besides the bone dragon, a Sage once came to the Land of the Fallen Dragon as well. Is that correct?"
"Yes."Akira nodded. He had already shared what little information he had about the Sage.
In truth, his understanding of Sages was extremely limited. Even the game's "Library" contained very few records about them, leaving him with almost no concrete knowledge at all.
"Generally speaking," Luciya explained, "Sages are individuals protected by the Holy Spirit—beings of great wisdom. But three hundred years ago, all Sages disappeared. To this day, no one knows where they went."
Hearing this, Akira fell into deep thought.
After a moment, he asked, "How strong are Sages in terms of combat power? Are they considered top-tier forces?"
"They're not top-tier combatants," Luciya shook her head. "They simply possess certain special powers. Or rather, you could say they are beings who are born with Domains."
"..."
"Normally," she continued, "only those who advance to the demigod stage can obtain the power of a Domain. Sages are… special existences."
Akira understood what Sages represented—and at the same time, he grew curious about just how powerful Domain abilities truly were.
"Still," Luciya added, "even if we have clues about a Sage, tracking their trail won't be easy. We should focus on dealing with the bone dragon first. If the bone dragon you mentioned is the same one we encountered in the Demon Cavern, then with our current strength, it will be difficult—but not impossible."
As she spoke, a thread of golden light blossomed at Luciya's fingertips.
In the next instant, the golden light split into seven streams, each flowing into the center of a guild member's forehead, enveloping their bodies in a faint golden glow.
[Received Light Blessing from Luciya (Super-Tier):Reduces damage taken from "Evil" attributes by 40% (including Darkness, Corrosion, Death, etc.).Grants one instance of damage immunity when incoming damage exceeds 50% of maximum HP.(Duration: 3 hours)]
When Akira saw the effects of the blessing, surprise flashed through his eyes.
Wasn't this buff absurdly powerful?
As expected of super-tier magic!
"That should do it. Let's move out," Luciya said elegantly as she rose to her feet and walked toward the teleportation array.
"Yeah!"
…
In the blink of an eye, the group arrived at the Land of the Fallen Dragon.
A colossal dragon skeleton nearly ten thousand meters long lay coiled across the land, forming what was known as the Land of the Fallen Dragon.
Even before stepping inside, they could feel a vast, overwhelming presence radiating outward—as if the dragon had never truly died, but was merely sleeping here, exhaling scorching breaths.
And once they truly entered the area, eerie roars echoed in their ears, as though a dragon were genuinely roaring in fury.
"This place feels so creepy~"Fuli and Floro clung tightly to each other, unease written all over their faces.
Within the Land of the Fallen Dragon, bones were scattered everywhere. However, these skeletal remains didn't all belong to dragons. At least in the outer area, they found no dragon bones at all—only the remains of various unknown magical beasts.
Akira vaguely remembered that every single part of a dragon's body was a priceless treasure. Even after death, their bones could fetch an enormous price. A living dragon's value was beyond estimation.
If dragon remains were truly scattered everywhere here, greedy opportunists would have long since stripped the place clean.
Akira scanned his surroundings, searching for signs of the bone dragon while also remaining alert for clues related to the Sage.
According to the quest description, this was the last place where the Sage had appeared. There had to be a reason he came here…
Hm?
Suddenly—
Among a pile of scattered white bones, Akira's gaze was drawn to a human skeleton that stood out starkly from the rest.
That skeleton was kneeling prostrate on the empty ground in an eerily devout posture, as if paying homage to some unknown existence.
This unexpected sight caused Akira's brows to knit tightly, confusion flooding his mind.
At the same time, Luciya's gaze was also fixed on the skeleton.
In the Land of the Fallen Dragon, the presence of human remains was jarringly out of place. Its very existence was a riddle that defied explanation.
A chilling thought surfaced in Akira's mind—
Could this be… the remains of a Sage?
Akira turned sharply to Luciya, his eyes silently conveying his suspicion.
"Mm."Luciya nodded lightly, her voice low and resolute."These are indeed the remains of that Sage."
"!"A storm surged through Akira's heart.
Luciya immediately warned them, "We'd best not approach those remains. Even in death, a Sage's Domain power still lingers. Entering it rashly could result in injury from the Domain itself."
The others nodded, carefully keeping their distance from the skeleton.
Just as Akira was about to continue deeper into the Land of the Fallen Dragon—
The Sage's skeleton suddenly moved.
Its skull rotated slowly, fixing its hollow gaze directly on Akira's position.
At the same time, a deep, resonant voice echoed inside Akira's mind:
"Since you have seen the Crimson Dragon… why do you not kneel?"